Angus King

That's always dangerous for any leader. Remember, I went back to my teaching, and one of the things I used to teach was you've got to have people in your circle who are empowered to, and in fact, in my case, required to tell you when you're full of . If you don't, you're gonna make big mistakes.

That's always dangerous for any leader. Remember, I went back to my teaching, and one of the things I used to teach was you've got to have people in your circle who are empowered to, and in fact, in my case, required to tell you when you're full of . If you don't, you're gonna make big mistakes.

A friend of mine in business up here in Maine has a sign on his office wall that says, if you and I agree all the time, one of us isn't necessary. And so that's a real danger. From his point of view, That's dangerous because he's not going to get the straight information and he's going to make mistakes. Just, I mean, the tariff policy is a perfect example of there's no policy.

A friend of mine in business up here in Maine has a sign on his office wall that says, if you and I agree all the time, one of us isn't necessary. And so that's a real danger. From his point of view, That's dangerous because he's not going to get the straight information and he's going to make mistakes. Just, I mean, the tariff policy is a perfect example of there's no policy.

A friend of mine in business up here in Maine has a sign on his office wall that says, if you and I agree all the time, one of us isn't necessary. And so that's a real danger. From his point of view, That's dangerous because he's not going to get the straight information and he's going to make mistakes. Just, I mean, the tariff policy is a perfect example of there's no policy.

There's no policy you can discern because it changes every two or three days. And what's clear is it wasn't really thought through. That's why this power was put in Congress because things like tariffs are pretty important. They should be debated and the pros and cons evaluated. That apparently didn't happen in this case.

There's no policy you can discern because it changes every two or three days. And what's clear is it wasn't really thought through. That's why this power was put in Congress because things like tariffs are pretty important. They should be debated and the pros and cons evaluated. That apparently didn't happen in this case.

There's no policy you can discern because it changes every two or three days. And what's clear is it wasn't really thought through. That's why this power was put in Congress because things like tariffs are pretty important. They should be debated and the pros and cons evaluated. That apparently didn't happen in this case.

I think it's a little of both. I think some of the president's advisors are malicious. Elon Musk, for example, really enjoys firing people. Obviously, they don't know what they're doing, literally. They're firing people that they have to rehire two or three days later. Oh, those people take care of nuclear weapons. I guess we shouldn't have fired them.

I think it's a little of both. I think some of the president's advisors are malicious. Elon Musk, for example, really enjoys firing people. Obviously, they don't know what they're doing, literally. They're firing people that they have to rehire two or three days later. Oh, those people take care of nuclear weapons. I guess we shouldn't have fired them.

I think it's a little of both. I think some of the president's advisors are malicious. Elon Musk, for example, really enjoys firing people. Obviously, they don't know what they're doing, literally. They're firing people that they have to rehire two or three days later. Oh, those people take care of nuclear weapons. I guess we shouldn't have fired them.

So there's malice in terms of this, what I believe is taking pleasure. Have you ever heard Elon Musk express a moment of remorse about the people's lives who are being upended and screwed up? No, zero. In fact, he's on the stage at that conference with his sunglasses and a chainsaw grinning about how cool it is that he's destroying people's lives. This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

So there's malice in terms of this, what I believe is taking pleasure. Have you ever heard Elon Musk express a moment of remorse about the people's lives who are being upended and screwed up? No, zero. In fact, he's on the stage at that conference with his sunglasses and a chainsaw grinning about how cool it is that he's destroying people's lives. This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

So there's malice in terms of this, what I believe is taking pleasure. Have you ever heard Elon Musk express a moment of remorse about the people's lives who are being upended and screwed up? No, zero. In fact, he's on the stage at that conference with his sunglasses and a chainsaw grinning about how cool it is that he's destroying people's lives. This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

Now, what's going on in Social Security, I think, is a little bit of both. At first, I thought they just didn't know what they were doing and they were cutting offices just for the sake of firing people. But now it appears that they really are trying in a subterfuge way of destroying Social Security, which there are people in this country have been trying to do since 1935.

Now, what's going on in Social Security, I think, is a little bit of both. At first, I thought they just didn't know what they were doing and they were cutting offices just for the sake of firing people. But now it appears that they really are trying in a subterfuge way of destroying Social Security, which there are people in this country have been trying to do since 1935.

Now, what's going on in Social Security, I think, is a little bit of both. At first, I thought they just didn't know what they were doing and they were cutting offices just for the sake of firing people. But now it appears that they really are trying in a subterfuge way of destroying Social Security, which there are people in this country have been trying to do since 1935.

I'm not going to betray any private conversations, but I will say that many of them know that this is dangerous. But rationalization is very powerful. And we all want to rationalize the position that we're taking, particularly at a moment like this. And so one of the most common refrains I hear is, yeah, this is dangerous, but the courts will take care of it. to me, that's a cop-out.

I'm not going to betray any private conversations, but I will say that many of them know that this is dangerous. But rationalization is very powerful. And we all want to rationalize the position that we're taking, particularly at a moment like this. And so one of the most common refrains I hear is, yeah, this is dangerous, but the courts will take care of it. to me, that's a cop-out.

I'm not going to betray any private conversations, but I will say that many of them know that this is dangerous. But rationalization is very powerful. And we all want to rationalize the position that we're taking, particularly at a moment like this. And so one of the most common refrains I hear is, yeah, this is dangerous, but the courts will take care of it. to me, that's a cop-out.