Frontline

Covering the White House is a tough beat—and that was the case before the Kleptocrat and his Gauleiters descended upon it. These days you’re constantly trying to decide whether you need to mainline coffee or Scotch, just to make your deadlines, given the constant stream of shite coming out of the West Wing.

Actor Tom Hanks gets it, so yesterday he sent the press corps a spiffy new espresso machine, causing the best news to ooze out of 1600 since 18 January.

I enjoyed the tweets that responded to the report. This photo, for example, drew horror at the Styrofoam cup, along with comments to the effect that the machine is off-limits to McClatchy reporters, who only deserve instant coffee.

There also was appreciation for the note that accompanied the gift—Hanks is a well-known collector of typewriters.

Although controversy raged over his use of the Oxford comma, a violation of AP style.

If you look closer, Hanks includes a cartoon from Pulitzer Prize-winning Stars and Stripes cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who—along with Ernie Pyle—gave Americans the closest look at the ordinary GI in the Second World War. The cartoon is one of many that enraged General George S. Patton, in much the same way (and for many of the same reasons) that the White House press corps enrages the Cheeto-in-Chief. The reference also pokes fun at how news reports don't always hit the mark.

This will be the third high-end coffee machine that Hanks has contributed to the upholders of the First Amendment in the White House over the years. For this reason, I’m willing to overlook that Oxford comma thing.

Besides: Tom Hanks.