by John Walters
The Biggest Loser
Like many Americans, we were surprised to discover that we paid more taxes in 2016 and 2017 ($750 each year) than “billionaire” Donald Trump did. Of course, the president retaliated against The New York Times‘ reporting by using his rubber stamp of disinformation: “It’s all ‘Fake News.'”
The headline: “TRUMP’S TAXES SHOW CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE.”
Remember, these are the two most honest things President Trump has said in the past five years:
- “I love the poorly educated.” (He really does. He loves that they’re poorly educated, the easier by which to con them.)
- “Whatever you see and whatever you hear, do not believe it.” (That’s Roy Cohn-meets-George Orwell grade disinformation right there).
For those of you who would like the Cliffs Notes version, here are “18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records.”
So What’s Going On?
In the first few months after Donald Trump was installed in the White House, Rachel Maddow devoted plenty of time to the Russian financial connection to our 45th president. But, to be fair to TRMS, nearly every day brought a new White House scandal (Comey, Mueller, Ukraine, Cohen, Manaforte yada yada yada) that it was easier to drop the ball and move on to more pressing matters.
For us, though, this has always been the central story: Donald Trump was broke. Long before the election. The Russians approached him. And Trump approached Deutsche Bank. Trump found a way to have Deutsche Bank lend him money (when no other bank would) just as Deutsche Bank conveniently began open their vaults to an infusion of Russian assets. Wow, wonder how that happened?
The Russians have financially helped Trump, including overpaying mightily for some of his real estate, while Deutsche Bank has served as the conduit. His presidency has always been about paying Russia back. It’s the ultimate con: using the most powerful office in the world to avoid going to jail. It’s better than the best John Le Carre novel.
We are in the midst of it right now. Five years or a decade from now, when more people finally start talking, the story will become clear. And the truth is that even in the 2-thousand-teens, we all should have been listening to the words of Deep Throat: “Follow the money.”
Don’t Stop Disbelievin’
In a strange way, we admire Donald Trump. He has revealed himself to be opposite everything his followers care about (his Trump card? Racism. It’s the one thing he’s not disingenuous about) and yet they still support him as fervently as ever. The Devil could learn a thing or two from Donald Trump, and Donald Trump will have plenty of time to teach him (soon, we hope?).
A laundry list of things Trump’ers purport to care about:
–The Military (“suckers and losers”)
–Faith and Religion (read: Christianity). Everything about Trump is opposite of who Jesus Christ was, and that’s before we even delve into the three marriages, myriad episodes of adultery, the fact that he never attends church and that he literally doesn’t even know which end of the Bible is up. Does anyone wanna bet he couldn’t tell you the authors of the four gospels?
And we really don’t care whether or not someone attends church. But maybe follow the golden rule. Just once, just one day.
–Fiscal responsibility. Greatest deficit ever and at a time when the economy is supposedly booming. How’s that work? I’m always amused when my Republican friends spout their trickle down theory. Nothing has “trickled down” in 40 years. If it doesn’t trickle down in boom times, is it supposed to trickle down during a recession? I don’t think so.
–National Security. Again, 1,000 a day dead due to Covid and Russia basically knows the combination to our locker. You tell me.
Here’s really why people still like Trump. On Saturday I was at a Barro’s Pizza here in Devil’s Gulch, waiting for a pizza I ordered. Enjoying a cold Coors Light, watching the college football. An older man in a “Vietnam Veterans” hat approached me and asked why I was watching the game. I didn’t tell him I was working (“The Bubble Screen”) but just told him that I liked college football.
“Aren’t you a patriot?” he asked.
“I would say so,” I replied.
“I won’t watch that any more,” he lied to me. “I love my country.”
Now, it was all I could do not to congratulate him for finishing in second place in the Vietnam conflict, but this is one more example of a flimsy mind easily bent. And this is what Trump capitalizes on. Plus, you have to love the Fox bubble. It keeps people from him from ever having to learn what’s really going on. Did you know that if you only tune to Fox News you wouldn’t even be aware of the unbridled hypocrisy of Mitch McConnell’s Supreme Court maneuvering the past four-plus years? They never address it.
