“Once malice is embraced as a virtue, it is impossible to contain.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/

It’s impossible to ignore the sheer cruelty in which adherents of authoritarian nationalist politics indulge. The marginalized people they’ve been aching to erase have tried to warn everyone about this surge of open hatred, cultivated for decades by hate radio, reactionary punditry disguised as news, and demagogues in clerical clothing.

The abyss looms.