decades ago, when I worked in advertising, I gave one of my best clients a bottle of scotch for Christmas. he handed it back, and told me that it would be wrong of him to accept gifts from people he was in a position to hire.
how fucked up is it that some rando who sold kitchen gadgets had more integrity than the current president of the United States?
On a normal day, tRump accepting a personal AF1 as a gift from a rich oil kingdom is crazy enough to result in newspaper headlines and the stock market going down, but today that news is buried in his “deal” with China. tRump’s biggest thefts and grifts are TIMED, on top of every other abomination about them. The AF1 “gift”outrage will undoubtedly be buried in today’s shit-blizzard of a news cycle
Stories that should be front page are often buried inside the late Friday and weekend editions… Trumps transnational criminal syndicate masquerading as a government was scrutinized in his first term, SCOTUS has given him the power to criminal activity in the open, with zero consequences Bob!
The Republican owners of the MSM would very much like those Republican tax cuts, of course. So Murc's Law will be their lodestar, along with McCain's Law.
1. Only Democrats have political agency or accountability (or can have behaviors that they can be held accountable for).
My point is that Americans worship money and love those stupid "documentaries" on how the rich live. I've seen so many people get all excited over Melania's fucking shoes, believe it or not. (Who the actual fuck wears stiletto heels to a post-hurricane disaster site? I digress.) $40 million to show Melania getting her nails done and trying on clothes is just ludicrous and a big wet kiss from Jeff Bezos on Trump's ass. That joke of a TV show will be released in the middle of a Trump-created tragedy.
I work for an insurance company. We are nearly 100% remote now but, when we were in office, we couldn’t even accept Christmas food from the rental car company we contracted with. No bagels. No pens. No giant desk calendars. Sometimes a happy customer would drop off a gift for the claim handler. Had to be l rejected kindly. I get it. What I don’t get is how this fucking guy does whatever he wants and the majority of Americans don’t give a shit. I assume most companies are like my employer. They know but they do not care
It was the same at the insurance company I worked for Eva. Although we could for the first few years I worked there, and then the company policy changed. We used to get some great holiday dinners from the wealthy attorney who handled our cases, wonderful gift baskets, etc.
Same! I was thinking about the attorney happy hours and a few other niceties. I started in the mid 1980s. It changed in the 1990s and got really strict in the 2000s. Yes. I still work here. 😀
Not the majority. As I understand it, Trump got like 32%, Harris got 31%, some 2% voted for other parties, and the rest, the lazy asses, stayed home and watched TV. We need to point at the limp Republicans in the legislature.
Curt I've read the same thing on substack. Something like 30% of eligible voters just didn't vote. And to many forgot what tRump was like the first term and believed his utter BS again.
The fact that so many didn’t vote - if that’s true - you just want to ask them exactly how they could justify their own stupendous ignorance. Was it that imperative to not miss Wheel of Fortune for a night?
Working for the Florida state government we couldn’t even accept bottles of water while working outdoors in the Florida heat or even the opportunity to sit in a consultant/contractor’s vehicle in the AC…
But DeSantis can ‘donate’ $10 Million of Floridas Medicaid money to his wife’s so called charity. Who then immediately gave the $10 mil to be used for advertising against the decriminalization of marijuana.
FDIC regulation: Bank employees are limited to receiving gifts from a client to less than $100 per year. For fear they might be influenced to make a bad loan.
My career was in banking. Before we started the job (I was a VP but all officers) were required go to the local police station to be fingerprinted. We used to be REQUIRED to take a 2 week vacation concurrently so that transactions had time to clear that might be suspect. But being a Seditionist, law breaker, Constitution violator seems to be given a full pass.
Same here. Bank officers without integrity are fired and often banned from banking for life. Presidents of the United States, not so much. This one is immune from prosecution for federal crimes.
Threats of loss to the FDIC insurance fund are dealt with severely. Civil money penalties are assessed against the offender, without appeal.
Threats to the national and international economic system are ignored by most of the 535 members of Congress. Donald's mess is their fault.
No. The Supreme Court has blessed a dual justice system in the United States. Before Trump "no man is above the law". Now there are thousands of citizens who are immune for prosecution for any crime.
Any member of Trump World, or gave substantial money to Donald and his family, can commit any crime. That's why he was charging $1 million to $5 million for private meetings. Attorney General Pam Bondi will only prosecute crimes (or non-crimes) by non Trumpers and Trump enemies. Donald's new "pardon attorney" Ed Martin is the conduit to pay for a pardon for previous convicts. This is a copy of Putin's court system in Russia.
Interesting that the bank established this rule because violating it would hurt profitability, and not for moral or ethical reasons. And DEI (without using that terminology) will continue to thrive in the corporate world because diversity, equity and inclusion yields the highest caliber of talent and therefore drives profitability. However a *government* headed by a morally bereft individual is destined to become incompetent and inefficient and dysfunctional, on top of its moral and ethical failings. There’s no measurable bottom line with regard to serving the public, there is only the bottom line of the corrupt leader to consider when a government functionary (high or low level) makes a decision. This is a recipe for the eventual collapse of the incompetent Federal government which is now coming to power. So we might be on the road to anarchy, or to groups of states seceding, post-tRump
THANK YOU!!! You are the first news source that I have come across since yesterday when I first read about this garbage that mentions what my husband’s reaction was—that the plane would have bugs all over it! I even said what was to keep it from being secretly rigged so that it could be blown up at the push of a button! Congress needs to step in and ENFORCE the Constitution on this one—NOW!!
Now why would Qatar want to blow up the goose who will give them ginormous favors in return for the 400 million dollar flying bordello?
Bugged? Of course! Think of all the great gossip and invaluable info they could gather (and potentially sell!) But blow it up? If only they would--that would be perfect karma for Donny. Blown up in his own grift.
The possibility of a "problem" with the plane if Trump displeases them might be as good as whatever Putin's got on Trump. But while this may be a flying palace, I expect the Air Force would want to strip the plane to its studs (or whatever on a plane) to inspect for any number of reasons, and to install all the bells and whistles an AF-1 has, and what would happen to all that gilding and bling which Trump likes so much?
