by NoahWhile character has apparently never mattered in Washington, DC, I've always felt that, given enough time in the spotlight, bad character is often revealed. That doesn't mean that everyone changes their mind about that someone who steps into the spotlight, but it does change the minds of a very significant number of people who decided to stick around for the show. During the impeachment of President Clinton, Newt Gingrich was revealed to have stretched the bounds of hypocrisy and broken the bounds of human decency so much that it was he who was forced from his position of House Speaker while his target remained in office. His successor, Rep. Bob Livingston, saw his own career go from rising to down in flames in what amounted to a matter of hours once he stepped out of the shadows. Bob Livingston disappeared. Gingrich didn't even have the sense to do that.Gingrich was once even considered a smart man, even by those who were his political polar opposite, but by the time he decided to show us that he hadn't learned his lesson by launching his own campaign for president, he was ripe for being laughed off the stage in favor of the ridiculous likes of Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum was a thing to behold and being a disgraced former House Speaker wasn't low enough. Newt Gingrich had become the public proverbial smarmy old fart at play to the point where he was reduced to being nothing but a clown on FOX "News" and a shill for books by Donald Trump and offering signed copies of his own book to those who would contribute money to the Trump-Pence campaign. In the 19th century, he would so love, Newt Gingrich would be going from town to town trying to sell fake medicine cure-alls from his wagon.Fast forward to 2020: Putting aside goons like Lindsey Graham, Rudy Giuliani, and the already self-besmirched Ken Starr for now, what will become of Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz? 20 years ago, even 15 years ago, Dershowitz still had a good reputation in the public eye, even after being a part of O.J. Simpson's legal defense team. Since then, he has defended Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, been accused of sexual assault himself, and, like Gingrich, also become a pathetic clown on not just FOX "News" but also the more fully Russian propaganda channel RT.Now, Dershowitz has chosen, of his own free will, to speak glowingly of far right crackpot AG William Barr and defend Donald Trump in his impeachment "trial." Dershowitz should have quit while he was ahead. Whether or not his client is acquitted, found guilty, or somewhere in between, Alan Dershowitz has, by walking into the spotlight one too many times exposed himself for what he really is. He went from a man who was once celebrated for, among other things, his research and stances on death penalty issues all the way down to being a Trump defender on national television. Although now I suppose that if Trump were ever, in a far better world, to be actually convicted of treason, Dershowitz would argue against his client being hung, fried, or shot. Yes, I know everybody gets a lawyer in our country, but really, Trump? C'mon, wouldn't you rather see Trump trying to defend himself in the $enate in person?Anyway, I'm a big fan of what I call guerrilla marketing tactics, so, it was with great amusement that I saw that the comedy duo TGL has placed a nice-looking plaque on the outside wall of Jeffrey Epstein's former residence on New York's Upper East Side. As you can see, the plaque points out an interesting historical factoid about Alan Dershowitz, a little but of information that would have flown more below the radar had Dershowitz not decided to head for the spotlight one more time.Donald Trump is a human black hole where reputations go to die.
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