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In the annals of scandal, Aug. 29 was quite an eventful day. Ill try to unpack the proceedings.

The federal judge in the feds election subversion case decreed that the coup commander shall go on trial in Washington on March 4 and if he doesnt like it, well, tough: Mr. Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work regardless of his schedule. (He doesnt like it. He fled to social media and whined about fascist thugs.)

Meanwhile, ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows was in another court trying to weasel his way out of Georgias coup case, claiming that he was just trying to help Trump fight for free and fair elections. (Orwell just spun 360 degrees.) On a third front, a judge in Georgia decreed that Trump will be arraigned there next Tuesday.

Naturally, Inmate #P01135809s groupies are in high dudgeon about everything. I wont lard this column with their many fulminations. To nauseate and entertain you, two examples should suffice.

A Georgia congressman, Andre Clyde, denounced the sham prosecutions and said the House should defund special counsel Jack Smith: Americans hard-earned tax dollars have no place funding the radical Lefts nefarious election interference efforts. And one of his House colleagues, Claudia Tenney, said: Theyre trying to create this appearance of Trump being a criminal. (She is sooooo close to getting it.)

Youd think that four indictments and 91 felony charges in four jurisdictions should be more than enough to cement Trumps place in history as our preeminent lowlife. But the rabid right has its own unique take on what constitutes a scandal. Indeed, how fitting it was that Tuesdays various court proceedings occurred on the ninth anniversary of Fashiongate Aug. 28, 2014 when President Barack Obama wore a summer suit that was tan.

Now that was a scandal! Lets cue the talking heads.

A Fox News blondette said, I looked twice to make sure he wasnt a circus ringmaster.

Another Fox blondette said the tan suit made him look unpresidential.

Lou Dobbs huffed, I think its shocking to a lot of people.

Another Fox pundit said, Whoever talked him into wearing a tan suit? Theyre so desperate because of low poll numbers.

A Fox roundtable said, I think its a sign to enemies that hes a wimp.

Another Fox guy said, Only liberals could ever elect a guy with a tan suit.

Republican congressman Peter King said on NewsMax, For him to walk out Im not trying to be trivial here in a light suit, light tan suitWhen you have the world watching, it did not show the seriousness of purpose that you need from a commander-in-chiefThe suit was a metaphor for his lack of seriousness.

Right-wingers on Twitter wrote stuff like, Skin-colored suits dont scream POWERFUL.

And this: Obama sends the wrong message to our allies.

And this: You cant declare war in a suit like that.

Perhaps the real problem wasnt the color of the suit, but the color of the man who wore it. Perhaps the real problem is thinking that a suits color is more imperiling to the republic than a far-flung coup plot or the theft of classified nuclear secrets.

As we trudge ever closer to Trumps day of reckoning, the kind of people who excoriated a tan suit will continue to concoct absurd excuses for real scandal. It will be important to remind ourselves that they dwell outside the American mainstream, in a stupidity zone where fashion is deemed to be worse than fascism.

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes at DickPolman.net. Email him atdickpolman7@gmail.com

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