That's what I thought, Nancy. AF1, by definition, has all kinds of security/defense measures. The refitting of this plane to bring it up to standards will be godawful expensive. And of course, we the taxpayers will foot the bill. But I'd be very pleased if Jan's suggestion, above, turned out to be correct.
All the glitz has to be torn out when they perform a heavy D-check (maintenance inspection) after so many years, too. And it will have glitz galore - - here's more pix of a similar jet:
I haven't seen the outside of this plane, but if you recall, when ordering the new Air Force One from Boeing in his first term, Donnie Dimwit wanted to repaint. I forget just what he wanted it to look like, but it turns out the reason for the current color scheme is that it makes the plane harder to see. The Donnie wanted it, it would be easier to shoot it down with a missile. But of course, our boy Dum Dum is a child who just wants what he wants cause it's "pretty", not caring a whit that it might get somebody killed (as long as it isn't him).
Antiaircraft missiles do not use visible spectrum targeting. They use inertial guidance with ground-based radar. Some use IR and laser tracking. Some use the airplane's own radar itself.
I agree, it's probably filled with bugs & tRump is so pathetically stupid that he would probably just sit there and talk about everything that should be confidential (Of course he probably can't spell that word, let alone know its meaning....Poor stupid ass.
I once worked as government employee and at a conference I won a Montblanc pen at a raffle. I wasn’t aware (being newish) that I wasn’t allowed to accept it. When I told my boss later about it, he allowed me to keep it as long as I never brought it to work. I would have preferred a jet 🙄
The bar for having more integrity than 47 is probably somewhere in the region of the Badwater Basin in Death Valley--282 feet below sea level. Almost everyone has more integrity than Donald "Bribe Me" Trump.
But all the people who might be in line for jobs under Trump's Schedule F look at what Trump and Bondi are able to get away with and started contemplating the liquor, home remodeling, and "tips" they can demand from people doing business with the government.
Not gonna lie jeff, if someone I worked with handed me a bottle of Scotch (particularly Macallans or Lagavulin), I would be HARD pressed NOT to accept it. Hell I might even pour myself 4 fingers right there and swallow it.
tRump believes rules are for the 99.9%. And in practice, he is correct! The 0.1% Owners (as explained by George Carlin https://youtu.be/xVrMKsYdZ-A?si=Ry6NHKFTiux15tI6 ) make the rules and install hand picked judges and attorneys general (Pam Bondi in this case) to interpret the rules and make prosecutorial decisions. “It’s one big Club - and you and I are not in it!”
This was true when Carlin was alive, and tRump may be performing a service by so aggressively rubbing the feces in our faces. It all hinges on whether the smartest half of the MAGAs eventually realize it’s not just the libs who are being owned, but that THEY are being owned, too. Unfortunately that’s a mighty thin reed to pin our hopes on
Love George Carlin, you would think he was still alive because his videos are so right on! Unfortunately not everyone will watch his pearly words of wisdom because they hit too close to home. Thanks for sharing the video.
Carlin tickled us with the unexpected recognition of a deep truth in the midst of a comedy routine. And more than that, his predictions reveal him to be a modern Nostradamus. He was so brilliant and so precient, so there’s nothing funny about his prediction that as a species “we’re going away” - but the Earth will be fine. It just needed plastic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rld0KDcan_w&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD
The classic Wilhoit quote: "Conservativism consists of exactly one belief, namely that there must be ingroups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside outgroups whom the law binds but does not protect. There is nothing more to it, and never has been."
Also, loopholes for the ingroups shall be discovered, touted and made permanent, and loopholes for the outgroups shall be closed as those who who took advantage of them are publicly shamed. And ingroup losses shall be socialized, and their gains privatized. Public successes shall be hidden and eroded as failures are publicized and exploited
I agree with you on the gift giving concept, and its impacts. I'm merely saying that if it were a bottle of scotch, Id have a hard time not accepting ( I was attempting to make an off hand at humor :) )
In general, I disfavor gift giving to people with whom I work because its favoritist and almost nepotistic like , and it tends to encourage incentivization as a means for getting ahead, which can be professionally unhealthy.
I kinda feel this way about co-workers selling stuff on behalf of their kids fund raising. I never thought much about it until two co-workers got into it over both of them selling stuff. 🙄
The Press misses the obvious: Slimy foreign governments dangle shiny gold bribes to the Child President and he says "gimme gimme gimme!" Qatar fully expects a return on their investment.
If this historic anti-American bribe happens, it is the fault of 535 corrupt Congressmen and 9 corrupt Supreme Court Justices.
I work for a county and I am expressly prohibited from accepting any gifts of any kind from anyone in connection with my work unless the gift would be considered "of trivial value," such as flowers or a small tchotchke. The fact that the fucking president can accept a $400 million plane from a foreign government and I can't let someone buy me dinner at a nice restaurant makes my head explode.
When I worked in State government I used to get beautiful wall calendars and expensive gift baskets (food) at Christmas from Big Pharma. I was allowed to keep the calendars but we donated the gift baskets to the State Hospital to share at holiday parties for their patients. These were often delivered right before holidays so there was no way to refuse or return them. Later, we couldn’t even keep the calendars. Hoescht-Rousell’s out of Germany were the nicest. When I went to work in private industry, there was no limit to what we could accept unless it was nicer than the bosses, such jealousy they had! One even checked my Christmas cards to compare with his, and got pissed when a company sent a card to me and not him.
We ARE that shit hole country !!! Personally, I blame ignorance, ignorant voters, who don’t know what the hell they’re voting for and then find out later that we’re all in living in a dictatorship🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
The school I taught in had a rule about any gift that was not handmade by the giver, because otherwise they had had experiences with parents gifting things like fur coats to teachers to up their child's grades. I know certain parents with lots of money and especially if they had difficult children would be giving the class a cash "gift" in a thank you card to the teacher. I had colleagues that took them. I mean like $2,000 to 10,000.
Another colleague had no surgeon's fee on her hysterectomy bill because she was teaching the surgeon's child.
I think characterizing our "everything is transactional" president as a child is very accurate. I can just imagine what Mark Rutte is thinking about having to talk to Donny in that tacky room in the picture. All of the adults in government must be reminded of dealing with their young children on difficult days.
