Donald
Trump
held
court
with
Indian
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
yesterday
in
the
Oval
Office.
The
meeting
was
largely
overshadowed
by
the
ongoing
DOGE
shenanigans
carried
out
by
President
Musk
this
week,
though
it
did
feature
the
most
absurdly
sycophantic
“journalist”
question
since
Lisa
Simpson
asked
Mr.
Burns
to
explain
why
he’s
so
popular.
We
also
had
an
opportunity
to
check
out
the
new
look
for
the
White
House.
It’s
not
Jackie
Kennedy
showing
off
new
drapes
or
anything,
but
it’s
a
start.
Then
Brian
Baez
noticed
something
late
last
night…
Honestly,
I
refused
to
believe
it
despite
trusting
Baez’s
work.
But
I
fired
up
our
Getty
subscription
and
loaded
a
high-resolution
image
from
a
different
angle
and…
(Photo
by
JIM
WATSON/AFP
via
Getty
Images)
As
they
might
say
on
one
of
those
CSI
shows…
“Zoom
in.
ENHANCE!”
Hey
defense
lawyers?
How
excited
would
you
be
to
learn
that
your
client
framed
their
mugshot
and
hung
it
up
in
the
office?
That’s
the
New
York
Post
cover
of
August
25,
2023
featuring
Trump’s
mugshot
when
he
turned
himself
into
Fulton
County,
Georgia
authorities.
The
Oval
Office
is
adorned
with
official
portraits
and
sculptures
of
presidents
at
their
most
heroic
—
even
if
they
were,
in
fact,
scumbags
—
and
Trump’s
decision
is
to
place
his
mugshot
outside
the
office
as
a
monument
to
managing
to
call
election
officials
to
ask
them
to
conjure
up
non-existent
votes
and
suffer
zero
consequences.
Presidents
normally
don’t
place
portraits
of
themselves
in
the
White
House
because
that’s
a
symptom
of
narcissistic
psychosis.
Not
that
there
haven’t
been
presidents
with
narcissistic
psychosis,
but
they’ve
historically
had
the
bare
minimum
of
connection
with
reality
to
not
celebrate
that
condition.
Though
if
a
president
were
to
post
up
a
self-portrait,
you’d
think
he’d
pick
something
vaguely
flattering.
Something,
I
don’t
know,
presidential.
Not
a
memento
from
when
they
got
their
buddies
convicted.
Why
would
he
want
to
celebrate
that
every
day
and
—
more
to
the
point
—
remind
every
dignitary
of
his
felonious
background?
The
most
likely
reason
is
that
he
sees
it
as
an
accomplishment.
He
won.
He
was
hauled
into
court
on
serious
criminal
charges
and
nothing
happened.
Even
when
he
lost
and
got
convicted
of
felonies
in
another
case
he
still
won
because
nothing
happened.
He
probably
wants
to
remind
himself
and
everyone
else
that
he’s
the
real
Teflon
Don.
Look,
if
he
posted
that
stupid
“something
nicked
my
entirely
unblemished
ear
and
let’s
just
pretend
it
was
a
bullet”
picture
it
would
be
childish
but
at
least
it
supports
a
messianic
narrative.
It’s
actually
sort
of
telling
that
he
views
“beating
the
rap
in
Georgia”
as
more
of
a
monument
to
his
strongman
brand
than
“surviving
a
failed
assassination.”
A
mugshot
that
one
of
his
own
lawyers
admits
makes
the
president
look
like
a
Batman
villain
highlights
the
gaping
chasm
where
a
basic
sense
of
decorum
should
reside.
But
if
you’re
the
kind
of
guy
who
reads
national
security
documents
on
a
gold
toilet
perhaps
we
ask
too
much.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.