Property of the American People

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump may not be a common street thief, but he certainly has no qualms about playing fast and loose with public property, things that belong do not to him personally, but to the people of the United States of America.

I have already groaned at length in this space about two of his overt claims on property which is ours - not his.  One, of course, is the massive expansion of the White House, commonly known as "the People's House."  It's ours - it belongs to us, not some temporary resident.  But Trump, with no vote of Congress and with only an approval from some piddly commission which he controls, is adding a "ballroom" that will more than double the footprint of the building.   The addition will reportedly cost $200 million (and government estimates are ALWAYS much lower than the final cost), and he justifies trying to turn the White House into a royal palace by telling us that corporate interests will pay for it.

Two points:  corporate interests already own enough of our government agencies, employees, and elected officials.   This taxpaying citizen (which differentiates me from many corporations) is opposed.  It's not their house - it ours - and I, for one, don't want it boasting a "Verizon" or "State Farm Insurance" sign above the ballroom door!

The American people should have the final say on renovations to our house, particularly one that more than doubles the floorspace!

My second point is:  Where is the money trail?  Can we see the books?  Construction has already started.  How is that being funded?   Have we already taken corporate money for this vanity gymnasium, and, if so, whose corporate money are we using?  To which corporations and/or billionaires are we now beholden?  What special advantages or opportunities have those same entities suddenly received?  Somebody shine a light on this mess - please!

The other outrage of which I have written before is the new jumbo jet that the Qatari royal family gifted to Trump, a gift that, by law, he may not keep.  The Qatari's paid $400 million for the aircraft, and Trump really, really wanted it.  He accepted the gift and then used an elaborate sleight-of-hand to insure that it would remain under his control for the rest of his life.   Trump duly handed the plane over to the government (the US Air Force), declared he wanted it to be the new Air Force One, even though two new Air Force Ones were already in production, and he engineered an agreement stating that when he leaves office the aircraft will be officially be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Commission and be his to personally use from that day forward.  Costs for the US government refitting the "gift" to meet Air Force One standards range from $400 million to over one billion dollars.  The Qataris gave Trump a very sweet gift, and the American people are bent over in supplication and cheerfully doubling (at least) the value of that gift.  

The United States Treasury is almost as lucrative as the crypto market!

Late last month Donald Trump was focused on relieving the American public of more property when a very unlikely person stood up to him and said "No."

In September, Trump and his entourage flew to the United Kingdom so he could play golf at Scottish resorts which he owns, and photographed with the King.  Trump was trying to come up with an appropriate gift to take to Charles.  Somebody suggested that Eisenhower's military sword would be something the King and the people of Britain would cherish.  The sword was kept, along with several other Ike swords, at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.  The artifacts were gifted to the library by various individuals, and they are the property of the American people, not Trump's to pass out like party favors.

Word went out from the White House to Todd Arrington, the director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, to produce famed sword that Eisenhower carried in World War II.  Arrington declined.  Instead he helped secure a replica of Eisenhower's sword that he carried when he was a cadet at West Point, and that was ultimately given to the King.  

Todd Arrington thought everyone understood why he could not give the original Eisenhower war sword to Trump for use as a gift - and that the situation had been resolved to everyone's satisfaction, but the poor man had no understanding or appreciation of the depth of Donald Trump's pettiness.  Shortly after they presidential party returned from it's golf outing to the United Kingdom, Arrington received notice that he could either resign or be fired.  He chose to quit.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if Republican politicians in the United States had balls even half the size of those possessed by that quiet librarian in Abilene, Kansas?    Put his face on a coin!