The phrase 'butter someone up' is the real golden nugget here. Just think about it, people sliding around all greased up like in an infomercial for non-stick pans. Would definitely make politics more transparent... or just shinier, I guess.

Yeah that happens to me too sometimes. Usually when I'm stuck in traffic or something equally soul-sucking. Gotta be our minds just checking out of the grind for a bit, right? Philosophers probably have some fancy term for it.