Cohen

The most curious thing about Michael Cohen's testimony before congress is that it's not curious at all. It's not shocking or revealing, not a bombshell, because two-thirds of the American people already knew the things that he has spoken of to be true, in the same way that we knew his previous lies, as well as the lies of all the other Trump henchmen, Flynn, Manafort, Stones, Gates, and on and on, to be lies. We knew these things through the human property of common sense. We knew these things through intuitive sense. It is no surprise to find that Donald Trump personally  arranged the hush payment to a porn star. Of course he did. We already knew this. We never thought any differently. It was obvious. And our collective response to his denials from the  beginning was "Yeah, right." Because we are all human and we know what it is to be human. We are not surprised to find that Trump's school and college records had been suppressed by threat, because it has always been clear that Donald is not, after all, a "stable genius". To echo a former vice-presidential candidate, "I knew a genius, Mr. Trump, and you are no genius." We have all known very bright people. And then we have seen Mr. Trump, who is barely able to manage the English language. Is it a revelation that Mr. Trump is a racist, with a clear disdain for people of color? Please. We've heard about Charlottesville. We've heard about the 'shithole countries run by black people.' We've heard the shameful Obama birther conspiracy. We've heard about Mexican rapists and killers. Are we surprised to find that Mr. Trump is a crooked businessman, a cheat, a con man? Hardly. This has been common knowledge for decades. Two-thirds of us have always been perfectly aware of the picture Cohen has painted. And then there is the remaining one-third--those who also know this testimony to be true, but simply don't care, for their devotion, ironically, is of the same nature that had previously driven Mr. Cohen, and for which he has now repented. They are committed to protecting Donald Trump no matter what. To this end, therefore, Republican congressmen at the hearing focused on damning Michael Cohen for the crimes he has already pled guilty to, and for which he will soon be jailed, in order to deflect from addressing the crimes of their president--the very point of the hearing! Cohen warned at one point during his testimony that those now making the mistakes that he himself had made will ultimately find themselves paying the same penalty. I hope that he is right, at the very least, about that.