12 February— George Gershwin was the piano soloist in the debut of his magnificent “Rhapsody in Blue,” a highlight of Paul Whiteman’s “An Experiment in Modern Music” concert at New York’s Aeolian Hall 100 years ago today. The rhapsody had been orchestrated by Ferde Grofé, Whiteman’s arranger at the time, who went on to write a number of light classics himself, including “Grand Canyon Suite.”

115 years earlier (don’t strain your brain, that was 1809) Abraham Lincoln was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Lincoln’s Birthday is a stand-alone legal public holiday only in Connecticut and a few other states. Nationally, Lincoln’s birthday is celebrated along with George Washington’s birthday as Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday, on the third Monday in February. That’s next Monday, so be prepared.

Lincoln was a Republican when Republicans were the good guys and Democrats were the bad guys. Democrats still are the bad guys, of course, but now Republicans are too—even worse than Democrats. And Donald Trump is a symptom rather than a cause of what’s wrong with the Grand Old Party (which, incidentally, is actually somewhat younger than the Democratic Party). So much for Honest Abe.

Now to Honest Joe. Well, to Joe Biden, anyway. With special counsel Robert Hur having recommended against prosecuting President Biden for criminal mishandling of classified documents before he became POTUS, Joe’s PR people are spnning that he’s been cleared. But that’s not quite the case.

Rather, Old White Joe has merely been let off the hook—thanks in large part to his obvious advanced years and his alleged diminished cognitive health, which is cited as a function of his age. Mere senescence—just growing old—isn’t enough for his critics, of course, so they insist he’s actually senile. But lapses in memory and speaking, as cited by young Hur and ageist critics across the political spectrum who want to make Biden a was, don’t necessarily indicate senility. Joe’s cognitive dysfunction has been pretty apparent for at least six decades.

Biden’s almost certain lack of criminal intent also works to his advantage. The legal trade calls criminal intent mens rea, Latin for guilty mind, the mental state that’s usually necessary for the commission of an actus reus, a guilty act, the criminal behavior, the actual crime. You don’t generally commit a crime without intending to, but you can intend to commit a crime without actually following through and thus committing one. You can’t be prosecuted just for thinking about committing a crime, of course, without doing anything at all in furtherance of a criminal act. Yet. But give it time.

Crimes that don’t require mens rea are another matter. In such so-called strict liability crimes the fact that an offense happened is itself presumed to be sufficient reason for criminal prosecution. Driving while intoxicated, for instance, especially when it results in death. And don’t forget that ignorance of the law is no defense—except, of course, for police and prosecutors. And also judges.

It’s highly unlikely that Joe Biden at any time actually intended to do anything illegal with whatever classified materials he may in fact have done something illegal. So there goes criminal intent. But that still leaves strict liability. And that’s where the senility defense saves Joe’s sorry ass.

So much for Joe Biden.

How, then, does mens rea affect Donald Trump’s flagrant and arrogant mishandling of classified materials? In all fairness to Trump, he probably had no criminal intent when he removed the documents from presumably secure storage facilities and dumped them in a bathroom and showed some off to impress whomever. Because, ignoramus that he is, he didn’t know any better and figured in any event that as president—an absolute monarch in his delusional narcissism—he could do anything he bloody well pleased. So there goes Trump’s criminal intent. But that still leaves strict liability. Didn’t some of Trump’s lackeys advise him not to do it? And what he did in the aftermath definitely indicates criminal intent.

And that’s precisely what Trump wants, whether he admits it or not. Because he’s certain to make the most of his originally unintentional criminal acts for the simple reason that his MAGA moron base is looking forward to yet another criminal prosecution to reinforce their delusion that he’s martyring himself for their cause, whatever those impressionable simpletons think that cause may be . . .