Pay-To-Pray: The Latest Trump Grift

Every evening before dinner, I watch an hour of television news: a half-hour of local and a half-hour of American national reportage. When I sit down for supper to give a news overview to my wife, I am often struck with a sense surrealism. Surely what I have to report can't really be happening; perhaps I am lying in a hospital somewhere in a deep coma-induced fever dream, which would explain a lot about what I am seeing during the news hour.

Examples abound, one being the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where hospitals continue to be bombarded by the IDF as they ferret out Hamas 'sympathizers' and 'operatives', with absolutely no proof being offered. The systematic elimination of Gaza's healthcare structure ensures only more death and destruction of Palestinians, clearly Israel's objective.

But I digress. Today's excursion into absurdity involves a story I have not seen on TV news, perhaps because the legacy media do not want to provoke Don Trump, given that they are the enemy of the people. No, this is the kind of story one has to search for in order to find out Trump's latest grift: Pay To Pray.

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania.

But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, or who raise $200,000.

Earlier this month, Axios cited a seven-page prospectus that listed the service alongside several other donor-only events, such as a “cabinet reception” with Trump’s nominees and “candlelight dinner” with Trump and Melania.

According to the report, if a donor gives $1 million or raises $2 million, they’ll earn six tickets to the suite of inauguration events.

Indeed, the entire Inaugural Weekend appears chock full of grifting money-making opportunities for team Trump:

I could go on, but my capacity for absurdity today is limited. Moreover, such tawdry and self-serving enterprises stand in sharp contrast to the values and life lived by Jimmy Carter, whose legacy is being promulgated widely upon his passing. 

The authenticity of a man like Carter, his lifelong efforts to live a life of meaning and service, especially in his post-presidential life, were his way of emulating the life of Jesus and the message of the Gospels. Service to others, helping to fight for the betterment of all, exemplify his life. I imagine there are many who cannot understand a man like him- far better to be like the tech bros and other billionaires, the only real question being who will have the biggest pile of toys when they die. Beyond that their vision cannot go.

Jesus famously chased the moneylenders from the temple. Today, obviously, they all would be welcomed with open arms.

 

 

"A Mean-Spirited Buffoon": Charlie Angus Speaks Again

A shame, in many ways, that Charlie Angus is not running in the next election. Thus far, he seems to be the only politician to call Trump what he is: a mean-spirited buffoon. As you watch, you will see that Angus has Wayne Gretzky's number as well.

All in all, some very astute and satisfying assessments.

As The Year Winds Down

As the year winds down, it is hard not to feel dispirited. With our domestic federal politics in disarray, and, of course, the United States' devolution well underway, with oligarchy brazenly flaunted, it is difficult to believe better times await us.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez succinctly addresses the latter:

Unfortunately, the traditional bulwarks of democracy are also rapidly fading, engaging in the very thing American historian Timothy Snyder has warned us against: anticipatory obedience. The thirst to appease Trump seems insatiable.

Tech chief executives, media organisations and foreign leaders are seeking the president-elect’s favor through donations, self-censorship and appeasement. Analysts say the surrender is driven by a combination of greed, fear of Trump’s unfettered power and a belief that resistance is futile.

In Star Trek: the Next Generation, the Borg were a hybrid species that subsumed into their collective various cultures and civilizations, with the warning that resistance was futile. And yet in that universe, resistance, and ultimately victory, prevailed. The real world, however, seems to be doing the opposite with Trump.

“Part of the shock of the Trump win is how quickly and how many people in various areas, from the media to politicians, are acquiescing in advance,” said Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “People are resigning themselves to self-preservation over the good of maintaining a free and fair democracy and resisting Trump.”

Despite his criminal, civil and moral record, Trump is being feted everywhere.

Steve Schmidt, a political strategist and former campaign operative for George W Bush and John McCain, said: “He’s entering office is the most powerful president in American history. He is an American Caesar, unrestrained. Trump has made a threat and said, I’m coming after people, and he’s appointed people that will do what he wants without him having to tell them to do it.”

