We need a scared emoji.

No they are not stupid, the people who make up the commentary are really smart. They use the fact that they have an agenda and they do not care how long it takes for them to control everything. This does not mean that what they are proposing is in the best interest of anyone other than the ones making up this shit. They sure do not have the interests of their supporters under any consideration. They are not stupid but the people who fall for their line have not the expertise to be able to research anything much less read any real political literature or philosophy.

I certainly don't think they're all stupid ...

and they're succeeding.

I think that this is an accurate assessment when it comes to most Republicans. Not all, but most.

An apt metaphor about Democrats as per Michael Avenatti's rather good "Fight fire with fire" speech at the Iowa State Fair last week, is that they tend to bring staplers to gunfights. Republicans have no such compunctions, they fight dirty and know what they want, and torpedoes (and "democratic norms" ) be damned. They feel they are in a death-struggle for their values -- and in many ways they are correct -- and so it's a fight to the death for them.

Agreed! Not stupid, playing a long game here.

I find this utterly terrifying.

Too true. Republicans aren't stupid, it's just that a lot of their base is.