Sunday Semi-Open Thread: Donald Trump is a Svengali Who Has Hypnotized Many Americans. What Important Happenings Have We Overlooked Because of His Power?

As is our Sunday habit and tradition, please share any thoughts, insights, or observations about matters of public or private concern that you deem worthy of sharing.

Donald Trump is the fire in a locked, almost hermetically sealed, room. Those of us stuck in the room are hallucinating because of oxygen deprivation. He is the center of our world; there is, of course, a much bigger world outside of the prison. The gravity of this world impacts Trumpmania. Unfortunately, too many are blind to its power.

So much has been going on in the United States and the world during the rise and eventual crescendo of Trumpmania. Donald Trump--and the 2016 GOP presidential primaries--are a car accident. The chattering classes are watching a political campaign version of "Faces of Death". They/we cannot look away.

Time keeps on ticking; the world is still turning. What are some stories (with links if possible) that we who are caught in the gaze of Donald Trump need to catch up on?