Scrolling the Internet on your phone does not feed the mind. It breaks the mind. It’s an anti-ritual, said a friend. Ritual directs and organizes us. We need to focus.

At the end of a long podcast interview recently, after expounding on Trumponomics (take from the working class and give to the uber rich), oligarchy and autocracy, Bernie Sanders was asked about Daylight Savings Time. “Doesn’t matter,” said the senator, gruffly, as he waved his hand and stood up to end the interview. A real, and right, moment. A serious man in a serious time.

We need to think about what matters. And what doesn’t, much.

What matters and doesn’t

Diluting democracy matters. Innocent people being kidnapped by ICE and “disappeared” matters. Abandoning Ukraine, and aligning with Putin, matters. And crashing the stock market, devaluing the life savings of millions of Americans, while also threatening to reduce or privatize Social Security, matters.

On a pragmatic level — in terms of daily living — kitchen table economics matters most to people right now.

But where is the serious engagement with this, or any other issue, at this moment? (Except for Sanders.) Much of the press is cowed. And too many Democrats have a bad case of trivial pursuit.

Recently, after Sen. Mark Kelly, soberly but rather mildly, criticized the Trump Administration’s embrace of Putin, Elon Musk called Mr. Kelly “a traitor.”

Mark Kelly? This is a person who has been a Navy officer, a fighter pilot, a NASA astronaut, and a U.S. Senator. He has sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, and he has been true to the oath, for most of his adult life.

Patriots serve. Poseurs pose. And dilettantes dance around the bonfire, howling at the moon.

Sen. Kelly gave a smart response. He said of Musk: “He’s not a serious person.” Correct. Serious people do not play at serious things. Serious people do not swing wrecking balls for the sheer joy of destruction and feeling power over others.

They try to fix broken things. They don’t look around for new things to break.

Social Security is not broken. It is not a Ponzi scheme. But if you manage to break it, you can say: See, I told you it was broken.

Trump governance is un-governance, and sometimes, anti-governance. Ask yourself what Mr. Trump wants to do. Or build. What is his legislative agenda?

Trump is unserious

He wants only to undo, and even that in unsystematic fashion. Above all, Trump governance is unserious. It is not for any clear purpose or end. That’s why almost everyone Mr. Trump has hired is a lackey or a stooge.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to streamline or reform the federal bureaucracy. Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all tried, and to some extent succeeded. Reagan formed the Grace Commission, headed by businessman Peter Grace, a rational and civilized Musk. The commission studied, held hearings, and issued a report and recommendations. Eventually, the Congress acted. The president acted.

There is waste in government. Inherently. And a serious efficiency effort ought to happen every five to ten years. We have a huge deficit, partly thanks to Trump I.

We may not need a Department of Education. Or Commerce. Or multiple intelligence services and heads. Given the capacities of AI, the federal bureaucracy should adapt and change.

But we need tax cuts for billionaires even less than the Department of Education. DOGE is not an honest effort at reform, or efficiency, or debt reduction. It is unserious. We know this. We also know that there is purpose in government as well as waste.

And seriousness requires distinctions and balance. Unseriousness did not begin with the Trump regime. Unseriousness was one cause of Trumpism. We were not serious about the border.

And unseriousness has been a major response to Trumpism. To disrupt the president’s speech on the House floor is unserious. To hold up signs or turn your backs, is unserious. To censure the interrupter, is unserious. To punish the 10 Democrats who voted for censure, is unserious.

All of this is a profound waste of time — the politics of posture, distraction, and anti-ritual. We need to focus.

A heart of cruelty

For if the heart of Trump governance is unseriousness, the soul of it is “performative cruelty,” in William Kristol’s phrase: Show the world how tough you are by showing how indifferent to suffering and intentionally cruel you are. Send the immigrant and the seeker of refuge to a prison camp. Make everyone afraid and then close the gate.

This is the sole example of dedication and discipline in Trumpland: Intimidating and hurting people. The sport of tyrants.

And it is the opposite of our national ideal: Liberty, justice and respect for all. Performative cruelty calls for a response that is not just another pose, but … serious.

Keith C. Burris is the former editor, vice president and editorial director of Block Newspapers: burriscolumn@gmail.com. His previous article was “What to do when Washington is unprecedented, ludicrous and dumb.”

First Published: March 24, 2025, 8:00 a.m.