Donald Trump has repeatedly been heard to defend himself against charges by women that he sexually harassed or assaulted by saying, how could you think that? She’s not my type. Stormy Daniels, who Trump also denies having sex with, was very much Trump’s type.
I'm from North Dakota, now a deep red state. There was a time when it was truly bi-partisan. Just got off the phone with my mother and she is so disgusted with what the Republicans are doing in the state. Our family was life-long Democrats. The point here is that whenever I return. home to see her and then to see various long-time friends--all of whom are hard-core Republicans--and when the subject gets to politics, I tell them, there's a reason we who live in NYC didn't vote for him. It's because we know who he is.
The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks, and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate and political interests from Minneapolis and Chicago.[1]
The League adopted the goat as a mascot; it was known as "The Goat that Can't be Got".[2]
As an American citizen of 75 years of age I am so embarrassed for my country that I can't describe my feelings. If I would have been told this was coming 15 or 20 years ago, I never would have believed it. This country elected a common criminal in 2016 to be the president of the United States, let that sink in. The only thing that set him apart from every other common criminal was money and the Republican party. We need to stay very focused and determined and make some very serious changes to our branches of government across the board, but first we have to win in November. We have too!
It's completely and utterly heartbreaking to see what is happening to our country and all at the hands of this one evil person who can't stand the fact that he lost an election.
Trump is merely the culmination of the rot and corruption that has marked the Republican party since Nixon and even before--it's just out in the open these days.
Yes. Someone who had made a career out of showmanship, lies, and crime. Never once being elected to anything (so why not start at the top, like all aristocrats?), never once doing any public service or a day of honest labor. What did people expect?
It's like the tagline of the old fable -- "You knew what I was when you met me."
I just made a connection I hadn't made before. Trump indeed has "made a career out of showmanship" -- and what was happening at roughly the same time? Getting elected at the higher levels of U.S. politics was becoming more and more a matter of showmanship. Remember the 1972 movie THE CANDIDATE? Showmanship can help sell a good candidate or product, but over time substance becomes less and less necessary -- until, in 2016, showmanship quite literally Trumped substance 100%. (Sorry about that. Couldn't resist.)
Yes, we have to win in November, and yes, we need to make very serious changes, but I'm not at all sure that the primary focus should be on the institutions of government -- although for sure "attention must be paid" to them. Particular attention should be paid to Supreme Court decisions going back at least to Citizens United (2010) and Shelby County v. Holder (2013), but I'd throw D.C. v. Heller (2008) into the mix as well.
But really, anyone who didn't see this coming 15 or 20 years ago probably wasn't paying attention. (I've been recommending Dana Milbank's THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The Twenty-Five-Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party for a readable recent history.) As T L Mills notes elsewhere in this thread, it goes back at least to Nixon. Reagan played a huge part with his tax breaks for the wealthy and his attacks on unions. We in blue states weren't paying enough attention to what was happening in red states. Middle-class-and-up white people weren't paying enough attention to what was being done to communities of color under cover of the "war on drugs," "welfare reform," and other programs that too many white liberals fell for. Most of us weren't paying attention to the rapidly changing media landscape. Etc.
Trump didn't come out of nowhere, and neither did "the crack-up of the Republican Party." We the people need to wake the hell up and realize that if the U.S. really wants to be a democracy, we have a role to play in it.
Your reply to my comment is definitely on the mark. Thank you. I think part of my despair is in watching people in power stand behind the Orange Lunatic and support him while tearing down our democracy.
For years -- decades! -- I've thought I was realistic to the point of cynical about U.S. politics, but I'm still surprised by how blatantly anti-democratic the GOP has become. The affinity with Putin and Orbán was bad enough, but taking them as role models for the U.S.? "Make America Great Again" = "Make America White Again," and to achieve that objective they're more than willing to jettison democracy. In hindsight I can see it developing, but I sure didn't get it at the time.
You are exactly right. Biden could cure cancer, eliminate the national debt, achieve 100% employment and provide free college educations to everyone who wants one and it wouldn't change any MAGA votes because what most of them want is guaranteed white privilege. This was driven home to me in 2016 when my tRuMp adoring neighbors (husband partner in a law firm, wife PhD University Prof - living a very comfortable life) told me that their WORST fear in life (illness?, poverty? natural disaster? Etc etc) was that a person of color would try to date one of their daughters. So yes it's not about politics or policy it's about privilege and power.
