Fatal Distraction

What does Donald Trump have in common with Alex Forrest, Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction?

Right, you're probably thinking that one of Donald Trump's mistresses or one of his recipients of unwanted attention would have something in common with Alex Forrest.  But he has this much in common with her - he will not be ignored.

Trump proved that in spades when his Mar-a-Lago estate was searched by the FBI last week.  Although the agents went there quietly, at a late hour, in plain clothes, while Trump was in New York City, all to avoid calling attention to themselves and give Trump some privacy, Trump used his own social media Web site to announced that his estate had been "raided" by the FBI and calling it an "assault." This led to a fresh round of right-wing media propaganda defending Trump (forget for a moment the classified documents involved) and assailing President Biden and Attorney General Garland for their recklessness.  Once again, Trump is the odds-on favorite to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee and he's successfully gotten everyone to pay attention to him - and not on Ukraine, monkeypox, abortion, the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act, and lower gasoline prices.   

Some people cling to the hope that Trump will eventually run out of steam and people won't care about his antics anymore.  That may be true, but even if we stop paying attention to Trump now, that's hardly relevant.  I wrote back in 2015 about the similarities between Trump and Madonna (who turns 64 tomorrow, by the way, and so is a year and a day away from officially becoming a dirty old lady), explaining that they were both eighties phenomena whose only talent was shameless self-promotion and who both produced nothing of any value, and that they escaped accountability for all of their misdeeds and prospered mainly due to the support of their followers.  (MAGA fans and Madge fans have a powerful intolerance that scares away detractors that would make the Islamic State jealous.)   These days no one talks about Madonna anymore, but she's long since done permanent damage to popular music, which is now all synthesized garbage performed by people who can't sing.  Just as the Soviet purges couldn't have taken place without Joseph Stalin, Cardi B couldn't prosper with Madge paving the way for her.  Similarly, Trump could disappear tomorrow, but, just as there wouldn't have been a Third Reich without Adolf Hitler, the permanent damage Trump has left behind in the form of the MAGA movement, right-wing paramilitary groups, and white Christian nationalism will continue to make a far-right autocracy (the new nice word for "dictatorship") a distinct possibility long after the Donald leaves the scene.  

In short, even if Trump disappeared tomorrow, it's already too late.  The damage is done.

From Russia With Love

Who'd have thought? Ten Russian spies were living in the U.S., posing as Americans, and trying to gain access to the government - and two of them were living as a couple in Montclair, New Jersey! Needless to say, I am really jealous of the residents of Montclair, being the center of attention in a tale international intrigue.

The couple who went by the assumed named of Richard and Cynthia Murphy, lived on a quite dead end street in the Upper Montclair section of town, near the county border. For people who know the area, it's almost literally a stone's throw away from Applegate Farms, an ice cream stand and a northern New Jersey institution. It's a secluded area on the fringe of town, so it made a perfect hiding place for two secret agents. Their house, at 31 Marquette Road in Montclair, is depicted here - my picture!

The spy known as Richard Murphy stayed home while his wife (assuming they were really married) worked at a financial services company in New York and rode the commuter bus into the city. She was also seen tending her garden and occasionally with her daughters. She and her alleged husband seemed like a typical suburban couple.

Well, they were, of course, because they didn't interact with many people. It was very easy to hide in American suburbia, where people keep to themselves and don't involve themselves in the community. So the "Murphys" had a perfect cover. What many people don't understand is why the Russians went by an Irish surname to hide their national origin, because Montclair is known for having a diverse, international population. Russian nationals would have fit in just as easily as Americans (or others) with surnames derived from the British Isles. In fact, "Richard Murphy" must have aroused suspicion for looking more Russian than Irish.

That's probably how they got caught. Something went wrong. That's "Murphy's law." :-D

Although this is a serious case that might have put American government secrets and could adversely affect Russo-American relations, it's become a source of humor in in the region - a friend of mine calls the couple Boris and Natasha. Will we be laughing if some Caucasian, blond-haired blue-eyed couple turn out to be converts to radical Islam working for al-Qaeda plotting the next 9/11?

Anyway, the fact that Russian spies were found in Montclair doesn't impress me. My hometown of West Caldwell is already famous for being the home of an extreme right-wing political operative who was sent to Washington to infiltrate the government and use his power to suppress the American people.

How did that happen? Well, you see, George Walker Bush appointed him to the Supreme Court. :-O