Updated 2:30 pm
When Alan Dershowitz, the famed attorney, wrote an op-ed for the Hill that he was being shunned for his public positions on President Donald Trump, Twitter blew up.
In his op-ed, Dershowitz writes about how bad the divisions have gotten over Trump. “I know this because I have experienced this firsthand on Martha’s Vineyard. I am not a Trump supporter, nor am I a member of the Trump administration,” Dershowitz wrote. “I have strongly and publicly opposed his immigration policies, ranging from the travel ban that was upheld by the Supreme Court to the zero-tolerance policy that led to the separation of parents and children at the border. I oppose other Republican policies as well. I voted for, and contributed handsomely to, Hillary Clinton.”
For several hours Monday night, both #marthasvineyard and #Dershowitz were trending on Twitter, and the attorney who successfully defended Claus Von Bulow in a high-profile Newport murder case, and was part of the O.J. Simpson “dream team,” was getting skewered.
“Alan Dershowitz says he’s being shunned by liberal friends on Martha’s Vineyard,” wrote Jennifer Grossman. “If this continues he may have to seek refuge in the Hamptons.”
The vast majority of the tweets followed along those lines, offering faux pity for Dershowitz.
In a phone conversation with The Times Tuesday morning, Dershowitz, who has a house in Chilmark, said his column is being misunderstood.
“I couldn’t care less about being invited to a few parties,” Dershowitz said. “I’m actually getting more invitations. People are saying, ‘Come to my party. We don’t approve of what’s going on.’”
Dershowitz makes it clear that he doesn’t defend Trump’s policies. His support is about civil liberties, something he said he’s fought for throughout his legal career.
Tuesday’s cell phone conversation was interrupted several times by his home phone ringing in the background. All of them were well-wishers, including one prominent Vineyarder whom he declined to publicly name, Dershowitz said.
Asked to name names of those who had shunned him from social gatherings, Dershowitz again declined. He said he continues to frequent the porch at Chilmark General Store, though it’s obvious to him that some people have stopped going.
“For me it’s a red badge of courage. I’ve taken the same positions on Trump as I did with Clinton when he was impeached,” Dershowitz said. “It’s just you have some intolerant, small-minded people.”
Dershowitz said it’s similar to when he has defended people like O.J. Simpson. “That’s been my life,” he said. “I’m going to continue to do it. I don’t care if I get an invite or I don’t. That’s their right.”
Though he repeatedly said he is a Democrat and strongly supported Hillary Clinton, Dershowitz took a shot at liberals. “Students don’t want to hear opposing views,” he said. “They want trigger warnings and safe spaces.”
The Vineyard had always been different, Dershowitz said. It’s been a place where partisanship was left on the mainland, a place where people could come, relax, mingle, and not worry about party lines.
“If we’re going to start having Republican parties and Democratic parties, that’s not what the Island has been about,” he said. “This has no impact on me. I’m not complaining. I’m not lamenting. This is a symptom of the divisiveness. It’s a tragedy that it’s come to the Island. This is supposed to be a place where you leave your politics at the door.”
The Times met up with Dershowitz later in the day at Chilmark Store, where he frequently sits on the porch. He walked up and down the porch, and shook people’s hands.
“I’m still his friend. He’s always been an educator to my kids,” Laurie Hake said. “He sparks controversy wherever he goes, but he has a big heart.”
Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College, said the political divide is nothing new, but with Trump as president, the divide is becoming greater: “Alan Dershowitz has chosen to pursue a little bit of self-aggrandizement in defense of someone of Donald Trump’s character, so it’s reasonable to think some people will keep him at arm’s length because of it.”
With the likes of Von Bulow and Simpson as defendants he’s represented, this probably isn’t the first time some of Dershowitz’s friends have questioned whether to have him over for cocktails.
Those choices probably had them “scratching their heads” and re-evaluating their relationships with Dershowitz, too, Ubertaccio said.
Despite Dershowitz’s comment that he is getting more invitations since his piece appeared in the Hill, Ubertaccio said, don’t expect him to be the one to unite the country: “The divisions are deep, they’re dangerous, and they’ve been around for a long time.”
