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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump's Ring Walk
He can run, but he can't hide. Joe Louis; May, 1941
Life don't run from nobody. Joe Frazier; March 4, 1968
When I was a kid, heavyweight champions like Joe Louis and Joe Frazier were among those I looked up to. Both rank high among the greatest champions in boxing history. Both were good men who made for great role models for youth. And both had a deep understanding of human nature within the context of intense conflict.
The Brown Bomber, considered by many the greatest heavyweight ever, was commenting on his upcoming title defense against light heavyweight champion Billy Conn. Although Conn was ahead on the scorecards after out-boxing Louis for twelve rounds, Joe flattened him in the thirteenth. Frazier's quote came after knocking out Buster Mathis for the vacant NYSAC heavyweight title, on his way to becoming the world champion. Mathis had given Joe who he beat twice in the amateurs a tough fight, before tiring from Smokin' Joe's intense pace, and getting flattened.
Now, this isn't an essay about boxing. It's not intended for DU's sports forums. It's about understanding human nature in the context of an intense conflict. It's about judging character, and using boxing one of the very few things I know and understand as a vehicle. I'll get to Trump soon.
Both Louis and Frazier were dedicated to long, hard training camps to prepare for each fight. A training camp is an isolated environment in the same sense that the White House is in a bubble. There is a relatively small group within each system. Louis and Frazier had employees, including advisers and friends, in their camps. But they were fully aware of the nature of the fight to come. They knew that when they took that walk into the ring, it would only be them doing the fighting.
They knew that the referee and the judges could play a role in the outcome of the fight. But each was intent upon forcing their own will upon the opponent, exploiting every weakness, and taking it out of the judges' hands.
Now, let's consider Trump. He has no connection to the sport of boxing, beyond hosting fights at his Atlantic City casino. He started doing business with Don King, the human parasite,starting in the mid-1980s. And Trump mistook his being around tough guys for being a tough guy himself.
Trump's familiarity with the great sport was entirely related to his wanting to make millions of dollars. In this, of course, it is no different than his approach to anything and everything: how can he make money? This is, of course, is the exact approach he has taken in both campaigning and winning national office.
Trump knows less about the federal government than I did when I was in the 6th grade. I mean that. He was convinced that being president would give him unlimited power to exploit economic opportunities. And he surrounded himself with low-lives like Stephen Miller, He considered Miller's ilk to be what he needs in DC. Think about the quality of people who have served in this administration. Think of the quantity who have served in certain important decisions.
His biggest success before running for president was on reality TV, where he pretended to be the person he fantasized of being. He transformed that role into the politician he played in the campaign. Enough people who cannot distinguish between reality TV and reality voted for him, that he won the republican primaries, then placed a distant second in the general election. Thus, he became president, a real life role he is entirely unfit for.
There is zero evidence that Trump's grasp of the realities of being the head of one of the three co-equal branches of the federal government since he took office. He has no self-discipline, invests no effort in being president, and shows no potential ability to become better at it.
Trump has never been in a real fight. He's always relied upon thugs like Michael Cohen to fight for him in potential legal cases, and Keith Schiller to serve as his personal body guard. Schiller infamously removed a journalist who asked Trump an uncomfortable question. And Trump folded in virtually every tough civil case he was engaged in. This is not the stuff of a tough guy.
Trump said he wanted to meet with Robert Mueller, but chickened out. Even with the Mueller Report, Trump depended on his personal attorney, Attorney General Barr, to advocate for him
..and by advocate, I mean lie faster than a horse can trot.
All of this added to his delusion sense of being untouchable. Obviously, if he watched the movie The Untouchables, he didn't understand it. But now he is finding out that he is not untouchable.
The White House is Trump's dressing room. As he looks around at the group of people there, he becomes aware that a growing number of his team have abandoned him, many joining the opposition. He knows that he hasn't done his roadwork, opting to play golf instead. Ivanka, his personal trainer, tells him that all he has to do is go the distance, as the majority of the judges are republicans sure to score the fight for him.
Soon it is time to take that walk to the ring. He knows that Ivanka and Jared are talking to him, but he cannot hear what they are saying. His thoughts are racing. The three Big Macs he ate are churning in his gut. For the first time in his life, Donald Trump feels completely alone, despite the fact that it is the biggest crowd ever (according to Sean Spicer) waiting to watch the fight.
In the early 1970s, at a fight card in Binghamton, NY, my brothers and I got a giggle out of seeing how nervous a guy in the dressing room was. He fancied himself a tough guy, as he beat a lot of drunks up in a local bar usually attacking them from behind. As he sat with sweat rolling off his forehead like a creek in the spring, my older brother asked him, You aren't afraid of this guy, are you? He's never won a fight? The fellow attempted to answer, but his vocal chords were too tense.
We watched him approach the ring when it was his time to fight. He took the steps up to the ring, turned quickly, and ran back to the dressing room. There are certain situations in life when one's character or utter lack of it are on full display. My bet is that Trump won't make it into the ring. I've seen this before.
GeorgeGist
(25,311 posts)H2O Man
(73,510 posts)calimary
(81,125 posts)We've been waiting for this a long time. And as tempting as it is to say it's been worth it, I think of all the destruction he has done to our country, and the horror he most recently created in Syria.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)I predict the moment Trump is at the precipice of his fate - in this case, *if and when* the Senate convicts him, he will flee justice, and the country.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I've had a couple people say to me that they think he will leave the US when the shit hits the fan. Like you, they are people that I respect and always listen to. Closely.
Texin
(2,590 posts)I'd get on a plane to France or Germany or Italy, and disappear from there - no retinue of aids at my heels or witnesses to have seen me leave. I'd go to Andorra and hunker down.
But I'm skeptical of that. Unless he's been moving his financial assets* into Swiss bank accounts, I don't see how he could do it though. He'll never leave his money, even for the reprieve he'd have in a country with no extradition treaty with the United States.
kentuck
(111,052 posts)Very true.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I have always believed that both Reagan and Bush 2 were playing the role of what they thought a president should be. I didn't believe either's act, of course. But this guy is different. He has no concept of the presidency that is rooted in reality. People are right when they say he thinks he is king. A mad king, with a mutated mad cow virus.
Phoenix61
(16,993 posts)After all bone spurs kept him out of Vietnam. What he doesnt realize is theres nothing that will stop impeachment from
happening.
mopinko
(70,021 posts)a ministroke, that passed quickly. but when they mri his head, there is plenty of evidence there that he is unfit.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I like that. It's even better than the idea of him resigning to spend more time with Ivanka.
yellowcanine
(35,694 posts)for that to work you probably need to be Ali.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)(My friend Rubin provides us with an alternative version!)
leftieNanner
(15,066 posts)Last edited Tue Oct 15, 2019, 12:13 PM - Edit history (1)
Your analogy truly works here. Trump is a lazy coward and he has found himself alone in the ring. Somehow, his threat to sue Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff was the most obvious tell. These threats have always worked against "the guy in the bar", but now he is facing both Frazier AND Ali and they have done the work and do not fear him.
Well done, Water!
And thank you.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I never liked the fellow I describe at the end of the essay. Though I rarely went in bars, even in my wilder times, I knew that he was a cowardly bully who did cheap attacks from behind on defenseless victims in bars. What was funny to my brothers and I was that he was supposed to fight a guy who was knocked out in the first round of every fight -- he was there only for the money (even amateurs got paid "expense" money in those days, with the winner having twice the expenses of the loser!). He never got hurt. Just laid down and feigned being out cold, until it was safe to head back to the dressing room and finish his bottle of Thunder Bird wine. Yikes!
The next year, he signed up for the regional Golden Gloves. He was supposed to fight one of my heavyweights, but chickened out even before he was supposed to go get ready. He had some of the same flaws that defined his character as does Trump.
Kali
(55,004 posts)coeur_de_lion
(3,676 posts)Asking for a friend. Well, approximately 214 million friends.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)"Bullfight critics ranked in rows
Crowd the enormous plaza full;
But he's the only one that knows
And he's the man who fights the bull."
-- Domingo Ortega
I used to think of that poem when I was getting ready to walk into the ring. It was one of President Kennedy's favorite poems. Interestingly, the CIA included it in JFK's morning briefing on 11-22-1963.
I believe that I've told you that one of my youngest daughter's friends from college is from Syria. She's a talented artist. I've been helping connect her with artists in NYC, and they like her work. It opens up a whole new level of understanding for me to talk to her about life in Syria. The horrors that are part of daily life for her family that remains there. It's on my mind when I watch the news.
Getting back to Trump. I don't think his flabby ass will ever make it into the ring.
coeur_de_lion
(3,676 posts)Resign to spend more time with family?
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)Character defines behavior. He has low character.
One thing I learned in the Great Sport is that those who are indeed tough never have to put on an act of being tough. Neither Joe Louis or Joe Frazier, for example, felt any need to.
malthaussen
(17,175 posts)... I wonder what percentage of Mr Trump's most vocal supporters are exactly that kind of "tough guy."
-- Mal
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)Maybe less than that. But I like to give the benefit of the doubt. And I doubt they are tough.
malthaussen
(17,175 posts)... I was thinking about the fake tough guys, not the real ones.
-- Mal
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)quite a few!
usaf-vet
(6,163 posts)Bodyguards that fend off physical assaults and attorneys that repel all other threats.
Nothing has changed except we the taxpayers are paying all the bills for his shields. We pay the Secret Service to protect his safety and we pay the attorneys including AG Barr to protect his outrageous behavior.
I have a question if he is impeached [when he is impeached] and hopefully found guilty in the Senate Trial will he lose all of his post POTUS benefits. Such as lifetime Secret Service protection and lifetime financial benefits?
