ON ONE SIDE THE GOVERNMENT, THE OTHER THE MOB

Donald Trump has always been willing to say out loud the things that most Republicans believe but don’t want to admit publicly.  His base calls this honesty, and loves him for it, even though the vast majority of his public statements fall into the category of fantasies, fibs, untruths, falsehoods, and damn lies. 

Trump is the Republican id, out in the open for all to see.  And most Republicans apparently liked what they saw.  Who’d have guessed that all those pious family-values conservatives really wanted to be libertines?  Who’d have guessed that all those free trade, balanced budget fiscal conservatives espoused those positions not as a matter of principle, but because they thought it was the fastest way to build their personal fortunes?  Now Donald Trump has shown them a faster way – just ignore the law and grab the loot.

On Wednesday, Trump compared Paul Manafort to Al Capone – not as bad guys, but as victims of government persecution.  Trump even referred respectfully to Capone as “Alfonse.”  Of course, Capone spelled it “Alphonse,” but it’s the thought that counts, right? 

The connection between Capone and Paul Manafort may not be immediately obvious, but – minus Trump’s fake outrage – the comparison is apt.  Capone and Manafort are both mobsters.  Capone was a big fish and Manafort is a minnow, comparatively speaking, but both men made their fortunes through organized crime.

And guess what.  So did Donald Trump.  He managed to squander his inheritance, and was, in effect, a bankrupt real estate mogul and failed casino owner – until he mobbed up.  The Russian Mafiya saved Trump’s business career by loaning him money when no American bank would give him the time of day.  In return, when Russian oligarchs decided that their billions would be safer if invested in America, Trump used his real estate properties and casinos to help them launder money. 

Trump is more like Manafort than Capone.  He was a functionary, not a boss.  He probably admires and envies Al Capone, who was the tough guy that Trump has always wanted to be.  And the fact that Capone died in prison on a charge of income tax evasion probably resonates with Trump as well. 

I wonder if Donald Trump watched The Untouchables when he was a kid.  Maybe he sees Robert Mueller as a latter-day Eliot Ness.  No wonder he’s scared.