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They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

In my day, never was longer.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

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Accountability, motherfuckers.

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Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Open Thread: The Higher Climbs the Monkey…

Late Night Open Thread: The Higher Climbs the Monkey…

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…the more he shows his arse. Back when Trump was just another NYC real estate developer, he could make noisy promises of generosity — even muscle his way into a ceremony intended to honor actual donors to a nursery for children with AIDS — and never have to spend a dime of his own ill-gotten loot.

But now that he’s “President”? The Hounds of Media Hell are forever all up in his business, led by the Washington Post‘s fearless David Fahrenthold. Note the extremely legalistic wording —“Trump announces recipients for his $1 million donation for Hurricane Harvey relief”:

President Trump gave $1 million of his own money to charities helping the Houston area recover from Hurricane Harvey, splitting the gift among 12 nonprofits, the White House announced Wednesday.

The gift had been promised late last week. In a statement, the White House said that Trump and first lady Melania Trump had witnessed some of these charities at work firsthand during their two visits to areas of Texas hit by the hurricane, which was the biggest rainstorm recorded in the history of the continental United States.

The White House said other recipients were “recommended, at the invitation of the President, by members of the White House Press Corps,” the White House statement said.

The two biggest individual gifts were given to large, mainstream charities: the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army would get $300,000 each, the White House said.

The next-largest gifts went to charities associated with Christian ministries.

The White House said Trump would give $100,000 to Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian aid agency run by Franklin Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham. Franklin Graham has been a key political supporter of Trump’s…

It was not immediately clear, from the White House’s statement whether the charities had received the donations or whether the checks would arrive in the coming days.

Before last summer, Trump had a long record of making pledges to give his personal money to charity but an uneven record of fulfilling them…

Since I can’t have my first wish — that Trump disappear from public purview and is never heard of again, except by the unfortunates who have to guard his cell and/or share his golf outings — I will enjoy every single second as Trump gets prodded to put his money where his mouth is. Solely for (my) entertainment purposes, some timeline-via-tweets below the fold..

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  2. 2.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    Color me surprised that he has a hard time donating…. well anything…..

    It’s going to be amusing when he discovers Mar-a-Largo is destroyed this weekend by the hurricane.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    There’s quite a few groups doing Harvey relief work (ETA: and gearing up for Irma and Jose) that could use some Vitamin M supplements. They’re all on social media if the President cares to look. Sarah Huckabee Sanders couldn’t very well tell the truth: Trump is having trouble trying to figure out how to get out of donating the money he pledged without the media exposing him.

  4. 4.

    jl

    So the multi-multi-billionaire who has plenty of cash cushion and don’t nobody nothing, especially not those Rooskies, found out he can’t do it from his foundation, so now it turns out that it’s really, when you think about it, hard to make out a personal check to the Salvation Army.

    Is that the story? OK.

    Edit: anyone with half a wit, who was worried about their reputation, would start sending some damn scratch out, anything, to avoid inevitable embarrassment when people start asking. Hell, ask an aide to spot you a 20, or do a credit card thing for something, anything. Get a damn receipt. Yeesh. Not like this hasn’t happened before.

  6. 6.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I remember both Dub and Obama saying that they often found themselves, while presidenting, walking around for days with no cash or, strictly speaking, any visible means of support. Perks of the office, I suppose.. But seems to me when they were out for photo ops they would whip out a credit card for some burgers or whatever.

  7. 7.

    sharl

    With all the big news happening everywhere, I’d forgotten about crazy Louise:

    You're fired. Thank you and Brad Moss for your past representation, pro bono and in a good cause, but @Evan_McMullin is not "pathetic".— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) September 7, 2017

    Thank you Louise! Notice of withdrawal will be filed with court tonight. You're on your own. @BradMossEsq— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) September 7, 2017

    I’m pretty sure Mr. Zaid is the overwhelming beneficiary of this exchange.

  8. 8.

