Pointing his finger at adversaries seems the signature strategy of famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz. When he defended O.J. Simpson at his murder trial, he accused prosecutors of juror-targeting mostly white people. Lately, defending Donald Trump, he accuses those worried about the president’s state of mind, saying, “How dare liberals try to undo democracy by accusing a president of being mentally ill without any basis?"
'Political genius' at work
Dershowitz also doesn’t seem worried about Trump’s taunting tweets to ill-tempered Kim Jong-un, who had his girlfriend executed by firing squad.
The president’s refusal to fault neo-Nazis marching past a synagogue in Charlottesville chanting “Sieg Heil” didn’t worry him, either. White House chief political advisor Stephen Miller even sees his boss as a “political genius.” Trump sees himself that way, too, tweeting that he’s a “Very stable genius.”
'Edge of Insanity' is an inartful exhibit title
An art writer by trade, I can’t help but think of Van Gogh right now because, while all the president’s men vouch for his sanity, the Amsterdam museum, home to most of the painter’s work, makes clear that he was emotionally disturbed in exhibits like “On the Edge Of Insanity.” Trump gets a pass and Van Gogh gets pegged as emotionally disturbed. Never mind that calling the painter insane ignores 21st century research indicating he was not an emotional wreck driven to suicide.
Instead, he was gunned down while at work -- something Trump hardly does. Reportedly, our president doesn’t get to the Oval Office until 11 a.m., spending his mornings watching TV and tweeting. And when he does show up to work, he spends the time talking on the phone. One may wonder who’s minding the store.
One man’s work ethic is another’s idleness
By contrast, Van Gogh was a workaholic. So, even if you’re unfamiliar with the new forensic evidence from biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory, you’d know the museum has him wrong by his giant body of work – 900 full paintings in ten years. Insanity doesn’t allow the discipline for all that.
The museum disregards his discipline, preferring to see him as a man driven to suicide. Recognizing his death as a homicide would likely spoil the picture of a long suffering artist. Making him out to be deranged is good for the box office.
Who’s the 'idiot' in this scenario?
Van Gogh got maligned another way when Washington Post writer Henry Mitchell wrote of him in 1993 when one of his works sold for $82.5 million. “The gall of some painters...they sleep and eat when they feel like it. They punch no clocks, fill out no time cards. They are as free as anybody else to sell a picture for millions. All they have to do is convince some idiot it’s worth it.” Except for the picture-making, doesn’t that describe Trump?