Before We Forget
We didn’t want to let the NBA Finals—Lakers versus Heat—commence without bowing in supplication to this fantastic move by Denver’s Jamal Murray (we look forward to seeing what the Nuggets do next season…all they need is a third piece, and to jettison any Plumlee who attempts to join the roster). It is redolent of MJ’s famous move against the Lakers in Game 2 of the 1991 NBA Finals, but it’s also worth noting that the two defenders he splits here are Dwight Howard and LeBron James. Howard was a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and James is a five-time first-team All-Defensive team player.
Cirque du Soleil Audition
In case you missed this on Saturday, that’s Texas freshman tailback Bijan Robinson almost cracking his spinal cord in two. He was not seriously injured.
And under which so-called “President” was the “Trickle Down Theory” 1st foisted upon the public? Hmmmmmm? Just one more CON JOB by the GOP. That these con artists can keep shoveling this shit for FOUR DECADES & that many of the American populace are too stupid to recognize it’s ALL A BLATANT LIE just shows their other decades-long goal of destroying the public education system in this country has been reached.
And come on, no mention of Sweet Pea reaching his 1oTH NBA FINAL? I actually watched more than 5 minutes of his team’s Game 5 in the Western Conf Finals. In fact, I watched all of it. A couple observations – the beard is HIDEOUS! And to see Sweet Pea in that hated uniform, playing for THAT team provokes nausea & sadness. However, I do hope he wins the championship & the fact that it will NOT be in front of those detestable L.A. fans means 2020 is NOT all bad. 😉 Also, LeBron is the TRUE MVP of this season! WHO got his team into the Finals & WHO failed to even get his team into his Conference Finals? However, I can also admit that Sweet Pea is no longer at his “peak”, which ended in 2016. But a non-peak LeBron is STILL better than 99% of the rest of the NBA at least 75% of the time. 🙂
Not a stock 100-bagger, but I took the Heat at +800 odds to win the Eastern Conference. I placed the bet on February 5.
Probably my last bet ever. Nice to go out on top.
Wow, did you really?! Whoo-hoo! Between this & your SHOP pick, you are batting a thousand in this Hell Year! 🙂
Who do you pick to win the championship? I feel ALL the pressure is on Sweet Pea & the Lakers; they are “expected” to win & the Heat have “won” just by getting there.
Since the onset of the “Bubble”, this bit from an article I read last year keeps surfacing in my memory – can’t remember if it was after a practice or a game, but in the Lakers locker room, LeBron was telling Rondo that he had been in a dream he had the previous night & Rondo immediately quipped back “Was I holding up a trophy?!” 🙂
I love how “watching football” equals “not being a patriot” while “s-ing” the proverbial “D” of dictators from North Korea and Russia is A-Okay. It really makes no sense.
When did we start calling Sbarro’s Pizza – Barro’s?
Is it like Famous Ray’s instead of Famous Original Rays?
”Hey, I’m on first and first. How can the same street intersect with itself? I must be at the nexus of the universe.” So damn funny…
He owes $300,000,000 personally? Someone gonna want their $ back, and they won’t be nice about it.
There isn’t anything Trump could do that would make staunch Republicans vote against him. That ship sailed 100 scandals ago. They firmly believe that the worst, most unfit Republican president is better than the best Democratic one. (Ex. A — many Republicans will now spend the next 30 years insisting that the chance to appoint three Supreme Court justices outweighed any harm Trump did).
The new book about former Reagan/Bush era heavyweight James Baker makes this clear. It addresses his many criticisms of Trump but also includes this:
“Don’t say that I will vote for Biden,” Baker cautioned. “I will vote for the Republican — I really will. I won’t leave my party. You can say my party has left me, because the head of it has. But I think it’s important, the big picture.” What was the big picture? Republican control of the levers of power. Even if it means another four years of Trump in the White House … [In 2016] Baker could not bring himself to follow their lead and bolt from the Party. “I’m a conservative,” he explained, almost with a shrug. Better to have a conservative in the Oval Office than a liberal, “even if he’s crazy.”