    Raoul

    He’s just the cheapest, sleaziest, most horrid little man. Beneath contempt. But also, possibly, relatively broke. Which, if it could be confirmed (ahem, tax returns!), would be kinda hilarious.

  9. 9.

    jl

    The real lesson is, after an embarrassing series of hobo loser presidents, ever since FDR I guess, we just haven’t seen how a really rich man operates. The ‘winning’ is there, it is just far above our understanding.

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    @jl:
    Well, a POTUS wouldn’t need to pay to gas up the limo or to park it. Only seldom would he have to pay for a meal outside the White House. So he doesn’t have much occasion to carry cash money or a credit/debit card even when he’s out and about.

  13. 13.

    Ruckus

    @jl:
    I would be amazed if he is anything like liquid over a few million. His entire stick is an obvious load of bullshit, why should his wealth be any different? I’d also be amazed if he really has any idea how much he actually has, actually owes and how much his properties are actually worth. He’s in hock up to his mangy orange rug and not much smarter than a flat rock. He’s lied about all of it so much and for so long, he probably believes his own shit completely. Take his airplane. It’s a 25+ yr old third hand 757. If he really was anything like reasonably liquid with assets of the 10-11 billion he claims, that would be a far better plane that hadn’t been retired from commercial service due to age and condition.

  14. 14.

    jl

    @Amir Khalid: But both of Trump’s poor hobo bum immediate predecessors could and did when they saw need or reason to. Trump can’t seem to figure it out. He should make some calls to ex-presidents to get some advice on how it works.

  18. 18.

    frosty

    @Amir Khalid: I remember Reagan hitting up a SS agent for cash to buy a hot dog in Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. None of these rich assholes carry something as plebian as money.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    @Ruckus:

    Take his airplane. It’s a 25+ yr old third hand 757.

    Whose registration he let expire, while he was riding it all over America to campaign.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: That is a good point.

    I remember a photo op where Obama, or Biden, I forget which, had exactly nothing in his pockets and couldn’t pay for burgers, or hot dogs or some damn thing. Had to bum off the other one, or maybe one of the staff.

    so, bothsidesdoit.

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:
    He didn’t do that, his pilot did. Hard to hire quality help when the head asshole interacts with them. You get what you can find at the human rejects office.

  24. 24.

    frosty

    @jl: Yeah, well fuck them all. Carry a damn wallet with a 20, same as the rest of us. Sorry to hear that Obama and/or Biden may be in the same bucket with Reagan. I repeat myself: fuck ’em all, carry some fucking cash. Get on Planet Earth, you priveleged motherfuckers.

  28. 28.

    Ruckus

    @frosty:
    Really, why carry cash? Presidents don’t buy stuff, they aren’t normal people. They don’t interact with us everyday slobs, go to lunch, buy groceries, gas for the car……..
    Everything is provided, separated, checked, it’s very unusual for them to even be anywhere that they could spend cash. They don’t need a DL, or really any ID. They are never in public and out of control of the SS.
    For some reason this reminds me of a FB post from the other day, A girl I went to HS with has been in jail for decades for murder. Our reunion is coming up and someone wondered what people thought about this girl. Most were somewhat sympathetic, she’s spent all but a very few years of her adult life in jail. One said she should be put to death, it’s the only way to stop murderers. Except of course it doesn’t stop them.
    There are some people whose lives are out of the ordinary. A president is very much one of them, a person whose spent decades in jail is another. Their situations are just not as cut and dried as most people’s are. And a lot of regular people’s situations aren’t all that cut and dried either.

  30. 30.

    frosty

    @Ruckus: I see your point, but still. If you’re going to the deli or a ball game stuff a 20 in your pocket. If that’s not a reasonable thought in your head, then you’re not living in my world and you can get fucked.

    As an aside, as far as buying groceries, don’t forget GHWB’s amazement at the checkout counter. At a minimum, if they want to get elected, they’d better know how their constituents live.

    I stand by my rant. :-) And sadly I have to get up to go to work in 4 hours, so I’m calling it a night.

