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