On National Review, Michael Brendan Dougherty sounds more than a trifle weary as the soap opera we call a government, a soap opera we honestly shouldn’t be the least surprised about, grinds on, perhaps massacring those tender ideological nerves principled conservatives are at such pains to nurse:
Source: Michael Offutt.
I don’t know where he got it.People who write about politics and have Twitter accounts will continue to lose their sense of sanity trying to cover this administration as if doing so gave them membership in a dignified profession. Being a part of the Fourth Estate of a history-making republic seems respectable. Being a Steve Bannon fanfic analyst sounds like something else.
Perhaps the decent thing one can do for one’s sanity is to become a proper conspiracy theorist. What a relief it would be if George Soros, Vladimir Putin, or the members of Bohemian Grove were pulling all the strings. Who cares if they’re evil? At least they’re adults taking responsibility for the world we live in. Until today I thought Louise Mensch and other Putin obsessives were unhinged. Now I wonder if they aren’t pioneers of self-care and self-help. If the world is insane, the only way to restore a sense of balance is turn your own screws until loose.
Steve Bannon is out. Tune in next week for Steve Bannon strikes back. You’ll be watching. Donald Trump will be watching. Are you not entertained?
Quite. But as long term friends have weary knowledge, I’ve often said that politics is all about entertaining ME[1], although I’ll grant that Trump is an entire family size helping, not the more friendly single serving pile of spaghetti. I’ve not tracked National Review’s political sympathies with any great interest since the election campaign began, but I seem to recall they were in the Never Trump! camp for a while, and then overcame the allergy to be behind him. Perhaps the ride has turned out to be too rough.
1I once mentioned to a friend about to trot out to the fencing strip for a gold medal bout that her entire reason for being there was to entertain ME. She darn near brained me, but then she won the bout, so it’s all good.
