Intimidation: the action of frightening or threatening someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do.
I have to give credit where credit is due. Somehow, Donald Trump has intimidated an entire political party — one of the two major American political parties — to stand by and support him, despite all of his unethical, illegal, misogynistic, racist, amoral, and criminal actions.
In the latest issue of The Week magazine, there is an excerpt from an article that Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times wrote. It’s just the latest example of Trump’s winning through intimidation.
Goldberg’s article is about a new movie titled The Apprentice. The movie covers Donald Trump’s rise to fame under the tutelage of his Machiavellian mentor, lawyer Roy Cohn. Cohn was the young lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as the chief counsel to the now disgraced Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954. Cohn assisted McCarthy’s investigations (witch hunts) of suspected communists that destroyed the careers and the lives of so many talented and creative people.
Back to the present time, American audiences may never see The Apprentice, an unflattering film that features “extraordinary” performances by Succession star Jeremy Strong as Cohn and Sebastian Stan as the young Trump.
Film distributors in many countries have bought rights to show it. But U.S. movie studios reportedly became afraid to touch The Apprentice after Trump’s lawyers attacked the film as “foreign interference in America’s elections” and have threatened to sue those who promote or distribute the film.
Corporations have seen the boycotts the MAGA right launched against Bud Light and Disney, and fear that if Trump is re-elected, he will actively use federal regulators to punish them. In his first term, Trump’s Department of Justice tried to block AT&T’s purchase of CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, to punish the news network for its coverage of him.
Trump ally Kash Patel has warned journalists and the media that if Trump gets a second term, “we’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly.” The fear of releasing this movie in the U.S. is a “sign of democratic decay,” writes Goldberg, and it portends “greater self-censorship to come.”
The mantra of the man who might be the next President of the United States might very well be “Winning Through Intimidation.” It has served him well.
This, That, and the Other 
Michelle Goldberg is quite a smart person. I certainly want to see the movie (The Apprentice) now that I’ve heard of it. I wonder if the intimidation is related to this outcome earlier: https://www.mediaite.com/media/salem-apologizes-retracts-dinesh-dsouzas-debunked-election-fraud-movie-2000-mules/
Lawsuits are a thing, and problematic in this country. Yet, it is fair to call out libel or slander; that kind of thing. But if this country can’t find (or create out of thin air) its moral compass and balls or g-spot, we’re doomed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Meanwhile, don’t miss Angels in America (a series based on a play) — with Al Pacino as Roy Cohn (see, too, the end of The Devil’s Advocate). Plus, there’s this: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bully-coward-victim-the-story-of-roy-cohn-2020
LikeLiked by 1 person
From somewhere in the middle of this article: “Bully. Coward. Victim.” covers much of the same ground as Matt Tyrnauer’s equally essential documentary, “Where’s My Roy Cohn?”, from last year, but what sets it apart is the fact that it was directed by the Rosenbergs’ granddaughter… Unlike the network’s recent underwhelming documentary, “Natalie…” which was marred by the unpersuasive efforts of Wood’s family to steer the narrative toward exonerating [the husband], Meeropol doesn’t sidestep how her father, Michael, eventually had to come to terms with Julius’ lack of innocence.
None of his crimes, however, seem to justify the lawless methods Cohn utilized to prosecute him and Ethel on charges of espionage, rendering Michael and his brother Robert orphans at the mere ages of ten and six. In a series of candid interviews, Michael recounts how he began fighting to clear the names of his parents, including a galvanizing TV appearance where he stands up to Cohn, daring the bullheaded lawyer to sue him for libel. Even Cohn’s own cousin, author David L. Marcus, dubs him “the personification of evil,” though the film effectively illustrates how such a term is too reductive when attempting to thoroughly examine his sociopathic psyche.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw “Angels in America” years ago.
LikeLike
Do you mean you got to see the play? I’ve watched the series — not the play even once — more than once. To me, it’s not about being hyper-lgbt… and hating god (I don’t think there was anything about that) but about how there’s an asshole at the top of the food chain; at least one for each apparent chain. In this case, Cohn, who had helped Donald Trump (who had been only one of the urchins hanging out with Ronald and Nancy… yes that to Ron and Nancy while they aren’t covered even a little in the story as far as I recall) in addition to Joseph McCarthy and other jerks, was dying. See, also, Dallas buys club and Philadelphia; Cohn “wasn’t” (!!!) gay because he couldn’t be fired, would be the one on top, could get medication, and so forth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw a multipart TV production of the play. I think they just filmed the play.
LikeLike
Oh! I’ve only seen clips of that, and only in the last few days. I didn’t know it’s a whole recorded thing. But I have to say I like Al Pacino in the role, though this other guy is a maybe better match and his version done well from what I saw. Anyway, this thing is a different angle. I hope the new movie you’ve brought up, which I assume will focus on additional facets of the same person, gets put out to the public.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope so, too. But I’m not holding my breath.
LikeLike
Oh! I’ve only seen clips of that, and only in the last few days. I didn’t know it’s a whole recorded thing. But I have to say I like Al Pacino in the role, though this other guy is a maybe better match and his version done well from what I saw. Anyway, this thing is a different angle. I hope the new movie you’ve brought up, which I assume will focus on additional facets of the same person, gets put out to the public.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes,it’s a tactic some leaders use. The Nov election will be quite an interesting one for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s all going to hell if he wins the next election.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it will be.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So frustrating the power he has. That’s why I want to see him in jail, powerless. And why are all these trials and judges putting everything off? If it were me or you we’d be in jail double quick
LikeLiked by 1 person
True, but many of these justices are political appointees and are more concerned with politics than they are with justice.
LikeLike
I cannot figure out why so many chose a one-sided argument. By that I mean sharing the shortcomings of the other side. I have always chosen to see things at face value in person. What I have discovered (personally) is that everything is not like others portray. If someone is pushing a narrative, there is likely a misrepresentation in there somewhere.
It takes all of us to make up this complex world, but we could do it with a lot less in-your-face sexual favor, atrocities against our youth and elderly, everyone holding themselves and others to the same standards, picking and choosing the truth from fiction and a lot more exposing of the pedophiles, drug runners, murderers, hack politicians, etc.
I appreciate your letting me voice my own opinion. It is a great and sensitive topic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
People are always invited to share their opinions in my comments section as long as they aren’t rude or disrespectful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Horrifying.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely, it has definitely served him well, I honestly am hoping against all hope that he won’t win. Really, if he does, I fear for America! It is doomed if he wins! Xo
LikeLiked by 1 person