It’s time to take a few more whacks at the NYT’s Peter Baker. Let’s bullet point the feckless bastard:

• He’s the inside the beltway conventional wisdom on legs.
• He’s Maggie Haberman in a suit and tie.
• He’s a stenographer for powerful Republicans.

I’ve written about Baker’s work twice in the last year: his whitewash of Jared Kushner and credulous embrace of Ben Barnes’ October Surprise story. If an establishment figure tells Baker something, he believes it.

Last week, Baker and fellow Timesman Michael Shear wrote a bizarre news analysis piece about the political impact of the Trump indictment. The headline sums it up: Biden Has the Oval Office. But Trump Has Center Stage.

Baker has obviously been hanging out with Republicans too much. As to his co-author, this analysis is Shear nonsense. It reflects the CW that the Trump indictment is good for him politically but ignores the fact that it’s only a plus among MAGA maggots. The rest of the electorate takes a dimmer view of Trump paying off porn stars and playmates. Go figure.

Here’s the money quote from this misguided hush money analysis:

“Americans could be forgiven if they momentarily forgot the most powerful person in the country. As helicopters and cameras followed every step of the Donald J. Trump legal drama in New York more than 200 miles to the north with white Ford Bronco-level intensity, President Biden faded into the background, ceding the stage to his defendant-predecessor.

He seemed content to do so, at least for now. The White House made no effort to compete for attention with the arrest of a former president. Mr. Biden’s only appearance came during a meeting with his science advisers. Reporters were escorted in at 2:59 p.m., a hoarse Mr. Biden, fighting a cold, said a few words and the reporters were ushered out again at 3:03 p.m. Ten minutes later, the White House announced Mr. Biden was finished with public events for the day.

The tale of two presidents on this spring afternoon, one quietly focused on technology policy, the other having his fingerprints taken, underscored the unique challenge that has confronted Mr. Biden since taking office more than two years ago. No commander in chief in more than a century has been eclipsed in the public eye by the leader he succeeded the way Mr. Biden has at times. Now with the first criminal prosecution of a former president in American history, it will be that much harder to command the national conversation.”

Baker and Shear apply tabloid logic in this piece, any attention is good for the subject even criminal charges. While it’s true that indictments aren’t always damaging to a defendant’s base, a majority of the country approves of the porn star payoff indictment.

My gut instinct about former President* Pennywise and public opinion is this:

TDS is short for Trump Derangement Syndrome. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace has a bad case of TDS; in part because Trump makes her former boss George W. Bush look better. He’s currently a painter of bad pictures, not a payer of porn stars.

I’m in the “hate his guts” cohort. I’d rather not write about the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian, but I’m obliged to do so today because mocking Peter Baker is my jam.

Back to Baker and Shear’s nonsensical take on President Biden. They seem not to have heard this venerable adage, which was first attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte:

That’s why Biden laid low on arraignment day. He went about his job publicly unconcerned about Trump’s fate but may have cracked out the ice cream to celebrate.

Short-term thinking like that of Baker and Shear harms the body politic. Last week, the Kaiser of Chaos was in the headlines for being the first Oval One ever indicted. This week, President Biden is in the headlines for traveling to Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Except among inside the beltway pundits, the Biden scenario looks more politically advantageous than a porn star payoff indictment. But what do I know? I’m not Peter Baker or Michael Shear Nonsense.

Speaker Sam Rayburn was among the first to divide politicians into show horses and work horses. Trump is all show horse. Biden is all work horse. Every once in a while, someone comes along and combines both ends of the proverbial horse, but Barack Obamas are rare.

Joe Biden should keep doing his job and ignore the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian’s legal death spiral. It’s better for the country. But what do I know? I’m not Peter Baker or Michael Shear Nonsense.

The last word goes to Saga: