Everybody Hates Him

In the movie Reversal of Fortune, about the 1980s Claus Von Bulow attempted murder case, there's a brilliant scene where Von Bulow (played in an Oscar-winning performance by Jeremy Irons) hires the lawyer Alan Dershowitz (played by the late Ron Silver) to handle his appeal. 

Von Bulow and Dershowitz are lunching at Delmonico's, the famed restaurant. As they dig into their food, you begin to see how different these men are, how they literally approach life (and food) differently, and what an odd pairing this will be: Von Bulow meticulously lemons his shrimp cocktail while Dershowitz voraciously tears into his salmon. 

As they eat, Von Bulow asks how much Dershowitz's services will cost -- $300 an hour is the reply, much of which will be plowed back into Dershowitz pro-bono cases defending innocent black people on death row. Von Bulow asks if that means Dershowitz will take him on as a client but he says he probably won't because the case doesn't seem to have any Constitutional stakes attached to it. Von Bulow asks him to read the record of the case to try to find something Constitutional. Dershowitz demures but then tells Von Bulow there's one thing that might make him take the case: "Everybody hates you."

That seems to be the Dershowitz M.O. -- take on cases where everybody hates the defendant, whether that's Von Bolow or OJ Simpson or Donald Trump.

Today he was announced as one of his impeachment lawyers, along with the loathsome Ken Starr, where he will try to argue that abusing presidential power by inviting foreign interference into an American election isn't an impeachable offense. Dershowitz now has the chance to gaslight the entire country, engage in his best through-the-looking-glass, up-is-down, night-is-day, left-is-right, the un-Constitutional is Constitutional mental jujitsu Olympics. 

I sure hope he's getting more than $300 an hour for this debasement of his entire career. 

But there's two big differences between the socialite and the POTUS: Claus Von Bulow was a disciplined, cooperative client who never pretended to know more than his lawyer, who didn't rant and rave or feel sorry for himself or engage in stupid conspiracy theories as to the reasons for his dillemma. Trump is the opposite. Also, Dershowitz brilliantly uncovered facts and evidence that exculpated Von Bulow -- with Trump, as more evidence emerges, the more it proves his guilt. 

It's sad to see Alan Dershowitz descend to this sleazy level but the man can't help it, he loves the spotlight too much.

But Trump does have one thing in common with Von Bulow -- everybody hates him.