Make Christmas Great Again: $149 24-karat gold* Trump tree ornament President-elect Donald Trump's online shop has released a tremendous ornament, the best ornament, for Christmas trees. Costing "just" $149, the bauble is officially described as a Red Cap Collectible Ornament, and it is very collectable. People are telling us how collectible it is. Potential purchasers are encouraged to "get …
Looks like with a little care somebody could come up with a cut-out design that could be printed out from a colour printer and folded together. It might not be shiny but then the gold content on the real one isn't that high anyway. And make the document freely downloadable.
Oh, and change the caption on the hat to 'Make Donald Drumpf Again' too...
How many past presidents were elected as a billionaire (or equivalent)? Let me just wiki that...
Well, it appears that Trump is far and away the wealthiest person ever elected prexy. That speaks against theories he's susceptible to money corruption; He's not, unless he's stupid as a box of rocks.
What I find interesting on that page is how wealthy the 20th century Democrats were. Republicans were mostly paupers by comparison.
That speaks against theories he's susceptible to money corruption
Seriously?
Do you honestly think there would be no temptation to follow certain courses of action as President if doing so appears to benefit his business interests?
He's not, unless he's stupid as a box of rocks.
...or thinks the laws don't apply to him?
Some of what he has been quoted as saying (“The law’s totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest”) sounds very Nixonian in my opinion and doesn't bode well for the future either.
@Big John
Obviously, this thread is getting away from the ornament itself (meh), but I have always wondered at the assertion that Trump being very wealthy is proof that he can't/won't be swayed by financial interests.
Personally, I don't have too strong an opinion one way or the other. BUT, I think it should be patently obvious that an equally valid argument can be made that someone like Trump got so rich be valuing financial reward very highly.
Whenever he has been challenged with his alleged business failures, these have been re-framed to show how smart he is at making money. It is a matter of fact that investors in certain of Trump's ventures have lost rather a lot of money while Trump protected himself or actually made money.
This may indeed be very clever, business-wise. But it does not go to show that his wealth makes him not care about financial benefits.
So, while I understand the argument that Trump's existing wealth is evidence that he won't seek wealth as President, the converse cannot be discounted: that he will seek to enrich himself while president because his life has been the pursuit of exactly that.
re Dan
"Personally, I don't have too strong an opinion one way or the other. BUT, I think it should be patently obvious that an equally valid argument can be made that someone like Trump got so rich be valuing financial reward very highly."
Trump once said that he's not interested in money, its just a way of keeping score. (he was in a conversation about some rival billionaire) . Its his Vanity that will probably make him a bad president.
hmm. or will it make him shut up, listen to advisors and get through it quietly just so he can say "see? i didnt screw up"
Thanks for the link to Presidents by net worth. "Republicans paupers by comparison": I get average 20th century Republican $437.4M, average 20th century Democrat: $45.7M. If we take out Donald and the richest Democrat: $31.1M and $36.8M. If we just rank them, an average Republican is 9.1th on the list, and an average Democrat is 10.2th. If find it interesting that your link does not support your claims.
Normal people have a limit for wealth. At some point, they have enough money for the whole family to live in style. At that point, they switch from accumulating wealth to enjoying wealth. Billionaires shoot straight past that limit and keep going and going. For a billionaire, money is a way to keep score. I consider Donald being a billionaire strong evidence that he will use the presidency to line his pockets. If you want more evidence, Trump University, Trump Casino Bankruptcies, Trump's deals in Cuba, paying the Pam Bondi bribe from the Trump Foundation, using campaign funds to run his jet (a charter flight would have been cheaper) and holding campaign events in Trump Hotels (for which he charged the campaign and the secret service hefty prices).
Donald's transition team does not look like draining the swamp. It looks like a 747 full of giant alligators. The next steps to dictatorship are strengthening the libel laws followed by appointing special persecutors to harass everyone who ever said things about him that he didn't like. There is only so much corruption one man can do with a busy schedule of rallies. The bulk of the corruption will be delegated to his appointees. The only limit on their activities will be the price of a presidential pardon.
"I get average 20th century Republican $437.4M, average 20th century Democrat: $45.7M. "
So, you lump in the 21st century presidents (to get your desired result), but you state the sample is the "20th century," twice!
Too bad you fooked it up royally, FK. All you had to say was "...including Trump" but I guess that would have given it away?
;-)
"I'm sorry, but I can't take your word for it that Trump will be corrupt as Prexy. You will have to have some shred of evidence first."
Kind of hard to have evidence of what will happen in the future. I know if I did, I wouldn't be posting here, I'd be investing in pork bellies whenever it looks like it would make me money.
Perhaps Mr Trump should be allowed to actually take office, and then be berated or praised on his performance? And perhaps Chester Arthur, Tammany Hall protege, shows that people can surprise you when they do take this office.
Having large amounts of money doesn't necessarily mean that you have good taste.
No, *THIS* is conclusive proof:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/p3-johnston-view-from-osaka-a-20161120.jpg
Ever get the feeling he's trying to overcompensate for something?
"Ordinary Americans can't afford it... "
What do you mean? It only takes half a week* of work for ordinary Americans to earn the money.
* Unless Google lied to me: current minimum wage 7.25 USD per hour. 149/7.25=20.55 hours. From a rightpondian perspective, that's half a week of work. YMMV.
Amazon reports that the item sold out in hours. Speculators, probably.
Funny tho, at Trump Tower they can't keep the real hats in stock either. In fact the crowds of yokels pressing forward to buy Trump are so bothersome that other nearby businesses (like Tiffany's) are allegedly complaining a bit. I seriously doubt they are too upset tho, at huge crowds of out-of-towners surging past their doors.
> "But then again, being a Drumpf supporter, you obviously don't perform any critical thinking, or research for yourself."
And yet you yourself insist on changing someone's actual name, the better to (supposedly) ridicule him.
Or am I thinking too critically now?
PS - I admit I did not see the Bootnotes label, my bad. So it's perfectly legit to mindlessly bash Trump in that section I suppose.
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