"Drain the Swamp" or Keep Filling It: The Smartest Man Doesn't Even Know the Difference

Hire only the best, um, Mr. President – okay

(Pruitt's recent woes are seen here)

True to his word - the source of his expert best hires

(Whoop Dee Doo)

Classic Trump: “I will drain the swamp.” But, instead he is filling the swamp with more greedy bastards like these big names: Price (HHS), Mnuchin (Treasury), Zinke (Interior), Carson (HUD), Shulkin (VA), and now another biggie Pruitt at EPA (seems like he was on the take). Then add in Flynn, Spicer, Priebus, Scaramucci, Porter, Hicks, Bannon, McMaster, and the biggest, Rex Tillerson (Secy of State).

Video here is most-revealing reminder from Chris Hayes on his show at MSNBC
click here ... 

Also, an excellent story from Esquire here in reference to an excellent ProPublica research report.

Trump filling the administration with huge variety of different phyla of swamp critters – of the human, money-grubbing kind. Here’s some of what ProPublica found:

·        At least 187 Trump political appointees have been federal lobbyists.

·        Many of them are now overseeing the industries they once lobbied on behalf of.

·        Also, discovered numerous ethics waivers that allow Trump staffers to work on subjects in which they have financial conflicts of interest have been requested, received, or still pending.

·        At least 254 appointees affiliated with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and at least 125 staffers from prominent conservative think tanks are now working in the Federal government.

·        Drilling down even further, at least 35 Trump political appointees worked for or consulted with groups affiliated with the billionaire libertarian brothers Charles and David Koch, who also have a network of advocacy groups, nonprofits, private companies, and PAC’s.

·        At least 25 Trump appointees came from the influential Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank founded in 1973, and at least two came from Heritage Action, its related political nonprofit. Heritage says the Trump administration, in just its first year, has enacted nearly two-thirds of its 334 policy recommendations.

·       Also, found — for the first time — were dozens of special-government employees, or SGEs, who work as paid consultants or experts for federal agencies while keeping their day jobs in the private sector.

My 2 Cents: Apparently, the swamp is generous to Trump’s critters – soon there’re be no room for decent people that Trump promised – remember that quote reminder time:

History in Review as it Were 

Related and finally, people who were in and now are out the scoreboard – probably not up to date can be seen here – enjoy – even the disgusting manner in which our country is being run or should I say being ruined?

Thanks for stopping by.

Cue the Laughter: The Real Impact of the Trump-GOP "Tax Cut/Reform Create Jobs Bill"

Believe us, trust us, vote for us: Our tax bill solves everything

(Wink/Wink - Nod/Nod)

Bill passage dinner - come see how the bill works

(Have a seat enjoy)

Laughable introduction from this fine article (my spin and emphasis added - call it: the chickens come home to roost): 

When Republicans were promoting this monster of a tax cut last year, they repeatedly claimed it would help middle-class Americans. Treasury Secretary Steven “With Arrogant Greedy Wife” Mnuchin argued the middle class would benefit, while the rich would receive “very little cuts or, in certain cases, increases.” This was laughably untrue.

Some of the arguments verged into this parody wherein Ivanka “Here is my latest design bracelet” Trump-Kushner (newest West Wing Ad) claimed that the plan would “create simplification” for Americans.

What a remarkable statement considering the bill was passed with so little deliberation that it’s now becoming clear a huge number of “errors and ambiguities” are causing problems for large and small businesses alike.

A recent poll released from CNBC’s All America Economic Survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies in mid-March, found that only a third of the Americans have noticed more money in their paychecks because of $1.5 trillion Trump tax cuts. 

More than half — 52 percent — say they’ve seen no change at all. 

The extra take home pay is so inconsequential to most people that, of the minority who says they’ve noticed the extra funds, a little less than 40 percent say it’s improved their finances “a great deal” or “a fair amount,” with the remainder saying it the money either helps a small amount or not at all. The tax bill, as we all know, was a major gift to corporations and the wealthiest of the wealthy, who received the lion’s share of the $1.5 trillion cuts.

