Thanks to the fans of various World Cup teams the United States has been in party mode for weeks now. Most notably, the Scots roared into Boston and drank the town out of beer--a feat which many considered impossible. While the Tartan Army is gone now, others remain and will contribute to the mood of the nation tomorrow when the republic celebrates the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. (Just a side note here: despite all the paintings, musicals, and weird evangelical fantasies, no, not everyone who signed it did so that day and no, Jesus did not make an appearance, spectral or otherwise to bless the event.)
Mythology aside, the American Declaration of Independence was then and is now the most revolutionary document ever written and endorsed. Every man in that Continental Congress was, if you were British, committing high treason and faced a death sentence. Luckily for them the Americans, with more help from the French than we will ever admit to, won. Ever since then on the 4th of July, Americans have been, as the Duck Dynasty dude says, "Happy, happy, happy."
The happiest of us all during all the festivities should be the President himself, Donald John Trump. (Oh come on, you knew I would get to him eventually.) Recent reports indicate Mr. Trump's wealth has increased by $3 billion since his second inauguration. When asked about it the other day, Trump replied that yes, he was getting richer thanks to the stock market where he has millions invested. He claimed everyone is. He went so far as to tell the journalist to check her 401K account, then said it had gone up by 85% thanks to the robust stock market his policies have created. His parting shot was a sarcastic, "Thank you, Mr. Trump."
Now, while I don't have a 401K and never had one, my wife does. When she heard Trump's statement her first comment was something along the lines of, "Bullshit. If mine had gone up that much, I'd retire right now."
Others were quick to point out, Donald Trump was flat out lying. The dramatic increase in his wealth had little to do with the stock market. It was almost exclusively due to investments by a murky band of super rich Americans and foreign Pooh-bahs in his crypto business dealings. (All of which feel distinctly like a grift of such profoundly epic proportions it makes Bernie Madoff look like some two-bit street hustler.)
No other President in the history of the United States has ever pulled something like this. Some of them might have wanted to--Dick Nixon comes to mind--but all of them actually knew what the Constitution of the United States has to say about shit like this. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution limits the President's income to his fixed salary of $400,000 a year. It strictly prohibits the President from receiving any other emolument (payments from the federal or state governments. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8, prohibits the President from "any gift, payment, or title from a foreign state without the consent of Congress." Foreign states are further defined as, "national governments, government owned companies, sovereign wealth funds, and regional authorities." Later Congress passed the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act which limits the value of gifts to a President from foreign governments to $525 or less.
Oops. How much did that Boeing 747-8 gifted to Trump by Qatar cost again? You know, the one he insists he will keep after he leaves office.
The out for our boy, Don, and there always is one, is that the Constitution didn't make violations of the emolument's acts crimes. And even though the online site, Copilot Search notes violations can lead to, "legal challenges, political fallout, and possible impeachment, we know Donald Trump doesn't give a rat's ass about the first two consequences and considers himself immune from the third. Although it might help explain why he is so obsessed with keeping everybody he can away from voting booths this fall.
Meanwhile, in its never-ending campaign to make America safe (not to mention whiter) Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents busted one of the worst of the worst last Sunday. ICE detained the notorious Nigerian born, Sister Letticia Ugboaja while she was walking to Sunday Mass, dressed in her religious habit. Sister Letty, as she is called, is a registered nurse who not only serves in her McAllen, TX church, Our Lady of Sorrows, but is also works for South Texas Health System.
After her church published the news of her detention--handcuffs and all--on social media, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle intervened to get her released. So far as anyone knows ICE hasn't offered an excuse, or apology for the nun's arrest. Hey, who says America is getting soft?
So here we are America. On the eve of the nation's 250th birthday. The President and his pals, both domestic and foreign are getting richer and our law enforcement is busting nuns. You have to think the guys who signed the Declaration of Independence didn't quite envision the nation this way. You can never know for sure though. After all, the same guy who wrote the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." bought and sold human beings like they were nothing more than farm tools.
Well, we've never been perfect, or even close to it. However, it does feel like Donald Trump and his crowd have now pushed us dangerously close to something irreversible--the belief that arrogant corruption and brutality are not only normal, but the ideal--The Real American Way.
7-3-26
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