Michael Cohen Got Wise. Will America? (NYTimes)

[kentuck]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/opinion/michael-cohen-trump.html?fbclid=IwAR3GqGq2hCpfUGFtZkbN_z-iK9D6kn0sL_auvscJdy0QX7GScFjBzD4g2OY

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I’ve been fascinated by Cohen for a while, but until this past week, that fascination sprang from what a shady character he was and how perfectly he mirrored Trump’s ethical rot. No president in my lifetime has been surrounded by such a populous crowd of scammers, grifters and shameless opportunists, and Cohen was Exhibit A, doling out hush money, threatening disobedient reporters, and bellowing and swaggering through a world lit by neon and shimmering with gilt.

But over recent days, I began to see Cohen, who spent more than a decade as Trump’s lawyer, fixer and mess cleaner, differently. He’s a lesson for us all. A cautionary tale.

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But what Trump represented to the country was what he offered Cohen: a comet ride, with all the blinding light and burning heat that goes along with that.

And what he required of America was what he required of Cohen. We had to bury values that should never be buried. In our case that meant condoning Trump’s racism; indulging his corrosive conspiracy theories and self-preserving lies; permitting his demonization of institutions and people and whole countries; interpreting cruelty as candor and provocation as strength. Too many of us assented.

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