How much did Obama and Hillary vacuum up from Lenin's Silicon Valley -- a lot more?
It’s hard to take this paper seriously on this issue when it was fine with Hillary Clinton accepting millions of dollars from foreign dictators while she was Secretary of State
Pretty interesting how the administration and Congress want to "uphold the laws to maximum effect" ... except those they continue to break day in and day out just to line their pockets. Pigs at the trough. (Apologies, pigs.)
1
Why wasn't I informed? I wouldn't have brown bagged it that day.
1
Trump's number one priority, cash in his pocket. Also his second, third, fourth ….
We call this "draining the swamp". I'm personally not so sure how it works, but Trump does it a LOT and it's about LARGE amounts of cash being given to him. You tell me. Are we all stupid, or is it just me? I don't get it...
1
“The media created this monster, and now profits off him.” Michelle Wolfe
1
There is an America of inclusiveness. An America that looks to the future and sees a flourishing ideal. This America derives is power based on tolerance, patience, and love.
There is another America. The America of exclusiveness. This America has no vision of the future. It looks only to the past. This America is fearful, insecure, and selfish. This America derives its power based on violence; on adherence to attitudes of might makes right, ends justifying the means, of cheating, bullying, and conspiring. This America seethed, fumed, and smoldered in the shadows of our nation until it found its voice. The voice of Trump.
4
Over AND under the table " tributes ". Extremely sleazy.
Uber wealthy donors ponying up so the man in the White House can continue to demonize immigrants, spew racism and separate small children from their parents. If there's a more nauseating image, I can't think of it.
2
Naive and stupid, typically American, but why are these guys or anyone worth their salt paying anything to support the man? He certainly appears to be a thug and anyone with clear vision can see this is the case. There isn't enough lipstick in Washington to make him appealing.
These people must be very hungry to pay that much for a meal which is bound to tie up anyone who feeds at that trough in knots.
I truly don't know how my fellow citizens, especially those with children can respect this guy. He is neither a considerate nor a loving person at any visible level. This administration has gotten worse than I thought possible let alone acceptable and yet he is supported by those who are most adversely affected.
The President is crying all the way to the bank and will retire wealthier than he ever dreamed. God Bless America
"Conservative"? You mean "right-wing."
Pork tariffs notwithstanding, this is "pigs at the trough."
I want to second exactly what Mr. Robert DeNiro said. He’s the only one with the GUTS to say it out loud and in public!!!
I hope someone took pictures, BIG pictures, of all those that attended so we will know who is a Trump sycophant and wants to ruin America!
2
Depressing. Our country has been so incredibly degraded by trump and the rest of these weasles and leeches.
This administration would make the Court of Versailles look like a monastery. We have arrived at the point where this government, led by self-serving, aggrandizing Republicans has reached the same integrity as that of the Perons, Marcos, and other despots who not only stole but inflicted untold horrors upon their opponents.
As long as Citizens United is let to stand and the Brothers Koch,The Mercers and Sinclairs are fueling the machinery we are doomed to Autocracy.
1
Emoluments anyone?
This entire administration is a disgrace and a horror. What is the worst thing is not the madness of King Trump but the steady stream of wealthy sycophants who will sell their own souls and turn their backs on their own country for a chance to be with this narcissistic pseudo monarch. The USA is becoming like Russia before the Revolution.
3
This would be bribery,and corruption if Trump were a tin horn dictator doing favors in kind.
We are beyond repair and we are irrelevant except in the damage we do - we are falling further and further behind the world in terms of education and especially morality. We are being overrun with Republican vermin who are creeping across our systems and destroying them. They are illegal immigrants who were not voted in and have invaded American politics. enough of the politically illiterate and racists support their infection to render the body of American decency dying or already dead. Rest in peace, American democracy, which once saved my immigrant grandparents from the pogroms in Russia, now chief sponsor of the strengthening American dictatorship.
2
Why did Junior have two Secret Service men with him? Seems like I recall him giving them up last year.
Perhaps a better question is why does he deserve them in the first place?
1
Crooks and grifters...emolument clause violation ? Ethics violations anyone?
Welcome to the Hotel Deplorable.
Insatiable greed--the need for more and more money--is a mental illness. It's no different than hoarding cats to fill some void in one's soul. There will never be enough cats. There will never be enough money.
2
You can tell there's corruption. Who would stay at dump like the Trump Tower without an ulterior motive? I think I'd rather sleep in Penn Station. Gross. The boss better be paying bank. Otherwise you're wasting both time and money.
Clearly it takes many hotel rooms to drain the swamp.
We are caught in the inescapable networik of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affect all indirectly.(MLK)
The blood of shame splatters us all. Now, we keep company with the Boko Haram...We are led by a family that justifies stealing children...destroying families to their political ends.
The USA's mantle of moral superiority has crumbled away...as we continue to keep a vicious, greedy, and xenophobic family of German immigrants in the Executive office.
I'm not sure I'd want to eat in a restaurant where the owner is so anti-immigrant and the food service workers are immigrants.
Think about it.
At least never ask for your steak cooked well done.
The real issue plaguing the Democrats is not Republican money but a lack of understanding about why people either voted for Trump or sat home in 2016.
The current Times article, "Veterans Owe Thousands for Survivor Benefits. Why Can’t They Opt Out?" is very instructive in that regard. Take the V.A./D.O.D. dysfunction and multiply it a hundred times across the board of people's daily lives, and you begin to understand why, in 2016, so many Americans voted for "not more of the same", placing Trump in the White House, the fact that he had no understanding, ideas, empathy, or ability considered relatively unimportant. The "reasoning": if all the people with understanding, ideas, empathy, and ability had created such a mess, why not just give the opposite a try?
Unless those who consider Trump a disaster understand this, we will be stuck with the new "more-of-the-same" come this November and in 2020. Democrats, especially, need to stop expending energy blaming Comey, the Russians, the Kochs, and a dozen other things, instead focusing on convincing Obama/Trump voters and 2016 non-voters, that they have something to offer other than "not-Trump" and a replay of how things were before Trump was elected, something other than the pre-Trump "more-of-the-same."
How does the saying go: stupidity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result the next time. Unless the Democrats have something new to say, the result will be the same, Bloomberg's money notwithstanding.
2
Norway just looks better and better all the time.
At least it's a *constitutional* monarchy.
Please remember the names of the people in this article. When all of this is over, as it surely must be someday, call them by their proper title: collaborators.
1
Once again, two articles, same subject, very different headlines. Bloomberg - one individual - 'will spend to flip the House for the Democrats' which sounds positive and the article on the Trump hotel filled with conservatives 'in a sea of cash' sounds dirty.
Both are examples of using resources in a democratic society and both should be treated equally, no matter what the bias of the Times.
There is a well worn path to defeat Trump and the Republicans. It is called the power of the lobby. The lobby in this case is you, me and a 100 million other people who despise Trump, the Republican party and all that it stands for. We can start by :
1. Boycotting the goods and services of businesses that advertise on Fox News.
2. Boycotting the goods and services of business people who cavort with Trump (Kraft is a prime example)
3. Organizing regular protest rallies against the NRA
4. Celebrating holidays and events that celebrate our diversity such as Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Diwali etc. in huge numbers.
5. Vote, vote, vote, vote.....
6. Volunteering to serve on the teams for the local independents or Democrats who are running for elected office.
7. Helping out schools in inner city districts.
8. Donating to the cause of agencies that fight for immigrant rights
and much much more. Democracy does not succeed until there is participation.
Remember what Trump wants - He wants to stop you from participating.
Now do what he does not want - Go to the polls.
1
Politicians for sale. What a shock.
Trump is right. Liberals display their hatred toward the children by refusing to cooperate and pass legislation that would end the policy.
The forgotten people of this country will be forgotten no more!
I continue to be amazed at how Republicans and conservatives attack the media, environmental regulations, immigration, etc. What needs to be done to show voters that we need a free press? Why do conservatives object to regulations that protect the environment ?
1
"One of the greatest hotel properties in the world", indeed. Would Mr. White care to make a bet about what will happen to its occupancy and bookings rates the day after Mr. Trump leaves office?
"Sensitive to campaign finance rules barring federal officials from soliciting donations greater than $5,400, the White House has been careful to call these events gatherings with supporters, not fund-raisers, although they have a similar effect."
REALLY? Did you even hear the speeches? Every time Trump or family gets in front of a camera, it's a campaign speech, even if they are having an international summit on foreign soil.
And why in the world are my tax dollars paying for Donald Jr's secret service detail officers?
Please understand that huge blocs of voters will still support Trump. Hatred and fear is their comfort zone. It will take a lot more than comments to the NYT to change the destructive course that our country is pursuing. Human rights are worth nothing to Trump supporters.
1
Trump loves bathing in taxpayers cash. The show in Minnesota was a campaign rally. Trump is using Air Force one for his 2020 campaign. Trump and the republicans should be paying for Air Force one and all the secret service expenses on what is a republican electioneering.
1
I'd be curious to know how much the folks staying pay for rooms, etc, but somehow I'm sure it's excessive, and NO ONE is complaining-much like he's charging Secret Service (us) for his protection for his golf carts.