Reporter Brian Dowd and photo editor Gabrielle Mannino contributed to this report.
Dershowitz might be the last of the old time real “liberals”. I remember them from college, and though I strongly disagreed with them, there was never a time we couldn’t sit down together over coffee or a beer and discuss politics in a rational and thoughtful dialogue. Alan is the man in the middle now.
How ironic. I don’t think I’ve read anything of substance from you in one of these forums.
I’m not a fan of people who have a need to constantly be center stage and in the spotlight, regardless of political persuasion. Since his retirement he seems to be on every cable news network, and it does become tiring. I hope he can just enjoy his retirement and can fight the need to feel relevant all the time, every where.
Earth to Dersh……we live in a divided nation. The oranged faced messiah of the Republican Party, Donald “grab em by the pu**Y” Trump, openly mocked a disable reported, cheated on every wife he’s ever had, openly smirks about his crowds roughing up people they don’t agree with. Donald Trump is a vacuum of morality. He’s a bully plain and simple. Your cursory legal advise you’re so proud of lending to that terrible bully in the White House demonstrates a lack of ethics that you’ll have to reconcile with yourself. People don’t want to touch Trump with a 50ft pole so it makes sense they don’y want to have anything to do with anyone who wants to touch that disgusting pig of a man. See ya next year!
So long as you are around, almost anyone can sound intelligent on this forum. Thanks.
Vanadium are you telling us Dershowitz should not have been on the legal team defending OJ? Are you saying good legal advice should not be given to people you dont like? Are you saying that Dershowitz should not use his legal mind and 50 years of experience to interpret the law correctly just because in this case it helps Trump. Are you saying there is such a thing as collusion by the President even though you cannot cite a law for it just because you dont like him? Dershowitz is a Hilary Clinton liberal but he is honest and he is consistent when it comes to the law.
Thanks but I listen to lawyers when I want legal opinions.
Andrew–I would say Dersh was “immoral” to defend O.J. I think we can agree thsat cold blooded pre meditated murder is immoral– How moral can you be to defend that ? And yes, O.J was guilty–Dersch knew it then, he knows it now.
Now he defends someone with even less moral character than a cold blooded murderer. Republicans defend trump no matter what he does. We can have differing opinions, and I will respect them , but if you have no morality, well, that could be an issue. I don’t invite people to my house that I think are of poor moral character.
Dondondon you are way off the mark. It is a defense lawyers job to defend the client whether you know the truth or not. Your argument should be with the jury in the OJ trial not Dershowitz. Besides the judicial process in the US is not about searching for the truth but it is about adjudication. It is easy to do justice but it is very hard to do right. Dershowitz is a liberal Hilary supporter but he defends the constitution and you folks are against him regardless of the so called truth. He stands for Israel which many liberals doent like due to their sympathy for Palestinians who are an invented people. The Hebrew Centre on MV wont like Dershowitz because of his Israel support. You cant make stuff like this up. I know you would invite me to your house even though you think I am shameful and have said so many times
While I agree with the Israeli’s right to live on their homeland. The Israeli/Palestinian Territory has been home to people of other religious denominations for thousands of years. I find it absolutely ludicrous that you would refer to the Palestinian People as one that was made up by your liberal nemeses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_name_%22Palestine%22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_State_of_Palestine
Andrew–you asked if I would vouch for someone I knew did not commit a crime — I would– even for trump–
But if I were the store owner, and I hired a prosecutor to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that he did in fact do it, even though I knew and the prosecutor knew he did not but could convince 12 people that he did do it– and sent him off to jail — I guess that’s morally acceptable– ? It may be a blind legal system — that does not make it right, truthful or moral — It makes it shameful.
