Saudi prince bragged that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was "in his pocket."

Courtesy of The Intercept:

In June, Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman ousted his cousin, then-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and took his place as next in line to the throne, upending the established line of succession. In the months that followed, the President’s Daily Brief contained information on Saudi Arabia’s evolving political situation, including a handful of names of royal family members opposed to the crown prince’s power grab, according to the former White House official and two U.S. government officials with knowledge of the report. Like many others interviewed for this story, they declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about sensitive matters to the press. 

In late October, Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Riyadh, catching some intelligence officials off guard. “The two princes are said to have stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. several nights, swapping stories and planning strategy,” the Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported at the time. 

What exactly Kushner and the Saudi royal talked about in Riyadh may be known only to them, but after the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown. Kushner, through his attorney’s spokesperson, denies having done so.

On November 4, a week after Kushner returned to the U.S., the crown prince, known in official Washington by his initials MBS, launched what he called an anti-corruption crackdown. The Saudi government arrested dozens of members of the Saudi royal family and imprisoned them in the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, which was first reported in English by The Intercept. The Saudi figures named in the President’s Daily Brief were among those rounded up; at least one was reportedly tortured. 

And then there was this:

One of the people MBS told about the discussion with Kushner was UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, according to a source who talks frequently to confidants of the Saudi and Emirati rulers. MBS bragged to the Emirati crown prince and others that Kushner was “in his pocket,” the source told The Intercept.

So is it possible that Jared Kushner shared top secret information, that he is not even cleared to access, with a Saudi prince which allowed him to move on his potential enemies/family members and grab power?

Is that even really a question?

What's more the Trump Administration's support for the UAE over Qatar might have something to do with Kushner's financial situation:

Kushner's support for Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Qatar in the Gulf crisis has raised questions about a possible conflict of interest. Kushner backed the blockade a month after Qatar’s ministry of finance rebuffed an attempt by Kushner’s real estate firm, Kushner Companies, to extract financing for the firm’s troubled flagship property at 666 Fifth Avenue.

The story is that Kusher's dad made a pitch to Qatar to gain financing for a Kushner property that is about to go under, when that deal fell through the Trump Administration suddenly sided with the UAE in setting up a blockade of Qatar.

Remember this photo?

This was the meeting that precipitated that blockade.

So to put it bluntly, diplomacy with other countries is apparently being determined by how they might benefit Trump and Kushner businesses.

And none of it has anything to do with what is good for America. 

Oh goody.

Donald Trump rigged the Miss universe contest so that the winners were from countries where he had business deals. Go ahead, act surprised.

Trump at the 2013 Miss universe contest in Moscow.

Courtesy of the New Yorker:  

From 1996 to 2015, Donald Trump co-owned the Miss Universe Organization, which also included the Miss U.S.A. and Miss Teen U.S.A. pageants. A day or two before a pageant began, Trump would casually visit the contestants while they conducted their final rehearsals. Former contestants told me that Trump would circulate among the young women, shaking hands and chatting with each of them, periodically turning to speak with Paula Shugart, the president of the Miss Universe Organization, who followed him at a discreet distance. (Paula Shugart declined to comment.) Adwoa Yamoah, who competed as Miss Canada in 2012, told me, “He made comments about every girl: ‘I’ve been to that country.’ ‘We’re building a Trump Tower there.’ It was clear the countries that he liked did well. He’d whisper to Paula about the girls, and she’d write it down. He basically told us he picked nine of the top fifteen.” Kerrie Baylis, who was Miss Jamaica in 2013, described a similar scene and added that, when the finalists were announced, “the list looked like the countries that Donald Trump did business with, or wanted to do business with.” Shi Lim, who competed that year as Miss Singapore, told me, “The finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card.” (A Miss Universe spokeswoman said that the pageant rules allowed the company’s staff, including Trump, to participate in naming the finalists.) 

