Let's Play: Scandal Or No Scandal?

The Trump Administration is so brazenly corrupt, so completely devoid of ethics, so contemptuous of our institutions and so cynical about governing that its scandalous behavior comes at us at a breathtaking pace that is impossible to process.  Every day brings us another lie, another Trump-family enrichment scheme, another ethical breach by a cabinet official, another dropped shoe in the Russia investigation.  At any other time in our history, any one of these incidents would lead to intense media scrutiny, Congressional investigations, indictments and resignations.  Now, we get an initial frenzied social media blitz before moving on to the next outrage.  We can't keep up. 

And then there are the faux scandals that often are incubated on Fox & Friends, Breitbart or some other sketchy source, pushed by Trump tweets and then picked up by the gullible media and the enabling Republican Party.  Anything having to do with Hillary Clinton still resonates with the Republican base and serves to distract from actual malfeasance.  And if the story also includes Russia, it has the added benefit of propping up those seeking to undermine the credibility of the real Russian investigations and to provide fodder for those with a "both sides do it" fetish.

So, as a public service, here's an admittedly incomplete but easy-to-follow guide to distinguish real scandals from fake scandals.

1.  Russia's interference with the 2016 election:  SCANDAL
2.  The Trump Administration's refusal to accept that Russia interfered with the 2016 election or to take any steps to prevent Russia from interfering with future elections:  SCANDAL
3.  The Trump campaign's many contacts with Russia prior to the 2016 election:  SCANDAL
4.  Trump's provision of confidential information to Russia that burned a critical Israeli source against ISIS: SCANDAL
5.  The Trump Organization's attempts to conduct real estate business in Russia during the campaign:  SCANDAL
6.  Trump's refusal to disclose his tax returns and the extent of his business operations while promoting a tax plan that he falsely claims will not benefit him or his family:  SCANDAL
7.  Trump's refusal to divest himself from his business operations from which he continues to profit and the Trump Organization's continued efforts to conduct business rife with conflicts of interest domestically and overseas:  SCANDAL
8.  Trump's violation of the Emoluments Clause: SCANDAL
9.  Hillary Clinton’s involvement with a Russian uranium deal:  NOT A SCANDAL
10. Congress launching an investigation into the previously debunked story of Clinton's involvement with a Russian uranium deal:  SCANDAL
11. A law firm working for the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for an opposition research project (after a Bush donor stopped paying for it) that ultimately produced the infamous Steele dossier:  NOT A SCANDAL
12. The media and the Republican Party treating the Democratic funding of opposition research as either new or scandalous:  SCANDAL
13. The Trump Administration's incompetent and ineffectual response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands:  SCANDAL
14. Puerto Rico doling out a $300 million contract to a tiny Montana company -- connected to Interior Department Secretary Zinke and the Trump Administration -- to repair its power grid:  SCANDAL
15. Trump's mental unfitness for office: SCANDAL
16. Republican leaders' recognition of Trump's unfitness for office and unwillingness to do anything about it:  SCANDAL
17. Trump's pardoning of Joe Arpaio:  SCANDAL
18. The Trump Administration's efforts to discriminate against Muslims, including imposing a ban on Muslims entering the country:  SCANDAL
19. The Trump Administration's war on science and the dismantling of environmental rules and regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases:  SCANDAL
20. Trump's sabotage of the Affordable Care Act:  SCANDAL
21. Trump cabinet officials' sabotage of their respective agencies:  SCANDAL
22. Trump's Election Integrity Commission's efforts to sabotage democracy:  SCANDAL
23. The Trump Administration's stocking of agencies and courts with pro-life zealots who seek to interfere with the reproductive rights of women, documented and undocumented: SCANDAL
24. The Trump Administration's stocking of agencies and courts with white nationalists, racists and religious bigots who seek to roll back the civil rights gains of African Americans and the LGBT community: SCANDAL
25.  The Trump Administration's aggressive deportation efforts that are heartlessly breaking up families and sweeping up hard-working, law-abiding, long-standing residents:  SCANDAL

And, last but not least, the Democratic Party's unwillingness to take seriously the clear and present danger that the aforementioned scandals pose for the Country:  SCANDAL

You're welcome.