Caffeinated Politics

Today I read these lines by Yuval Noah Harari in Homo Deus.

The greatest scientific discovery was the discovery of ignorance. Once humans realized how little they knew about the world, they suddenly had a very good reason to seek new knowledge.

If only….

I later read online that the Trump cabinet had a meeting where overt flattery and groveling were again featured. “You’re leading us to the greatest economy that the world has ever known,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said. If that line were just a one-off, it could be smiled at, and we could move on. But again and again, members of this cabinet willfully debase themselves for Donald Trump. In my days growing up back in the country, we would say the cabinet is buttering up Trump like a county-fair biscuit seeking the blue ribbon.

The New York Times reviewed over a dozen hours of cabinet meeting footage to analyze how his administration spoke to him. On average, at least one of every six sentences either flattered Mr. Trump, gave him credit or criticized his political opponents. Administration officials have complimented the president far more in cabinet meetings than in his first term, according to The Times’s review of footage.

One of the most striking features of Mr. Trump’s cabinet meetings this term is the extent to which his leadership has been praised as unparalleled.

Officials have declared on camera that he is singlehandedly ending global conflicts, winning the race for artificial intelligence, motivating troops to enlist and lowering gas prices, among a number of other claimed accomplishments.

There are no other examples from our history that can hold a candle to these cabinet meetings, where grown adults with serious résumes gather to praise Trump with the kind of breathless devotion usually reserved for teenage girls fawning over boy bands. What we witness is not a governing body but a weird version of an open‑mic for flattery. It does seem that each official seeks to out‑compliment the last. And bury a bit more of their credibility–if they had any–in the ground.

There’s a rhythm to these gatherings. First, Trump speaks and rattles off lies and half-truths. He prattles about nonsense that makes President George W. Bush look downright academic. Then the cabinet members, one by one, offer praise, so false and creepy that it makes viewers yearn for a shower. You can almost hear Linda McMahon think about how a sweet compliment is cheaper than actual competence in her job. The only task these people have is finding new creative ways to butter the obese butt cheeks of the orange biscuit in the room.

I know these cabinet meetings are ludicrous, allowing us a series of good laughs. But this is also seriously wrong. These are not college interns. These are not contestants on Trump’s reality television show. These are cabinet officials! They are entrusted with national policy and global strategy. Watching this crazy behavior makes me want to reach through the TV screen, grab them, and say,” Blink twice if you need help.” How they act is not normal.

I think many of us are aware of the times when cabinet meetings were boring. Dry. Full of charts and memos and the occasional polite disagreement? God, what a golden age. When Arthur Burns and Daniel Patrick Moynihan would argue over ideas. We didn’t know how good we had it. Now we tune in and wonder if any of the cabinet will slip under the table and opt for pure fluffing. It is that bad.