Wow. Maureen Dowd made me smile this morning. That hasn’t happened in a while.

As Bill works on The New York Times crossword puzzle, Hill tugs on the
sleeve of his black shirt in what she hopes is a playful manner….

Her smile fades. “Of course,” she frowns, “there was that awkward
moment when I said Bush should not have commuted Scooter Libby’s
sentence because he was elevating cronyism over the rule of law, and
there you were, Mr. Elevate-Cronyism-Over-The-Rule-of-Law, sitting on a
stool right behind me in that look-at-me Crayola yellow shirt,
reminding everyone of that passel of pardons you sneaked in under the
wire, including one for that fugitive tax-evader Marc Rich, whose
ex-wife was your fund-raiser and whose lawyer was — can it get any
worse? — Scooter Libby! And as soon as we get out of cow country,
you’ve got to start dialing for dollars. How could that pest Obama
outraise us by $10 million?”

Bill looks dolefully at her, his pen poised in midair. “What’s a seven-letter word for ball-and-chain,” he asks. “Hillary?”