the consulate is psycho-controlled by a handful of individuals who find themselves in complete absolute uncontested unquestioned this-is-the-way-god-made-the-universe control of 1) deciding what is good and 2) altering the minds of others to conform. these elite gods will of course attempt this with each other - it's human nature, people don't agree, those who seek power over others seek power over others, etc etc etc - leading to a thousand psychic wars, whole populations brainwashed to believe what their immediate rulers believe, entire populations wiped out because of psychic contamination issues, etc etc etc. if you think the star wars clone army was a surprise and palpatine taking control of the senate was a display of the sith lord's power, multiply that by a thousand and you get the consulate.