OUR PAL THE HATCHETMAN

In honor of his birthday, veteran Republican dirty trickster (and, now, Trump backer) Roger Stone gets a puff piece in the Styles section of today's New York Times:

The 2 things Trump fan @RogerJStoneJr loves most: political warfare and his custom wardrobe. http://t.co/8z4eLU8bQj pic.twitter.com/0ltTAkecrG

— NYT Fashion (@NYTFashion) August 27, 2015

He also gets delighted best wishes from good pals at NBC, Politico, and the Times:

Happy birthday to the immaculately dressed @RogerJStoneJr !!!

— Josh Mankiewicz (@JoshMankiewicz) August 27, 2015

. @RogerJStoneJr is my sartorial spirit animal. http://t.co/dXKzEvkIjM

— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) August 27, 2015

Happy birthday to @RogerJStoneJr – read this one all the way to the kicker https://t.co/RSXokPJZUd

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) August 27, 2015

Really like @RogerJStoneJr socks here. Ye ole Outer Banks argyles. #summer http://t.co/EtKzhejWdC pic.twitter.com/O7qc61oN0k

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) August 27, 2015

Yes, it's wonderful when political operatives and the media have such a cozy relationship! Especially politically operatives like this guy:

Notorious Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone has launched a 527 political organization called Citizens United Not Timid (aka CUNT) to educate the public about “what Hillary Clinton really is.” The organization’s sole purpose? To sell $25 T-shirts emblazoned with the organization’s charming name and its red, white and blue logo.

That, from the 2008 campaign, is just one highlight of a career that goes all the way back to Watergate. Ending the career of New York governor Eliot Spitzer was another, as was a subsequent threateningphone call he made to Spitzer's father ("you will be arrested and brought to Albany - and there's not a goddamn thing your phony, psycho piece of s--- son can do about it") while working for New York state Senate president Joe Bruno (now a convicted felon). And then there was this:

The capstone of Stone’s career, at least in terms of results, was the “Brooks Brothers riot” of the 2000 election recount. This was when a Stone-led squad of pro-Bush protestors stormed the Miami-Dade County election board, stopping the recount and advancing then-Governor George W. Bush one step closer to the White House.

And possibly this:

Some pointed the finger at him as having a role in the scandal over forged documents related to George W. Bush that were the undoing of Dan Rather. But Mr. Stone denied any involvement.

But, y'know, he's an insider, and he's good copy, so his boon companions in the media don't hold him at arm's length. To them, he's a good pal. Ain't politics grand?