• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 17, 2016

Like Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, on which he models himself, Donald Trump’s candidacy has the effect of telescoping time: minutes seem like hours, hours seem like days, and press conferences seem like the entire 25-season run of "The Jerry Springer Show" with the volume turned way up.

Make no mistake, the next three months are going to be an eternity — an orange, rumpled purgatory, a cross-country Greyhound trip with a flatulent paranoiac, an endless NASCAR race, spinning faster and faster, louder and louder, circling, circling, ever circling until something finally blows up.

However, back in March — if anyone can recall those simple days — you may remember the controversy at Breitbart News resulting from Donald Trump’s then campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, manhandling a female Breitbart reporter, Michelle Fields.

Ultimately, a number of Breitbart reporters ended up resigning in protest of what they said was the conservative news organization’s overwhelming pro-Trump bias.

In an open resignation letter, editor-at-large Ben Shapiro pinned the blame squarely on Breitbart News co-founder and executive chairman Steve Bannon, whom he accused of betraying the goals of the site’s founder, the late Andrew Breitbart: “In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrew’s mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump. He has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News’ Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trump’s bully campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly assaulted Michelle.”

Well, if there was ever any question about the news org being in the tank for Trump, it has been laid to rest.

This week, the real-estate mogul and reality TV star announced that Bannon would serve as CEO of his presidential campaign, while veteran GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway is coming on board as campaign manager.

Although Paul Manafort will continue as campaign chairman, analysts said the appointment of Bannon and Conway is an effective demotion, transferring much of his authority to the newcomers.

Bannon, previously described by Bloomberg News as “the most dangerous political operative in America,” is temporarily stepping down as executive chairman of Breitbart News to carry out his new role.

While the appointments appear to be another effort to reset Trump’s campaign amid dismal poll numbers, it’s unclear whether Bannon will introduce a substantial change in direction for the headstrong candidate. According to various press reports, Trump felt unduly constrained by Manafort, who encouraged him to tone down his rhetoric and stay on message.

Bannon — an unofficial advisor to the campaign — has been urging him to run on an unapologetic populist and nationalist platform.

Trump also declared in a TV interview on Tuesday: “I don't want to change… I don't want to pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people.”