Here I am still fighting off multiple crises personal, professional and financial arising from my wife’s sudden death, and trying to actually earn money, no easy task in the field of ethics unless one is unethical, which so many of my more successful colleagues are. Unfortunately, I have no discipline. I am behind on several deadlines that will keep me working into the wee hours this weekend, and yet emanations from the twin ethics train wrecks that are Biden’s debate melt-down and Trump’s near-miss assassination attempt keep dragging me back to Ethics Alarms.

Like this one: sources are reporting that the President is “seething” at Nancy Pelosi, who is widely believed to be behind the wave of House Democrats calling for Biden to step down as the presumptive nominee. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a close ally of Pelosi—figures—released a letter calling for Biden to step aside. House Democrats close to Pelosi, attributed today’s new defections, especially Lofgren’s letter to Biden,to the former speaker. Biden regarded Pelosi as an ally. He trusted her.

Then he’s an idiot. I have no sympathy for Joe in this regard, none at all. Pelosi is an Ethics Villain, and hardly hides it. She swore that she wouldn’t support purely partisan impeachments against President Trump, then engineered two of them when her extremists in the House became too loud and strong. She violated House rules and tradition by setting up a completely partisan witch-hunt committee to weaponize the January 6 Capitol rioting investigation(no, adding a couple of anti-Trump Republicans didn’t make the committee balanced or fair). Her open disrespect of the President of the United States during Trump’s last State of the Union message should have earned her an official rebuke or even a censure. There is much, much more.

She’s a Machiavellian, ruthless and unprincipled assassin, and for Biden to trust her not to turn on him as soon as conditions made it politically beneficial for her to do so shows that among the many pieces of literature Joe would have benefited from studying is the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, which is alluded to frequently here.

He really thought his “freind” and “ally” Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t turn on him in a second when he was at his weakest and needed her loyalty the most? Then he’s too gullible, unlearned and naive to be President.

But we already knew that, didn’t we?

Biden isn’t alone in this: Trump has played Frog to many Scorpions, notably Michael Cohen. In politics, especially these days it seems, one must find a way to benefit from scorpions without being killed by them, metaphorically or for real. Certain members of the breed, however, are so obviously just waiting to deliver a sting that trusting them is itself a mark of incompetence.