He will still be the COWARD but without us paying the bills!
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I do not know the answer to that. I'll see if anyone I know has an answer. Since no president has been impeached, tried, and convicted, it's new territory. So it is a great question. Thank you for raising it!
I've been involved with boxing for over 55 years now. Met a lot of tough people. Fought quite a few of them. Not a single one was a loud-mouth bully. Not one. And not a single loud-mouthed bully proved to be a tough guy.
Likewise, in life outside of the Great Sport, I've met numerous tough people. Some were fighting diseases, others dealing with tragic events. No bullies there. I've also met some loud-mouthed bullies who were punks. In forensic social work, they were not uncommon, but always unattractive.
malaise
(268,713 posts)Beautifully done - I can literally see him running back into the dressing room
There are some images that I'll never forget.
Years ago, our team was going to Syracuse for a fight card at Grant Junior High School. We had four cars packed full of people. Too full. When we got there, one fellow (he was driving & scheduled to fight) said he was going to look for a better parking spot. Sure. We all went in. He drove away, never to return. So the ride home was even more crowded!
I doubt Trump can drive, though. Maybe a golf cart?
pandr32
(11,557 posts)I also loved your analogy. It fits.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)Being a rather simple person, I tend to view things in the context of the sport I know best. Actually, the only sport I know much about. A few years back, I started an essay for DU:GD with, "All of life imitates the sport of boxing." Several people found that offensive. Not my problem! (grin)
gab13by13
(21,264 posts)Great analogy. I knew he was a coward too but you spelled it out beautifully.
I go with medical scam too, after all that's all that Trump is, a con man.
gademocrat7
(10,645 posts)Excellent post.
GoneOffShore
(17,337 posts)Liebling wrote about boxing as metaphor in the same way that Frank Deford spoke about sport. Both were interested in the outcomes, but that was hardly the whole of their interest. They saw sport as a reflection of culture and as a way of viewing life.
IcyPeas
(21,841 posts)when I heard him say this it reminded me of a boxing match. I love your post!
Its less safe now. Its less secure, less stable, and they fight. That is what they do; they fight. The generals came to me in Afghanistan. Sir, it will be a rough spring. Why? My first year. Why?
Well, sir, the Taliban is going to come out of the mountains and theyre going to start fighting. I said, But why do you say rough. Well, thats what they do. Theyve done this for 1,000 years. They come out in spring; they fight. Thats what they do. Theyre very good. Theyre good fighters. Thats what they do.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-values-voter-summit/
Hekate
(90,560 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,164 posts)I would not be surprised at all if he turned tail and ran, when and if it came down to him having to show up in person to testify in an impeachment investigation. Its well established his 180's on decisions...He will fight with everything his has, which is usually his Twitter account, and his Fox News echo chamber, as well as his mouthpieces like Conway....until the moment he knows he can't win, then he will flip on a dime and run away blaming everyone else as he runs.
I don't know what I want more, him leaving with his tall between his legs, resigning before the impeachment even gets going, or being able to watch the spectacle and the spectacular take down. (Whether R's vote to convict or not)
But yeah, I can totally see him wimping out if it ever gets to a point where he has to personally stand up and defend himself, and instead stomp out of the room saying its impossible to make America great again in the corrupt Washington swamp. I think it plays well with his brain dead deplorables who will believe him that he was chased out in a deep state coup. He will say he came to the conclusion himself to resign, and start up his Trump TV network as the only way to continue without interference in building his own "revolution".
That's why we can't stop the prosecutions IF he resigns. I hope to gawd there is no "deal" where if he walks, the nation will "move forward".
MartyTheGreek
(565 posts)My prediction: Resignation by Christmas maybe even Thanksgiving. Trump is looking for another Haymaker swing like the one he tried with Ukraine to try and finally shed that dark cloud that hangs over his presidency and legacy according to those close to him.
A sign? Trey Gowdy declined to join the impeachment defense train so maybe he knows something... My money is on resignation especially since he's bleeding future GOP voters by the day. So, someone's gotta break it to Big Daddy that the Game Show is over or the bleeding continues with even more losses for the party. Maybe one more global blunder and Senate will get up enough balls to do the right thing for the Country and what's left of their party. All these maybe's, but it's a sign... His knees are buckled, and he knows that we know it! I foresee him lashing out once more even if it's regarding that fake report coming that supposedly Barr is working on suggesting the Dark State started the investigations... Now, if we get a whistle blower covering Barr's butt on that, we might just have to evict him before we change any curtains! Ding-ding!
Hekate
(90,560 posts)...that he wants to inspire in others. And I don't want him to be turned into a martyr.
cp
(6,617 posts)and well written. Thank you.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)From Rochester! 😄👋🏾
Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2019, 09:39 PM - Edit history (1)
Thanks!