Thirty some-odd years ago we lamented in these pages that surveying the political landscape was like being strapped in the cheap seats, being forced to watch the glacier races. Congress conducted its business through a process known as “regular order”—committees and subcomittees held hearings, budgets were debated and passed, and so forth. A democratic president played to a broad swath of voters, largely by promoting policies associated with republicans: cracking down on crime, lightening up on regulation, balancing the budget, and making trade deals. Few were paying attention to an obscure Georgia congressman with the name of a small reptile. A certain Australian newspaper heir’s television network had only recently begun to draw attention for its provocative entertainment programming. Another heir, this one in real estate, was making a name for himself as a serial bankrupt and lurker at wrestling matches and beauty pageants. From our present vantage point, we repent our premature lamentations. The faces of the world’s remaining glaciers did indeed race back…