Mitch McConnell's Banal Seriousness

Hannah Arendt's big idea--that evil is banal, concocted by banal people on the top and carried out as political policy by even more banal people down below--updated for our time: evil is unserious banal people doing the serious work of banality for their base in an impersonation of real political leadership AND public policy.

Donald Trump, serious? Wilbur Ross? Brett Kavanaugh? Betsy DeVos, serious? Ben Carson? Steve Mnuchin, serious? Mike Pompeo? Joe Biden? Mayor Pete? These are actors and actresses impersonating seriousness in varying degrees of banality. Tv entertainers, celebrity titans, corporate comedians, professional politicians, they're so banal they don't seem to really be people, only types of people. Since it's impossible to take them seriously all one can do is laugh, that's how banal they are, manipulative to the point of incompetence and then some, stupid and lurid, frauds, true-believers, good guys, big spenders, fiscal conservatives and elders of the reformed church of socialists, the 42% at the base of the inverted pyramid that is American politics, those who enjoy being lied to by clowns, and the opposition which has proven equally loyal to corrupt practices.

Mitch McConnell however is serious, banal but serious, serious and banal.