Matthews writes:
"I don't care if Donald Trump had consensual sex with a woman other than his wife; that's a matter for him and Melania to handle privately. What I do care about is that the President is a bully, who attempts to silence through money and intimidation, anyone (but particularly women) who stands between him and what he wants.
"This is about abuse of power, pure and simple, a point that Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, makes extremely well in his own interview with "60 Minutes'" anchor Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: 'There are people who argue that this is much ado about nothing, that if this was not a story about an adult film actress and the President of the United States, no one would pay attention.'Back to Matthews:
AVENATTI: 'This is about the cover-up. This is about the extent that Mr. Cohen and the president have gone to intimidate this woman, to silence her, to threaten her, and to put her under their thumb. It is thuggish behavior from people in power. And it has no place in American democracy.'
"Avenatti is exactly right: this is about the cover-up. It's about the fact that Trump was willing to exploit his money and power to intimidate Daniels, through agents like his longtime attorney Michael Cohen. And it's about the entitlement that lets him justify that behavior to himself."
* * *
Is anyone surprised by the picture of Donald Trump that Daniels' encounter paints? Will anyone be swayed by it in their political support for Trump?
The answer to both questions is what is shocking to me. For anyone willing to see, Donald Trump has telegraphed -- even rubbed our noses in -- this image of him all along. What is shocking is how many people really do not care -- and that tells us just how degraded we have allowed our democratic institutions, and those who hold offices, to become.
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment