The title of this post is a reference to the 1979 movie The Seduction of Joe Tynan, written by and starring Alan Alda.  I have a personal connection to this film as it was shot in Maryland at a time when I worked for the state Department of Economic and Community Development in Annapolis.  The Maryland Film Commission, which helps producers find locations and services during filming, was housed in our department.  Additionally, one scene pictured here of Alda and Meryl Streep was shot at a small general aviation airport just down the road from my house on the East River.

The title character U.S. Senator Joe Tynan is seduced by the power he accrues when asked to lead the fight against a Supreme Court nominee.  He becomes a captive of his environment and the situation.

So what does this have to do with Joe Biden and recent allegations by Lucy Flores that the then Vice President inappropriately touched her?  No one, I repeat NO ONE, is accusing Biden, for lack of a better phrase, of “hitting” on them.  Even Flores, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper did not accuse Biden of anything close to sexual harassment.  The terms she used included “made to feel uneasy” and “he violated my space.”

First, I understand exactly how Ms. Flores felt.  I value my space and feel uneasy when others get overly close.  It does not have to involve physical contact.  Someone standing too close behind me in a line at the bank or grocery store makes me feel uneasy.  And there is a physiological rationale for this response.

Some years back I was exposed to the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) for which I am now a certified facilitator.  Developed by the late Ned Herrmann during his employment at General Electric, it focuses on our behavior and how it depends on the way our brain is hardwired, unlike behavioral models such as the more familiar Meyers-Briggs assessment.  HBDI measures an individual’s preference (score) on four scales associated with the four quadrants of the human brain:  logical/rational, structured/conservative, interpersonal and conceptual/risk-taking.

You probably will not be surprised at my preferences.  My highest score is on the conceptual scale.  People in this quadrant tend to explain things in metaphors (like comparing life to movies).  My lowest score is on the interpersonal scale.  That explains why I prefer spending hours alone in my office cranking out this blog than attending conferences to present my thoughts.

Which brings me back to Biden and Flores.  Without administering the HBDI test, I would bet the farm Joe Biden is off the interpersonal scale and Lucy Flores’ dominant preference is on the structured/conservative scale.  Thus, unlike Joe Tynan, Biden and also Flores are not captives of their environments.  They are captives of their dominant brain preferences.  Biden wants to hug everyone.  One of the major shortcomings of the weekend reporting is every picture only showed Biden interacting with women.  But how about the photos below?

And if I’m correct about Lucy Flores, Joe Biden is not the only person who she feels has at one time or another violated her space.  That is why, when we conduct HBDI team training, the goal is not to compare profiles, but to help participants understand how people with different preferences react differently to words, actions or situations.

The conclusion.  Neither party is at fault.  Lucy Flores has a right to her space and one can certainly understand her discomfort at asking the sitting Vice President of the United States to “back off.”  And Joe Biden is not a seducer, but is seduced by his preference to be close to people. The fact he has now acknowledged her discomfort is a learning moment.

What worries me more is we seem to have lost the distinction between one person’s desire to connect with others and another person’s belief that grabbing women by the genitals is okay.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Just as HBO presented the documentary Leaving Neverland in two parts, yesterday’s post was just half the story. Part one of the Michael Jackson saga was about the good times, the excitement by two young boys to be part of the entertainer’s world and inner circle, to be made to feel special and have access to privileges most people only dream about.

Part two was about redemption. Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck eventually admit the personal toll their secret had on their mental and physical health as well as their families. Both have married and have children. For Robson, the moment of illumination comes as his son approaches the age at which he first encounters Jackson. He cannot imagine that anyone would do to his son what he experienced or that he would allow it to happen.

Projection, a defense mechanism subconsciously employed to cope with difficult feelings and emotions, is usually something that must be avoided. It prevents one from confronting or dealing with unwanted truths. But in this case, seeing his young son cast in his personal nightmare gave him the strength to finally break the emotional bond which previously prevented Robson from sharing his story.

The road to redemption is not without potholes and speed bumps. Robson, Safechuck and their families, on several occasions, countered accusations by others of Jackson’s abuse. Although unpaid except for the perks of being Jackson’s “friend,” job one was protecting Michael.

Which brings me to the central player in part two of Leaving Mar-a-Lago, Michael Cohen. No surprise. In his opening statement before the House Oversight Committee, he echos Robson’s and Safechuck’s narrative of seduction and complicity.

It is painful to admit that I was motivated by ambition at times. It is even more painful to admit that many times I ignored my conscience and acted loyal to a man when I should not have. Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong.

Opening Statement, Michael D. Cohen, February 29, 2019

There is one major difference between Robson, Safechuck and Michael Cohen. While all three talked about the lasting effect of their association with Jackson and Trump, respectively, Michael Jackson is dead. He will not abuse another young child. Trump is still very much with us. Which is why Cohen concluded with the following statement. “My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything. I will not sit back, say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.”

But perhaps Cohen’s most ominous warning was to those who do not understand what is personally at stake. “…people that follow Mr. Trump as I did blindly are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering.” In other words, we are much more likely to become the next Wade Robson, Jimmy Safechuck or Michael Cohen than we will ever become the next Michael Jackson or Donald Trump.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

After watching the four-hour documentary Leaving Neverland which follows the seduction and sexual abuse of two young fans by Michael Jackson, I was left with the same feeling I have about seemingly rational people who continue to support Donald Trump. Yet, as I listened to the boys’ mothers both describe how they could never imagine such “a gentle human being” doing such terrible things to their children, the truth was more than evident.

What Joy Robson (Wade’s mother), Stephanie Safechuck (Jimmy’s mother) and Trump’s base have in common is that they lived and, in some cases, continue to live in a perpetual Neverland where they are asked to protect real-life Tinkerbells (Jackson and Trump) by closing their eyes and being told to BELIEVE. In Jackson’s case, just like Peter Pan, he takes Wade and Jimmy by the hand and offers them the opportunity to fly. Not magically, but in private jets. And he promises adventure, whether accompanying him on world tours or spending time at Jackson’s ranch, the embodiment of every child’s dream environment. It helps you understand the lure, the seduction. In a play on an old standard, “How you gonna keep ’em in the three-bedroom, two bath ranch in Simi Valley or Brisbane after they’ve seen Neverland?”

This is no different than Trump, in 2015, descending on a golden escalator asking Americans who lived in three-bedroom, two bath ranch homes or worse to go on an adventure. And just as Jackson won the trust of the Robson and Safechuck families by spending time in their living rooms, Trump created the same atmosphere at his rallies. While not as intimate as a private home, the attendees were captivated that a celebrity would come to their town and spend time with them. Jackson showered his prey with gifts and promises to help jump-start their careers. Trump handed out red gimme caps and promised to turn back the clock. Both are equally intoxicating.

Walking the dog this afternoon, I wondered if Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed would ever consider producing an equally meticulous video account of the Trump campaign and presidency. What made Leaving Neverland so compelling was how the focus on these two young boys put a human face on the pain and suffering Jackson caused his victims and their families. I wondered who Reed would pick as his subjects. And then, as I checked the on-line news, there they were.

CNBC reported “the last Chevy Cruze sedan rolled off the line at about 2 p.m Wednesday headed for a dealership in Florida.” Meet Bryan Keeley, a GM employee who voted for Trump in a county which gave the Republican candidate a 30 point margin over Hillary Clinton. Keeley, a 26 year GM veteran, told Bloomberg News last November, “I thought he was going to do miracles for us, so did a lot of other autoworkers.”

Or consider Juan Quintero who is the subject of a front page article in today’s Washington Post. Quintero had been employed for 18 years at the Trump National Golf Club in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. But that was half the story. Quinero was so trusted by the Trump family, he also “put in five more hours each day as a contractor at the 171-acre hunting retreat called Leather Hill Preserve, which serves as a private weekend playground for President Trump’s sons and the property’s co-owners.”

There was just one problem. Quintero is a Mexican immigrant who was working illegally in the United States. And just as Michael Jackson would jettison two young boys who worshiped him and lied for him, the Trump organization abandoned Quintero when he became a potential embarrassment. Quintero: “All of the years you give them, and they just let you go.”

I would have added a third, a coal-miner from West Virginia, but I do not have a face or a name. During the campaign, Trump sprinkled his pixie dust on the coal industry and asked them to believe. Recently, he bragged on (drum roll) Fox News, “I’ve turned West Virginia around because of what I’ve done environmentally with coal.” Perhaps he should have checked with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, which reported mining jobs in December 2018 declined .47 percent over December 2017 or his own Bureau of Economic Analysis which reported State GDP was 0.0 percent, last among the 50 states. Yet Trump’s approval rating in West Virginia stands at 62 percent, the highest in the nation.

Wade Robson was five years old when he first met Michael Jackson. Twenty six years passed before he shared his story with Dan Reed. How many years will have to pass before the gold veneer rubs off and an autoworker in Ohio, a Mexican immigrant who has served his employer loyally for 18 years or a coal miner in West Virginia recognizes their misplaced allegiance to Donald Trump was no more than a children’s fairy tale and that it is time to stop believing in place called Mar-a-Lago.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP