Justice Department uses poor George Washington to justify allowing Trump to continue taking money from foreign governments while in the White House.

Courtesy of Bloomberg: 

George Washington did it, so Donald Trump can, too. 

That’s the Justice Department’s take on why the 45th president isn’t violating the U.S. Constitution by accepting payments for goods and services from foreign governments without congressional approval. 

The foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution doesn’t apply to fair-market commercial transactions, such as hotel bills, golf club fees, licensing payments and office rent, the Justice department argued Friday in a filing. The government is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by a watchdog group that claims Trump’s business dealings violate the Constitution. 

If accepted by the court, the argument would eliminate a major legal obstacle for Trump’s businesses to keep money from foreign officials and companies owned by foreign governments. 

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, sued Trump within days of his inauguration in January, claiming foreign officials are doing business with Trump properties as a way to curry favor with the president. The group is seeking an order from U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan that Trump is violating the foreign emoluments clause and the domestic emoluments clause, which specifically bars presidents from taking payments from federal or state officials.

The argument essentially states that since Washington's Mt. Vernon plantation sold flour and cornmeal to various foreign lands while he served as President, that it is the same as allowing the Trump organization to engage in huge real estate deals with foreign countries that could be worth millions of dollars, and may also serve as a way to influence Trump's policies toward those countries.

In their desperation they also cited the fact that some of President Obama's books were sold overseas so the royalties he received from those sales would also violate the emoluments clause, a rationalization so pathetic that it does not simply strain credulity, it takes it out back and stomps on its neck.

Donald Trump clearly does not see the presidency as an opportunity to serve his country, but rather sees it as the greatest advertisement opportunity of his life, with which he can dramatically increase his wealth.

And apparently the now ironically named Justice Department is working to help him do that. 

I almost missed it, but yesterday Sarah Palin celebrated the birthday of her hero Ronald Reagan by reminding us of how she defrauded her followers by pretending to want to one day have his job.

Courtesy of the Reagan necrophiliac's Facebook page:

Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan! February is a month for great presidents. This month we celebrate the birthdays of three greats -- Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan. Please enjoy this video of the One Nation Tour stop at President Reagan's hometown in Dixon, Illinois. And please take the time to visit our nation's historical sites. Take your family with you and teach your children to cherish our nation's beautiful historical heritage. You won't regret it! 

Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, three famous men would never have given Sarah Palin the time of day.  And in the case of Lincoln and Reagan, men who would have despised her for what she helped do to their political party.

You know I watch that video and I am reminded of two things.

One that her voice could sterilize frogs at fifty paces.

And two that she proved just how long you can fool the most ignorant and uneducated portion of the country into believing that you will ever try to get a job that you are too unqualified and unwilling to ever get.

And the truly humorous part is that in the time since that video was made her number of supporters have dropped off to virtually zero, and that it was that "tour" that convinced many of them that she was just fucking with them.

Update: While we are on the subject of Ronald Reagan here are seven things about the Gipper that should drive conservatives crazy.

Is creating a Federal Mandate to buy health insurance unconstitutional? Not according to the Founding Fathers!

"Don't worry Barry. I've got your back."

Courtesy of The New Republic:  

In making the legal case against Obamacare’s individual mandate, challengers have argued that the framers of our Constitution would certainly have found such a measure to be unconstitutional. Nevermind that nothing in the text or history of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause indicates that Congress cannot mandate commercial purchases. The framers, challengers have claimed, thought a constitutional ban on purchase mandates was too “obvious” to mention. Their core basis for this claim is that purchase mandates are unprecedented, which they say would not be the case if it was understood this power existed.

But there’s a major problem with this line of argument: It just isn’t true. The founding fathers, it turns out, passed several mandates of their own. In 1790, the very first Congress—which incidentally included 20 framers—passed a law that included a mandate: namely, a requirement that ship owners buy medical insurance for their seamen. This law was then signed by another framer: President George Washington. That’s right, the father of our country had no difficulty imposing a health insurance mandate. 