Here are some topics for possible panel discussions at future Trump Hotel gatherings: 1) Emoluments Clause, 2) The Rule of Law, 3) the U.S. -- Under Trump, Biggest Human Rights Violator in the World, 4) Lies, Deceit and Indictments, 5) Bob Mueller's Greatest Hits, 6) Tips for Visiting Children, Business Associates and Campaign Cronies in Jail.
1
Adept at encashing and exploiting every human misery Trump is at his best raising funds when enraged public fury on the zero tolerance immigration policy enforcement action is at its height outside his hotel premises.
It is appalling to see so much money flowing freely in the public eyes in the name of gathering and socialization. It seems to suggest that politics is only for the riches with connection and not for the general publics with no money. That makes me wonder why the trade war with so many nations on earth. Is it for the riches or for the general publics?
7
He appears at a fund-raiser for his own political means, and also profits off the business that is booked and spending largely and freely to attend the fundraiser that benefits him.
The circle of political life?
Nice 'work' if you can get it, I guess.
Money = power = influence. Same old story. This just takes it to new heights.(Which DJT is also loving ... he's the 'best' there has ever been at this).
Isn't the self-dealing aspect of Trump Hotel DC being investigated? What's taking so long? It seems so clear.
12
Iron girders and chandeliers? So cheap. The interior decorator needs firing.
7
Draining the Swamp? More like Polluting the Potomac. Donald Trump, the man with the hidden tax returns, has brought a whole new level of corruption government. The level of greed is unreal. Based on his broad level of support among our nation's self-proclaimed Christians, either Jesus was kidding when he said a rich man has as much chance of getting to heaven as a camel does of going through the eye of a needle.
9
The notion these people have that Trump is going to 'solve' anything is simply astounding. I don't care what your political persuasion is; surely any sentient being can see this is not only the most corrupt administration we've seen in modern times but also the most incompetent. Listening to this apparently willful ignorance in service to mammon turns the stomach whilst spinning the moral compass wildly off true north.
16
It is a constant struggle to keep the bile down.
37
The only thing missing from this piece is someone saying "Let them eat cake." For all the ink spilled over the angry blue-collar Trump voters, those folks would be powerless without all these obscene wealthy snakes hissing into Trump's ear. They are the TRUE deplorables.
26
The liberals are upset about the Republican fundraiser in Washington where half of the 150 attendees spent between $100,000 to $250,000 to attend this event at the Trump hotel in Washington. Michael Bloomberg just announced that he is donating $80 million of his own money to flip the house to the Democratic Party. I guess it is all right for the Democrats to accept this money from Mr. Bloomberg but the Republicans are not supposed to spend money on a fundraiser. This is such hypocrisy that I am laughing hysterically.
2
Democrats have to play the SuperPAC game too. Citizens Unites doesn't leave much room for leeway. Overall though, Democrats collect a lot bigger share in smaller donations than Republicans.
13
Donald Trump is the president*. Campaigning politicians are not. He's got a good grift going.
When haven't the Democrats taken money from any one who'll dish it out? Every politician on both sides of the aisle have been bought and paid for. As if Obama and Clinton never attended a fundraiser.
I'd like to "make a list and check it twice" - can the NY Times please provide the names (and corporations) of these fat-cat spenders who are paying so much money to Trump for "dinner"?
MANY of us would very much like to know. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant" and we need info on exactly who is busy buying influence in Washington so brazenly.
20
As vulgar and grotesque and twisted as events like these are they aren't new to our national politics. Granted most politicians don't own their own hotel to host such spectacles, but American politicians on both sides of the aisle have been selling out average Americans for some time now. But it certainly is more vulgar and more grotesque and more twisted when Trump does it. And more dangerous.
13
None of them care about anyone who isn't registered in their district or funding canvassing from outside it.
2
Reminds me of The Hunger Games. Some of the classic science fiction novels (not sure if The Hunger Games will be a classic) depicting future dystopias are coming true: Brave New World, 1984 (only a few decades off), Fahrenheit 451. Truth keeps getting stranger, and uglier, than fiction. What will the ending be is what I'd like to know? The rise of a fascist dictator? Revolt? World War?
11
"Brave New World" was perhaps the most visionary. It forecast the dichotomy between technological cultures and traditional ones. The "savage" partially tamed from the wild presages Boko Haram.
2
So, they can hold a "fundraiser," which is strictly prohibited, as long as they call it a "gathering"? Isn't that like saying rape is permissible, as long as you call it "extreme petting with potential side effects and bodily mischief"???
9
How does this not violate campaign finance laws? And how much money went directly into Trump's personal--not campaign--account, because this event was held at the Trump International Hotel?
Disgusting.
15
These are the real 'takers' sowing seed for another bountiful harvest with Trump providing the fertilizer.
8
Was anyone at America First Action dressed in brown shirts?
Mr. Moskowitz?
17
You can dress up a pig, but it still sounds like bribery.
12
Imagine all the ignorant trump voters who think he has their best interests in mind. Time to, "flush" this crew down the toilet in 2018.
13
exactly!
"Sensitive to campaign finance rules barring federal officials from soliciting donations greater than $5,400, the White House has been careful to call these events gatherings with supporters, not fund-raisers, although they have a similar effect."
Calling a fundraiser by any other name, but it is still a fund-raiser. A charity for Trump and Trump's chumps.
By all means, let's do the Trumpian thing and skirt the rules and the laws.
“Part of it is,” Mr. Spicer said, “you buy into the philosophy.”
Gatherings with supporters is Trumpspeak for emoluments.
13
Demolish the Statue of Liberty and sell the parts to these 1%ers. The Torch would make a gorgeous lawn ornament and the crown would be a beautiful addition Mar A Lago.
9
Missed in this article is the Apr. 2018 ABC report that the Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws.
I wonder how much more has been spent since April ?
America , are you really no better than Trump and his abettors ? If so why isn`t there a million person march every weekend shaking the gates of the WH off their hinges or chasing Trump across a golf course & visiting the offices of swamp creature cabinet members ? Why ?
30
While Trump's rich friends party babies and children were in shelters crying for their parents. There is just one word to sum up this article DISGUSTING!
19
This article leaves me mad at, and sad for, a large fraction of the American electorate. What did Trump's Base expect would happen when they elected a malignant narcissist to the highest post in the land? All the signs of Trump’s hedonism were well-documented in advance! Putin must be laughing hysterically!!
19
His base doesn't care...at least Hillary Clinton isn't president!
2
I’m mad at a large part of the electorate too. The liberals who staid home instead of voting for Hillary Clinton because their Bernie didn’t win the nomination. The Donald in the White House loves them!!
Oh, Mr. Spicer, "Part of it is. . ." you drink the Kool-aid. . .
After all the indignity you have suffered for this administration, how, oh how, can you even bear to attend? There must be something in it for him, but I suppose, whatever it is, requires no morality, compassion or integrity.
12
These are empty headed dolts, reality TV people without knowledge of the constitution. Stay tuned.
4
Well who cares what's in the constitution? Its not like anyone is going to hold them accountable. Just words on paper that so easily explained away or ignored.
3
In the land of the pigs the butcher is king. - Meatloaf
(Excerpted)
Lives are truly meaningless
And we are busy being blessed
With that we can take and pocket
No one needs to know
We're the plug and they're the socket
Give us the juice and we'll go
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the animals sing!
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
In the land of the pigs the butcher is king!
In the land of the pigs the butcher is king!
How do they sleep?
Their lives are so tart
Bring me the trash collectors
'Cause they're nothing but trash
What do you expect?
They've got no standards
So we lower the bar
'Cause they're waiting for us
We'll open up Pandora's Box
Pandora gave her keys and locks
In the land of the pigs the butcher is king!
3
This is the two Americas - those who are looking to profit from our grifter and chief and those who still believe in a kinder, gentler America. I am afraid that the latter is dead - we the people are now a band of gypsy's looking to game the system and capitalize on POTUS 45's sacking of the National Treasury.
6
This shows the total disconnect of Trump and his sycophants. They live in their own bubble. What will they do when that bubble bursts?
In the meantime, I will have to be comforted by the picture in my head of the boy biting off the icing head of the president on the birthday cake.
5
Democrats and Republicans have basically sold our country out to wealthy elites at the highest bidder for decades. Trump just makes the political corruption gig even more fashionable when you got shady Russian oligarchs mysteriously popping up at Trump Tower, questionable income streams being red flagged by the IRS for years while failing to pay any taxes back to Uncle Sam, surrounding yourself with a bunch of greedy criminals and crooks for administrative positions in DC, and getting flagged by Muller's team in response to the firing the last FBI director for launching an open criminal investigation regarding your opponent's email hacking incident. And oh yes....making fawning statements about brutal dictators who are national security threats to the United States, is enough to ring alarm bells by those working in federal law enforcement and intelligence gathering institutions. The Office of the Presidency is not a monarchy or a totalitarian dictatorship. The people of America is your employer, Mister President, not by you only.
1
That's like saying a pigeon and vulture are the same because they are both birds. Its the old if Johnny can come home late I can wreck the car excuse.
"Yechezkel Moskowitz, 31, who attended on behalf of his grandmother, a donor, said that he felt as if he had gained a better understanding of the policies he should be supporting, including the administration’s approach to rolling back environmental regulations and its hard-line stance on immigration."
