Bannon's departure may have incrementally elevated the tone, but let's not kid ourselves

In an age in which public humiliation seems to befall some new, and usually surprising, person of note daily, Steve Bannon's turn ranks among the most complete and decisive. There's one difference between his fall from grace and that of many others, though: his isn't too surprising. No one ever thought of him as dignified, thoughtful, or even talented at anything that matters beyond the confines of the vicious terrain he'd established.

The momentum really began to gather with his support for abysmal candidates for federal legislative office - namely, Roy Moore and Paul Nehlen. It could be seen as far back as 2015, though, when former employees such as Ben Shapiro came forth with their tales of bellicosity and vindictiveness.

The existence of a Steve Bannon allowed those who saw the political landscape through the same nationalist-populist lens that he did - Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity come to mind - but had a veneer of respectability to try to maintain to scale back their rhetoric just enough to avoid drawing the kind of fire Bannon seemed to relish.

The temptation among those leaning somewhat right whose main interest is in seeing a successful administration, in terms of achieving prosperity and security aims, will be to declare, "It looks like the days of the flamboyant wacko, the Anthony Scaramucci, the Steve Bannon, are behind us."

The scale does seem to have tipped in favor of more sober sorts, but there is still the person at the top, and if there's any "growth" on his part, it's perilously slow. The bigger-button tweet in response to Kim Kong-Un's New Year address was not only a combination of schoolyard macho posturing and penis-size allusion of the type Trump engaged in at a debate with Marco Rubio, it was hair-raisingly reckless. There is presently no world-stage situation with higher stakes. It could not be more important to refrain from crossing the line from expressions of resolve to juvenile taunts.

And his weighings-in on all manner of other subjects via Twitter - the media, Huma Abedin, Pakistan - continue to reflect his boorishness and thin skin. "Jail!" may indeed be what Abedin deserves for all the classified information on her laptop, but should it not happen, it contributes to a perception that his bellowings are empty rants. Pakistan's duplicity regarding the harboring of jihadists requires strong measures, such as the commendable withholding of aid dollars, but the "get no respect" phrase reinforces the notion that the current president approaches foreign policy with a mob-boss mentality.

For those who just want to see sound, conservative policy implemented, staying focused on the positive moves of executive-branch figures with proven track records as grownups, as well as legislators driven by principle, is necessary, if for no other reason than to ward off any creeping sense of hopelessness.

Steve Bannon has burned his bridges, and that's a good thing, but let's not kid ourselves that this development signals some kind of sharp pivot to normalcy.