Sadly, this pathetic man has sold his integrity and morals to the worst, most corrupt, most criminal president in US history. What he doesn’t see because of his greed and lust for power, is that he will lose everything in the end. Being an attorney for Trump ALWAYS ends with the person destroying their lives and reputation. So good luck Mr. Blanche, your legacy with be that of every other traitor to our country.
The casualty list of Trump lawyers...reads like a cautionary tale nobody reads: Cohen went to prison. Giuliani..."America's Mayor"...disbarred and bankrupt. Eastman and Chesebro... indicted.
The retainer always gets paid...one way or ANOTHER...and it's never paid in money.
But...let me sharpen one edge on your comment: I'd bet against greed as the engine here. Greedy men are actually EASIER to predict; they stop when the math turns.
What we're watching...looks more like the layaway plan: a man so deep in SUNK ...COSTS that admitting the chain exists...costs more than STAYING chained. That man...is more dangerous than a greedy one...because he's convinced himself he's being loyal...not BOUGHT.
Either way, your bottom line stands. The house ALWAYS collects. And...history's ledger...doesn't take appeals.
Jack this quote jumped immediately to my mind when the alert on your new posting came up on my iPad…will read this article, but thought I’d share this now. I took a course on Shakespeare in college and find the wisdom often contained in his writings contain so much truth, and my “good name” has always been important to me!
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed
You reached for the exact right shelf...and there's a razor blade hidden in that quote...that makes it even BETTER than you know.
Those lines are spoken by IAGO. The most gifted integrity-thief Shakespeare ever wrote...delivering the most beautiful sermon on reputation in the English language...as a con. He's not warning Othello; he's setting him UP. The wisdom is true...AND it's bait...ALL in the same damn breath.
Which makes it the PERFECT epigraph for the Blanche story, doesn't it?!
The words about the jewel of the soul...spoken by the man PICKING the lock. Four hundred years old...and it reads like this morning's news.
Your good name has been important to you your whole life...and here's the part worth holding: that's NOT vanity. It's the ONLY asset that appreciates from SPENDING IT HONESTLY...and vanishes...from spending it ANY other way.
Thank you Jack…so much to treasure, reference in the Shakespeare I learned back in college and have loved ever since…Iago, one of the vilest of Shakespeare’s villains!
What a wonderful quote! Thank you for sharing it. My integrity has always been important to me, so this essay hit hard.
We're surrounded by people who have sold theirs for a promise that probably will never be fulfilled. Being a con artist means the Felon's promises are worth nothing. He's a lazy, entitled, unprincipled dipshit and he'll betray ANYONE to save his own skin. Many people have discovered that first-hand and STILL don't believe he'll betray them.
Carlye...you've hit the strangest wrinkle in the whole con: the evidence doesn't inoculate them.
That's what separates an amateur grift...from a professional one.
An amateur's marks wise up after they're burned. But...watch this one work: a man gets betrayed...publicly...humiliatingly...provably...and STILL believes he was the exception mishandled...NOT the rule applied.
Cohen went to prison believing. Half the January 6th defendants sat in cells believing...waiting on pardons for the man who called them patriots...and then dropped them like a hot rock.
Here's the mechanism: the mark's belief isn't IN the con man. It's in his OWN JUDGEMENT.
Admitting the betrayal was inevitable...means admitting he was a mark from day one...and most men will pay ANY price...including a second and third betrayal...to AVOID that invoice.
That's why they still don't believe it. The con doesn't have to outsmart them. Their own pride does the guarding...for FREE.
I hear you. It's horrifying. But I believe we'll get through it, hopefully with a better collective idea of what we want from ourselves and our country.
We’ve discussed leaving too…and part of me wants to go, but the other part is unwilling to leave what my family fought for, since 1637 when they arrived in Massachusetts Bay, to this corrupt regime and the idiots that worship at their alter of stupidity! There’s a stubborn, or you could call it tenacious, streak in me and it runs deep. If I were younger I’d be running for office…but now, at this point in my life, I will resist in whatever fashion I can!
Integrity IS the load-bearing wall of character. Everything else about a man...is decoration; that's the beam holding the roof up.
One addition, offered in your direction: "they will lose" is true, and history's fine print says they lose when...and ONLY when...enough ordinary people stay STEADY enough... LONG enough...to make the collecting happen.
The house wins in the end...but somebody has to keep the books...until it DOES.
That's YOU. That's this whole room.That's US. Keep the books, Mary!
Jack is correct that integrity is a practice, not a possession, and that the price only gets quoted after the sale. History confirms the mechanism with a name: state capture doesn’t require corrupt institutions. It requires competent people inside functioning institutions, each one telling himself the last step was the only reasonable one, until the institution answers to a man instead of a law.
