Pylimitics

Yesterday, Tuesday Sept 29, was the momentous occasion of a “Super Intelligence Luncheon” (sic) in Washington, DC. It was a fancy, formal event, and they published the seating chart:

The lives of government aides and staffers seems to me like unending torture. There’s Susie Wiles, a 69-year-old woman who started out in 1978 as a receptionist and aide to Jack Kemp. She was Susie Summerall then. Her career progressed to personal secretary for a Secretary of Labor, did fundraising and campaign management for various politicians, and became an “advisor” to the orange baby, and most recently (2025) the chief of staff in the White House. She’s seated between the venture capitalis Chamath Palihapitiya and another money guy, Greg Brockman. Brockman is president of OpenAI, but not because he’s a programming guru; as I mentioned, he’s a money guy and MIT dropout. So you’ve got two money guys from tech flanking a lifetime political hanger-on.

I’m sure they found something to discuss that none of them really cared much about, and the money guys were very careful what they said to the quite powerful hanger-on. That kind of skill comes with the territories all three inhabit.

But this was a ceremonial lunch(eon), they all had to be there, and good grief, that’s about half a day none of them are getting back. Three people with significant, although different, resources, forced together, and all in the service of just a waste of time. Pathetic.