In the mid-1950s Roy Cohn was one of the most famous people in America. My being born in 1950....I seemed to have known about him forever. He was the chief counsel in the various McCarthy hearings. Senator Joe McCarthy was right in his concern about communists in our government....and he has since been vindicated in that general charge...but the problem was in how he went about his business of rooting out communists. It's similar in a way to Trump immigration deportations....as he also is right in that there is a major problem....but likewise very wrong and even unconscionable in how he has gone about dealing with that problem. Robert Kennedy....RFK....Bobby Kennedy....was an associate counsel....(until he resigned)....second to Cohn....and they utterly despised each other.
When Cohn's time in working for the Congress was done....he went to New York City....and became almost equally famous as a divorce lawyer....and a personal lawyer to the elite...in many cases mob elite. His tactics were always the same....attack....and take no prisoners....deny any and all charges....never ever admit to anything....and he was often criticized as....displaying no decency whatever toward other human beings. He met Trump in the early 1970's. They took an instant liking to each other.....and Roy Cohn saved Trump's bacon on a number of occasions When Trump and his father were facing federal charges of discrimination in their rental properties....it was Cohn who told Donald to fight the government. Cohn saved Donald a lot of money over the years. It was in Trump's first term....when he was facing all kinds of accusations....that he famously uttered in desperation...."Where is my Roy Cohn"....in other words....where is my unconscionable attack dog lawyer like I used to have?
I put off doing a post on Roy Cohn....because this was a public figure with a long life....with every decade filled with high profile controversial exploits. How can I attempt a short post on such a figure? And I would have avoided it altogether....but I wanted very much to bring up this one identical similarity....(there were many)....that Donald Trump has....and that Roy Cohn was known for....and here it is....
Everyone who knew Roy Cohn....and most in Washington and New York who only knew of him....knew that he led a very public and accepted gay lifestyle. He did not even try to hide it....but here is the thing....he denied it to the day that he died....in 1986! It wasn't in that he was gay....for it could have been anything. He was always walking around the room....and occasionally being stepped on....by the elephant in that room! How can I adequately emphasize this point? It is a very important point! Cohn....on anything that he chose....the topic matter not being the important thing....no matter how obvious it was to anyone who knew anything about the subject....simply....calmly....and confidently....seemingly without a care in the world on it....just looked into the camera....and denied it....and he did this regularly with many things....for it was the plan....and it worked! Extraordinary....the boldness...and the arrogance....and the effectiveness of it!
I do not think that I have even come across anyone....in public life or in my own life....or even for that matter in literature....who....as if they were giving the time of day....or the day of the week....could not only tell a lie....but the polar opposite of the truth....that almost everyone would know anyway! To make this even more astounding....the two men who could do this....not only knew each other....but were fiercely loyal to each other....with Cohn in fact having been the chief mentor of Trump!