File the date: July 2, 2026, the deadline a federal judge set for the Justice Department to unredact Epstein files under a law Congress passed with near unanimity. Note what the Attorney General’s office chose instead of compliance: silence in court, then an appeal, then the same spokesperson calling the judge’s reading “perverse.” A man who spent two decades enforcing court orders is now the government’s chief architect of not following one.
Jack is correct that Nixon is the comparison point, but note the comparison precisely. Nixon did not hand over the tapes because his conscience arrived intact. He handed them over because the Supreme Court ruled unanimously and left no legal ground left to stand on. The tapes were surrendered at the last possible moment, under the last possible pressure, by a man who had exhausted every alternative first. That is not a story about virtue. It is a story about a system that still had enough load-bearing walls left to force the outcome even when the man at the center had none.
File the date once more, then, for what is being tested right now: whether Judge Sullivan’s court still has those walls. Nixon’s obedience was not proof that officials keep their word. It was proof that institutions can still compel the word to be kept, when they are strong enough. Jack is correct twice over: once that the sale happens in installments nobody notices, and once that the 250-year experiment was never a bet on any single man’s integrity. It was a bet that the machine would still function once his ran out.
Very true, with one more bit of information: Nixon handed over the tapes bc of that Supreme Court AND the fact that his own party told him they wouldn't support him.
In this case, the Extreme Court has already sided with the Felon, at least to an absurd degree, and his party is still mostly his, so what comes next is probably a litmus test re the hold he still has.
I've no idea how this will play out, but it's a critical moment. If the court holds firm, it's a good sign. I guess we'll see.
Thank you, Jack Hopkins, for your essay. What we need now is someone like John Dean, who regretted his role in Watergate and subsequently worked with federal authorities to bring other government entities involved in Watergate to account.
Pam...you reached for exactly the right file...and here's WHY Dean matters more than people remember:
He wasn't a hero who wandered into the White House. He was a fully IMPLICATED INSIDER...the man RUNNING the cover-up...who did the arithmetic...and figured out the machine would feed HIM to the prosecutors...FIRST.
His conscience got an assist from his survival instinct. That's usually how it works.
Which is the useful lesson for right now: don't WAIT for a saint. Watch for the ARITHMETIC to change.
Every one of these men...Blanche included...is loyal at the CURRENT price. Court orders...confirmation hearings...subpoenas...midterms: each one raises the cost of holding the line. Dean flipped...when the MATH flipped.
Somewhere in this administration...somebody is ALREADY doing long division at 2 a.m. History says the FIRST one to finish the math talks first...and gets the book deal.
I remember those individuals who worked with Blanche and stood up for him as he was becoming the AG-they had hopes he would stick to his ideals, and remember all the hard work it took to get him there!! They were sadly disappointed ☹️
Sad to see people destroy themselves for greed...power...a place of belonging...But it still ruins them when they tie themselves to the worst president ever in this world. Blanche worked from the bottom up and he may end up in prison with the rest when this is all over for this administration. I also believe if drumpf does not get charged and imprisoned as well as kegsbreath it will not bode well in regaining our place of dignity we lost with him. It will make us look weak...
All forms of integrity come down to the ability to resist the lust for power, no matter how petty that power may be. And you are so very right: it is life-long for every one of us.
Professional integrity is developed through years of developing personal integrity. The development of personal integrity starts in the home, or with lessons other adults teach us as children. If those lessons of personal integrity aren't developed, or worse, those lessons of personal integrity are destroyed by others who lie without consequence, those are the people most at risk of damaging their future professional lives (in one way or another).
"Somewhere in this administration...somebody is ALREADY doing long division at 2 a.m. History says the FIRST one to finish the math talks first...and gets the book deal."
Sadly, this pathetic man has sold his integrity and morals to the worst, most corrupt, most criminal president in US history. What he doesn’t see because of his greed and lust for power, is that he will lose everything in the end. Being an attorney for Trump ALWAYS ends with the person destroying their lives and reputation. So good luck Mr. Blanche, your legacy with be that of every other traitor to our country.
Al...you're standing on solid actuarial ground.
The casualty list of Trump lawyers...reads like a cautionary tale nobody reads: Cohen went to prison. Giuliani..."America's Mayor"...disbarred and bankrupt. Eastman and Chesebro... indicted.
The retainer always gets paid...one way or ANOTHER...and it's never paid in money.
But...let me sharpen one edge on your comment: I'd bet against greed as the engine here. Greedy men are actually EASIER to predict; they stop when the math turns.
