I thought of your first sentence as soon as I read your title for this piece. An interesting bit of trivia... The expression "a man is known by the company he keeps" is derived from a fable written by Aesop in the 500s B.C called, 'The Ass and his Purchaser'.
Brief synopsis: "In the story, a man takes an ass to his farm on a trial basis to see how the ass will fit in to his herd of asses. When the ass enters the pasture, he seeks out the laziest and greediest ass that the man owns to keep company. The man returns the ass because he knows it too will be lazy and greedy, based on the animal the ass chose to spend time with."
Trump and his ilk live in a world of sin and money. Real people need to know that they will do nothing for ordinary people. The depths that these people sink to is astonishing and disgusting. Hopefully they will all get what they deserve.
I admire and respect Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, and others who served on the January 6th House Committee. The committee performed a great public service, and demonstrated courage / resilience to investigate, increase public awareness, and jolt the DOJ's investigation into action. If only Mitch McConnell had been equally committed to public service and not to party service.
Also, actions speak louder than words. What are the orange man-baby’s actions telling you? If he’s so innocent why would he want to delay all his court cases? If he were really innocent, he’d be running to the trials, chomping at the bit to show all the world how clean his hands are. Not.
I think his followers know exactly what type of person he is. They are following a reverse interpretation of the golden rule. ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). Evangelical Christians see themselves as the "others" who have been persecuted by "them". They see the non-MAGA as "them" The attackers, "them" are asking to be attacked, and they believe Donald is a way to attack "them". They believe he is sent by God to punish "them". Translation of their interpretation of the golden rule in this application: "Do unto them as they have done unto you". They have made the golden rule justification for revenge.
They not only want to make choices for themselves, they want to make choices for everyone else. When they say "America is a Christian nation," they mean a Christian theocracy with them in charge.
Most of the TV evangelicals have megachurches, and they preach prosperity theology (a con). The prosperity theology says, Give me money, and you will be blessed. This aligns perfectly with how Donald Trump cons people. Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is a stock market con. People are buying the stock at 50 dollars a share, and it isn't worth 50 cents a share. These people will be "blessed" with a life free from wealth.
also they see him as the power that will make their agenda become a reality. They don't care if he follows that agenda, they just want the country to- like getting all those conservatives on SCOTUS and other federal judges so they can help their agenda become a reality. We see some of what trump has done to help them happening- overturning women's rights, cases to give their religious beliefs more power than the rights of individuals.
Good post Adam. We must not think of these people in a positive light just because they are against Trump. They are all celebrities now, but when this trial is done they need to go away. Their fifteen minutes of fame will have expired.
The thing is, Adam, that Michael Cohen has admitted his crimes on behalf of Trump and is trying to set the record straight. Unlike a lot of Republicans who lined up after he was nominated in 2016 even though they knew he was then and still is a con artist, they now wait until they know they aren’t running again or until after they leave to make a stand for telling the truth without ever once admitting they contributed greatly to aiding and abetting this terrible situation we are now in, especially for women of child bearing age.
They may not have committed perjury as Cohen did, but they lied to their voters to maintain their own selfish ambitions. They caused and abetted him for most of his term or until Trump threw them under the bus. What’s worse is they stay silent or applaud his vile disrespecting of our fallen heroes, our injured and disabled veterans whom he calls losers “whom no one wants to see”.
Where is Mattis? And where are McMaster, Tillerson, Rogers, Kelly, and the rest of his appointees who left in disgust but still will not speak up? I suspect they are silent because they don’t want to lose their lucrative board seats, lobby jobs, speech incomes that most successful top tiered government former employees get upon retirement and standing against Trump or Republicans might mean losing a load of money dependent on being silent. Worse yet are those like Barr and McConnell who would support Trump and risk every single American’s freedoms for their own selfish needs. Michael Cohen is head and shoulders above that bunch of selfish cowards.
