Of buffoons and sycophants (1)
As the war on Iran continues despite attempts at forging a genuine ceasefire and some diplomatic brokering from other countries, the issue of American dominance in world politics has become a top conversation piece.
Many global analysts, including prominent academicians like Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned economist from Columbia University, have referred to the United States of America as a slowly waning global imperial flame.
The administration of Donald J. Trump as American president, according to Sachs, has largely contributed to the slow decline of the American empire. Sachs attributes this to Trump’s erratic, reckless, irresponsible, and megalomaniacal delusional behavior that can very much be associated with how political buffoons behave.
While many people are amused by buffoons for their clownish behavior, some of them have manifested irritating, irresponsible behavior accompanied by insulting and irritating comments. Among them are world leaders like Trump.
In “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” by Bill Bryson, a character is described as “someone who didn’t seem to be outstandingly bright, and many of his colleagues considered him little more than “an irritating buffoon.”
In a recent briefing on the US- and Israeli-waged war on Iran, Trump had to be led out of the Pentagon briefing room when he displayed behavior that can only be described as a meltdown. A meltdown happens when someone is presented with information that can be emotionally disturbing, and immediately responds with an overwhelming sensory and cognitive overload that leads to a temporary loss of behavioral control. “Nagwala” is the best Tagalog word to describe a meltdown.
Trump’s military advisers briefed him on the status of the US government’s slowly depleting military arsenal, courtesy of Iran’s numerous and quite dangerous responses of drone swarms and hypersonic missiles. He was also told that, despite his thunderous threats against Iran—if its leaders would continue to close the Strait of Hormuz—Iran continued to close it anyway, and even sent word to the US government that it would never give up its retaliation against the US and Israel.
For his second term, Trump has decided to listen only to a circle of four advisers—actually his mini-echo chamber—who parrot everything he says and believes in. And for good measure, they even quote passages from the Christian Bible about praying for the cause of American wars waged against “terroristic” countries like Iran.
These are Trump’s circle of sycophants, ready to do as he bids, even if it means that the whole world has ridiculed them, including the government they represent.
These four include a former television news anchor on Fox News, whose only claim to being qualified as defense secretary is when he was drafted for a limited time as a low-ranking military officer, after which he was sacked for inappropriate behavior. Another is his vice president, JD Vance, who questioned the “qualifications” of Pope Leo XIV on matters related to theology. He does not realize that the first-ever American pope is a holder of a doctorate degree in Divinity. Vance just converted to Catholicism and claims he knows the entire universe of knowledge about theology and morality. Two others in Trump’s close circle are real estate agents, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and foreign affairs adviser Steve Witkoff.
Here in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, we are seeing the growing influence of the “irritating” types of buffoons and sycophants in the interim, fledgling government. Currently, we are seeing some display of strength that belies serious ignorance of standard operational procedures of good governance. These officials brand themselves as following “moral governance,” but behave in a way that could only be interpreted as being highly entitled individuals who could not care less about who gets hurt in the process of their pronouncements.
Some also display the behavior of sycophants, like those of Trump. They brag about their expertise in almost all aspects of governance and yet are ridiculed by genuine government experts who expose the former’s utter ignorance of basic rules and procedures of a bureaucracy. These sycophant “experts” whisper in the ears of their superiors, who are as naïve as they are, and make the former post some ridiculous, highly inflammatory messages on social media.
These incidents have shown the consequences of a potent mix we have among our regional top officials–of both irritating buffoons and sycophants.
Such a dangerous mix could lead to more perilous consequences for this fledgling region that is set to transition to a regular one after the parliamentary elections on Sept. 13, 2026.
We hope this first-ever parliamentary elections become a reality, finally, after having been postponed four times.
(To be continued.)
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