Why let Paul Manafort’s involvement in a Chinese media deal stop you? By all means, get the band back together…

It’s obvious that Trump and the rest play by their own set of rules, that they care not even a little about the rule of law, or honor or anything else. Chaos is what they enjoy sowing, and all that matters is the power and what’s in it for them.

How ugly and self-indulgent can you get? We’re finding out. The dregs are washing up on shore, and there’s still a pulse.

It’s difficult to talk about the BSA name change without coming across as provincial and old- fashioned. But my initial reaction to Scouting America is that it sounds like defeat to me.

At this point, I am wondering why an organization can’t just cater to one gender or the other and carry on without worrying about claims of exclusivity or gender bias. I guess I don’t consider this of the same genre as the history at Augusta National, which didn’t allow women until 2012. But maybe it is…

In one respect, I see this as a matter of envy—if one program offers experiences and opportunities the other doesn’t, then maybe the leadership of the other find ways to adopt and use what’s working in the former.

I’m sure the leadership of the new organization will “make it work” somehow, but I will wonder why such a move was necessary in the first place. It must have something to do with the giant lawsuits and attendant bankruptcy a few years back. Or is it just a sign of the times, purely in the name of inclusivity? A matter of evolution?

On its face, it all seems unnecessary, contrived, and even, potentially, an entrée into a whole new set of issues dealing with the birds and bees. But I’m sure they’ll figure it all out and maybe even emerge with an organizational model to be proud of.

And yes, I am provincial and old-fashioned sometimes.

Without immunity, a President can’t do his or her job.

This is of course the opinion of someone who’s running from reality and jail time.

Sorry, Donald, you can’t avoid being human, even though it looks like you’ve been trying. You may feel picked on, but look in the mirror, make time for some self-assessment. The reason it seems people are piling on is because they are. We’ve never had to deal with anyone quite like you.

And no, that’s not a compliment.

So much passes for substance when it’s really built on pillars of sand. Take the fixation on celebrity, for example. The majority of the Birthdays Today in the local paper are those of actors, entertainers.

The Met Gala just happened and the pics of all the Who’s Who are nothing if not ridiculous. Sorry, but this doesn’t rise to the level of needed diversion. It’s just shameful, gaudy, embarrassing excess and ego feeding, along with outlandishly expensive outfits that make one either laugh or cry. More self-indulgent and “look at me” than the red (or beige) carpet walk at the Oscars.

Meanwhile, the world burns and people starve. I hope there’s a good cause involved.

Here is the plight of hundreds of thousands of human beings in Gaza who don’t know which way to turn: impending famine is no longer impending, apparently. This is in part why many of the students on campuses are protesting— they’re sick of war always being the only option, they’re trying to raise awareness of the inhumanity of it all, the base inconsideration of human needs.

The saddest part is that Gaza isn’t the only place. Famine has returned to places in Africa that are suffering through yet another drought.

War sucks. Poverty sucks. Climate change and happenstance suck. People are stuck. But why are there always so many children? What kind of future are parents expecting for them?

Sorry, I can’t think of a more delicate way to ask that.

Anyone else with fewer resources would have been in jail by now. Money can buy you freedom. Just ask Donald Trump, the heartless troll, the human sea lamprey who thinks nothing of sucking the lifeblood from an entire nation just so he can reap attention and feed his cravings and avoid consequences.

There must come a moment in the collective consciousness when the scales tip, when it dawns on enough of us that Trump has been playing us, simply stringing us out, lying in the same manner that most of us breathe. Many realize this and have known it for years, but way too many still think he walks on water.

So… still a ways to go.

What the hell?!

Sordid and salacious. The details hardly seemed relevant to the proceedings. The defense objected and the judge sustained all along the way as Stormy Daniels testified in the hush money trial. She apparently was quite nervous and ran off her mouth about her encounter with Donald Trump in 2006—a long time ago. An encounter, by the way, that over the years she has denied ever happened.

On cross-examination I guess one of Trump’s lawyers tore Ms. Clifford a new one, found numerous holes in her testimony and exposed her hatred for Trump. So it doesn’t sound like it was the best day for the prosecution, other than possibly establishing that the encounter actually did occur.

Anyway, it feels like this case is starting to take a turn toward nothing burger. The real meat and potatoes cases may or may not ever arrive in a courtroom, which would be quite the revolting development– the rich(?) and powerful(?) pretender avoiding consequences yet again.

There should be no more reasons for the country to have to put up with this attention hound’s shenanigans. He’s already taken up way too much of our time. The painful slog has to end. The loser has already won way more than he deserves.

It’s always been the thing, the amazing thing: the understanding and the follow-through of competing in an election, conceding when one loses, and moving on. The peaceful transfer of power is a wonder.

Maddow insists that when that flow, that long-standing tradition is suddenly questioned and disregarded and attacked as “unfair,” then democracy starts breaking down.

We are there now. Poll workers threatened and leaving numerous unfilled vacancies; members of law enforcement, judges and jurors castigated and threatened.

We don’t have a democracy anymore when one side decides to start hammering the bedrock, when one side decides not to accept results. When one side decides not to go home when he loses, and perhaps evaluate and ponder and come back and try again.

When the expectation no longer is that both sides abide by the results of an election, that instead one side claims malfeasance and unfairness and that “it was stolen,” when one side even proactively warns that the process and future results will probably be suspect, then things have taken a dark turn.

We are there. Have been for a while.

Has Trump actually been sleeping in court, or is he just trying to shut his eyes and his mind to the things people are saying about him? I’m surprised this has gotten as much attention as it has, since it seems incredible to me that Trump would actually be able to fall asleep. I guess it could make sense, given that he’s often awake at an ungodly hour to gripe-Tweet.

Maybe instead, he’s just trying to ignore everything, maybe it’s just a defense mechanism, a different way of burying one’s head in the sand or plugging one’s ears and singing “La, la, la…” Or maybe he has just found a new way to thumb his nose at the whole proceeding—by making it look like he couldn’t care less.

Maybe what he’s doing is committing things and names to memory, filing away the slights and the disparaging remarks as ammunition for future reference. Whatever the schtick, it’s a bit hard to believe he’s not taking notes somehow.

Beside and below the preview of a story on the border crisis in Texas and the detrimental effects it’s having on both those seeking refuge and the environment were two scintillating tidbits: the betting at this year’s Kentucky Derby soared to a record $320.5 million, according to ESPN; and the theme of this year’s Met Gala is… wait for it… “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Riveting stuff.

An appropriate split screen for America to take in, a perfect snapshot. Oh, and there’s a possibility of more tornadoes and “giant” hail in the Midwest today.

The only thing missing was an update on Taylor Swift’s latest platinum drivel.

Speaking of the Derby—are the horses really athletes? Can trainers and keen observers really sense an animal’s competitive spirit, see the fire in its eyes? Or is this just what people tell themselves as they try to defend one of the last vestiges of a gilded age when no one gave a shit about anything but their own legacy and amusement?

Hey, it’s survived a lot longer than the Hegins Pigeon Shoot.