Outside Counsel

I don't recall what year I ran the 5th Avenue Mile, but I remember that it was a beautiful fall day, and I remember that the race was rescued by Donald Trump. The concept of a straightaway mile race on a city street was pretty new. Milers are track athletes and seemingly small things like roadway grades, make a big difference to them. The race, which was run in heats with the elite runners going last, was a chance for regular runners to be on the same pavement with world class runners and to see those runners as they blazed past, after we'd had our go. It was pretty special for that reason alone, but it was also a cool course, down the Museum Mile. It had lost its sponsor, and Trump, sensing an opportunity for self-aggrandizement, stepped in. He was there, all orange, with that weird hair, and you know what? Sponsoring that race was a good thing that he did. I had a great day, and I've always had a tiny sliver of gratitude towards him for that.

Now he is burning down the Republican Party, so that's two things I like about him. It is hilarious to watch, e.g. David Brooks lose his mind as his party descends into madness, yes, and Charles Krauthammer too. It will be even funnier watching them wring their hands if Trump gets the nomination, because cats like Brooks and George Will and Kruthammer are how Donald Trump happened. When Ronald Reagan went to Philadelphia, Mississippi for his first post-convention speech, when Bush pere ran the Willie Horton ads-- and on down the years, the conservative punditry was stitching together the monster that is now running amok.  The only thing that could possibly be better than this would be watching these characters trying to walk back their horror at this thing they have created in order to explain that Trump isn't so bad.

I can't wait.