The culture of the school is to give gifts to the teachers for holidays and at the end of the year. A class gift is normal, and room parents decide together with the teacher what the teacher wants and then fundraises and there is a party at the end of the year, where the gift is presented. Also, given that there are many teachers that your child has so you have to get them all gifts. Typical "independent" school norms. Then, there are the extra gifts, particularly if your child is difficult and you have a lot of money.
I understand that you are kidding, but if it were the school culture you would not have to have imagination to do it because someone would clue you in.
No, Linda, I was not kidding. Occasionally I saw a few red apples on the teacher's desk at the end of the year or at Christmas. But our elementary school had an educational foundation which fund raised and provided teachers with money for field trips and school supplies. My husband was vice president of the foundation for several years and I volunteered for clean up for the Garden Party (the big fundraiser) and the School Carnival. Usually only the movers and shakers did clean up because no one else wanted to do it. The rest did set up. The movers and shakers had an after party at someone's house and didn't get home until about 4am. In the late Eighties and early Nineties we raised about 100K from items donated to the auction at the Garden Party. This was a public school in a high end suburb north of Berkeley. Now I think they raise about $175K.
Harvard University loses billions in funding due to its alleged "antisemitism", foreign students who voiced support for Gaza are renditioned off the streets, and the Convicted Felon's family and administration are accepting lavish gifts from the biggest sponsor of Hamas. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills every damned day.
Conservatives and what used to be the GOP have made us into this shithole country devoid of ethics and morality. Ironically, those hateful right wing fucktards are always the ones claiming the moral high ground.
Also they always crow about the Constitution when it suits their argument. And the party of fiscal responsibility when they grift and waste more than everyone. But enough of the voting public swallows this bullshit because of their own racism, misogyny, and resentments. How's that working out now, dumbshits?
For sure! The repubs' fantacy to reshape the constitution in their own image has worn out. Where are the "Institutionalist" Dems? And debt! Now that's a grift if I ever saw one. Imagine the billions siphoned off the Iraq war!
Yoooge money (our money) went to the private contractors like Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, which Dick Cheney was CEO of before he resigned to be W's puppetmaster, er, VP
Agree 100%! How many years? Always throwing up smoke screens to hide their culture war combat. I almost cried when John McCain bent to the evangelical zelots.
If in the future there's such a thing as a history book, I hope it records the flagrant fuck you because we can corruption. This is a very weird time to be alive.
It sure as hell is like a bad dream that never ends. The Emoluments Clause, bribes and whatever shady shit Dump continues to pull continues like it's another ordinary day at the office. Bondi gives all of this her wicked blessing while the GOP Congress sits around with their thumbs up their asses making millions from insider trading. What are the chances that gaudy, whore house like plane ends up in a library that may not ever be built? Instead of a library, let's push for a building called the Presidential Bribery.
Trump Presidential Library—Ha! Ha! Ha! For a man who has never read a book. If he had intended to create a Presidential Library, he would have started it four years ago after he lost to Biden. There will never be a Trump Presidential Library. That plane will be his personal plane after he leaves office (IF he leaves office).
An outhouse would be more fitting for donny than a library. I don't think he can really read. When he tries to read something to us it gets all choppy.
Your reference to Comer Fudd is right on. Donald the Juvenile Delinquent is Congress' fault. There's some number (?) of unbought, honest, afraid, honorable members of the House and Senate. What is the red line that pushes them to do what's right? Donald keeps pushing the red lines in their face.
Instead of begging for money for 2026 elections, the Dems should be campaigning behind the scenes to this Honorable Cohort to impeach and convict and expel the Child from the White House. And follow up with prosecutions for every one of his enablers. Starting with the corrupt Attorney General.
I have serious doubts about there being enough honorable Congresscritters to impeach and convict, but I agree that the Dems should be exploring the possibility, Burke. While they're laying a strategy to make sure there are [valid] elections next year.
For some reason the DNC just can't bring themselves to tell the truth about Donald. Donnie the raging Child King is wreaking financial havoc, harming American families, blowing holes in the Constitution, committing federal crimes, abusing his office and power, using federal agencies and selling out to foreign governments to line his pockets. And they could stop him. TODAY. Instead they send emails asking for $3.
I'm not sure they could stop him today, but yeah, there are WAY too few of them calling him out. Between the House and Senate, there are, what? Maybe a dozen and a half, at most, who are speaking out. Plus Pritzker, Walz, Mills, and a couple other governors. When there should be 262 in Congress and 23 governors, all being LOUD.
The DNC announced that they will be holding a rally on the steps of the Capital to make a formal announcement. Every Dem (and some GOP) representative and senator will attend the rally
House Leader Jeffries will announce:
"We work for the people who pay us. Our allegiance is to you, the American People. We must tell you the truth. The gifts that President Trump is accepting are not gifts. They are payments for his service to them. As of this date, President Trump says he no longer works for the American people. He is employed by the people and nations who pay him. Russian oligarchs and Russian banks. Qatar oil shieks and their associates. Hamas. Hezbollah. The Saudi Royal Family. Every elected representative and senator in Congress now demands that he resign from the Presidency so he can devote his time and loyalty and allegiance to the nations who pay him. He cannot work for the United States of America and for foreign governments at the same time."
They tend to embarrass us , rather than help us. I've been almost ashamed to be a Dem but it's still better than the alternative. I blame DNC for us being stuck with idiot trump. If they had run Bernie instead of Hillary I think he could have beaten trump easily but they robbed us of the chance to ever find out. We would be in a much better place now if they had. Hillary was good as Sec'y of State but I don't think she would have been as good as President. I'm hoping AOC will run next time, she's tough and I think she can win, though I thought Kamala would surely win too! At least there are some good younger people who are Dems and will make good lawmakers when they've learned a bit more. I hope I didn't offend anyone, but this is the way I feel. Best wishes to all of you!
Pam Bondi isn't exactly a poster child for ethics. As Florida AG she was investigating Trump's bogus university but dropped it after Trump made a big contribution to her campaign.
Jeff, thank you for reminding all of us that Bleach Bottle Blondie Bondi was a registered foreign agent of Qatar.. Question.. how much $$$ did she receive for approving this bribe?
