Nobody knows what they're doing

You know, outside of the horrifying context in which we find ourselves ruled by bullies who are actually proud to brand themselves on belligerent ignorance,  this is actually a liberating lesson for us to learn. If we ever learn it.

In the aftermath of Trump’s election, many sought solace in the thought that our reality-star-in-chief would delegate such weighty decisions to the “adults” in his administration. After all, the president is famously impressionable, forever echoing the sentiments of the last adviser who filled his ear. And White House “moderates” did capitalize on that suggestibility last month, when they averted an economic shock by deploying a series of visual aids to convince the president that abruptly exiting NAFTA (in celebration of his 100th day in office) would be unwise.

But the president’s malleability is just as useful to Roger Stone as it is to Gary Cohn. And “adults” in the West Wing can be just as immature and incompetent as they are everywhere else — points amply illustrated by last week’s events.

The lesson should be, let's never assume the people in charge have any idea what they're doing. That way it follows they should be subject to the will and scrutiny of public... you know.. democracy. Unfortunately the #Resistance right now seems focused on identifying the Good Authoritarian to replace the bad one we have right now. But the Good Authoritarians are just as out of touch and clueless as the bad ones. They all have to be watched and actually resisted (sans hashtag) all of the time.