” Palestinians are an invented people ” ????? Now THAT is a truly shameful statement. Shame on you..
vanadium.My statement about the Palestinians being an invented people was entirely accurate. At the end of 1920, the “Palestinian people” was artificially carved out of the Arab population of “Greater Syria.” “Greater Syria” included present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. That is, the Palestinian people were invented 98 years ago. Moreover the term “Palestinian people” only became widely accepted after 1977. You might want to research the 1967 war as to who started it and how Israel won territory and later gave it back. You might want to know that millions of Arab Muslims live peacefully within Israel and have all the rights of everyone else. Hamas and Fatah have time and time rejected land and peace and want Israel destroyed and have done zero for their own people.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who-are-the-palestinians/
No. You’re delusional. You totally ignored the links I gave you as evidence. That you cling to minute tidbits of only recent history to make your partisan conclusions about the existence of a people that 99.9% of historians would say did in fact exist for thousands of years, demonstrates to me that a debate with you isn’t worth half the energy it takes to roll my eyes. Boring…..
they are arabs from the ottoman empire Vanadium. they have a very early shelf life. Read your own articles. I know much more about this than you do. I lived in the middle east. You dont want this to be true but it is.
…and just to be through here are just two of the many citations throughout history mentioning Palestine and/or the Palestinian people.
c. 500: Zosimus, New History: “Finding the Palmyrene army drawn up before Emisa, amounting to seventy thousand men, consisting of Palmyrenes and their allies, [Emperor Aurelian] opposed to them the Dalmatian cavalry, the Moesians and Pannonians, and the Celtic legions of Noricum and Rhaetia, and besides these the choicest of the imperial regiment selected man by man, the Mauritanian horse, the Tyaneans, the Mesopotamians, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, and the Palestinians, all men of acknowledged valour; the Palestinians besides other arms wielding clubs and staves.”
1100–27: Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana (1095–1127): “For we who were Occidentals have now become Orientals. He who was a Roman or a Frank has in this land been made into a Galilean or a Palestinian.”
Alan here speaks the truth. Many islanders are taking they’re interpretation of politics over their former friends and refuse to entertain a dissenting or different view point. Saying the wrong things can cause a person to end up being pushed away from certain parts of the community – its reminiscent of mccarthyism
Yes, we live in a divided nation because we have stopped listening to one another. I disagree with a lot Alan has said and done in the past, not all, but I can say that same thing for every public face to varying extents. These comments sections are a prime example of what he is talking about. Vanadium here with this dumbed down list of talking points contributes nothing to real debate, just more divisiveness. I personally don’t think our president is bully- I think he is incredibly outspoken and you just disagree with him – furthermore you probably disagree with me for writing that but thats fine I’m not going to shout shame at you.
Sorry buddy but Trump is the text book definition of a bully. I am actually debating the merits of assessing the morals of the President of the United States. It’s a real and important debate. Just because you and the other followers of the oranged faced messiah have decided morals and ethic don’t apply to him doesn’t mean everyone else has to cling to the delusion. You can call my critiques of Trump’s behavior as “dumbed down …talking points” but you’ve done so because that’s how had to come to justify your supporting what you know in your heart of hearts is a terrible person.
It is well documented that this disgusting pig of a man openly bragged about abusing his power to grab women by the privates. Who mocked a disabled reporter on live TV. Who has had multiple affairs while married. Who cheated workers and is under investigation for exploiting his foundation for personal gain. To top it all off, investigations into people associated with his campaign have turned up a dozen indictments, many of which turned into guilty pleas, and at least two convictions with jail time.
The ability of conservatives to delude themselves into liking this man is one of the main dividing factors in our nation right now. It’s created two separate playing fields, where that moral standards of half of us are different then the other, and the media foments it through the balance routine.
Vanadium are you talking about Bill Clinton who did all those things you name above? You are completely confused about morality. We could probably agree that Mitt Rommney is a man of integrity and good morals but you wouldnt vote for him and you would bash him when running for office. This is not about morality this is about policy and you cant stand a man who you are ideologically opposed to.
Bill Clinton did not do all of those things. What planet are you on? While his consensual affair with a woman was a lapse in morality, Trump is a vacuum of morality. Clinton got nearly impeached, do you see anyone in the GOP screaming for Trump’s impeachment? Nope! The double standard is the lifeline of the coward.
