Mar-a-lago-n-order

How does Trump continue to defy the rules about the supercilious rich?

Mar-a-la-la land. Adapted from Getty by Noel Holston

Every time I find myself wondering why Donald J. Trump’s supporters continue to lavish him with devotion even as his list of cons, crudities and crimes grows, I think about law and order. Or, rather — cue the famous sonic clang that evokes a judge’s gavel, a slamming cell door and the finality of Judgement Day — I think about Law & Order.

I always thought its producers and writers understood America better than any politician, philosopher or historian. Better than that De Tocqueville fellow. Better than Mark Twain. Better than Dylan or Springsteen.

First off, there’s the matter of Law & Order’s attitude toward wealthy New Yorkers.

More than a decade after it ended its 20-season NBC run, the flagship of the L&O empire is still in reruns on so many cable channels that there’s an episode available for viewing pretty much every hour of the day. Dick Wolf, the mastermind, must be approaching the Vatican in wealth.

But Wolf, for all his residuals, either despises Manhattan’s silver-spoon set or figured out early on that he would never go broke making them look smug, selfish and privileged in the eyes of hard-working viewers in fly-over land.

Only a tiny fraction of the murders annually in New York City involve people…