What we're watching...looks more like the layaway plan: a man so deep in SUNK ...COSTS that admitting the chain exists...costs more than STAYING chained. That man...is more dangerous than a greedy one...because he's convinced himself he's being loyal...not BOUGHT.
Either way, your bottom line stands. The house ALWAYS collects. And...history's ledger...doesn't take appeals.
Thanks for being here, Al.
-Jack
Roy Cohen did not go to prison. He was disbarred.
Michael Cohen
They both earned their place on the list
Ah, yes. Too many lawyers to keep track of! They never learn.
There's no E in Cohn.
Jack this quote jumped immediately to my mind when the alert on your new posting came up on my iPad…will read this article, but thought I’d share this now. I took a course on Shakespeare in college and find the wisdom often contained in his writings contain so much truth, and my “good name” has always been important to me!
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed
Christie...I LOVE THIS.
You reached for the exact right shelf...and there's a razor blade hidden in that quote...that makes it even BETTER than you know.
Those lines are spoken by IAGO. The most gifted integrity-thief Shakespeare ever wrote...delivering the most beautiful sermon on reputation in the English language...as a con. He's not warning Othello; he's setting him UP. The wisdom is true...AND it's bait...ALL in the same damn breath.
Which makes it the PERFECT epigraph for the Blanche story, doesn't it?!
The words about the jewel of the soul...spoken by the man PICKING the lock. Four hundred years old...and it reads like this morning's news.
Your good name has been important to you your whole life...and here's the part worth holding: that's NOT vanity. It's the ONLY asset that appreciates from SPENDING IT HONESTLY...and vanishes...from spending it ANY other way.
Good stuff, Christie.
-Jack
Thank you Jack…so much to treasure, reference in the Shakespeare I learned back in college and have loved ever since…Iago, one of the vilest of Shakespeare’s villains!
What a wonderful quote! Thank you for sharing it. My integrity has always been important to me, so this essay hit hard.
We're surrounded by people who have sold theirs for a promise that probably will never be fulfilled. Being a con artist means the Felon's promises are worth nothing. He's a lazy, entitled, unprincipled dipshit and he'll betray ANYONE to save his own skin. Many people have discovered that first-hand and STILL don't believe he'll betray them.
Carlye...you've hit the strangest wrinkle in the whole con: the evidence doesn't inoculate them.
That's what separates an amateur grift...from a professional one.
An amateur's marks wise up after they're burned. But...watch this one work: a man gets betrayed...publicly...humiliatingly...provably...and STILL believes he was the exception mishandled...NOT the rule applied.
Cohen went to prison believing. Half the January 6th defendants sat in cells believing...waiting on pardons for the man who called them patriots...and then dropped them like a hot rock.
Here's the mechanism: the mark's belief isn't IN the con man. It's in his OWN JUDGEMENT.
Admitting the betrayal was inevitable...means admitting he was a mark from day one...and most men will pay ANY price...including a second and third betrayal...to AVOID that invoice.
That's why they still don't believe it. The con doesn't have to outsmart them. Their own pride does the guarding...for FREE.
-Jack
Boy…you expressed exactly what I feel about this fraud! Still can’t believe we are here!
I hear you. It's horrifying. But I believe we'll get through it, hopefully with a better collective idea of what we want from ourselves and our country.
Otherwise, I'm moving! 🥴🥹
We’ve discussed leaving too…and part of me wants to go, but the other part is unwilling to leave what my family fought for, since 1637 when they arrived in Massachusetts Bay, to this corrupt regime and the idiots that worship at their alter of stupidity! There’s a stubborn, or you could call it tenacious, streak in me and it runs deep. If I were younger I’d be running for office…but now, at this point in my life, I will resist in whatever fashion I can!
Great article, Jack. Thank you. I’ve Restacked.
Jane...thank you, for both the compliment...AND the Restack!
-Jack
A Faustian bargain reaching the inevitable conclusion...I have no fucks to give...
Succinct...and dead on, James. Agreed!
-Jack
Great essay!
This was the thesis of Clayton Christionson’s book “How Will You Measure Your Life?” (great read) and aligns with the road to hell.
I hope to see a day when all of these scumbags are brought to justice.
So do I!!!
Jack .. your posts here are always spot on.. and I usually restack them.. there’s always worth the read…
Jeff, thank you...and...those restacks are great!
Much appreciated.
-Jack
Excellent article. Integrity comes first when looking at anyone’s character, what’s happening today with the lack of this in this
administration like you said, all for greed and power. They will lose
Mary...thank you.
You put your finger on the right test.
Integrity IS the load-bearing wall of character. Everything else about a man...is decoration; that's the beam holding the roof up.
