Nostalgic much? Sometimes the movies, television shows and disgraced political figures leave an enduring mark on you. The Godfather, The Apprentice, and former President Richard Nixon all do that for me. Yet, I see them all coming back now.

I can always find a comparison between my favorite movie of all-time,The Godfather, and almost anything else that occurs today.

For example, President Donald Trump often makes “offers that people (universities) cannot refuse.” Isn’t that true, Columbia and Brown universities — and others?

Or like Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Trump makes it a point to take out all his enemies — perceived or real. And they both suffer no repercussions from their actions; in fact, they become stronger to a degree.

Then there is that pivotal moment in The Godfather II when the godfather sends his personal lawyer to meet in prison with a convicted felon but also a longtime friend, one of the people who, if he could testify honestly, would send Michael Corleone to jail forever.

In the private one-on-one meeting with this person the godfather’s lawyer thanks the convicted felon for his silence and encourages him to “let it go” in exchange for his family being taken care of forever.

And today we see the president’s former personal lawyer, now Deputy Attorney General of the Justice Department, go to prison to meet with a convicted felon, Ghislane Maxwell, for reasons not yet made clear to the public.

There is no transparency here. In a recent poll, 81% of Americans blame Trump for withholding the Epstein files from public scrutiny.

After meeting with Trump’s former personal lawyer, Maxwell was quickly moved from her prison in Florida to a low security prison with few walls in Texas. Years ago these prisons were known as country club prisons. Today they are called campus-like prisons with dormitories. How special.

And, reportedly, like the character in The Godfather, Maxwell had nothing negative to say about the “boss” of the “lawyer” who was questioning her.

During that same period of The Godfather movies, we witnessed another “classic moment” that seems to have returned. Nixon, after he stepped down from the presidency following his impeachment proceedings, said something that caused all of America to gasp.

When asked if he had broken the law, Nixon said, “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” O–k?

Remarkably, decades later the Supreme Court voted in near agreement with Nixon’s statement. But for Nixon that decision came about 50 years too late. Who knows? If applied back then, Nixon not only would have completed his second term in office, he might have thought about going for a third term.

Lastly, I have to admit that I religiously watched one of Trump’s best projects — The Apprentice. I looked forward to it weekly. The show’s contestants we re sucking up to Trump to be named “the apprentice.” Well, Trump must still love the memory of that show because he is continuing to produce something like it today, which has become America’s reality.

Let us not forget that most, if not all, contestants had little experience in the field. One could argue that they mirror many of the folks in Trump’s cabinet today.

Today, if you give Trump official numbers on employment, numbers he does not like, you might also expect those words, loud and clear – “You’re fired.”

When Trump questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell live on television in Trump’s failed attempt to blindside the chairman, I thought I was seeing a re-run of the show. But it backfired on Trump on live television.

So back down memory lane – The Godfather movies, The Apprentice, and the disgraced Nixon. As Archie Bunker from the “All in the family” TV show would sing with his wife, “Those were the days… days when men were men… maybe we need a man like Herbert Hoover again.”