Chillax, young'un. Gather round while I tell the tell. - The archetypal presidential scandal is Watergate. This was a reaction to Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. It took from July '71 - "let's be illegal assholes" - to September '71- "Let's break into the DNC" to do illegal shit and a whole 'nuther year before they got caught (june '72). Bob Woodward had the trail 3 days later, thanks to a leak, and another 18 months (November '73) before "I am not a crook." Indictments were 5 months after that, subpoenas another month after that, and three more months before impeachment hearings. Soup to nuts, three years. - The next notable mess would be Iran Contra. March '85, Ollie North finds creative ways to fund the Contras. November '86, the Iranians leak it (pesky Persians). March '87, Reagan basically fesses up. Soup to nuts, two years. - I hate to say it, but Lewinsky. November '95, cigars and blue dresses. Fall '97, Linda Tripp starts recording her girl bestie. October '97, Tripp runs to Newsweek and Jonah Diaperbaby Goldberg. Jan '98, Monica gets deposed and Tripp goes to Ken Starr, because failed real estate dealings 20 years previously and presidential infidelity have everything to do with each other. Sting operation, Drudge report, then daily bullshit through the end of September. Soup to nuts, just this side of three years. Nixon was clever. Watergate was a dumb idea but the administration dragged shit out for years. Reagan was senile but he had clever folx working for him. Still, years. Lewinsky and her blue dress? Years. Mike Flynn was national security adviser for 24 DAYS. have you seen this? We keep thinking maybe Trump is somehow playing the long game or some shit but, as Gene Lyons pointed out, this is a man who went bankrupt running a casino. So you have to ask yourself: Are we seeing mind-blowing amounts of corruption because it's just the tip of the iceberg and these guys are literally Voldemort? Or are we seeing mind-blowing amounts of corruption because these Mayberry Machiavellis have no fucking idea how to hide the grift when every journalist on the planet suspects you of being shady? I mean - Put another way, you wanna watch Trump & Co play Warcraft?