Its official: Steven Mnuchin is the greatest sycophant [bootlicker] in Cabinet history

It think this applies to Pruitt, Zinke, Sessions, Mick Mulvaney-and others I can not recall at the moment





It’s official: Steven Mnuchin is the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-official-steven-mnuchin-is-the-greatest-sycophant-in-cabinet-history/2018/04/06/7f35069a-39b9-11e8-8fd2-49fe3c675a89_story.html?utm_term=.db51301887d9

President Trump in New York last August with Gary Cohn, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
By Dana Milbank Opinion writer April 6 at 8:00 PM



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By contrast, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, like Cohn a Goldman Sachs alum, rejected a plea from 300 Yale classmates to protest “Trump’s support of Nazism,” saying the “allegations” are inaccurate and blaming the media and Trump’s opponents for an attempt to “distract.”

Cohn’s principled action probably cost him the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve. Last month, Cohn quit as the head of the National Economic Council after clashing with Trump over trade. Mnuchin remains in the president’s good graces despite policy gaffes and embarrassing stories about personal extravagance.


It is the triumph of the bootlicker.

Six months ago, Lawrence H. Summers, a former treasury secretary, said “Mnuchin may be the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history.” There is no longer need for a qualifier.

This is the key to survival in the administration — not policy chops, political finesse or ethical behavior. Capacity to flatter the boss invariably tops ability. With few exceptions, Trump has tolerated unseemly entitlement — government jets, lavish office furnishings, help for family members, missing financial disclosures — from those who are obsequious.

David Shulkin, who contradicted Trump after Charlottesville by expressing his outrage at the Nazis, was sacked as veterans affairs secretary despite success at the agency, while the loyal Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency, whose $43,000 phone booth and $50-per-night condo from a lobbyist are more dubious than anything Shulkin was accused of, so far retains Trump’s confidence. Trump proposes to replace Shulkin with the White House doctor, who has few qualifications beyond rhapsodizing about the president’s “incredible” health.

By this standard, Mnuchin has guaranteed employment.............................