Last year, the Bush Treasury Department assigned a 35-year-old nobody named Neel Kashkari to oversee the multi-billion dollar bailout of the financial sector. He sucked and everyone hated him. Except in private!

Neel, a bald preppy jerk with a couple years of experience as a Goldman I-banker, was Hank Paulson's choice to head the bailout operations because... well, no one is sure, even now. But he worked very, very hard, we are told (he slept in his office!), and we all felt so bad for him when congress yelled at him. Well, Friday is his last day at Treasury. And he'd like you to know that everyone who yelled at him for not keeping any sort of track of what what actually happenening to the goddamn money he handed out like Halloween candy or even deigning to explain the rationale behind any of his actions secretly thought he is a hero! Even Dennis Kucinich, who yelled at him for four hours.

"Don't take it personally," Kucinich (D-Ohio) told Kashkari behind closed doors after grilling him during a separate marathon session on Capitol Hill, according to people who were present. "I think you're doing a great job."

Dennis is a really nice guy, so we don't necessarily doubt this happened, but the thing is Neel was not doing a great job. But hey, look who else is proud of Neel!

"I deeply admire the guy," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in an interview. "I think he's a person of integrity. He's creative, pragmatic and gets stuff done. I think he's an A-plus public servant."

We are all so proud of him for doing an incredibly tough job not very well. Go away.