Trump has long viewed his businesses as mutually reinforcing, with all the products—from hotels to steak, vodka to golf resorts—complementing one another. As he said in the introduction to the first episode of “The Apprentice,” the reality-television show that made him a global celebrity, “I’ve mastered the art of the deal and have turned the name Trump into the highest-quality brand.” Trump often staged the Miss Universe pageant in cities where he had other business interests, and finalists usually came from countries where Miss Universe had strong television ratings. Under Trump, the pageant was held twice in Las Vegas, twice in Florida, and twice in Puerto Rico. In the other years, Trump kept the pageant true to its origins as a swimsuit competition by setting the ceremony in warm-weather locations like Panama City, São Paulo, Quito, and Mexico City. (Although interest in beauty pageants has faded in the United States, it remains high in Latin America.) Only once did Trump steer the pageant away from temperate environments—in November, 2013, when Miss Universe took place in Russia. 

Today, the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow looks like a harbinger of the Trump campaign and Presidency, featuring some of the same themes and characters. Miss Universe represents a paradigmatic example of Trump’s business style in action—the exaggerations that teeter into lies, the willingness to embrace dubious partners, the hunger for glamour and recognition. Trump got away with this kind of behavior for decades, and he played by the same rules during his run for the Presidency.

So it appears that rigging contests is kind of in Trump's blood.

After all you did not think the winners of "The Apprentice" won due to their ability did you? 

So riddle me this Batman. Would a man used to always getting the winner he wants balk at a little help in winning his own race?

I think not.

Buzzfeed reports that one fifth of Trump's condominiums have been purchased through secretive cash only transactions, which hide the identity of the buyer. Can you say "money laundering?"

Courtesy of Buzzfeed:  

More than one-fifth of Donald Trump’s US condominiums have been purchased since the 1980s in secretive, all-cash transactions that enable buyers to avoid legal scrutiny by shielding their finances and identities, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. 

Records show that more than 1,300 Trump condominiums were bought not by people but by shell companies, and that the purchases were made without a mortgage, avoiding inquiries from lenders. 

Those two characteristics signal that a buyer may be laundering money, the Treasury Department has said in a series of statements since 2016. Treasury’s financial-crimes unit has, in recent years, launched investigations around the country into all-cash shell-company real-estate purchases amid concerns that some such sales may involve money laundering. The agency is considering requiring real-estate professionals to adopt anti-money-laundering programs.

.....

Trump condo sales that match Treasury’s characteristics of possible money laundering totaled $1.5 billion, BuzzFeed News calculated. They accounted for 21% of the 6,400 Trump condos sold in the US. Those figures include condos that Trump developed as well as condos that others developed in his name under licensing deals that pay Trump a fee or a percentage of sales.

Some of the secretive sales date back more than three decades, long before recent worries that Russians tried to influence Trump by pouring millions of dollars into his businesses. 

But a months-long BuzzFeed News examination of every Trump condominium sale in the US shows that such sales surged in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when some Trump businesses were in financial trouble and when Donald Trump Jr. made his now-famous remark about the Trump Organization seeing “a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”  

Buzzfeed goes on to point out that this is not absolute proof of money laundering or criminal activity, but since this is Donald Trump, and he has already been accused of money laundering, then we can rest assured that something unscrupulous is taking place here.

Let's go ahead and throw this on the pile of currently still developing scandals concerning the 45th dude to occupy the White House, shall we?

But let's also make sure to leave room for the dozen or more that are still yet to be revealed as well.

Cause you know they are coming. 

The good news, Wal-Mart is giving out $1,000 bonuses to some employees and raising their minimum wage to $11.00. The bad news, they are closing 63 of their Sam's Club stores, including all of those in Alaska.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Walmart has announced that it will lay off thousands of workers across the country as it closes dozens of Sam's Club locations. 

The announcement comes on the same day the retail giant announced it was raising its starting minimum wage for new employees to $11 an hour. 

The company told Business Insider that 63 Sam's Club stores will close. 

Some locations reportedly stopped business suddenly on Thursday without giving advance warning to employees.

