Trump's bumbling, brutal, bargain-basement mob

[babylonsister]

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-comey-trump-mob-20180421-story.html

Trump's bumbling, brutal, bargain-basement mob
By Virginia Heffernan
Apr 21, 2018 | 4:10 AM

snip//

At least with the original mafia, you got a social network for your wife and children, the best cuts of bresaola, elaborate weddings and funerals. But what does Trump give? No community, no faith, no language, no signature red sauce binds the Trump syndicate together.

In fact, the biggest mystery of Trump's presidency, to me, is the prostrate compliance of former alpha males — Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. Devin Nunes, and on and on — for nothing.

What kind of bribes are these men taking, what blackmail are they enduring? Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor who also helped bring down the New York crime families, gave me an answer I didn't expect: none. The bosses don't bother with carrots and sticks, they just exploit psychological vulnerabilities.

The mob is like a cult, she told me.

Strong and not-so-strong men and women become toadies not because a boss gives them reflected glory or even money — though there may be some of that — but because they crave an idol, a reason for being and the feeling of belonging in … this thing of ours. Whatever that thing is.

The good news is that that spell can break. "Breaking away … is hard," Rocah told me, "but it happens all the time."

If the consequences they face are severe enough, and especially if they've learned their superiors slagged them off, some mob underlings will flip.

Trump Organization fixer Michael Cohen, in the hot seat after the FBI raided his office and hotel room on April 9, may be in that process now. Cohen could well be terrified of prison or fines. He might also now know that Trump's loyalty to him is as wispy a concept as " that thing." (On Friday, Trump confidant Roger J. Stone said the president treats Cohen "like garbage." )

Or maybe Cohen will simply be exhausted by the lies, big and small. If so, he could start by admitting that the statement he's best known for — "I'm the guy who would take a bullet for the president" — is the biggest hokum of all.

[unblock]

1. "This thing of ours" -- "Cosa Nostra"

[CousinIT]

2. What kind of people are experts at using other people's psychological weaknesses to manipulate them?

Sociopaths. That's how they get what they want almost 100% of the time...and that's how they get away with being criminals almost 100% of the time with absolutely zero consequences.

(ALMOST all of the time....some of those NY crime families were brought down....some of them by none other than Robert Mueller)

[magicarpet]

3. After the Italian crime families were taken down...

... and dismantled - the Russian mob moved in to the vacant territory and took over much of it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

4. Time to step out of the way of that bullet, Mikey.

It's coming.

[Loubee]

5. This is one of the best articles I've read so far about the Trump phenomenon.