(Damon Winter |The New York Times) Republican members of the House confer during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2019. "I saw close up what happens when democratically elected politicians think that they can endlessly abuse their institutions, cross redlines, weaken their judiciary and buy reporters and television stations," writes The New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, "so that there is no truth, only versions, of every story."