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    @frosty:
    Knowing how their constituents live and actually doing that are two entirely different things.
    Bush’s wondering about the price of milk shouldn’t amaze you at all. He was and is a wealthy man. He probably doesn’t shop at the store any more than Rmoney irons his own jeans. He has staff. Your world and their world are entirely different. And I have really no idea how much a gallon of milk costs and I don’t iron my jeans. And while I could be and have been a lot farther away from even moderately wealthy than I am now (which is still a very considerable ways) that isn’t why I don’t know the cost. I just haven’t bought milk in over 40 years and think ironing your jeans is fucking ridiculous.

  34. 34.

    jl

    @frosty: Just so you don’t go hating on Barack and Joe, here is a clip of them getting some burger, and they both had some 20s on them. Can’t find a clip where one of them was short. It must have been a major scandal, so don’t understand. Deep State scrubbed it I guess.

    Raw Video: Obama and Biden Go on Burger Run
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EBvUO9D880

    Edit: except there is a very suspicious cut in the middle when they flash the dough. Raw video my ass. Cover up. Some one call Alex or Rush.

  35. 35.

    Frankensteinbeck

    For those suggesting Trump doesn’t have the money, bear in mind that whatever financial straits he may have been in when he got the presidency, he has bilked it for one HELL of a lot of dough by now. And that’s just our government, not including the bribes Jar-Jarvanka are collecting for him from foreign governments. He’s got the money. He’s just spent his entire life committing financial scams and sees no reason to stop now.

  39. 39.

    JGabriel

    WaPo via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Before last summer, Trump had a long record of making pledges to give his personal money to charity but an uneven record of fulfilling them…

    Uneven? Not really. Trump was quite consistent about not fulfilling them.

  40. 40.

    Bruce K

    Meanwhile, the cheeto’s supposedly in hot water with his base now because he cut some sort of deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer about hurricane relief funding and extension of the debt limit or something? Does anyone understand that?

    Seriously, I can’t seem to make heads or tails of it; how are Pelosi and Schumer in a position to make deals, if the agenda is controlled by Ryan in the House and McConnell in the Senate? I’ve been trying to sort this out from multiple news sources and feel like I need one of those “explain-like-I’m-five” digests people keep asking for in the scummier alleyways of Teh Intarweebs.

  41. 41.

    JGabriel

    Bruce K:

    Seriously, I can’t seem to make heads or tails of it; how are Pelosi and Schumer in a position to make deals, if the agenda is controlled by Ryan in the House and McConnell in the Senate?

    They need 60 votes in the Senate to lift the debt ceiling. McConnell only has 52 Republicans in the Senate.

    Plus, Nancy can provide Democratic votes in the House to compensate for any Freedom Caucus morons who decide to vote against the debt limit hike.

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    @JGabriel: I love this quote from a Republican congressman:

    “A three-month debt ceiling? Why not do a daily debt ceiling?” cracked Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). “He’s the best deal-maker ever. Don’t you know? I mean, he’s got a book out!”

    Basically, Pelosi and Schumer rolled Trump. Doesn’t seem like it’s hard to do. Like everything else about Trump, the “deal maker” thing is a marketing scam. He can’t negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @frosty:

    If that’s not a reasonable thought in your head, then you’re not living in my world and you can get fucked.

    Well fuck you right back with a rusty farm implement. I have this thing in my pocket called a ‘debit card’. Maybe you’ve heard of them? They make cash all but irrelevant and as such I go without cash quite frequently. And for the record, I’m an ex union carpenter semi-retired part time farm hand, so yeah, I’m very much in the ‘real world’, just not what ever the fuck world you think you live in.

    Really, you are being an ass.

  45. 45.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think you’re being a bit harsh on frosty, frosty’s point was that politicians should be able to have cash(or an equivalent such as a debit/credit card) on hand and not be bumming off of the Secret Service or their aids.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: No, no I’m not. To think that everybody should live just as he does is just like what a fucking RWNJ does, only frosty is doing it from the other direction. I don’t care where one is coming from, to make such obviously inane comments with the vehemence that frosty did makes one an ass.