The cuts the typical American received, on the other hand, are relatively minor. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that the typical middle-income household would see an after-tax gain of $930 in 2018 as a result of the new law. Assuming a one-paycheck household, that adds up to a little less than $18 a week.

Super article conclusion: Republicans also argued voters would reward them come this November for the extra money in their paychecks. This data shows that’s an increasingly unlikely possibility. 

Perhaps the GOP will take comfort from the long view: Individual tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025, even as the corporate cuts, which overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, continue. 

So, maybe ordinary voters won’t notice that their tax cut disappeared even as those enjoyed by the rich live on in perpetuity. 

Related post here too.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your $20 weekly increase…!!!

Trump Appointee and Nominee Stream Flows from White House Annex AKA: FOX News

From FOX’s “Greenroom” to White House Oval Office 

(Great gig for those who hang on)

As special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian election interference gets closer to Trump, he is shaking up his defense team more so now that lead lawyer John Dowd resigned. Trump wanted to add Victoria Toensing and hubby, Joseph DiGenova – now it seems he backtracked on their appointment and that from Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal attorney.

Noteworthy on all this: All three of them, (Sekulow, DiGenova, and Toensing pictured above) share a common thread: All of them have made regular appearances on Fox where they have vigorously defended Trump and attacked Mueller and the Russia probe.

Fact or Opinion or Educated Guess: This is the legal team Fox News host Sean Hannity built as well as ensuring that Fox has remade itself into a “pro-Trump propaganda machine, working to delegitimize Mueller’s probe and defend the president on all counts and now Trump appears to be tearing down his legal team and reassembling it with lawyers pulled from the Fox greenroom.

For example: Jay Sekulow, a longtime fixture on right-wing TV,  was reportedly hired to serve as “the omnipresent TV face of Trump's defense” because the president liked the way that Sekulow, who had characterized the president as the victim of a “deep state bureaucracy” and a “shadow government,” defended Trump in cable news appearances.

Conclusion: Toensing and husband, Joe DiGenova probably have their jobs for the same reason — both are conservative activists who regularly use Fox appearances to offer a staunch defense of the president and lash out at the president’s investigators in ways that mirror Trump’s own attacks on the FBI and special counsel. 

For example: DiGenova has argued that Trump was framed by FBI officials and the DOJ while Toensing has called for the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate Mueller himself (over the Uranium-One/Clinton “pay to play” rightwing BS myth that Toensing now pushes – see here more on that topic). 

So, adding them to his team may signal that the president wants to engage in a scorched-earth offensive and that does not bode well for the country – although Fox and Fiends are surely delighted. 

My view: Rough days lie ahead under this president who has one desire as I’ve said before: To be a one-man dictator-in-charge of America… that is patently obvious from ever turn and decision he makes. So, stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.

Someone, Anyone Please Show Jared Kushner the Nearest Exit and the Sooner the Better

Kushner's Fav Doc for Info to Give to Foreign Governments 

Kushner's Fav Saudi BFF to pass along classified info

(MBS says he has Kushner in a nice warm spot, too)

Lead into a critical story – Kushner leaking PDB information (highly classified) to the Saudis (media sources: The Intercept; the Business Insider; and the Washington Post)

The PDB must be taken very seriously; sometimes not always, e.g., Geo. W. Bush was told a month before the 9/11 attacks, in his August 6 PDB, that bin-Laden planned attacks with explosives and hijacked planes while at he was at his ranch in Crawford, TX.

Note: Does Mr. Trump take the PDB serious as it written and orally presented, or is it “soft-balled” prepared and presented to keep him happy and content? One look inside here.

INTRODUCTION: Until he was stripped of his top-secret security clearance in February, Jared Kushner was known as one of the most voracious readers of the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), highly classified document of latest hi-level intelligence for the president and his closest advisers.