Wow. I just looked up the date for GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? which I saw in high school and described that scenario, except that the daughter (played by Katharine Houghton) was already engaged to the Black man (Sidney Poitier): 1967. True, this was a path-breaking film for the time, but for apparently well-educated white people to be freaking out about the possibility in 2016? OMG.
Exactly! I almost fell off my chair when I heard that. And here's the other depressing thing about this. I'm in my middle 60's. At the time this happened the people I'm talking about were in their late 30's - early 40's. So much for the hope that the next generation would do a better job of things than my generation.
Was foreseen 15-20 years ago and yes few believed it. The reason being the movement to get here is best likened to desertification, i.e. a slow steady takeover all in plain sight. Most ignore its takeover until it appears in one's line of sight or on the doorstep.
The clearest fore warnings came from thee a(spelling intentional) authority on the post-Nixon Republican Party, Norm Ornstein. No hooman better chronicled the decline of the Republican Party than Norm.
Keep in mind #nevertrumpers were a major contributor to the decline of the Republican Party and didn't begin to wake up until helping aid Trump's 2016 elx, whether directly or indirectly (smearing HRC for decades). Some like George Conway and Liz Cheney voted for Trump in 2016. Others like Nicole Wallace were so disillusioned with the GOP that as a major player in the late Sen. McCain's run for president, voted for O. She realized elevating Palin (an appeal to the deplorables in the GOP) as a VP was likely to lead to a Trump at the top of the ticket. Point being Plain was the final red flag.As far as most #nevertrumpers they not only demonized HRC during her husband's administration they continued to while she was SECSTATE in O's administration. Of course, they attacked O daily after some of them were complicit in handing over a nation engaged in 2hot shooting wars and a misnamed Recession (Great, nope. Bush, yes) while squandering the budget surplus and the one opportunity to pay down the national debt.
So, their unfounded criticism is exactly what Trump does, deny, didge, deficit and attack in the order best suited to any given situation. They were Trump-light before Trump. And as awful a president Trump was in 4 years, it ain't even close to Bush the Lesser's 8. Yes, Trump has all the hallmarks of topping him. That is the exact trajectory of R-Presidents beginning w/Nixon. Each one plainly worse than his predecessor. Each one with a scandal or scandals worse than the predecessor. All in plain sight. Is enough to challenge their motivations due to being out of power since O's 1st inauguration. That too is 15yrs ago. Being out of power for power players is the prime motivation behind most of that group. And how authentic their criticisms are of Trump is an open question due to all the BS they shoved down America's throat for decades. The litmus test is which ones vored D up and down the ballot since 2016 knowing the only way to change the GOP is to contribute to multiple cycles of electoral defeats at all levels. How many have said they did v. how many have been silent or said that is what [other] people should do?
Said another way one of that group who chose Trump over HRC in 2016 is suspect. Even more suspect if they voted in 2016 and 2020. NO EXCEPTIONS. If it took 4 years of Trump plus 6Jan. to wakedafuqup, they are of highly flawed character and their judgment is non-existent.
I don't disagree with this post's portrayal of Michael Cohen. One thing missing, however, is that IMO, Cohen has some charm and a sense of humor -- both of which Trump lacks completely.
Considering all that Cohen did by Trump's direction (which didn't seem to bother him much, prior to Trump throwing him under the bus)...it's hard to see Michael Cohen saying that with a straight face.
Did Cohen's repeated, cheerful "Sounds like something I would say" put anyone else in mind of Bartleby the Scrivener's repeated response that he "would prefer not to" obey his employer?—the device, not the intent or content. Not the answer the interrogator wanted, but one that served all purposes.
Cohen is, at least, smart, humorous, quick witted unlike his ex-boss. I haven't heard he is abusive or denigrating to women. I am definitely not defending his other less desirable characteristics, but he isn't totally the mentally deficient, ego maniacal, misogynistic, crazy, always-the-victim tRump. In my opinion, tRump has no equal where atrocious personality traits are concerned. He is the worst excuse for a human being I can remember and the most dangerous threat to our democracy in my lifetime. I am always aghast at the number of cult members who show up for his rant rallies, send him their last dime, defend him with words and violence, adorn themselves and their homes with his likeness and paraphernalia, buy his shitty worthless merch, and worst of all crawl over ground glass to vote for him. As much as I would like to see him taking a dirt nap,. can you picture the wailing and pulling of hair that will induce? And the competition to succeed him?
