Thank Goodness for Donald Trump
Thank goodness for Donald Trump.
It took me a while to get here, to get over his vileness, his meanness, his utter lack of care for anyone other than himself. It wasn’t his politics, all of which are phony: the pro-life position after decades of favoring abortion rights or the fake respect for “The Generals’’ before he started firing them.
No - after all the lies and investigations, the danger and racism, the misogyny and the lack of respect for the country, the rule of law, or any of our institutions, it is the mirror Donald Trump has held up to the American public that I value. That mirror reveals who we are and the culture we have created.
Money buys anything. Everything is a chance for profit, the good of the polity be damned.
His speech defending his criminal indictment at his Mar-a-Lago resort was the epitome of the United States at its worst: celebrity culture gone mad, obscene wealth and privilege, hatred of authority and expertise, obvious racism, and pure, utter meanness.
We elected this guy.
But when he came into office Trump held up a giant mirror and shouted “This is what happens when you stop caring. This is what happens when you don’t understand history. This is what happens when you mistake wealth for expertise and skill. This is what happens when capitalism is allowed to run out of control. This is what happens when people care more about Gwyneth Paltrow skiing than the future of the country.’’
It is tempting to look away from the spectacle. It is embarrassing on so many levels. The sycophants who support him: the lawyers, the PR agents, his own children, the son-in-law Jared Kushner making bank with the Saudis. It is a very long list.
For me, I am going to keep making the list and keep following the spectacle. I want to know how this happened. I want to look into that giant mirror and see whether a disgusted America will do something about it or if will we just turn away and let it continue.
Here is the thing about Trump: he has always known exactly what he is doing. He always steps right up to the line: Jan. 6, the election night call to the Georgia Secretary of State, the stealing of top secret documents from the White House. All of it. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
And he’s daring us to stop him.
As Maggie Haberman from the NY Times told me in an interview a few months ago: “It is always the same playbook for Trump.’’ This is the strategy. It is not deeply thought out but for so long it has worked.
But then, just a few weeks ago, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did what no other DA had the guts to do. He persuaded a grand jury of regular people that Trump had cooked his business books in order to win the election. That Trump paid hush money to two women with whom he had affairs, along with a hotel doorman, to keep quiet. That Trump reimbursed his fixer, Michael Cohen, for the payments and didn’t account for it. All of it was a crime and now there’s a case against Donald Trump.
It may be a flimsy case. It may not work out politically for those who want Trump banished from politics. But Bragg has done something major. He has dragged Trump out of his comfort zone of public relations, political rallies, false fundraising, and flim-flam and into an American courtroom where he will face a real, live judge.
Something amazing has happened. Trump was advised of his rights. He was told of the charges against him. He was given the right to plead not guilty and face a trial. Just like any other defendant accused of a crime.
He won’t go to prison. He may not even be found guilty. But Bragg’s case forced Trump into a courtroom just like the rest of us.
To me, one tiny moment caught on camera stood out as Trump was led into the courtroom. The man used to flying on his private jet, elbowing fellow heads of state out of the way for a photo op, surrounded by yes-people, was suddenly alone. Following security guards into the courthouse, no one held the door for the ex-president, forcing him to push it open on his own. It was a small moment but it gave me hope for our system.
It will get more lonely for Trump as he faces the music for his behavior. But he has done us one big favor. He has shown us how bad it can get if we don’t wake up and care about democracy. I am not going to run away from this. I will follow it to the end.
