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The corrupt “mob boss” who demands tribute from his sycophants…

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: September 06, 2019, 05:10:41 pm »


from The Washington Post…

Open your wallet. Trump demands tribute.

It reflects as much on Trump's toadies as it does on him.

By PAUL WALDMAN | 1:03PM EDT — Tuesday, September 03, 2019

President Donald J. Trump. — Photograph: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post.
President Donald J. Trump. — Photograph: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post.

“HUNDREDS OF GUYS depended on Paulie, and he got a piece of everything they made. It was tribute, just like the old country, except they were doing it in America.”

That line comes from “Goodfellas”, a description of how all the mobsters in the movie had to kick up part of their earnings to the boss. It's also how the president of the United States operates.

Like Paulie, President Trump doesn't have to issue demands and orders. He tells you how it's going to be — and most of the time he doesn't even have to say it out loud — and how it's going to be is that you're going to put cash in his pocket.

That accomplishes two of Trump's goals. It gives him the thing he values above all else — money — and it also shows him how much you're willing to grovel before him.

Last week, we learned that Attorney General William P. Barr has booked Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. for a 200-person holiday party, likely spending $30,000 of his own money for Trump's benefit. You might think that unseemly for the nation's chief law enforcement officer, but in the GOP it has become almost mandatory to hold events at Trump properties so the boss can dip his beak. Republican campaigns and organizations have spent nearly $5 million at Trump properties since he took office.

People who are not directly beholden to Trump, like other world leaders, have to be forced to pay tribute, which is why Trump wants the next Group of Seven meeting to be held at his struggling Doral golf resort in Florida, both for the direct revenue and the brand-enhancement opportunity.

And now we have another example, one that features not only Trump's self-dealing but a case of lickspittlery so pathetic it could involve only the vice president:


Quote
Vice President Pence's top aide said on Tuesday that Pence and members of his traveling entourage are staying at a golf resort in Ireland owned by President Trump at Trump's suggestion. But he defended an arrangement that Democrats have criticized as enriching the president, citing logistical concerns.

Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, told reporters traveling with Pence aboard Air Force Two that the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel was “the one facility” that could accommodate the size of the delegation traveling with Pence in Doonbeg, a village from which Pence's family hails. The hotel has 120 rooms.

Yes, it's the only facility in the entire nation of Ireland that could accommodate Pence's delegation! That's completely believable.

Trump's resort is almost 150 miles from Dublin, where Pence will be attending meetings. He'll have to fly between the two. But we're supposed to believe there wasn't a single hotel nearer to where he's conducting his official business where he could have stayed?

How did this come about? Here’s the farcical exchange between reporters and Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short:




It wasn't a request, like a command. It was just a suggestion. As though Trump would suggest to Pence — who treats his boss with a servile obsequiousness that is truly unmatched — and Pence would reply, “Thanks for the suggestion, sir, but it's really not convenient, so I'll stay somewhere in Dublin.”

Not only that, The New York Times's Maggie Haberman tweeted that “Short messaged me to say Pence is ‘personally paying all family expenses’,” whatever that involves. The point isn't that the taxpayers might save a few thousand dollars, but that Pence will have to open his own wallet so Trump can make a few more bucks.

Everybody knows how things work in the Trump era, and they aren't even ashamed to say it out loud. As one senior administration official recently told Politico about the scandals surrounding Trump's inauguration, “The president was really surprised to read all about the inauguration and who was trying to buy access and how, because the president doesn't get any of that money.” Had people been paying him for access, it apparently would have been a different story.

Ironically, the kind of shameless boot-licking displayed by Pence and others exists alongside a widespread contempt for the president among those who work for him. White House officials regularly describe the president as a buffoon and a fool, using terms like “moron” (then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson), “idiot” (then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly), and “like an 11-year-old child” (Stephen K. Bannon). They whisper to reporters about his preposterous ideas (such as wanting to launch nuclear weapons at hurricanes) and describe a staff that's never sure whether it should follow his bizarre orders.

And yet he demands not only direct financial payments whenever possible but also a kind of performative sycophancy, so that you know you're nothing but a toady and so does everyone else.

Many previous presidents have inspired devotion among those close to them, and regardless of whether you found it deserved, there was little doubt that the reverence with which Barack Obama or George W. Bush was regarded by many of their aides was sincere. In Trump's case, however, those around him know exactly who he is, but they also know that like some mad king, he requires regular displays of submission — and monetary payment.

We all know this about Trump, and have for some time. But it also illuminates the character of those who willingly place themselves in the service of someone so corrupt, so venal, so insecure. If Pence runs for president four years from now, it's something no one should forget.


__________________________________________________________________________

Paul Waldman is an opinion writer for The Plum Line blog at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, he worked at an advocacy group, edited an online magazine, taught at university and worked on political campaigns. He has authored or co-authored four books on media and politics, and his work has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines. He is also a senior writer at the American Prospect.

__________________________________________________________________________

Related to this topic:

 • Trump encouraged Pence to stay at his golf resort in Ireland

 • Greg Sargent: Behind Trump's craziness, there's always corruption. Here's the latest.

 • Dana Milbank: Is Trump a president or a timeshare salesman?

 • Paul Waldman: No institution of government is safe from Trump's corrupting influence

 • James Downie: Mike Pence is just helpless

 • Catherine Rampell: We don't know what Trump's tax returns are hiding. But the hints are troubling.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/03/open-your-wallet-trump-demands-tribute
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Im2Sexy4MyPants
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« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2019, 07:23:15 am »

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Are you sick of the bullshit from the sewer stream media spewed out from the usual Ken and Barby dickless talking point look a likes.

If you want to know what's going on in the real world...
And the many things that will personally effect you.
Go to
http://www.infowars.com/

AND WAKE THE F_ _K UP
Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2019, 08:26:29 am »


Trump might think he can bury the free press.

But the free press will continue to expose Trump's lies, corruption and criminality, even though he thinks he has buried them.

And Trump's supporters are supporters of all the lies, corruption and criminality which is part of Trump.

In other words, Trump's supporters need to be banged up in jail because of their own lying, corupt and criminal tendencies.

MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE — LOCK UP TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS FOR EVER UNTIL THEY DIE IN JAIL.
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If you aren't living life on the edge, you're taking up too much space! 
Kiwithrottlejockey
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Having fun in the hills!


« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2019, 01:49:59 pm »


from The Washington Post…

Calling out the GOP's hypocrisy and corruption



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If you aren't living life on the edge, you're taking up too much space! 

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