What I get from Cohen is

[cilla4progress]

drumpf's election says more about this country than anything.

Drumpf ran as a gag. America bought it. 100s of 1000s now dead.

Beyond pathetic. Yet somehow perfect. Iconic. Murka.

[Funtatlaguy]

1. Yes. With every Trump GOP primary win, I was stunned.

I kept saying that no way would a joke like him get the nomination.
But so many Americans are really gullible and really stupid.

[tanyev]

12. No kidding. He should have been laughed off the stage at the first GOP debate.

But apparently he was the giant asshole they'd been looking for.

[NJCher]

2. watching the program for a 2nd time

what disturbs me is his vision of what he (Trump) wants to be: Putin. A king.

Convinced that Putin was behind the sale of a house that netted him $50 million, Trump thinks that Putin runs the country like a business. He wants to be like (his vision) of Putin. The Russian oligarchs pay fealty to Putin. Trump felt that power and now he wants to be the American version of that. He wants to be president for life.

[BigmanPigman]

8. That's what is alarming to me too.

In 2016 we all know he wasn't serious about becoming a POTUS since he is too lazy. He just wanted the free advertising for his "brand" but now that he is used to the power he loves it. He can still be super lazy, golf, tweet and watch TV all day while we pay for it. Not only does he want to keep his new power but he must keep his job or likely go to the pokey on state charges. Putin is pulling out all the stops and so is Barr...heavy drinking will be in my future if Team TrumPutin stays in control.

[canetoad]

3. He ran to increase visibility of the Trump name

And thus create financial opportunities to market the scams and schemes that were tied to the name.

Hypothetically, even if Trump had no business ties to Russia (which he has), his attaining the presidency would be an enormous triumph for Putin. The man is unqualified, without knowledge of government functions and belligerently partisan and racist.

Just the above factors would clearly lead to a breakdown of rule of law in the US, given your governmental system. Win for Putin, lose for the citizens of the US.

[cilla4progress]

4. Great summation.

no grand plan, just petty larceny and anarchy.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. That's been my belief all along - Trump ran as a money-making scheme

His other "projects" were all failures - but he never expected to win and was - and still is - totally uneducated about what the job entails and showed up totally unprepared.

[canetoad]

9. Rhi - I'm 65 and a cluey person

But have never been involved in the job of politics in my life.

Before the 2016 election I tried to put myself in the position of a 72 yo, embarking on a brand new profession, not to mention the most prominent position on the planet, and learning everything necessary to carry out that job successfully.

I blanched at the thought. The presidency of the US is not a job for amateurs. But that's what the US did; they elected an amateur to run the country.

His ascendancy to the presidency is a systemic failure. One that the US needs to address.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Oh, it's positively horrifying!

And even the best of the presidents we've had appoint and depend on the best and brightest experts in certain areas - even the best can't know everything. But to add injury to insult, Trump is unwilling to depend on anyone - as has been said, he micromanages - so he puts these dummies in charge of areas they know nothing about so he can retain control of areas he knows nothing about - and we are left with the worst national nightmare of several lifetimes!

[speaknow]

6. the thing is

What Cohen is saying forget the swamp,
get the trash out of the WH

[JI7]

7. Most Americans rejected him. There is something seriously wrong when the candidate that got million

more votes doesn't win.

[Skittles]

11. the Electoral College no longer serves a purpose

why should ANYONE'S vote be worth than another person's vote? It is utter, archaic nonsense that is now working AGAINST the interests of America