by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump sits up in bed - a cheeseburger in one hand and his cell phone in the other, with Fox Noise blasting wall-to-wall vindictiveness in the background. Occasionally he will set the cheeseburger aside so that he can use both tiny hands to tweet out policies that literally control and define the lives of billions of people who inhabit his planet. And while those policies often negatively impact the little people, the ones who actually make the world function, they always benefit Trump personally. That's the way he rolls. It is never about what the other guy needs - Trump's ultimate focus is on Trump. Always.
As an example, this past January Trump's secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, announced a plan that would allow almost the entire coastline of the United States to be leased for offshore drilling by the petroleum companies. Before the ink had even dried on that pronouncement, however, Secretary Zinke backtracked and exempted the state of Florida from the administration's gift to big oil. Florida, he reasoned, was special because it was a tourist state. Other coastal states that thought they were tourist states, most particularly California, could go suck eggs.
In addition to being a "tourist state," Florida also voted for Donald Trump in 2016 while California went solidly and bigly for Hillary Clinton. Also, Florida is home to some very classy Trump properties, such as Mar-a-Lago, which he visits on an almost weekly basis. Trump has only been to California once during his first fifteen months in office.
Red Florida is personally important to Donald John Trump. Blue California is not. The only tourist the Trump administration gives a damn about is Donald John Trump.
Another example: Trump is in a permanent rage over the news coverage and opinion that is waged against him in the Washington Post, a highly influential newspaper with a national following. The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of on-line retailing giant Amazon.com. While the vindictive Trump likes to rail against all stories that portray him negatively as "fake news," declaring all-out war on any newspaper is problematic, what with that pesky First Amendment and all noise that "left-wing" judges would make about it - as well as the quantity of news sources that displease Donald Trump. It would be a lot harder than just ordering an air strike on Syria.
So Trump has chosen to make an example of The Washington Post and to do so by going after its owner, Jeff Bezos. For the past several weeks The Donald has been publicly decrying Amazon for allegedly cheating states out of sales tax and being a financial drain on the U.S.Postal Service. The unspoken message to consumers is that one of the reasons postal rates are so high is because Amazon is taking advantage of the USPS package rates.
Trump appears to be arguing that one retailer, Amazon.com, should be paying more than standard rates to use the nation's postal service - an argument that is somewhat baffling since the USPS sets its own rates. If the agency is losing money on shipping packages, why not just raise their rates? Or does Trump somehow think that Amazon should be paying a higher rate than other shippers?
It's all very confusing, perhaps even confusing to Donald Trump - whose own business sales organization neglects to collect sales tax in many states, including New York where it is based, and also sends many of their packages through the postal service. This week Trump has announced the formation of a commission headed by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to study the rate structure of the United States Postal Service. Mnuchin, a paragon of ethical banking practices, ought to get things straightened out - at least to Donald Trump's satisfaction.
Got that, Bezos? Trump will get you, one way or another.
If Trump does have any wiggle room for helping others than himself, then those "others" are likely to be close family members. Presidential daughter, Ivanka, a woman with delusions that she is Secretary of State, is a rag merchant (clothing importer) who brings in most of her wares from China. To no one's surprise, Trump's recently initiated trade war with China stayed well clear of placing tariffs on clothing imports.
Donald Trump takes care of himself first - always - and if there is any room left in the life raft, or storm shelter, or Air Force One, available seating will go to selected family members. Trump is number one, and he will meet his own needs before those of anyone else.
Physically Donald Trump is one of the largest men to ever occupy the White House, but morally and ethically he is far and away the smallest. When it comes to being concerned with the needs of others, Trump is a tiny excuse for a human being.
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump sits up in bed - a cheeseburger in one hand and his cell phone in the other, with Fox Noise blasting wall-to-wall vindictiveness in the background. Occasionally he will set the cheeseburger aside so that he can use both tiny hands to tweet out policies that literally control and define the lives of billions of people who inhabit his planet. And while those policies often negatively impact the little people, the ones who actually make the world function, they always benefit Trump personally. That's the way he rolls. It is never about what the other guy needs - Trump's ultimate focus is on Trump. Always.
As an example, this past January Trump's secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, announced a plan that would allow almost the entire coastline of the United States to be leased for offshore drilling by the petroleum companies. Before the ink had even dried on that pronouncement, however, Secretary Zinke backtracked and exempted the state of Florida from the administration's gift to big oil. Florida, he reasoned, was special because it was a tourist state. Other coastal states that thought they were tourist states, most particularly California, could go suck eggs.
In addition to being a "tourist state," Florida also voted for Donald Trump in 2016 while California went solidly and bigly for Hillary Clinton. Also, Florida is home to some very classy Trump properties, such as Mar-a-Lago, which he visits on an almost weekly basis. Trump has only been to California once during his first fifteen months in office.
Red Florida is personally important to Donald John Trump. Blue California is not. The only tourist the Trump administration gives a damn about is Donald John Trump.
Another example: Trump is in a permanent rage over the news coverage and opinion that is waged against him in the Washington Post, a highly influential newspaper with a national following. The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of on-line retailing giant Amazon.com. While the vindictive Trump likes to rail against all stories that portray him negatively as "fake news," declaring all-out war on any newspaper is problematic, what with that pesky First Amendment and all noise that "left-wing" judges would make about it - as well as the quantity of news sources that displease Donald Trump. It would be a lot harder than just ordering an air strike on Syria.
So Trump has chosen to make an example of The Washington Post and to do so by going after its owner, Jeff Bezos. For the past several weeks The Donald has been publicly decrying Amazon for allegedly cheating states out of sales tax and being a financial drain on the U.S.Postal Service. The unspoken message to consumers is that one of the reasons postal rates are so high is because Amazon is taking advantage of the USPS package rates.
Trump appears to be arguing that one retailer, Amazon.com, should be paying more than standard rates to use the nation's postal service - an argument that is somewhat baffling since the USPS sets its own rates. If the agency is losing money on shipping packages, why not just raise their rates? Or does Trump somehow think that Amazon should be paying a higher rate than other shippers?
It's all very confusing, perhaps even confusing to Donald Trump - whose own business sales organization neglects to collect sales tax in many states, including New York where it is based, and also sends many of their packages through the postal service. This week Trump has announced the formation of a commission headed by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to study the rate structure of the United States Postal Service. Mnuchin, a paragon of ethical banking practices, ought to get things straightened out - at least to Donald Trump's satisfaction.
Got that, Bezos? Trump will get you, one way or another.
If Trump does have any wiggle room for helping others than himself, then those "others" are likely to be close family members. Presidential daughter, Ivanka, a woman with delusions that she is Secretary of State, is a rag merchant (clothing importer) who brings in most of her wares from China. To no one's surprise, Trump's recently initiated trade war with China stayed well clear of placing tariffs on clothing imports.
Donald Trump takes care of himself first - always - and if there is any room left in the life raft, or storm shelter, or Air Force One, available seating will go to selected family members. Trump is number one, and he will meet his own needs before those of anyone else.
Physically Donald Trump is one of the largest men to ever occupy the White House, but morally and ethically he is far and away the smallest. When it comes to being concerned with the needs of others, Trump is a tiny excuse for a human being.
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