If you ever happen to be watching an American network in the next little while, you’re pretty certain to see some of this, in fact, a lot of this. It may not be this guy for much longer, but you can substitute the clown or your choice, because the clown car is pretty full right about now. Here’s my attempt to be even-handed:

In this case, for the purposes of this piece, we’re less concerned about the people in the foreground and their plenitude of pronouncements (Rex! where are you now that no one needs you?) than about the people who cluster around the speakers and either nod sagely or bobble their heads uncontrollably. Knowing that some of them are hired actors doesn’t make the silliness any more palatable as we watch people agreeing with some of the most patent dishonesty imaginable. It conjures up images of this, an all-too-frequent occurrence:

Sorry about not getting the hard hats.