Gail Collins is the best reason to hope that a touch of humor is still possible on all sides in the uncivil war in which we seem to be engaged. We are on the cusp of massive negative feedback from every corner of the globe. Gail is unperturbed. She sits in the glass cage the New York Times moved to when it vacated its wonderful Times Square digs. She turns out sane texts about trump. They resonate.

What more can we ask?

Underneath Collins' writing, there is a reportorial talent that is palpable. That is why I have no embarrassment at relaying the gems from her current column which I have embedded below.

It is a marvelous way of saying that we are not just dealing with the Donald. We are the victims of a much wider assault. She has said we need to go beyond bad Trump. Her update is priceless.

Kushner

In her first paragraph, she flags the "weird cloak-and-daggerish" actions of Jared Kushner. She reminds us that Jared's wife Ivanka Trump scored $100 million from the Saudi's to support a "charity" that is said to relate to woman entrepreneurs.

Eric and Don, Jr.

And in case we forgot, Donald's sons Eric and Don, Jr. are going around the world to promote Trump properties. This would bother less if we did not have to pay for their Secret Service protection while they are about their father's business.

The next paragraph consists of these two short sentences. "Tiffany is going to law school. If only the others were in law school." But then she bores back into the traveling brothers. She says Eric who prefers "waterboarding to a fraternity hazing," is the one to whom she feels most attached.

She then roundly debunks the notion that these boys are doing what they claim to be doing. They claim they are operating completely separately from their father.

Collins replies,"Hahaha."

The blur

The column is about the blur that exists when trying to separate Trump businesses from the president business. It is said that at least some of Trump's supporters would appreciate him being a bit more presidential.

That is a tall order when he turns everything into a blur on a daily basis. Today he is most likely pulling out of the Paris accord.

Beneath the surface

There is much more to the column. Collins notes that the boys have their father's capacity for saying two things at once. Self-contradiction is endemic. The businesses are separate, they say. We give profitability reports to dad, they confess. That sort of thing. There is more.

Lara?

Oh yes, Jared's sister is named Lara. By the end of the column, Collins has surmised that Kushner's goals may relate to helping her sell condos globally. Maybe this is a cautionary tale about having chief executives who are in the one percent.

Of course, many chief executives end up there. But that is another story.
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