Today's MOZEN: The World's Greatest

F LoBuono

Even with my very healthy ego firmly in place, I have to admit that Donald J. Trump is a much bigger man than me in almost every way. He's a little over 6'2". I'm just under 5'10". He weighs over 250 lbs. I'm about 185. He lives in any one of a plethora of mansions and is chauffeur driven. I have a one bedroom apartment and drive a car with over 285,000 miles on it. I work as a technician. He ran a multi-million dollar real estate empire. I was president of my high school class. He is the most powerful man on earth.

So, what right do I have to criticize a man who in so many ways is larger than life (certainly MY life, anyway)?

Well, I believe that it has everything to do with a few things called honesty and integrity.

I have tried to live an honest life in all its aspects, including my appearance. I do not adorn myself with fancy clothing or jewelry. I would NEVER even consider dying my hair or beard, now flecked with copious amounts of silver and grey. I have never straitened my nose or teeth, both of which tend to go in their own directions. I drive a simple car with hundreds of thousands of miles on it - not because I can't afford a new one but, rather, because it suits me and still runs just fine. I live alone, simply and quietly, not by necessity but by choice. And, as a career, I have done honest work from the very beginning, never screwing anyone in the process and earning every dime.

Mr. Trump cannot make the same claims.

First, EVERYTHING about his appearance is phony. His hair, piled on top of a balding head in an elaborate comb-over, is dyed a pale gold. His teeth have obviously been straightened and whitened artificially. His skin glows with an orange luster caused by some type of spray on tanning chemical.

As for his business empire, so much of it has been predicated on various smoke and mirror techniques that it would send even an economist's head spinning. In a recent NY Times Sunday Magazine cover article (2/9/2020), "I.O.U. Donald Trump - The inside story of Donald Trump and Deutsche Bank, his lender and last resort", author David Enrich paints a picture of a man desperate to find money when, based on his previous track record no entity would lend him any, and a bank so intent on name recognition, they would break all the rules to do so:

Trump was among the beneficiaries of these shortcuts. Before making the Chicago loan, Deutsche Bank conducted an informal audit of his finances. Trump had declared to the bank that he was worth more than $3 billion, but Deutsche Bank concluded the real number was closer to $788 million - a quarter of what Trump said it was. For most banks, this would have been disqualifying, but Deutsche Bank was undeterred. Executives were so eager for growth and big deals that they managed to look past the obvious red flags. In February 2005, they agreed to lend him $640 million for the Chicago project.

The bank went on to create numerous "special purpose vehicles" for Mr. Trump to quietly and inexpensively acquire international properties. In other words, the tactics may or may not have been illegal. But, they certainly were questionable within the banking industry.

Even with the help from Deutsche Bank, Mr. Trump's so-called empire was once again in dire straights until he was rescued from the junk heap by another dose of smoke and mirrors. As exposed in a New Yorker article, How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success (1/7/2019), author Patrick Radden Keefe, wrote how the masterful producer Burnett used The Apprentice to mythologize Trump - then a floundering "D-lister" as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency.

In other words, in order to create a hit TV show, Burnett used all the tricks of the trade that he learned in producing other successful reality TV shows like "Survivor" to give the APPEARANCE that Mr. Trump was something that he was NOT.

Simply put, his entire life, from his personal appearance to his business affairs, is based on a lie. It is said that he even cheats at golf! So, yes, Mr. Trump is so much greater than me but only in ways that I care not to be, i.e. as a phony.