The president just announced his policy on drug prices . He used the term favored nations . He got stuck on it like it's the first time he's heard it , OMG
But....there's no pause, no division day-to-day. The shit happens continuously---it's on a conveyor belt. I get fresh-hell "breaking news" alerts at 2 AM.
Then you hate much of the time. The sea of crap keeps moving faster and faster. Seriously. Who can keep track? Never mind trying to prioritize the crap. Let’s see. This is a DEFCON 4 piece of crap. This is a 1. Oh!!! There’s another!! And another. 😡🤮
He tried this and got shot down by the republican congress after they were lobbied against it by Big Pharma. Then he got shot down in court on a technicality for not doing a required public hearing on it. It would be great to have this, as all other developed countries (Canada, the UK, and the EU, etc.) do that and get the very best national pricing. But I think it was a dog and pony show by The Orange Buffoon and destined for failure, like his alternative health plan and infrastructure weeks that never happened. So yeah it’s a way to throw out Biden’s success in getting huge reduced pricing on diabetes and other most expensive drugs, to supposedly replace it with this Most Favored Nations clause. Big Pharma has too much influence on the FDA to continue ripping off the USA with pricing antics. Trump won’t interfere, it’s just BS. You probably know this but I have deep background in this and wanted to get this in here before people start believing it would be a bad thing if it did happen, and fighting against it. It would honestly be the best and fairest thing provided all research science would get refunded in the universities and hospitals, etc. Lobbying of Congress by Big Pharma should be outlawed. SCOTUS should never have passed Citizens United, which resulted in more corruption in pricing.
In what kind of shithole country does the golden calf run for re-election and win? One where Comer Fudd spends years chasing Hunter’s trouser snake while Donny gets gifted a flying Versailles from Qatar. Article I, Section 9? Never heard of her. But sure, let’s rename oceans and call it diplomacy. Meanwhile, evangelicals chant "moral clarity" while their messiah sells crypto grift and presidential favors like indulgences for oligarchs. Imagine if Biden got a jet—Comer would’ve self-baptized in Red Bull. But hey, Donny’s just living proof that in America, if you're rich enough, corruption gets mistaken for charisma.
We wish. MSM will blandly report as fact anything bleated by the Trump cabal. They'll celebrate Qatar's $400 m. bribe as an "enormous savings to U.S. taxpayers" -- new Air Force One for free! Winning!
You KNOW margie t greene would for a Democratic president, for any reason whatsoever (and it's possible she DID submit a bill like that while Biden was here, for some frivolous headline grab - I never read anything with mtg in the headline so I may have missed it)
decades ago, when I worked in advertising, I gave one of my best clients a bottle of scotch for Christmas. he handed it back, and told me that it would be wrong of him to accept gifts from people he was in a position to hire.
how fucked up is it that some rando who sold kitchen gadgets had more integrity than the current president of the United States?
On a normal day, tRump accepting a personal AF1 as a gift from a rich oil kingdom is crazy enough to result in newspaper headlines and the stock market going down, but today that news is buried in his “deal” with China. tRump’s biggest thefts and grifts are TIMED, on top of every other abomination about them. The AF1 “gift”outrage will undoubtedly be buried in today’s shit-blizzard of a news cycle
Stories that should be front page are often buried inside the late Friday and weekend editions… Trumps transnational criminal syndicate masquerading as a government was scrutinized in his first term, SCOTUS has given him the power to criminal activity in the open, with zero consequences Bob!
The Republican owners of the MSM would very much like those Republican tax cuts, of course. So Murc's Law will be their lodestar, along with McCain's Law.
1. Only Democrats have political agency or accountability (or can have behaviors that they can be held accountable for).
2. Minimize Republican crimes, magnify Democratic missteps and minimize Democratic successes.
Asimov's three laws of Republicans:
1st, a Republican must not harm a corporation nor, through inaction, allow a corporation to come to harm;
2nd, a Republican must obey any orders given by a corporation, unless this would violate the 1st law;
3rd, a Republican must act to preserve his political existence, unless this would violate the 1st or 2nd law.
That's deep.
Also, extramarital affairs, etc. are way more prevalent in republicans than they are in Democrats. For decades!
Bingo! Each time we're left dumbfounded and Donny is on to the next outrage.
Distractions. Americans actually love them. Just watch what happens when the $40 million "biography" on Melania Trump hits Netflix.
Yes Americans like distractions and more specifically, a well matched pair of distractions
Yuck. Sexism is not welcome.
My point is that Americans worship money and love those stupid "documentaries" on how the rich live. I've seen so many people get all excited over Melania's fucking shoes, believe it or not. (Who the actual fuck wears stiletto heels to a post-hurricane disaster site? I digress.) $40 million to show Melania getting her nails done and trying on clothes is just ludicrous and a big wet kiss from Jeff Bezos on Trump's ass. That joke of a TV show will be released in the middle of a Trump-created tragedy.
I work for an insurance company. We are nearly 100% remote now but, when we were in office, we couldn’t even accept Christmas food from the rental car company we contracted with. No bagels. No pens. No giant desk calendars. Sometimes a happy customer would drop off a gift for the claim handler. Had to be l rejected kindly. I get it. What I don’t get is how this fucking guy does whatever he wants and the majority of Americans don’t give a shit. I assume most companies are like my employer. They know but they do not care
Eva, I work in an Alderman’s office…same thing NO GIFTS!
It was the same at the insurance company I worked for Eva. Although we could for the first few years I worked there, and then the company policy changed. We used to get some great holiday dinners from the wealthy attorney who handled our cases, wonderful gift baskets, etc.
Same! I was thinking about the attorney happy hours and a few other niceties. I started in the mid 1980s. It changed in the 1990s and got really strict in the 2000s. Yes. I still work here. 😀
Not the majority. As I understand it, Trump got like 32%, Harris got 31%, some 2% voted for other parties, and the rest, the lazy asses, stayed home and watched TV. We need to point at the limp Republicans in the legislature.
Curt I've read the same thing on substack. Something like 30% of eligible voters just didn't vote. And to many forgot what tRump was like the first term and believed his utter BS again.
