Donald Trump came into office just like a Mafia Don. Don Donald. Michael Flynn, the guy who led chants of “Lock her up,” and Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, began selling favors before the inauguration. Flynn could be seen making deals on his cellphone from the White House lawn. Cohen sought out multi-national companies and advertised his strong access to the President of the United States as a strong selling point.
No hesitation in these gangster types. They get a foot in the door and you have to pay them protection…. Or else.
Trump took the same approach as his associates. Emoluments clause? Hell with it. I can run a business and the USA at the same time. He did not want to divest his business holdings and never did.
Trump has “played” politics just the way the recently risen Mafia Don works his crew, the streets and the civilians. Everything’s for me. Everybody sends a cut of their earnings to the top.
Donald Trump will steal your lunch money until you fight back. America has not fought back and he keeps gouging until the final dollar is pressed into his personal coffers. Don’t like it and you can try your best to get him out of office.
Office never mattered to much to Donald Trump. He loves the theater and confrontation of electoral politics and loves watching television. But a certain movie captures the Trump phenomenon, even better than Celebrity Apprentice.
In Casino, the 1995 Martin Scorsese film starring Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro, we get an insight into Donald Trump.
Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein is quietly running a casino in Vegas. The De Niro character translates to Barack Obama, a capable man doing an honest day’s work. Joe Pesci is Donald Trump—the guy who shows up like a tornado, kills the game for everybody else.
The Joe Pesci character, based on Anthony Spilotro, a real life mob enforcer and hit man, arrives and things spiral downward and end with a thud. Joe’s character lacks self-control. He is programmed to hurt others. He lives only for himself. The Joe Pesci character adds insult to injury by stealing and banging De Niro’s wife—Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna.
Okay, so Donald Trump never made a play for Michelle Obama. I’m sure she’s not his type. He likes tall women but prefers Eastern European and Russian woman. That’s how you end up with a daughter named Ivanka.
Trump’s daughter’s name does not imply he’s colluded or conspired with Russians. Trump’s most obvious trait—acquisitiveness—includes the element of bringing everybody else down. It’s not enough for him to win. The others, (i.e. the American citizenry) can fend for themselves.
We must protect ourselves from Donald Trump’s habit of playing the game so hard, working the casino till every nickel has dropped out of the slot machine and then declaring bankruptcy.
After 5 bankruptcies, including Atlantic City casinos, Trump moved to the next hustle. Bankers lost confidence in his Midas touch and Donald Trump went east to Moscow to find new bankers.
Russia, as the banker of last resort, may prove to be the end of Trump. Putin is a better gangster, probably more cruel and efficient than the garrulous Donald Trump. Putin is more the Carlo Gambino style mob boss. He keeps quiet and motivates associates—called Russian oligarchs—to do his bidding. Putin is said to be the richest man in the world.
The Mueller probe gets closer to President Trump and Don Donald hires an army of lawyers. I heard 40 lawyers hired—but maybe 17, the more conservative number is accurate? In either case, that’s a lot of lawyers.
Trump hiring an army of lawyers is a presidential version of the old Mafia term “going to the mattresses.” Mob wars required the Mafia soldiers to move into apartments and sleep on mattresses on the floor—until matters were settled.
Trump’s two greatest assets are:
1) His base of loyal voters
2) His mastery of media communication
Like a good gangster movie, the two sides are lined against each other and ready to do battle. Carlo Gambino survived by following the traditional Mafia rule of omerta—silence when questioned by police and total loyalty to the mob family. But that is more Putin. Trump plays more like John Gotti—very fond of the spotlight and his notoriety.
Gotti flamed out quickly as “boss of all bosses” precisely because he was too loud, too flamboyant and overly narcissistic.
Sound familiar?
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