"In weeks like this, the mask slips somewhat. Politicians love the illusion of control. It's the special power that differentiates them from us lower orders. They are the ones pulling all the levers. Nothing ever happens that takes them unawares. They are the ones with answers to everything. They need it to be this way. Not just for their own psyches but for ours. It's somehow comforting."
"And then along comes Donald Trump and our emperors have no clothes. Their limitations on view to everyone. Scrabbling around just to stand still. Trying to make sense of the world in real time, just like the rest of us. Making it up as they go along. To be fair, there is no shame in this. Their real crime is to pretend they know what they are doing the rest of the time."
"Let's face it: The Donald doesn't know what The Donald is going to do or say from one day to the next, so it's hardly likely that anyone else will. He isn't even sure if Greenland is Iceland. Hell, they've both got land in them. Watch out, England. The only certainty is uncertainty, much as politicians wish it were otherwise."
Politicians cultivate an illusion of control to differentiate themselves and reassure the public. That illusion erodes when unpredictable leaders expose their limits, forcing them to scramble while appearing just as uncertain as ordinary citizens. Donald Trump's erratic actions — threats of tariffs, demands about NATO and Greenland, mock-up maps presenting foreign territories as US states, talk of buying Greenland, and threats of invasion — have amplified confusion among world leaders. Contradictory statements at Davos and abrupt social media claims further undermined diplomatic calm. The fundamental failing lies less in uncertainty itself than in pretending certainty where none exists.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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