Preach it! Too many of orange man-baby’s former inner circle are focused on covering their own behinds to the peril of our democracy. Pitiful and despicable. I believe Cohen sat in jail that serving time that should have been Trump.
I worry that the “rogues gallery” is so large, decapitating the head of the snake will not be enough to set us on the path to a better world. There’s always another waiting in the wings to take this nation I loved down.
I’m worried too. Who is going to bring this to a resolution NOW! Jack Smith needs to petition to remove Cannon now. Some action needs to bring the Trump terrorists, ill prepared, out into the sunlight, long before Election Day. Please, Somebody, step up. Trump’s vile truths, need to be repeated over and over, daily.
Yes, Sir. The most I can do to the likes of him (Donnieweenie, of course) is vicariously give him the silly funky girl-for-hire makeover, described in vivid, colorful detail. I say to you, Adam, as a trusted friend I've not personally met, from a friend you could trust with anything and everything, if he gets anywhere come November, threatening to transform our America into a new and improved Motherland, I think 200 million people will already be prepared for rebuttal. Bless your heart, your peoples, and your family. He's looking kinda frail and gaunt.
Trump is looking VERY unwell, in an idle position! He is Totally unfit for any position of importance- he’s more of a blabbering fool than ever! Sustained pressures on him, must certainly cause his collapse.
If Trump's character were in a movie with many humorous asides, he would seem to be a lovable rogue like Charlie in "Two and a Half Men" or James Garner in "Maverick." But Trump's character in real life is darker, much more dangerous to society and the world. He should never be in public office, but tens of millions of Americans see him as "telling it like it is." They buy into the fraud Trump is. In fact, Trump is the worst kind of sociopath, a malignant narcissist. He can't be fixed. Millions of such people exist, and we need to recognize them and deal with them appropriately. They can't be trusted, which is a tragedy for them and us. Not all dogs are good dogs, although they can sometimes briefly fool us. Stay alert, be strong, demand high ethical behavior from yourself and others. We can't live the good life if we don't. Yes, it's a constant struggle. Take it one day, one transaction at a time. And when you fail, as you must sometimes, keep trying, and keep the bar high so we can live together successfully, constantly, and happily till death do us part.
Trump long ago lost that humorous aside. He has fully emerged as the dark personality you describe. As you said, he can’t be fixed and even more ominous is that he is showing increasing signs of dementia. Put a dark personality with dementia in charge of the largest military and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the world 🌎?? Great idea of you want Armageddon.
He still has the charm of a glad-hander, like Ronald Reagan, as seen during his brief visit to those NYC construction workers where he had his limo stop so he could provide a photo op and get in some sound bytes dissing Joe. He was Mr. Congeniality there. What a fraud, but I couldn't help but think better of him, and I know, in spades, what he is: despicable in every way. We want, I think, to believe that people are decent, which is why we're so often disappointed even in ourselves. We're just not pure.
....and I despise both. Reagan was playing the role of his lifetime. He was much better in Death Valley Days. Actually, his time in office could be titled the same.
With each passing day the layers of the vile Trump onion are revealed. Simultaneously, his followers love him more. Biden’s inaction on almost every major issue facing the country bolster a criminal who seems to be racing to victory in November. This disheartening fact is not causing the Democrats to rethink their strategy. When the inevitable happens, Trump will declare all his legal woes over and we, the citizens of this country, will pay the price.
I share your concerns but I would say that there is only so much that a President can do using Executive Orders. Besides, Executive Orders can easily be rescinded by subsequent Presidents. The responsibility for the current inaction on major issues facing the country lies squarely with Congress -in particular the House Republicans. Their determination to be against EVERYTHING, including their own Speaker of the House, has resulted in almost NOTHING being accomplished in this Congressional session (~65 bills passed vs ~350 passed at this point in previous Congressional sessions). Currently, Marjorie Taylor Green is pressing ahead to oust Mike Johnson saying that she would "love" to see Democrats lose in their districts re-election campaigns after they vote to save Johnson. The MAGA Republicans and their more reasonable (but cowardly) Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives are why nothing is getting done.
