I hope everyone had an enjoyable Yom Tov. This year was different for me due to the fact that I am still in availus and could not participate in the Hakafos during Sukkos and on Simchas Torah. It is no fun standing around while there is singing and dancing on Simchas Torah. I cannot imagine having to go through this every year. It was also a different year for the Jewish community due to what happened last Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah in Israel and what has transpired since then. There were various approaches. Some shuls seemed to act as business as usual, while others toned down the joy or had special programs, such as a siyum.
Now to my main topic. There are those who have compared Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden to the German Bund Rally at Madison Square Garden in April 1939. I am not going to address the comparisons but instead will mention another past event which some may consider having been prophetic.
In the 1950s there was a television show called “Trackdown.” The episode “The End of the World” was broadcast on CBS on May 9, 1958. Donald Trump was almost 12 years old when the show aired.
Donald Trump started his political rise in 2015 by coming down an escalator. The main character in that episode was also named Trump and he came into a town called Talpa, Texas (which still exists), in a covered wagon. He had some resemblance to Fred Trump, Donald’s father. This Trump’s first name was Walter. The actor who played Trump was Lawrence Dobkin and he was born in New York City, like Donald Trump.
Walter Trump claimed that the world will come to an end by midnight, and the whole town will be dead. Only he, Trump, can save them.
There was one person, the Texas state ranger, who thought Trump was a fraud. Trump told the ranger that he had various degrees, including a Doctor of the Universe, Master of Cometry, and Student of Stellar Reactions. The ranger called Trump a con man and Trump threatened to sue. The ranger went to the local judge to try to stop Trump and have him issue an arrest warrant for Trump because of fraud but was unsuccessful. The judge told the ranger, “I live here and know these people very well and right now there is nothing in the world that could change their minds. Anybody who tries to could end up getting hurt. They’re not going to listen.” He adds that it is funny how a big lie can make people become fearful like children.
Trump told the townspeople that he can build a wall around their homes so that nothing will penetrate. He told them that they can build the wall by using a force repeller. When the ranger confronted Trump in front of the townspeople, Trump asked him, “Can you establish that the meteorites will not fall tonight?” Trump then gave a demonstration claiming that he removed the protection for an item, and within a minute the item went up in flames. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, Trump had used a chemical which had a delayed reaction to cause the fire. He also claimed that there were billions of meteorites in the sky coming down that you can see. They were merely stars, but the people believed what they wanted to believe.
Trump put extra pressure on the ranger by claiming that he had to charge for the force repellers because the ranger doubted him and then he raised the price when the ranger repeatedly objected. The townspeople fell over each other to pay Trump for his force repeller. They told the ranger that he had better leave before someone kills him. When Trump said he would only accept cash, the people charged the bank. When the ranger tried to stop the mob, he was hit on the head with a hard object by a member of the crowd.
As the judge noted, when the town does not burn down at midnight, Trump is going to get the credit. In the show, Trump tried to leave town early and was placed under arrest by the ranger. Trump was then shot by the sheriff, who was in on the fraud. The sheriff confessed to the townspeople, and when midnight arrived, the people agreed to lower the umbrellas that Trump said would protect them. When nothing happened, they were convinced that the ranger was right.
In TV world, good always triumphs, and fraudsters and con men are exposed. This does not happen all the time in the real world. I will leave it to you to make any parallels to the other Trump and his supporters.
I went to early voting on Sunday, October 27, at Queens College, and it was empty. I was told that I came at the right time because it had previously been busy. However, even when it was busy, it was nothing compared to the 2020 presidential election. No matter who you support, you need to vote. Elected officials see where there is greater turnout, and it affects their use of time and distribution of money. As the expression goes: The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
