I make it a point not to feed the MSM with links and clicks, especially the New York Times, but you should read this article by one Sally Quinn, (...a journalist and novelist, has been writing for The Washington Post since 1969) if you want to enjoy the rest of your day.

Given that background it’s not surprising that she starts off by talking about how wonderful Spring is in Washington D.C as the blossoms add colour to the marvelous government buildings and sweet scents to the air. But then it turns dark:

This spring Washington is a city in crisis. Physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. It’s as if the fragrant air were permeated with an invisible poison, as if we were silently choking on carbon monoxide. The emotion all around — palpable in the streets, the shops, the restaurants, in business offices, at dinner tables — is fear. People have gone from greeting each other with a grimace of anguish as they spout about the outrage of the day to a laugh to despair. It’s all so unbelievable that it’s hard to process, and it doesn’t stop. Nobody feels safe. Nobody feels protected. 

She’s not old enough to have been there during the Cuban Missile Crisis but was for Watergate:

I lived through the paranoia and vengefulness of Watergate. This time in Washington, it’s different. Nobody knows how this will end and what will happen to the country. What might happen to each of us.

You don’t have to guess at the overarching reason for all this fear – it’s President Trump – but you probably will be surprised to find out that it’s not worries about D.C. bureaucrats and other members of the Establishment losing their funding and jobs. No, it’s much worse than that:

The Trump socializing style is a striking departure from what went on in Washington for decades. Salons, where we got to know one another and exchanged ideas, are out. The preferred entertainment now is large galas in gilded halls and cavernous buildings with lots of flags, ribbons, hats and noise.

The horror, the horror! All of it! Fashions. Restaurants. Parties. All infected with Trumpism.

But now it’s all flash and Fox News. The Trump women can’t be missed in a room. They give off a Palm Beach, L.A. vibe…. The restaurants of choice have changed….With Mr. Trump in the White House, anyone who socializes with Democrats can come under suspicion…. Diplomats from other countries are reeling. They don’t know how to navigate relations with this unpredictable administration. I’ve noticed that embassies seem to have cut back on entertaining….This summer a new club, the Executive Branch — owned by Donald Trump Jr., Steve Witkoff’s sons and Omeed Malik — will open in Georgetown. With a Mar-a-Lago-esque membership fee of $500,000, expect it to be where the monarchical court life this president is imposing on Washington will play out.

In order to survive she’s taking improv classes.