Agree. However, with protests across the country’s campuses and police in riot gear everywhere, something from the WH would be welcome. Take a stand. MTG needs to be ousted. No idea how a person like that is an elected member of Congress.
Agreed, and the President just made a public statement on national television about the campus protests needing to be peaceful, respectful of different viewpoints, and not violate any laws. Could it have happened sooner? Perhaps.
Biden has taken a stand. He has spoken out about the right to protest but do it peacefully which he said immediately after the student protestors at Columbia broke into the campus building. He repeatedly voices his support for the right of Israel to exist and defend themselves but also has spoken out about the plight of the innocent Gazans, over 30,000 dead after all these months who are trapped there unlike other war torn countries where the people can escape and find refuge in another country. This is what the students are protesting. He also speaks out against any form of antisemitism and islamophobia.
Biden's admin has accomplished a lot for the people. He has brought us back from the pandemic, fixing infrastructure and really bringing manufacturing and American jobs back. The main issue is do Americans want to continue this democratic Republic form of government or destroy it and bring in autocracy. It is difficult for Biden to fight against the rhetoric and tactics of a strongman and those who support that, except to continue to expose it.
Agreed. God forbid the left would ever listen to any concerns Trump supporters have (taxes, border, crime). If they did, they'd have a much better chance of not getting Trump back in the White House.
I don't agree. I think it's the right who are not listening to the lefts concerns and not willing to compromise. We just had a bipartisan Immigration bill that had mostly what the conservatives wanted in it and the right squashed it for no reason other than what trump said and falsehoods of what the bill really said. The right has been doing the same thing on budget issues and Ukraine funding. They refuse to compromise. Regarding taxes- the right sides with corporations over people and unions-who support the regular guy- all the time.
That's why I never voted for him in the first place. I "followed" him for close to 50 years and I KNOW the company he keeps(kept). There is no one more vulgar and vile on the planet than Donald Trump and I was appalled when he won the election. I had placed my first vote ever for a Democratic presidential candidate. Atilla The Hun could NOT be worse than the Orange Nightmare and his ilk.
Having said that, never underestimate him and he could be elected. The Supreme Court is certainly doing their best to ensure that.
You could hold a contest to have readers add to the list of friends of "Orange Donnie."
First and most formidable educator, Roy Cohn. He makes Michael Cohen appear saint like.
It is critical to understand that some, not all, Trump supporters, read MAGA, see these associations as part of the man's strength. He is a rebel without a clue, outside of every convention and behavioral characteristic that we respect. He is "taking down the man." Ignoring the rules to win and saying anything necessary to appeal to a segment of his cult. He is a perverse idol to a pack of victims, with by his own admissions, "low knowledge". I add, perhaps cruelly, the consideration of marginal success in life as a motivator.
If we do not understand the motivation, we cannot overcome the movement.
From Stormy the Rudy - Manipulative Just Like Donald . Wow , you never run out of ammunition . I’m hoping it’s opening up the eyes of the cult followers. Man , thank you for this read. Can’t wait for another video please . Stay strong 💪
I thought of your first sentence as soon as I read your title for this piece. An interesting bit of trivia... The expression "a man is known by the company he keeps" is derived from a fable written by Aesop in the 500s B.C called, 'The Ass and his Purchaser'.
Brief synopsis: "In the story, a man takes an ass to his farm on a trial basis to see how the ass will fit in to his herd of asses. When the ass enters the pasture, he seeks out the laziest and greediest ass that the man owns to keep company. The man returns the ass because he knows it too will be lazy and greedy, based on the animal the ass chose to spend time with."
How very appropriate on numerous levels...
