Now I read there is a new book about Donald Trump, exploring his boasts and threats and exaggerations. He was a rich boy screw-up sent to military school, which he compares to actual service.
Right. And listening to sergeants at ROTC in the late 50's, describing combat in Korea, was the same as being there. For New Yorkers, this arrogant bombast from Trump is familiar stuff -- because we know him. (See Jim Dwyer's column in the NYT recently.) In my home town, Trump has long been a punch line, accompanied by eloquent shrugs and the word "Echhh." I still regard Trump as a bad leftover from the 70's, when the city was plagued by vandalized payphones, graffiti in the subways, the reek of urine everywhere, Yankee fans chanting "Boston Sucks!" and disco. Don't forget disco. Whom do I blame for the civic vulgarization in the '70's? In 1973, an auslander, George Steinbrenner, bought the Yankees, bullying people and winning championships. In 1976, Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-speaking media mogul, purchased the once haimish New York Post and filled it with sniggerings and inaccuraciies. And in the late '70's, a builder's son, Donald Trump, bought the Commodore Hotel and remodeled it as the Grand Hyatt. Everything is grand with him. Later, he tried to build Brasilia on the west side of Manhattan and blabbed about his sex life and the tactical bankruptcies he had taken. What a guy. Now he makes fun of Carly Fiorina's face. (I'm not a fan, but I will say she carries herself better than any of the schlubs in the GOP primaries.) My wife pointed out an article on Salon.com, claiming that Trump's constituency is based on angry white males who feel, well, "emasculated." Okay. Ultimately, it appears that some people Out There on the Steinberg Map have been watching reality television so long they cannot tell a TV celebrity from a simplistic racist. Disco lives.
Thor A. Larsen
9/12/2015 05:52:46 pm
Hello George,
George Vecsey
9/13/2015 08:19:37 am
Thor, great to hear from you. Trump's brother was a contemporary of ours. Some of our classmates went to grade school with him, and one (no name mentioned) knew Donald quite well, as a kid brother of a friend. Same Donald, apparently.
Brian Savin
9/14/2015 08:59:33 pm
George, I loved this piece but confess to holding my breath as I was reading because I was concerned whether you could pull if off without partisan politico-speak. Oh me of way, way too little faith. You absolutely nailed it. I pray we can get rid of this guy quick. He has been able to articulate prejudices, and is even beginning to misarticulate concerns of Democratic progressives. A smart charlatan is still a charlatan. He is damaging our democracy, ruining what may be left of my Grand Old Party, and is obstructing our nation's ability to engage in serious discussion. Thanks for giving me at least some hope that there is enough reasoning left in our political consciousness that this guy can be outed.
George Vecsey
9/14/2015 10:37:00 pm
Brian, thanks so much. Funny thing is that I, a born lefty, courtesy of my parents, (I'm retired, can say that), find myself thinking about "my" GOP, also. Not Nixon and McCarthy of my youth, but people I met and covered -- Howard Baker, John Sherman Cooper, and Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, still around on TV, just to name three. Elected officials of principle. That party is gone. Best, GV
Alan D. Levine
9/16/2015 05:15:33 pm
George--That's the very same big (or is it little) three I considered to be symptomatic of a vulgarization of the city in the 1970s. Comments are closed.
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