Adept at Avoiding Accountability, in Real Life and Fiction

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Has-no-integrity Donald Trump and has-integrity Thomas Massie.

U.S. President Donald Trump gets away with SO much:

— The repugnant Republican is mentioned more than 38,000 times in The Epstein Files (named after perhaps the worst pedophile/sex trafficker in American history), yet Trump has never suffered any consequences for that. He even sufficiently maligned Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the VERY few fellow Republicans seeking justice for the Epstein survivors, to get him defeated in a reelection bid this past week.

— Also, the draft-dodger-as-a-youth Trump claimed he would be a “peace president” but bombs innocent Venezuelans in fishing boats and, with Israel, started the unnecessary war of choice against Iran that included the U.S. bombing of a girls’ school that killed more than 150 students. Meanwhile, millions of Trump’s supposedly anti-war supporters continued their cultish behavior by suddenly becoming gung-ho for American aggression.

— Also, there is Trump’s breathtakingly rampant presidential corruption and self-enrichment that has amassed him billions of dollars, but he’ll probably never see the inside of a jail cell.

— Also, Trump of course falsely claimed he won the 2020 presidential election and then encouraged his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, yet got back in the White House four years later.

— Etc., etc.

How does the fascist/racist/misogynistic/homophobic/anti-poor/lying Trump avoid accountability? For one thing, he “floods the zone” with distractions, as when attacking Iran moved the news cycle away from the Epstein scandal. In addition, Trump is rich, white, and male; he has a perverse charisma; he and his supporters threaten violence against all who cross him; most Republicans in Congress cravenly go along with almost everything he does; six of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices are in his pocket; and so on.

I tried to think of fictional characters, whether villainous or not, who are like Trump in terms of fully or partly getting away with things. Doesn’t seem to happen super-often in literature — many novels offer the moral lesson and fantasy wish-fulfillment of problematic people getting their just desserts — but it happens. Being wealthy (like Trump) helps. Being smart (unlike Trump) also helps. Being good-looking helps, too. And being lucky can’t be ignored.

Here are some examples, with details hopefully kept fuzzy enough to avoid too much in spoilers:

Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery V Is for Vengeance, which I read last week, includes a Mafioso-like character who’s not totally evil yet definitely no Mr. Rogers. But he’s smart enough and a good enough planner to evade legal consequences.

Amoral con man Tom Ripley of Patricia Highsmith’s novels has some close calls, but virtually always gets away with things. He is…talented, to quote the title of The Talented Mr. Ripley — the first book in the series.

The psychopathic killer in Cormac McCarthy’s bleak No Country for Old Men is injured when hit by a car but that’s the most “justice” he faces.

Daphne du Maurier’s mesmerizing novel Rebecca includes a major character who kills someone but never gets charged. Wealth, status, secretiveness, luck, and extenuating circumstances don’t hurt.

The evil/dictatorial Big Brother (whether one person or many) in Nineteen Eighty-Four retains complete power at the end of George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel.

No one is criminally punished in Donna Tartt’s debut novel The Secret History, but, as is sometimes the case in situations like that, there’s some guilt and suffering for the perpetrators.

Raskolnikov, the somewhat-sympathetic murderer in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic Crime and Punishment, does the crime and gets the punishment, but that punishment — while not nothing — is relatively lenient.

The caddish George Wickham faces consequences of a sort in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but he certainly deserved more of a comeuppance.

Your thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?

Misty the cat asks: “Is that STOP sign written by Shakespeare or Cervantes?”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — which has an environmental theme — is here.

13 thoughts on “Adept at Avoiding Accountability, in Real Life and Fiction”

  1. I hear you, Dave 😦 His decades-long, crime-spree will be the subject for many novels of the crime fiction genre in years to come. In addition to the interesting fictional characters who get away with crime that you mention, Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) first came to mind. Then there’s Don Corleone in The Godfather by Mario Puzo (1969). Dorian Gray succeeded in getting away with his criminal behavior until he was forced to come face to face with the man he had to become. Justice comes in several ways, even for the untouchables. The story of the decline and fall of our real-life untouchable villain is unfolding before us.

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    • Thank you, Rosaliene! Decades-long crime spree — exactly! Trump is definitely losing some popularity outside of his diehard MAGA base, so we’ll be seeing more cheating and rigging by Republicans for this year’s midterms. 😦

      I appreciate the mentions of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Godfather”! I remember reading Mario Puzo’s book after seeing the movie version.

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  2. Many books will be written about this criminal, and once again people will ask how it all could have happened. How no one could have foreseen it, and why no one prevented it. And once again, we will have learned nothing from history. Great article BTW. With deep respect, f

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    • Thank you, Friedrich! I agree that many books are coming about this time (with some published already). And, yes, one would think that the history of past authoritarian regimes would have taught people enough not to be complicit with someone like Trump, but about 30% of Americans have not learned, or don’t want to learn, that lesson. In some ways, the U.S. feels a little like 1930s Nazi Germany. 😦

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  5. It doesn’t happen often in literature, Dave, which is why I’m sitting here racking my brains. And the arch-villain of your piece hasn’t come to the end of his story – yet, so there may be some earthly retribution in store for him. We can but dream. To find a fictional character, however, I’ve had to turn to the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s opera ‘Rigoletto’. He’s a nasty, arrogant womaniser, and even Magdalena, the hooker who’s supposed to lure him to his death at the hands of her brother Sparafucile, falls for his phony charm, persuading her brother to kill the next unsuspecting guy who knocks on the door instead. Of course this is Gilda, daughter of Rigoletto, who was seduced by the Duke earlier and who overhears the conversation. Deciding to die for him, she knocks, is killed and her body handed in a sack to her father to dump in the river. He hears the Duke singing and realises he’s been swindled, opening the sack to discover his dead daughter – and the Duke walks free. Sorry. You probably know this. But in terms of not receiving justicd, the Duke is up there. If I think of any more I’ll be right back. Thanks for an interesting post. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Laura! I’ve never seen Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” so that is an excellent and eye-opening example for me. Talk about tragic. 😦 You described the whole scenario superbly.

      And, yes, the Trump story isn’t over yet, but he’s incredibly “Teflon” and I doubt he’ll ever get what he deserves. Still, as you note, we can hope. And if punishment doesn’t come until after he’s gone, believers see a pitchfork-holding figure in the picture. 🙂

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