Sigh, I caught more than beads at this year’s cold and at times rainy Lundi/Mardi Gras, but am awake/alert enough to give Tommy T a hand today if he doesn’t object.

From Franklin Foer, a nice rundown of Paul Manafort’s blameless life

In an otherwise blameless life, Paul Manafort lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry and wrangled millions in tax breaks for corporations.

In an otherwise blameless life, he helped Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos bolster his image in Washington after he assassinated his primary political opponent.

In an otherwise blameless life, he worked to keep arms flowing to the Angolan generalissimo Jonas Savimbi, a monstrous leader bankrolled by the apartheid government in South Africa. While Manafort helped portray his client as an anti-communist “freedom fighter,” Savimbi’s army planted millions of land mines in peasant fields, resulting in 15,000 amputees.

…

In an otherwise blameless life, he stood mute as Yanukovych’s police killed 130 protesters in the Maidan.

…

In an otherwise blameless life, Manafort was found guilty of tax evasion on an industrial scale. Rather than paying his fair share to help fund national defense and public health, he kept his cash in Cyprus and wired it home to buy more than $1 million in bespoke clothing.

In an otherwise blameless life, he disguised his income as loans so that he could bamboozle banks into lending him money.

Oh, and this same judge sentenced Congresscrook Bill Jefferson to thirteen years…just saying.