My old buddy from graduate school, Larry Ford, sent me an email this morning and told me to check out Doonesbury. To my amazement, it features The No Asshole Rule, or as they call it "The No A------- Rule." Here is where you can go to see the complete cartoon. The cartoon does a great job of summarizing the main points of the book (see two frames above) and then it goes on to use the ideas in the book to rip Donald Trump a new asshole (see below).
In my book, Trump really does qualify as a certified asshole, as having achieved the lowest level a human can short of committing horrific crimes or something. His narcissism is something to behold. Listen to how often he uses the word "I" when he speaks about the buildings built by his company. He says things like "I built the Trump International Hotel and Tower." It sounds as if no one helped at all, it was all him, designing the building, putting it up, and so on.
Trump also loves to sue people, as that is what a rich bully does. And, as one lawyer I know well explained to me, there are an interesting group of people out there who sue others as a replacement for psychotherapy -- The Donald appears to be of this twisted ilk. In this vein, I was talking to a former editor of a rather famous publication a few months back and I asked him who was the biggest asshole he ever dealt with -- it took less than a second for him to name Trump. The editor then went on to tell me that, after his magazine published a piece on Trump, Trump called him and started screaming at him and told him that the lawsuit against the magazine was already being prepared. The former editor then asked Donald an interesting question: " Have you read the story?" The Donald said "No." After reading it, Trump decided not to sue.
A lovely human being, huh?
Well, I never thought The No Asshole Rule would make Doonesbury. And given my intense dislike of The Donald, I am delighted with how it appeared. Now, let's see if Trump already has his lawyers going after Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau because -- after all, that is what rich certified asshole would do!
P.S. This Doonesbury was apparently written before Trump withdrew from the race -- although now The Donald seems to be backpeddling a bit, saying he wouldn't completely rule it out.
Honestly Andrew, I agree with your view in a general sense--with general everyday folk, except for the fact that we're talking about Donald Trump, the guy who takes pride in getting Obama to produce his Birth Certificate, something I considered to be a racist act. It's hard to look past that, whether it's a public persona or not. If he doesn't care that he comes off as a racist, I kind of have a problem with him for that.
Posted by: Anna | May 25, 2011 at 02:11 PM
From time to time you will pass a signpost that indicates to any and all that you have moved from one level of competence/authority/wisdom/maturity - take your pick.
Being referenced in Doonesbury, that's one big frickin' signpost!
Congratulations on your promotion.
Posted by: Gschaadt | May 24, 2011 at 05:41 AM
Andrew raises an interesting point, but I'm deeply dubious about anyone who feels the need to portray such an horrific public persona, even if he is an angel behind locked doors...
Posted by: Ellie | May 22, 2011 at 10:04 PM
What a kick, Bob! I think you are inextricably woven into our cultural fabric at this point.
I wouldn't put much stock in a ten year old interaction with a "passing acquaintance" since a lot could change and you cannot know if she was towing the party line. Who knows if she was in a setting where she thought word might get back to him.
I tried to watch "The Apprentice" when it first came out and I was completely underwhelmed by the management style. It really seemed like I was watching a bunch of kindergartners fighting over Daddy's attention, and he seemed to eat it up...and he probably was.
But then we seemed to be inundated with bread and circuses. It's sad to think where it's all heading.
Posted by: Carol Murchie | May 22, 2011 at 02:00 PM
I would agree with you except for one thing, I knew a woman who worked for him who raved about him as a boss. I only knew her socially, but according to her, he was loyal, thoughtful and dependent on people who worked for him. Yes he was a big personality, but he could only be that way because he had a great team who exceed what he could expect from them and he was generous and rewarded them handsomly both monetarily and in recognition. He's and interesting and flawed person and this was ten years ago, so he might have changed, but interesting and flawed people canmake some of the best bosses.
I think one has to separate the public and professional personas.
Posted by: Andrew Meyer | May 22, 2011 at 11:05 AM