The fact that so many didn’t vote - if that’s true - you just want to ask them exactly how they could justify their own stupendous ignorance. Was it that imperative to not miss Wheel of Fortune for a night?
Oh bullshit. Between 7 and 13 million Dems did not vote. Let's face reality. THOSE are the "limp".
Working for the Florida state government we couldn’t even accept bottles of water while working outdoors in the Florida heat or even the opportunity to sit in a consultant/contractor’s vehicle in the AC…
But DeSantis can ‘donate’ $10 Million of Floridas Medicaid money to his wife’s so called charity. Who then immediately gave the $10 mil to be used for advertising against the decriminalization of marijuana.
I mean our previous governor was Rick Scott so Medicaid/Medicare fraud is really where Florida *shines* after all.
FDIC regulation: Bank employees are limited to receiving gifts from a client to less than $100 per year. For fear they might be influenced to make a bad loan.
My career was in banking. Before we started the job (I was a VP but all officers) were required go to the local police station to be fingerprinted. We used to be REQUIRED to take a 2 week vacation concurrently so that transactions had time to clear that might be suspect. But being a Seditionist, law breaker, Constitution violator seems to be given a full pass.
Same here. Bank officers without integrity are fired and often banned from banking for life. Presidents of the United States, not so much. This one is immune from prosecution for federal crimes.
Threats of loss to the FDIC insurance fund are dealt with severely. Civil money penalties are assessed against the offender, without appeal.
Threats to the national and international economic system are ignored by most of the 535 members of Congress. Donald's mess is their fault.
Does this mean judges have never worked in the business world?
No. The Supreme Court has blessed a dual justice system in the United States. Before Trump "no man is above the law". Now there are thousands of citizens who are immune for prosecution for any crime.
Any member of Trump World, or gave substantial money to Donald and his family, can commit any crime. That's why he was charging $1 million to $5 million for private meetings. Attorney General Pam Bondi will only prosecute crimes (or non-crimes) by non Trumpers and Trump enemies. Donald's new "pardon attorney" Ed Martin is the conduit to pay for a pardon for previous convicts. This is a copy of Putin's court system in Russia.
Okay, how do we get rid of the Supreme Court? All my life, no man, even the president, has been above the law. We need to make this real again.
Interesting that the bank established this rule because violating it would hurt profitability, and not for moral or ethical reasons. And DEI (without using that terminology) will continue to thrive in the corporate world because diversity, equity and inclusion yields the highest caliber of talent and therefore drives profitability. However a *government* headed by a morally bereft individual is destined to become incompetent and inefficient and dysfunctional, on top of its moral and ethical failings. There’s no measurable bottom line with regard to serving the public, there is only the bottom line of the corrupt leader to consider when a government functionary (high or low level) makes a decision. This is a recipe for the eventual collapse of the incompetent Federal government which is now coming to power. So we might be on the road to anarchy, or to groups of states seceding, post-tRump
THANK YOU!!! You are the first news source that I have come across since yesterday when I first read about this garbage that mentions what my husband’s reaction was—that the plane would have bugs all over it! I even said what was to keep it from being secretly rigged so that it could be blown up at the push of a button! Congress needs to step in and ENFORCE the Constitution on this one—NOW!!
Now why would Qatar want to blow up the goose who will give them ginormous favors in return for the 400 million dollar flying bordello?
Bugged? Of course! Think of all the great gossip and invaluable info they could gather (and potentially sell!) But blow it up? If only they would--that would be perfect karma for Donny. Blown up in his own grift.
The possibility of a "problem" with the plane if Trump displeases them might be as good as whatever Putin's got on Trump. But while this may be a flying palace, I expect the Air Force would want to strip the plane to its studs (or whatever on a plane) to inspect for any number of reasons, and to install all the bells and whistles an AF-1 has, and what would happen to all that gilding and bling which Trump likes so much?
Apparently it could take up to 2-3 years to retrofit it for that reason. Me thinks ole donnie doesn't have that much time, hopefully.
That's what I thought, Nancy. AF1, by definition, has all kinds of security/defense measures. The refitting of this plane to bring it up to standards will be godawful expensive. And of course, we the taxpayers will foot the bill. But I'd be very pleased if Jan's suggestion, above, turned out to be correct.
Yes, I can see that a lot of people would pay to push a button to blow this plane up.
A LOT! Millions, maybe. Well...except for the collateral damage. The military members and Secret Service assigned to the plane aren't there by choice.
All the glitz has to be torn out when they perform a heavy D-check (maintenance inspection) after so many years, too. And it will have glitz galore - - here's more pix of a similar jet:
https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-business-jet-747-8i-private-photos-interior-2020-3
When its usefulness is used up.
I haven't seen the outside of this plane, but if you recall, when ordering the new Air Force One from Boeing in his first term, Donnie Dimwit wanted to repaint. I forget just what he wanted it to look like, but it turns out the reason for the current color scheme is that it makes the plane harder to see. The Donnie wanted it, it would be easier to shoot it down with a missile. But of course, our boy Dum Dum is a child who just wants what he wants cause it's "pretty", not caring a whit that it might get somebody killed (as long as it isn't him).
Antiaircraft missiles do not use visible spectrum targeting. They use inertial guidance with ground-based radar. Some use IR and laser tracking. Some use the airplane's own radar itself.
enforce - after the thing is blown up (with entire WH inside)
I agree, it's probably filled with bugs & tRump is so pathetically stupid that he would probably just sit there and talk about everything that should be confidential (Of course he probably can't spell that word, let alone know its meaning....Poor stupid ass.
Give me that button.
I once worked as government employee and at a conference I won a Montblanc pen at a raffle. I wasn’t aware (being newish) that I wasn’t allowed to accept it. When I told my boss later about it, he allowed me to keep it as long as I never brought it to work. I would have preferred a jet 🙄
The bar for having more integrity than 47 is probably somewhere in the region of the Badwater Basin in Death Valley--282 feet below sea level. Almost everyone has more integrity than Donald "Bribe Me" Trump.
But all the people who might be in line for jobs under Trump's Schedule F look at what Trump and Bondi are able to get away with and started contemplating the liquor, home remodeling, and "tips" they can demand from people doing business with the government.
