Saturday, September 24, 2016

One Of These Is Not Like The Other


My latest newspaper column:
How many Trumpophiles have discussed his bribery to quash investigations of his phony “University?” Of those who have, how many consider it irrelevant, while believing donations to the Clinton Foundation indicate pervasive corruption? Something mysterious is going on. 
Trump makes a generous donation to the campaign of Florida Attorney General Bondi four days after she announces the investigation. A month later, she shuts it down. After which he hosts a fundraiser for her at Mar-a-Lago. No quo or pro in that quid? Same with a fat donation to then attorney general, now Texas Governor Abbot’s campaign after the investigation into the same thing was dropped, deep in the heart. Perfectly fine. For, quoth Donald, “I’ve got to give to them, because when I want something I get it. When I call, they kiss my a$$...” Pure as Trump Water. Trump brushes off questions like orange dandruff. But Hillary? Flagitious. 
Trump’s Florida “donation” was doubly illegal: “charitable” foundations are prohibited from contributing to political causes. Nevertheless, a much larger contribution went to a group attacking the New York prosecutor going after Trump U. In the past several years, Trump has given little to his fund; so its few donations come from other people’s money, as did his purchase of a portrait of himself for twenty grand. And he’s used it to settle legal problems, including a fraudulent hole-in-one contest. His “foundation” is little more than a slush fund.  
Compare to the Clinton Foundation, which does enormously important work around the world. Investigations have found no significant granting of favors to donors. Nor were those requests comparable to payoffs for dropped criminal investigations. (Appealing for help freeing Korean hostages!) How many know that the Clinton Foundation, which, among other things, provides AIDS medication for millions of people, receives the highest ethical ratings for charitable organizations, higher even than The Red Cross? How many even know what it does? 
Trumpites seem unbothered by his blatant bribery and cheating. Maybe many are unaware of it. Why? Because not just their favorite sources, but also so-called “liberal” media had until recently virtually ignored it, while pumping out repetitive innuendo about Hillary’s relation to her foundation. “Liberal” media concluded, evidently, that nothing they discovered about Donald Trump enlightened or mattered to his voters; for eyeballs, better to go after Secretary Senator Clinton. Only when bloggers kept highlighting Trump’s unscrupulous actions have they started covering them. Will people ever hear about his payoffs for tax breaks on Fox “news?”  
A few years back, Trump paid three-quarters of a million dollars to settle an antitrust lawsuit (“I never settle lawsuits,” he’s said). Briefly, we saw some of the business owners Donald bankrupted by refusing to pay what he owed them. Then, like Trump casinos, coverage folded. How long has it been, though, since major news organizations mentioned the Clinton Foundation or her conspiracy-theory-laden emails? In the midst of a Congressional investigation into improperly influencing US Attorneys, George Bush’s White House “lost” twenty-two million emails. Republicans were unconcerned. Hillary’s deletions? Treasonous. 
Have mainstream articles described Trump jacking up prices at his properties when used by his campaign, billing the campaign, paying himself from its funds, scamming donors? If the race is tightening it’s because of this imbalance in reportage. 
Of course the press should investigate Hillary Clinton. Done impartially, that’s their job. (They blew it with those hammered phones.) But their months of obsession with her while only now awakening to Trump’s conspicuous corruption is as puzzling as the fact that Republicans nominated such an irrefragable fraud in the first place. It seems they’d succumbed to inundatory right-wing claims of media bias, designed to shut down investigative journalism. Without irony, a Trump surrogate recently associated fact checking with liberalism. Besides, the more Donald Trump’s lies are exposed, the more he repeats them. 
Lately the weight of Donald Trump’s career of deception and malfeasance might, at last, be forcing mainstream media to do their job. That his career is one fraud after another is obvious, and it’s just as apparent that his supporters don’t care. The question is whether those who consider both candidates equally bad will, as the evidence mounts, ever open their eyes.
[Image source]

8 comments:

  1. We are now the 5th estate having to carry the burden of the 4th estate.

    The news papers are the heart of media in America. It is now a "for profit" entity. Blogs (the 5th estate) is carrying the burden the 4th estate used to carry. How many of us went from doing their job, to doing the job of someone else as well? Work for far less pay and bennies? OK...I see no hands down.

    Now then...

    The POTUS and public office in general is a "for profit" entity as well. It is NOT for the public interest.

    Criminal justice system...You guessed it...It is "for profit" as well.

    Education? Medical care? Yup..."For profit" industries.

    Education? Second verse same as the first.

    Businesses? They are "People"...

    Let's forget about the red blood pumping human argument vs. Business...Just for a sec...

    If all people are created equal...How come we tiny people humans don't get the tax breaks the corporate "people" get?

    If the right to lifers frown upon killing yourself and others under any circumstances...That "some kind of punishment" has to be handed to women who abort kids. If "selling baby parts" is punishable by law. Then why can "Job creators" deliberately suck the life blood ($$$) from an entire country and "persons"...I mean business, and benefit from it handsomely and dump the losses on the American tax payer without even a hint of criminal charges? Abort businesses before they ever get started and deliberately screw investors? Smash the world economy for the sake of greed with a sociopaths mentality? Yup those "people" AKA: The artist formerly known as business.

    How come we don't have politicians come out of the woodwork to scare the opposition AKA: Boeing employees, when "people" like Boeing fails to sufficiently frighten people into voting against their own interests by handing Boeing nearly 9 billion dollars via extortion? Mobsters call it "protection money". "We will fire you" is worse than "We'll burn your house and business to the ground." Why? Because sucking that mom and pop business of it's lifes' blood keeps the building standing and easily bought for a very deep discount. Just like the housing bubble created for the sole purpose of stealing 70% of each home owners wealth in the form of their home. Create wars in Iraq for training exercises for our weapons technology and then "people" like say, the V.P. of the USA "people" like Halliburton. "Free stuff" is Okie dokie if you are a "Person" AKA businesses. But a person who gets SNAP to feed their family is the scourge of America?

    "Gimme your money and I might hire you at a slaves wage so you can make more money for me" says the "Persons" AKA: Businesses. "YES...Git-R-Done!" says the Confederacy to the "Right to work" laws. WE ALREADY HAD THE RIGHT TO WORK! Holy shit people, how stupid are you??????? The banks rob the world and deregulating the banks is the only answer says the Confederacy. Guy hit by a truck w/o medical insurance lying in the middle of the street dying in a coma? "Let em' die!" says the Confederacy. No profit to be made, costs are then deferred to others with medical insurance and tax payers as a whole. Driving while black is a death sentence via firing squad. "We ain't doing enough of that!" says the Confederacy. Undocumented immigrants? Kick their doors in and store them in dog pens till a bus takes them to Mexico. "Great Idea! It's about time!" says the Confederacy.

    The GOP morphed from a possible threat to Americas security and interests, into being a clear and present danger in less than 4 decades.

    *head desk**head desk**head desk*



    ReplyDelete
  2. Everyone's heard me preach about the kids not letting us down...


    https://memegenerator.net/instance/59664162


    Any questions?

    ReplyDelete
  3. It makes no difference to Trump supporters. As long as he hates the same people they do (Muslims, immgrants, Muslim immigrants, etc) they'll vote for him in droves. Hopefully a bit of actual journalism could sway the "both are equally bad" crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The debate is about to start. If Hillary treats him like Elizabeth Warren would. She wins...

    If Hillary does what Mark Cuban does to "The Dump", Hillary wins.

    Treat "The Dump" like that church lady...A black church lady. Stopped him mid sentence and "The Dump" didn't look so tough did he? In that moment, we all saw what a coward "The Dump" is. Remember what he said when Black Lives Natter disrupted Bernie? I'd huff and puff and punch them in the faces....Big League, Believe me.

    From all I have seen. "The Dump" is about OH and 179 all by KO to a woman adversary. Hillary should fact check him relentlessly and do as I suggest.

    Game, set, match...

    Let's see what really happens.

    3 minutes to start time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. She did exactly what I wanted her to do. She smashed "The Dump" in epic fashion.

    This thing is done...I wouldn't hire that thing to walk my dog.

    He wasn't in control of himself. He couldn't help himself. Incoherent at times.

    If we played a drinking game...Every time that Cheeto sniffed we'd all be passed out drunk.

    That go fast and Klonopin will catch up to you eventually...and it goes downhill fast when it does catch up to you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There were several moments when she showed herself to be the adult in the room. To me, it was clear who "won." I'd bet, though, that his supporters think the opposite. The question is whether "undecideds" could see the obvious. Because, by definition, if you're undecided at this point you really don't have much in the way of decision-making ability.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love to watch Hannity after something like this.

    ReplyDelete

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