Two essays: Dreading the juveniles in Trump’s government, saluting an actual adult who stood up for decency

Allow me to pair related essays for your consideration: A weekend blog post by Max Weiss about the ridiculous juvenile antics that serve as “governing” in the Trump White House and my weekend Substack commentary on the announced retirement of Steny Hoyer, the longtime Maryland congressman and former House Majority leader.

In her post, Weiss gets at thoughts I had intended to share after seeing recent comments and memes emanating from Trump social media accounts, leading to the depressing conclusion that snarky brats are in charge of the federal government. Weiss cites numerous examples of divisive comments from official sources —  White House staff, the Veep and others, all “volume tweeters” who appear to spend more time trying to own the libs in social media than actually working.

“It’s taken me a while,” Weiss writes, “to fully grasp the fact that we have a far-right regime in place that has not even the slightest interest in being the government for all, but I’m fully there now.”

She adds: “I miss grownups.”

For my part, I offer something related: The winter evening in 2021 when Steny Hoyer, a true grownup, stood on the House floor to call for decency against the onslaught of hateful MAGA vulgarities. It was his finest hour.

I mention it to savor it. In the age of Trump, such moments are treasure.

There have been many ways to explain the American tragedy of Trump — his fear mongering, appeals to racism, his demonization of immigrants, having Musk and other tech billionaires on his side — and all of that is part of the answer.

But there was something else necessary for him to win two elections: The willingness of grownups to care little about the next generation. How anyone with children or grandchildren could support or work for Trump is impossible for me to fathom.

This time, there are no “adults in the room,” not one. Trump is surrounded and supported by people who see government as he does — an apparatus for ridiculing opponents, exacting revenge and enriching themselves at the expense of others. That pretty much describes classic adolescence — obsessed with self, oblivious to the needs of others and unfamiliar with the concept of a greater good.

Actual adolescents are excused, the adults who agreed to work for Trump can never be. They have us on the cusp of an autocracy.

Once upon a time, at least in the ideal, the country had standards; our parents and grandparents wanted presidents they and we could admire and respect. It did not always work out — few presidents got out of Washington without scars or scandal of some kind — but it never started out that way; we never knowingly elected a vulgar and ridiculous man, a felon and half-adult and aspiring autocrat. And now Americans have done it twice.

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