Trump Goes to the Mattresses

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?

-->

Mueller Investigation: Good Guys vs. Bad Guys

Mueller investigation. Everything moves at the speed of light these day. News at 186,000 miles per second… News stories cannot be connected at the speed of light.

So explains Marshall McLuhan, media prophet. I believe McLuhan and so should you.

Donald Trump is the perfect president for communications at the speed of light. His tweeting habit keeps pace with the new electronic environment.

Stories disappear. Tax changes benefit the wealthy… Mass shootings…Trump pays off Stormy Daniels ($130,000 hush money)… Trump pays off ex-Playmate Karen McDougal ($150,000 hush money). Eric Trump promotes Trump businesses in India… Stories won’t linger… won’t stick. Not at the speed of light.

Good guys. Robert Mueller has achieved American hero status. The Mueller investigation provides more entertainment than Celebrity Apprentice. We don’t know Mueller’s allies. The other good guys, the hard working investigators, have remained anonymous.

Mueller's investigation had been the one news story with a plot. Mueller manages the flow of information like a good screenwriter. The plot is building. We wait for denouement, a climax.

Bad guys help the narrative.  

Bad guy parade roll call.

Paul Manafort: campaign consultant and friend of all things Russian…busted.

Rick Gates… Manafort’s sidekick, possibly turning on Manafort…busted.

George Papadopoulos… wanted a place at the table, goofed up and spoke about Hillary’s pilfered emails… busted.

Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer was the bad guy for today. Looks like a European model for Luxxotica with those snappy European frames. Wasn’t seeing clearly when he lied to the FBI.

Feels like Celebrity Apprentice is still going strong in today’s White House. Rob Parker… Wife beater with a security clearance…Omarosa… Leaves kicking and screaming. Won’t stick…

Today’s winner… Sarah Huckabee Sanders… scores big as Press Secretary with enough attitude to hold the mainstream media at arm’s length.

Sarah Sanders does her best to squelch the accusations against Trump. Her denials may not really matter? Stories will last more a few days and disappear.

The huge open wound separating Left and Right is the chasm that threatens the American nation. It’s the real story that won’t go away.

Postcards from the Heartland: Trump's base speaks out

Recently I read a conservative publication, a right wing newspaper from deep in the heart of Texas. My copy came via a friend with connections to the paper. I've told him I'm a liberal and a Hillary Clinton voter at that! But still he shared the paper with me. Here are a few of these Trump Base sentiments, followed by My Liberal Perspective:

Trump Base Beliefs:

1) Trump is under attack. Attackers include lefties, Hollywood people and even Republicans like Paul Ryan, John McCain, John Kasich and Marco Rubio.

2) He is a "poor man's billionaire."

3) Every media platform is against him.

4)  Trump is an earthy man because of his experience in the construction industry.

5) Trump borrowed money from his father, but turned the million dollar loan into an empire worth more than 10 billion dollars.

6) Trump raised his kids right by making them on construction sites-- driving back-hoes and heavy equipment.

7) Donald Trump uses a bullying style because it works and because of the intensity of the attacks against him.

8) Trump is learning to be less gruff as he gains experience as President.  

9) Trump is anti-establishment.

10) Trump has revealed the Washington D.C. swamp for what it is. He threatens the Deep State bureaucrats, special interest groups and lobbyists running our government like no other president.

11)The United States is actually being run by a shadow government and Trump has done his level best to reveal the situation.

12) Trump puts America first. His enemies are using the Russia collusion story in an desperate attempt to bring him down.

My liberal perspective:

I love the term poor man's billionaire and I think it does capture one of Donald Trump's paradoxes-- though a high roller, he rarely appeals to educated voters from the upper income demographic. His cabinet is full of wealthy people, not exactly a swamp-drainer.

I interpret the tough guy approach to politics as Trump's strategy more than a personality trait. As Trump's primary campaign unfolded he got a clear message from Republican primary voters-- the more outrageous and less politically correct you behave, the more we like it.

Trump has perfected a very direct style of speech-making. I heard one commentator state that Trump speaks with the cadences of a comedian. Trump is at his most effective when he stays away from the teleprompter. He becomes animated and entertaining.

Trump is an interesting contradiction-- very open about using Twitter in support of his complicated machinations but a master of distraction. Trump has instincts towards secrecy-- ask him about his income taxes and he changes the subject. 

The baffling combination of saying whatever crosses his mind, while changing his mind constantly- makes for a 24/7 reality-TV show. Nobody seems sure Trump is suitable for the presidency, but he's a master of marketing and media. And he somehow figured this out from a second tier reality TV show called Celebrity Apprentice...

The "You're fired!" tagline for Celebrity Apprentice works well for Trump's approach to government. Just ask Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort, Sean Spicer,  and James Comey. They all got the axe, bit the bullet, took one for the team. Jeff Sessions may be next, and the Donald may even add Robert Mueller's head to the chopping block. That will add some thickening to the plot.

Trump never hired Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie, experienced politicians with  media savvy. Trump doesn't like to share the spotlight with the heavyweights. But smooth talking Anthony Scaramucci has recently arrived on the scene. "The Mooch" grabbed some of Trump's screen time over the last 48 hours and may soon hit the highway for the same reason...

Speeding off of a cliff (the new technology)-- while staring at the rearview mirror

Marshall McLuhan was interviewed by Playboy magazine in 1969. McLuhan, the oracle of Toronto, teaches us more about the present moment, 2017, then any of our media critics or the talking heads on cable TV. I've truncated the following portion of the interview for the sake of brevity.

