In early 2017, Jeffrey Sessions, the Attorney General at the time, recused himself from any involvement in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, since his previous meetings with the Russian ambassador had become public.Trump, who expects unmitigated loyalty from all his subordinates, was furious. "Where is my Roy Cohn?," he asked.
While traveling by plane during a recent international trip, I watched a documentary about the notorious lawyer. I knew he had been an amoral person; the documentary refreshed my memory and added many new details. Cohn was an inveterate liar; if he had lied only half as much as Pinocchio, his nose may well have stretched to the moon and back; his long career as a high-powered lawyer ended in his disgraceful disbarment in 1986. Cohn died a few months later from AIDS.
The documentary was created by Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, whom Cohn prosecuted and, despite widespread protests and with much effort, saw to it that both received the death penalty for spying for the Soviet Union. (Alan Dershowitz famously said that both had been guilty and both had been framed by Cohn as well.)
Cohn, who mentored Trump, represented him in a federal lawsuit which accused the future president--with solid evidence--of discriminatory housing practices. The silver-tongued bully got him off.
Cohn apparently had had many affairs with men--none with women--yet denied his homosexuality to the very end. (Roger Stone, who eventually became a Trump henchman, said, "Roy was not gay. He was a man who liked having sex with men").
Homosexuality is a natural sexual variant, not a "deviance"; Cohn was as responsible for his sexuality as he was for the color of his eyes. What was deviant about Cohn is that he, along with the notorious Senator McCarthy, prosecuted homosexuals. In the so-called Lavender Scare, both men insisted that the Soviets were black-mailing closeted homosexuals in the State Department; just for being gay--or somehow seeming to be gay--and having a government job was, according to these two rogues, enough reason for dismissal as spies or potential spies. Cohn helped foment an atmosphere of anti-gay hysteria which eventually led Eisenhower to forbid the hiring of homosexuals in government positions.
Cohn was a prototype of those politicians--mostly Republicans--who shamelessly oppose the gay community and wind up being caught in a homosexual act. (Wes Goodman, a Christian-conservative member of the Ohio state legislature, is a recent example of this injurious hypocrisy).
I am stressing Cohn's sexuality for a reason. What I found breathtaking came at the end of the documentary. Mike Wallace was interviewing Cohn shortly before his death, after his disbarment. (Cohn had arranged a lavish birthday party which happened to occur after he lost his license. Nobody came. Previously, and from a young age, the rich and famous were at his feet).
Wallace asked, with some hesitation the questions which were on everyone's mind: "Are you gay? Do you have AIDS?" By that time, the answers were obvious. Yet Cohn insisted he had had liver cancer and had made a complete recovery. With a straight face--and very articulately--Cohn vehemently denied that he was homosexual--he had merely been the victim of vicious rumors.
I was aghast. How could a man have spent his entire life lying? Winning and power were important to him and very little else. Lawyers--and politicians--are expected to stretch the truth on occasion; Cohn, in contrast, stretched the fabric of lies to such a degree that he was able to construct a suit of armor out of it, which he wore his entire professional life, a creep in knight's clothing if there ever was one.
Although Cohn was prosecuted several times for ruthless and unethical behavior, he always managed to come off unscathed. Why was he disbarred? He donned medical garb, sneaked into a hospital, and attempted to get a rich dying man to sign a document which would leave half of his fortune to Cohn. Even though the incident had been recorded, the notorious Pinocchio denied its validity.
For Cohn winning was everything, no matter the means. He lied convincingly and articulately, and would never recant even when the facts were against him. He had absolutely no empathy. He was just about completely amoral. He demanded loyalty, but was loyal only to himself.
Sound familiar? Recent history has repeated itself as farce--and the joke is on us. Where is your Roy Cohn? Look in the mirror, Mr. President, look in the mirror. What do you see?
There was one great difference between Trump and Cohn--the latter was brilliantly intelligent as he was devious, while the former, "a very stable genius," is a boorishly incompetent demagogue, whose sole skill is manipulating his base.
