Today is Monday, October 2, 2023. Today New York had a once-familiar figure, though much older, at a Manhattan courthouse and that was the Orange Hemorrhoid, usually known as Donald J. Trump. So this hulking figure did show up for his civil trial that started today in Manhattan early in the morning. Details from his appearance and his first day in court were reported in an online CNN article by Kaitlan Collins entitled “Trump’s decision to show up in New York for start of civil trial was as personal as it was political.”

The reason why the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted sexual predator of a sham former president appeared in court today was more than a political stop to boost his 2024 campaign – it was also deeply personal.

Several sources who spoke with CNN said Frump’s decision to attend the hearing after the judge found Dumpf had committed fraud by inflating his assets quadruple times was largely driven by how the accusations strike at what Dumpf values the most: his business and his brand.

One of those sources said, frankly, “They’re hitting him where it hurts.” From what I could see of this despicable member of the human race sitting in the courtroom with the figure of Attorney General Letitia James sitting just several rows behind him to his left (or right, depending on your perspective), it’s very clear that his scowling expression was pasted on his face throughout the whole procedure. He was publicly seething as he entered and exited the courtroom today. I even saw Tish James staring at him as well and her expression was hard to read. She certainly wasn’t smiling in her seat.

The owner of Mar-a-Lago has been fuming in recent days since the judge, Arthur Engoron, issued the surprise pretrial ruling last week which basically deems him a huge fraud. He has vented the most about the proposed valuation of his bedrock property in Florida. He was incensed after Engoron used an $18 million to about $28 million assessment for the actual value of the compound.

While in Manhattan, Frump repeatedly and brazenly attacked Letitia James, who launched the case. While these broadsides were against the advice of his lawyers, Trump has dismissed pleas to tone down the rhetoric.

Instead, he has told those closest to him (who may these people be? I wonder) that he doesn’t care if any of the judges in his multiple cases seek to punish him, arguing it will benefit him politically if they do. Let’s hope this is wrong as everything else he says.

On Monday, Dumpf sought to tie James and Engoron to special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal indictments of him, even though they are totally unconnected.

I won’t bother telling you what Dumpf said since it’s the same old, tired refrain.

One thing Dumpf did say about the judge hearing his case is that he should be disbarred for ruling against him. Sure, Donnie, we hear you!

The former president issued another lie – add that to his astonishing count of 30,000 or more when he was president (I haven’t even added the hundreds or thousands more spoken since 2021) – when he complained that he had been kept from the campaign trail by having to appear in court today – even though he was there voluntarily.

On a more lighter note, social media users had a field day today after Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles (who he?) accidentally gave former president Dumpf a fitting new nickname during a speech on the House floor.

Although Ogles quickly corrected himself during remarks in which he referred to a certain “President Chump,” the damage was already done. The mockery was just as swift. The “Xverse” lit up with comment after comment making fun of Ogles’ accidental reference to the disgraced former president. All I can say is why didn’t I come up with that nickname after so many that I use here all the time? That seems very fitting here.

It’s getting late here since Elliot and I went out for dinner with our adopted niece, “Esther,” and her sister’s boyfriend, “Thomas,” who lives near her in Astoria. We waited that long because of Thomas’s work schedule and Elliot having had his COVID booster shot this morning at CVS at 11:30.

We were waiting to see if he had any reaction from the jab in his left shoulder. Fortunately, there was none, so we waited until about 6:15 to drive to Sotto la Luna (which means “under the moon” in Italian), located at 31st Street under the el. We had dined here once before with Esther and we deemed the food quite good and, so, we welcomed going to the restaurant a second time. We got to the restaurant a little before 7; we waited only a few minutes for the young pair to arrive. Esther is just 25, and Thomas is only 30. Ah, the sweet pangs of youth!

It’s difficult to believe that Elliot and I will be on our way to Japan next week, but it’s becoming more and more real to me as October comes crashing around us. I’ve actually written down some Japanese expressions from the Lonely Planet guidebook that I borrowed from the library, but it was Esther who suggested I get more high tech, by downloading a translation app on my smartphone, so when I got home, I loaded Google Translate on my cell phone, and I’m getting acquainted with it this evening. It’s quite cool: You can write down a sentence and it immediately translates it into Japanese for you. This is what I’ll use on our peregrinations through Tokyo and Kyoto. If it doesn’t work for some reason, I’ll just use sign language to communicate with locals.

Stay safe and be well.