Along with the higher minimum wage, Walmart announced earlier Thursday that it would expand parental leave and give some employees one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 following the passage of the GOP tax overhaul.

Well that last part's nice, you know for those Wal-Mart employees who managed to keep their jobs.

Ironically the announcement about the store closings only happened after Paul Ryan made these remarks:  

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised Walmart's gesture to raise its employees' wages on Thursday, calling the tax bill a major help to middle-income families. 

"Today marks 20 days since the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became the law of the land," Ryan said. "Already, this new law is helping to improve the lives of middle-income families across the country. You saw the announcement from Walmart just this morning: more than a million Americans are due to receive their bonuses because of tax reform."

You know if this weren't so damn pathetic it would almost be funny.

I first learned about this when I received a text yesterday informing me that all of the Alaska Sam's Club locations had suddenly locked their doors.

Courtesy of KTVA: 

All Sam’s Club locations in Alaska are closing, as part of an unannounced nationwide rollback of the Walmart-owned wholesale club’s stores. 

KTVA viewer Joe Gerace, owner of the Chevron gas station outside the Dimond Fred Meyer, said he visited an Anchorage Sam’s Club location for before-hours business shopping Thursday and found security officers turning customers away at the door.

Now personally I'm a Costco shopper so this does not directly affect me, but it does mean that suddenly there are a bunch of unemployed Alaskans looking for new jobs.

Speaking of lawsuits, Paul Manafort also filed one against Robert Mueller.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!

Courtesy of the AP:

President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman sued special counsel Robert Mueller and the Justice Department on Wednesday, saying prosecutors had overstepped their bounds by charging him for conduct that he says is unrelated to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

The lawsuit by Paul Manafort, filed in federal court in Washington, is the most direct challenge to date to Mueller’s legal authority and the scope of his mandate as special counsel. It comes amid Republican allegations of partisan bias among members of Mueller’s team, which for months has been investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the outcome of the U.S. election. 

The lawsuit also takes aim at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s investigation and recently said he was satisfied that the former FBI director was staying within the scope of his authority.

This is a "Hail Mary" pass that will definitely get thrown out.

However it illustrates how desperate Manafort is to keep his business dealings secret.

And I would not be at all surprised that he is also doing this on behalf of Donald Trump to help keep HIS business dealings secret.

These assholes are terrified of what's coming, and that only makes me more excited for the final reveal.

While Donald Trump works to build walls to keep the brown people out, he openly invites Russian tourists to have babies on his properties.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

While Trump rails against U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, his Florida properties have become a playground for birth tourists from Russia’s upper crust. The Daily Beast has discovered several companies are advertising rentals in Trump properties to expectant Russian parents. While the Trump Organization does not directly profit from subleases of privately owned condos, it does benefit from Russian patronage of the nearby Trump International Beach Resort. (The Trump Organization did not return requests comment.) 

Many of the companies that cater to Russian birth tourists advertise their services openly and warn no one will get in trouble as long as they don’t lie on immigration paperwork.

A thriving Russian emigré community has grown around the Miami suburbs, making it a home away from home for those looking for a few months away from Russia’s bitter winters. The area’s most popular Russian deli, a mainstay for many moms on birthing forums, as well as other shops serving a taste of Eastern Europe, sit directly across the street from the Trump International Beach Resort, Trump Palace, and Trump Royale. 

Some Russian parents-to-be come on the cheap, eschewing fancy packages in favor of a do-it-yourself approach from a modest Miami apartment. A no-frills, three-month stay in the Miami suburbs, complete with out-of-pocket medical bills, can cost $20,000, moms told The Daily Beast. 

The Florida Trump properties are convenient options for wealthy Russians who can afford it. They are notorious for being investment properties for Russia’s hyper-wealthy, a safe place to store savings in U.S. dollars. And birth tourism companies offer Trump apartments as part of packages costing upwards of $75,000.

Okay on the surface this may seem like kind of a stretch to make the assertion that Trump is involved in helping Russians have anchor babies here in America in order to reinforce their connection to our country and encourage Russian investments. 

