@dionysus, Why has it gotten this bad?
Because the country is changing, and some folks (like Moonbats) are terrified of change. Change is bad, evil, and dangerous. Everything should stay the same as it always was, forever and ever, damn it! And when change happens, these unfortunates just snap like dry twigs, lashing out at authority figures who symbolize change like Lincoln and Kennedy.
Religion should be teaching people that change is inevitable and it's nothing to be afraid of--weighed carefully, yes, but not causing fits of hysterical terror. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10. But I've given up expecting fundies to read their bibles.
A Christian friend once asked me why some preachers worked so hard to scare their parishioners. I replied that creating fear gave those preachers power over their flock. That's what we're seeing here: the fundies are enslaved by their own fear to leaders who stoke those fears in order to maintain power.
I don't see an easy way out of this mess. Reality will win and the world will change, and the best we can do is adapt to it if we want to prosper. I don't envy the Secret Service the next 4 years (and I have a cousin currently serving; he was on Michelle Obama's detail for a time, says she's a really nice lady).