Michael Cohen's Got Trouble
"A cadre of companies with business before the government confessed Wednesday to funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Michael Cohen after the 2016 election - and the longtime Trump attorney reportedly promised at least one of them a direct line to the White House in return."
From this morning's New York Daily News
A day no longer needs to pass. With the passing of each hour the scope and depth of the current administration's complete corruption astounds. Had you bothered to pay attention during the sense-crippling campaign of 2016, one knew in one's heart, with the announcement of Donald Trump’s victory in November, that this was going to end badly. The question is: who could possibly have anticipated that the catastrophe would be this pronounced? Who would have dreamed, sixteen months into this disgusting president’s reign of error and stupidity, that some of us would be nostalgic for George W. Bush? The most gratifying thing of all is the fact that even the stooges at Fox Noise (some of them anyway) are beginning to figure this out. These are incredible things to be able to bear witness to.
When Michael Cohen's office and residences were raided recently, it was widely speculated that the raid was related to his payment of $130,000 to a former pornography star who went by the stage name of "Stormy Daniels" for the purpose of keeping her quiet about an affair she had with the Donald in 2006. My thinking was that it had to do with something a little bigger than Ms. Daniels. The interesting thing, though, is that the news of Cohen's nefarious lobbying was announced to he world by Michael Avenatti - Stormy's own attorney! At first I was skeptical; how could this guy possibly get access to this information. I had begun to view Avenatti as a self-promoting publicity agent. And yet by day's end - to my complete and utter astonishment - some of these companies fessed up by saying, in effect, yeah, we've been paying the guy off - and some of them are pretty furious about it.
Not that I don't loathe giving the benefit of the doubt to the likes of Donald Trump (I really do!) but it mustn't be assumed off-the-bat that he was in on any of these shenanigans. One pharmaceutical company by the name of Navartis agreed to pay Cohen 1.2 million dollars per year (in monthly payments) for access to the president and everybody in his inner circle. After a month, the suits on the company's board realized that Cohen wouldn't be able to deliver the goods. The only peculiar thing about this peculiar incident if that, when they realized that bringing on Cohen was a mistake, the geniuses at Navartis continued to shell out $100,000 a month for the next eleven months. And you wonder why drug prices are so astronomically high?
It was also pointed out in today's Daily News that one month after Novartis made its last payment to Cohen, Trump did in fact dine with that company's soon-to-be CEO, along with a handful of other Big Pharma honchos. Could he have been aware of this scam? The only thing for certain is that this is a story worth keeping your eye on. Pretending to be a lobbyist is arguably a federal crime. Poor old Mikey Cohen is in this thing up to his ears. Was the money only for him? One wonders where the shoe is going to drop next.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING:
The Beatles:
by Bob Spitz
I purchased this one fifteen years ago when it was first published. It languished on my bookshelf for thirteen years before I finally noticed it this week and grabbed it. It's been a while since I've read a biography on the fabulous Fabs. This is by far the longest - clocking in at nearly a thousand pages. It's also the best one I think that I've read - perhaps better even than Phillip Norman's 1982 bio, Shout. Regardless, this is an excellent look into the lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and the scores of people who populated their lives. It's still in print as is the Norman book. Both are highly recommended.
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| Avenatti |
It was also pointed out in today's Daily News that one month after Novartis made its last payment to Cohen, Trump did in fact dine with that company's soon-to-be CEO, along with a handful of other Big Pharma honchos. Could he have been aware of this scam? The only thing for certain is that this is a story worth keeping your eye on. Pretending to be a lobbyist is arguably a federal crime. Poor old Mikey Cohen is in this thing up to his ears. Was the money only for him? One wonders where the shoe is going to drop next.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING:The Beatles:
by Bob Spitz
I purchased this one fifteen years ago when it was first published. It languished on my bookshelf for thirteen years before I finally noticed it this week and grabbed it. It's been a while since I've read a biography on the fabulous Fabs. This is by far the longest - clocking in at nearly a thousand pages. It's also the best one I think that I've read - perhaps better even than Phillip Norman's 1982 bio, Shout. Regardless, this is an excellent look into the lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and the scores of people who populated their lives. It's still in print as is the Norman book. Both are highly recommended.