THE STORY: In June, Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman (referred to as “MBS” in the PDB) ousted his cousin, then-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and took his place as next in line to the throne, upending the established line of succession.

In the months that followed, the PDB contained information on the Saudi’s evolving political situation, including a handful of names of royal family members opposed to the crown prince’s power grab.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In late October, Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Riyadh, catching some intelligence officials off guard. “The two [MBS and Kushner] are said to have stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. several nights, swapping stories and planning strategy,” the Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported at the time.

What exactly Kushner and the Saudi royal talked about in Riyadh may be known only to them. But after the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown.

Kushner, through his attorney’s spokesperson, denies having done so, who added:

“Some questions by the media are so obviously false and ridiculous that they merit no response. This is one. The Intercept should know better.” [Peter Mirijanian said in a statement as spokesperson for Kushner’s lawyer Abbe Lowell].

On November 4, a week after Kushner returned to the U.S., the crown prince, known in official Washington by his initials MBS, launched what he called an anti-corruption crackdown.

The Saudi government arrested dozens of members of the Saudi royal family and imprisoned them in the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, which was first reported in English by The Intercept. The Saudi figures named in the President’s Daily Brief were among those rounded up; at least one was reportedly tortured.

Important Note: It is likely that Crown Prince Mohammed would have known who his critics were without Kushner mentioning them, a U.S. government official who declined to be identified pointed out. 

The crown prince may also have had his own reasons for saying that Kushner shared information with him, even if that wasn’t true.  Why? To send powerful message give the appearance to the crown prince’s allies and enemies that his actions were backed by the U.S. government.

One of the people MBS told about the discussion with Kushner was UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. MBS bragged to the Emirati crown prince and others that Kushner was “in his pocket,” the source told The Intercept.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noteworthy: Access to the President’s Daily Brief is tightly guarded.

(1) However, as President, Trump has the legal authority to allow Kushner to disclose information contained in it.

If Kushner did discuss names with MBS of dissidents within the PDB acting against him, as an approved tactic of U.S. foreign policy with Trump’s okay, then that move would be a striking intervention by the U.S. into an unfolding power struggle at the top levels of an allied nation, or…

(2) If Kushner discussed the names with the Saudi prince without Trump’s okay, then Kushner may have violated federal laws around the sharing of classified intelligence.

My 2 cents in conclusion:  First, it is noted that on November 6, two days after Saudi detentions began and a week after Kushner’s trip, Trump tweeted his defense of the Saudi crackdown. So, any goal, tie, or link in all this? My first guess would be big Saudi money that Kushner badly needs to help in his heavy debt load.

Overall, this is serious national security business and not private ore personal business related. 

The whole driving force apparent to me and others who dig into Kushner’s money woes is that he is buying friendship to gain loans for his heavy debt at the expense of possible national security.

So, what lies ahead (no pun intended) – well, Kushner lost his high-level security clearance, so now it's time to show him the damn door and get him out of government, and forever would be my suggestion. This is pitiful.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trump's Expanding Attacks on Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies and Officials

Top Officials in Trump Tweet Crosshairs 

Same pattern, same path, and same outcome possible

(Who says history doesn't repeat itself)

From the NY Times here a good rundown of Trump and his almost daily and blatant personal attacks on most of the top intelligence and law enforcement officials and agencies. Note: Since many of them seldom seek the limelight, this is historically unprecedented from the president – any president.

Trump voices grievances against the AG, the DOJ, the FBI, CIA, and most other agencies with reckless abandon in speeches and tweets. However, now those targets have responded nearly in kind, turning a conflict that would in the past have stayed behind closed doors into a brawl for all to see in broad daylight. 

For example:

Trump again attacked “lying James Comey,” the FBI director he fired last May to stop the Russian “thing” that Trump calls it – a hoax, “fake news” and a witch hunt. 

He also celebrated the dismissal of Mr. Comey’s onetime deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, calling it on Friday “a great day for Democracy.”

