I see that rule posted a lot, but imo it doesn't really apply to people in power. Infact, trying to apply it to that context is actually dangerous... take Trump as a case study: he's done immeasurable damage to the US and consistently skirts any kind of real consequence because we just keep giving him the village-idiot pass.

Better to assume every action and outcome are calculated and intentional when we're talking shit like oligarchs or politicians. Even if they sincerely are just a dumbass, hold them to that same standard, as we really ought to disincentivize dumbasses from running corporations/countries/etc anyway.