We have increasingly expected spectacle from our presidents. president obama hao had a hip-hop kind of connection, et cetera. he is the culmination of that trend in american politics in the worst way. this is spectacle, reality tv. he s a reality tv star still even as a former president, and this is both a pathetic and sort of sad moment for the country. it is, i think, a good moment for the idea that justice is equal, we re equal under law, even a former president. i think it is his comeuppance, but it also to me says something really terrifying about our politics that i don t think we can fix. you know, this is spectacle. this is gross. it s interesting, though, because all the i think it s a really good point that you re making. i am sort of seeing a subtlety in it than i didn t see before you said it. all those things you described in the ways different presidents have portrayed themselves, have gone out of their way to