Mr. Comey struck back on the president’s preferred digital soapbox: “Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon, and they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.”

Mr. McCabe, through his lawyer, Michael Bromwich tweeted: “We will not be responding to each childish, defamatory, disgusting & false tweet by the President.  The whole truth will come out in due course.”

John Brennan, a former CIA director who now refers to himself as “a nonpartisan American and whom Trump once called “one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington” said: “We are very concerned about our collective future. When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America ... America will triumph over you.”

Gary J. Schmitt, at the AEI and adviser to Reagan said: “We’ve never had anybody so blatantly go after a president, and it’s unprecedented to have a president so overtly going after various intelligence officials. Now it’s a race to the bottom.”

Throughout history, presidents have found themselves in private conflict with members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. For example, Bill Clinton had his battles over the Lewinsky investigation.

Or, with Richard Nixon who fired the independent special prosecutor in the “Saturday Night Massacre,” and then his attorney general, which caused the deputy attorney general to resign in protest during Watergate. Those were tense interactions but seem almost quaint now compared to the public mudslinging unfolding before our eyes daily. 

Now, with Trump, one who has no qualms about publicly attacking individuals as well as institutions as he grows more and more frustrated as the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia continues well beyond the timeline given to him by his lawyers. Now one of the Trump lawyers, John Dowd, recently said he thought the Mueller investigation was baseless and should end.

The president followed up with a pair of tweets singling out the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, for the first time: “Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans? Another Dem recently added...does anyone think this is fair? And yet, there is NO COLLUSION!” Trump wrote.

The White House did not respond to questions about the former officials’ criticism of the president, but Mr. Trump’s outrage spoke for itself. He kept lobbing tweet-size insults until Sunday morning, when he left the White House for a round of golf. In one tweet, he took aim at news that Mr. McCabe, who was one of the first officials at the FBI to look into possible Russian ties to the Trump team, had kept contemporaneous memos about his interactions with the president. (Mr. Comey also kept memos.)

In another tweet Trump wrote: “Spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me. I don’t believe he made memos except to help his own agenda, probably at a later date. Same with lying James Comey. Can we call them Fake Memos?”

Jeremy Bash, who served as chief of staff to Leon E. Panetta in his roles as C.I.A. director and defense secretary during the Obama administration, said in an interview that current and former officials were alarmed to see a president so intent on eroding the public’s trust in the FBI. Bash said they are keenly aware that Trump’s insults have a way of making it to TV, and vice versa then added: “It seems to be a very short distance between the president’s Twitter device and the megaphone of Fox News and other allies on Capitol Hill. Most professionals I speak with think he will ultimately fail, but they worry we are a few Fox News segments away from more and more people in that conspiracy theory echo chamber.”

Some experts question the decision of Comey and others to publicly hit back at the president.

Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now at the Brennan Center said the public exchanges were further proof of an eroding of trust between the head of the executive branch and its traditionally apolitical civil servants. He said the former officials’ willingness to speak out against the president could spell problems for Mueller, adding: “I would imagine from Bob Mueller’s point of view having potential witnesses tweeting back and forth with the president is the last thing you want. The credibility of everyone involved is being torn to tatters in broad daylight.”

Vicki Divoll, a former general counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee and a former assistant general counsel for the CIA, said remarks by former officials like Comey and Brennan reflected a larger frustration that others, including Republican members of Congress, were not speaking out against transgressions that would have felled other politicians, concluding: “Comey and Brennan are perfect examples who do not seek the limelight and who do not do anything but speak publicly and privately in very measured ways. But the gloves are off. That’s not happening anymore.”

My 2 cents: All of this factual and very troublesome to see and hear and especially coming from the President of the United States.

It is sad to say the least and that is not an understatement. So, where is Trump driving us: The nearest cliff comes to mind.

Thanks for stopping by.

Final Jeopardy Question: “What is Missing from this Picture” Three Words or Less

Final Jeopardy Answer: Donald John Trump
(Dedicated, Effective, Focused, and Honest Leadership)

Very interesting and enlightening story here from AlterNet.

