Trump Scam-a-Paloozers
Donald Trump is running for President. I say this by way of information because, just by looking at him, you can’t tell that. (With apologies to the Police) Every step he takes, every move he makes, every vow he breaks, every claim he stakes, he wants everyone watching him. Somehow, this is supposed to translate to victory, but he reminds me (with apologies to the creators of South Park) of the Underpants Gnomes.
Be a douchebag>> ??? >>> PRESIDENT!
It’s hard to tell if strategy is driving fundraising, or fundraising is driving strategy, but Trump is approaching the campaign as if the key to turning underwear into the Presidency is coming in under budget. The RNC sent him a list of 2 dozen big-ticket donors to call. He called three, then quit. I’m guessing that the first three didn’t offer to pony up $300 million each. I’m further guessing that the other donors aren’t the rally-going types.
By modern campaign standards, Trump’s team is vanishingly small. His ground game is non-existent. He intends that the RNC, which he feels belongs to him by right of conquest, does all the heavy lifting, while meanwhile insulting, offending or browbeating every GOP politician in earshot. Is all this by design, or are the money problems too daunting?
In addition to the Trump U mess, there are now questions about his famous charity, which doesn’t deliver on money unless forced to by the Washington Post, who subsequently were banned from TrumpLand, ostensibly for a bad headline but really because they cost the Donald the money by committing journalism. But it’s just that type of giving for political gain that is raising questions. The Trump Foundation is a 501(c)(3), which charities are not allowed to be involved in politics. But Trump uses it to dole out money for political ends. As in so many other things in TrumpLand, ethics questions are being raised.
That’s not supposed to be the job of a charity, that’s supposed to be the job of a SuperPAC, like the Great America PAC, which has been raising money hand over fist, partly through a series of skeevy commercials reminiscent of Ron Popeil on methamphetamine. Dial this 800 number and show your support for Donald.
“But wait, there’s more!” said daMrs.
And then there’s another one from them been appearing on my TV urging 2.5 million “poll responses” before the “National Convention.”
“NOW how much would you pay?”
This SuperDuperPAC is being run by former Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins, a professional political hack whose roots go back to Nixon ’72, and who partnered up with Lee Atwater for some of the worst politics in our nation’s history. Atwater went on to work for the firm of Manafort, Stone and Black. Atwater has since gone on to his eternal reward. Paul Manafort is now the de facto head of Trump’s campaign, while Roger Stone is head of a competing SuperPac, the Committee to Restore America’s Greatness (the Committee to RAG?). Stone says Rollins is running a scam. Corey Lewandowski, who thinks he’s running the Trump campaign, says Stone is running a scam.
This is a scam; that’s a scam. You’re a crook; no YOU’RE a crook. This is a charity; this is a political slush fund.
Whatever all this is, it’s not a campaign for President.
It sounds more as though Mr. Trump is running his campaign the same way he ran his other (mostly failed) business ventures:
1) Make a big noise to get lots of (free) media exposure
2) Using the media coverage, get other people to invest their resources in the venture
3) Extract money from the venture in the way of salaries, repayments of money lent to the venture as part of the noise-making part of Step 1
4) Blame others when the venture fails.
Here, we’re seeing the same path Mr. Trump’s Atlantic City casino venture followed – with two critical differences:
1) he’s not negotiating with desperate politicians or struggling small business owners. The Republican big donor crowd have been burned in the past, and can see what Mr Trump is up to.
2) Unlike a construction project, the Presidential Election’s scheduled date can’t be extended.
Mr. Trump expects that the RNC will eventually cave, and pay for the necessary resources to keep the Trump operation running. What he doesn’t seem to understand is that he can’t push out the date of the November election to give his campaign time to use those resources.
The beauty of the Trump methodology is that, like Conservatism, Trump cannot fail – he can only be failed.
1That was Sting, no?
2Trump’s tactics seem stupid, but don’t forget that they won him the Repub nomination. Since Trump is not a deep thinker it is entirely consistent for him to believe that the same tactics will work in the general. This is a guy who was born rich, but thinks he’s a self-made man–a great man. He cannot comprehend that lots of people don’t agree.