Shame on you!
10
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! That was music to my ears last night, the song I hope is ringing in Kirsten Nelson's ears. I am thrilled that there were protesters on the spot! It reminds me of the sadly departed Anthony Bourdain's plea vis-a-vis the Trump presidency- to do more than hash-tagging!
On another note; a young acquaintance of mine and a former restaurant worker (this is a thought I had myself) noted that Central American and Mexican workers make up the predominant backbone of the kitchen staff- and at this point would probably not be above adding their own signature touches to the dishes of Trumps cabinet members, certain Republicans and other assorted flunkies. I know I would. If I were them, I would not eat out in DC and would hire a Norwegian cook.
13
Trump's world is a transactional one where a citizen only has a voice if they pay to play. The more money you have the bigger your voice and for him and the Koch brothers etc. this is the WAY IT SHOULD BE. This is NOT the way for a just and fair society where there is respect for the rule of law. Trump disgraces us with every minute he is in office.
18
This deeply troubling account of monetary perversity and rank corruption openly promoted, before the public's eyes, by this criminal Administration and its benefactors/underwriters almost makes one nostalgic for the old "pay to play" days of Reagan and his own cadre of plutocrats, including the likes of Walter Annenberg, et al.
7
Ever get the feeling that the US Government is being run by the mafia, where tribute is the backbone of the organization?
15
Sorry, after all of Hillary’s mega-fundraisers held here in California, this one doesn’t impress me.
2
Hillary isn't and wasn't the president and didn't own the venues raking in the cash on the event. But you're right in a sense that this isn't the most important news today; it's just another surreal moment in a long, unbroken line of executive corruption.
19
She was not POTUS at the time.
3
What a display of wretched excess and callousness. Beware wealthy Trump donors of the masses who will be calling for your heads and for the death of the Republican Party and its deviant offspring - Trumpism. The French Revolution happened for a very good reason folks.
12
There are precedents for such soirees. Prior to America's entry into World War II, the Nazis hosted galas in the luxury spas of Berlin. "Non-decedent" music (translated no jazz) like waltzes serenaded Hitler's goons and the powerful people wanting to curry favor with them. Champagne flowed, caviar was served and the band played on. More than a fair number were Americans.
15
As a child of Holocaust survivors, I think about this a lot. At what point does America -- my America, the America of ideals that though we weren't perfect, we worked towards continually -- at what point does America stop being America?
The greed and hatefulness of these people appall me. Well, with this crew it's mostly greed. The hateful ones don't tend to have that kind of money.
5
The thought that anyone would pay anything to listen to the racist, hateful meanderings of this bully who obviously hates everything this country stands for is truly sad...and a warning.
9
There is a "special place in hell" for rich fat cats who enrich and indulge themselves while children are being kidnapped and traumatized. The predecessors of "America First Action" enslaved and traded in slaves, tried to exterminate the original "Americans," herded innocent Japanese Americans into "concentration camps" (FDR's term), and extended their imperialist claws around the world.
5
And Candace Owens is on board with this. No personal belief system other than how she can make a buck. Nice to have a token African-American at a Trump event. At least both of them profit from using each other.
2
Comment and complain all you want, but zero will change until enough people get energized to vote. As we witnessed, in 2016, who we vote for really DOES matter...
17
Speaking of hotels, we have 1,800 empty rooms on the island, Atlantic City in New Jersey and Trump’s name is already on all of them. Atlantic City is a slum decimated to this day by the moral and fiscal bankruptcy of Donald Trump. Let’s bring new life to this place. What if we housed and processed refugees there in New Jersey where Immigration could systematically interview and examine and track them? We wouldn’t have to separate families or even imprison them. We could give them ankle bracelets and the freedom to move about and their whereabouts could be accounted for. Granted Trump hotels are pretty gross but the casino floors have restaurants with kitchens and areas that — without any additional construction — could be converted into classrooms and medical facilities. And it would provide jobs and opportunity for the people who already live there. The structures are in place. Let this be the Ellis Island of today. We have empty storefronts and ghost towns all over America and not just because of Trump. Migration is just a necessary part of human nature. But let’s start here in Trump Palace because — well — you know. Right?
11
These business leaders are stuck between to bad choices, turn their back on Trump and risk a temper tantrum targeting their businesses, or invest in a guy whose history demonstrates that no one should trust him, he will back out of agreements, hide behind bankruptcies and never ever take personal responsibility for what goes wrong with his decisions. Now there is the added threat of having your support for him found out and your business targeted by passionate protestors.
1
This is sad but true. Trump is the only president who has targeted individual businesses on a whim. He is a bully. A bully with money and power--that's a scary thing.
The smartest thing working folks can do is tell everyone who invests in money politics that their money is no good in it by voting against the people they give it to.
So then I assume you'll be voting against all the Dems that Bloomberg announced today that he will support to the tune of $80mm?
1
I do not understand contributors to the Democratic Party. Most of the time, all they get for their money is a flawed but humane and decent government that usually (but far from always) cares at least a little more about the general population than the contributors. Heck Democrats often increase their contributors' taxes.
Republican contributors, though, are easy to understand. Their money buys them scores of cheap Republican politicians, tax breaks by the truckload, offshore tax havens, deregulation by the ton, cost-plus defense contracts, subsidies, immunity from prosecution for any crimes, monopolies and oligopolies, free access to public lands and minerals, low wages, un-inspected job sites, license to pollute at will, barriers to small business competition, closed courtroom doors, fixed elections, and so much more.
Clearly, Republican contributors are much more fitted to life in a dystopic kleptocracy. Therefore, according to Darwin's social evolution corollary, Republican contributors will survive while Democratic contributors will go extinct.
7
“The filings also show that the group has spent more than $160,000 at Trump Organization properties, the vast majority of which — $154,000 — went to the Trump International Hotel for facility rentals and catering. Nearly $2,000 was spent at the hotel’s steakhouse, BLT Prime by David Burke, with another $864 going to the hotel’s bar, Benjamin Bar and Lounge.”
And how much of that went into Trump’s pockets? Conflict of interest. If we can’t get Trump on anything else, why can’t we get him on the reality that he is financially benefitting from the presidency? Oh wait, he says he donates his government salary. If you donate your salary, I guess you need to make your pocket money somewhere else. It’s still a giant conflict of interest.
11
You don't really believe that Trump donates anything, least of all his salary? Let's see those tax returns!
6
Lately in particular we have been told repeatedly that " America is better than that," that what we are seeing unraveling in our nation is "not us" Well, take a look at the "sea of conservative cash" noted in this story and the thinking it represents as it washes over the flimsy wishful thinking of those bromides. Get real, my fellow citizens, and recognize that we are not better than that and, as that sly little possum Pogo aptly phrased it years ago, "We have met the enemy and it is us."
1
....and then there was that event at Göring's estate Karinhall - sound familiar? Apparently history is doomed to repeat itself. It just looks a little different in Midtown Manhattan.
2
The reporting in this article contains the seeds of Trump's downfall. This article portrays a lifestyle and a way of thinking that is totally alien to Trump's strongest supporters.
2
These oligarchs do not clean their own homes, cook their own food, drive their own cars, cut their own hair. To the degree legally and financially possible, we need to shun them and their business. If it can be legal for a baker to refuse to make a cake for a gay couple because of religious beliefs, it can also be legal to refuse to have any contact whatsoever with known supporters of racism and fascism.
14
It's OK. We'll go to a different Starbucks.
why did your report not seek out the names of the people who paid to attend this fundraiser in disguise, and the companies they either own or work for? The public has a right to know who is supporting this president with so much cash so that they can decide for themselves whether they want to do business with these people/companies? And if they are proud of their support for the The Donald, surely they will volunteer information.
16
The Post Office was a 30 year eyesore.
Trump took it and made something of it.
And the little people got nothing but complaints.
"The best democracy that money can buy." This is a throw back to when our nation was founded and only rich white men were allowed to vote. Now everyone can votes, but the rich and corporations determine what policies politicians advance.
7
Wonder how Melania feels about separating children from their parents. How would she feel if her son was separated from her? Does the cruel and unnecessary pain and fear other children are experiencing not important?
5
"Does anyone in here look stressed out?" Let them eat cake.
7
Two words completely foreign to Trump and this plutocratic pestilence: Noblesse Oblige. If any of them had its meaning explained to them they'd be gagging on their Grey Poupon. I, on the other hand, hear the clicking of knitting needles. The day can't come fast enough for my taste, and I remind all my fine feathered friends that "the Hamptons is not a defensible position."
9
Candidate Trump:
I am shocked, shocked that Hillary took $250,000 to speak at Goldman Sachs!
I am rich, so I can't be bought.
President Trump:
Res ipsi loquitur.
13
this is sick.
9
And the response from Capitol Hill? Silence. This wouldn't be happening if Messrs. Ryan and McConnell had the decency to live up to their oaths of office and protect the Constitution, not Trump.
14
You can bet they'd speak up, loudly, if a Democrat in office behaved this way.
2
For the life of me I do not understand what poor, rural America sees in a political party that so blatantly embraces the rich and encourages them to come and buy a piece of the government.
