Why is Trump surrounded by cocky, unqualified and kooky men?

[babylonsister]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/04/trump-unqualified-men-rudy-giuliani?CMP=fb_gu

Why is Trump surrounded by cocky, unqualified and kooky men?
Richard Wolffe
Fri 4 May 2018 14.30 EDT
First published on Fri 4 May 2018 14.03 EDT


They say you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. The presidency is no different: when it comes to a commander-in-chief, you can tell a lot from the aides they keep close.

Barack Obama’s closest staffers were often intensely competitive, earnest, studious types who struggled to understand why the world didn’t admire their idealism and talent as much as they did. George W Bush, at least in his first term, surrounded himself with trigger-happy street fighters who confused patriotism with their own paranoia and prejudice.

In the case of Donald Trump, the company he keeps is surprisingly consistent: a singular type with a shared set of character traits. They are, to a man, cocky, unqualified and kooky. You might call this the CUK theory of the Trump presidency, in honor of one of their archetypes: Steve Bannon.

All the president’s men – at least, the CUKs – are a constant presence, in spite of the huge turnover among them. There was Bannon, now there’s Bolton. There was Scaramucci, now there’s Giuliani. It matters not. Trump cycles through his CUKs happily and frequently because he needs to keep one or more close through all his volatility.

snip//

So to our latest member of the gang: Rudy Giuliani. According to the otherwise friendly New York Post, it was Rudy’s arrogance that killed his 2008 presidential campaign. For some reason, early state voters found it a turnoff. This is a man who endorsed Trump at the Republican convention by saying the next president would carry the Giuliani torch: “What I did for New York City, Donald Trump will do for America.”

If anyone had any doubts about Rudy’s qualifications to be the latest in a long line of Trump’s lawyers, this week was truly special. In a couple of Fox News interviews, Giuliani contradicted the previous official story about Trump’s lawyer paying hush money to the actress known as Stormy Daniels. Along the way, he exposed his new client to additional legal risk and managed to refocus the world’s attention on the president and a porn star on the National Day of Prayer. Pure genius.

Among the many kooky theories Rudy has peddled was his repeated stirring of the pot about Hillary Clinton’s health, his obvious superiority to Beyoncé, and his recent description of FBI agents as “stormtroopers”. For all this and so much more, Rudy scores another perfect 10 as a CUK.

Curious minds might wonder why this president chooses to surround himself with so many men who are cocky, unqualified and kooky. For someone so modest, so well-versed in world affairs, and so cogent, it seems so obviously out of character.

[randr]

1. Birds of a feather?

[backtoblue]

5. Beat me to it.nt

[Bleacher Creature]

12. Me three!! NT

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Answer is obvious, because he is also.

But he really is just a completely ignorant narcissist.

I would bet a LARGE amount of money were I to be allowed to ask him 5 BASIC business questions that even a shoe repair store owner would know, he would not know 4 of them , that would be the bet, but I am sure he would not know all 5.

Complete ignoramus.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. He thinks they make him look good.

[BigmanPigman]

4. He looked in the mirror and wanted more, more, more.

[Solly Mack]

6. They are all like him but with one extra trait - all obsequious.

They measure their worth by him and how he sees them.

There is a pecking order even among the cocky.

[smirkymonkey]

7. Because he knows that if he surrounded himself with intelligent, competent people it would

only highlight the fact that he was stupid and incompetent. He will do anything to make himself look good. The thing is, it's not really working, is it?

[unblock]

8. When you limit yourself to white nationalists....

[IADEMO2004]

9. A peer group.

[enough]

10. Takes one to know one. NT

[Sophia4]

11. Because intelligent women don't like him.

[lunatica]

13. Smart people have always avoided him

He’s quite transparent to those of with an IQ.

[sharedvalues]

14. They're REPUBLICANS

Look at the GOP “intellectuals” writing columns for major papers... a bunch of cocky and unqualified lightweights. Douthat, Williams, mcArdle, Thiessen, Rogers, Noonan, etc— they’re a bunch of weak minded mediocrities.

As far as I can tell, there are few or no smart Republicans left. Look at Comey: former Republican. No more.

The only well educated people joining the GOP today are those who are purchased by billionaires or dumb enough to buy the billionaire lies.


So given the state of today’s GOP, is it any surprise the president can’t find smart people?