If the media have taken the gloves off in their coverage of Trump -- and I agree that to some extent they have -- it's because Trump set the rules. He's the first president (or at least the first since the advent of mass communications) to constantly be in confrontation mode, not just with the media but also with political opponents and anybody else he decides to take on. Every day he throws down the gauntlet. Is the media not supposed to respond?

As long as Archbishop Chaput, the USCCB and others -- notably the Evangelical right -- fail to acknowledge Trump's belligerent nature and insist on treating him as an innocent victim, they'll continue to surrender the moral high ground. 

If they would just say, "Trump behaves terribly but I still support him for policy reasons," I could respect that. But they rationalize away his incivility and give him a free pass, and that I don't respect.