19
They live in a fantasy world in which they believe they, despite lack of education, skills, connections or a society in which there is actually upward mobility, will somehow join the oligarchy when the Republican policies are implemented.
14
Calling this blatant self-dealing and unethical event a "gathering" instead of a "fundraiser" in order to circumvent the law exemplifies how corrupted our political system has become.
It is getting easier and easier to lose hope in the future of our country in the age of Trump.
14
We need to strengthen our emoluments clause.
9
It just needs to be enforced. Call your Senator, let them know you don't want any more of McConnell and Trumps judges appointed.
5
How nice of Bill White and his husband to spend $100K for a President and group - which if they had their way - would change the law to annul his marriage, make them second class citizens and targets for every homophobe around them.
44
". . . Mr. Spicer, who was passing out business cards in the lobby and inviting people to his book release party. . ."
I picture a lost soul, wandering the earth like a wind blown leaf.
15
Our Plutocracy / Oligarchy is healthier than ever: God Bless America!
6
How does the average American stand a chance in this sea of corrupt money? Cesspool politics.
13
To paraphrase, first they came for the children...
14
So these people are comfortable with the name "America First?" Do they have any sense of history?
10
If only Salvador Dali or other surrealists were alive now to paint this...
...or maybe we've just merged ourselves into their art without even knowing it...
6
We have crossed the line into oligarchy.
11
My advise- Call or write your US Representative or US Senator and let them know how reprehensible an immigration policy which targets children as bargaining chips, is. Its even more important to do this if you live in a state where your elected officials are supporting this disgraceful situation. Sorry to say, one of my State's Senators, GOP Greg Walton of Oregon, is on that list.
I plan on reminding Walden of just how essential having access to the immigrant population is to his supporters in agricultural based eastern Oregon. And I will emphasize that Walton's and his Party's dehumanizing immigration policy is not only barbaric, but is actually hurting his constituents in the farming, ranching and dairy areas of Oregon.
8
I don’t mean to be rude but the Republican representative from Oregon is Greg Walden, not Walton. I only bother to point that out so that if people want to write or call him to protest they will have the right name to Google.
"...supporters who paid $100,000 to $250,000 for a fundraiser."
Well, 45 paid $130,000 for a night so that would seem to be appropriate for his supporters who get similar service.
17
I feel as if I just read a real-life version of a Capitol party in the "Hunger Games." The main difference is Pence has the better ability to be President Snow. So depressing for our democracy.
Please, if you oppose Trump, get out and vote this November!
12
Yup. Bid'ness as usual for Trump Inc.! For the USA? Not so much...
6
The next president better not say the past is the past like the last coward. I want Trump under a microscope along with his family for the rest of their life.
10
Trump should take down the American Flag that waves over the White Hose and replace it with a FOR SALE sign.
Oder a few extra ones for the Capitol building while your at it.
The Selling of America.
11
And the LORD shall condemn those who turn away from the poor and feeble.
5
No group of Americans can possibly be more revolting than this gathering of Trump sycophants.
16
Trump on Monday:
I double down on ripping crying immigrant babies from their mothers who are charged with these horrible misdemeanors. MY law has to be enforced! Zero Tolerance!!
Trump on Wednesday (after 2 days of national press and outrage):
Hellooo everybody!
Ok, So Watch Me...the Hero Donald Trump!
I'm now going to ride in on my great big beautiful white horse and SAVE all the crying babies who I had detained in cages, from this horrible, terrible, no good law that is all Congress's FAULT.
8
Trump on Wednesday evening:
Do I get my Nobel Peace Prize now?
So, did the rabid fans of His Majesty get to meet him ? Or should they pay $250,000 just for supporting him? I have never seen a dumber bunch of fanboys. Oh wait, I have ! Germany in 1930s
17
This article makes me feel nauseous; thanks to Citizens United, the U.S. Government is now 'owned' by the wealthy.
" “We have to give the impression that our laws matter,” he said." So...does this mean that laws don't really matter, we just have to pretend they do? Quite a disturbing statement!
9
Let them eat cake!
We are the many, they are the few.
5
In the words of Gil Scott -Heron
"The revolution will not be right back after a message
About a whitetornado, white lightning, or white people
You will not have to worry about a germ on your Bedroom
a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl
The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight the germs that cause bad breath
The revolution WILL put you in the driver's seat
The revolution will not be televised
WILL not be televised, WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
The revolution will be no re-run brothers
The revolution will be live"
24
When Republicans create the hash tag #blacklivesMAGA, what do you think they mean by that? How do you think they expect the Trump base to interpret that?
Do you suppose that they mean that black people are making America great again? Is that how they expect Trump's racist base to parse this hashtag?
I don't.
The hashtag #blacklivesmatter was created to protest the killing of unarmed black people by police. Trump's supporters think police killing unharmed blacks is a good thing.
So what do you think this hashtag really means to them?
Wanna compromise with that?
10
All I can say is that this behavior is simply disgusting.
18
This meeting is ample evidence that the USA is becoming a plutocracy as well as a kleptocracy and eventually a Trump autocracy if he gets his way. It's time to label the Trump henchpersons what they truly are - "collaborators" just like Nazi Germany. They are the people who facilitate evil because it either aligns with their views or serves their interests. The book "Killing Democracy" on Amazon peels back the facade of Trump's rhetoric and reveals the plan to make America rotten. It's only $1 as an ebook.
20
Perhaps someone should supply Mr. Moskowitz (and his grandmother, "the donor," a copy of: Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust (by Sarah Olgilvie & Scott Miller). $17.95 on Amazon. Or direct him to this link: https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/enarticle.php?ModuleId=10005267
17
With Citizen's United and Trump's brazen flaunting of the emolument clause (aided by a feckless Republican Congress), we now have the worst government that money can buy.
39
Great writing.
8
What's that $60,000 payoff to Katrina "Hurricane" Pierson all about? Will she resume her public argument that slavery was good for America?
8
These people are not patriots, they are only motivated by greed.
What happens to the country and it’s people does not matter to them at all.
All three branches of our government are controlled by the richest few and decisions and policies are made solely for their benefit.
Citizens United is completely absurd, to name just one.
25
It would make sense to me to deport these greedy contributors looking for political favors instead of a working class family willing to risk everything, including their lives, for a chance at the American dream.
15
One can hear clearly the alligators splashing around in the swamp.
15
Wow, an upper class Klan rally. Were there any bright red crosses lit by LEDs?
27
That article made me sick. A gathering of rich deplorables circumventing what's left of our campaign finance laws. Yuck.
22
"Yechezkel Moskowitz, 31, who attended on behalf of his grandmother, a donor, said that he felt as if he had gained a better understanding of the policies he should be supporting,..."
Right. And don't forget support for white supremacists and nazi sympathizers.
15
Why doesn't the media divulge who attended these insane ralleys? Show their faces and their money. We deserve to know for they are complicit in the evil of the Trump WH.
13
Yes, please! My request as well. I want to know who the "enablers" are...besides our Congress, that is.
2
A gathering of 'un-indicted co-conspirators'. I'm reminded of a book from college days "They Thought They Were Free" with a prominent swastika on the cover.
7
Money. America First. Perhaps, instead of cutting the Education Dept from $59 billion in discretionary appropriations for the fiscal year 2018, a $9 billion or 13 percent reduction below the 2017 annualized Continuing Resolution (CR) level, we would take $250 billion from the bloated Defense budget and give $5 billion to each state for education funding. Think of all the new schools, teachers, etc we would have and then we would really be putting America First.
9
Our Government is lost.
This is taxation with representation.
8
Like his inauguration crowds he’s going to start boasting how much money he has raised. And I think that’s one of the reasons he’s doing all this. Just to show high numbers and maybe to show banks and other lending institutions that he can attract cash. I bet it’s all just for the numbers
9
Such gatherings at Trump properties are violations of the emolument clause in the Constitution. It would appear that Trump has no regard for this fact and will continue to flaunt the law for the rest of his life. One has to wonder at such a persons upbringing when the only values that must have been taught were SELF and MONEY.
30
If the Trump campaign declines to say this gathering was for campaign fund raising, we are left with the obvious; that it was a massive graft exercise.
39
You would think that there are no rules against someone profiting from their elected position in America.
24
I love the comments from the 31 year old lottery winner (Yechezkel Moskowitz), who "attended on his grandfather's behalf."
Happy to learn that this individual is helping to determine policy for the country.
2
Well, we are still in the era where the Loud Minority (Trump voters) believe, incredibly, that wealthy business people better support their interests than the government...so that power is on the rise. And with Citizens United, it's official: politicians can get elected with vested interest money dominating voters in the election process.
15
At his campaign events Trump should be paying for the cost of his own security, and not the rest of us with our taxpayer dollars.
PS And those that attended, avoid paying taxes also...What is wrong with this picture?
16
Hate Has A Home Here.
26
Disgusting. People who are for this administration and its behaviors are on the wrong side of history. I do hope there is a time that republicans are kicked out of the government and marginalized. They deserve it. When that happens there will be an even bigger push forward for progress and these little, angry, white bigots will be put back in the closet and we will look back at this time and see how terrible the policies and behaviors were. This is the true tide of history in the making. VOTE!
