A few stray observations while the bumbling fool and Putin tool that some of your cousins elected president last year tanks the economy, fires your cousin, and alienates the last of our remaining allies in Europe:

• Mayor Wu, as expected, was masterful in front of the US House Oversight Committee last week. Not only did she command the room and run circles around her Republican detractors, she did so while juggling a month-old newborn with the help of her husband, Conor. And, she also did so with a freshly smudged Ash Wednesday forehead to boot—getting a whole column of her fellow Boston Catholics in trouble with their pastors. (Thanks a lot, mayor.)

Wu told ‘GBH’s Margery Eagan on Tuesday that she typically receives ashes along with other Catholic city workers from a priest who comes to City Hall each year on Ash Wednesday. However, as she and her family were in the nation’s capitol for the hearing, she was referred to a church near her D.C. hotel by a contact at the Archdiocese of Boston. Wu told Eagan that connecting with her faith that morning helped her stay calm ahead of the Congressional spectacle.

• Fumble on the play— While Michelle Wu stared down hostile Trumpists threatening her with criminal prosecution, her erstwhile challenger— Josh Kraft— paid a perfunctory visit to a City Hall rally organized to support immigrants and, by extension, the mayor herself. A very small group of counter-protesters, the typical crew of anti-Wu dead-enders, were also on hand.

Before peeling off, Kraft offered reporters a few words of pro-immigrant, anti-Trump sentiments, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say a simple supportive word about the city’s mayor who was getting grilled under oath at that very hour. Why not say: “Hey, I’ve got five major policy disagreements with Mayor Wu and that’s why I’m challenging her this year. But when it comes to Boston and our immigrant community, we’re all on the same team and I’m grateful for her leadership on this day.”

• New entrant in the race? Josh Kraft’s performance on the stump — and thus far in media appearances— has been underwhelming. That might help explain why Thomas O’Brien — also a big name and deep-pocketed figure popular in the development community and a former BRA chief under Tom Menino—is seriously considering jumping in.

According to The Globe’s Shirley Leung, O’Brien has been fielding calls from friends and allies who are frustrated with elements of the Wu administration – but who aren’t at all sold on Kraft’s viability. O’Brien has yet to form a political committee, a requisite to run. But he has time and could be a formidable candidate if he does pull the trigger.

• Domingos DaRosa, a frequent critic of Mayor Wu and many on the city council as well, has taken the step of forming an OCPF account to run for mayor, according to Gintautas Dumcius of Commonwealth Beacon. DaRosa — who has lived in Dorchester but now calls Hyde Park home— has run for council at-large three times and finished well out of the running. But, he has been a persistent voice about woes around Clifford Park, where he’s active as a youth football coach and overall advocate. He told The Reporter last month that while he wants Wu unseated, he’s not comfortable with the Kraft candidacy either.

• John FitzGerald held a well-attended re-election campaign kick-off and St. Patrick’s themed fundraiser at the very popular Neponset Ave. restaurant McGonagle’s last week. The first-term District 3 councillor has won fans for his strong, vocal advocacy for Carney Hospital and his collaborative nature on what can sometimes be a divided council. FitzGerald got an extra boost at the McGonagle’s party when an unexpected guest turned out and took the stage to introduce him: former Boston mayor and US Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh, who FitzGerald counts as a constituent in Lower Mills.