But when you toss it on the heap of ever growing evidence that Trump has numerous business ties with Russia, that his companies helped launder Russian dirty money, and then add it to the fact that the Russian government spent thousands and thousands of dollars and thousands and thousands of man hours to help hm get elected, it simply reinforces the notion that Trump is either working with Vladimir Putin, or FOR Vladimir Putin.

I assume the latter.

Kremlin confirms that Trump lawyer tried to orchestrate a business deal during 2016 campaign.

Michael Cohen

Courtesy of WaPo: 

The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer reached out to them during the 2016 presidential campaign, seeking help for a business project in Russia. 

In a statement to the House Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen said Monday the president’s company pursued a project in Moscow during the Republican primary. He said the plan was abandoned for various reasons. 

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that they received Cohen’s email, which was sent to the press office’s general email address. Peskov said it was one of many emails the Kremlin press office gets — since its email address is available online — and that the Kremlin did not reply to it.

The discussions about a real estate deal in Moscow occurred in the fall of 2015, months after Trump had declared his presidential bid. They ended early in 2016 when Cohen determined that the project was not feasible, according to Cohen’s statement. 

Cohen also disclosed that Trump was personally aware of the deal, signing a letter of intent and discussing it with Cohen on two other occasions. 

Asked whether Putin had seen the email, Peskov said Wednesday that he “cannot discuss with President Putin the hundreds and thousands of various requests coming from different countries” that end up in that Kremlin mailbox. 

Peskov said the press office did not reply to Cohen’s email because it “does not react to such business requests. It is not our job.”

Okay well the first thing that needs to be clarified is that if a presidential candidate from America is attempting to do a deal in Russia, of COURSE Vladimir Putin was informed about it.

Secondly Trump's attorney admitted that this deal was being worked on with the assistance of Felix Sater, whose email was a little more.....descriptive: 

The associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin. He predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Mr. Trump’s savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy. 

“Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Mr. Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” 

Even though they cleaned all of this up a little in their response, one has to wonder just WHY the Kremlin would voluntarily confirm that this deal was proffered during the 2016 campaign.

They have to know that it only helps the investigations into Russian collusion, and further damages Trump's credibility.

So does this mean that they are so disappointed in their puppet's performance that they are willing to throw him to the wolves?

Could be.

Remember how Donald Trump said he had no business dealings with Russia? Yeah, that was a lie.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers. 

As part of the discussions, a Russian-born real estate developer urged Trump to come to Moscow to tout the proposal and suggested that he could get President Vladimir Putin to say “great things” about Trump, according to several people who have been briefed on his correspondence. 

The developer, Felix Sater, predicted in a November 2015 email that he and Trump Organization leaders would soon be celebrating — both one of the biggest residential projects in real estate history and Donald Trump’s election as president, according to two of the people with knowledge of the exchange. 

Sater wrote to Trump Organization Executive Vice President Michael Cohen “something to the effect of, ‘Can you believe two guys from Brooklyn are going to elect a president?’ ” said one person briefed on the email exchange. Sater emigrated from what was then the Soviet Union when he was 6 and grew up in Brooklyn.

The deal did not go through only because they lacked the land and permits to make it happen.

The deal was abandoned in January 2016, right before the presidential primaries.

So yes there was a deal with the Russians being actively pursued even AFTER Trump announced he was running for president.

Personally I think that there are a whole lot of business deals with the Russians, besides the ones we know about, that will soon bubble to the surface.

7 charities so far have bailed on Mar-a-Lago.

Courtesy of The Hill:

Another charity has canceled an event planned at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, marking the seventh group to scrap fundraising events at the luxury Palm beach, Fla., club. 

The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach said on Facebook Saturday that it had pulled its annual dinner dance from Trump’s Palm Beach estate. 

“Given the current environment surrounding Mar-a-Lago, we have made the decision to move our annual dinner dance,” the group wrote. 

The local nonprofit is “dedicated to protecting and celebrating the unique architectural and cultural heritage of Palm Beach,” the organization said in the statement. 

