If he can do it, I can say it. But why did he do it? You know why? The same reason your kids would — ridicule; mockery. A visible showing of contempt for a significant percentage of what we used to call your fellow Americans.

Can you imagine Ronald Reagan doing it?

I remember speaking at a panel with Newt Gingrich right after his revolution took over the House. The audience was ready for red meat. Nancy Reagan was seated in the front row. I was the only Clinton supporter in the crowd. The question to me was predictable: Did I respect if not revere Ronald Reagan. I certainly respected him and probably revered him as a politician (he and his successor beat my candidates three times), but most important, he respected the office of the presidency, as did I, as I hope they would continue to do.

That's when the booing started. They were booing at the idea of any respect for the presidency.

Nancy Reagan sent me flowers. She was such a class act.

He's a master of social media, declared Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, when asked to explain the president's choice to distribute the AI video of himself in a king's helmet literally unloading what is plainly intended to look like poop.

It worked, in a way, and got the attention back on him. But only briefly, because another unqualified right-wing podcaster-turned-lawyer, Paul Ingrassia (he passed the bar last year), fell by the wayside, the victim of his own racist garbage. He was already preparing for his confirmation hearings to lead the Office of Special Counsel, an independent corruption-fighting agency with 300 lawyers, when Politico published his innermost thoughts. This is different from Politico's scoop earlier last week of absolutely horrific texts among a group that reportedly counted as its members one Trump official, one elected state senator and enough leaders of the New York Young Republicans for them to disband the club altogether upon the exposure of its rotten core.

What about the fact that Paul Ingrassia was totally unqualified to protect whistleblowers and enforce ethics laws based on his experience at what The New York Times described as a "firebrand podcaster"? The White House reportedly refused to say whether he would keep his job as a White House liaison (aka political hack) to Ice Barbie and Corey Lewandowski and their travelling roadshow. Meanwhile, would any Republican senators have stepped up to stop him if Politico had not disclosed the texts that went over the line?

So, the president dumps poop. And pops a sombrero on the image of the House Minority Leader, reminding everyone who's on what side with a silly hat on a serious leader; that's the phony picture he posted in his one and only meeting with Democratic leaders over the shutdown. Just a master.

So, the young Republicans take it a step further. They pledge to Trump. What does he ask of them? A few got caught this week? Are they the only ones out there? Why do I not believe that?

Why don't they vet these people? Because they are these people? What are they vetting them for?

To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Natilyn Hicks Photography at Unsplash