A Pox

Richard Fernandez is a keen observer of the human condition. On many occasions he has written about how the elites (I call them the four constituencies) on the one hand argue that Trump is an incompetent who is unbalanced and dangerous, but on the other attribute almost supernatural powers to the man. How else, for example, could some of them claim that Trump has called white supremacists "fine people" (a bald-faced lie, BTW) and thereby is responsible for the actions of the Australian man who killed 49 Muslims in Christchurch, NZ. He tweets:

"What was revealed was the extent of rottenness in the system. If Trump had been a godlike Alexander it would have been one thing. But he's not. That they are actually less competent than a casino manager and reality show host is too much for them to take.

Yet it is nevertheless true. The real crisis of American governance isn't that Trump is some evil genius. It is what a bunch of mediocrities the elite have turned out to be. Better to have found out now than in the middle of some existential conflict with a great power."

We've seen rank stupidity and hubris among the elites on both the Left and the Right. The best and the brightest haven't done a particularly good job of leading us over the past few decades. Whether it was the neo-cons on the Right who lead us in to Iraq or the "smartest president ever" who presided over a moribund economy and made an absolute mess of our foreign policy, the elityes aren't nearly as smart as they think they are. Trump is not afraid to point that out and the rage he had generated in doing so is palpable. Even worse, Trump has accomplish more in his presidency than either of his predecessors accomplished in theirs—a galling reality that drives Trump Derangement Syndrome to new heights on a monthly basis.
With their venal attempts to destroy Trump's presidency, denigrate his administration and the people who work in it, and do anything, no matter how detrimental to the country, to resist his every policy, the elites have demonstrated that they are as vengeful and small as the man they hate. A pox on all of them.