Sociopaths and Sycophants

A sociopath is a person who lacks a conscience, who has no concern for anyone but himself. A sycophant is someone who is willing to debase himself and cast aside moral principles in order to curry favor with someone with greater power, hoping thereby for personal gain. Sycophants sense that their efforts will gain them nothing with anyone who has a good moral character, but they are skilled at identifying morally deficient people in superior positions who will be susceptible to their blandishments.

Sociopaths, having no moral compass to guide them, often feel insecure and in need of sycophants to reassure themselves and help them carry out their agendas. Sociopaths feel more secure and more powerful when they are surrounded by sycophants, so they seek them out and gather them into their orbit. Trump is a sociopath who has worked diligently to surround himself with sycophants and weed out anyone with any sense of honesty and decency.  Vice-president Mike Pence and attorney general William Barr are outstanding examples of sycophants who have fastened themselves to him.      

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is not one of Trump’s sycophants. He is a sociopath in his own right with his own following ––  sadly, all the other Republican members of the U.S. Senate.