Trump and his ilk live in a world of sin and money. Real people need to know that they will do nothing for ordinary people. The depths that these people sink to is astonishing and disgusting. Hopefully they will all get what they deserve.
Exactly. And yet they don’t.
They can smear Cohen all they want. But you can't deny documents that he has.
Yep!
Agreed 💯
I believe that Cohen proves that trump is guilty doubly so.
I admire and respect Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, and others who served on the January 6th House Committee. The committee performed a great public service, and demonstrated courage / resilience to investigate, increase public awareness, and jolt the DOJ's investigation into action. If only Mitch McConnell had been equally committed to public service and not to party service.
The advice my parents gave me as a child, what we taught our children. To know who someone is, look at who their friends are.
Not set in steel, people change after all, once they know better. But certainly some never do.
Morality and decency matter.
I also judge people how they treat the waiter.
And how they treat their dogs!
Yes. It’s a litmus test.
I love that!
Also, actions speak louder than words. What are the orange man-baby’s actions telling you? If he’s so innocent why would he want to delay all his court cases? If he were really innocent, he’d be running to the trials, chomping at the bit to show all the world how clean his hands are. Not.
Right on, Adam!
Good post Adam. The thing I can't figure out, is - WHY CAN'T THE "RELIGIOUS RIGHT" NOT SEE THIS?
Because they aren’t religious and they aren’t right!
Bingo
I think his followers know exactly what type of person he is. They are following a reverse interpretation of the golden rule. ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). Evangelical Christians see themselves as the "others" who have been persecuted by "them". They see the non-MAGA as "them" The attackers, "them" are asking to be attacked, and they believe Donald is a way to attack "them". They believe he is sent by God to punish "them". Translation of their interpretation of the golden rule in this application: "Do unto them as they have done unto you". They have made the golden rule justification for revenge.
The christian right believe in their own self-righteousness.
They not only want to make choices for themselves, they want to make choices for everyone else. When they say "America is a Christian nation," they mean a Christian theocracy with them in charge.
Thier in-fighting would be worth a PPV event. 'Cause you know the televangelists have egos to rival trump.
Most of the TV evangelicals have megachurches, and they preach prosperity theology (a con). The prosperity theology says, Give me money, and you will be blessed. This aligns perfectly with how Donald Trump cons people. Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is a stock market con. People are buying the stock at 50 dollars a share, and it isn't worth 50 cents a share. These people will be "blessed" with a life free from wealth.
also they see him as the power that will make their agenda become a reality. They don't care if he follows that agenda, they just want the country to- like getting all those conservatives on SCOTUS and other federal judges so they can help their agenda become a reality. We see some of what trump has done to help them happening- overturning women's rights, cases to give their religious beliefs more power than the rights of individuals.
Good post Adam. We must not think of these people in a positive light just because they are against Trump. They are all celebrities now, but when this trial is done they need to go away. Their fifteen minutes of fame will have expired.
The thing is, Adam, that Michael Cohen has admitted his crimes on behalf of Trump and is trying to set the record straight. Unlike a lot of Republicans who lined up after he was nominated in 2016 even though they knew he was then and still is a con artist, they now wait until they know they aren’t running again or until after they leave to make a stand for telling the truth without ever once admitting they contributed greatly to aiding and abetting this terrible situation we are now in, especially for women of child bearing age.
They may not have committed perjury as Cohen did, but they lied to their voters to maintain their own selfish ambitions. They caused and abetted him for most of his term or until Trump threw them under the bus. What’s worse is they stay silent or applaud his vile disrespecting of our fallen heroes, our injured and disabled veterans whom he calls losers “whom no one wants to see”.
Where is Mattis? And where are McMaster, Tillerson, Rogers, Kelly, and the rest of his appointees who left in disgust but still will not speak up? I suspect they are silent because they don’t want to lose their lucrative board seats, lobby jobs, speech incomes that most successful top tiered government former employees get upon retirement and standing against Trump or Republicans might mean losing a load of money dependent on being silent. Worse yet are those like Barr and McConnell who would support Trump and risk every single American’s freedoms for their own selfish needs. Michael Cohen is head and shoulders above that bunch of selfish cowards.
