CONNECTING THE DOTS: TRUMP, AL CAPONE & STOCKHOLM
THE CAPONE / TRUMP CONNECTION — Donald John Trump says his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. is being “treated worse” than Al Capone. In fact, it is Trump who is more like the infamous Chicago gangster. Like Trump, Capone ruled his fiefdom with an iron fist.Big Al had the police in his pocket. Donny’s got the GOP Congress in his.You cross Capone, you end up in the trash. You diss Donny, you get publicly trashed.
But here is the real parallel. Capone was not brought down because of robberies, murders and mayhem. He was convicted of financial violations and tax evasion.Donny refuses to release his tax tax returns and will not disclose his annual revenue which has something to do with Junior Trump saying the Trump organization got most of its money from Russia.
Doesn’t it seem likely Trump’s downfall will not come from any heinous acts against democracy or the constitution. Like Big Al, Plump Trump will be sent away because of financial violations and/or tax evasion. That is not worse than gangster Capone. That is Capone.
GOLF TRUMPS MUELLER — Donald John Trump has spent more taxpayer money — at least $17 million — for his weekend golfing trips to Mar-a-Lago than the $16.7 million the Mueller investigation has cost thus far. (Source: The Week Magazine, June, 2018)
THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME IN WASHINGTON — The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response when an abducted hostage (Congress) starts showing sympathy, loyalty and voluntary compliance with the hostage taker (Trump) regardless of the enormous risk to the hostage (Congress). The only recovery from the Stockholm syndrome is to free the hostages and return their lives to normality, or in this case, the upcoming November elections.
GOVERNMENT IS NOT A BUSINESS — Businessman Trump thinks he’s running a private company called America. As America’s CEO:
He can hire and fire anyone at will. He does not have to release his tax returns. He does not have to answer to a board of directors. He does not have to answer to investors — unless they are Russian. What this president businessman does not seem to get is that America is a publicly held operation. That CEO does have to answer to shareholders and those people are called voters.
THE MAN WHO NEVER LAUGHS — Laughter is an honest, involuntary emotional signal that signals enjoyment. FDR laughed. JFK laughed. Reagan laughed. Clinton laughs. Have you ever seen Donald John Trump laugh — not smile — but full out laughter? No? Because he doesn’t. As Maya Angelou says, “Don’t Trust People Who Don’t Laugh”
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED — The audiobook edition of George Marshall, a Biography, by Debi Unger, Irwin Unger, Stanley Hirshon, narrated effectively by Johnny Heller. Called the greatest general of his era by his contemporaries, George Marshall was U.S. Army Chief of Staff under Franklin Roosevelt, Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State State under Harry Truman and awarded the 1953 Nobel Peace prize. While General Dwight Eisenhower was the the war’s popular Supreme Allied Commander, it was Marshall who elevated Ike over more senior commanders. According to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Marshall was the prime ‘organizer of victory’ for WWII.
