It's now painfully obvious, Jonathan Freedland writes, that Donald Trump sees himself as a mafia don:
More than 18 months into his presidency, Donald Trump’s modus operandi – and the danger it represents – is clear. His working method is that of the mafia boss and gangland chieftain, daily wielding his power to settle scores, teach lessons and crush dissent. Anyone who’s seen The Sopranos will know the routine: the casual intimidation, the obsession with loyalty, the brutal ostracism meted out to those who dare defy the man at the top.
The most recent example of Trump's modus operandi is John Brennan. And Trump's treatment of Brennan has revealed that, like Richard Nixon, he has a enemies list:
To be fair, the US is not wholly a stranger to such behaviour. When Sanders named eight other former public servants now similarly threatened with losing their security clearance – all of them connected with the Russia probe, funnily enough – she evoked memories of Richard Nixon’s notorious “enemies list”, a place on which fast became a badge of honour. The parallel is not fatuous: Nixon’s great offence was abuse of power, and this is becoming Trump’s hallmark.
He has not been able to do what he has done without his enablers in Congress and a fair degree of public support:
The US system of government, cherished and nurtured over two centuries, is being eroded by a president who tramples over every convention and custom that ensures its survival – and, crucially, by his Republican enablers in Congress who could stop him but won’t. (In a chorus, they supported his act of revenge against Brennan.)
Americans need to guard against an authoritarian impulse whose existence in their body politic is now demonstrably real. A survey this month found that 43% of Republicans were willing to give Trump the power to close down media organisations, while a separate poll a year ago found 52% would support “postponing” the 2020 election if Trump proposed it. Among all Americans, support for rule by the army – as opposed to elected politicians – is unusually high, with nearly one in five in favour.
Mr. Trump is a clear and present danger to his own country. But the danger is not confined to the borders of the United States:
Every time he steps over a once taboo boundary, thereby erasing it, Trump acts to normalise autocracy in the US and beyond. Rulers in Budapest and Warsaw, as well as Ankara and Moscow, see what Trump gets away with and they take note and take heart. He is a role model for the international strongman set. Which is why all those who care about global democracy should be praying for Trump’s Republicans to take a thorough beating in November’s midterm elections. As any mafia boss will tell you, the surest way to defeat a would-be strongman is to make him look weak.
One can only hope that Americans will reduce the Republican Party to an ineffective rump. The party certainly will not change its ways until it becomes a national embarrassment.
Image: Bubble Of Delusions
6 comments:
Trump has been drawn to the criminal element almost all his life. From the mob controlled construction unions in New York to Russian money-launderers, they've been integral to his business dealings. He's America's Grifter-in-Chief and his presidency will leave the country deeply scarred.
He is, indeed, the Grifter-in-Chief, Mound. And he is entirely without a conscience.
He plays with presidential prerogatives, of which he likely had no prior awareness, as though they were items he's discovered at the bottom of a toybox, and senses within himself a unique cleverness in that no one with prior access to that box could have known that they were there, or what could be done with them, because they never pulled them out to play with them. He becomes preoccupied with them and starts throwing them everywhere he thinks they might stick or do some damage.
Look what I found!
Look what I found out:
“Most people don’t even know [Lincoln] was a Republican. Right? Does anyone know? A lot of people don’t know that. We have to build that up a little more.”
Presidential pardons, tariffs rationalized by bogus "national security" concerns and the power to revoke security clearances: shiny little toys in the clumsy little hands of a dangerous septuagenarian wunderkind. What shiny playthings is the "stable genius" yet to stumble upon as he continues to grab at the novelties in that box?
Your analysis is spot on, John. He's a child who has been fascinated throughout his entire life with his own navel. Occasionally he goes to his toybox seeking comic relief. But no one else finds him -- or his toys -- funny.
.. at the risk of seeming 'silly' - I will outline a small scale analogy - and its beyond hurtful - but perhaps useful..
Yes.. the enemies lists .. the mafia realities & Russian monies & loans etc.. all very valid, in fact stingingly accurate. But spare a moment to consider the murder of Honey and Barry Sherman. Why ? Was it actually just about money? Or was it that a certain person or persons could not let an insult or perception of weakness pass. Not good for business or control, in fact.
Cost? Not a consideration... it (to me) seems about messaging. Yes Barry Sherman thought 'winning' was all accomplished via flexing litigation muscle & lawyer 'power'. He had the experience, power & money to do so. But there was an oversight, an over reach, a blunder into deeper dangerous water that he did or could not see. Do we think he was executed first? No. He saw his wife executed first. It was likely 'the perfect crime' - hell the police may even know why, but its unproveable. Yes its insavory, disgusting, even frightening.. but it is now, what it is.
Jump to Trump now.. What ?
Oh.. there it is on larger scale. The trust of Trump that via litigation, lawyers and serial lying and deceit, comes 'winning'. So what if you defraud or ruin farmers or longshoremen, wannabe commercial realtors, caterers, landscapers, country club neighbors in Scotland, or deceive voters ? Its all good, right ? Its the American Way.. and don't you black folk take a knee before a football game.
Dotage Don-old will not be 'punished' .. its his children and grandchildren..band all who enabled him, who will be punished.. we just don't know who can least afford to allow any sign of weakness whatsoever..
For some folks, sal, life is a zero sum game. For them to win, others must lose. Cost is irrelevant. I don't know much about the Shermans. But it seems Barry expected lawyers to protect his interests. Trump doesn't understand that the White House Counsel is there to protect the presidency, not him.
When he wins, everyone loses. And when he loses, everyone loses.
Post a Comment