Preach it! Too many of orange man-baby’s former inner circle are focused on covering their own behinds to the peril of our democracy. Pitiful and despicable. I believe Cohen sat in jail that serving time that should have been Trump.
I worry that the “rogues gallery” is so large, decapitating the head of the snake will not be enough to set us on the path to a better world. There’s always another waiting in the wings to take this nation I loved down.
I’m worried too. Who is going to bring this to a resolution NOW! Jack Smith needs to petition to remove Cannon now. Some action needs to bring the Trump terrorists, ill prepared, out into the sunlight, long before Election Day. Please, Somebody, step up. Trump’s vile truths, need to be repeated over and over, daily.
Yes, Sir. The most I can do to the likes of him (Donnieweenie, of course) is vicariously give him the silly funky girl-for-hire makeover, described in vivid, colorful detail. I say to you, Adam, as a trusted friend I've not personally met, from a friend you could trust with anything and everything, if he gets anywhere come November, threatening to transform our America into a new and improved Motherland, I think 200 million people will already be prepared for rebuttal. Bless your heart, your peoples, and your family. He's looking kinda frail and gaunt.
Trump is looking VERY unwell, in an idle position! He is Totally unfit for any position of importance- he’s more of a blabbering fool than ever! Sustained pressures on him, must certainly cause his collapse.
I am forbidden to cause his collapse but I don't see me missing him LoL 😁😎🇺🇲
If Trump's character were in a movie with many humorous asides, he would seem to be a lovable rogue like Charlie in "Two and a Half Men" or James Garner in "Maverick." But Trump's character in real life is darker, much more dangerous to society and the world. He should never be in public office, but tens of millions of Americans see him as "telling it like it is." They buy into the fraud Trump is. In fact, Trump is the worst kind of sociopath, a malignant narcissist. He can't be fixed. Millions of such people exist, and we need to recognize them and deal with them appropriately. They can't be trusted, which is a tragedy for them and us. Not all dogs are good dogs, although they can sometimes briefly fool us. Stay alert, be strong, demand high ethical behavior from yourself and others. We can't live the good life if we don't. Yes, it's a constant struggle. Take it one day, one transaction at a time. And when you fail, as you must sometimes, keep trying, and keep the bar high so we can live together successfully, constantly, and happily till death do us part.
Thank you, Mr. Muncy.
Trump long ago lost that humorous aside. He has fully emerged as the dark personality you describe. As you said, he can’t be fixed and even more ominous is that he is showing increasing signs of dementia. Put a dark personality with dementia in charge of the largest military and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the world 🌎?? Great idea of you want Armageddon.
He still has the charm of a glad-hander, like Ronald Reagan, as seen during his brief visit to those NYC construction workers where he had his limo stop so he could provide a photo op and get in some sound bytes dissing Joe. He was Mr. Congeniality there. What a fraud, but I couldn't help but think better of him, and I know, in spades, what he is: despicable in every way. We want, I think, to believe that people are decent, which is why we're so often disappointed even in ourselves. We're just not pure.
....and I despise both. Reagan was playing the role of his lifetime. He was much better in Death Valley Days. Actually, his time in office could be titled the same.
With each passing day the layers of the vile Trump onion are revealed. Simultaneously, his followers love him more. Biden’s inaction on almost every major issue facing the country bolster a criminal who seems to be racing to victory in November. This disheartening fact is not causing the Democrats to rethink their strategy. When the inevitable happens, Trump will declare all his legal woes over and we, the citizens of this country, will pay the price.
Actually Ellen, President Biden is doing many things that will pay off long term. I don’t think you are being fair.
