Why So Many Politicians Are Such Assholes

John Harris: “Why are so many people in the business of being likable actually so unlikable? Not unlikable merely in the awkward, eye-rolling, prefer-not-to-spend-much-time-with-that-clod sense. Unlikable in the toxic, misanthropic, something-must-be-wrong-with-him sense. In other words: in the Andrew Cuomo sense. Or at least, it is now clear, the way many subordinates and fellow politicians experienced Cuomo on many occasions.”

“One element is probably ageless. Professions that demand public performance attract ambitious, creative, and often needy people who feel under intense psychic pressure and often take it out on people when the spotlight is not on (or they wrongly assume it is not on.) There are even examples, or so I’ve heard, of this phenomenon afflicting people in the news media. But an important factor is distinctly a product of this age: The cult of bad-ass, trash-talking that has come to politics, including or especially to political-media relations.”