Yeah I can picture the wailing and sobbing--it gives me a little bit of pleasure. Just as long as the dirt nap is preceded by a natural medical event, the MAGA cultists can wail and cover their bald heads with ashes all they want. "I don't care; do you?"
I can't remember who said this, but his rallies have been described as "events" or "festivals." Apparently, a good number of attendees follow him from event to event, much like groupies following a rock star. Whoever reported this also said that not many pay any attention to him - they are milling around eating, buying merch, and just enjoying the "festivities" as such. If that is true, I liken his rallies to a gathering of yokels around a Snake Oil Salesman, there for the entertainment and the "event" - like a fireworks display. May we hope they fail to show up on November 5th.
Terrific piece. "My type," indeed. When the Deranged Depraved Defendant claims he could not possibly have shroomed some woman or other because "She's not my type," he contradicts Lenny Bruce's famous sermon from Cafe Au Go Go in the Village, where Bruce issued his First Commandment of Sex: "Men will fuck mud."
As a sign of the level of rage in the Defendant, he ordered the man 2nd in line for our nation’s highest office to debase himself, his office, the Congress and our nation by showing before the press today. Given who he is and what he represents , the writer cannot imagine a greater debasement by a human, no matter the person and context. We got a taste today of what a raging psychopath will be dishing out to one and all, as he is enabled.
I think it is because Mikey is part of the Veep parade before “the Don!” Thinks first in line would be a position. If we have our way, he will be back in Loozeeanna counting okra by January.
Defense "strategy" seems to be-- just scream like hell at the witness. Most likely under the orders of the most perfect lawyer ever, the barking yam hisself.
Male Politicans that support Donald Trump are cowardly weak individuals. Particularly those religious kooks that dont even need a genuflectorium when they go down on Donald the manchild.
What we need is Edward G. Robinson as the next witness.
You’re right, this is pure NYC. Not all of it, but a distinct, inflection and demographically adorned version of we know to be underworld tinged chitchat.
You never met one of my uncles - or the two big guys on the next block who guarded a tiny old man in a corner ‘club’ who called out “hey sweetheart” when I walked by on my way to the subway?
Forgot to mention a coworker ( we were both in our mid-twenties in Manhattan) at Cornell’s labor school office in the city.
She was a knock-out from the Queens neighborhood Son of Sam would terrorize a few years later. Big hair, lots of makeup, jewelry, wonderful. Her boyfriend,Auggie, wore thousand dollar suits, drove a caddy and would give us tips on horse racing we could use at OTB which had just opened a walk-in on (if I remember correctly) in 42nd. It was like going to an ATM.
When one of the horses didn’t win she had him reimburse all of us. ( For me it was no more than $5)
Fine! Your life was far more colorful than mine. Life in Manhattan, I was not allowed west of the Park. Then life in the Bronx was in Riverdale, which my mother didn’t even know was in the Bronx! First year of marriage, my Lieutenant husband was stationed at a nuclear missile site. We lived between Rockaway and Breezy Point (at the time Fort Tilden…now a national beachfront!) My father came to visit once and although he and his parents were all New Yorkers, intoned that he had never been to Brooklyn. When I told him it was technically Queens, he said his only time in Queens was at the airports. Total snobs!
A lovely life, Christina! What are a few snobs in the family, anyway? I had some myself who I routinely horrified. (Including my in-laws until they found out who my father was)
Good column, Lucian, but look in - I think - paragraph 10, where you write about the accusations against Trump by his first wife, Ivana. You refer to her as “Ivanka”. Maybe change that, if you can.
I think you've really nailed this one Lucian. The defense represents a grifter who constantly merchandises everything he touches, and they're crossing Cohen and Stormy for doing the same thing? The theory must be that there is only room for one grifter-in-chief and unless they're kicking up a share to him its so unfair and a disgrace, therefore he must be innocent. Does this resound with a Manhattan jury?
"I can’t believe I used the word “moral” in any context at all in a column about Donald Trump."
There have been a lot of moments, even minutes and hours of disbelief, incredulity, bemusement, and even shocked hilarity: the "orange turd". In court, no less, officially recorded for posterity in reference to a former POTUS. How did Lawrence O'Donnell keep a straight face?? I sure couldn't.
I thought *Rump would explode while Stormy and/or Cohen were on the stand, and it’s reasonable to wonder why he didn’t given his total lack of self control. I could easily believe he’s been sedated, which would explain his apparent sleeping during their testimony. Whether the sleeping is real or just performative disdain for the proceedings to also make sure it gets lots of media attention is an open question at the moment. Everyone, certainly in NYC, knows that he will do anything to command the limelight. All-publicity-is-good-publicity has been his mantra, however, he’s had some pretty bad coverage of late, and I doubt he likes it. Melania can’t possibly like it, and won’t be seen near this courtroom. She’s probably already planning a return to Slovenia with her autistic son and father. Anyone familiar with *Rump’s behavior over the decades isn’t surprised by what has been revealed, while his cult believes it’s all political persecution, and much ado about very little. Evangelical so-called Christians haven’t been bothered by any of his behavior so far, and that’s unlikely to change. So what element of the electorate is going to be swayed by Stormy’s or Cohen’s testimony? Is there such an element?
Like you, Richard, I thought for sure the Dumpster would react to any part of Daniel's and/or Cohen's testimony by loudly verbalizing something obscene at them. I'm truly surprised so I suppose sedation could be the reason. But he would had to have allowed someone to administer a pill or a shot, and it's hard for me to believe that he would have done so willingly.
I'm from North Dakota, now a deep red state. There was a time when it was truly bi-partisan. Just got off the phone with my mother and she is so disgusted with what the Republicans are doing in the state. Our family was life-long Democrats. The point here is that whenever I return. home to see her and then to see various long-time friends--all of whom are hard-core Republicans--and when the subject gets to politics, I tell them, there's a reason we who live in NYC didn't vote for him. It's because we know who he is.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpartisan_League#:~:text=The%20NPL%20arose%20as%20a,League%20Party%20to%20this%20day
The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks, and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate and political interests from Minneapolis and Chicago.[1]
The League adopted the goat as a mascot; it was known as "The Goat that Can't be Got".[2]
As an American citizen of 75 years of age I am so embarrassed for my country that I can't describe my feelings. If I would have been told this was coming 15 or 20 years ago, I never would have believed it. This country elected a common criminal in 2016 to be the president of the United States, let that sink in. The only thing that set him apart from every other common criminal was money and the Republican party. We need to stay very focused and determined and make some very serious changes to our branches of government across the board, but first we have to win in November. We have too!
It's completely and utterly heartbreaking to see what is happening to our country and all at the hands of this one evil person who can't stand the fact that he lost an election.
Trump is merely the culmination of the rot and corruption that has marked the Republican party since Nixon and even before--it's just out in the open these days.
He's not dictator yet. .MAGAts have a choice.
Yes. Someone who had made a career out of showmanship, lies, and crime. Never once being elected to anything (so why not start at the top, like all aristocrats?), never once doing any public service or a day of honest labor. What did people expect?
It's like the tagline of the old fable -- "You knew what I was when you met me."
I just made a connection I hadn't made before. Trump indeed has "made a career out of showmanship" -- and what was happening at roughly the same time? Getting elected at the higher levels of U.S. politics was becoming more and more a matter of showmanship. Remember the 1972 movie THE CANDIDATE? Showmanship can help sell a good candidate or product, but over time substance becomes less and less necessary -- until, in 2016, showmanship quite literally Trumped substance 100%. (Sorry about that. Couldn't resist.)
Yes, we have to win in November, and yes, we need to make very serious changes, but I'm not at all sure that the primary focus should be on the institutions of government -- although for sure "attention must be paid" to them. Particular attention should be paid to Supreme Court decisions going back at least to Citizens United (2010) and Shelby County v. Holder (2013), but I'd throw D.C. v. Heller (2008) into the mix as well.
But really, anyone who didn't see this coming 15 or 20 years ago probably wasn't paying attention. (I've been recommending Dana Milbank's THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The Twenty-Five-Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party for a readable recent history.) As T L Mills notes elsewhere in this thread, it goes back at least to Nixon. Reagan played a huge part with his tax breaks for the wealthy and his attacks on unions. We in blue states weren't paying enough attention to what was happening in red states. Middle-class-and-up white people weren't paying enough attention to what was being done to communities of color under cover of the "war on drugs," "welfare reform," and other programs that too many white liberals fell for. Most of us weren't paying attention to the rapidly changing media landscape. Etc.
Trump didn't come out of nowhere, and neither did "the crack-up of the Republican Party." We the people need to wake the hell up and realize that if the U.S. really wants to be a democracy, we have a role to play in it.
Your reply to my comment is definitely on the mark. Thank you. I think part of my despair is in watching people in power stand behind the Orange Lunatic and support him while tearing down our democracy.
For years -- decades! -- I've thought I was realistic to the point of cynical about U.S. politics, but I'm still surprised by how blatantly anti-democratic the GOP has become. The affinity with Putin and Orbán was bad enough, but taking them as role models for the U.S.? "Make America Great Again" = "Make America White Again," and to achieve that objective they're more than willing to jettison democracy. In hindsight I can see it developing, but I sure didn't get it at the time.
You are exactly right. Biden could cure cancer, eliminate the national debt, achieve 100% employment and provide free college educations to everyone who wants one and it wouldn't change any MAGA votes because what most of them want is guaranteed white privilege. This was driven home to me in 2016 when my tRuMp adoring neighbors (husband partner in a law firm, wife PhD University Prof - living a very comfortable life) told me that their WORST fear in life (illness?, poverty? natural disaster? Etc etc) was that a person of color would try to date one of their daughters. So yes it's not about politics or policy it's about privilege and power.
Wow. I just looked up the date for GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? which I saw in high school and described that scenario, except that the daughter (played by Katharine Houghton) was already engaged to the Black man (Sidney Poitier): 1967. True, this was a path-breaking film for the time, but for apparently well-educated white people to be freaking out about the possibility in 2016? OMG.
Exactly! I almost fell off my chair when I heard that. And here's the other depressing thing about this. I'm in my middle 60's. At the time this happened the people I'm talking about were in their late 30's - early 40's. So much for the hope that the next generation would do a better job of things than my generation.
Was foreseen 15-20 years ago and yes few believed it. The reason being the movement to get here is best likened to desertification, i.e. a slow steady takeover all in plain sight. Most ignore its takeover until it appears in one's line of sight or on the doorstep.
The clearest fore warnings came from thee a(spelling intentional) authority on the post-Nixon Republican Party, Norm Ornstein. No hooman better chronicled the decline of the Republican Party than Norm.
Keep in mind #nevertrumpers were a major contributor to the decline of the Republican Party and didn't begin to wake up until helping aid Trump's 2016 elx, whether directly or indirectly (smearing HRC for decades). Some like George Conway and Liz Cheney voted for Trump in 2016. Others like Nicole Wallace were so disillusioned with the GOP that as a major player in the late Sen. McCain's run for president, voted for O. She realized elevating Palin (an appeal to the deplorables in the GOP) as a VP was likely to lead to a Trump at the top of the ticket. Point being Plain was the final red flag.As far as most #nevertrumpers they not only demonized HRC during her husband's administration they continued to while she was SECSTATE in O's administration. Of course, they attacked O daily after some of them were complicit in handing over a nation engaged in 2hot shooting wars and a misnamed Recession (Great, nope. Bush, yes) while squandering the budget surplus and the one opportunity to pay down the national debt.
So, their unfounded criticism is exactly what Trump does, deny, didge, deficit and attack in the order best suited to any given situation. They were Trump-light before Trump. And as awful a president Trump was in 4 years, it ain't even close to Bush the Lesser's 8. Yes, Trump has all the hallmarks of topping him. That is the exact trajectory of R-Presidents beginning w/Nixon. Each one plainly worse than his predecessor. Each one with a scandal or scandals worse than the predecessor. All in plain sight. Is enough to challenge their motivations due to being out of power since O's 1st inauguration. That too is 15yrs ago. Being out of power for power players is the prime motivation behind most of that group. And how authentic their criticisms are of Trump is an open question due to all the BS they shoved down America's throat for decades. The litmus test is which ones vored D up and down the ballot since 2016 knowing the only way to change the GOP is to contribute to multiple cycles of electoral defeats at all levels. How many have said they did v. how many have been silent or said that is what [other] people should do?
Said another way one of that group who chose Trump over HRC in 2016 is suspect. Even more suspect if they voted in 2016 and 2020. NO EXCEPTIONS. If it took 4 years of Trump plus 6Jan. to wakedafuqup, they are of highly flawed character and their judgment is non-existent.
superb
humbled. ~respect~
I don't disagree with this post's portrayal of Michael Cohen. One thing missing, however, is that IMO, Cohen has some charm and a sense of humor -- both of which Trump lacks completely.
Cohen also said, "I violated my moral compass." It is unimaginable that Trump could say that.
Considering all that Cohen did by Trump's direction (which didn't seem to bother him much, prior to Trump throwing him under the bus)...it's hard to see Michael Cohen saying that with a straight face.
I agree, but at least he said it, which it is unimaginable that the orange turd could do. I doubt that the latter has any concept of a moral compass.
On second thought, people sometimes do see the errors of their ways. Let's give Cohen the benefit of the doubt.
Cohen had the capacity to improve. The blob does not have that capacity. Nor does he have the capability to learn or to love.
The blob? I thought that Stormy Daniels had given him his definitive nickname: orange turd.
He's redeemed himself, unlike the republican party. He saw the error of his ways and saw who Drumpf really is - also unlike the republican party!
And a conscience it seems
Did Cohen's repeated, cheerful "Sounds like something I would say" put anyone else in mind of Bartleby the Scrivener's repeated response that he "would prefer not to" obey his employer?—the device, not the intent or content. Not the answer the interrogator wanted, but one that served all purposes.
Will have to read that! I think I have it, unread.
Talk about moral? The sycophants who blabbered outside were anything but…especially the weasel who is second in line to be president…he’s the worst
Cohen is, at least, smart, humorous, quick witted unlike his ex-boss. I haven't heard he is abusive or denigrating to women. I am definitely not defending his other less desirable characteristics, but he isn't totally the mentally deficient, ego maniacal, misogynistic, crazy, always-the-victim tRump. In my opinion, tRump has no equal where atrocious personality traits are concerned. He is the worst excuse for a human being I can remember and the most dangerous threat to our democracy in my lifetime. I am always aghast at the number of cult members who show up for his rant rallies, send him their last dime, defend him with words and violence, adorn themselves and their homes with his likeness and paraphernalia, buy his shitty worthless merch, and worst of all crawl over ground glass to vote for him. As much as I would like to see him taking a dirt nap,. can you picture the wailing and pulling of hair that will induce? And the competition to succeed him?
I think I could easily stand that in exchange for the satisfaction that event would induce.
The image that came to my mind was dancing—with abandon!—on the grave.
It will be like the scene in Munchkinland after Dorothy arrives. Ding-dong!
Yesss!
Yeah I can picture the wailing and sobbing--it gives me a little bit of pleasure. Just as long as the dirt nap is preceded by a natural medical event, the MAGA cultists can wail and cover their bald heads with ashes all they want. "I don't care; do you?"
I can't remember who said this, but his rallies have been described as "events" or "festivals." Apparently, a good number of attendees follow him from event to event, much like groupies following a rock star. Whoever reported this also said that not many pay any attention to him - they are milling around eating, buying merch, and just enjoying the "festivities" as such. If that is true, I liken his rallies to a gathering of yokels around a Snake Oil Salesman, there for the entertainment and the "event" - like a fireworks display. May we hope they fail to show up on November 5th.
And, "speaking" in forked tongues like the lizard brains they are.
I grew up in NJ. We've always known what he is.
Terrific piece. "My type," indeed. When the Deranged Depraved Defendant claims he could not possibly have shroomed some woman or other because "She's not my type," he contradicts Lenny Bruce's famous sermon from Cafe Au Go Go in the Village, where Bruce issued his First Commandment of Sex: "Men will fuck mud."
Shroomed? I hadn’t heard that before. It’s perfect.
Grazie infinite
Lenny was the real deal.
As were George Carlin and Richard Pryor
As a sign of the level of rage in the Defendant, he ordered the man 2nd in line for our nation’s highest office to debase himself, his office, the Congress and our nation by showing before the press today. Given who he is and what he represents , the writer cannot imagine a greater debasement by a human, no matter the person and context. We got a taste today of what a raging psychopath will be dishing out to one and all, as he is enabled.
I think it is because Mikey is part of the Veep parade before “the Don!” Thinks first in line would be a position. If we have our way, he will be back in Loozeeanna counting okra by January.
Remember that profound Republican advice on confronting temptation—Just say no? The speaker had a choice.
Defense "strategy" seems to be-- just scream like hell at the witness. Most likely under the orders of the most perfect lawyer ever, the barking yam hisself.
Male Politicans that support Donald Trump are cowardly weak individuals. Particularly those religious kooks that dont even need a genuflectorium when they go down on Donald the manchild.