That’s not all. In 1792, a Congress with 17 framers passed another statute that required all able-bodied men to buy firearms. Yes, we used to have not only a right to bear arms, but a federal duty to buy them. Four framers voted against this bill, but the others did not, and it was also signed by Washington. Some tried to repeal this gun purchase mandate on the grounds it was too onerous, but only one framer voted to repeal it. 

Six years later, in 1798, Congress addressed the problem that the employer mandate to buy medical insurance for seamen covered drugs and physician services but not hospital stays. And you know what this Congress, with five framers serving in it, did? It enacted a federal law requiring the seamen to buy hospital insurance for themselves. That’s right, Congress enacted an individual mandate requiring the purchase of health insurance. And this act was signed by another founder, President John Adams.

I swear there is NOTHING I enjoy more than using facts to smack down a GOP talking point.

(H/T to Andrew Sullivan.)

Palin stuffs her ass into her political g-string, and grabs that pole yet again, to seduce more money out of her disappointed followers.

The above video of Palin visiting historic sites and trying to understand what the big words mean was accompanied by the following note directed to the few remaining shut ins at SarahPAC who have not yet decided to support a GOP candidate who is actually running for the nomination:

Celebrating George Washington’s birthday is an American tradition to honor our first president. Though Presidents’ Day is now the more commonly-used term, and has expanded to include all presidents, the legal term for this federal holiday remains Washington’s Birthday. We honor President Washington, not because he was flawless; he was not. He was, however, the epitome of self-sacrifice—both as a soldier and a statesman. It was that sacrifice that helped make America what it was destined to become.

We honor him because of what he accomplished and the manner in which he approached service to this nation: with a servant’s heart. 

I am on record as acknowledging President Washington as my favorite Founder precisely because of that heart. He did not seek power. He accepted it reluctantly. He answered the call, offered himself up in the name of service, and helped to usher in a new day. At a time when he could have remained in office perpetually, as some expected, he chose to return to life as a citizen rather than seek a third term. He fulfilled his destiny, and his legacy is secure. 

It is refreshing to reflect on one who was so far removed in spirit from the inside baseball that too often defines politics now. America celebrates President Washington for his decision to serve for the right reasons. Today, we could certainly use a little more Washington in DC and a little less BS in Washington. 

Happy Presidents’ Day. 

- Sarah Palin

Okay look, a lot of journalists, bloggers, and others, are going to try and dissect these messages and look for some clue that Palin is running or that she has finally decided to endorse a candidate.

They will find hidden meaning in her reference to George Washington, and attempt to discover some line which extends from Abraham Lincoln, through President Obama, and back to the GOP field in some way, that only SHE can discern

But most of that will be pure horseshit.

So let me, somebody who is well versed in Palin-speak, decipher this video and note for you.

Now this may be a little rough in the translation, and might appear too subtle for some, but bear with me.  Here is her message.

Oh my GOD, I am running out of money! Last quarter's financial report was pathetic!  There is NO WAY my family and I can be expected to live on that piddly amount! 

I have kissed every ass at the Fox Studios, but nobody is offering me any work! Roger Ailes acts as if he is embarrassed to be seen with me, and even Hannity said I used to much teeth when I was auditioning for him!

Look I have people who NEED to receive their stipends from me, or else this whole house of cards is going to crumble down and smother my family right out of existence! And by the way, do you have ANY idea how much tuition for Hair School costs these days?


So come on troops, I am still a viable candidate sometime in the future.  (The far, far distant future that is) So don't give up on me now! I know the Tea Party is dead, my looks have faded, and everything I touch turns to shit, but little things like that should not come between us now, should it?

To sum up, GIVE ME MONEY!

Thank you for your time,

Sarah Palin (Now available for appearances at birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahs, and Civil War reenactments. Call me.)

There, fixed it.