“Political operatives” are likely frequently alcoholics. That could explain the state of the country.
Peggy Noonan wrote in her “Declarations” column, “How Christie Ended Up in This Jam,” in the January 11-12, 2014 edition of The Wall Street Journal:
“Policy people are policy people—sometimes creative, almost always sober, grounded, mature. But political operatives get high on winning. They start to think nothing can touch them when they’re with a winner. They get full of themselves. And they think only winning counts, because winning is their job.”
Based on Ms. Noonan’s description, “political operative” is an occupation perfectly suited for alcoholics. Political operatives get high on winning—alcoholics use winning to inflate their egos. They think nothing can touch them—alcoholics think they are invincible. They are full of themselves—alcoholics develop an inordinately large sense of self-importance, ending up with hugely inflated egos. And for political operatives, only winning counts—alcoholics must win regardless of the cost to others.
I’ve long hypothesized that a large plurality of politicians are alcoholics. It’s even more probable their operatives are, since they can more easily hide their alcoholic drinking. And that explains much of the state of the country: it fuels their arrogance and the idea they know how to live our lives and spend our money better than we do.