As I understand it (and I’ve only been thinking about it for the last 20 or 30 minutes) a honey badger is someone who just wants to swagger or slither around and get all kinds of glowing attention while doing so. He or she may proclaim this or that belief or philosophy, but he/she is actually fairly elastic as long as his/her ego is being sufficiently stroked and a fair amount of money and privelege is part of the deal.

N.Y. Times columnist Frank Bruni has posted a conversation with filmmaker Errol Morris. The subject is rightwing sociopath Steve Bannon and Errol’s new film, American Dharma, which basically makes Bannon the center of attention and offers him a platform to spew all he wants about whatever.

Bruni: “Did [Bannon] try to feel you out at all about what political perspective you’d be coming from or have any fears about that?”

Morris: “I don’t think that he had fears about that. He’s a honey badger.”

Bruni: “Sorry?”

Morris: “Honey badgers don’t care.”

Bruni: “I also had the feeling, watching him in the movie, and I’ve had this feeling watching him elsewhere, that he’s a creature of extraordinary vanity, and you were giving him a microphone. Is that fair?”

Morris: “I think that is more than fair.”