Roger Stone has some 'splaining to do, namely, why shouldn't Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson throw Roger Stone in jail for threatening her on Instagram?

He's apologized, and it appears his own lawyers were going to quit if he didn't:

"This is his oxygen, us talking about him." says Evan Perez on CNN's Newsroom. We won't be talking about him if he sits in a jail cell awaiting trial.

Stone is being forced to appear in court on Thursday to grovel for his freedom. This is a high wire act for the judge: Perez is right. Anything that makes Stone appear to be a martyr only feeds him.

And all the talk on Instagram regarding "Obama appointed judge"? Those are mere red-meat keywords for his "legal defense fund" money grift. He's daring her to gag him.

PS The Instagram was bad enough MSNBC wouldn't air it: