I read this book. It was excellent. On Flashpoints the other day, I also
heard portions of a recent talk Johnston gave on Trump. And I think he's
writing another book.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bonnie L.
Sherrell
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 12:55 AM
To: Blind Democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] book review - David Cay Johnston - The Making of
Donald Trump
_The Making of Donald Trump_
by David Cay Johnston
In the 1980s David Johnston had moved from his native west coast to the east
coast of the United States to work again as an investigative reporter for a
Pennsylvania newspaper. He was interested in researching the growth of the
gambling industry, originally as an outgrowth of licensing Native American
tribes to open casinos to give their people income, but eventually focusing
on the development of Atlantic City, New Jersey, as the Atlantic coast's
answer to Las Vegas. But as he came to know the various casino operators
and backers, he was increasingly advised to look into the New Yorker, Donald
John Trump, who was working on developing three casinos at the same time.
He was warned that Trump was clueless as to how to run either the gambling
or the hotel side of the three casinos, and wagers were already being laid
as to how soon he would be run out of town.
Johnston spent a good deal of time with Trump over the next few years, and
learned that those who questioned Trump's abilities to run his businesses
properly were right. Trump had no understanding of any of the games played
by his patrons, and no empathy with anyone associated with them--not the
visitors to the hotels, not those who ran the restaurants, not those who
played on the casino floor. And even though he started out with one of the
best casino managers in the city running the casinos, when the man warned
him that he was running the businesses into the ground Trump fired him,
refusing to listen to sound advice when it went against Trump's famous "gut
feelings," which have no appreciation for experience or hard-won wisdom
offered by others. Who won the pool as to how long Donald Trump would keep
his casinos running was not revealed in this book, but I bet the person won
a mint!
The gambling commission in Atlantic City allowed abuse after abuse after
abuse to be made by Donald Trump, even punishing some of his biggest players
as surrogates for Trump's flouting of the laws. Similar blindness by those
charged with enforcing the law was granted him in almost every place where
he set out to develop resorts, hotels, and golf courses across the country,
and even in Mexico. He was known to conduct business with criminally run
unions, and to regularly wine, dine, even house, and bribe high mucky-mucks
in a number of mob families, including the Gambinos. The son of a Russian
mobster ran his helicopter fleet. Again and again this Sater had his
enterprises closed down, only to reopen them with Donald's help, finally
living in Trump Tower in a suite given his girlfriend by Donald and working
out of Trump's own office, with new business cards and credentials provided
him by Donald himself, until one day the man went too far and finally was
indicted and prosecuted by the city and state of New York, at which time
Donald Trump assured those questioning him about Sater's place within the
Trump enterprises that "I wouldn't recognize the man in a crowd of two,"
implying he barely knew the man who'd flown him repeatedly from New York
City to Atlantic City and elsewhere around the region. This is his common
reaction when he is accused by women he's abused, employees he's played and
discarded, and various business associates now under indictment, so his
disavowing of George Papadopolous is not a new phenomenon.
I found Johnston's book to be enlightening, and agree that Trump's inability
to behave in a manner proper to the man expected to be the Leader of the
Free World is anything but new. Johnston was amazed that his suggestions to
other news media reporters to press on all of the lawsuits charging Trump
with fraud, sexual abuse, and business abuses were not followed up upon.
Perhaps had the New York Times and Washington Post pressed him and his
enterprises about charges of fraud against the so-called Trump University
and various proposed developments in California, Mexico, Florida, and
elsewhere around the nation he would not have made it into the White House
and made a mockery of the Presidency.
I found this at Barnes and Noble, and note it is available from Audible in
audiobook format. Definitely a must for those who are trying to understand
the situation we find ourselves in today. He also has at least one other
book about Trump's irrational nature available through Audible, and I
suspect I shall be acquiring it soon.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very
wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
We gave the Goblin King control of our nation!