I generally give the daily Sean Spicer Follies a pass, at least as far as commentary goes, because what more can you say about a guy who goes out every dawning day and feeds another hunk of his soul to the wolverines. But I feel a special bond with April Ryan because, one day in the summer of 2016 in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, we shared this very special moment on the electric teevee machine with Congressman Steve King (R-Nematode).

And on Tuesday, Spicer managed to clear even his own high bar for condescension in the service of incompetence. Ryan asked him if the administration yet had noticed the huge pile of problems, many of them reeking of borscht, that have piled up on the South Lawn, obscuring the form of Devin Nunes, who was digging another tunnel. Spicer's answer did not satisfy her, as it would not have satisfied anyone who has both ears, and a capacity for rational thought exceeding that of topsoil. Then, this happened.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Here's Sean Spicer telling April Ryan not to shake her head. pic.twitter.com/ojHnkt7MVW — Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 28, 2017

Business Insider bore witness:

"You don't seem so happy," Ryan said in a joking manner to Spicer as she was prefacing her question. "With all of these investigations ... questions of what is 'is,' how does this administration try to revamp its image, two and a half months in?" She mentioned the Russia controversy, as well as Trump's unfounded claims that Trump Tower was wiretapped by President Barack Obama prior to the election. "I've said it from the the day that I got here until whatever that there is no connection," Spicer said. "You've got Russia! If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that's a Russian connection," he continued. "I appreciate your agenda here," he added. "Hold on. At some point, report the facts!"

Spicer said Republicans and Democrats alike have claimed there is not evidence that points to the Trump team's collusion with Russia in election meddling. "I'm sorry that that disgusts you," Spicer said to Ryan. "You're shaking your head…Understand this, at some point, the facts are what they are. And every single person who's been briefed on this situation have all come to the same conclusion. At some point, April, you're going to have to take 'no' for an answer with respect to whether or not there was collusion." The reporter then followed up with a question about the president meeting with former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, whom she pointed out Trump called a "b----" in 2006 and did not support Trump in the run up to the general election. Spicer, dismayed, went back to lambasting Ryan.

"April, hold on, it seems like you're hell bent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays," he said, later adding, "Stop shaking your head."

The hell? "Stop shaking your head"? Or what? He's going to make her stay after the briefing and clap the erasers? Why didn't he just tell her to go make him a sandwich?

Of course, Spicer isn't the only conservative bag of wind who's having a rough couple of days because he looks at an accomplished African-American woman and sees part of the household staff at Tara. Bill O'Reilly went into the locked ward of Fox and Friends and pretty much lost his falafel, opining that Congresswoman Maxine Waters' "James Brown" wig distracted him.

I do so despair of the rebranding.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io