Not gonna lie jeff, if someone I worked with handed me a bottle of Scotch (particularly Macallans or Lagavulin), I would be HARD pressed NOT to accept it. Hell I might even pour myself 4 fingers right there and swallow it.
every other client that year happily accepted their gift. but the refusal did make me rethink the whole idea
tRump believes rules are for the 99.9%. And in practice, he is correct! The 0.1% Owners (as explained by George Carlin https://youtu.be/xVrMKsYdZ-A?si=Ry6NHKFTiux15tI6 ) make the rules and install hand picked judges and attorneys general (Pam Bondi in this case) to interpret the rules and make prosecutorial decisions. “It’s one big Club - and you and I are not in it!”
This was true when Carlin was alive, and tRump may be performing a service by so aggressively rubbing the feces in our faces. It all hinges on whether the smartest half of the MAGAs eventually realize it’s not just the libs who are being owned, but that THEY are being owned, too. Unfortunately that’s a mighty thin reed to pin our hopes on
Love George Carlin, you would think he was still alive because his videos are so right on! Unfortunately not everyone will watch his pearly words of wisdom because they hit too close to home. Thanks for sharing the video.
And thank you, Robin.
Carlin tickled us with the unexpected recognition of a deep truth in the midst of a comedy routine. And more than that, his predictions reveal him to be a modern Nostradamus. He was so brilliant and so precient, so there’s nothing funny about his prediction that as a species “we’re going away” - but the Earth will be fine. It just needed plastic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rld0KDcan_w&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD
The classic Wilhoit quote: "Conservativism consists of exactly one belief, namely that there must be ingroups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside outgroups whom the law binds but does not protect. There is nothing more to it, and never has been."
Also, loopholes for the ingroups shall be discovered, touted and made permanent, and loopholes for the outgroups shall be closed as those who who took advantage of them are publicly shamed. And ingroup losses shall be socialized, and their gains privatized. Public successes shall be hidden and eroded as failures are publicized and exploited
I agree with you on the gift giving concept, and its impacts. I'm merely saying that if it were a bottle of scotch, Id have a hard time not accepting ( I was attempting to make an off hand at humor :) )
In general, I disfavor gift giving to people with whom I work because its favoritist and almost nepotistic like , and it tends to encourage incentivization as a means for getting ahead, which can be professionally unhealthy.
I kinda feel this way about co-workers selling stuff on behalf of their kids fund raising. I never thought much about it until two co-workers got into it over both of them selling stuff. 🙄
The Press misses the obvious: Slimy foreign governments dangle shiny gold bribes to the Child President and he says "gimme gimme gimme!" Qatar fully expects a return on their investment.
If this historic anti-American bribe happens, it is the fault of 535 corrupt Congressmen and 9 corrupt Supreme Court Justices.
Don’t forget the ~77 million tRump voters, plus the tens of millions who didn’t like tRump but didn’t bother to vote
"The Press" doesn't 'miss' anything. They are perpetually and deliberately turning blind eyes to the most powerful.
When will people get done with the fantasy illusions of normalcy bias? Not yet, apparently.
WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE THE FUCK UP!
“oh, he can't be bought", "that's what I like about him so much..."
said maga cultists back during the 2016 campaign
I work for a county and I am expressly prohibited from accepting any gifts of any kind from anyone in connection with my work unless the gift would be considered "of trivial value," such as flowers or a small tchotchke. The fact that the fucking president can accept a $400 million plane from a foreign government and I can't let someone buy me dinner at a nice restaurant makes my head explode.
It should.
We just need to get these shit wezells OUT!!!!!
When I worked in State government I used to get beautiful wall calendars and expensive gift baskets (food) at Christmas from Big Pharma. I was allowed to keep the calendars but we donated the gift baskets to the State Hospital to share at holiday parties for their patients. These were often delivered right before holidays so there was no way to refuse or return them. Later, we couldn’t even keep the calendars. Hoescht-Rousell’s out of Germany were the nicest. When I went to work in private industry, there was no limit to what we could accept unless it was nicer than the bosses, such jealousy they had! One even checked my Christmas cards to compare with his, and got pissed when a company sent a card to me and not him.
We ARE that shit hole country !!! Personally, I blame ignorance, ignorant voters, who don’t know what the hell they’re voting for and then find out later that we’re all in living in a dictatorship🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
What a surprise. As if we didn't know about Project 2025 last year. The stupid it burns.
The school I taught in had a rule about any gift that was not handmade by the giver, because otherwise they had had experiences with parents gifting things like fur coats to teachers to up their child's grades. I know certain parents with lots of money and especially if they had difficult children would be giving the class a cash "gift" in a thank you card to the teacher. I had colleagues that took them. I mean like $2,000 to 10,000.
Another colleague had no surgeon's fee on her hysterectomy bill because she was teaching the surgeon's child.
I think characterizing our "everything is transactional" president as a child is very accurate. I can just imagine what Mark Rutte is thinking about having to talk to Donny in that tacky room in the picture. All of the adults in government must be reminded of dealing with their young children on difficult days.
Gosh, I must be naive. I never ever considered giving a gift to one of my son's teachers for better grades. I must work on my imagination.
The culture of the school is to give gifts to the teachers for holidays and at the end of the year. A class gift is normal, and room parents decide together with the teacher what the teacher wants and then fundraises and there is a party at the end of the year, where the gift is presented. Also, given that there are many teachers that your child has so you have to get them all gifts. Typical "independent" school norms. Then, there are the extra gifts, particularly if your child is difficult and you have a lot of money.
I understand that you are kidding, but if it were the school culture you would not have to have imagination to do it because someone would clue you in.
No, Linda, I was not kidding. Occasionally I saw a few red apples on the teacher's desk at the end of the year or at Christmas. But our elementary school had an educational foundation which fund raised and provided teachers with money for field trips and school supplies. My husband was vice president of the foundation for several years and I volunteered for clean up for the Garden Party (the big fundraiser) and the School Carnival. Usually only the movers and shakers did clean up because no one else wanted to do it. The rest did set up. The movers and shakers had an after party at someone's house and didn't get home until about 4am. In the late Eighties and early Nineties we raised about 100K from items donated to the auction at the Garden Party. This was a public school in a high end suburb north of Berkeley. Now I think they raise about $175K.