How can so many members of the working class continue irrational devotion to a 'vile and corrupt' man, who, deep down, has absolutely no respect for them? Look in the mirror, Trump supporter, look in the mirror. What do you see?
While traveling by plane during a recent international trip, I watched a documentary about the notorious lawyer. I knew he had been an amoral person; the documentary refreshed my memory and added many new details. Cohn was an inveterate liar; if he had lied only half as much as Pinocchio, his nose may well have stretched to the moon and back; his long career as a high-powered lawyer ended in his disgraceful disbarment in 1986. Cohn died a few months later from AIDS.
The documentary was created by Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, whom Cohn prosecuted and, despite widespread protests and with much effort, saw to it that both received the death penalty for spying for the Soviet Union. (Alan Dershowitz famously said that both had been guilty and both had been framed by Cohn as well.)
Cohn, who mentored Trump, represented him in a federal lawsuit which accused the future president--with solid evidence--of discriminatory housing practices. The silver-tongued bully got him off.
Cohn apparently had had many affairs with men--none with women--yet denied his homosexuality to the very end. (Roger Stone, who eventually became a Trump henchman, said, "Roy was not gay. He was a man who liked having sex with men").
Homosexuality is a natural sexual variant, not a "deviance"; Cohn was as responsible for his sexuality as he was for the color of his eyes. What was deviant about Cohn is that he, along with the notorious Senator McCarthy, prosecuted homosexuals. In the so-called Lavender Scare, both men insisted that the Soviets were black-mailing closeted homosexuals in the State Department; just for being gay--or somehow seeming to be gay--and having a government job was, according to these two rogues, enough reason for dismissal as spies or potential spies. Cohn helped foment an atmosphere of anti-gay hysteria which eventually led Eisenhower to forbid the hiring of homosexuals in government positions.
Cohn was a prototype of those politicians--mostly Republicans--who shamelessly oppose the gay community and wind up being caught in a homosexual act. (Wes Goodman, a Christian-conservative member of the Ohio state legislature, is a recent example of this injurious hypocrisy).
I am stressing Cohn's sexuality for a reason. What I found breathtaking came at the end of the documentary. Mike Wallace was interviewing Cohn shortly before his death, after his disbarment. (Cohn had arranged a lavish birthday party which happened to occur after he lost his license. Nobody came. Previously, and from a young age, the rich and famous were at his feet).
Wallace asked, with some hesitation the questions which were on everyone's mind: "Are you gay? Do you have AIDS?" By that time, the answers were obvious. Yet Cohn insisted he had had liver cancer and had made a complete recovery. With a straight face--and very articulately--Cohn vehemently denied that he was homosexual--he had merely been the victim of vicious rumors.
I was aghast. How could a man have spent his entire life lying? Winning and power were important to him and very little else. Lawyers--and politicians--are expected to stretch the truth on occasion; Cohn, in contrast, stretched the fabric of lies to such a degree that he was able to construct a suit of armor out of it, which he wore his entire professional life, a creep in knight's clothing if there ever was one.
Although Cohn was prosecuted several times for ruthless and unethical behavior, he always managed to come off unscathed. Why was he disbarred? He donned medical garb, sneaked into a hospital, and attempted to get a rich dying man to sign a document which would leave half of his fortune to Cohn. Even though the incident had been recorded, the notorious Pinocchio denied its validity.
For Cohn winning was everything, no matter the means. He lied convincingly and articulately, and would never recant even when the facts were against him. He had absolutely no empathy. He was just about completely amoral. He demanded loyalty, but was loyal only to himself.
Sound familiar? Recent history has repeated itself as farce--and the joke is on us. Where is your Roy Cohn? Look in the mirror, Mr. President, look in the mirror. What do you see?
There was one great difference between Trump and Cohn--the latter was brilliantly intelligent as he was devious, while the former, "a very stable genius," is a boorishly incompetent demagogue, whose sole skill is manipulating his base.
How can so many members of the working class continue irrational devotion to a 'vile and corrupt' man, who, deep down, has absolutely no respect for them? Look in the mirror, Trump supporter, look in the mirror. What do you see?
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