Very interesting to say the least especially in view of documented record of over 2,000 lies from Trump – in his words, not mine and listen carefully at the background cheering in this clip wherein he says: “I just to stay in the White House and work my ass and make great deals, right? Yeah, right, sure – great deals for whom not made from the 18th hole, either. 

What a crock – amazing, truly amazing and as I said, in his words and with such sincerity, too. What a skilled seasoned and experienced con-man, snake oil salesman, and utter bullshit artist he is – amazing. This clip is about 1:30:

The heart of this post re: Trump’s White House & Oval Office schedule:

“Trump spends fewer hours in meetings and more hours dedicated to a mysterious activity blocked off on his official schedule as Executive Time — which in reality, aides say, means watching TV, making phone calls, and tweeting.”

The article continues:

“Trump's days in the Oval Office are relatively short — from around 11 am to 6 pm, then he's back to the residence. During that time he usually has a meeting or two, but spends a good deal of time making phone calls and watching cable news in the dining room adjoining the Oval. Then he's back to the residence for more phone calls and more TV.”

“Trump begins his workday three to four hours after most Americans do. He doesn’t take his first official meeting (his daily briefing by staff members) until 11 am. It should alarm us all that Trump spends his early hours each day absorbing news from secondhand sources like Twitter and his beloved Fox and Friends.”

My 2 cents: There should be a clause in the Constitution that says to remove Trump or anyone like him from office says: “… office holder laziness is a factor for removal from office … lying to the public should top the list of reasons to remove from office except for obvious - not phony national security reasons…”

But, that choice is not mine – boy, were it so (smile).

Hopefully he’ll be gone soon at least before the real damage is felt – Tsunami suddenly comes to mind.

Thanks for stopping by.

U.K. Says Russia Behind Recent Nerve Agent Assassination Attempt: Trump Again Stays Mum

UK Hazmat Removing Nerve Agent Contaminated Materials

(Now Confirmed as Novichok)

* Russian Foreign Min. Lavrov, Trump, Amb. Kislyak 

(May 10, 2017)

From the NY Times here in part (parts I wanted to emphasize) is re: the poisoning in the UK of the former Russian spy and his daughter by a nerve agent that only Russia has … no other has the agent, formula for producing it or stockpiled like Russia does … a fact and Trump is mum (as usual).

Background: The nerve agent, Novichok, has been identified by British investigators as the weapon used last week in the attempted murder of former Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

Note: Novichok nerve agents are Cold War-era chemical weapons – 4^th generation from the late 1980’s. It is up to ten times more deadly than the notorious VX nerve agent used in other assassinations.

The nerve agent has been top secret especially sensitive because the old USSR, then under Mikhail Gorbachev, had renounced the use and production of chemical weapons.

Its existence came to light thanks to the scruples of a brave Russian scientist named Vil Mirzayanov (Вил Мирзаянов). He had previously worked at the State Union Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology (Russian: Государственный научно-исследовательский институт органической химии и технологии).

The institute has been described by one of its top officials as “the leader in the technology of chemical destruction.”

At her briefing this past Monday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders read a statement condemning the attack without publicly agreeing with Britain’s assessment that Russia was behind it. The administration’s only tough comment on Russian involvement until Tuesday came from Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson – who has now been fired. 

Until Tuesday night, the White House had avoided pointing the finger at Russia for the attack, in which a former Russian spy was poisoned with a nerve agent near his home in southern England. 

By Tuesday morning, lower-level American officials joined in backing Britain as it retaliated against Russia. Former Senator and now the Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison wrote on Twitter: “We stand in solidarity with our @NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, in condemning the offensive use of a nerve agent on their territory. Russia must address UK questions & provide full disclosure of their chemical weapon program to @OPCW.” (The “Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons”)

But the pattern resembles the way Mr. Trump has responded to the consensus finding of American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections.

