A classic saying originating in New York delivers a clear message: If you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you. This exaggerated criticism of a naive point of view was born when a renowned con artist made a fortune selling the Brooklyn Bridge.
In the early 20th century, George C Parker repeatedly traded the distance between Manhattan and Brooklyn, sometimes twice in a week. He boldly claimed ownership of several other New York landmarks, including Grant’s Tomb and the Statue of Liberty. Methodical in his monumental schemes, he sold elaborately forged deeds to unwitting buyers, making a fortune from public property. The gullible realized that they had been deceived only while trying to erect toll booths. The police interceded and ended his brief illusion.
Con artists weave their lies with a mischievous smile and a wink and convince their targets with a pied piper tune. They mislead their prey with smooth talk, but they are essentially vulgar and abusive, concocting sinister plans and secretly mocking those who fall for their scams.
The con artists who gain the trust of the innocent are narcissistic deceivers, luring their prey in a cloud of invention. Cons persevere tirelessly, finding new targets willing to embrace their seductive trance. Victims don’t realize what they are about to lose until their values, hopes or dreams are gone.
Most New Yorkers recognize their local breed of con artists. From the small-time con man on the street to a crook in a skyscraper office, the self-righteous loudmouth who has no concerns other than his fortune and aggrandizement typifies this personality.
Self-centered charlatans and bluffers who believe they will never be discovered or caught are hard to ignore. However, whether they are ostracized or imprisoned, they end up being prevented from stealing from the unsuspecting.
Beyond the bridge sale
Crimes have consequences. Robbery is economically and emotionally traumatic for those injured. Parker was a popular figure in his day and it’s hard to believe that his outrageous acts were successful. But the law caught up with him and he spent his final years in prison due to multiple fraud convictions.
Parker was a newcomer compared to Donald Trump. Parker proposed selling a mile-long bridge. Trump promotes his thousands-of-mile wall of hate – a dramatic symbol of his xenophobic vision for the United States and a fitting icon for his deceitful initiatives.
The former president’s tortuous undertakings, both during his term and in previous years, are grandiose and complex. His appeal and behavior still fool millions of people who somehow believe a swamp creature is motivated to drain it. He is clinging to his current presidential candidacy in one of the greatest difficulties of all time.
Mary Trump, the former president’s niece, succinctly said that her uncle saw cheating as a way of life.
Trump’s cheating began when he was a slippery real estate developer using his father’s wealth. His stint as a casino mogul demonstrated his primal instinct to take rather than give. Trump’s dominant, tough-guy television image – with his catchphrase “You’re fired” – crowned his legacy of causing pain and devastation. There are thousands of examples of his obscene behavior.
from Trump banking sector scam forms a repetitive pattern. He defaults on huge debts and then looks for any angle to reduce or eliminate liability for the millions he owes. When he is at risk, caught, or cornered, he takes intensely antagonistic measures to escape trouble.
from Trump involvement in more than 3,500 legal cases throughout his business career reveals that his intentions and effects are often controversial. The great burden that falls on those who are harmed by their insidious schemes is immeasurable.
Using credit
Public office was a godsend for the final blow. Trump acknowledged that New Yorkers saw through his game and tried to cut his losses. After reaching the highest office in the land, he packed his bags, knowing his illicit trade in Washington would be profitable. Trump summed up his opinion: “I was treated very badly by the political leaders of the city and the state. Few were treated worse”, adding “the best for everyone involved”.
Trump’s national pulpit has amplified his arrogance and confidence, destroying any chance of remaining connected to the community that previously tolerated his antics. Eventually losing credibility across the country, he was unable to win a second term as president in the 2020 elections, although he managed to convince many people arrested and convicted in the process.
Eventually, Trump returned to New York and faced trial. Assuming he could mislead the jury with his intimidation, he prevented his lawyers from mounting any viable defense. None of the 12 jurors had any reasonable doubt that he was guilty on all 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records.
A Supreme Court ruling that gives him some protection for his presidential machinations will not end his troubles in the city where he brazenly defied the law.
Much like your hero Al Capone, a ruthless mobster and murderer who ended up in prison for tax evasion, Trump has finally been caught in illegal activities that expose his greatest violations and heinous criminality. Although the crimes may be described as minor, the justification for his conviction is solid.
Trump’s scam is starting to unravel. And like many of his notorious predecessors, he blames a selective justice system for his problems.
The game is over
Even as his tactics are exposed, Trump claims to his loyal followers that he can provide security against the demons he has engineered. He protests that the procurators and anyone who opposes him are a threat to his acolytes – when the danger is his own. This projection of personal fears illuminates the essence of his nature.
Don The Con is the self-described genital-grabbing misogynist, the cunning operator who despises enormous wealth while paying less taxes than nurses and firefighters the year he was elected president. He is the petty racist bully who mocks the disabled, the conniving hypocrite who, in the name of protecting American values, oversees the separation of immigrant parents and their children, and the false patriot who incites violence and civil unrest while humiliating members of the armed forces.
Some supporters of the former president, including those who served him, they are realizing that they idolized a man who despises them. They recognize the lying conman whose priority continues to be increasing his fortune while the world faces unprecedented hostilities and catastrophes.
Trump continues to sell a false cure for his exaggerated and deteriorating view of the country.
The concept of fraud does not capture the depth of its criminal activities and the damage it causes, especially to those who remain in a trance. The division he generated will continue, but Trump’s lifetime of deceit and bitter conflict is taking its toll on him. No amount of legal delays, pressure, bribes or pardons will protect you from paying the price for your scam.
On the verge of sentencing with prison on the horizon, Trump is outraged that he cannot avoid the legal and personal nightmare that awaits him. And despite the apparent success of his current campaign, his bridges are starting to burn. If he loses the November presidential election, his Washington enablers will quickly pretend they never supported him.
Your frantic effort to save yourself is futile and, like all cons, your house of cards will eventually collapse. Knowing that his fantasy world could fall apart, he is predictably increasing his hostile and abusive rhetoric, furiously claiming that he is a law-abiding and fair citizen, vilified by his enemies.
Trump, the master user and abuser, makes the desperate defense of his crowd – that he is an innocent victim. Continuing his strange chatter, Don the Con insists that he is a great leader and the only person capable of guiding the US from darkness to a bright future.
If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
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