"And when you die, all anyone will say is, 'Better that he had never lived at all.'"

[Tommy_Carcetti]

That's a quote from the HBO Miniseries "Angels in America," based on the Tony Kushner play of the same name.

It comes at a point where the infamous fixer/lawyer/McCarthy figure Roy Cohn lies dying of AIDS--a disease Cohn never wanted to admit having--in his hospital bed. He is "visited" by a vision of Ethel Rosenberg, a woman whose execution (aided by numerous dirty tricks and maneuverings on Cohn's part) Cohn considers the absolute pinnacle of his professional career.

The most devastating part about Rosenberg's quote to Cohn is how absolutely true it was, and still is. Not only did Cohn die a disgrace--disbarred and inflicted with a disease that was a testament to his utter hypocrisy--but Cohn's reputation has actually gotten worse over time, not better. When some high profile figures with controversial pasts die, we naturally attempt to find the silver linings and find good accomplishments and attributes amongst the bad.

Any attempt to rehabilitate Cohn, however, would be absolutely futile. He lived and died the nasty, corrupt, contemptible son-of-a-bitch that he was, and like the fictional Rosenberg apparition declared, there was no good that could be gleaned from his life. It was a total waste, never to be celebrated, and too broken to be rehabilitated.

But even after his death in 1986, Cohn was the curse that kept on cursing, and we are still dealing with his impact to this very day. Because it was Cohn who took people like Donald Trump and Roger Stone under his fetid wing and encouraged their public, brash, thoroughly corrupt and unapologetic pugnacious styles. In turn, Trump attempted to mold his own attorney Michael Cohen directly after Cohn. While it worked for years, we are now seeing a reckoning for Trump for his unequivocal embrace of Cohn's mantras.

Aided no doubt in good part by a search warrant of his apartment that shook like an earthquake, Cohen decided (probably in his own best interest more than anything else) that he didn't want to have the legacy of Roy Cohn, Donald Trump and Roger Stone to be his dying legacy. He didn't want people saying about him, "Better that he never lived at all."

For Donald Trump, however, that quote from Rosenberg to Cohn will ultimately follow him to the grave. His life will be viewed as a complete waste. He will die one of the greatest villains to America that this nation has ever known, a man complete without redemption. He will die as someone who was so eager to enrich and empower and promote himself that nothing would ever stop him, not even the pause of thought as to whether one should commit treason just to get one self elected the most powerful man in the world.

Like the Roy Cohn that Kushner imagined, Donald Trump is now being haunted by the legacy of his own mentor, and in a brutal twist of irony it is none other than Roy Cohn himself. In the end, a man who helped fuel a Red scare as to others' supposed collaboration with the enemy helped in an indirect fashion to bring on the most infamous case of such treason the country will have ever known.

And in the end, when Trump draw his last, it will be he who people will say, "Better that he had never lived at all."
____________________________________________________________________________________________

In case anyone wanted to see the scene with Cohn and Rosenberg from Angels in America, here it is:

Al Pacino and Meryl Streep do an absolutely phenomenal job in their respective parts. Streep's simple rendition of "Tumbalalaika" is utterly haunting.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I'm wondering what Trump's funeral will be like.

He'd be entitled to a state funeral, but if he doesn't croak tomorrow (please, God, are you listening?) but lives long enough to be disgraced, indicted, maybe even go to prison, what kind of ceremony will there be? Nixon had a state funeral at his library, and there were still a fair number of people who were willing to deliver eulogies. But Trump has far exceeded Nixon in sheer criminality and general awfulness (and Nixon was pretty awful). When he's dead will anyone mourn at all? If his funeral is televised I'll watch it, assuming I'm not too hung over from the party.

[elocs]

4. "but if he doesn't croak tomorrow (please, God, are you listening?)"

I've wondered about that...how many of us would be heartless enough to personally say to Baron Trump, "We hope your father dies tomorrow"?

I don't want Trump as our president, but I'm not hoping for his death.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. I don't hope his death for one main reason....

....I want him to face actual justice if it is at all possible. A premature death would foreclose upon that option.

But nothing will be lost if Trump were to drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow. Death will happen to all of us, so it striking him down now (naturally of course) would be just as good now as it would be later. And I know this sounds cruel, but I honestly doubt Barron has much love for his father. His father really doesn't seem to show any love for him. Considering the wretched souls his three oldest adult siblings have become, Barron (and perhaps Tiffany) are the only hope that someone in that cursed family will end up disavowing him.

[elocs]

9. A premature death for Trump, when he is in office or even shortly after he is gone

one way or another would make him a martyr to his rabid followers.
Not nice things would follow.

[agingdem]

8. death is too quick...over too fast

I want years and years of pain ..I want that orange clown, his ridiculous wife , and his despicable spawn afraid to get off their gold plated toilets and venture outside for fear of someone spitting on them/mocking them/humiliating them/sneering at them.. I want them isolated, penniless, friendless, swimming in subpoenas and legal bills, I want their passports revoked...I don't want death but I want it to feel like death

[elocs]

10. The problem is that life is not fair and our wishes for revenge against Trump

are unlikely to be fulfilled to the extent that we desire.