He has allowed top advisers to condemn Moscow for its election meddling but personally has used equivocal language in saying he accepts the conclusion — and he generally expresses no outrage or criticism of Mr. Putin.

Asked about the meddling last week, after S/C Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians for spreading disinformation and propaganda in a concerted effort to influence the election, Trump focused on whether it changed the result, and avoided strong words about Moscow, saying in a press conference: “Well, the Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever. But certainly there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals. And I think you have to be really watching very closely. You don’t want your system of votes to be compromised in any way. And we won’t allow that to happen.”

My 2 cents is really a simple question: What does Putin have over Trump that has him coy about saying anything bad about Russian tactics or Putin himself? That is really the new proverbial $64,000 dollar question isn’t it? 

The old movie line “Follow the Money was advice from “Deep Throat to Bob Woodward” in “All the President’s Men” still apropos today from this fine Vox.com article (Jan 2018) here in part: “To understand the roots of the collusion, set aside Putin and follow the money.” That’s what Seva Gunitsky, a politics professor at the University of Toronto and the author of Aftershocks, said last September in an interview. 

Gunitsky, who was raised in Russia, has followed the evolving relationship between Trump and Russia for more than a decade. He says the prevailing narrative about Putin interfering in the American election in order to undermine democracy is wildly overstated. Putin is happy to sow confusion and distrust in America’s system, of course, but to assume that’s the basis of this operation is to overlook a much simpler motive: The money. 

Specifically: The financial connections between Trump and various Russian banks and oligarchs (e.g., business elites with ties to the Kremlin) stretch back decades, which is likely a big reason why Trump won’t release his tax returns. 

Trump’s election, Gunitsky contends, presented Russian oligarchs with an opportunity to recoup losses and leverage Trump’s debts for future political gain. More at the Vox link.  

*  Trump told Lavrov and Kislyak as they were leaving the Oval Office (above meeing photo): “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Thanks for stopping by. 

UPDATED TOPIC: Misuse of Presidential Seal (Golf Course Tee Markers) and On Other Products

Table with the manufactured presidential seal: Trump Golf Course 

Tee Markers from Eagle Sign: the manufacturer 

(Photo provided to ProPublica by source)

This update comes from three well-written and researched sources and relate to the original story that follows below:

One story is from October 2016 (just before the election of Trump); from April 2017, and then the other story from August 2017 – and they all lead to and tie in to this story and this update from various points of view.

Now this update is from March 8, 2018. The summary of the article is presented in easy-to-follow legal terms re: The use of the Presidential seal for financial gain.

Summary’s Key Part: Previous presidents, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, all had items such as golf balls and sets of China made that featured the presidential seal, but they were for personal use or to give out as gifts, not commercial marketing.

From this Update – Legal View: Still, legal experts weren’t unanimous in the opinion that the Trump Organization’s use of the seal was against the law. Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter wrote that although the commercial appropriation of the symbol can be criticized as “tacky,” it doesn’t rise to the level of a crime, then he summarized it this way (my emphasis added):

“The statute regulating (not “barring” or “prohibiting”) use of the presidential seal is drafted with care. Under Section 713, one commits a crime only by displaying the seal in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof. This language, borrowed from the law of unfair competition, is narrowly drafted to avoid trampling on First Amendment rights. Displaying a likeness of the seal is prohibited only when the use will create that false impression of sponsorship or approval — what courts in other contexts call confusion as to source.”

Carter further observed: “The federal statute is constitutional only so long as we read it to ban uses of the seal that are either deceptive or misleading, and nothing else.” Thus he was noting that any number of items bearing the seal can be purchased (and legally so) on Amazon.com” and then he concluded: “What the Trump Organization is doing, or what Amazon is doing, or what a publisher touting a book is doing, involves uses that are neither deceptive nor misleading.”

The Update Summary: So, the extent to which expert opinions differ on this is probably best reflected in the fact that Trump International announced the removal of the markers within days of their legality being questioned.