34
It started with Nixon’s opening act, and then the great fraud actor Reagan got the show really going. We had two intermissions with Clinton and Obama. Hopefully, this Administration is the final act of this tragedy.
7
This kind of corruption exists in both parties, but the Trump crime family, abetted by a complicit GOP, has demonstrated no shame whatsoever. Our country has become a true plutocracy, possibly irredeemably.
33
Ditto. My father ( CWO 4) fought in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam for our country. He later became a math teacher. No longer with us but I know he would be so angry and ashamed of what we have become.
For shame! This corruption is not what my father, Maj. Robert. B. Swenck, fought and died for! I am in tears as I write this. America is better than this!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-donors-america-firs...
58
Sorry, that America, like your father, is dead. At age 86 I will soon be gone as well. I no longer recognize the place. I feel so bad for my sons and their families.
13
Corey Lewandowski has come up with the perfect phrase to show how much Trump and his WH care about
human rights: "Womp. Womp."
Shame them out of every restaurant in DC. Let them stick with the restaurant(s) at the Trump Hotel. Serving red meat only. eat with your hands, no apologies.
54
Donors paying $100,000 to $ 250,000 to attend?
Those Russian Bots sure did their job in 2016 convincing Trump country that he would take on the elites... or, drain the swamp.
There are no good outcomes on the horizon if we don’t elect Democrats in 2018 and vote Trump out in 2020.
In the din of the Russia investigation, we’ve forgotten how bad a “winner” Trump was: he refused to accept the results of the election, he had people show up as “poll watchers” to depress minority turn-out, he attacked all the pillars of democracy (judges, state election commissions..), not to mention he colluded with an enemy nation to “win”.
Since then, Trump’s attacked the press, truth itself, law enforcement (FBI, DOJ) and minimized the State Department...
Trump’s a dream investment for America’s enemies - those who hate what the country stands for.
It’s not simply that he’s Putin’s puppet. There’s an authoritarian cabal out there that helped him (Saudi Arabia, UAE) and helps him (Israel) - as his family benefits financially.
“America First” is probably the biggest scam an american politician has successfully pulled.
46
And so, as I was doing house chores, I had a vision.
Trump was walking past a field of roses. As he passed they wilted, each with a tear of dew.
I heard babies crying, mothers hearts breaking, arms greedily raking in the cash thrown at his feet as he entered each area.
As he continually stepped on it, he indelibly soiled and disgraced our flag,.. and all it once waved for.
His face took on the distinct, sickening expression of Mussolini's.
The real Lambs of Jesus wretched and vomited with the stench of this horrific scene.
20
Don't let this rotten criminal touch the flag, let alone HUG it. What temerity. The stench will never leave. I can smell him from here. The rest of the world can smell him. Nikki Haley had the nerve to quit the Human Rights Council of the UN, for "hypocrisy." Probably concerned that WE have been accused of human rights violations, just as bad as the ones committed by rotten irredeemable Israel. Keep on yelling at our "officials" when they appear in public. Run them out of government and Washington. VOTE!
11
A calm sea of conservative, and FOREIGN, cash. Our government is as corrupt as it has ever been. We have become a banana republic. You can stop this, by vetting candidates, who don't take money from the wealthy, and voting in every election, from now on. It's only your country at stake. You can spend an hour supporting it at the polls. Please send $10 to the best candidates for any office (NOT Republicans) and take back your country. And, Democrats, when you take back control, the first thing you should do is make election day a federal holiday. The 2nd will be to roll back the tax breaks for the wealthy. The 3rd should be heavy controls on gun ownership. The 4th should be impeachment of Neil Gorsuch. The 5th should restitution of ACA, until you can pass Medicare for all. That should fill up the first month. Don't let your opportunity slip away from you, as the Obama administration did. It's only 2 years. (I have just outlined some top issues for Democrats to run on, this election season. Stop yelling at tRump, and start telling us what YOU will do.)
This is nauseating. Children are in cages or tents. Their families are being destroyed. Mass trials for asylum seekers as though they were in some authoritarian government. No legal defense for the asylum seekers or the children.
This is an atrocity. Look at the crystal chandeliers here. Think about tents in 108 degree heat, with air conditions but no toilets (separate porta-potties outside). Innocent children lined up and marched through camps.
Republicans, you are so inhumane and cruel now that it is hard to believe you were even raised in America.
Monsters who are feasting while children and babies are suffering. From a dictator's policies, as he spins ever further into complete lunacy.
Republicans. Your party will forever be remember for the legacy of deliberately hurting small children. Republicans. This is on you.
There will be a judgment to come. Vote against every Republican from now on. They are complicit with crimes against humanity. Against children.
57
Day 515 of this administration with republicans refusing to do their duty in relation to the Constitution.
Day 515 of this President (and family) continuing to personally profit and clearly breaking the law (the emoluments clause of the Constitution)
Day 515 for this lawless President and administration.
52
Like a meeting of the Nazi Party in 1939.
59
It is wrong for this or any other group that has a material interest in the outcomes of government or presidential action to hold such an event at the president's own hotel. This looks like corruption. It looks like the White House has been bought and paid for by the rich.
The president should have divested. Congress should consider legislation that compels future administrations, including cabinet secretaries and vice presidents, to divest.
23
This meeting should obviously be investigated as a graft mining operation as they declined to claim it was a fund raising event.
22
But who will investigate? Jeff sessions?
3
Every single person attending this should be ashamed of themselves!!! They better start worrying how they are going to justify themselves to their "God." I agree with Gianni ..... #TrumpCages....every last one of them!
9
"...The filings also show that the group has spent more than $160,000 at Trump Organization properties, the vast majority of which — $154,000 — went to the Trump International Hotel for facility rentals and catering..."
The very fact that this statement has become unremarkable - the Trump family profiting directly from their elected and appointed positions - is incredible disturbing. It is unprecedented. In any other presidency, a fact like this would be a headline.
34
We are very quick to diss and criticize, we act with indignation at other countries whom we feel do not follow the rule of law. Yet, we are ignorant and blind to what happens, and what is continuing to happen here in the good 'ol USA.
This fraud in the White House is using our country to push an agenda that is financed by conservative think tanks (how I disdain that label) like the Koch brothers. Yesterday, the Times reported that these two have thrown million of dollars into the anti-mass transit movement, just when we need it the most. Betsy DeVos - a joke. The Heritage Foundation should be put on the terrorist list. And DT and his cronies continue to role in the money, and our impotent Congress does nothing.
A family member voted for DT, and we can't talk about it. When I asked why, I didn't get an answer. Folks, we are in crisis mode here - these are the people who vote without any idea of what or who they are voting for. We better wake up, and fast.
30
I so agree. There are times I think I'm in an alternate universe as people who I thought had some sense blindly follow Trump and his lies.
19
Dinner for the proletariat of the New Gilded Age!
11
This money bath is splashing fascism ideals that are pouring into American Streets like over-flowing sewage. But, there is nothing to be done but take cover and sniff perfume.
9
The cesspools ground zero
18
#TrumpCages Let's brand them for what they are.
13
Officially a banana republic.
17
Could the Times possibly get its hands on the list of those who attended this event, and then print or post the list for all of us normal, every citizens to see?
It would be a great public service to know who these self-deceiving fools are.
70
The guests are not self-deceiving, the public is. The guests big bucks will buy wall to wall promo's and all sorts of advertising that will convince many of us "common folk" that Trump is doing all manner of great things for them. Their money will buy him a second term.
The Guests know what they are doing.
7
“Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him”
The Four Horsemen are here:
The four riders Conquest/Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death.
7
For shame! This corruption is not what my father, Maj. Robert. B. Swenck, fought and died for! I am in tears as I write this. America is better than this!
19
“No, Candace, not everyone else” would have been an appropriately snarky response.
The constant victimhood of the Trump flacks becomes insufferable.
16
It is time to revolt.
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!
14
I agree. Time for massive demonstrations at the camps. And more. "A democracy if you can keep it," said Ben Franklin about America. And, per this article, we didn't. Time to move.
1
Why would a mere millionaire give a billionaire many thousands of dollars?
19
So ironic that the setting for this conservative we-don’t-care about poor people gala was once the home of the National Endowment for the Humanities but is now the home of Trump.
18
How is the Trump International Hotel not in violation of the emoluments clause?
59
It is, but the Republicans don't care.
13
Isn't it way past time for sit-ins and occupation of Trump properties in protest of this Nazi and his usurpation of the United States?
16
This is what treason looks like, when a man sells out his country to a foreign power in order to become the ruler. This is how the oligarchy reacts.
Twenty indictments, three guilty pleas, mountains of growing evidence, lackeys who can't keep their mouths shut: that's what conspiracy looks like.
126
You can bet any attendees bringing children were allowed to keep them with them.
27
Trump, 2015/16..........."I will pay for my campaign".
2018...........they will pay for his campaign.
22
Trump is the crazy like a rich old fox character, but this is not a cartoon and is not funny.
7
Ignorance, towering ignorance. Racism. Gordon Gekko-level greed. Contempt for the Other. Contempt for anyone who disagrees. Contempt for anyone who reports honestly. Abolition of the concept of conflict of interest. Angry defenses of the indefensible. Suffused with a smothering cloud of tribalism and smugness.
