On the eve of Trump's departure from the WH, @maggieNYT leaves us one last gift - a perfect encapsulation of the cause and effect consequences of the straight-up yellow journalism she and the @nytimes have been spewing for four years. Take a look at this:

Now let's break it down. The first two sentences...plausible - could've stood alone as actual news, give or take a few hundred examples of Maggie/NYT hyperbole that makes it impossible to take either of them seriously. But we'll stipulate to the first two sentences. Then...

...Maggie's gonna Maggie - time for some speculative innuendo based on Maggie's purported telepathic ability to read Trump's mind (but only the evil, brooding, plotting parts). "Trump ultimately seems to have decided" signals the departure of reporting and the beginning of...

...Maggies transposition of HER thoughts and assumptions as TRUMP's thoughts and actions. Some call it "Doing an @Acosta." What follows "seems to have decided" are imaginary decision that, traditionally, reflect the worst possible instincts Maggie has inferred from her personal..

...opinion of Trump's character. Those imaginary decisions are delivered with a wink - "We all know what's going on here, right?" - and are indeed believable within the context of the narrative Maggie and NYT have created and nurtured for years. It's the perfect crime - it...

...seems plausible because they have created a belief system that allows for Maggie's fantasies to pass as fact, and her fantasies of Trump's decision-making process always default to the worst, most mendacious reasons one can imagine. So her two "seems to have" decisions - ...

...that the pardon came because Bannon can be useful to Trump some day, and because the establishment has turned on Trump, leaving him desperately grasping for allies - though undoubtedly figments of Maggie's hyperbolic imagination, are accepted as fact by her loyal readers.

Witness the reply of one Betty Bowers, and imagine millions of Betty Bowerses across the country shaking their heads in outrage and disdain equal to hers. Maggie's speculation of Trump's reasoning has inspired Mrs. Bowers to the intended conclusion - that Trump...

...is a "despicable, predictable human being." Mission accomplished. And the use of "predictable", under the circumstances...chef's kiss to Maggie and the NYT. Predictable despicable is what they've been working towards for four years.