The day approacheth

 Big news out of D.C. this weekend, at least in some precincts: It seems our Felon-in-Chief, Donald John "Legbreaker" Trump, has decided to pardon the late Pete Rose for his crimes against baseball and basic decency.

Now, I'm not smart enough to understand exactly how the Felon can do this, but then I don't understand how he can do a third of what he does. Or why, for that matter.

All I know is birds of a feather flock together, which means the Felon seems tofeel an odd kinship with fellow lawbreakers and the like. Having always had a threadbare understanding of right and wrong himself, he's comfortable palling around with, and carrying water for, like-minded individuals.

That's why it shocked no one when he stayed in character in announcing he was going to pardon Charlie Hustle.

Yeah, he said, Pete bet on baseball, and that was bad. But he never bet against his own team, only for it. So no big deal, right?

Were it possible, I would summon that crotchety old racist Kenesaw Mountain Landis from his grave to explain why that is in fact a big deal. I would also concede Judge Landis would sound impossibly out of touch if he could be summoned from the grave, because the Felon's sketchy ethics seem to be more in line with the current American zeitgeist than some of us would like to admit.

Cheatin', lyin' and out-and-out gangsterin' is A-OK if it Gets Things Done. That seems to be the gist of things these days.

Which is why I can't say if it was synergy, or just a coincidence. that the Felon's announcement came almost simultaneously with another bit of news out of Major League Baseball.

To wit: MLB commish Rob Manfred, it seems, if considering a petition filed by Pete Rose's family to take his name off baseball's ineligible list.

If Manfred does it, and he well could, that would mean Pete would be eligible for the Hall of Fame again. And it would likely mean he'd be voted in, considering his banishment for gambling on baseball is close to 40 years old now, and the guy himself is dead.

Also, Manfred and MLB no longer have a working leg to stand on. This will happen when you climb in bed with the very people you spent more than a century holding at arm's length.

I'm speaking, of course, about MLB's deals with various online betting sites, which makes their traditionally stern anti-gambling stance a veritable laff riot. Heavens to Shoeless Joe, there's even going to be an MLB franchise in Vegas before long, if everything goes according to plan. So how can Manfred and Co. keep Pete Rose consigned to outer darkness and expect the rest of us to keep a straight face?

I've always maintained that's where Pete belonged until he 'fessed up and quit lying about everything. He finally did that, even if, in true Charlie Hustle fashion, it was just another Hustle. But the book sold, and he did confess, so it was all good.

Or in other words, the time is finally right.

Put the man in Cooperstown -- if only because a baseball Hall of Fame without baseball's career hits leader is a Hall with a yawning hole in it. Same, by the way, with Barry Bonds  and Roger Clemens, who are tainted by the Steroids Era but were already gold-card HOFers before they allegedly began juicing.

At any rate, one thing seems clear now: Pete Rose's day approacheth. Best get used to it.