WELLESNET MESSAGE BOARD

Speaking of DJT on CFK (and OW), and the "front page" essay about Errol Morris's interview of Trump, I don't know if anyone's posted this -- if so, please feel free to delete it -- but this just came up in my news feed: http://lithub.com/erroll-morris-on-the- ... the-point/

Thanks No Fake. Good interview.

My pleasure!

I'm currently writing about Leland's witness to the rise and fall of Kane's political career, which brought me to the similarities between CFK and DT.

There are some notable aspects:

1) Kane's promise, after winning the election, to immediately appoint a special prosecutor to throw his opponent (Gettys) in jail.

2) But when he loses the election, the immediate response is to claim "Fraud at Polls!"

3) The pleasure he takes in telling his best friend, Leland, "You're fired!"

4) Extravagant Xanadu, in Florida. (Tho Trump's palace is in the Miami area, whereas Kane's hollow castle is on the "desert(!) gulf coast.")

5) In general, Kane is someone who (as Elizabeth Warren notes of Trump) is insecure, and covers his insecurity with bluster, boasting, and combat. The most telling instance of this is his foolishly combative reaction to Gettys' threat of blackmail during the "love nest" debacle.

6) In general, a narcissistic fixation on "the love of the people," as opposed to a more considered political agenda-- which is why Kane flips out when Gettys threatens him. One conjecture is that Trump entered the fray, the Republican primaries, with no expectation or even intention to be president, but only in order to bolster his ego and his brand. And now look what happened!

-- Colmena

To (only lightly) paraphrase a famous quote from American political history:

"Now look - that damned hustler is President of the United States!"

Not sure whether President Trump would find this amusing.


https://gph.is/g/ZxPROll

Good list, Colmena. I would add that both CFK and DT inherited their wealth from a parent. Also, both understand how to harness and take advantage of the overwhelming power of the media.

Very late in the game, I just came upon this vid of Trump's review of CK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeQOJZ-QzBk

It's remarkable in that, for once!, Trump allows that wealth and
fame do not necessarily make for happiness, and furthermore they can come with
marital collapse and being removed from others. And he also notes that
adult problems can follow upon an unhappy childhood-- as the meaning of "Rosebud."

This is as sober and reflective I've ever seen DT! And I take it that such admissions are not to be found in his ghost-written
"autobiography," _ The Art of the Deal, where he assumes his usual stance of gloating over his success.

And then we have the thoroughly DT punchline!
Ha ha...

PS At youtube there are also a number of vids commenting on DT's review of CK, which I did not look into.

This reminded me of Arkadin's (in)famous parable. It made my head spin, for several reasons:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/1 ... 1552963cbd

The Evil Magician Casts a Spell
Donald Trump's eerie likeness to Thomas Mann's Mussolini parable.
https://newrepublic.com/article/136045/ ... asts-spell
Mario and the Magician was something that Welles considered as a followup to Citizen Kane.

Trump hasn’t just revived some of the bad prescriptions of the twentieth century’s dictators; his whole manner and psyche seem attuned to theirs, as suggested most uncannily in Mann’s account of an entertainer and his hapless followers, of an increasingly frightening magic show that ends in disaster.

Thomas Mann on the Artist vs. the State
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/book ... -mann.html

For more on CFK and DJT,
and also how an unhappy childhood can shape an entire life,

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -interview

“He’s become something of a Charles Foster Kane-like character down in Mar-a-Lago these days,”

"Vainly attempted to sway as he once did, the destinies of a nation that had ceased to listen to him, ceased to trust him."

Not just yet. I'm certainly no fan of Trump, but a lot of people still listen to him, still trust him, and still want to see him sway the destiny of our nation. That statement by Maggie Haberman may be true to an extent, but I think it also has a trace of wishful thinking to it. I guess we'll see which way the wind is blowing in a few days.