The local charity follows other major nonprofits such as The American Friends of Magen David, the American Cancer Society and the Cleveland Clinic in pulling out from the location. 

The groups’ announcements all come as Trump faces massive backlash for saying “both sides” were to blame for violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

The thing that Trump cares the most about is his businesses.

I have to imagine that once Trump realizes that his stint in the White House is forever damaging his brand and his ability to make money that he will seriously consider trying to find some way to get the hell out.

Which by the way is the same prediction that Trump's ghostwriter on the "Art of the Deal" came up with as well: 

"The circle is closing at blinding speed," Tony Schwartz, who CNN reports spent more than a year with Trump writing his 1987 memoir, tweeted August 16. "Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and congress leave him no choice."

Sadly that still leads us with a President Mike Pence.

But hey, at least the planet will no longer be in danger of exploding. 

While busy hacking our election, the Russian government was also renewing licenses on Trump trademarks. Well, what a coinky dink.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Last year, while hacking Democrats’ emails and working to undermine the American presidential election, the Russian government also granted extensions to six trademarks for Mr. Trump that had been set to expire. The Trump trademarks, originally obtained between 1996 and 2007 for hotels and branding deals that never materialized, each had terms that were coming to an end in 2016. 

Despite their inactivity, the Trump Organization sought extensions for the trademarks from Rospatent, the Russian government agency in charge of intellectual property. In a series of approvals starting in April 2016 and ending in December, Rospatent granted new 10-year terms for the trademarks, the agency’s records show. 

Four of the approvals were officially registered on Nov. 8 — Election Day in the United States. 

Under normal circumstances, renewing trademarks in Russia is generally a routine matter, and there is nothing to suggest from the few public records available that Mr. Trump was shown favoritism. Still, extensions are not guaranteed and can be subject to challenge — particularly if, as in this case, the trademarks went unused for years, according to interviews with a half-dozen lawyers specializing in intellectual property law.

Okay okay now this does not necessarily prove any kind secret deal making between Trump and the Russian government, it could all be very routine.

But then there is this: 

Beyond the questions about Russian government approvals, the trademark renewals cast doubt on Mr. Trump’s oft-stated insistence that he has no business interests in Russia. Mr. Trump has made the claims in response to investigations of possible collusion between his associates and Russia during and after the election. 

In January, he wrote on Twitter, “I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!” He told NBC News in May that he has “no investments in Russia, none whatsoever.” And on Thursday, he expressed frustration on Twitter over scrutiny of his “non-dealings” in Russia.

Gee look, another lie.

I don't know about everybody else but I am pretty much past giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt about ANYTHING.

Sure this information is not definitive proof of anything, but if you throw it in with the rest of what we know about Trump and his interactions with the Russians it starts to seem like the kind of circumstantial evidence that gets people sent to death row.

Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to take a little peek at Donald Trump's business ties with Russia. In response Trump lawyers up.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday he wants to know more about President Donald Trump's business dealings in relation to Russia, but that congressional investigations may have to avoid the matter if they conflict with an FBI probe. 

Graham asked former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Monday whether he had concerns about Russian ties to Trump's business interests. Clapper said he could not comment because the issue could be a subject of an ongoing investigation. 

CNN reported on Tuesday that Graham intended to look into Trump's business ties to see if any connections exist between Russia and the Trump campaign or the president's associates.

After this news broke yesterday MSNBC's Katy Tur tweeted this:

President Trump has hired a private lawyer to respond Lindsey Graham's questions about his Russia biz dealings. pic.twitter.com/6fJ0zH3PGN

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) May 9, 2017

"He has no business in Russia. He has no connections to Russia."

Okay that right there is demonstrably untrue.

Has anybody else noticed that many of Trump's most recent responses to the Russia probe, such as the firing of James Comey, the attempt to play down his associations with Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and Michael Flynn, and this most recent hiring of this new lawyer, seem almost like subconscious admissions of guilt? 

