Recently, a leading coroner declared that the autopsy of child abuser Jeffrey Epstein (who died in prison) was more consistent with strangulation than suicide. That proved material for jokes by Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show, with his guests Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. asked Hillary Clinton in an interview about conspiracies that suggest the Clintons have murdered people.  Noah asked Clinton “I have to ask you a question that has been plaguing me for a while, how did you kill Jeffrey Epstein?” That led to a great laugh. However, it was a tad off-putting because they were discussing a child rapist and abuser who entertained Clinton’s husband repeatedly and reportedly flew him on Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express” private jet. Ha, Ha . . . Thump. Or more accurately “Ha, Ha, . . . Trump.” The point was that the Clintons are the subject of wild conspiracy theories by Trump and his supporters — a fair point. However, when it comes to a sexual predator who was friends with your husband, Bill Clinton, there might be another source for late night humor.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly publicly stated this week that he warned President Donald Trump that, if he replaced him with a yes man, he could well end up impeached. I found Kelly’s discussion of the confidential conversation with Trump to be deeply troubling. I believe a president has a right to confidential communications. However, I was not concerned with the response of White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham who declared, “I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President.”  Since Kelly was warning about the danger of surrounding oneself with sycophants, the response was chillingly ironic. Indeed, I considered at first whether this was meant as an ironic joke. It is difficult to tell which is precisely the problem. The President has repeatedly referred to himself as “stable genius” so this is repeating his own self-appraisal.