Well Mike, if I were king, I would make all my subjects read you on a regular basis. I love the quote from Gore Vidal. Idiocy yes indeed. But we need to unravel things more, as even bright people make poor choices when facing a torrent of false information designed to stimulate fear and hatred as well as scientific confusion. You might enjoy some of my recent attempts at unraveling. https://daneke.medium.com/seriously-what-the-hell-is-going-on-the-perverse-political-economy-of-rage-ab506e962877