Really though, when it comes to the POTUS it’s about character. Character is what drives his decisions. A man of poor character will make poor decisions. I did like Romney. I voted for Obama because I liked him more, but I would say the Mitt Romney is 1000 times the man than that of “the grabber of women’s private parts”. What is extremely telling is is how the moral and intellectual leaders of the Republican Party, such as Romney, have gone silent or become a tiny voice of opposition to the direction of the GOP. Where folly is always a greater danger to the public good then malice, the moral dissent within the GOP has a very steep climb ahead of them. Almost insurmountable.
Vanadium, I dont think you know what impeachment is. Clinton was indeed impeached only the second president including Andrew Johnson. He was not removed from office because the Senate did not get a two thirds majority. As for what planet do I live on–Clinton went after Juanita Broaddick and Catherine Wiley and Paula Jones and paid her 700k and had affairs with Gennifer Flowers and your crowd at the time said personal morals have nothing to do with governing the country. Bill Clinton was not a man of good character but did a reasonable job of governing. He was not my choice however. Hilary is not of good charac ter although you will disagree yet you wanted her. 65 million deplorables voted for Trump and they knew all about him and they voted because they liked his policies not his character. When are you going to understand that.? All of a sudden you dems are screaming about character but you put up with bad character for many years. Obama had good character but bad judgment in leading the nation in my opinion. Dershowitz is a man of good character even though I disagree with much of his writings.
Hillary eh? You have absolutely zero evidence that she a problem with morality. Years and years of investigations and millions of tax dollars spent by numerous agencies in our government turned up nothing. No indictments, no arrest, no guilt pleas and no jail time. All you have to maintain your cursory opinions of her are some BS talking points from Faux Newts. no actual evidence of anything. Just feelings and anger.
Investigations into people associated with your oranged faced messiah have turned up a dozen indictments, many of which turned into guilty pleas, and at least two convictions with jail time. You hacks voted for a terrible man and so deplorable fits the bill just fine to me.
Andrew– Vanadium is not talking about Bill Clinton– And Vanadium, if I may add to your list– nah– we all know the lies the deceit, the corruption the cold mind of a megalomaniacal pathological liar.. Vanadium makes a very good point that few in the republican party address– that of the moral decline.. it is truly staggering..
Never thought I’d live to see the day of GOPers going the trenches to defend a traitor. Trump is guilty of high treason.
Dersh? Dersh is a short man with a big ego and all the cliched issues and baggage that come along for the ride. I felt he was over rated when I studied with him. And Larry Tribe along with Norman Eisen and others would agree he’s lost a few of his marbles along the way. Now he’s struggling for relevance and attention not unlike the other vastly overrated fraud, Rudy Giuliani. Fellow confederates in the FOX dunce house.
The only way I can reconcile his social beliefs with his legal work is I mistakenly believed the first had an influence on the second. Shouldn’t be a surprise; listen to a celebrity give an interview and for the rest of all time I must remember these people are actors. That part isn’t difficult.
We went from Dershowitz’ legal advice to his social opinions. Like listening to a celebrity interview, the two are different. It’s time to forget he was a lawyer, he’s a private citizen now.
Except for the JAG corps, most lawyers are private citizens. Mr. Dershowitz is a lot more qualified to give both legal advice and social opinions than most – (with which opinions I mostly disagree).
Mr Dershowsitz has discovered he’s not as skilled at reading people as he once believed, he has discovered many do not agree with his views and opinions. SCOTUS ruled on this, we have freedom of association, he talks like it’s his due.
Mr Dershowitz is trying to rationalize that people have freedom of association.
I am getting tired of this browser, it saves for a possible “undo” and reinserts rather than clearing that buffer after typing. Oh well.
We each draw lines in the sand and Allan has crossed mine. Though I respect his intelligence I believe his thirst for more recognition has driven him over the edge. When I watched him befor Tump groupie Hannity he barely scolded Hannity for his continuous propaganda. Allan knows better so it appeared he sold out to gain favor with the Trump groupies. But he lost many of our votes doing so.
Public trust. What line in the sand is he crossing? He is telling the truth about the law. He doesnt like Trump either and would have preferred Hilary. He has said that many times. This is not about ego or recognition. He is calling it as he sees it. If Trump were charged with stealing from a grocery store at 11am on a tuesday and you knew he was with you 500 miles away would you not vouch for him? Probably not you say.
