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Excuse me if the subject of this essay proves indelicate—if not odoriferous.
Donald Trump smells. And not in a pleasant way. Over the last few months there have been reports of a strange odor that appears to cloak the ex-president, and cling to him like a second shadow. Some speculate the odor comes from an unhappy combination of personal care products.
Orange skin toner plus exotic cologne plus extra hold hair spray plus a rich diet of unhealthy foods equals a night out in a toxic brownfield site.
More recently, as the ex-president begins his walk of shame through the nation’s courtrooms, starting in the city he once called home, the odor appears to have taken a seat at the defendant’s table alongside him. Rachel Maddow, sitting in the back of the crowded courtroom, commented on the stink, saying “It smells like old soup and stale breath,” which proves a lot kinder than other voices have been.
Farting has been mentioned, oh yes. Even sharting, whose definition you can easily discern for yourself. Meanwhile “Odor In The Court!” is trending on on social media as word of Donald’s gas problems quietly leak out (pun intended).
Ben Meiselas of The Meidas Touch Network, commented on the foulness, saying “I hear it from credible sources …that Donald Trump is actually farting in the courtroom.”
Whether or not The Donald is actually responsible for the foul odor, nobody can say. Silent-but-deadly rarely leaves fingerprints. I’ve been reviewing photos that reveal how closely his lawyers choose to sit next to him. And it ain’t close.
For me, what’s really radiating out from Trump is an overflow from his soul. The stench of all Donald’s foul deeds finally catching up with him. All the tradesmen he stiffed, the lawyers he never paid, the woman he raped in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room, the peekaboo raids in women’s changing rooms, the country he dishonored in refusing to accept the will of the voters.
And don’t forget how he destroyed the fabric of our sense of community in America. The sense that we are all members of the same family. Well we are no longer members of the same family. Those of us who believe Trump’s lies have been taught to hate and revile those who don’t.
Yes, there is something rotten in the state of New York. I for one, pray that it will soon be removed. Even if we can never remove the stain it leaves behind.
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He was the best of men. He was the worst of men. He gave up his life in pursuit of freedom and justice. He gave up his soul in pursuit of power and fame. He was a beacon of hope in a world held hostage by Darkness. He was a defender and purveyor of Darkness itself. He died in a Russian prison camp. His brand began its painful death crawl in a New York City courtroom.
Two headlines in yesterday’s New York Times will burnish the legends of two very different ‘heroes’ for our time.
One headline asks, “With Prison Certain and Death Likely, Why Did Navalny Return to Russia?”
While the other informs us, “Trump Is Ordered To Pay Fraud Penalty That Will Exceed $450 million.”
Aleksei Navalny was a hero—to me, and to millions of others who reject Vladimir Putin’s hijacking of the Russian State. The kind of hero who courageously dedicates his life to the betterment of others. We haven’t yet learned the details of his state sponsored death, but Navalny’s martyrdom will probably serve the cause of freedom in Russia more than anything he could have accomplished as a living activist.
Donald J. Trump is also a hero—not to me certainly, but to millions of Americans who have bought into his grift. To those legions of cult followers, if I am honest, he appears to be a tough guy, a player who, because he seemed tough on TV, knows how to make winning deals, and can make unlikely things happen. Build a wall, invent a better health care plan, drain the swamp, wish Covid away and, most importantly, keep Muslims and Mexicans from coming into our country.
Trump’s hero worshippers have swallowed even the largest of Donald Trump’s fish stories, blinded by the brilliance of his aura. Even as they blanch at his boorish behavior and assorted cruelties, his aura remains whole and relatively untarnished. An aura partly manufactured for viewers of his once popular TV show, and partly manufactured by Trump himself…All those years of shameless self-promotion. Trump Steaks. Trump Vodka. Trump University. Trump Casinos. Trump Towers.
And the capstone, of course: Trump’s Insurrection!
Word of this week’s massive legal judgment is such big news, not even Fox News can prevent it from breaking out of the right-wing echo chamber and reaching minds that would otherwise be closed to hearing negative news about their leader.
Yes, this week, for everyone’s round-the-clock consumption, comes news that Donald Trump was fined almost half a billion dollars! FOR DECADES OF FRAUD. FOR CHEATING PEOPLE. FOR LYING TO BANKS AND INSURERS. FOR LYING IN COURT.
Navalny knew exactly what he faced in returning to Russia. He had only just recovered from an assassination attempt where Putin’s killers laced his undershorts with a nerve agent. Which once again begs the question ‘why?’ “With prison certain and death likely, why did Navalny return?”
As for Trump, he did what he did because he could do it. And get away with it! C’mon, who would ever charge him with fraud? He had gotten away with murder all his life. Not just as the pampered son of a millionaire real estate tycoon. But as a pugnacious player in a business world where he forced his way to a seat at the table.
