WHAT A MUG!

Mugshot of the former president of the United States

Yesterday was a ripe day for schadenfreude. Donald J. Trump, the former president of the United States, was booked for multiple felonies in Georgia at the Fulton County Jail....The Fulton County Jail....It sounds like the name of a country and western record:

Oh, Mama, A'hm here in the Fulton County Jail

Mah life has always been a gigantic fail

If Trump is convicted of only one of the ninety-one felonies he's being charged with, it will end up meaning that he'll go to prison for at least five years....Five years in the slammer, baby! He could very-well die in federal custody. For someone who has spent the last fifty years thumbing his nose at the law, this would be quite a Shakespearian comeuppance indeed. For someone like me - who was laughed at and sneered at seven years ago when I predicted that his administration would end disastrously with him being the first chief-executive in American history to be sent to federal prison - this is indeed a red-letter-day of sweet vindication.

Some of the opinion makers out there are mournfully bowing their talking heads and bemoaning yesterday as "a sad day for America". I could not disagree more. In fact (with the exception of Donald Trump and company) yesterday should have been viewed by all as a beautiful day for America and the American people. Yesterday the entire nation could hold their heads up high and proclaim to the rest of the planet that, in the United States of America, NO ONE is above the law. Thats's a very good thing. It was one of the great days in the history of this country, with the head of an organized criminal enterprise being held accountable for his many crimes against the people. What's not to be giddy about? Smile, Darn You, Smile!!!

The following twelve months will be the most civically interesting of our lifetimes. More interesting than Watergate even. As I've said too many times to count, Nixon was a pin-prick. Donald Trump is a freakin' blood bath, A lot could happen between now and the GOP convention next summer. If Trump ends up incarcerated between now and then, would he be so brazen to run his campaign from his prison cell? Of course he would! Remember that this is Donald Trump we're talking about here. In fact, it would not be unprecedented; Socialist candidate Eugene Debs ran his 1920 campaign for the presidency from his prison cell. The only difference between the two men is the fact that Debs would have made a pretty decent president.

I hope I live long enough to see this mess through to its conclusion (my health is not great these days and my longevity is anybody's guess). The first time I ever heard of Donald Trump was not though the print or electronic media - it was by meeting him. It was about 1983 or '84. I was polishing the brass railings in the lobby of the not-yet-opened Trump Tower when Donald and one of his sycophantic little flunkies came over to where we were working. After he asked us a couple of questions about what we were doing, the sycophantic little flunkie informed us that we should not direct our answers to "Mr. Trump" - but to him. I remember thinking: What an asshole! At the time, Trump was just another dime-a-dozen New York real estate mogul and not yet a public figure. That would happen in about a year. After that, I studied every article on him that I came across. By the year 2016 I was an expert on the guy. That is why when he seized the White House on January 20, 2017, I knew he would be a disaster as chief-executive. In fact, it was the easiest call I ever made.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

Confidence Man

by Maggie Haberman.

I plugged this one a couple of weeks ago but I need to repeat myself. Historians will still be referencing this excellent book a century from now.