Or is that just me?

Trump just lost another lawsuit.

Courtesy of Law Newz:  

A Florida Court of Appeals decision went against one of President Donald Trump‘s businesses earlier this week, upholding a decision ordering them to pay more than $300,000 to a paint supply company that was working on renovations of the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort. Trump Endeavor 12 LLC, the President’s business, argued that they shouldn’t have to pay due to a technicality, but the court wasn’t buying it. 

The Paint Spot had gone after Trump’s business after not receiving $32,535.87 for paint and supplies they had provided through a subcontractor that was working on renovating part of the Doral. It turned out that the subcontractor had left the job due to not being paid, at which point The Paint Spot had already provided resources for the job, which Trump’s company then continued to use without paying for them. The Paint Spot then tried to foreclose on a property lien due to non-payment, but Trump Endeavor 12 claimed it shouldn’t be allowed because they didn’t receive proper notice. As it turns out, when The Paint Spot turned in their required Notice to Owner when they were signing on for the job with the subcontractor, they filled in the name of the wrong main contractor because Trump’s own representative gave them the wrong information. 

In the end, the court ruled that it didn’t matter because the notice still went to the same address, it was Trump’s company’s own fault that the wrong contractor was listed, and there was enough evidence that both Trump’s business and the main contractor were aware of The Paint Spot’s work on the project.

As you probably know Donald Trump has a history of not paying his bills, and of stiffing contractors who have already done work for him. 

If Americans really believed that a businessman could run the country better than a politician, the least they could have done was find a GOOD businessman who does not go around ripping everybody off. 

What am I saying? He was chosen by Republicans, and assisted by the Russians.

Who else could have met their unethical criteria?

Leaked email confirms that Trump Modeling agency is closing its doors. Gee, I wonder why?

Courtesy of Mother Jones:

One of President Donald Trump's favorite businesses will go the way of Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Airlines, and Trump Magazine: his embattled New York modeling firm, Trump Model Management, has officially told its business associates around the world to prepare for its closure, according to an email obtained by Mother Jones. 

Over the weekend, Corinne Nicolas, president of Trump Models, informed industry colleagues of the pending closure of the 18-year-old agency, in which Trump owns an 85 percent stake (according to his most recent financial disclosure). "The Trump Organization is choosing to exit the modeling industry," Nicolas wrote in the email. "On the heels of the recent sale of the Miss Universe Organization, the company is choosing to focus on their core businesses in the real estate, golf and hospitality space." (The Trump Organization sold the Miss Universe Organization, which also runs the Miss USA beauty pageant, to the talent agency WME-IMG about 18 months ago, following a controversy over then-candidate Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants.) 

Mother Jones reported last week that the firm was on the brink of collapse, and the New York Post confirmed on Friday that Trump's agency was indeed shutting down.

You may remember that the Trump Modeling agency had recently been in hot water when it was revealed that some of the models did not have valid visas to be working in this country, and that the agency ripped them off and treated them more like livestock than human beings.

One has to wonder if there were even that many booking agents interested in hiring a model associated with Donald Trump these days?

My guess is that there is not.

I guess bombing Syria can't solve every problem, can it Donnie?

Without their favorite boogeyman. President Obama, the gun industry is seeing sales drop precipitously.

Courtesy of Fox News: 

President Trump’s election appears to be negatively affecting gun sales in the U.S. and the bubble appears to be bursting despite a staunch advocate for gun rights in the White House and Republicans ruling Congress. 

"President Obama was the best gun salesman the world has ever seen," Karl Sorken, a production manager at Battle Rifle Co. in Houston. Sorken is an Army veteran and self-described liberal who voted for Obama and notes the change for the industry under Trump is a topic of conversation in the shop. 

Fears of government limits on guns -- some real, some perceived -- led to a surge in demand during Obama's tenure and manufacturers leapt to keep up. Over the decade ending in 2015, the number of U.S. companies licensed to make firearms jumped 362 percent. 