As a well known player in the game, Trump found he could stiff whichever vendors were too weak or small to force his payment. Those vendors—among which you will find numerous lawyers—were often and famously left standing with bills in their hands and eggs on their faces.
Why? Because Donald Trump believes he can get away with almost anything. Same reason he continues to foul up America’s democracy, repeatedly undermining our institutions. Same reason he didn’t need to directly raid the American Treasury when he left the presidency, choosing instead to allegedly sell off pardons and steal America’s treasured secrets.
And in Russia, why? Why put yourself at risk by returning to Putin’s Russia? Because Aleksei Navalny had immense courage. The kind you tell your children about. And Navalny was dedicated to a cause seemingly more important than his life. So important he knowingly placed his family in peril of losing their father and protector.
And then there’s Vladimir Putin, the man invited long ago to help govern Russia who refused to ever go home. To further add to Navalny’s guilt in Putin’s eyes, the fearless activist challenged the Russian President on a level Putin could never understand. When faced with an opponent Putin could not bully into submission; a man whose integrity and courage were proven down to his final choices in life, Putin could only balk and flail.
And so, Aleksei Navalny became the gnat that refused to be swatted away by the angry giant.
Until the giant swatted him one last time.
Now, returning to Donald J. Trump, sexual assaulter, insurrectionist and serial fraudster who was tagged with a fine that will ultimately cost him $450 million. This on top of the $88.3 million in combined judgments from his earlier E. Jean Carroll trials. That amount—over a half billion dollars!—as staggering as it appears, will further fan the fires of grievance that have made a hero and cult leader of Donald J. Trump.
Yes, rather than see it as society’s karmic retribution—the weight of the judgement being equal to the size and scope of the crimes their leader committed—Trump supporters will believe Trump’s cries of innocence and vendettas, and see Engoran’s ruling as further proof of witch hunts and Joe Biden’s abuses of power.
But something is different now. Something definitely shifted with Judge Engoren’s levying of the half billion dollar judgment against Donald Trump. You can sense it in the air, even in your own feelings about Trump. The shadow of his threat seems smaller now, and not so far reaching. Trump himself has been diminished. Diminished in wealth. Diminished in scariness.
If you’ve been watching the Trump drama unfold over the last year, you’ve seen all the scaffolding and platforms erected in the legal sector that will now allow Trump’s Karmic Comeuppance to play itself out. It’s only now, with his blistering half billion dollar judgment, that the structure for the ensuing drama becomes more obvious.
With Judge Engoren’s masterful finding, Trump’s shield—his aura of invincibility, his aura of being a successful businessman—has been seriously pierced. The first major step (or stumble?) on his Karmic Journey to redemption, perhaps…? We’ll see. It will take some time before we know the true consequences and eventual outcome, but Trump has been wounded; seriously wounded by Letitia James’ fraud trial. Just when he enters a crazy season of campaigning for the presidency peppered, as it will be, with frequent appearances in court.
Two headlines in a newspaper. Two men whose lives were as widely different as those of a saint and a grifter. Aleksei Navalny died three days ago, and the world has been diminished by his absence. Donald J. Trump still walks among us, and the world is none the better for it.
Nor is he someone who instinctively lies to undo every mess, crime or idiotic blunder he uncontrollably creates. Nor will he employ sycophants to kiss his backside and carry out his instructions, especially when those orders directly threaten the welfare and security of the United States.
Joe Biden will never destroy the integrity of governmental institutions and agencies, nor nominate people who will strangle and starve the very agencies they were hired to run. He will never nominate William Barr, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney, Louis DeJoy nor Rudy Giuliani to hold positions in our government. Not even when their prison terms come to an end.
Joe Biden will not play chicken with epidemics or pandemics. Rather than act too late in a crisis, Joe Biden will anticipate crises and, most important of all, avoid creating new ones.Joe Biden will never hold back congressionally authorized military aid to extort and corrupt defenseless nations. Nor will he insult our friends by calling them “shithole” countries.
And when the United States intelligence agencies provide insights and guidance, he will not castigate and belittle their efforts. Nor will he take the word of foreign dictators over U.S. government agencies. Not even if Vladimir Putin tells him to.
But that’s not all! Joe Biden won’t turn his back on United States allies. Especially those who have given thousands of lives to advance U.S. security. Nor will he turn his back on traditional allies who have walked with us through storm and strife. He will not weaken our most important alliances—not NATO, nor those with our partners at our borders. And speaking of borders, Joe Biden will not demonize our neighbors nor give domestic terrorists and white nationalists undeserved recognition and acceptance.
Joe Biden will never lie to you. Not daily, or ever! Joe Biden will never enact tax reforms that pretend to help the middle class and actually put millions of dollars into the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. When Joe reforms our taxes, it will be for real, and will not decimate our treasury or ignore those of us who are struggling.
Joe Biden does not play golf.Nor does he watch Fox News!