That said, the most important tactic in past Repub campaigns has been the smear attack: swift-boating. That didn’t work too well with Obama, but they tried. It might work a little better with Clinton since women in our culture are especially vulnerable to smear attacks, but I suspect the right-wingers have already noticed that she’s a woman.
3They all call each other names and scammers. They are right.
4The old fear, smear, and fear of Queer’s party. Sow the hate
and reap the heater’s. Let’s hope they have a Darwin award coming. First they must take them self’s out of the gene pool.
Donnie Drumpf is amazing! Amazing in that after a year of his bombast, he can still ratchet up the st00pid. However, he’s now on borrowed time and borrowed st00pid. Having exposed the other snacilbupeR candidates as buffoons, he’s now the “alpha” baboon, naked, smelly and expecting someone to feed him. Reince has tossed him a few peanuts, but Donnie refuses to perform. Lyin’ Ryan offered him a stale sandwich of snacilbupeR conservative talking points and received a bite in the butt. Given a list of the usual snacilbupeR donors to dial for bucks, Donnie dialed three, then recoiled in disgust. They expected that he should kiss their rings and didn’t deliver the checks or butt kissing Donnie expected. Borrowed time. His campaign is running out of $$$.
Then came the Orlando massacre, which is turning into a massacre for Donnie. Donnie tried a fact jump, but the media he had been insulting for a year refused to take the leap and ‘revoke’ the citizenship of the shooter or declare him to be something off a crochet hook, an afghan. Sinking in the polls, Donnie borrowed some st00pid, the old dung we’ve all heard too many times from the NRA – if only the victims had been armed.
To make the st00pid his ‘own,’ Donnie went to Texas and gave a speech complete with imaginary gun noises and a description of how “he” would have shot the shooter center forehead. Just when we thought Donnie had alienated every group possible, he took a swing at LE and the military, as well as anyone who knows jack about guns and crowds/confusion.
Just for fun, because I seriously do not wish anyone dead, let Donnie and his loud mouth surrogates reenact their fantasy using paintball guns. Who knows? Maybe they’ll discover a color better suited to Donnie than orange.
5So last evening on America’s Got Talent, a 13 year old doing stand up slam-dunked Herr Drumpf in just a couple of lines.
See it here http://goo.gl/dx7J5X I’ll wait!
America don’t need a POTUS that’s a crazy racist with Barbie doll hands.
6Primo, as a tangent, I’d like to make an opinion regarding trump and the repubs. I live in the Woodlands, Tx, where trump made a stump at the Marriott last night. It was reported as packed in attendance with trumpster divers lining up to get in since early am. This town and county are repub and one of the wealthiest in the state and, naturally, quite white.
7News quotes of some attendees, male and female, praise trump as if he didn’t have all the negatives I read about from reputable sources.
A number of the sources speculate that the divide in the repub party leading into their convention could doom the repub party as if its death would end that problem.
IMO, without effectively doing away with the power of the 1%, the 1% will merely change underwear and facade, bingo!, the Phoenix bird arrives. Same old, same old.
Perhaps you have some thoughts on this.
On NPR this morning on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell”, the comment was made that anyone would have trouble calling more than three wealthy GOP donors.
8A fine start to Saturday morning, JJ. My wish is all the scofflaws would be wearing prison garb.
9Thanks Micr. That kid was hilarious! Made my day.
Scumpf on the other hand, is . . . . . . . . ? (I’ve used up all the most fitting words in this campaign Momma would allow.)
10I think it’s been suggested in this salon before, but I’ve suspected from close to the beginning of his campaign that the whole purpose was to promote his brand. I don’t think he ever thought he’d get this far. That may seem like a ridiculous idea, but think about it. As I understand it, the money he risked financing his campaign was in the form of a loan which had a good chance of being repaid. And even if he didn’t recoup, think of how much he’s added to his brand. Not to the people here, but has anyone seen reality t.v. lately? He’s definitely not the smartest guy in the room, but I think he’s smart enough to know (especially now) that POTUS is not a job he really wants. Kinda like the pit bull that chases the truck with the big mud grips because it’s noise infuriates him, only to catch it at the red light, sink its teeth into those rubber knobs just as he realises the light’s about to turn green.