[Duppers]

13. He has caused deaths.

[tonedevil]

23. That is an interesting way...

of framing. How do you suppose the news was delivered to Romano Mussolini?

[BlueStater]

25. His father's a piece of shit and he'd be a lot better off without him in his life.

We've already seen how his other siblings have turned out thanks to Daddy's toxic influence.

No, I would never tell him that directly to his face, but it's the unspoken truth.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. For the most part post-Watergate, Nixon wasn't apologetic, but he wasn't unapologetic, either.

He more or less retreated to the sidelines and only appeared when necessary. He offered friendly advice to his successors and otherwise just remained a non-factor.

That was enough to transform him from a total villain to simply a classically tragic figure of sorts. And so he got a certain degree of respect at his passing, even though his sins were never forgotten.

Thing is, as you acknowledge, Trump's sins are sufficiently more severe than Nixon's even at their worst.

There will be no state funeral. There will be no lowering of flags. There will be no other former or current presidents in attendance. There will be no portrait in the White House.

There will be nothing.

Trump will go down as one of the greatest villains this country has ever known, and no one will mourn him when he goes.

[fescuerescue]

24. Don't kid yourself

", and no one will mourn him when he goes."

The street will be lined with deplorables, hoping to catch a glimpse of the limo carrying the casket.

20% to 30% of the country will always worship him.

[Moostache]

6. I am going to record the event so when I am sad, I'll have an uplifting video to watch

When he dies, I am going to party like I did on December 31, 1999 again...and I want to get so drunk that I remember LESS of the night than I do for the turn of the century, which is almost nothing after 11:15 PM on!

I have the champagne ready and I am going to seriously rejoice the second I hear the news until I pass out later that night...its gonna be SWEET!

[Perseus]

14. I think comedians should be the ones to give the eulogy when he dies

Comedians would tell the truth on what a horrible human being he was, but they would say it with humor. I think ye country deserves that, if he gets any eulogies.

[dalton99a]

2. .

[Dave Starsky]

17. Ha ha.

Poor little dumpster.

[SunSeeker]

3. K & R

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. From the NYT in January:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/politics/trump-sessions-russia-mcgahn.html

Public pressure was building for Mr. Sessions, who had been a senior member of the Trump campaign, to step aside. But the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, carried out the president’s orders and lobbied Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode.

Mr. McGahn was unsuccessful, and the president erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. Mr. Trump said he had expected his top law enforcement official to safeguard him the way he believed Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general, had done for his brother John F. Kennedy and Eric H. Holder Jr. had for Barack Obama.

Mr. Trump then asked, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” He was referring to his former personal lawyer and fixer, who had been Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s top aide during the investigations into communist activity in the 1950s and died in 1986.

[PWPippinesq]

12. And what his mother said.

I believe she said to Ivana, her son's first wife, something like, "What kind of son have I created?" Regretfully, she didn't live long enough to find out in all her son's glory, what kind of monster he truly is.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

15. This picture taken shortly before her death at Mar-a-Lago speaks volumes.

First, it has to be said that Trump--facially and folically-- is a splitting image of his mother. This picture is essentially Trump in drag 10 years down the road.

But I think far more importantly, there's a certain sadness to this photo. Here she is, in this gawdy opulent palace that her son had acquired through greed and fraud and it seems to really show on her face--a mother's love is supposed to be unconditional, but how does one deal with that when it turns out that their own child is a monster?

That's what I see here.

[Dave Starsky]

18. I agree.

My mom is somewhat crabby in general, and she is often not happy with me, but even she would never take a picture where she was looking so utterly exhausted and exasperated.

[Roadside Attraction]

21. The great equalizer

“Death is the great equalizer. I’ve seen that phenomenon many times. I’ve had people in my classes come to me, men and women over 50 years old, and they say, “I made it, I’m rich. But what the hell is my life for?””
— Jacob Needleman

[mobeau69]

16. Nice work Tommy C.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

22. Thanks. nt

[Roadside Attraction]

19. I have a real conflict

I have a real conflict: At age 74, I want to live long enough to piss on Trump's grave. On the other hand, I hate to stand in long lines.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. To underscore the point, here is how Cohn was "remembered" on the AIDS quilt.

[Blue_true]

26. That video was great. The best actress in history.

On the men's side, it is Pacino and DeNiro neck and neck, ahead of Denzel Washington.

[Kingofalldems]

27. What was she chanting at the end?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

32. Tumbalalaika--a famous Yiddish folk song.

It's usually a little bit more up tempo, but the way Streep sings it in a lullaby style after she takes pity on Cohn is near perfect.

And Cohn still ends up being the irredeemable bastard in the end.

[blogslut]

28. Good stuff, Tommy

[SMC22307]

29. I like when DU does "history"...

thanks for the thought-provoking post.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

31. You're welcome. Nt

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. trump must live to be removed from office

After he's removed in disgrace, I don't care if he lives to be 100. A long life means he gets to be reminded of his failures; a short one means he can't be active in further damage to the world.

As you say, better that he had never lived at all.