  50. 50.

    Bruce K

    Given that the POTUS-without-a-wallet thing seems to be a long-running thing, I’m starting to wonder if maybe there’s an outside influence over that decision. Maybe the Secret Service’s Presidential Detail discourages their principal from carrying a wallet for some esoteric reason? Wouldn’t surprise me.

  51. 51.

    Vhh

    @Betty Cracker: Best to keep the snark low. If we laugh too much, Trump will figure out he’s been had and lash out the way he did after he was rolled on the 2017 budget back in May. Just “weg got what was right for the country” and gloat in private.

  53. 53.

    Jack the Second

    Serious question.

    You’re the President and need to hit up an ATM. Is there one in the White House? Do they take your line of armored cars and police escorts through a drive through? Does the bank send a courier?

    I would hope the President carries a debit or credit card, but I could easily imagine him giving all his cash to eg members of his family who actually go out and interact normally and then taking awhile to get cash again.

  55. 55.

    Betty

    Speaking of public officials and cash, we have a sweet story about the former Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Douglas. He was preparing to travel to Libya to meet with Quadaffi (long story) so his mother handed him $20 and admonished him to keep it to buy himself a sandwich or something. She felt she needed to tell him that because he was notorious for giving away all his money. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to make a difference. Current PM is in cahoots with every corrupt international character you can name. Sigh.

  56. 56.

    Another Scott

    @Jack the Second: Thousands of people work in the White House / Executive Office Building / Treasury complex. They undoubtedly have a cafeteria (or few) and an ATM (or few). Maybe/Probably not in the White House itself, though.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    chopper

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]:

    It’s going to be amusing when he discovers Mar-a-Largo is destroyed this weekend by the hurricane.

    not when he bilks the taxpayer for 10 times what the place is worth.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    I’ve never said that drumpf isn’t a fraud or a thief, just that he is also an incompetent boob. Decades ago the sign of a street guy who wanted to impress people was a guy who had a lot of cash because while there may have been credit cards, only the very rich could carry them and only the very snooty places took them. So to impress a guy would carry a roll, but because he was actually not in any way wealthy, it would be ones with a big bill on the outside. You were “rolling” in money, or so it looked. drumpf is of that age and he certainly could be far, far better off than he actually is, if he wasn’t always trying to convince everyone that he is “rolling” in money. It’s the convincing thing that gets me. He has been for decades trying to convince people that he is very wealthy, just look at all the buildings he owns, OK the buildings he has his gold spray painted T on the sides of. His entire life is a scam, a roll of ones.

  60. 60.

    JGabriel

    @Betty Cracker:

    I love this quote from a Republican congressman:

    “A three-month debt ceiling? Why not do a daily debt ceiling?” cracked Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). “He’s the best deal-maker ever. Don’t you know? I mean, he’s got a book out!”

    Heh. That is a great quote. The thing is, he’s not wrong about the debt ceiling. Longer intervals are better from a governing perspective. Of course, the real solution would be to get rid of the debt ceiling entirely. If Congress doesn’t want to raise taxes or sell T-bills to pay for its budget, then they can pass more responsible budgets – not constrain themselves with an artificial ceiling that can only wreak havoc on the economy if it isn’t raised in time.

    In the meantime though, I’m not gonna deny myself the schadenfreudey pleasure of watching the GOP hoist itself on the same short-term debt ceiling petard they subjected Obama to for eight years.

  61. 61.

    JGabriel

    @Ruckus:

    There are some people whose lives are out of the ordinary. A president is very much one of them, a person whose spent decades in jail is another.

    Wasn’t it Truman who called the White House “the crown-jewel of the federal penal system”?

  62. 62.

    ruckus

    @JGabriel:
    And he was probably correct in that. Which may be what’s rubbing on drumpf, the thought that he worked to put himself in there rather than keep out of jail. Of course that’s assuming that he is capable of that sort of nuance. He isn’t.

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