Angina Monologue 38

His Majesty is feeling much better.

I had been deeply worried about him for some time, and my worries had kept me from a great many other activities. His powers seemed to have grown genuinely weak as he became an old man. He was querulous where before he had been gimlet-eyed; peevish where before he had been acid-tongued.

Turns out the problem was arthritis in his back, which had led to bone spurs in his spine, which in turn had produced cerebrospinal fluid leaks and constant headaches. Fortunately, most of this could be corrected by a competent neurosurgeon  (alas, the arthritis will be with us, always) and it’s amazing how a great reduction in pain has made him a new Sith. He’s practically his old self. Which is to say: Impatient with human stupidity, exacting in his demands, and game for the occasional genocide. (Also, fond of his cats, but that’s not especially a Sith thing.)

This morning I mentioned a news article I’d read that suggested a lot of workers would rather take extended COVID relief payments than go back to work. With all the money being dumped into the economy at the very time that production is being hindered by a shortage of labor, we’re certain to have some serious inflation. I remarked to His Majesty that this is so obvious and predictable that one has to believe it was the plan all along. Then I caught that glint in his eye.

Lord Vader, I should think you, of all people, would remember Hanson’s Law: Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity. You’re giving Biden and his administration far too much credit. The voters haven’t elected Stalin and Lenin; they’ve elected Bozo and Bubbles.

I was properly chastened. But I could not resist pointing out that there were times when Obama’s cult of personality got downright creepy.

I would not read too much into that. The last two Presidents both acquired significant personality cults, and we may anticipate that this will be the norm for the foreseeable future. Even Biden has himself confused with FDR, a personality cult figure of the first order, and there are significant numbers of Democrats who are actually buying it.

I reflected that it would be hard to imagine Mitt Romney ever acquiring a personality cult.

Of course, he lost — though I would say the lack of the kind of personality around which one could construct a cult was probably third in importance behind the fact that he was running against the first African-American president and that he was a Mormon. Ironic that a candidate widely regarded as a cultist was actually the least cultic figure we’ve had run for President since George H.W. Bush.

The fastest way to get your mind around the phenomenon of Mitt Romney is to recognize that he combines a first-rate intellect and a solid moral sense with an utterly unremarkable personality. Successful Presidential candidates all have oversized personalities.

Of course, one must not confuse “successful Presidential candidate” with “successful President.” We have a successful Presidential candidate very four years. We haven’t had a successful President since at least Ronald Reagan. For example, Bill Clinton was, by any reasonable measure, a highly successful Presidential candidate; he was not in any useful sense a successful President.

Which is ironic but reflective of our age. The President comes second in the U.S. Constitution after Congress, and was intended to be a mere executor of law and policy — the servant of Congress, the people, and the Constitution, in increasing order of importance — but the ancient human longing for a Hero has turned the President into something uncomfortably close to a Caesar.

Romney would have made a splendid President in the original Constitutional mold. Which means he would have been a disappointment to pretty much everyone: His enemies, for failing to be a monster; and his supporters … for failing to be a monster.

I can’t disagree with His Majesty’s take on what the Presidency has  become. Meanwhile, I’ve quietly shifted some of His Majesty’s assets from securities to equity, as a hedge against inflation. I can’t do anything to protect his Social Security, which I still can’t help wondering if it is the whole point. And, of course, his Imperial pension is in Republican credits, which are no good out here. We need something more real.