No, what struck Jacob as oppressively squalid was the subject matter he was forced to contemplate week after  fleeting, age-inappropriate sexual liaisons in the Oval Office; the seep of money into every cranny of the political system; Trent Lott; Newt Gingrich.
Jacob was also thinking about what he wanted for dinner tonight.
mnli hypothesis: Jacob was also thinking about what he wanted for dinner tonight. premise: No, what struck Jacob as oppressively squalid was the subject matter he was forced to contemplate week after  fleeting, age-inappropriate sexual liaisons in the Oval Office; the seep of money into every cranny of the political system; Trent Lott; Newt Gingrich.