By Berl Falbaum
They say that politics makes strange bedfellows but sometimes political divorces can also be bizarre.
We recently experienced a weird political marriage as well as a kooky political divorce both of which, I thought, deserved some examination.
Both cases reminded me of the fictional story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a story in which the good, respectable Dr. Jekyll, who has evil urges, transforms himself into a villainous Mr. Hyde by drinking a special serum.
First the marriage:
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, described by Donald Trump as a “communist lunatic,” recently met in the Oval Office with the president whom he called a “fascist, despot and a threat to democracy.”
Normally you would expect political fireworks with the Secret Service assigning more agents to such a meeting.
But it was all kumbaya, like the two had not seen each other since kindergarten. The only things missing were balloons and party horns.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” said the converted Trump. “A big help. The better he does, the happier I am, I just met with a man who’s a very rational person…”
Not to be outdone, Mamdani, who is a democratic socialist, offered: “What I really appreciate about the President is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers, And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of eight and half million people who are currently struggling under a cost-of-living crisis.”
This was so unusual that both the left and the right had trouble digesting this political heresy. Some dyed in the wool MAGAs were apoplectic.
I figured that Mamdani had nothing to lose in meeting with this threat to democracy; indeed, he receives national publicity for “reaching out.”
And, if Trump endorses and meets with him, he wins some acceptability, especially among Republicans.
As to Trump (Mr. Hyde), I concluded he met with Mamdani behind closed doors and promised not to send the National Guard to New York if Mamdani reduces taxes on Trump properties in the city.
Trump is not averse to publicity either nor to changing his mind. He would have no problem blasting Mamdani again — and soon — arguing that the meeting in his office never happened. Dr. Jekyll’s serum works both ways.
Mamdani already opened the door for another Trump turnaround when, a day after his political embrace with Trump, said he still considers the president a fascist and a danger of democracy.
Now to the political divorce:
A female Donald Trump (Mrs. Hyde), U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia) split with the real male Donald Trump.
For five years Greene told us that Trump was the second coming but announced, while taking a few potshots at her former political hero, that she would resign from Congress in January.
Specifically, she did not like Trump blocking the release of the Epstein Files (before changing his mind) and he was not pursuing “America First” policies.
In her about-face, Greene, who once compared Trump not only to Jesus but also Nelson Mandela, must have taken more than one portion of Dr. Jekyll’s serum to convert from the Hyde personality.
She actually makes some remarkable observations in her four-page resignation statement. While President Eisenhower, when leaving office in 1961, condemned the military-industrial complex, Greene warned us against the political industrial complex of both parties, stating, “…election cycle by election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more.”
Or this: “Many common Americans are no longer easily convinced by paid political propaganda spokespersons and consultants on TV and paid shills on social medial obediently serving with cult-like conviction to force others to swallow the political party talking points.”
In her statement, she said she favors term limits in the House and does not “think Congress should be a lifelong career or an assisted living facility.”
Trump, who thought Greene was the third coming (after him), wasted no time and called her a “traitor.” A few days earlier, he would have used that word to characterize Mamdani.
If that were not enough, then she posted the following on X:
“Everyone just runs their mouths but results are the only thing that matter to the American people. Smears, lies, attacks, and name calling is childish behavior, divisive, and bad for our country. Memes and red meat rants do nothing. Actions speak louder than words.
“Be quiet, be kind, be humble and fix the real problems that are crushing Americans. Not foreign country’s problems. Not the donor’s problems. The American people’s problems that both political parties created and dumped on the American people.”
She did not mention you-know-who by name. But to write that she had to gorge on Dr. Jekyll’s potion. Talk about a “road to Damascus” moment.
Even Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” would have argued that his story is much more believable than the Trump-Mamdani-Greene saga.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
They say that politics makes strange bedfellows but sometimes political divorces can also be bizarre.
We recently experienced a weird political marriage as well as a kooky political divorce both of which, I thought, deserved some examination.
Both cases reminded me of the fictional story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a story in which the good, respectable Dr. Jekyll, who has evil urges, transforms himself into a villainous Mr. Hyde by drinking a special serum.
First the marriage:
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, described by Donald Trump as a “communist lunatic,” recently met in the Oval Office with the president whom he called a “fascist, despot and a threat to democracy.”
Normally you would expect political fireworks with the Secret Service assigning more agents to such a meeting.
But it was all kumbaya, like the two had not seen each other since kindergarten. The only things missing were balloons and party horns.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” said the converted Trump. “A big help. The better he does, the happier I am, I just met with a man who’s a very rational person…”
Not to be outdone, Mamdani, who is a democratic socialist, offered: “What I really appreciate about the President is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers, And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of eight and half million people who are currently struggling under a cost-of-living crisis.”
This was so unusual that both the left and the right had trouble digesting this political heresy. Some dyed in the wool MAGAs were apoplectic.
I figured that Mamdani had nothing to lose in meeting with this threat to democracy; indeed, he receives national publicity for “reaching out.”
And, if Trump endorses and meets with him, he wins some acceptability, especially among Republicans.
As to Trump (Mr. Hyde), I concluded he met with Mamdani behind closed doors and promised not to send the National Guard to New York if Mamdani reduces taxes on Trump properties in the city.
Trump is not averse to publicity either nor to changing his mind. He would have no problem blasting Mamdani again — and soon — arguing that the meeting in his office never happened. Dr. Jekyll’s serum works both ways.
Mamdani already opened the door for another Trump turnaround when, a day after his political embrace with Trump, said he still considers the president a fascist and a danger of democracy.
Now to the political divorce:
A female Donald Trump (Mrs. Hyde), U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia) split with the real male Donald Trump.
For five years Greene told us that Trump was the second coming but announced, while taking a few potshots at her former political hero, that she would resign from Congress in January.
Specifically, she did not like Trump blocking the release of the Epstein Files (before changing his mind) and he was not pursuing “America First” policies.
In her about-face, Greene, who once compared Trump not only to Jesus but also Nelson Mandela, must have taken more than one portion of Dr. Jekyll’s serum to convert from the Hyde personality.
She actually makes some remarkable observations in her four-page resignation statement. While President Eisenhower, when leaving office in 1961, condemned the military-industrial complex, Greene warned us against the political industrial complex of both parties, stating, “…election cycle by election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more.”
Or this: “Many common Americans are no longer easily convinced by paid political propaganda spokespersons and consultants on TV and paid shills on social medial obediently serving with cult-like conviction to force others to swallow the political party talking points.”
In her statement, she said she favors term limits in the House and does not “think Congress should be a lifelong career or an assisted living facility.”
Trump, who thought Greene was the third coming (after him), wasted no time and called her a “traitor.” A few days earlier, he would have used that word to characterize Mamdani.
If that were not enough, then she posted the following on X:
“Everyone just runs their mouths but results are the only thing that matter to the American people. Smears, lies, attacks, and name calling is childish behavior, divisive, and bad for our country. Memes and red meat rants do nothing. Actions speak louder than words.
“Be quiet, be kind, be humble and fix the real problems that are crushing Americans. Not foreign country’s problems. Not the donor’s problems. The American people’s problems that both political parties created and dumped on the American people.”
She did not mention you-know-who by name. But to write that she had to gorge on Dr. Jekyll’s potion. Talk about a “road to Damascus” moment.
Even Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” would have argued that his story is much more believable than the Trump-Mamdani-Greene saga.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