PLAYBOY: Is the public, then, at last beginning to perceive the "invisible" contours of these new technological environments?

McLUHAN: People are beginning to understand the nature of their new technology, but not yet nearly enough of them-- and not nearly well enough. Most people, as I indicated, still cling to what I call the rearview-mirror view of the world.

Because we are benumbed by the new technology-- which in turn creates a totally new environment-- we tend to make the old environment more visible...

In the midst of the electronic age of software, of instant information movement, we still beleve we're living in the mechanical age of hardware.

We reverse the old educational dictum of learning by proceeding from the familiar to the unfamiliar by going from the unfamiliar to the familiar, which is nothing more of less that the numbing mechanism that takes place whenever new media drastically extend our senses.

You must read the entirety of this interview-- highly recommended.

First off, how amazing that Professor McLuhan speaks about "software" and "instant information movement" in 1969! His critics dismissed his prophetic teachings-- disdainfully rejecting his theorie  as "technological determinism." And now you see almost every single pedestrian staring at his cellphone, totally enslaved by the instant information flow seducing all of us. Technological determinism indeed!

The news media salivated mightily over Donald Trump's 7 tweets this morning-- including one which mentioned Trump's reference to possibly taping his conversation with James Comey in the Oval Office. The pundits stated that Trump's behavior mimicked Richard Nixon's tapes of phone conversations-- and concluded Trump is a new version of the President Nixon, a cynical, suspicious paranoid personality brought down by his own insecurities. The media turned to the past to understand the present. Trump must be like Nixon, so the thinking goes.

Trump has his flaws, but he's not a new Nixon. Trump fancies himself the new Reagan. He is neither Nixon nor Reagan. Trumps talks constantly-- especially if we consider Tweets to be a form of conversation. Nixon was secretive, careful, circumspect. Reagan called "the great communicator" liked and mastered the television medium. Both men had considerable experience with the American political process, Nixon famously struggled with the television medium in his debate with John F. Kennedy.

Trump is something of a television expert-- and now he is the most popular TV show in television history-- including the daily soap opera co-star Sean Spicer in his White House briefings. Trump lives the hot lights of media attention but has no sense of political realities. Very few explanations of Trump can be found in the TV annals, not even from his own show--  Celebrity Apprentice.

So, how do we understand Trump? His adversaries focus on Trump's lack of morality and the absence of a political ideology. Perhaps the absence of morality and absence of a political philosphy actually do explain Trump. He's working as an improvisational performer-- staying a step ahead of the pundits by not thinking through all the rational details. He speaks more like a comedian-- and he worked wonders with that method on the campaign trail.

Every week gets more interesting than the week before. Trump has brought Reality TV to the White House and embraced Twitter as his secret weapon. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing. Expecting him to "act Presidential" seems a lost cause. He's playing by a new set of rules. None of us understand them and the rearview mirror is providing no help whatsoever.

Put on your seat belt. Dr. Hunter Thompson, the gonzo political satirist for Rolling Stone magazine, is a man much-needed at the present moment. He likes to say "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Trump seems like a pro in a roomful of amateurs, cub reporters with their pencils behind their ears. Trump likes unscripted, reality television and now he does it full-time. He lives in the moment and casts all previous truths aside.

I've noticed people are turning to artists and poets for an explanation of the present angst. McLuhan always praised artists as the only people willing to look at the present. The artists among us may provide the best answers.

Mr. McLuhan, we must praise you every day!

Roiling Electorate: is @realDonaldTrump all that real?

The Presidential election sends people into spasms of pain, or delight, depending on whether they fear Trump or embrace him. The powerful reaction of people has more mystery than the political issues. Nobody knows what to expect, Trump included, from a man who rode gambling casinos into bankruptcy. Gambling is an addiction! If you cannot succeed playing to people's addictions, wow, you've got a problem. That's like failing with a liquor store. Hardly ever happens.

I understand Trump turned his failed casinos into a profit-maker, for him, but that's another story. I have none of the information on how you turn failure into profit. You've got to be big-time player to pull off that kind of ruse. And now Trump is the biggest of all players!

Why does hucksterism work so well in the new media environment-- the electronic universe we all occupy in the present day. Trump mastered Twitter. Everybody constantly studies the phone in their hand. Marshall McLuhan warned us that the digital environment would be grafted directly to our brain and nervous system. Trump, give him credit, figured this out and circumvented Jeb Bush and his hundred millions of dollars. Trump did the same to Hillary. He went directly to the spinal chord of the people via their telephones.

Will Donald Trump use electronic communications to run the country? He spoke grandly of manufacturing and other dreams of restoring the past. That mechanical, industrial stuff is not the thing 21st century dreams are made of. Obama kept saying that the less fortunate needed to learn the digital skills that enable a worker to flourish as a present-day worker. That gets down to learning to program computers, or at least function in the digital environment, beyond the ability to study your phone. Trump promises factory jobs. That seems like sentimentality. But he sold it brilliantly.

The people hired a businessman, a guy with an aversion to paying taxes. He wants to punish the high tech moguls for keeping their billions offshore. Well, takes on to know one, as they say...

Celebrity Apprentice prepared Trump for his present mission. Only now he is the celebrity apprentice, trying to learn the job of President of the United States. Could be something of a challenge-- and not sure Twitter works as well when you're behind the wheel of the country. Not as easy to lob Twitter grenades when suddenly you find yourself as the establishment. And Trump is now the main guy, no longer the gadfly.