My latest guilty pleasure is crime stories. It does not matter whether they are fictional such as the recent Jon Hamm vehicle “Your Friends and Neighbors” or a documentary like “The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.” A road trip is not complete without at least one episode of the podcast “Small Town Murders.”
My curiosity about a possible synchronistic connection between my new pastime and 2025 politics was triggered by James Patterson and President Bill Clinton’s guest appearance on last night’s episode of “The Daily Show.” These two “partners in literary crime” were hawking their latest collaboration, “The First Gentleman.” The plot revolves around a murder for which a former NFL all-star who is married to the first female president of the United States becomes a prime suspect.
Not yet having the benefit of reading the book, I would still bet the farm the investigation of motive, like that in every other crime story, focuses on the question, “Cui bono,” Latin for “Who benefits.” Regardless how brilliant this installment of the Patterson/Clinton alliance might be, it pales in comparison to the crime against humanity and civility perpetrated by the current White House occupant. And it does not take that proverbial McArthur Genius Award winner to figure out, “Cui bono.” Trump and his circle of new faux best friends consisting of major donors, billionaires and tech bros.
How about the other side of the coin, “Who losses?” Which explains the title of today’s post, “Cui damnum.” The answer should be equally simple. Does each presidential action represent his Shermanesque path of retribution for every one of his perceived grievances? Is it more about the grift that keeps on grifting? Or his campaign against the “other,” which we now know is anyone who does not support his perverted view of the U.S. Constitution, rule of law and public service. The story of the 2024 election, especially after watching every major promise in Project 2025 become reality, is, “Why did so many Americans either vote against their own self interests or stayed home on election day because they did not believe it mattered who won?”
Perhaps the best metaphor for this textbook case of cognitive dissonance is the climatic scene in the film “The Sixth Sense” between a troubled young boy Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) and child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) when Cole reveals his secret.
COLE: I see dead people…some of them scare me.
MALCOLM: Dead people? Like in graves and coffins?
COLE: No, walking around like regular people…Some of them don’t know they’re dead.
MALCOLM: How often do you see them?
COLE: All the time. They’re everywhere.
Except in this 2025 reboot, the origin of Cole’s unease are MAGA cultists walking around like regular people who don’t know they are being conned.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP
👍