If there is a single, overriding lesson in the unfolding Trump University scandal, it is this: If you are the defendant in a civil trial in which you are accused of a massive and grotesque act of fraud, it’s probably best if you don’t get up in public and imply (loudly) that the presiding judge is a Mexican criminal. This can result in the judge’s simply saying, “Fck it,” and dumping a metric ton of evidence regarding said fraud into the public domain. This then will require you to hold a press conference in which you are forced to call a reporter “sleaze” and generally act out because—and I am borrowing here from the Twitter account of the great Quinn Cummings—you are really a giant toddler.
If there is a single, overriding question in the unfolding Trump University scandal, however, it is this: Why in god’s name is anyone surprised?
Of course, the fact that He, Trump was behind this scam is prima facie evidence of some thoroughgoing shenanigans, but that’s not what I mean. He, Trump is an apex bunco artist, but he also is a high-profile American corporate businessman of the late 20th century.