I’m surely not one bit surprised! This shithole country and shithole wannabe president will take all they can get their greedy hands on!!!
No doubt the toilet is gold and the showers are golden.
Nothing but the best for King Numbnuts Mcshitzenpants and his good buddy Howard Nutlick.
You would have to have a gold toilet in there! Otherwise it would interrupt the *flow*.
It's probably bugged too. They know Trump talks out of his ass.
😂😂👍
🤣
But are the diapers gold, too?
But it definitely needs a golden escalator!
Only if he’s a bad boy.. or a good one. May the sheets be plastic.
I'd guess they'd recycle the Golden part of the showers. I guess.
Well played Mark, touché!!
Did you guys see the interior?? It's ALL fools gold....
😂😂😂
I can't imagine the sheer amount of fuel it takes for that heavy behemoth to even get off the ground.
"A heavy behemoth to get off."
Are you talking about the plane or trump?
Now that you've posed that question, the gold is probably pretty heavy as well.
Harvard University loses billions in funding due to its alleged "antisemitism", foreign students who voiced support for Gaza are renditioned off the streets, and the Convicted Felon's family and administration are accepting lavish gifts from the biggest sponsor of Hamas. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills every damned day.
"I feel like I'm taking crazy pills every damned day."
Best expression of the mental vibe these days I've seen yet, Krista. Spot on!
If the Ruskies offered him the same plane , you know he would accept it from his good “friend” Put-It-In.
Truth.
Conservatives and what used to be the GOP have made us into this shithole country devoid of ethics and morality. Ironically, those hateful right wing fucktards are always the ones claiming the moral high ground.
That's what infuriates me the most. These RepubliCons call themselves the party of law and order and family values. It's preposterous.
Also they always crow about the Constitution when it suits their argument. And the party of fiscal responsibility when they grift and waste more than everyone. But enough of the voting public swallows this bullshit because of their own racism, misogyny, and resentments. How's that working out now, dumbshits?
For sure! The repubs' fantacy to reshape the constitution in their own image has worn out. Where are the "Institutionalist" Dems? And debt! Now that's a grift if I ever saw one. Imagine the billions siphoned off the Iraq war!
I've heard the Iraq debacle cost a couple of $trillions. But who's counting? Certainly not the Party of Fiscal Responsibility
That sounds about right- plus cash.
Yoooge money (our money) went to the private contractors like Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, which Dick Cheney was CEO of before he resigned to be W's puppetmaster, er, VP
Don't get me started on what the Talibangelicals have done to Jesus' teachings.
Look how made they've gotten when Pope Leo started talking about Jesus.
Agree 100%! How many years? Always throwing up smoke screens to hide their culture war combat. I almost cried when John McCain bent to the evangelical zelots.
Right! So tired of the hypocrisy!
Right on Doc!!
https://thistleandmoss.com/p/the-great-american-drug-swindle-trumps
The same country that allows a whiny bitch president to demand pharma jump when ever he bitches
Also the same country that also allows Trump to decrease the tariffs on China and call that a win
A swindler and liar…and most people will fall for it….
The nadir of our existence on this blue spinning cosmic rock Tess!!
If in the future there's such a thing as a history book, I hope it records the flagrant fuck you because we can corruption. This is a very weird time to be alive.
It sure as hell is like a bad dream that never ends. The Emoluments Clause, bribes and whatever shady shit Dump continues to pull continues like it's another ordinary day at the office. Bondi gives all of this her wicked blessing while the GOP Congress sits around with their thumbs up their asses making millions from insider trading. What are the chances that gaudy, whore house like plane ends up in a library that may not ever be built? Instead of a library, let's push for a building called the Presidential Bribery.
The plane might make a cool casino but Donny would probably bankrupt it.
Probably???
He has a track record, doesn't he???
Trump Presidential Library—Ha! Ha! Ha! For a man who has never read a book. If he had intended to create a Presidential Library, he would have started it four years ago after he lost to Biden. There will never be a Trump Presidential Library. That plane will be his personal plane after he leaves office (IF he leaves office).
An outhouse would be more fitting for donny than a library. I don't think he can really read. When he tries to read something to us it gets all choppy.
If evil wins, THEY will write the history books
If evil wins, there will be no books.
ℂ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪, 𝔼𝕍𝕀𝕃 ℍ𝔸𝕊 𝔸𝕃ℝ𝔼𝔸𝔻𝕐 𝕎𝕆ℕ.
"𝙼𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝."
Your reference to Comer Fudd is right on. Donald the Juvenile Delinquent is Congress' fault. There's some number (?) of unbought, honest, afraid, honorable members of the House and Senate. What is the red line that pushes them to do what's right? Donald keeps pushing the red lines in their face.
Instead of begging for money for 2026 elections, the Dems should be campaigning behind the scenes to this Honorable Cohort to impeach and convict and expel the Child from the White House. And follow up with prosecutions for every one of his enablers. Starting with the corrupt Attorney General.
It's nice to have dreams.
I have serious doubts about there being enough honorable Congresscritters to impeach and convict, but I agree that the Dems should be exploring the possibility, Burke. While they're laying a strategy to make sure there are [valid] elections next year.
For some reason the DNC just can't bring themselves to tell the truth about Donald. Donnie the raging Child King is wreaking financial havoc, harming American families, blowing holes in the Constitution, committing federal crimes, abusing his office and power, using federal agencies and selling out to foreign governments to line his pockets. And they could stop him. TODAY. Instead they send emails asking for $3.
I'm not sure they could stop him today, but yeah, there are WAY too few of them calling him out. Between the House and Senate, there are, what? Maybe a dozen and a half, at most, who are speaking out. Plus Pritzker, Walz, Mills, and a couple other governors. When there should be 262 in Congress and 23 governors, all being LOUD.