This gathering had it all. The jackpot.
36
The real Trump 'Hotel' is filled with children in Tornillo, Texas.
The contrast could not be more stark.
61
Emoluments violations, and reason for impeachment, then indictment, then prison.
26
It is people like these who triggered the Paris Reign of Terror.
19
I am so ashamed to be lumped into being ‘an American’ with these people.
29
Just another Trump shake down at his hotel. Wonder what these contributors are getting from the federal government?
19
They got the benefits of money stolen from the public through tax policy. They get rollbacks of labor protection, so they can exploit their workers without repercussion. They get a leader who validates their hatred, greed, and fear. They get quite a lot.
9
As Senator John McCain noted on a previous occasion, there is nothing “America First” about Donald Trump. The same goes for the flunkeys and political hacks who grovel before him, each seeking to buy influence and win favors from one of the most amoral presidents in American history.
27
A den of traitors.
23
Trump is a Billionaire who years back, promised to pay for his own campaign. So why are billionaires and millionaires giving him campaign money? I can guess easily enough.
12
Yeah. A “billionaire “. Sure he is.
3
But ‘The Lord of the Lies’ says so. In capital letters, so it must be true!
1
"You guys are genuinely out of touch,” said Ms. Owens"
Oh, Ms. Owens - you are going to find out on November 6 just who, exactly, is out of touch.
All the money in the world won't help you win with Trump.
The GOP is toast. And you've EARNED it.
23
This is the Trump presidency. Pay $100,000 to $250,000 to be in an event where Trump is speaking or 'register' to attend one of his 'white guys' rallies. That's it.
Donald Trump is NEVER going to interact with normal Americans. He doesn't want to hear their views about anything. He doesn't care.
This is the Imperial Presidency run amok where only very rich donors and Mar-A-Lago members can meet or speak to the president.
I have zero money but met Barack Obama when he was president at an event open to anyone who registered to attend in Northern Virginia early in his presidency. Obama also was regularly seen around town at restaurants, book stores, burger take out joints and other places where regular people gather. Lots of regular folks met Obama at these unannounced visits to local bookstores and restaurants.
Trump continues to trash Obama and tries to present himself as a man of the people but at this time he is the most aloof and closed off president of our times -- with the exception of George W. Bush, who hid out a lot because he was running 2 very unpopular wars.
Trump's just unpopular period.
The people know when someone is pretending to be the King.
30
When Trump took office and the sea of ethics violations became knee deep I wrote the head of the Office of Government Ethics in DC, asking how I could help. Never heard back. Found later he had resigned almost immediately.
28
I can’t think of a story about Trump that doesn’t cause outrage in his opponents or that doesn’t force his supporters into a defensive stance. There are no “feel good” stories of kindness, inclusiveness, or generosity. He never smiles or tells a joke unless he is attacking someone or something. Even the Korean story was tinged with his greed and egomania. A common story concerns self dealing, where he or his people use their position to enrich themselves. It is getting harder to be shocked or even surprised to hear of the Trump swamp stretching from New York to Florida.
43
Trump does not believe he has to obey any laws at all. That is hardly "conservative" nor hardly "American".
23
From my vantage point, I see America in one of two situations within the next 20 years: One is a totalitarian regime with Trump as President for Life, at least until he dies; the other is American Revolution II, a reprise of the French Revolution, not the one that created this nation. Among the first to lose their capital appendages in the latter view will be the likes of those described in this article.
14
Are capitol appendages Congresspersons?
If the first situation happens, it will be Trump as President for Life, followed by his children as Ps for L.
The second situation is the more likely one, with much civil unrest; and some degree of violence. The Trump supporters, including the NRA, plus the likes of the Charlottesville white supremacists, are just two groups that bode ill for a civilized way to government reform and stability.
These Dark Days in the USA are heartbreaking , for outsiders to watch.
I don't recognize our government anymore. I am ashamed to be an American.
115
Me too.....
3
Make The Emoluments Clause Obsolete
Make Robber Barons Great Again
Make Feudalism Great Again
TRUMP-GOP 2018
November 6 2018
24
Sorry, can’t hear your pep rally over the crying babies, all that political racket has woken them up and there’s nothing there to feed them so they go back to sleep.
Looks like a powerful "grass roots" group of supporters except their only grass roots are manicured golf course greens surrounded by iron gates where they pay club membership fees of $200K with the optional special benefit of teeing off with the owner for $1M.
46
Well, this is further proof that money really can't buy things like ethics, integrity, wisdom, insight and humanity.
I'm sure these folks will get what they paid for, after all they are used to buying things and people, and their money will buffer them from the destruction they are bringing down on the rest of us, but the rest of us, and our democracy, are in great peril.
59
Now entire cities are getting themselves off.
While computers and AI turn most humans into "surplus labor," the mega rich will be safe and secure in their own cities, for a while.
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jan/25/news/mn-1554
1
I plan to attend a rally today outside of a Representative's local office. Any suggestions for my sign that would be brief and meaningful?
12
A recent quote from Robert DeNiro comes to mind.
6
"Against treason."
Trump - release your tax returns!
4
Another of the onslaught of examples that the dystopia is here, in America, in the 21st century. And those with the gold will assure it stays.
15
Making a list. Checking it twice. Going to find out who is naught or nice by businesses supporting the Republicans. The voters and consumers are coming to town. We can't vote until November but we can stop consuming now from business who support the Trump/Republican candidates. Apps available on Apple, Google on businesses to dump. Since the Republicans and their supporters are all about money hit they were it hurts of course that is their wallets not their hearts.
81
what hearts?
4
Maybe he wants to be impeached. He doesn't like governing, and impeachment is a small price to pay, given the accumulated wealth for his family and friends.
33
If impeached, he'd be their martyr.
4
And in a far corner of the hall they kept playing over and over the tape of the children crying in the detention center. A contribution box was set up right next to it. If you put in $10,000 you would be allowed to see actual secret footage of the horrors inside. Some of them could not get away from that corner of the room --even to listen to the speeches--as they kept putting more and more of their money into that box. Squeals of pleasure from there kept interrupting the procedures. No one really minded though.
40
"How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" - Exodus 32:8
132
Lol Republicans are probably quoting this verse to each other as an excuse to do the same, just as Jeff Sessions was quoting the bible to justify taking children from their parents.
2
Nice quote Thomas but you are aware that the global consensus of archeologists ,including the leading Israeli archaeologists, is that there was NO Exodus , Israelite invasion of Canaan , Moses , United Monarchy or patriarchs. These fairy stories have joined the others as part of the foundation myths of Judaism eg . Noah`s flood , the Garden of Eden , the tower of Babel , the stories of giants (the Nephilim) . Yahweh turning Lot`s wife into a pillar of salt & killing all the 1st born of Egypt (celebrated as the Passover) etc , etc. ??
1
excellent!
“I feel like I’m talking to someone who actually thinks everyone else is an idiot,” she said to this reporter.
Bingo! Ya got that right. Not much intelligence in the Trump universe.
112
The Fake Dictator in Chief on all things is driving fast forward with his eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror … looking at himself … his ego and lies are his guiding compass.
America, its future, its wellbeing and its prosperity, does not matter to the Lier in Chief.
America is paying the price for his damaging and misguided strategies based on lies in all things.
Robert. Mueller: Continue to move ahead in your work … the world is waiting with anticipation.
26
Extremely rich, and intensely religious people, rallying around a child abuser. Is there anything more perverted?
405
Anyone who supports Trump supports lying, hate, fear, greed, violence, and is against most of the Constitution, including the separation of church and state, the separation of powers, the rule of law, the judiciary, the justice department, the FBI, the intelligence agencies, prisoners of war (who Trump calls losers), and supports talking children from their parents.
They have No Honor and No Credibility.
They have declared you the enemy.
Do not give them the time of day.
They deserve only derision.
4
It's very simple. They believe they were made in their god's image. Brown people weren't, so are no better than animals.
1
Great reply. This is a perversion.
These people are better known as collaborators.
128
Since none of the migrants look like the Canadian Ted Cruz, the Cuban Marco Rubio, thr Czech Ivana Trump nor the Slovenian Melania Trump who cares?
MAGA equals white lives matter.
Besides the Trump Hotel District of Columbia profits are deeply hidden from the American people in Donald Trump's personal and family income tax returns and business records.
Russia if you are listening please disclose all of this to us.
22
These people are all traitors. I mean that in the sense that they have no sense of duty or loyalty to the nation or government of the United States. They care for themselves alone at the direct expense of the people and institutions of this country. They should all be shunned, at the very least.
210
They openly say that "the government is the enemy," and have been saying it since Reagan.
"The Government" is Our Republic, as laid out in the Untied States Constitution.
They have declared themselves enemies of our Republic and and almost every Republican has signed the anti-tax pledge of Grover Norquist, who said our government should be "drowned in a bathtub."
I know that Republicans lie all of the time, but when someone declares themselves to be my enemy, and consistently attacks everything I hold dear, I believe that they are my enemy.
It is past time to stop treating Republicans as intelligent patriots with whom we disagree.
