I'm not willing to throw in the red, white and blue towel just yet, Sol.
Yes, DJT has normalized everything from nepotism to crass behavior and language on the world stage. But while this is at least the temporary norm, we're a long way from embracing it. AN overwhelming majority thinks negatively of his conduct, his tweets, his treatment of women. Most believe he is racist or has racist tendencies. His approval ratings started in the toilet and have steadily crawled further down the drain.
So where might salvation come from? Demographics might be the lynchpin. Those under 35 are the least supportive of DJT specifically and the most supportive of a wide range of social issues he rants and raves against (religious tolerance, gay rights, an interconnected global economy, easier immigration, de-criminalization of marijuana...). Meanwhile, his (and now the GOP's) staunch base of rich white old guys is slowly dying off. It's very hard for me to imagine enough young people switching their minds to join this new GOP fast enough to replace all the members they are losing as their oldest members expire. Unapproval among blacks, latinos and people with advanced degrees continues to be incredibly high.
EVen without this demographic shift his support and power are subtly and slowly eroding. Support of republicans in general has slipped several points, though still in the upper 70s. And at least of those non-GOP Trump voters are discovering that going for a candidate just because he promised to 'blow up the system' and 'drain the swamp' hasn't had the desired consequences on their day to day lives.
We've gone through such soul-searching national epidemics before. McCarthy's 'red scare' went largely unchecked for almost 8 years before it consumed that SOB. The Civil Rights movement lasted a good decade and featured such ignoble highlights as Gov Faubus blocking segregation, f-tards firebombing black churches while people were inside and tens of thousands of kkk marching in downtown DC. We've also imprisioned US citizens simply because they or their parents might ahve come from asia, called for the 'extermination' of native americans who we had previously signed treaties with in good faith and (how could we forget) enslaved over ten million people.
Yeah, we've done some monumentally bad stuff over the last three centuries, as has every single society on earth. But as you mentioned, Sol, we've interspaced those crimes with lots of very good, helping to lift the lifespan, standard of living and representation for billions.
... all is not lost, as long as we don't all just give up...