Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 6 days ago
Headline and text from article: So, As It Turns Out, Brain-Dead, Morally Bankrupt, Rampant Incompetence Matters How do we know? Look around you. by David Rothkopf Mar 22, 2026 Pickett charged. France built the Maginot line. The Empire left a big honking hole in the side of the Death Star, which allowed it to be destroyed. The history of military stupidity could fill volumes. But never, never has anyone seen a combination of ignorance, incoherence, and incompetence as we have seen from Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and their Capitol Hill chorus of wingnut oompa loompas. I have long felt that one of the many flaws of the culture of Washington, DC—which, candidly, I see as responsible for many of this country’s ills—is that the least admired or discussed quality we seek in our leaders is management skill.
Headline and text from article: So, As It Turns Out, Brain-Dead, Morally Bankrupt, Rampant Incompetence Matters How do we know? Look around you. by David Rothkopf Mar 22, 2026 Pickett charged. France built the Maginot line. The Empire left a big honking hole in the side of the Death Star, which allowed it to be destroyed. The history of military stupidity could fill volumes. But never, never has anyone seen a combination of ignorance, incoherence, and incompetence as we have seen from Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and their Capitol Hill chorus of wingnut oompa loompas. I have long felt that one of the many flaws of the culture of Washington, DC—which, candidly, I see as responsible for many of this country’s ills—is that the least admired or discussed quality we seek in our leaders is management skill.
Headline and text from article: So, As It Turns Out, Brain-Dead, Morally Bankrupt, Rampant Incompetence Matters How do we know? Look around you. by David Rothkopf Mar 22, 2026 Pickett charged. France built the Maginot line. The Empire left a big honking hole in the side of the Death Star, which allowed it to be destroyed. The history of military stupidity could fill volumes. But never, never has anyone seen a combination of ignorance, incoherence, and incompetence as we have seen from Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and their Capitol Hill chorus of wingnut oompa loompas. I have long felt that one of the many flaws of the culture of Washington, DC—which, candidly, I see as responsible for many of this country’s ills—is that the least admired or discussed quality we seek in our leaders is management skill.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 6 days ago
Text from article(edited for length): ...It may be a cliché that money is the root of all evil. But that does not mean it is not true in certain settings.... Money is the toxin that has put the interests of the few ahead of the interests of all the rest of us, turned control of our politics over to an ever-more powerful oligarchy and perverted our national priorities in myriad profoundly dangerous ways both at home and abroad. But it has not just undermined democracy in America. It has also produced a class of professional politicians and their supporting cast in the policy community who dance to the tune of those who are enriching them today or who will do so tomorrow. The promise of future of employment hinted at over breakfast at the Four Seasons restaurant in Georgetown and a pattern of senior government officials becoming millionaires many times over upon their departure from the government has led many an influential Washingtonian to put their thumb on the scales of national legislative or public policy outcomes. No cash is exchanged—for now. No brown paper bags full of money are handed over (except in the case of the crassly clueless like DHS thug Tom Homan). Instead, there is a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-make-you-richer-than-you’ve-ever-dreamed subtext to thousands of conversations a day in the city that has pushed our government further and further from the ideal of serving the “will of the people.” Some people are served to be sure. Just not most of us.
Text from article(edited for length): ...It may be a cliché that money is the root of all evil. But that does not mean it is not true in certain settings.... Money is the toxin that has put the interests of the few ahead of the interests of all the rest of us, turned control of our politics over to an ever-more powerful oligarchy and perverted our national priorities in myriad profoundly dangerous ways both at home and abroad. But it has not just undermined democracy in America. It has also produced a class of professional politicians and their supporting cast in the policy community who dance to the tune of those who are enriching them today or who will do so tomorrow. The promise of future of employment hinted at over breakfast at the Four Seasons restaurant in Georgetown and a pattern of senior government officials becoming millionaires many times over upon their departure from the government has led many an influential Washingtonian to put their thumb on the scales of national legislative or public policy outcomes. No cash is exchanged—for now. No brown paper bags full of money are handed over (except in the case of the crassly clueless like DHS thug Tom Homan). Instead, there is a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-make-you-richer-than-you’ve-ever-dreamed subtext to thousands of conversations a day in the city that has pushed our government further and further from the ideal of serving the “will of the people.” Some people are served to be sure. Just not most of us.
Text from article(edited for length): ...It may be a cliché that money is the root of all evil. But that does not mean it is not true in certain settings.... Money is the toxin that has put the interests of the few ahead of the interests of all the rest of us, turned control of our politics over to an ever-more powerful oligarchy and perverted our national priorities in myriad profoundly dangerous ways both at home and abroad. But it has not just undermined democracy in America. It has also produced a class of professional politicians and their supporting cast in the policy community who dance to the tune of those who are enriching them today or who will do so tomorrow. The promise of future of employment hinted at over breakfast at the Four Seasons restaurant in Georgetown and a pattern of senior government officials becoming millionaires many times over upon their departure from the government has led many an influential Washingtonian to put their thumb on the scales of national legislative or public policy outcomes. No cash is exchanged—for now. No brown paper bags full of money are handed over (except in the case of the crassly clueless like DHS thug Tom Homan). Instead, there is a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-make-you-richer-than-you’ve-ever-dreamed subtext to thousands of conversations a day in the city that has pushed our government further and further from the ideal of serving the “will of the people.” Some people are served to be sure. Just not most of us.
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