No offense to the teeming throngs of social-media influencers who read this newsletter, but generally, people become social-media influencers because they are good at attracting attention, and not necessarily for any other qualities — and attracting attention for doing something stupid, obnoxious, or repugnant is every bit as valuable as attracting attention for doing something smart, virtuous, or helpful. The most important quality in the world of social-media fame is that people are talking about you, even if they’re talking about how dumb and shameless you are. In fact, it is axiomatic that if you have a strong sense of propriety, decorum, and shame, you are not likely to become a big-time social-media influencer. No one says, “Wow, that circus clown is strikingly modest and thoughtful.” …

In this light, it was just a matter of time before some social-media influencer was invited to a White House event and did something spectacularly inappropriate. The president’s staff keeps inviting groups of people who make their living by breaking rules and behaving outrageously and provocatively, and then expects them to follow the rules while on White House grounds.

[As I said yesterday, Pride parades and events have evolved into spectacular circuses of sexual narcissism and vulgarity. I’m surprised that there weren’t more such displays on the White House lawn than just those that went viral on social media. And maybe there were. That’s exactly what Biden and his team invited to celebrate at this event, which is why it’s disingenuous now to claim to be shocked, shocked at the antics of Montoya et al. — Ed]