What we need is Edward G. Robinson as the next witness.
You’re right, this is pure NYC. Not all of it, but a distinct, inflection and demographically adorned version of we know to be underworld tinged chitchat.
“Underworld tinged chit chat” Great line!
If you lived a life in any of the boroughs you heard it, you knew it.
You never met one of my uncles - or the two big guys on the next block who guarded a tiny old man in a corner ‘club’ who called out “hey sweetheart” when I walked by on my way to the subway?
I lived in Manhattan and the Bronx, by high school and college, out of town. So it’s new to me. Thanks anyway, I love it!
Forgot to mention a coworker ( we were both in our mid-twenties in Manhattan) at Cornell’s labor school office in the city.
She was a knock-out from the Queens neighborhood Son of Sam would terrorize a few years later. Big hair, lots of makeup, jewelry, wonderful. Her boyfriend,Auggie, wore thousand dollar suits, drove a caddy and would give us tips on horse racing we could use at OTB which had just opened a walk-in on (if I remember correctly) in 42nd. It was like going to an ATM.
When one of the horses didn’t win she had him reimburse all of us. ( For me it was no more than $5)
Fine! Your life was far more colorful than mine. Life in Manhattan, I was not allowed west of the Park. Then life in the Bronx was in Riverdale, which my mother didn’t even know was in the Bronx! First year of marriage, my Lieutenant husband was stationed at a nuclear missile site. We lived between Rockaway and Breezy Point (at the time Fort Tilden…now a national beachfront!) My father came to visit once and although he and his parents were all New Yorkers, intoned that he had never been to Brooklyn. When I told him it was technically Queens, he said his only time in Queens was at the airports. Total snobs!
A lovely life, Christina! What are a few snobs in the family, anyway? I had some myself who I routinely horrified. (Including my in-laws until they found out who my father was)
Funny, the Edward G Robinson in my mind's eye was the righteous nazi-hunter in "The Stranger." He could do the job too.
I loved him unconditionally.
Good column, Lucian, but look in - I think - paragraph 10, where you write about the accusations against Trump by his first wife, Ivana. You refer to her as “Ivanka”. Maybe change that, if you can.
Good catch. Fixed.
I remember P01135890 stating, 'where's my Roy Cohn'? Well he had his Roy Cohn and he threw him under the bus and now he's paying the price.
I think you've really nailed this one Lucian. The defense represents a grifter who constantly merchandises everything he touches, and they're crossing Cohen and Stormy for doing the same thing? The theory must be that there is only room for one grifter-in-chief and unless they're kicking up a share to him its so unfair and a disgrace, therefore he must be innocent. Does this resound with a Manhattan jury?
"I can’t believe I used the word “moral” in any context at all in a column about Donald Trump."
There have been a lot of moments, even minutes and hours of disbelief, incredulity, bemusement, and even shocked hilarity: the "orange turd". In court, no less, officially recorded for posterity in reference to a former POTUS. How did Lawrence O'Donnell keep a straight face?? I sure couldn't.
I thought *Rump would explode while Stormy and/or Cohen were on the stand, and it’s reasonable to wonder why he didn’t given his total lack of self control. I could easily believe he’s been sedated, which would explain his apparent sleeping during their testimony. Whether the sleeping is real or just performative disdain for the proceedings to also make sure it gets lots of media attention is an open question at the moment. Everyone, certainly in NYC, knows that he will do anything to command the limelight. All-publicity-is-good-publicity has been his mantra, however, he’s had some pretty bad coverage of late, and I doubt he likes it. Melania can’t possibly like it, and won’t be seen near this courtroom. She’s probably already planning a return to Slovenia with her autistic son and father. Anyone familiar with *Rump’s behavior over the decades isn’t surprised by what has been revealed, while his cult believes it’s all political persecution, and much ado about very little. Evangelical so-called Christians haven’t been bothered by any of his behavior so far, and that’s unlikely to change. So what element of the electorate is going to be swayed by Stormy’s or Cohen’s testimony? Is there such an element?
Nailed it ---- sedated.
Like you, Richard, I thought for sure the Dumpster would react to any part of Daniel's and/or Cohen's testimony by loudly verbalizing something obscene at them. I'm truly surprised so I suppose sedation could be the reason. But he would had to have allowed someone to administer a pill or a shot, and it's hard for me to believe that he would have done so willingly.