There's a first-rate adage from the notorious French avant-gardist Jean Cocteau that I translate as "stupidity is always astonishing, no matter how many times you deal with it."

Cocteau, being French, had plenty of opportunities to test that thesis.  As for us, we've got the Democrats.

Since the days of the Clintons, Democratic crimes never seem to come as single spies, or even in battalions, but rather something like divisions or army corps.  That certainly seems to be the case with Joe Biden, as several stories that have bubbled up over the past few days attest:

• Hunter Biden was caught trying to run interference in Congress for corrupt Romanian land baron Gabriel Popoviciu without bothering to register as a foreign agent.  Popoviciu later went to prison over a corrupt land deal.  (This story first appeared last May but is only now gaining traction thanks to Rudy Giuliani's interest.)
• It turns out that Papa Joe himself was paid $900,000 for lobbying on behalf of Burisma, the exact same outfit that Hunter was entangled with.  (This was revealed by Ukrainian Rada member Andriy Derkach.  I suppose Trump called him too.)
• It has also developed that the 2020 candidate whom the whistleblower had a relationship with was none other than Joe himself.  The whistleblower not only briefed Biden about Ukraine, but also accompanied him there on Air Force Two, which suggests more than a casual relationship. 

Clearly, we've only scratched the surface as far as this little affair goes.  Hunter had his finger in many pies, it seems, while Dad is entangled up to his neck with the same crew of corrupt reprobates as Junior.  As for the "whistleblower," the only appropriate response to this would be "wild surmise."  Yes, the Democrats are trying to take down Donald Trump; yes, they're trying to set themselves up for 2020; but also, on some level, it's apparent that the Ukraine scam is being carried out to provide cover for Joe Biden, of the "most scandal-free administration in history."

You come across this kind of thing, and you ask yourself: is it now?  Is it now that they stop digging?  Is it now that they start clawing their way out of the hole?  Is it now that they head for the trees, knowing that the tsunami is coming?  Is it now that they start tossing Old Joe, Little Orphan Adam, and Nancy off the sleigh in a desperate effort to save themselves?

But the answer is no, it's not now.  It is never now — which leads to the next obvious question: can they possibly be that stupid?

And Echo answereth: yep.

The Ukraine scandal would strike awe into a mind even as circuitous as Cocteau's.  He may have had to deal with the bourgeois, Vichy, the Occupation, and Sartre, but he never had to deal with anything like this.

The one good thing is, if they're that stupid, I can't see how DJT can lose.