Andrew. If trump were accused of stealing from a grocery store and he was there and caught on surveillance cameras doing it, I think most trump supporters would refuse to watch the video, and say it was fake news..
Andrew-It is my belief, and somewhat proven, that Hannity is a behind the scenes connection for Trump. The fact that Allen went on his show, and did not attack Hannity, is a total sell out. I was not commenting on Allen’s views of Trump, which may be correct. The fact he looked the other way on Hannity, was over my line.
It would appear Mr. Dershowitz, being a lifelong liberal is not liberal enough for people that have a bad case of Trump derangement syndrome. What a shame that on this island of liberals he is being shunned. People like Vanadium have to spew their hatred so much just to make themselves feel good. Unlike you he is not angry that his candidate lost the election, even though he gave a significant amount of money to her campaign. It might be time to mature and deal with life as he has and get over the election. Might be time to try and get a better candidate in the next election. maybe you can start with someone not as corrupt and more likable. If not, it would seem you are doomed to being an angry, self-absorbed hater for the rest of your life.
Mr Dershowitz
Come on over to our side.
You would always be welcome to dinner.
Alan can choose many issues for many people in which to give his legal opinion, however, for some reason he chose to defend the legal aspects of Trumps quagmire of entanglements – that simply smacks of trying to once again shine the light on himself, instead of the many many issues on which he could be of much greater assistance. I don’t want to compare Trump to some of the more heinous regimes in our history, however i don’t have to – Trump should just reply on his inept team, and not have a liberal lawyer as someone he can hold up to somehow defend is positions from. Dershowitz knows this, however, ego trumps what most would feel is the right position in this case.
You must know the man well to impute such hypocrisy to him.
I had forgotten my opinion of Dershowitz from his glory days. We have but how he presents in public and to me that has been as a legal opportunist. He wanted back in the game, it seems talking about it has him shunned by acquaintances. Maybe porch time with retired lawyers instead? Those I know don’t mix law talk and not law talk. He might follow that practice.
What woman or partner of that same woman, could possibly, ethically or morally, accept a dinner invite where the guests include an attorney, a sworn officer of the court, whose advice to the “orange faced messiah” apparently does not include ,”turn yourself in”. (For sexual assault). I think it to pretty reasonable to shun a member of our community who continues to provide (legal) support to the OFM. NEWSFLASH, Dersh! This island community does not leave its moral or ethical values behind in Woods Hole.
Congratulations on your appointment to speak for “this island community”.
Haha, thanks!
Mr Kozak. Dershowitz is not Trumps lawyer and has not defended him in court. He simply goes on TV or in articles and says there is no law called ”collusion” . there is collusion in price fixing and corporations talking to each other in order to gain advantage over customers but there is no such thing as collusion as an illegality. That is all Dershowitz has said. You need to get off the island and read and study. As for moral and ethical values, this island is not a microcosm of those. We are just as depraved as the rest of the country.
It was established months ago that collusion is not a crime, an unbiased definition is a secret cooperation. The issue is did, how, and why the collusion happened.
Mr Dershowitz appears to be defending Trump in the court of public opinion. He should know better than to leave his audience hanging. Or maybe he doesn’t know better. He’s lost his audience.
james– thank you for speaking for me– I totally agree
James….you made me spit out my coffee. Morality? The people on this island welcomed 2 of the most unethical, morally corrupt presidents with open arms! Let’s not forget to mention their wives. Alan is middle of the road with Trump. Legally, Trump hasn’t broken any laws. He’s sees the witch hunt and I’m sure if something ever came to fruition, Alan would be the first to speak out. Your liberal tolerance is outstanding! Bravo
Oh, c’mon, Mr. Dershowitz. The “liberal elite” regularly “shun” — or, more aptly, ignore — most of the year-round population except when we’re cleaning their houses, mowing their lawns, or catering their parties. We manage to survive. So will you. But when you get a chance, would you mind explaining how you as a lawyer can support the current president’s contempt for the rule of law, the Constitution, and anyone who doesn’t fit his narrow notion of what an American is? Is it just because you want to be different, and difference gets headlines?
