Been having long, weird dreams lately. Last night, I had written a big, expansive rock opera that involved a multitude of performers and was getting its premiere performance. The night before, President Lincoln and Congress were enacting a series of reform bills aimed at improving the war effort. Now I seem to be dreaming of a world where Vermont Republicans are reacting to the Donald Trump verdict with surprising adherence to principle…

Montpelier, Vt. — Following the unanimous conviction of Donald Trump on 34 felony charges, leaders of the Vermont Republican Party are distancing themselves from their party’s putative nominee.

Gov. Phil Scott, who has long refused to support Trump, went a step further today. “The verdict ought to disqualify Donald Trump as our party’s nominee,” he said in a statement released by his office. “If the Republican Convention persists in nominating him, I will have to consider leaving the party and running for re-election as an independent. I cannot see myself sharing a ticket with that man.”

Other party figures didn’t go quite so far, but were unsparing in their reactions to the verdict.

Paul Dame, VTGOP chair, noted that “On our website, we proudly say the VTGOP ’embraces the principles of the United States and Vermont Constitutions. Our platform is built on the foundations of those documents.’ To be true to our core beliefs, we must abide by the legitimate processes of the legal system. Unfortunately, our convention delegates are pledged to Trump, but I would urge them to limit their support to the bare minimum and make no public statements on behalf of the Trump campaign. This is a dark day for the Grand Old Party.”

“I spent 22 years in military service, defending the American system and our Constitution,” said Gerald Malloy, likely nominee for U.S. Senate. “While I may not agree with the verdict, there is no evidence of malfeasance in the court proceeding. Therefore I feel duty bound to support the jury’s decision, and hereby withdraw my active support for Donald Trump.”

“I feel like a fool,” said Gregory Thayer, candidate for lieutenant governor who traveled to Washington, D.C. in support of Trump on January 6, 2021. “I believed that President Trump had been wronged by a mismanaged election. Now I see I was wrong. My conservative principles will not allow me to actively support a man who tried to corrupt an election that he, himself, falsely claimed was corrupt.”

“Like many of my fellow Republicans, I carry a pocket Constitution wherever I go and proudly display an American flag on my lapel,” said Republican National Committee member Jay Shepard. “If I’d been on the jury I would have decided otherwise, but our system of government is founded on respect for the law. I must respect the unanimous decision of the jury.”

And then I woke up.

It’s a shame that these words, if they were ever uttered at all, must have been spoken on some alternate Earth. Because on our Earth, prominent Republicans have been rushing to microphones to express craven obeisance to their criminal leader. By doing so, they make a mockery of their claim to be the party of the Constitution and defenders of law and order. They have shown themselves willing to abandon what they claim as their core principles in the pursuit of political power. They would install in the highest office we can bestow a convicted felon, sexual assaulter, adulterer, failed businessman, welcher on debts, racist misogynist creeper and wannabe dictator.

Gotta say, I kinda wish I lived on that other planet.