The DNC announced that they will be holding a rally on the steps of the Capital to make a formal announcement. Every Dem (and some GOP) representative and senator will attend the rally
House Leader Jeffries will announce:
"We work for the people who pay us. Our allegiance is to you, the American People. We must tell you the truth. The gifts that President Trump is accepting are not gifts. They are payments for his service to them. As of this date, President Trump says he no longer works for the American people. He is employed by the people and nations who pay him. Russian oligarchs and Russian banks. Qatar oil shieks and their associates. Hamas. Hezbollah. The Saudi Royal Family. Every elected representative and senator in Congress now demands that he resign from the Presidency so he can devote his time and loyalty and allegiance to the nations who pay him. He cannot work for the United States of America and for foreign governments at the same time."
Is this true?
It should be. It’s time for the Democrats to get off their asses. Please forward this to the DNC.
I don't think you'd get all the Dems there with guns to their heads. Schumer, Pelosi, and Cuellar come to mind....
They tend to embarrass us , rather than help us. I've been almost ashamed to be a Dem but it's still better than the alternative. I blame DNC for us being stuck with idiot trump. If they had run Bernie instead of Hillary I think he could have beaten trump easily but they robbed us of the chance to ever find out. We would be in a much better place now if they had. Hillary was good as Sec'y of State but I don't think she would have been as good as President. I'm hoping AOC will run next time, she's tough and I think she can win, though I thought Kamala would surely win too! At least there are some good younger people who are Dems and will make good lawmakers when they've learned a bit more. I hope I didn't offend anyone, but this is the way I feel. Best wishes to all of you!
Which of the Dems will play Diogenes? And good luck with all that.
Someone who carries a real lamp around.
Pam Bondi isn't exactly a poster child for ethics. As Florida AG she was investigating Trump's bogus university but dropped it after Trump made a big contribution to her campaign.
Only cost him $25K, I believe. How far things have come since then!
Like Dr. Evil demanding $1 million. Seems like small-time money for selling out your ethics and dignity.
Didn’t bother Bribery Barbie the least little bit.
🎯 🙄
She is a former lobbyist for *drum roll* Qatar.
Bondi is a dick.
She’s as mendacious klafte Daniel, you got her pegged!!
Jeff, thank you for reminding all of us that Bleach Bottle Blondie Bondi was a registered foreign agent of Qatar.. Question.. how much $$$ did she receive for approving this bribe?
Exactly Fastball, the $118 k she receives monthly probably doesn’t cut a deal like this $400M bribe!!
The president just announced his policy on drug prices . He used the term favored nations . He got stuck on it like it's the first time he's heard it , OMG
I hate it when shit happens while I'm writing about yesterday's shit
With trump "shit happens" is an accurate term because most of what he does is shit and the rest is bull shit
But....there's no pause, no division day-to-day. The shit happens continuously---it's on a conveyor belt. I get fresh-hell "breaking news" alerts at 2 AM.
Then you hate much of the time. The sea of crap keeps moving faster and faster. Seriously. Who can keep track? Never mind trying to prioritize the crap. Let’s see. This is a DEFCON 4 piece of crap. This is a 1. Oh!!! There’s another!! And another. 😡🤮
He tried this and got shot down by the republican congress after they were lobbied against it by Big Pharma. Then he got shot down in court on a technicality for not doing a required public hearing on it. It would be great to have this, as all other developed countries (Canada, the UK, and the EU, etc.) do that and get the very best national pricing. But I think it was a dog and pony show by The Orange Buffoon and destined for failure, like his alternative health plan and infrastructure weeks that never happened. So yeah it’s a way to throw out Biden’s success in getting huge reduced pricing on diabetes and other most expensive drugs, to supposedly replace it with this Most Favored Nations clause. Big Pharma has too much influence on the FDA to continue ripping off the USA with pricing antics. Trump won’t interfere, it’s just BS. You probably know this but I have deep background in this and wanted to get this in here before people start believing it would be a bad thing if it did happen, and fighting against it. It would honestly be the best and fairest thing provided all research science would get refunded in the universities and hospitals, etc. Lobbying of Congress by Big Pharma should be outlawed. SCOTUS should never have passed Citizens United, which resulted in more corruption in pricing.
For decades I have wondered why on earth we have to have lobbyists at all. They always make everything worse!!
Wow the payola stink is strong this week. WTAF!!
Oh, its gonna get worse after this China Tariff drop bullshit.
It never gets better, does it?
I keep hoping, but every day my fucked up Bingo card for "Trump Dystopia Bingo" gets a space filled on it, and then Im like "Ok, NOW we are fucked."
Hahaha!
Manipulating the market and making everyone crazy while he and his cronies and ass kissers get richer, is his super power.
In what kind of shithole country does the golden calf run for re-election and win? One where Comer Fudd spends years chasing Hunter’s trouser snake while Donny gets gifted a flying Versailles from Qatar. Article I, Section 9? Never heard of her. But sure, let’s rename oceans and call it diplomacy. Meanwhile, evangelicals chant "moral clarity" while their messiah sells crypto grift and presidential favors like indulgences for oligarchs. Imagine if Biden got a jet—Comer would’ve self-baptized in Red Bull. But hey, Donny’s just living proof that in America, if you're rich enough, corruption gets mistaken for charisma.
Media…🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗 (closest I could find to a cricket on my keyboard)🤷🏻♀️ C’mon media and congress…do your job!!!!
We wish. MSM will blandly report as fact anything bleated by the Trump cabal. They'll celebrate Qatar's $400 m. bribe as an "enormous savings to U.S. taxpayers" -- new Air Force One for free! Winning!
We have already paid for 2 new 747s that have been getting presidential upgrades for several years now. At a cost of $Bilions.
And also for all the special spy features on "The Beast"!
The Beast is the name given the presidential limousine. I don’t know what spy features they would install there.
You can count on them to do their best to ignore the whole thing Tess!!
Time for a Democrat to introduce the “USA is now a Banana Republic” bill and sarcastically present all the bullshit for congressional approval
You KNOW margie t greene would for a Democratic president, for any reason whatsoever (and it's possible she DID submit a bill like that while Biden was here, for some frivolous headline grab - I never read anything with mtg in the headline so I may have missed it)
❤️💙🤍 it!
AF1 is decked out with all kind of security
measures and anti missile tech- will that be provided by the Qatarians? hope not
Grifter is not a strong enough word for this Class A felon
You can’t make this shit up!🤬