BANNON? HE'S IN THE CLUB.

Why? For the love of God, why?

Exclusive: I’ll be interviewing Steve Bannon on @ThisWeekABC Sunday morning. His first live Sunday show interview ever.

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) June 15, 2018

Why? Because he's a provocateur, therefore he's "good television." Also, because he's right-wing. (When Democrats are in power, Sunday talk shows need to be disproportionately right-wing for "balance"; when Republicans are in power, the shows need to be disproportionately right-wing because only right-wingers can provide true insight into what's taking place at the highest levels of power. Obviously!)

Also because it would be unfair not to help a guy out when he's making a comeback, right?

Look who’s talking: Trump and Bannon are back in contact with each other. w/ @PeterWSJ https://t.co/K7rLEv5Yim pic.twitter.com/Mtr0RhiHTS

— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) May 4, 2018

And, more recently:

Steve Bannon plans to unleash an advertising campaign touting President Donald Trump's achievements to help the GOP ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

It could also be seen as a bid by the former White House chief strategist to revive his own political fortunes.

Since May, Bannon has been paying his surrogates to produce political ads in cities across the United States....

The campaign will tout the Trump administration's accomplishments that dovetail with Bannon's own America First views....

Sure, I suppose Bannon might be asked one or two toughish questions on Sunday about the cruelties of the president's immigration policies -- but he'll just ramble and filibuster and throw out a lot of abstruse references to obscure thinkers he in all likelihood hasn't actually read, and the bamboozlement will continue.

Think of this post as a follow-up to my last post, in which I rejected Steve Schmidt's assertion that "The stench of cowardice and corruption of this generation of elected GOP officials will linger for decades." It won't, because the insider establishment will declare the slate wiped clean as soon as Trump is gone. This post is also a response to Joe Scarborough's tweet:

Who will hire these Trump stooges after they leave his foul presence and finish their role in promoting policies that rip babies from mothers’ arms? Who in Washington would ever hire them again? https://t.co/CEtO4MF1ER

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 16, 2018

Are you kidding, Joe? It's a club, a clique, one that's "wired for Republicans," as Josh Marshall put it, and everyone who hasn't gone to prison at the end of the Trump era will still be in it. The aides and the lawyers and the spokespeople will all be gainfully employed again and be welcome in the nicest circles. If even Bannon can get a helping hand this way, who's going to be beyond the pale even after Trump is gone?