Edward Norton took on Trump's exit-strategy in a multi-Tweet blast, that was heard throughout the internet. Two separate threads were started on TwoPlusTwo with opposing views on his political commentary. With poker players on both sides of the aisle debating Norton's rhetoric and position.
The actor and star of poker classic Rounders, led out hard with, "I’m no political pundit but I grew up w a dad who was a federal prosecutor & he taught me a lot & I’ve also sat a fair amount of poker w serious players & I’ll say this: I do not think Trump is trying to ‘make his base happy’ or ‘laying the groundwork for his own network’..."
Instead, in Norton's view, this is the reaction of a man with a legal hook in his mouth trying to muddy up the waters and break free before the SEC, IRS, or FBI — even possibly Homeland Security — lands him.
Trump is fighting against the "deep, multi-dimensional legal jeopardy" he is in. And is looking to buy time for a "coverup and evidence suppression." Or to leverage fear of chaos and violence to "cut a Nixon-style deal in exchange for finally conceding."
A bad bluff
The central metaphor of Norton's spiel is that of a bad bluff.
"He doesn't have the cards," states Norton. "His bluff after ‘the flop’ has been called in court [...] His ‘turn card’ bluff will be an escalation & his ‘River card’ bluff could be really ugly. But they have to be called [...] he’s got junk in his hand. So call him."
The level headed hot-take ends around then, and what follows is an eloquent series of passionate burns — "he’s also a whiny, sulky, petulant, Grinchy, vindictive little 10-ply-super-soft b[***]h. [...] his contemptible, treasonous, seditious assault [...]" etc...
Norton goes out strong after that, with a rallying cry, warning that "He’s leaving, gracelessly & in infamy. But if we trade for it, give him some brokered settlement, we’ll be vulnerable to his return. We can’t flinch."
It could be that the left has found a contender to push its own version of "Lock her up."
Learning from Rounders
Edward Norton learned to play poker initially for his role in Rounders. In the summer of 1998, when the movie was hitting theatres, he and Matt Damon played in the WSOP.
In the movie, Norton played a character nicknamed "Worm".
Worm is a sleazy New York cheat and one of life's perpetual losers. He fails to pay his debts and eventually finds himself in the thrall of a Russian mobster. He dodges the consequences himself — raising the act three stakes for the hero, Mike McDermott, when the debt falls on him instead.
As played by Norton, Worm is charismatic. But he's also a xenophobic misogynist. ("In the poker game of life, women are the rake. They are the f***ing rake.")
Poker metaphors might not be the only Trumpian insights that Norton gleaned from being in Rounders.
Featured image source: Twitter
