Somewhere in the twisted, added and nearly empty mind of Donald Trump, he's enjoying the showdown coming. Michael Cohen, his former fixer, will take the stand against Drowsy Don in Manhattan today and to Trump, it's part of the grade B movie narrative of his life. He knows there are real consequences, but he can't help enjoying being the center of attention.
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He views himself as a cinematic hero facing off against the forces trying to bring him down. Like any true villain, he always sees himself as the hero. He promotes himself as Gary Cooper in “High Noon”; the brave, rugged individualist ready to save the gentry as Lon Chaney Jr. admits, “People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it. Maybe because down deep they don't care. They just don't care.”
But Trump is not the salvation. He's the storm. And the reality is, he's more like Lee Marvin in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," although he'd love everyone to think he's John Wayne.
For the record, Michael Cohen is neither Gary Cooper in “High Noon” nor John Wayne as Tom Doniphon in “Liberty Valance.” Cohen is the city-dwelling Ransom Stoddard as played by Jimmy Stewart in “Liberty Valance,” but with a few more colorful curse words at his disposal than Stewart.
Yet, as was done by Stewart in the movie, Cohen will show up in a Manhattan courtroom to deliver the message Trump doesn't want to accept: "All men are created equal" as written in the Declaration of Independence. "A lot of people forget that part," Stewart said in "Liberty Valance."