How does one quantify a declining country's level of rot?
I don't know, but here's one datapoint:
'She implied, in conversation with NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon, that it wasn’t quite fair to call Jeffrey #Epstein a pedophile because he was “into the barely legal type” of minors—which Kelly appallingly defines as “like, 15-year-olds”'
I think in a healthy country this person would not able to command a widely available media channel
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/megyn-kelly-epstein-pedophilia-russell-brand/