They have declared themselves the enemy, and behave like the enemy, and treat the rest of us like their enemy.
Treat then like the enemies they claim to be.
Like the Confederates they worship, they are traitors.
8
Apparently I was mistaken: Corporations ARE people but immigrant children are NOT....I wonder if I can seek asylum from this INSANITY...Canada? New Zealand? Anybody?....
63
Don't choose New Zealand. The ulra conservative Trump pal Peter Thiel has bought up a major chunk of that country and is welcomed by them. The home of the nearly extinct Kiwi tries to conserve their last remaining few in a zoo while Thiel is fulfilling his dream of owning an island unto himself.
5
Anyone who pays money to support this man on a day he defends state-sanctioned child abuse--which he created and lies about being able to stop--has a hole where their hearts ought to be.
54
To everyone who reads this: what are you doing about it?
15
I don't know. I keep asking myself that. We're all complicit because we pay taxes.
Focus on the midterms - canvass and phone bank for Democratic candidates. Work to register new voters, especially in areas with low Democratic turnout. If you live in a blue state, as I do, consider going to a swing state and volunteering there to help Democrats get elected. Stay fired up - read and absorb all that is happening in our country. Channel your anger and work to get these people out of office.
6
@Darren: Given that I am just a cog in the elite’s machine, I can’t do much other than exercise my right to vote.
We are all getting a crash course in Civics 101: Why Elections Matter. If the outrage I see here and elsewhere is any indication of how many of us have had it with this cabal, we outflank any attempt to keep us quiet.
2
“Let them eat cake.”
10
In April, the Guardian ran an excellent article on the racist history of the phrase America First, entitled, End of the American Dream? The Dark Histiry of 'America First'
I encourage everyone to read it. 'America First' is not a dog whistle, it's an outright and proud exclamation of racism.
21
"The filings also show that the group has spent more than $160,000 at Trump Organization properties."
He lies publicly, provably, repeatedly, proudly.
He accepts bribes publicly, provably, etc.
He's a mobster. These people are gangsters.
161
Donald Trump Jr. Says a lot about the evening. And in the streets the trumbells are being put in position.
5
The greed of the Campaigner-in-Chief is eclipsed only by the stupidity of his donors. Anyone willing to shell out a quarter million dollars to reelect this grifter should have their head examined. Trump gave North Korea and China exactly what they wanted in exchange for a photo op in Singapore; he surrendered American leadership of the Asia Pacific region by pulling out of the TPP; his scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal has raised prices at our gas pumps; his trade wars with China, Europe, Canada and Mexico are hurting Midwest farmers and a variety of industries back home; and whatever money he saves by suspending war games and pulling our troops out of South Korea will be offset by his desire for a huge military parade and the creation of a Space Force -- which will add nothing to our national security beyond making him the chief space cadet.
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- Abortion
- Gay marriage
- Gender fluidity
- Black Lives Matter
- Corporate Welfare
These issues matter more to Trump voters than anything you have to say, Christy. These issues drive anti-progressives to vote more than any other group of voters. It's all about getting out the vote by any means necessary and the Trump Republicans will simply do anything to keep their power and enhance their wealth.
7
When the stock market tanks and this entitled group finds out they are not so well off or insulated, maybe then...?
1
Eerie in their Trump aerie. A gathering of the 21st century "malefactors of great wealth." All luxuriating in their access to power while immigrant children are in cages and the world economy totters under Trump tariffs. And just which dotard said, "Ignorance is bliss."
15
And they all love to bathe in muck.
And the corruption goes on unabated.
14
Somehow, some way, this stuff has to stop.
9
Follow the money. Here’s an example of how people become “brainwashed” to wine and dine to collect funds to continue the destruction of our country.
“Part of it is,” Mr. Spicer said, “you buy into the philosophy.”
Well Mr Spicer, maybe you bought into the philosophy, but I am not. But thanks for confirming what I believe is happening at the top.
Why can’t anyone see that history is repeating itself...
Are we going to be burning books next, monitoring all calls, texts, mail, and social media to see who is against the administration and get put into a detention camp because of noncompliance and non conformity? Oh wait, this has happened already.
“Part of it is,” Mr. Spicer said, “you buy into the philosophy.”
Is the next step that all Americans will need to wear a tagging type of device sophisticated enough listen in to all our conversations?
We’ve had legislation passed where we have already had some of our freedoms taken away, and from the way people who are trying to come to this country, we apparently had laws that were meant one way turn and get used in a horrific way of tearing children apart from their parents.
“Part of it is,” Mr. Spicer said, “you buy into the philosophy.”
You may have bought into “the philosophy”, Mr. Spicer - in fact you have been all in.
Well, this American citizen has not. The philosophy started at the top. Vote them out. Impeach him out. Our country is bleeding out, who and when will stop it from hemorrhaging further?
18
We need to turn this around. America is losing her soul. You all know what I mean; that image that we and the world had of us. The powerful country with all of its flaws who could be counted on, even if only after a long argument, to do the right thing.
With our contrarian, narcissistic leader we can be counted on doing the wrong thing. We are the rude guest that expects to be treated differently because we have more wealth than the next guy (we'll see how long that lasts). The rude neighbor who boasts about our powers, real and imagined, and quote non-existent facts and incorrect history to support our specious arguments.
How long can our nation last at this rate? How long can WE all last when the system is being bent to funnel wealth to the few and power to some of the least competent of us?
But how to stop this train wreck? The world looks on, shaking their head. Our enemies cover their mouths and try to hide their laughter. Our allies speak but no one listens. With our representatives in Congress failing to intercede, it is up to us to figure this out. Vote, sure. Any other ideas?
19
For some, money speaks louder than the cries of children. So sad.
21
It's enough to make a person vomit.
46
How is holding events at a Trump hotel not a conflict of interest. And does the Trump campaign include the inflated cost of using the Trump facility as a campaign donation since it all goes to the family line?
18
Those who oppose enforcement of a rational immigration policy and who oppose balanced trade with the rest of the world are, by proxy, Trump's greatest allies. They drive others into supporting him (or remaining neutral) who otherwise would be in favor of less military interference in the rest of the world, health insurance programs on a par with Western Europe and Canada, improved infrastructure, more affordable higher education, etc.
We cannot compel our domestic producers to compete with foreign plants that employ child labor under near-slave conditions. We cannot open our borders to anyone who chooses to cross it and still maintain a stable, orderly sovereign nation within those borders. It cannot be done! Some of us cannot in conscience align ourselves with those, who for fanatical ideological reasons, refuse to see that.
2
So you align yourself with a party of "family values" that cages children, rips wailing infants from the arms of their mothers, seeks to tear up the social safety net, tries repeatedly to destroy the ACA, taxes the poor to enrich the rich, cuts funding for public education, denies climate science and removes environmental protections for the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. That's about as smart as putting an ignorant, narcissistic grifter in the White House.
10
We have laws that limit individual contributions to PACs to 5K but then allow PACs to charge people 250K for a two-day event. It's no wonder that we have a dishonest president.
9
They want another tax cut, because the first one wasn't enough.
10
I genuinely wonder how these donors do not see negative effects in their business from being "outed" as supporters.
Leaders of top tier finance (e.g., Jamie Dimon, BlackRock, Buffett) are explicitly against Trump and I can't imagine they or their firms risking the PR blowback from investing in/with overt Trump supporters.
Certainly in big law, where relationships and law school pipelines are critical and delicate ties to maintain, being so openly supportive of Trump must be a liability.
In my workplace of well pedigreed (Or so they constantly tell me/each other) mostly white college grads, political talk is either incredulous complaining about Trump or silent nodding (a shrewd calculation that voicing support for Trump would be career/social suicide).
Maybe these donors are all in real estate...?
6
I'm glad that Trump's PAC money raising is faltering and what little money there is, is going into Trump's and his cronies pockets rather than into the campaigns these contributions were intended to help. This is the kind of graft and corruption that will MAGA as it helps the Democrats retake congress and the White House.
6
Money, Power and Politics in the Trump administration.
Money comes first. The flow between different entities shielded by laws for the direct purpose of graft, buying influence. That 'intimacy' with Trump so desired!
Money buys Power.
That's the GOP culmination of years of effort and the backing of the Supreme's Citizens United decision.
Trump is very adept at making sure money flows his way. Not quite like Putin but he's working on it.
America moves into facism with the Trumpian goal of monied men ruling in an increasingly authoritarian manner.
8
There are people who support Trump's action on separating families. The names of these people and their companies need to be published so they can be boycotted.
21
I wonder how much of these "donations" are funneling their way into the Trump family's personal bank accounts?
In all seriousness, it's appalling how out of touch and indifferent these people are. There's 31-year-old donor who's excited about "rolling back" environmental regulation. Apparently, he has no concern about the world we are now, and will be, living in or the realities of climate change. Party away!
Another donor is "confident" that Trump "hates the fact that children are being taken away from their loved ones." Despite the fact that...it was Trump himself that pushed the policy of ripping families apart at the border.
These people might have money, but they have no insight on reality.
42
oh yes they have the best insight into reality Dominic - and if it takes insight to realize that is reality.
