I just finished Michael Lewis’s book The Fifth Risk, which is a bit strange to read now, because the ostensible subject is the lunatic incompetence of Trump and his claque. But it turns out to have a sort of redemptive aspect as the focus shifts from their destruction to what, in their ignorance and belligerence, they tried to destroy — in particular, Commerce (esp the NOAA), Energy, and the FDA. I had no idea of the scope of the FDA’s responsibilities, which is completely mind-blowing. It’s a pity the book will mostly be consigned to the dustheap of transient politics, because in retrospect it’s something very different — a well-written, useful, and positive view of the US’s professional civil service.