Just enough to wet my beak

The extent to which systematic, open and direct corruption has become business as usual under Trump really is remarkable:

At a table in the lobby bar of the Trump International Hotel this week, the final details of a black-tie, 40th anniversary gala for the Concerned Women for America were being worked out by the conservative group’s staff.

There was the contract with the president’s hotel to be reviewed. And there was also unfinished business with the White House — logistical issues posed by two guests from the administration, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and most important, the status of the video message and letter from President Trump himself that the group wanted for the dinner.

“That is the gold standard,” said Kenda Bartlett, Concerned Women for America’s executive director. “If we can get that, the rest of this is just dressing.”

Staying at the Trump hotel or hosting an event in one of its ballrooms is hardly a guarantee of getting something in return from the Trump administration, or even getting on Mr. Trump’s personal radar. But many people like Ms. Bartlett have learned that it also does not hurt.

The fact that the press was able to convince most of the public that Hillary Clinton was the more dishonest of the two candidates in 2016, based on relentless coverage of a inane bullshit that wouldn’t rank in the top 1,000 bad acts of Donald Trump’s pre-presidential life, is also remarkable.