Monica Crowley: Too sleazy even for the Trump swamp

As an unpopular charlatan prepares to place his hand on a bible (of all things) with the lowest-ever approval rating for an incoming president, and as we gird ourselves for what is likely to be the darkest era since Vietnam, we in the voting majority are grateful for whatever small victories cross our radar.

So thank you, Monica Crowley.

At least somebody is deemed too sleazy to splash in Trump’s swamp. His motley nominees are already infamous for their flagrant abuse of ethical norms, so it’s nice to know that at least some kind of aberrant behavior — in Crowley’s case, shameless plagiarizing of other people’s work — is considered beyond the pale. It’s even unacceptable to our new Leader, who set a low standard in his business life by refusing to pay people for their work.

Granted, the announcement this week that Crowley, a Fox News talking head, will not be appointed to the job for which she was manifestly unqualified — senior director of strategic communications on the National Security Council — still leaves the Trump swamp replete with creatures.

Random examples:

Congressman Tom Price, the Health nominee, bought stock in at least two companies that stood to gain financially from legislation he subsequently sponsored or voted for;
Rex Tillerson, the State nominee, is an Exxon lifer whose friendly ‘tude toward Vladimir Putin has been good for Exxon;
Betsy DeVos, the billionaire Education nominee, has major investments in companies that stand to gain financially from her education policies, and she had a Senate hearing last night without first completing an ethics report on how she plans to avoid conflicts of interest;
Andy Pudzer, the Labor nominee, whose ex-wife accused him of domestic violence acts during their marriage;
Reed Cordish, a new White House adviser who doesn’t need a Senate OK, is being sued in a class action racial discrimination case;
Jeff Sessions;
Steve Bannon …

You get the picture.

But hey, we’ll always have Monica Crowley — who, by the way, was brought down by a free and independent press. This narrative has been nearly lost in the cacophony of the past few weeks, but it deserves its noble moment because it shows that the Trump regime is not totally immune to the forces of accountability.

It all began on Jan. 7, when she was thoroughly busted for stealing other people’s work — word for word, phrase for phrase — while writing a 2012 book titled “What the (Bleep) Just Happened.” If you really want to know what the (bleep) happened, check out the passages that were highlighted in the CNN Money story. It’s a cornucopia of copy and paste. Then, on Jan. 9, Politico Magazine busted her for stealing other people’s work while writing her 2000 Ph.D. dissertation. Then on Jan. 12, CNN Money found 40 more plagiarized passages in her dissertation.

Naturally, the Trump camp’s first impulse was to lash out at the press: “Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country.”

Two thoughts: (1) It’s not “politically motivated” to report the truth about a thief of intellectual property. It’s called “holding people accountable.” (2) What those three stories truly reveal is the shallowness of Trump’s vetting process. Never mind the fact that a TV talking head has no business being considered for a sensitive job on the National Security Council. A competent vetting team would’ve flagged Crowley’s deceits before the press did — particularly since there were warning signs as early as 1999, when she was busted for writing a Wall Street Journal piece that stole material, word for word, from a Commentary magazine article that ran in 1988.

For a few days, Trump clung to the fig leaf of HarperCollins, the publisher of Crowley’s book. The HarperCollins folks initially stood by Crowley, and Trump’s flacks duly hailed them as “the largest and most respected publishers in the world.” But that all changed, on Jan. 10, when HarperCollins assessed the press’ revelations and announced, effective immediately, that Crowley’s book “will no longer be offered for purchase until such time as the author has the opportunity to source and revise the material.”

This was too much even for Trump. Without nary a single rant or tweet — about “fake news” or the “dishonest media” or whatever — Crowley was ejected from the swamp. Earlier this week, she declared her sudden disinterest in joining the National Security Council, “after much reflection.”

So put your hands together for a vigilant press. Savor this small victory, which at least shows us that not all ethical norms are dead. Problem is, it still leaves us with a swamp that will not be drained. And to best describe that swamp, I will update the infamous phrasings of our Leader:

Republicans are not sending us their best. Some are Russian doormats. Some are sleazebags. Some are racists. And some, I assume, are good people.

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