[mannykannot]

I think we are seeing combination of short-sighted self-interest and "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", together with a willingness to use irrational arguments to advance those interests.

There have been many historical precedents, but perhaps none more so than the French revolution, which went through several cycles of this. The Terror only ended when the surviving politicians all realized that they were more likely to be executed than hold on to executive power, if they carried on this way.