11van59,
12What van59 says, y’all underestimate the danger at all our risk.
There is a slight chance that the Rethugs may wise up and possibly dump Trump in a panic (although he is their almost perfect representative).
But if not, they ALL will unite and march onward to 8 Nov AND VOTE.
I saw only some brief coverage of Trump’s San Antonio visit, but the fanatical R’fools were lined up to greet him early at the airport and elsewhere. I’ll assume his select speech audience opened their ample wallets generously.
(SA is about as ‘Dem’ as TX gets, and the R’s do quite well, almost as in the superR Woodlands of the Houston area)
“a guy who was born rich, but thinks he’s a self-made man–a great man.” Hmmm. That reminded me very, very much of Mittens. I lived just south of him in Michigan. The Romney kids had it all, especially him. And when he lost, based on how he viewed himself, he couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Had hoped then that the R’s wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Well, just because my hope wasn’t realized doesn’t mean that I will cease to hope. I’m taking hope with me when I vote for Hillary in November.
13I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation of winning 2 bets…..both that the Creep doesn’t make it to the convention. My bettees, bettors? are convinced that he wants to stand on that stage so badly that he won’t be deterred.
14Woo Hoo!
You know, in all of this is ANYONE asking where all the money from these election PACs/campaigns/pearl-clutching-alpha-douchebag-cheering-squads is evaporating? This must be like the sky opening with a flood of hundred dollar bills for the mass media outlets…?
Oh yeah, what was that media magnate with the thunder from down under called again? I wonder what he’s getting out of this?
Thanks Antonin… R.I.P.
15It does not surprise me at all that Trump’s charity is under question. I’ve noticed that Trump tends to spout off at other targets things that really also apply to him.
He is a crook, so he calls Hillary crooked.
16He is a big liar, so he calls Ted a liar.
When he recently said that Hillary’s charitable foundation was doing crooked (or something like that) things…I should have realized it really was about his charity.
Yes, Star, it’s that old psychological projection of one’s own sins onto others. A variation on the old adage, “It takes one to know one”. In Drumpf’s case it’s “It takes one to accuse everybody else.”
17What worries me is that the Elephants have some tricks up their sleeve to deny Trump the nomination, or that he’s whacked hard enough with legal issues that he has to withdraw (in handcuffs, off to the hoosgow.) Because with the decades long smear campaign against Clinton, that so many people believe (including some Dems) she has a better chance against Trump than against a lackluster substitute candidate coming out of the convention.
Trump is such an obvious disaster for the nation that even some Elephants might vote for Clinton and more will likely not vote. (Unless that’s a foolish thought.) But–to people farther to the right than I am (which includes a lot of people)–a different Republican, one they haven’t spent 9 months hating, might be a relief valve and turn into a big GOP turnout. And the Clinton-hating uncommitted (and some Dems) might decide not to vote or vote for “mid-to-old-white-guy-whose-sins-have-yet-to-be-discovered.”
18Dear Ms. Moon,
I find the Rethug party’s choice of mascot (as it is now) oxymoronic. Aren’t elephants supposed to have a great memory? These dimwits can’t even remember how badly the previous administration failed them, didn’t protect us, and made an oil-soaked decision to get us into a war without using the expertise of the military/state dept, AND refuses to understand that things like consumer protection laws are just that: law and order. They don’t deserve to be called something as noble as an elephant. (Too bad the Dems deserve to be called jackasses so often.)
19Ann Richards’ comments on the Bushes would seem to apply even more strongly to Trump: “He was born on third base, and thinks he hit a triple.” (regarding GHWB), and “… he was born with a silver foot in his mouth” (regarding GWB).
As Rick Blaine said in Casablanca, “I don’t mind a parasite, I object to a cut-rate one” — the GOP is discovering the perils of doing things on the cheap, as the Donald makes it abundantly clear just how parasitic our ruling class is.
20