3 V 2018: Misc.

1) Now we learn that Mr. Emmett Flood had been on Bill Clinton’s legal team during the impeachment crisis. So he’s moving on from Slick Willy to Duplicitous Donald, after defending however many indefensibles in the intervening years.

2) CNN reports: “This year’s Nobel Prize for Literature is in jeopardy over a sex scandal.”If charges of sexual misconduct are enough to derail the prize for literature, mightn’t they have some impact on the prize for peace. The Trumpites have been heard chanting “Nobel! Nobel!” – a word not usually found in their lexicon. And some Republican members of the House who share Mr. Trump’s esteem for the truth and his skill at fooling the rubes, have written a letter urging Trump’s candidacy. The recommendation of such grave and sober legislators is bound to carry weight, though I’m certain that if I were to make a big enough contribution to their campaign funds, they would nominate me for a Nobel Prize.

3) Now Giuliani, a figure so widely respected for his sobriety and credibility, is peddling new versions of the Donald – Stormy – Michael ménage à trois. Cohen bought Stormy’s silence for $130,000 that he paid out of his monthly retainers of $35,000. Some devotion! That’s 3.7 months’ of a hardworking fixer’s pay. Oh, but Trump, who, of course, knew nothing of this payment at the time it occurred, later reimbursed Cohen for the money he had paid out of his retainer or, according to an earlier version, from his home-equity line of credit. The bond between Cohen and Trump must be a strong one, for behavior more typical of Trump would have been to stiff Cohen, and call him a sucker and loser.