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I’ve been thinking about how our very American understanding of ambition, of winning at all costs, distorts the political conversation. We point out Ted Cruz’s hypocrisy, or Lindsey Graham’s, or anyone who ran against Trump in 2016 only to spend the next 4 years at his service /1 https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1346991279129784321
Everyone knows that’s the way presidential politics works: you enter the theater of the primary, you kick the shit out of each other, and then you pretend you think the world of whoever wins so that you can get ahead, get power. Career bullshitters humor career bullshitters. /2
Astonishing levels of cynicism and phoniness are a given, the idea that much of what we see in politics is fake is a given. Even when it’s “serious,” when it’s about policy and not personnel, the process is often one of angling, of signaling, of more fakery, in other words. /3
Like so much else, Trump’s rise has revealed a rot that was already there when he arrived in Washington. It’s worsened during his presidency, because of his presidency, but he just exploited a dynamic that others have exploited to their own advantage forever. /4
To survey our elected political leaders is to acknowledge a profound, nationwide tolerance for the cynicism and selfishness and self absorption of others. Today is a sad day in a sad city in a sad country. It’d be nice if it wasn’t “who we are,” but there’s no evidence of that.//
