The Unknown
A legend in politics, with a sneaky streak but a kind heart, Paddy sat down in my office – clear-eyed, practical, thinning black hair, he sees Trump’s flaws but the moment he hears Trump’s voice a kind of supernatural power grips his heart and values he’s cherished for years fly out the window.
Poking him, I asked how he felt about Trump’s deal with New York’s mayor: Eric Adams called Trump an ‘idiot’ and a ‘buffoon,’ got indicted for taking bribes, flew to Mar-a-Lago, bent the knee to Trump – and Trump’s DOJ dropped the case against him.
The same week, playing up to Trump, currying favor, a Republican congressman sponsored a bill to rename Greenland ‘Red, White and Blueland.’
After lambasting measles, polio, and Covid vaccines, Bobby Kennedy ran against Biden, campaign sinking, flipped sides and endorsed Trump. Trump put him in charge of healthcare – and vaccines. Another deal.
Elon Musk’s conglomerates got fined by the FAA, sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission – Musk spent $250 million to elect Trump. Trump put him in charge of DOGE. Bureaucrats now quake in their boots when they hear his name.
None of that troubled Paddy – so I asked about Trump saying Zelinsky started the Ukraine war. Sitting in his chair, back straight, he laid his arms on the table in front of him: ‘Trump’s doin’ great things…besides the other side is worse.’ Like a member of an ancient cult he believes whatever Trump says is the absolute Truth.
The year I went to work in politics Nixon got caught on tape telling a lie about Watergate – but it wasn’t Watergate that mattered. It was the lie. Back then liberals, moderates, conservatives, both Republicans and Democrats, saw lying – to fool people – as wrong.
Today to a legion of Americans lies no longer matter. Of course, sooner or later that brings a reckoning. Here’s the unknown: When the roof falls in will Trump be able to spin another tale and escape the blame? Or will a reckoning lead Paddys to repentance – and resurrect lost values?
(Note: This story’s a roman à clef. The history’s real. Paddy’s real. But I changed his name.)
*******
Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.
The Unknown
A legend in politics, with a sneaky streak but a kind heart, Paddy sat down in my office – clear-eyed, practical, thinning black hair, he sees Trump’s flaws but the moment he hears Trump’s voice a kind of supernatural power grips his heart and values he’s cherished for years fly out the window.
Poking him, I asked how he felt about Trump’s deal with New York’s mayor: Eric Adams called Trump an ‘idiot’ and a ‘buffoon,’ got indicted for taking bribes, flew to Mar-a-Lago, bent the knee to Trump – and Trump’s DOJ dropped the case against him.
The same week, playing up to Trump, currying favor, a Republican congressman sponsored a bill to rename Greenland ‘Red, White and Blueland.’
After lambasting measles, polio, and Covid vaccines, Bobby Kennedy ran against Biden, campaign sinking, flipped sides and endorsed Trump. Trump put him in charge of healthcare – and vaccines. Another deal.
Elon Musk’s conglomerates got fined by the FAA, sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission – Musk spent $250 million to elect Trump. Trump put him in charge of DOGE. Bureaucrats now quake in their boots when they hear his name.
None of that troubled Paddy – so I asked about Trump saying Zelinsky started the Ukraine war. Sitting in his chair, back straight, he laid his arms on the table in front of him: ‘Trump’s doin’ great things…besides the other side is worse.’ Like a member of an ancient cult he believes whatever Trump says is the absolute Truth.
The year I went to work in politics Nixon got caught on tape telling a lie about Watergate – but it wasn’t Watergate that mattered. It was the lie. Back then liberals, moderates, conservatives, both Republicans and Democrats, saw lying – to fool people – as wrong.
Today to a legion of Americans lies no longer matter. Of course, sooner or later that brings a reckoning. Here’s the unknown: When the roof falls in will Trump be able to spin another tale and escape the blame? Or will a reckoning lead Paddys to repentance – and resurrect lost values?
(Note: This story’s a roman à clef. The history’s real. Paddy’s real. But I changed his name.)
*******
Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.