Bingo — we have a winner. Someone should have told Mr. Dershowitz that after retirement comes a dearth of showy headlines. But today he hit the trifecta: Headline in both the NYT and the Boston Globe, and both Island newspapers. What Susanna said ^^.
not to mention first billing on fox”news”.com
Sturgis would you kindly give me an example of where Trump broke the law and I will give you examples of where Obama did not enact the laws of the land.
For his whole life Trump has cheated workers, shortchanged small business owners and ripped off investors, as courts have determined in some of the 4,500 Trump lawsuits. Even under oath Under oath, Trump acknowledged committing sales tax fraud on $65,000 of Bulgari jewelry. Trump should have done 15 days in jail, but he didn’t.
Yet it is the working man who put Trump over the top to victory. My observation is that in general working men support Trump while the lay-a-round, idle, left wing “intelligentsia” oppose him.
Awe …….look at you claiming the “we work you don’t” high ground. My observation is your opinions ain’t worth spit. You folks are starting to make me sick.
Think Trump has a way to suppress voting by farmers and those laid off when his trade war forced manufacturing jobs overseas?
Andrew– really — lets start in the 70’s when he refused to rent to black people–
fraud in his “university” ?
paying off officials in Florida for his too tall flagpole ?
ever hear of the emollients clause in the constitution ?
And what Vanadium said — plus thousands more — the guy is a rolling one man crime wave–
dondondon. I thought the post was about ”breaking the law” read carefully ;;breaking the law”. Unless the judicial system here in the US is really really bad Trump was never accused not arrested nor indicted for ;;BREAKING the law. You can make any assertions you want but try to stick to the topic ”breaking the law” sheeeesh!
I may not always agree with him but I respect his opinion. I will never let politics interfere with my friendship’s. I value friendship’s.
The only “issue” at hand here is narcissism…getting all the attention you don’t want, Alan?
I wanted to leave this as a comment and not as a reply so it’s in here twice..
I don’t get invited to high end liberal elite parties either..
I just can’t think of a single thing that trump has done to deserve my support.
Can one of you high end liberals invite me to your parties to take dersch’s place ?
dkdondondon@gmail.com
I promise I will not say anything nice about trump.
Reply
I feel so sorry for Alan Dershowitz, he is in such a terrible predicament. Not being invited to dinner parties is just unbearable. I hope he can pull it together and get over his misery.
What a swarm of no-see-ums on a sultry day.
If Alan Dershowitz is as desperate for adulation as he appears, maybe he should spend more time at Mar a Lago.
Alan — you can come to my house any Monday night for my Monday night pot luck dinner — We even have a mutual friend — J.C — no not that one–the tennis playing one 😉 — I have met you..
it seems alan has become a dino
Poor Alan Dershowitz, not being invited to dinner by his old friends is McCarthyism, pure and simple. Remember the words of attorney Joseph Nye Welch:
Have you no sense of how hungry poor Alan is, sir? At long last, have you left not even an appetizer?
I do think it was very foolish for Alan to complain about the Vineyard in the way he did. Now he can’t walk around here without controversy, which is why most celebs come here. He created a political hornet’s nest for himself, right or wrong.