My Conclusion: The Trump organization knew they had been wrong, then they got caught (thinking they would not), and now have backed down or in this case backed out of the slick marketing strategy deal – for surely that is how any average person would view it.

This is the pattern we continue to see in this administration: (1) Do something illegal or highly unethical (or both); (2) always ensure it is connected to or about “Trump Empire, Inc.” or the Trump name at all times; (3) hope they are not to be caught; but, (4) if and when they are, start with the diversion and deflection – the excuses, lies and always skirt around the basic issue with fancy PR statements. 

Then they simply and basically duck and dodge and deny and ignore the truth and facts with more name-calling like “Fake News” or “Hoax” or “Witch Hunt,” etc.

That in and of itself is both clever and heart and soul of their “Art of the Con,” or “Art of the Don” perhaps sounds more apropos in recent cases of murkiness.

This example of the Trump golf course Tee markers and presidential seal is only one more example among thousands of other shenanigan example from and by this family and all for their own personal and private financial gain and not much else.

It is for sure they are not deeply concerned for or about the country and national welfare and good of the whole that is except in their flowery speeches and political sound bites to gain favor and stay in power as they continue projecting a false image of concern and caring when in fact all they care about is more for themselves and the Trump name.

All of it – all of their actions to date and let’s face it, the list is long whether it’s trying to sell visas in China for loans for Kushner property debt, or seeing White House officials praising and hawking Ivanka Trump’s line of jewelry on national TV like Kellyanne Conway did, or routine and the same asinine statements from press secretary Sanders trying to cover for all the Trump faux pas.

The B/L if there is even a bottom line: This is all about image and concern for the Trump family/Empire, Inc. wallets, bank accounts, and their economic bottom line that has plenty of smoke and mirrors on a grand scale with tons of false actions about “serving the public.” 

This one story of tee markers may seem minor and quickly pass as it did, but the underlining cause is still there: The Trump greed. 

Hopefully S/C Robert Mueller help solve it and get to the bottom of this scummy barrel for the sake of the entire country.

Thanks for stopping by.

========================================================================

ORIGINAL POST STARTS HERE:

Call this the Trump Golf Course Tee Marker-gate: 

Well, well, more abuse of power and using official office for personal gain – in layman terms or in legal parlance is called: Corruption.

This example case comes from this story from ProPublica and it involves the Office of the President of the United States – wow – but what the heck – nothing new about that, right? Call it: Trump Empire, Inc. strikes again…!!!

What we have seen since day-one actually is SOP for this family.

Now this latest Mr. Trump and his golf club tee makers with the presidential seal.

Add that to the Jared Kushner bank loan deal and the $500 million loan he got from two banks (see story at blog post here) and after meeting with them the White House. 

So what’s next Ivanka’s gift shop to open in the hallway next to the Oval office?

Synopsis of this golf tee marker/presidential seal misuse story:

Eagle Sign makes a wide array of tee markers out of bronze and aluminum, and has made other signs for Trump’s courses, according to its website. At some of Trump’s golf courses, tee markers have sported the Trump family crest, which he took from the family that originally owned Mar-a-Lago without permission and then altered by adding his own name.

Ethics experts have long been on the lookout for signs that the Trump Organization would exploit the office of the presidency for commercial gain. Several said that using the presidential seal on the company’s golf courses would fall into this category.

A law governs (here cited from Cornell Law) says the manufacture or use of the seal, its likeness, “or any facsimile thereof” for anything other than official U.S. government business. It can be a criminal offense punishable by up to six months in prison. 

Law introduction: (a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

My 2 cents: So, who gets prosecuted for this? Trump; doubtful, Kushner; nope he probably doesn’t even play golf; Invanka; um, nope, too busy with her jewelry marketing; Huckabee-Sanders if she lies about it at the next PR show.

We hold our breath to see the outcome … it outta be a hoot.

P. S. Imagine if the tee markers were up just how fast they would be stolen for souvenirs – just a thought.

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