Perhaps some of these developments are not specifically about Trump and Company.

For instance, Beinart was a proponent of the Iraq War and came to regret and apologize for his contribution towards selling it to the public. He now writes cautionary notes regarding Iran based largely upon being able to remember stuff that happened more than two weeks ago. So he has never been a sword into plowshares kind of thinker but more of a bang for buck critic who has learned that not all of the promotional material may be accurate. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

George Will just wants what he wants. A convenient donkey came along and George decided to load decades of G.O.P sin upon its back before slapping it upon the ass to motivate a journey into the desert.

McCain without Trump would probably be coasting into some kind of unremarkable policy barn if he wasn't specifically called out to be tossed into a dumpster fire. While that is directly related to the emergence of Trump, the personal animus involved makes it oddly irrelevant. Who needs who to prove what about what? McCain is one of the builders of the G.O.P. Trump is his creation.

I have got Frankenstein on the other line.

Edit to add:
I guess I am not really offering an alternative view from the "upside down" perspective. But the world before is all still there with the same relationships between different interests. It is just buried under a heap of viscous goo.