http://us.lalalay.com/news/politics/-162117-the-martha-s-vineyard-crowd-strikes-back-at-alan-dershowitz/
Well, I guess we now know who the “MIT academic” is. Glad to have names put with this gossipy story. Also, the named and unnamed wannabes/Hollywood-liberals, who give all liberals a bad name, are not intellectual, learned academics. The shunning Chilmark-Beautiful-People, (CBP), even the ugly ones, are very full of their self-righteous selves. And they are hypocrites… with too much money. While islanders prepare and serve the CBP food at dinner parties, cut their grass, tend their gardens, pass cocktails and shuck oysters at parties, drive their Ubers, the CBP talk amongst themselves, forgetting that the hired help have ears AND brains. Think about clean energy but private jets, about carbon footprints but 3+ homes, and yes, about being loudly pro-Palestinian but hardly noticing starving Yeminis. Many, not all, Jewish Hollywood liberals are now calling themselves pro-Palestinian, siding with the BDS group, a group that welcomes anti-Semites with open arms. Meanwhile, they are silent about what Hamas is doing to the people they claim to about, or, for that matter, what is happening in Syria or Yemen. And crickets on the good of Israel, even if you don’t like Bibi. I don’t hate the USA, even though the current president is a dangerous and embarrassing clown. Hating on Israeli politics is very popular and cool these days, even with some ill-informed commenters on this page. Many pro-Palestinians easily morph that into hating Israel itself, and, as attacks on Jews increase around the world prove, hating Jews world-wide becomes commonplace. Hating AD, who is as loyal to Israel as anyone can be, is a big part of the divisiveness among the former friendes, and it’s held against him, as it is even in this thread. Gotta say, I’m a liberal and I agreed with AD on the important points of his Hill article. I wonder if the people commenting here have read it? Maxine Waters was wrong to incite any violent behavior. What happened to “when they go low, we go high”? The problem for Alan is that when he condemns Maxine Waters, but in the next sentence fails to condemn beat-the-crap-outta-them Trump, there’s going to be some well-deserved backlash. Public complaints of social status loss, which is PART of what Alan is griping about, belongs on a TV show, like “Housewives and Househusbands of the Chilmark Store Porch”. But everyone in this country deserves legal representation, even OJ and Claus von Wife-killer. This is America. And a brilliant but publicity-seeking mind, like AD, is perfect for the job. And in his retirement, AD is more qualified than most to discuss the constitutional ramifications and legalities of what Trump is doing. It’s not about morals and character. Trump has neither. It’s about democracy. The craving for attention that Alan Dershowitz has displayed all his brilliant career, and now during his retirement, is not that different from how Donald Trump whines on Twitter re the “fake news” not reporting correct numbers. He’s still doing it, too, like at his rally yesterday when he went off about Elton John’s organ and the size of crowds. Who does that?? Trump is a ludicrous, crude, impulsive braggart, without morals and hardly presidential. Both Trump and AD are self-centered braggarts. But Trump, the President, is a liar. Dershowitz is not a liar and holds no public office. AD stands up for compassion and ethical fairness for ALL, (even the conservative right recognizes this), while Trump simply is unable to stand for anyone but himself and/or those whom he deems an extension of himself– like Ivanka. Donald Trump, although unread and basically ignorant of our history and the constitution, is not exactly stupid, but he is a bold faced liar, which he admits in his (written for him) book, and rarely, if ever, gets it right. AD is not a liar. Both Trump and Dershowitz have incredible chutzpah, but AD has facts and brilliance on his side. He needs new friends. Trump only has his lies and the people who are willing to overlook them. AD is not overlooking Trump’s picks for SCOTUS, as he didn’t overlook the immoral immigration policies. People are judged, in part, by the company they keep. Assigning immorality to AD because he hangs with the president who is immoral, is as intolerant as what the racists promote. There are members of my family who would hang with Trump, and not only do I not shun them or consider them immoral, I love them, despite their politics. AD hangs with the President, with any news program that will have him, and with the Chilmark Store porch rocking chair hogs. I remember when AD wrote for the Boston Herald and not the Globe… because the less intellectual, more conservative paper invited him. When it comes to publicity, AD is no snob. He can’t get enough of it and doesn’t care where it is sourced. He has as much right to enjoy Maralago as Hilary and Bill did and I am a Hillary fan from the get-go and will be until the day I die. I believe AD when he says he doesn’t care about the loss of the rocking chair liberals in Chilmark. I don’t know Alan, but I mostly agree with him intellectually. I stand with him on the important points of this story, not the gossip or the outsized need for attention. I am 100% with him on Israel, too, despite the liberal bent to side with those who want Israel and Jews wiped off the earth. Not sure what kind of liberal that makes me, other than one who thinks. Agree or disagree, thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. It was very disturbing to read about the unbalanced ignorance on “Palestinians” from people whose comments I normally admire.
Chilmark is a lovely town. How can this guy be the face of Chilmark, and now of our Vineyard? This is sad that one guy craves and seems to get all of this attention — is he really that precious? When do his attention seeking ways wind down? And how many hours is he allowed to hold court on the porch of the Chilmark general store?
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