posted by Tom Degan @ 12:27 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
"...who could possibly have anticipated that the catastrophe would be this pronounced? Who would have dreamed, sixteen months into this disgusting president’s reign of error and stupidity, that some of us would be nostalgic for George W. Bush?" ~~ Tom Degan
Please, on't ever be nostalgic for G.W., Tom. Both administrations were or are pathetically corrupt. We're still paying for the corrupt eight years of G.W., and although only 16 months into it, the current demagogue does promise more damage than one could ever imagine.
I fear he'll be in office long enough to start a war with Iran, the Russians intervene, and all hell comes down on us. Don't blink or be distracted by North Korea. Keep your eye on Iran.
"...this is an excellent look into the lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and the scores of people who populated their lives." ~~ Tom Degan
Tom, we have a great venue down here, in the midst of heavily populated Northern Virgina, called Wolf Trap. It's natural forested land, now a national park, donated many decades ago for the enjoyment of all. There's a large outdoor amphitheater for summer concerts which draws top performers every year.
A few years ago I bought tickets to see Classic Albums Live, a company that performs albums note-for-note, chord-for-chord, exactly as the albums were recorded. They performed Abbey Road that year, and I have tickets to see them perform the White Album next month.
Obviously it's impossible to duplicate the actual performer's vocals, but the last time they weren't far off. Otherwise, it's just as that great music, by the original bands, would have been played if ever performed on stage.
I highly recommend you see if they're at a location near you and check 'em out. (They also perform other classic albums, by other groups.)
Good luck to them trying to recreate Revolution No. 9!
Good point!
Number nine...number nine...number nine...
Tom, you should not feel any nostalgia for George W. Bush, who destroyed two countries and killed tens of thousands, with geopolitical consequences that reverberate with no end in sight today--to say nothing of illegal torture, spying, rendition, and a whole host of other crimes. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the whole cabal are war criminals who should be in prison at the Hague, and the depravity of their crimes must not be forgotten.
To me, the rehabilitation of George W. Bush has been one of the more frustrating aspects of the contemporary "resistance" to Donald Trump, and speaks to the collective shortening of our memories. This is the sort of myopic thinking that led to the whitewashing of Ronald Reagan's legacy. While the Trump administration is obviously terrible and depraved in its own unique and unprecedented ways, especially on immigration policy, I would argue that it actually is not yet nearly as disastrous as the Bush administration in terms of lives lost or irrevocable damage inflicted.
Of course, this could quickly change, especially with old neocon hands like John Bolton at Trump's side. I do not disagree that these are frightening and unpredictable times. But in another decade or so, when someone even cruder comes along, will we be pining for the days of "civility" under President Trump? I certainly hope not. We have had many criminal and morally repugnant presidencies, and perhaps Trump, our first reality television president, is merely laying the absurdity bare.
Clucky is pretty quiet of late. Maybe because even Fox Entertainment is beginning to report Trumps crimes?
It just keeps getting worse for Trump, and every time it does, he does something STUPID as a distraction.
This time it was moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Yes, other Presidents have wanted to do so but there is a PROCESS involving PEACE and an AGREEMENT by BOPTH SIDES. Between that and violating the Iran deal that we initiated, Trump may have just started WWIII. Don't worry, he owns stock in the defense contractors so he'll make out just fine. PLus, he's got a bunker.
"It just keeps getting worse for Trump, and every time it does, he does something STUPID as a distraction." ~~ Mozart1220
Are you referring to Trump or Chuck? LOL
Probably both...
I like the Beatles.
"Good luck to them trying to recreate Revolution No. 9!" ~~ Tom Degan
Tom, my wife and I went this past Saturday night to see Classic Albums Live perform "The Beatles" (the "White Album").
It was flawless. Yes, even Revolution 9. (Each musician had sheet music nearby -- although rarely referred to except during "number 9".)
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