I almost quit before page 70, these people are so loathsome. It makes me so disgusted to read about all this money circulating among people who it seems to me at best are useless, and at worst, malevolent, while people who work full-time at productive jobs are on food stamps because they can't earn a living wage. To add insult to injury, they're being called parasites by people who would make their greatest contribution to society by driving off a cliff. They include a lawyer who specilize in helping people stay a hairsbreath away from extortion when they're squeezing hush money out of celebrity/wealthy former sex partners. Of course, the latter are generally don't deserve much sympathy either. Whatever sympathy I may have felt for Stormy Daniels or Karen McDougal is gone. When the papers talked about McDougal's catch-and-kill story, the catch is more like, "catch this ball." McDougal's intention was always to get hush money -- she just started huffing about getting her life's story back because the Enquirer didn't keep its promises to her. What a lovely pair they make.

I soldiered on, and it became sort of horribly fascinating, and then there were the forces of the law to root for. Palazzolo and Rothfeld, in addition to giving us the grimy details behind the stories that we heard, reveal a lot about what it's like to be investigative reporters. I became very intrigued with the detials of finding sources, deciding who's reliable, and when they have enough to go to print with a story. They also revealed how the Wall Street Journal and other media took far too long to realize that Trump wasn't just an entertaining side-show, not worth really investigating.

I am still left wondering -- what do people see in Trump? I took a dislike to him from the first time I heard of him as the brash, young builder. Why did anyone want to watch The Apprentice or pay him to put his name on their products and buildings? A frind was worrying about a local company that is having financial trouble because he stiffed them. My questions is why does anyone work for a known cheat and deadbeat?

I think I understand why some people voted for him -- people who get empty promises every election that are never delivered on. Conventional politicians truly failed them, and thought they could be ignored as unfortunate, but necessary sacrifices to the glorious globalized future. There were times when I was so angry with the ruling class that the thought of voting for him flickered through my mind. His cruel, gross, and dishonest carnival always turned me back. I just cannot understand why so many people remain so loyal to such a mean, dishonest, amoral, ignorant, and erratic man. I suggest reading Rick Wilson's Running Against the Devil : the Plot to Save America from Trump and the Democrats from Themselves, a book the Democrats desperately need to read and take seriously.

One of the particular focuses was Michael Cohen, who is truly pathetic. Slavishly loyal to the unworthy Trump, having no observable morals, and a mean hardball player, my reaction to his sentence is more on the lines of reflecting that white collar crime is punished severely enough, than sympathy.

I am also delighted to so that Pecker, who manages the Enquirer and various other magazines, got in trouble, and that his flagship publication is rapidly losing money and readers. Unfortunately, he got off with a settlement promising better behavior. It should have included a mea culpa on the front page of the Enquirer.

Quite a thrill ride of a book -- one that will remind you just how seamy the 1% and the ruling classes are, and why "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" remains one of the most beloved lines from Shakespeare. ( )