Nick TaylorHe was a consummate politician-- which is to say he was given to expedient speech and lacked even a vestigial spine.
About This Quote
The phrase “consummate politician” is a common one in the reference books. The typical meaning is that this person is someone who can cut through the political nonsense to get to their goal. They don’t care if they sound good to everyone else, they will get the job done. However, the mention of a “vestigial spine” means that it’s a backward or oddly shaped spine. This is a humorous way of saying that this politician was not very smart.
Source: The Disagreement
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