One addition, offered in your direction: "they will lose" is true, and history's fine print says they lose when...and ONLY when...enough ordinary people stay STEADY enough... LONG enough...to make the collecting happen.
The house wins in the end...but somebody has to keep the books...until it DOES.
That's YOU. That's this whole room.That's US. Keep the books, Mary!
-Jack
Jack is correct that integrity is a practice, not a possession, and that the price only gets quoted after the sale. History confirms the mechanism with a name: state capture doesn’t require corrupt institutions. It requires competent people inside functioning institutions, each one telling himself the last step was the only reasonable one, until the institution answers to a man instead of a law.
File the date: July 2, 2026, the deadline a federal judge set for the Justice Department to unredact Epstein files under a law Congress passed with near unanimity. Note what the Attorney General’s office chose instead of compliance: silence in court, then an appeal, then the same spokesperson calling the judge’s reading “perverse.” A man who spent two decades enforcing court orders is now the government’s chief architect of not following one.
Jack is correct that Nixon is the comparison point, but note the comparison precisely. Nixon did not hand over the tapes because his conscience arrived intact. He handed them over because the Supreme Court ruled unanimously and left no legal ground left to stand on. The tapes were surrendered at the last possible moment, under the last possible pressure, by a man who had exhausted every alternative first. That is not a story about virtue. It is a story about a system that still had enough load-bearing walls left to force the outcome even when the man at the center had none.
File the date once more, then, for what is being tested right now: whether Judge Sullivan’s court still has those walls. Nixon’s obedience was not proof that officials keep their word. It was proof that institutions can still compel the word to be kept, when they are strong enough. Jack is correct twice over: once that the sale happens in installments nobody notices, and once that the 250-year experiment was never a bet on any single man’s integrity. It was a bet that the machine would still function once his ran out.
#HOLDFAST
Very true, with one more bit of information: Nixon handed over the tapes bc of that Supreme Court AND the fact that his own party told him they wouldn't support him.
In this case, the Extreme Court has already sided with the Felon, at least to an absurd degree, and his party is still mostly his, so what comes next is probably a litmus test re the hold he still has.
I've no idea how this will play out, but it's a critical moment. If the court holds firm, it's a good sign. I guess we'll see.
Thank you, Jack Hopkins, for your essay. What we need now is someone like John Dean, who regretted his role in Watergate and subsequently worked with federal authorities to bring other government entities involved in Watergate to account.
Pam...you reached for exactly the right file...and here's WHY Dean matters more than people remember:
He wasn't a hero who wandered into the White House. He was a fully IMPLICATED INSIDER...the man RUNNING the cover-up...who did the arithmetic...and figured out the machine would feed HIM to the prosecutors...FIRST.
His conscience got an assist from his survival instinct. That's usually how it works.
Which is the useful lesson for right now: don't WAIT for a saint. Watch for the ARITHMETIC to change.
Every one of these men...Blanche included...is loyal at the CURRENT price. Court orders...confirmation hearings...subpoenas...midterms: each one raises the cost of holding the line. Dean flipped...when the MATH flipped.
Somewhere in this administration...somebody is ALREADY doing long division at 2 a.m. History says the FIRST one to finish the math talks first...and gets the book deal.
-Jack
I remember those individuals who worked with Blanche and stood up for him as he was becoming the AG-they had hopes he would stick to his ideals, and remember all the hard work it took to get him there!! They were sadly disappointed ☹️
Sad to see people destroy themselves for greed...power...a place of belonging...But it still ruins them when they tie themselves to the worst president ever in this world. Blanche worked from the bottom up and he may end up in prison with the rest when this is all over for this administration. I also believe if drumpf does not get charged and imprisoned as well as kegsbreath it will not bode well in regaining our place of dignity we lost with him. It will make us look weak...
#HOLDFAST
Teri
All forms of integrity come down to the ability to resist the lust for power, no matter how petty that power may be. And you are so very right: it is life-long for every one of us.
Professional integrity is developed through years of developing personal integrity. The development of personal integrity starts in the home, or with lessons other adults teach us as children. If those lessons of personal integrity aren't developed, or worse, those lessons of personal integrity are destroyed by others who lie without consequence, those are the people most at risk of damaging their future professional lives (in one way or another).
Disbarrement Now 💥💪 this guy is nothing short of Trump's Roy Cohen 🤬 excellent background layout here, Jack, Thanks and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Blanche isn't going to walk away like Barr, he's in too deep now.
That's the Key to our entire escape from this disaster. Thanks Jack. The conversation is the message. we must all keep sharing and caring.
This is the key:
"Somewhere in this administration...somebody is ALREADY doing long division at 2 a.m. History says the FIRST one to finish the math talks first...and gets the book deal."