"The trends really almost since Election Day or election night have been that gun sales have slacked off," said Robert Spitzer, political science department chairman at State University of New York at Cortland. "When you take away Barack Obama and you give the Republicans control of both houses of Congress, which is extremely friendly to the gun lobby, then the political pressure subsides. And that surely is at least a key part of the explanation for the drop-off in sales." 

The Washington Post reported that the FBI conducted about 500,000 fewer background checks in December 2016 then in 2015. Gun sales this year have reportedly dropped about 17 percent.

I bet those gun dealers are really wishing that Hillary won the election, because she freaked out the ammosexuals almost as much as Obama did.

So now they finally have the president that they thought that wanted and their business goes right to hell in a hand basket along with the rest of the country.

Irony is a cruel mistress. 

There is one bright note however, apparently there are now some liberals so freaked out over the election that THEY are arming themselves.

That is just wrong on so many levels.

As you might imagine I remain just as dedicated to gun control as always, and will not be purchasing a firearm of my own.

However I do understand that it's a buyers market right now. 

Donald Trump has multiple business deals with Russians who have ties to organized crime.

Courtesy of USA Today:

The president and his companies have been linked to at least 10 wealthy former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering. 

Among them: 

• A member of the firm that developed the Trump SoHo Hotel in New York is a twice-convicted felon who spent a year in prison for stabbing a man and later scouted for Trump investments in Russia. 

• An investor in the SoHo project was accused by Belgian authorities in 2011 in a $55 million money-laundering scheme. 

• Three owners of Trump condos in Florida and Manhattan were accused in federal indictments of belonging to a Russian-American organized crime group and working for a major international crime boss based in Russia. 

• A former mayor from Kazakhstan was accused in a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles in 2014 of hiding millions of dollars looted from his city, some of which was spent on three Trump SoHo units. 

• A Ukrainian owner of two Trump condos in Florida was indicted in a money-laundering scheme involving a former prime minister of Ukraine.

I have to tell you that nothing about this even remotely surprises me.

From what I understand much of Russia is run like a state sponsored Mafia organization. And Trump himself comports himself like a mob boss in his affect and his techniques for bullying opponents into compliance.

I predict that this FBI investigation is going to uncover all kinds of interesting things about Donald J. Trump, and his business dealings, and that none of them will show him in a charitable light.

This is why teaching civics is so important.

They understood it clear as a bell back in 1948.

So why is it so damn hard for everybody to understand today?

So how much damage has the Trump presidency inflicted on the country in just a little over six weeks? Wait, that much?

Together we'll destroy this country. That will show them, that will show them all.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Giants in telecommunications, like Verizon and AT&T, will not have to take“reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers’ Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released. 

Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will not be punished, at least for now, for not collecting extra money from customers to cover potential losses from certain kinds of high-risk trades that helped unleash the 2008 financial crisis. 

And Social Security Administration data will no longer be used to try to block individuals with disabling mental health issues from buying handguns, nor will hunters be banned from using lead-based bullets, which can accidentally poison wildlife, on 150 million acres of federal lands. 

These are just a few of the more than 90 regulations that federal agencies and the Republican-controlled Congress have delayed, suspended or reversed in the month and a half since President Trump took office, according to a tally by The New York Times. 

The emerging effort — dozens more rules could be eliminated in the coming weeks — is one of the most significant shifts in regulatory policy in recent decades. It is the leading edge of what Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, described late last month as “the deconstruction of the administrative state.”

Almost every one of these guidelines and restrictions were carefully designed to protect every day citizens like you and me and now they are gone.

This is not even taking into account the new focus on rounding up undocumented immigrants, the Muslim travel ban, and the attempts to repeal Obamacare.

We have heard over and over again that "elections have consequences" but I don't think that has ever been more apparent than it is today.

Donald Trump sent his son-in-law to bitch at the parent company of CNN for him. Gee, how presidential.

 Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

Apparently the Trump administration is worried that despite the president calling CNN “fake news” at every opportunity, the network isn’t aware that he doesn’t care for their coverage. The Wall Street Journal reports that during a recent meeting with a top Time Warner Inc. executive Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, complained that the network’s coverage is biased against the president. 

