Read my profile.
Today Mencken would be canceled at once.
.
Shades of 17th century Algernon Sidney.
Paraphrasing, it wise to assume everyone in government is a rogue and knave whose first purpose is his own enrichment.
“...but what discover is a body of functionaries at least as well qualified as those they are used to meeting in stores and banks...”
Try going to Chicago City Hall.
Mencken is my favorite author when I’m angry.
He may have underestimated.
If I had a nickel for every honest politician, I’d be in deep debt....................
The political appointees number around 4,000 which an incoming administration can appointee, of which about 1,200 require Senate confirmation. Note that’s a 2016 number.
In my experience, incoming Rat administrations increase the number, incoming GOP adiministrations leave the raw number they find alone but usually if not lazily replace with their own supporters. I will say GOP’ers rarely try and reduce it, I never heard of it happening.
They fall into these categories
1.Presidential appointments with Senate confirmation (PAS): These are the highest level officers of the United States. As of 2020, there were 1,118 PAS positions in all.[5]: 212 These include the Cabinet secretaries and their subordinates at the Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary, and Assistant Secretary levels; and the heads of most independent agencies.
It also includes the 93 United States Attorneys and 93 United States Marshals (one for each federal judicial district), roughly 189 ambassadors and various special envoys for particular regions or issues.
2. Presidential appointments without Senate confirmation (PA): As at 2016, there were 353 PA positions, most of which were in the Executive Office of the President; as of 2020, there were 354 such positions.
3. Non-career Senior Executive Service (NA): means an individual in a Senior Executive Service position who is not a career appointee, a limited term appointee, or a limited emergency appointee.
4 Schedule C appointments (SC): subordinate to the other appointees in short lickspittle positions for lower level party strap hangers. 2020 numbers 1656 such positions.
I know it doesn’t sound like like a lot but the positions have a lot of power over the career staff. Such as budgets, assignments, performance reviews, step increeases & promotions. That’s a big club when you consider the cost of living in the DC area. Its gravy if you’re FedGov outside of the DC area. However tose outside the DC area do report to the DC area, so rebels are not rewarded.
From the old movie, “One-eyed Jack” staring Marlon Brando:
“You big gob of spit.”
“You tub of guts.”