Republicans are leaping to Trump’s defense. “Trump is not a racist.” “What he says is not racist.” I don’t know why they bother. The vast majority of his base are very comfortable with Trump the racist, indeed, that’s part of his appeal. So the Republicans could, I think, stand down on this one and save their hypocrisy for when it is really needed.

Trump seems to have a Stalin-like hold on the Republicans. It cannot be that they all agree with or approve of him, but they are all afraid to contradict him. Displeasing Stalin meant a bullet in the brain. Displeasing Trump might mean that he would bad-mouth the offender to Republican voters. So, if in broad daylight Trump says it is dark, the Republican leaders with flood the media with complaints about the darkness.

More and more is coming out about Jeffrey Epstein and about how he has been sheltered from investigation, prosecution, and even opprobrium. What do people in his circle say about him? Is it “Jeffrey’s a great guy, but he does have a problem”? Or do they, like Trump, regard Epstein’s perversion as a matter of preference? If all the truth of it should come out, the Epstein case would be more shocking and incriminate more people than the crimes of his pal, the President.