A parade of chief executives have travelled to Mar-a-Lago to bend the knee to Trump. Along with Meta chief executive Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the pilgrimage. Meta, Amazon, Uber and Open AI chief Sam Altman are all reportedly donating $1m to the fund for the inauguration on 20 January.

Bezos, a onetime critic of Trump’s rhetoric, now says he is “optimistic” about Trump’s second term while also endorsing his plans to cut regulations. As owner of the Washington Post newspaper, Bezos killed an endorsement of Harris during the presidential election. The Post is struggling to find a new executive editor amid fears it will no longer live up to the “Democracy dies in darkness” slogan it championed during Trump’s first term.

The hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, visited Mar-a-Lago in November despite previously eviscerating his fascist rhetoric. Scarborough defended the meeting, arguing that any journalist would take an opportunity to meet the president-elect but he and Brzezinski were being penalised for being “transparent” about it.

This proliferation of knee-bending is bad for the body politic and can only embolden the president-elect. 

Setmayer, who now runs the Seneca Project political action committee, commented: “The way some in the mainstream media have already decided that acquiescence is their way of self-preservation not only is naive but dangerous because without that we don’t have an informed citizenry. It’s supposed to be without fear or favor and media is acting out of fear. And by way of acting out of fear, they are giving Trump the favor that he wants.”

There is much, much more in The Guardian article that I have excerpted here, and I hope you will have the time to read it. There are at least two inferences to be drawn from the current sycophantic demonstrations of fealty toward Trump. One is that democracy is being debased to the degree that it will soon be unrecognizable. Another, and this is more disturbing in its own way, is how quickly our species can adjust/pervert our concept of what is right and just. In the current rush to normalize Trump, we are casting aside traditional concepts of morality, fairness and justice, something history amply teaches us will lead to dire consequences for all.

Some Interesting Graphics (A.K.A. America The Beautiful)

Make of this what you will,  but it always puzzles me why the American dollar is so valued, while ours is not.

And under The Land of Opportunity For Some rubric, there is this:

In Times Of Uncertainty And Adversity

 .... I always turned to trusted sources for perspective and commentary - editorial cartoonists. My favourite by far is Theo Moudakis:

A 'Proud Feminist' No More

Things are unfolding at a rapid rate, so I shall just post a few excerpts from Stephen Maher's piece published in The Star just a few minutes ago.

In a speech to a feminist political charity in Ottawa Tuesday night, Justin Trudeau lamented the election of Donald Trump as a setback for women’s progress.

“I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist,” he said. “You will always have an ally in me and in my government.”

On Friday, the proud feminist had a meeting with Canada’s first female finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, and told her that he intended to replace her, presumably with Mark Carney, on Tuesday.

First, though, Trudeau wanted Freeland to present the government’s fall economic statement, featuring a gimmicky $2.7 billion holiday tax break the PMO had persuaded her to include. She would have to humiliate herself on her last day on the job by announcing a measure she opposed, missing the deficit target she had set herself in May. Trudeau had thus created a situation where it was easier for Freeland, his single closest and most important cabinet ally, to denounce him and quit, rather than do as he asked.

The departure of the long-suffering Freeland, the consummate team player, reminded me of the departure in 2019 of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who quit hours after the prime minister told reporters “her presence in cabinet should actually speak for itself.”

In both cases, the proud feminist put women who had shattered glass ceilings in a position where they were better off resigning rather than let Trudeau continue to humiliate them.

Taken together, the two incidents make Trudeau look like a narcissistic gaslighter, a fake feminist who thought he could subordinate talented women to his will based on his own excessive self-confidence.

With her departure, the whole operation now seems like a farcical mess.

On Monday, Trudeau huddled with his remaining cabinet. No minister who left the meeting would say out loud whether they still have confidence in him as prime minister. Five or six more ministers were rumoured to be ready to follow Freeland out the door.

The proud feminist now looks like a one-trick pony, a narcissist whose leadership was only effective while his charisma was working. Now that his charm has worn off, he is left with nothing, performing progressivism as if a breathless world was still waiting for his latest charming quip while everyone just wants him to go.

As they say, there is much more to come, so I'm sure we'll all stayed tuned with the aphoristic "bated breath". 

Breaking News!

 Chrystia Freeland has just resigned!