There’s an expression we’ve all heard since we were children: Birds of a feather flock together.

Such appears to be the case with Brad Parscale, who serves as campaign manager for the Trump 2020 effort and has created what he’s dubbed the “Death Star,” a digital campaign operation Parscale brags will roll over all opponents, despite the fact that in the “Star Wars” movie series, the Death Star is destroyed not once, but twice.

But what exactly is Parscale doing other than charging exorbitant rates for his services and offering a digital strategy that is so secretive he’s the only person who fully understands it?

Here’s the real question: Is Parscale conning the ultimate con man, Donald Trump?

That’s the conclusion of Jonathan V. Last, who writes for The Bulwark that Parscale seems to be engaged in ripping off a man who has made a career of ripping off others. And in doing so, he’s basically made himself irreplaceable:

“Creating the impression that the entire Trump campaign will rise or fall with an opaque digital operation is a way to make Parscale un-fireable. Because unlike the 2016 campaign, which was basically about letting Trump be Trump, there is now a great deal of sunk-cost into an operation which is purpose-built to keep the septuagenarian boss from understanding how it works. Or even, what it really is.”

And then there’s the fact that Parscale’s supposedly indomitable digital operation — while it may have lots of bells and whistles and cost a cool fortune — doesn’t seem to be producing any results, as elections forecaster Harry Enten explained recently when he observed that Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, currently has the largest, steadiest polling advantage against an incumbent president in the history of polling! How’s that for a negative return on investment? Isn’t Trump supposed to be an expert on the so-called art of the deal? Sounds more like he’s being rooked into believing a line of bullshit just because it has some fake cred attached to it.

Last perfectly explains the whole bizarre muddle of a mess inside the Trump campaign by noting:

“If Trump keeps Parscale around even as he lags Biden in the polls, it’s a sign that the president no longer believes that he is enough to get his voters out on his own and that he’s hostage to whatever sales pitch he bought from Parscale.

“It’s a good reminder that inside every con man is a mark.”

Or, to use an expression you may also have heard: If you’ve been in a poker game for a while, and you still don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy.

Congratulations, Donald: You’re the patsy and you’re being conned. How’s it feel?