"Donors were told that, in addition to Mr. Trump, speakers would include the former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee, and a host of Republican lawmakers, including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve Daines of Montana, as well as Representatives Kevin Brady of Texas, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Greg Walden of Oregon"...What a line-up, too bad I didnt have the 100k to attend this &#itfest
6
Trump's close associates like Parscale taking hefty fees. It's a typical Trump move; rewarding those loyal to him, with other people's money.
25
Like others, I was sickened by this report. (So much so, in fact, that it prompted me to cancel my plans to spend a week in D.C. next month visiting museums.)
It’s perhaps a grim irony that during the peak of the Cold War I seem to recall a communist leader prophesizing that capitalism, and America in particular, would eventually kill itself through growing greed and hatreds. Yup, seems he may have been right.
33
Ken, you're right about us hanging ourselves, but it turns out that the Russians didn't sell us the rope as predicted. We bought it from the Chinese , or more exactly, from an American corporation that manufactured it in China.
3
Thank you for a much-needed chuckle today.
I don't get the connection between your contempt for the vile people and circumstances described in this article and cancelling a trip to see museums in Washington DC.
2
“you buy into the philosophy.”
...that phrase pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with politics in this country.
18
We need to fight these people where we can.
Who served these people, who prepared their food, who cleaned their clothes and yards, who watched their children while they were away, and who drove them to this event?
If we could convince every service worker every where - the vast majority who are immigrants and people of color - to hold a general strike that applies to white people, maybe then these patriarchs and fascists would realize the degree to which they're playing with fire!
Immigrants now make up 16% of our population. White people are fast becoming a minority. For those of us who were born with the curse of being white, our job is to shame our fellow white people until they see the light. Make it personal. Never let up! Victory is close at hand!
6
We do indeed need a general strike. But a real one. The kind where we all (not just immigrants and people of color!) shut down this country.
9
Greed is an ugly thing.
22
Nothing new here. This is just another example of all the money behind politics and the cast inequality that grows in our country. We have become an oligarchy. We are no longer a true democracy, because most times these days the voice of the people - the majority of the people - are not being heard. The people show they want one thing and politicians and elites do something else. Action is taken on issues only as it relates to power, influence, status, politics, and money.
This is a sad time to be an American, and I fear things are only going to get worse.
142
I don't necessarily disagree with your list of generalizations.
But if you can't see something "new" in this gang, you need to look again.
2
Money rules all. Money and power.
29
As Frederick Douglass said, far more eloquently than I, the billionaires get away with exactly what the rest of us let them get away with. No more and no less.
7
Spot on, McGloin. I was taken aback by the news of Manafort being held in a "VIP" section of jail, wondering why on earth such a place would exist in the first place. We create a system that blatantly tells the wealthy that they live by a different set of rules. We shouldn't be surprised when they feel entitled to break them.
1
Those $100K donors may want to take a closer look at their dinners as they more then likely were prepared by immigrant food service personnel that may still have families in the countries where these immigrants are have their children taken from them at our border.
93
They won't care.
1
Witness, it is a comment about the body fluids and other adulterants that those kitchen workers will be infusing the dinners with.
"Those $100K donors may want to take a closer look at their dinners as they more then likely were prepared by immigrant food service personnel that may still have families in the countries where these immigrants are have their children taken from them at our border."
Cute , I hope some spit from the serving staff was the special sauce on their meals.
1
Cash. That's the entire POINT, of His Campaign, and Regime. The Trumps will all be rolling it it, for decades. Suckers.
17
it is a cash - sacred cow - economy.
1
Soft-corruption money and fascism mixing together.
Remember in November.
183
I will remember in November. I can hardly wait!
2
And all we'll hear from them is how George Soros is perverting democracy with his money. Sure.
93
I don't trust Soros either
He got rich by destroying the value of other country's currencies.
2
I don't trust billionaires as a rule, either.
1
This sounds just like the pigs' dinner in the last chapter of George Orwell's "Animal Farm".
368
"99% bad. Billionaires good" said the pigs.
"Conservatives are the new counterculture," said the pigs.
"...150 supporters — about half of whom were donors who paid $100,000 to $250,000..." These people are not our friends...nor are they "great American patriots". These are the true "elites" that Trump's base voted against. They should have paid attention to Pogo who once said: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
107
If only George Orwell was around today...what a disgusting display of hubris and smarminess. The utter corruption (wonder how much Trump is "charging" for use of is hotel as the money goes right into his pockets), all the while the Republicans fiddle along as the swamp is not only not drained, but continually restocked.
50
The swamp is drowning in money - which does make the world go round.
George Orwell was replaced by Frank Luntz.
If you don't know who that is, you need to do some research.
He invents phrases like "Death Taxes."
1
Money Trumps all. Period.
173
“Money trumps peace. . . Sometimes.”
- George W. Bush
For far too many, but not everyone my friend.
The degree of greed, complicity, and ignorance demonstrated by these people is sickening. Seventy years of global social/democracy are being undone by the 21 century robber barons, with Trump leading the charge.
445
They ought to ponder how their ilk fared in late 1700s France....
12
And Trump and his allies are talking their money and putting it in their own bank accounts. Lol.
2
Yes... but that requires introspection, a quality which is not well suited to greed. I have had the same thought many times! LOL
"America First" should be renamed "Looting America for Profit and Influence." It puts most Americans LAST.
362
But it’s a Americans who voted for him, combined with his cohorts rigging the election of course. And he still has support! How can that be explained?
6
I believe they meant "Rob America First" (we'll rob the rest of the world later)
This story is a metaphor for Trumpland,a place where the conservative wealthy citizens travel behind well protected walls,get tax breaks,are allowed to pollute and defile national lands,and just let some of us in to cook their food and clean their homes,not looking too hard to see who we really are. Heartless greedy people,often hiding behind religion...
366
A roomful of people voluntarily paying their way onto the wrong side of history...
311
Well phrased!
1
The fact is that our President is aggressively flouting the emoulants rules and ignoring the constitution. There is an eager bunch of greedy people willing to take advantage of a president who will take their money and look the other way if they are taking nefarious actions.
225
This piece turns my stomach, having a visceral as well as emotional effect on me. This group lives in a gold-gilded bubble, willfully clueless and caring not one whit for the state of this country. I had almost forgotten about the questionably affluent supporters of Mr. Trump. It is easy to do with half of this country's hate and bigotry spewed toward those immigrant children separated from their parents. They are attempting to flee oppression and violence about which we know little or nothing, while these individuals written of care only about filling their already overflowing coffers. How on earth are we every day Americans going to fight this disgraceful state of affairs? We are book-ended with hate and racism on one side and greed and corruption on the other.
302
Powerfully phrased.
"We are book-ended with hate and racism on one side and greed and corruption on the other."
How on earth do ethical people fight this?
1
Volunteer to work on Democrats' campaigns for the midterm elections. Contribute what money you can afford to those campaigns.
For an ordinary American, that might be $25 or $50 or even $5 or $10 -- it all counts. For Michael Bloomberg, he announced today that he is contributing $80 million targeted on moderate Democratic House candidates, in order to take back the House.
2
VOTE for Democrats at every opportunity. Let's get rid of Republican control of Congress ASAP
5
I would say that this is unbelievable, except that it is exactly what Americans have come to believe - that Trump doesn't care about "optics", ethics, laws or the morals that guide patriotic Americans in our once proud country. It's what we expect of him. Sadly.
91
Trump's only political concern is that his base remains confident that Trump is the world's foremost "Christian" white-supremacist.
All the rest is idle chatter.
1
The question is why do Americans support Trump? Why do so many average income people support him and the Republicans? They are taking away health insurance, pushing the Federal government further into debt that will threaten Social Security and Medicare, repealing environmental regulations that protect us from pollution and unsafe businesses... when will the Trump supporters realize that the Republicans are really hurting them?
1
Our democracy is being sold to the highest bidder.
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Our democracy has been sold but "We" can take it back this November. Vote but don't vote Republican.
1
That would be Bloomberg.
1
You should use the present perfect.
How much more evidence to we need that America is no longer a democratic republic? It is a quasi-monarchical plutocracy where those born into wealth or lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right talent and/or personality run the show.
Think I'm wrong? Ask yourself a simple question: does a regular person with no connections to wealth have any chance whatsoever to hold high office, i.e. be a senator, president, presidential appointee, SCOTUS justice, or even a leading member of the House?
183
I would hardly call Obama a picture of wealth when he was elected POTUS.
1
Obama did quite well; but then again, he is brilliant.
3
I understand and share your frustration, sir. But to answer your question, I must give an optimistic yes in the example of Barack Obama.
1
Wasn’t our nation founded on the principal that a monarch had become a tyrant, that the power vested in the monarch was unjust and that the people were suffering under its rule? Didn’t we once reject the idea of our own dynastic rulers? What has happened? Is our “American Experiment” finished?
141
Once upon a time the powers of US government were said to be delegated by the people. Now they come from God again.
2
Puleeze! our nation was founded as a real estate grab. Grow up. That doesn’t mean we can’t be who we thought we were. We can. We can start today.
2
White men in suits and ties should start infiltrating and starting sit in occupations in such Trump properties until he is removed from office and jailed.
1