Kushner is a longtime friend of Gary Ginsberg, who’s an executive vice-president of corporate marketing and communications at CNN’s parent company. During a wide-ranging discussion at the White House, Kushner reportedly complained about specific anti-Trump CNN contributors, including Van Jones, a Democrat who worked in the Obama administration, and Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist.

Of course both Van Jones and Navarro are non-whites so how dare they disrespect Herr Fuehrer.

Wonder when he will send Kushner to bitch about Fox's Shepherd Smith or CNN's Jake Tapper who both described his last press conference as "unhinged" and "crazy?"

These were the responses from Van Jones and Navarro to hearing they were singled out for criticism.

"Got a lotta people tryna drain me of this energy." :) But y'all know @CNN has our backs. Do you? RT if yes! (@jaredkushner, u can RT, 2!) https://t.co/DQzfY15f9m

— Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 17, 2017

Really, Little Jared complaining about me cuz I get under President Daddy-in-Law's skin? Oh, baby boy, I'm so sorry. https://t.co/4W8Sh9sHxy

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) February 17, 2017

Does not sound like they are too terribly intimidated. Interestingly enough in the third paragraph of the New York Magazine article they reveal what Trump might be using to intimidate their bosses however:

They did not discuss Time Warner’s proposed $85.4 billion sale to AT&T, which is awaiting government approval. In an October speech, President Trump said his administration would not approve the merger “because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.” Bloomberg reported that Trump’s opposition to the deal actually comes “partly from his frustration with CNN, which is owned by Time Warner.”

In other words Trump seems to be willing to use the power of his presidency to get back at the MSM, or as he labels them "America's enemies," by blocking business deals and damaging their ability to make a profit.

These are of course the techniques he used as an unscrupulous New York businessman, but they have no place in the White House.

The president is supposed make decisions based on what is, or is not, good for the country,

Not on his own personal vendettas. 

The Twitter-in-Chief is being all presidential again.

Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2016

Confused?

Well apparently this is in response to their review of his restaurant in Trump Tower. Calling it "The Worst Restaurant in America."

I especially like this part:As my companions and I contemplated the most painless way to eat our flaccid, gray Szechuan dumplings with their flaccid, gray innards, as a campy version of “Jingle Bells” jackhammered in the background, a giant gold box tied with red ribbon toppled onto us. Trump, it seemed, was already fighting against the War on Christmas.

It should also be noted that there is a long standing feud between Trump and the editor of Vanity Fair,  Graydon Carter, who was famously the person who first described Trump as a "short fingered vulgarian."

Next target, the media.

The media tries so hard to make my move to the White House, as it pertains to my business, so complex - when actually it isn't!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2016

You know if somebody were to finally release their tax returns we could all see that for ourselves.

I know, not gonna happen.

And finally, for now at least:

If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2016

Actually the White House announced almost a month before the election that there was evidence that Russia was meddling in the election.

If they had spoken out more aggressively to declare that the election was now tainted, there would have been a huge outcry from the Republicans and Right Wing news outlets saying that the Obama Administration were themselves now interfering with the outcome of the election.

The White House really could not do anything except hope that the media did their jobs, and that the American people were smart enough to see through Trump's bullshit.

Sadly they were disappointed on both fronts.

And that my friends is a preview of the next four years.

Odin help us all.

Donald Trump announces that he is stepping away from his business responsibilities to focus on being president. God help us all.

I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my ...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016

great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to ....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016

do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016

Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016

For anybody who believes a word of this I have a nice piece of swamp land I would like to sell you.

It's currently on fire but I am sure that if you blow real hard you just might be able to salvage yourself a nice piece of soggy, charred real estate.

By the way if the people who you hand your business over to happen to share your DNA, and rely on your name to maintain the lifestyle to which they have grown accustom, you are essentially still in charge of your business.

Nobody with half a brain is fooled by this.