People who lust for power have learned to disguise their ambition lest they generate active opposition. So, the verbiage they employ is intentionally deceptive. Also, if you disguise what you want, you do not have to admit failure when you don’t get it. In the fables that’s encapsulated as “sour grapes.”

Anyway, since rulers are inconsistent with government by the people (democracy) those who lust for power represent themselvs as “leaders” or, more recently, “influencers.” Their ambition gets disguised as a “mission,” as if they were dispatched by some higher power, to save humanity from perdition or spending too much money.

How did saving come to be preferred to spending? Is it based on the difference between visible and invisible? A hoard vs, a hole? A hollow? A sense of emptiness? Do people seek power because they feel empty? Put a tiger in your tank?

**********
Opinionaters are a different breed. They talk, often nonsense, just to be heard. Were he just a bit more articulate, poor Donald would qualify.
Ross Douthat is definitely one.