I share your concerns but I would say that there is only so much that a President can do using Executive Orders. Besides, Executive Orders can easily be rescinded by subsequent Presidents. The responsibility for the current inaction on major issues facing the country lies squarely with Congress -in particular the House Republicans. Their determination to be against EVERYTHING, including their own Speaker of the House, has resulted in almost NOTHING being accomplished in this Congressional session (~65 bills passed vs ~350 passed at this point in previous Congressional sessions). Currently, Marjorie Taylor Green is pressing ahead to oust Mike Johnson saying that she would "love" to see Democrats lose in their districts re-election campaigns after they vote to save Johnson. The MAGA Republicans and their more reasonable (but cowardly) Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives are why nothing is getting done.
Agree. However, with protests across the country’s campuses and police in riot gear everywhere, something from the WH would be welcome. Take a stand. MTG needs to be ousted. No idea how a person like that is an elected member of Congress.
Agreed, and the President just made a public statement on national television about the campus protests needing to be peaceful, respectful of different viewpoints, and not violate any laws. Could it have happened sooner? Perhaps.
Biden has taken a stand. He has spoken out about the right to protest but do it peacefully which he said immediately after the student protestors at Columbia broke into the campus building. He repeatedly voices his support for the right of Israel to exist and defend themselves but also has spoken out about the plight of the innocent Gazans, over 30,000 dead after all these months who are trapped there unlike other war torn countries where the people can escape and find refuge in another country. This is what the students are protesting. He also speaks out against any form of antisemitism and islamophobia.
By fellow travelers. Georgians got what they wanted because they identify with her.
agree on all points!
Biden's admin has accomplished a lot for the people. He has brought us back from the pandemic, fixing infrastructure and really bringing manufacturing and American jobs back. The main issue is do Americans want to continue this democratic Republic form of government or destroy it and bring in autocracy. It is difficult for Biden to fight against the rhetoric and tactics of a strongman and those who support that, except to continue to expose it.
Agreed. God forbid the left would ever listen to any concerns Trump supporters have (taxes, border, crime). If they did, they'd have a much better chance of not getting Trump back in the White House.
I don't agree. I think it's the right who are not listening to the lefts concerns and not willing to compromise. We just had a bipartisan Immigration bill that had mostly what the conservatives wanted in it and the right squashed it for no reason other than what trump said and falsehoods of what the bill really said. The right has been doing the same thing on budget issues and Ukraine funding. They refuse to compromise. Regarding taxes- the right sides with corporations over people and unions-who support the regular guy- all the time.
True. Right refuses to compromise just as much.
You can't compromise with people that move the goal post every day they wake up.
That's why I never voted for him in the first place. I "followed" him for close to 50 years and I KNOW the company he keeps(kept). There is no one more vulgar and vile on the planet than Donald Trump and I was appalled when he won the election. I had placed my first vote ever for a Democratic presidential candidate. Atilla The Hun could NOT be worse than the Orange Nightmare and his ilk.
Having said that, never underestimate him and he could be elected. The Supreme Court is certainly doing their best to ensure that.
Well stated as usual.
You could hold a contest to have readers add to the list of friends of "Orange Donnie."
First and most formidable educator, Roy Cohn. He makes Michael Cohen appear saint like.
It is critical to understand that some, not all, Trump supporters, read MAGA, see these associations as part of the man's strength. He is a rebel without a clue, outside of every convention and behavioral characteristic that we respect. He is "taking down the man." Ignoring the rules to win and saying anything necessary to appeal to a segment of his cult. He is a perverse idol to a pack of victims, with by his own admissions, "low knowledge". I add, perhaps cruelly, the consideration of marginal success in life as a motivator.
If we do not understand the motivation, we cannot overcome the movement.
From Stormy the Rudy - Manipulative Just Like Donald . Wow , you never run out of ammunition . I’m hoping it’s opening up the eyes of the cult followers. Man , thank you for this read. Can’t wait for another video please . Stay strong 💪