Archie Bunker in the White House

The New York City borough of Queens has two residents more famous than the rest-- Donald Trump and Archie Bunker. Donald Trump is real and Archie Bunker is a fictional character. Normal Lear, the groundbreaking television producer, named the show All in the Family and cast Carroll O'Connor as Archie.

Trump and Bunker resemble each other in many ways. Archie sits on his throne, a comfortable chair in the middle of his living room. He hurls insults and says the things others are thinking but are afraid to say. Archie has problems with racial diversity, homosexuality, longhairs, war protesters, etc. etc.. Each show ended with a positive message about healing and crossing barriers.

Tump's speeches do not end with that kind of uplifting message.  Trump has his throne to the Oval Office. He shoots from the hip just like Archie. Neither man shrinks from controversy.

All in the Family (AITF)  ran from 1971-1979 and helped heal some of the lingering pain of the Vietnam era. The show confronted American society's prejudices through the voice of a bigoted, white working-class guy. r

Archie's blunt language reminds us of Donald Trump. Both men have a natural, colorful speaking style. Their hate-filled rants have another thing in common, they attract a loyal following of fans. Both Archie Bunker and Donald Trump speak like guys not afraid to offend. Agree or disagree-- you cannot get Archie Bunker or Donald Trump out of your head. Both are born entertainers.

Trump and Bunker are colorful. They speak in the cadences of the man in the street. Trump has a wealthy background but does not feel elite. Archie comes from humbler stock. Archie feels fear about the future. He doesn't like change.

Trump also seems to want to long for the past. He's done everything possible to rollback the Obama year changes. He constantly inflames liberals and reporters from CNN and MSNBC.

Trump may be non-fictional but like Archie he is product of the media. Trump calls the media "the enemy of the people" but media is Trump's biggest friend. A true con man, Trump convinces us that the most outlandish ideas have validity. And foolishly the media underestimates Trump and calls him a fool. One of the conman's greatest gifts is to convince the other guy, the mark, that he is smarter than you.

The TV camera is Trump's real mistress, a gal more loyal than porn star Stormy Daniels and all the other female accusers. The media speak about Trump constantly, from both left and right, from Fox News to the The New York Times and Washington Post.

New Yorkers are famously abrasive. Usually that New York attitude does not play well in the flyover states. The American Heartland has affection for modest people, the "Aw shucks" attitude of a Gary Cooper, who rides into town on a white horse and takes care of problems like it was easy as pie.

Trump builds his own importance with the fever of a narcissist looking in the mirror. He loves to hear his name repeated. The Trump name resonates across the airwaves and social media with metronome regularity. The crude, colorful language

Despite all the odds against them, the two Queens products have hypnotized America to their way of thinking. Archie has bunked us and Trump has trumped us. And we like it!

Trump’s drunken dance: may be working

 Zeibekiko is a popular Greek nightclub dance, done by only one person at a time, a male performer, and everyone else has to kneel down, forming a circle around the dancer, clapping following the rhythm and encouraging the dancer. Zeibekiko dance does have some particular steps, but the most impressive dance is the one where the dancer shows his creativity, performing special feats, adding a little humor and personal touch to the occasion.

(Wikipedia)

Donald Trump moves with the creativity and freedom of a drunk or a Greek guy stumbling around the dance floor. The Zeibekiko dancer sometimes mimics a drunk.Trump stomps across the world stage with the stumbling grace of a drunk. He bellows around the White House or Mar a Lago or Trump Tower, stomps out of G7 gatherings, hires Rudy Giuliani as alternative drunk uncle to fend off Robert Mueller and the Stormy Daniels lawyer. Trump huffs and puffs and tweets like a man possessed, but still pulls off a meeting with North Korea. Donald J. Trump, a teetotaler, never has touched alcohol, but moves with the stumbling grace of a drunk.

Trumps lack of planning may be his secret. Presidential campaign? He hadn’t a clue. Came up with a great slogan—Make America Great Again. Surprised people by filling up stadiums on the campaign trail. He talked different. Trump delivers speeches like a standup comic. We all watch him wondering about his next move. The behavior of an improvisational performer attracts our attention. 

Trump’s understanding of modern electronic media may explain his mastery of the improvisational. Our social media network is very interactive. As Marshall McLuhan correctly predicted—the new era of electronic communications, the one we’re living in now, is all about engagement. Cellphones, video games, Facebook, etc. engage us more personally than books, newspapers and even the television of old.

Trump has integrated his Twitter account with the hours of coverage he attracts on cable television to become a broadcasting system all his own. How does he keep his viewership, readership, follower numbers at a high level?... He does it with outrageous statements, insults, provocative lies, and manufactured culture wars with American football players, and the timing, intonations and attitude of a seasoned standup comic.

I look for traces of Donald Trump in old footage of his early television appearances. He seems slightly shy but eager to master the TV studio. He has a glint in his eye. I see a Rascal.

Trump reveals in those brief TV appearances, traces of the rascal, the scamp, scalawag, scoundrel, who would come to fruition during his run for Presidency. He quickly wanted to master the TV performer’s craft. He had some success but really flourished when he began to control everything. 

“Emoluments? What is that? I want to make money and be President at the same time.” 

He seems out of control but then controls almost everything. 

The improvisational mode suits Trump and his spontaneity suits the new electronic media environment. Trump’s media enemies hate the ease of his approach and fault him for being stupid, a sign they do not “get” Trump’s mastery of their own medium.

And the Zeibekiko dance continues.... 

Trump totters at the edge of the nightclub stage, verges on a drunken stumble but always finds his footing. 

He somehow avoids falling down-- and surprises us again and again with the outrageous behavior of a wild standup comic.

Trump meets a Two Headed Monster (Mueller and Avenatti)

Donald Trump, the ultimate shape shifter and media maestro, may have met his match in the form of a two-headed monster-- Robert Mueller, the last Boy Scout, and Michael Avenatti, the steely-eyed junkyard dog litigator.

Mueller must be the exact opposite of Donald Trump. Mueller seems squeaky clean and entirely scrupulous. In an era of leakage, no secrets escape from the Mueller camp and he methodically probes the last presidential election. Mueller is organized. Trump likes chaos. Mueller walks past the TV cameras with a sense of purpose. He's intent on protecting us.

Trump is a different story. He may be the first president to not age in the job. Trump love himself so much he worries less for the nation. He didn't divest from his business interests. He cares more about the Trump brand than being leader of the free world.

Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, has a Mueller-like focus but with a different agenda. Avenatti has Trump-like instincts for finding the weakness in an opponent and staying on message. Avenatti has the unflinching gaze of a race car driver. That's because he is one.

Steve Bannon reportedly said the #metoo movement posed a major threat to Trump presidency. Stormy Daniels does not spring to mind as the poster child for the #metoo movement. But Stormy and lawyer Avenatti have the personality requirements for facing Trump down-- in the courtroom and/or in the court of the media circus. Avenatti has an impressive resume-- an all-star student at George Washington University Law School, in Hollywood, including the O.J. Simpson civil case, and behind the wheel of a race car. And Stormy's resume speaks for itself.

Avenatti told us to "buckle up" for the 60 Minutes interview of Stormy Daniels next Sunday. I can think of at least one person who will be watching...

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.