Things I don't properly understand: Trump edition

Over the past months bemusement has shifted to horror. Surely, any day now, a hefty contingent of the GOP establishment would announce something like the following:

We have fine Republican candidates running in this year's Presidential election. They are two Republican governors who stand for Republican values of individual liberty, responsibility, and fiscal prudence. They recognise that America is great, and has to be a lot better for a lot of people. But they know too that American greatness is built on a foundation of shared American values that are open to all who hold them, regardless of their racial or religious backgrounds. 

If the prospect of a Trump Presidency makes you fear not only for the future of our party but also for the future of our country, don't sit this election out. Staying home will not only hand Hillary Clinton the Presidency, it will also deliver her a Democratic Senate. If Hillary gets the Presidency and the Senate, just watch what she does to the Supreme Court.

And there is a far better alternative. Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. They are fine Republicans, who this year are running on a Libertarian ticket. And they do more to espouse the core Republican values that we all share than do either Trump or Hillary. So join with us, and with the millions of young Americans who have already figured this out, and support Gary Johnson for President.

I thought this was going to happen well before the cutoff for the Presidential debates - Johnson/Weld needed 15% in the polls to be allowed into the debates. And then it didn't happen, and kept not happening.

What the heck has gone wrong with the Republican Party that they haven't yet disavowed Trump? Can they really let this happen? If Trump loses with the backing of the GOP establishment, changing the GOP after the election will be harder. And if he wins...

Meanwhile, Immigration New Zealand is still taking applications. Our refugee quota is much lower than our skilled worker intake, so get in while there's time.

Update: looks like my problem was that I just wasn't cynical enough.

A good couple of years for people who pushed the most cynical interpretations of the modern republican party

— Modeled Behavior (@ModeledBehavior) September 23, 2016

I had thought that the GOP establishment had enough invested in the GOP and its long-term success that they'd act in the Party's best interest. That interest cannot be a rump party supported by white-identity disaffected people who will never be more than 25-30% of the population. But each instead seems to be looking out for his own career interest in that potential rump party. Tullock's rationality of revolution might apply, or they might not even be thinking about any divergence of interest. Either way, it is very grim.