A Basket of Geniuses
The title of the book is intended to be taken ironically. While Donald Trump may fashion himself a genius, the facts prove otherwise. This disconnect between illusion and reality, perception and fact becomes a running theme throughout the book which does not just apply singularly to Trump. Imagery is used throughout the book to subtly convey the message that any link between great wealth and intellectual greatness is purely coincidental. The speaker is Franklin Haney, a billionaire Trump supporter describing his attendance at an event with Michael Cohn and a delegation from Qatar.
“They treated him like we had went to dinner with a prince and all that sort of stuff.”
The Mocker-in-Chief
Abraham Lincoln enjoyed telling long involved stories with a humorous punch line to the point that it eventually nearly drove some of his Cabinet members almost to the point of breaking. A sense of humor is a necessity as President. Donald Trump’s means of engaging humor seems to be, well, meaner and has driven some of his Cabinet members past the point of breaking to the point of resigning:
“By the time of the November trip to Asia, Trump was openly mocking McMaster. When McMaster arrived in his office for a briefing, Trump would puff up his chest, sit up straight in his chair, and fake shout like a boot camp drill sergeant. In his play, he pretended to be McMaster. `I’m your national security adviser, General McMaster, sir!’ Trump would say, trying to amuse the others in the room. `I’m here to give you your briefing, sir!’”
The Princess
Critics have long been horrified at the power, influence, and security clearance the Trump White House has handed to his daughter and her husband. Ivanka and Jared Kushner have enjoyed access to the actual establishment of policy to a degree never before enjoyed by any family members and to a degree that seems more akin to hereditary aristocracies. In fact, the authors engage the imagery of the royal family at one point to underline the extent to which Ivanka rose so quickly from selling shoes to selling White House staff positions:
“Some in the room could hardly believe people were being appointed to key jobs so indiscriminately and irresponsibly. As Steve Bannon, the campaign’s chief executive officer who also was joining the administration, saw it, Ivanka was the princess with the sword, just tapping Flynn on the shoulder.”
The Failure of Democracy
In one singularly simple bit of imagery, the authors indicate the fundamental fragility of the entire American democratic system. It is a system that, just like any despotic regime, relies upon the conscience of military might to either preserve or sacrifice freedom. And the image painted here suggests that only one person in American is really what separates democracy from lapsing into despotism:
“Tillerson realized in that moment that Mattis was genetically a marine, unable to talk back to his commander in chief, no matter what nonsense came out of his mouth.”
