Trump & Cohen

Trump's two hour rant at CPAC last week showed us a lot about how our president’s approval rating could rise to an unbelievable 46%. I call it unbelievable because I don't want to believe that 46 of every 100 of those polled could actually approve of his presidency, approve of his actions and words, approve of him despite his verifiable lying. Michael Cohen called him a racist, a con man, and a cheat. That middle label is the most accurate description. He is a perfect example of a flimflam man, one who takes enormous pleasure in playing con games with his constituents. Two hours of winging it, of "going off-script," as he smilingly described what he was doing.

Apparently he was always a con man, but his successful five years on The Apprentice made him believe he was also so charming, clever, intelligent, funny, so above social and legal restrictions that he could say and do anything he wanted without any consequences. He would still be loved by his followers. He once remarked that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and no one would care. He could treat women like pieces of meat and his good old buddies would applaud. Even the women he denigrated would overlook his grabbing them by their "pussies" and say that was part of his charm. Flimflammery at its finest.

Cohen also gave us a look at the Trump ego, which needs to be inflated regularly. Cohen described his job of making sure the Trump paintings being auctioned would be sold last and at the highest amount, a certainty guaranteed by Trump’s secretly buying them himself, using Trump Foundation money for the purchase.

When opponents accused him of using loopholes to avoid paying any taxes, he just smiled and said that just showed how smart he is. "I'm a genius," he's often said, but according to Cohen, Trump directed him to fix it so that his high school and college grades would never be released, not even his SAT scores. This genius trying to hide his genius?

Trump modesty? Trump apparently believes he's smarter than his military advisors and their threat assessments and chooses to ignore them; the daily briefings bore him so he either skips them or cuts them short; his diplomacy seems to be based more on what he thinks of as his charm than on preparation and knowledge about those with whom he meets (as was said of his recent failed meeting with Kim Jung Un). His idea of diplomacy is his charm. He can just "wing it" instead of having any knowledge or facts at hand. Just smile and shake hands and praise praise praise those you're meeting and you'll get what you want. If you want to win a debate, don't go there weighted down with facts; just "wing it" by disparaging your opponent as often and as loudly as possible. After all, that worked in his debates with Hillary Clinton and it seemed to be effective in his winning the 2016 election.

The fact that his approval rating rose after the Cohen hearings instead of plummeting shows us the fearful fact that he may actually be re-elected in 2020. What would his re-election say to the United States and to the world about our standing as world leader militarily, financially, and morally? I fear that it wouldn’t say anything good.