Like rats deserting a cornered rat
Jan. 8th, 2021 07:24 amCabinet secretaries Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao have both resigned, as have (as of this morning's NY Times update) Mick Mulvaney, Matthew Pottinger, John Costello, Tyler Goodspeed, Stephanie Grisham, Rickie Niceta, and Sarah Matthews. Most of whom were second-tier political appointees and thus not household names, but still....
I would be much more impressed at their show of integrity if they weren't all resigning in protest of their boss's actions less than two weeks before they were going to be fired anyway. Mick Mulvaney even said "He's not the same as he was eight months ago", which is nonsense: Trump is just as mendacious, just as delusional, just as paranoid, just as crooked, just as concerned about his own best interests, and just as unconcerned about the rest of the country's, as he has been for years. The only difference is that now he's running out of options and increasingly desperate.
When your notion of "loyalty" is entirely transactional, based on what I can do for you and you can do for me, you shouldn't be surprised that your underlings, when they realize you can no longer do anything for them, head for the exits while negotiating contracts for tell-all books. Maybe if he had appointed people who believe in his principles, and/or actually like and respect him... but he doesn't have any principles to believe in, and he doesn't have enough immediate family to fill the necessary posts.
I would be much more impressed at their show of integrity if they weren't all resigning in protest of their boss's actions less than two weeks before they were going to be fired anyway. Mick Mulvaney even said "He's not the same as he was eight months ago", which is nonsense: Trump is just as mendacious, just as delusional, just as paranoid, just as crooked, just as concerned about his own best interests, and just as unconcerned about the rest of the country's, as he has been for years. The only difference is that now he's running out of options and increasingly desperate.
When your notion of "loyalty" is entirely transactional, based on what I can do for you and you can do for me, you shouldn't be surprised that your underlings, when they realize you can no longer do anything for them, head for the exits while negotiating contracts for tell-all books. Maybe if he had appointed people who believe in his principles, and/or actually like and respect him... but he doesn't have any principles to believe in, and he doesn't have enough immediate family to fill the necessary posts.