“I just grabbed her by the pussy,” said John matter-of-factly to the Human Resources Department at the Trump campaign, adding quickly that Ivanka was a “piece of ass.”
The 1%, and the rest of us mere mortals
Although Hillary Clinton’s email scandal cannot be compared to the predatory, racist pronouncements of Donald Trump, they are differing examples of how the connected, the wealthy, and the gentry of this country can ride above the law.
Por:Alfred R. Fuente
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To John’s surprise, and dismay, the mainstream police, i.e. the New York Police Department, was called to Trump Tower, and John was arrested and charged with assault against Ivanka, a married woman. John failed to meet the criteria to get off the hook – he’s not famous, or rich, and no one has ever heard of him. Donald Trump didn’t rescue John. It didn’t help that John was black.
Despite a near universal desire for an end to Venezuela’s manmade disaster, sending in U.S forces to take out the Maduro regime would be counter-productive. It should be categorically rejected by interim president Juan Guaidó, not to mention the Trump administration.
The firing of undocumented workers at Trump's golf clubs just shows how the practice of employing immigrants without legal work papers is much more common than we might imagine. Such is life in the United States.
The Trump administration should be wary of fueling fake news predictions about an imminent American invasion which unrealistically raises expectations about Maduro's removal.
At some point we will have to accept the fact that the border between Mexico and the United States is nothing more than an invention.
The United States has had a major role in the evolving drama of the fight for democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua. And so far, it’s been surprisingly coordinated, a veritable model of multilateralism.
Has the Maduro regime reached breaking point? It remains hard to say, but tomorrow is another - more hopeful - day for the restoration of democracy in the South American nation.
It’s impossible to get into Trump’s head but what comes out of his mouth are racist remarks. But, saddest of all are the millions who tolerate his views, cheer him on and emulate his behavior.
The time is well past due for the U.S. government to conduct a thorough review of leaders and their senior colleagues before they leave office to determine if they merit visas.
In July 2015, Katherine Archuleta resigned as Director of the Office of Personnel Management on account of a massive data breach compromising 18 million accounts. Katherine who? She did not intentionally or mistakenly delete any emails. She didn’t accidentally, or otherwise, keep a server at her home. She just happened to be the person in charge of OPM at the time the Chinese hacked us. Katherine remains blackballed and will likely never work in Washington again. She did not seek out a promotion to be a cabinet secretary or run for the Senate, let alone President of the United States. Katherine, like the fictional John, and me, and you – and 99.9% of the United States citizenry, is not of means or famous.
Meanwhile, candidates in this year’s election to the highest office in the land are seeking a promotion. Although Hillary Clinton’s email scandal cannot be compared to the predatory, racist pronouncements of Donald Trump, they are differing examples of how the connected, the wealthy, and the gentry of this country can ride above the law.
Whereas any person in any company, let alone government office, would be fired, banished, and probably sued, the 1% of the 1% -- Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton get a pass. They can run for President of the United States. Katherine, John, and the rest of us (most recently, Billy Bush formerly of the “Today” show), are reduced to following the rules and obeying the law.
My wife and I make less than $250,000 a year. If we didn’t pay taxes, we would be audited, fined, and then probably arrested. Donald Trump avoids paying taxes (through legally permissible loopholes in the tax code), and he can run for President.
To the regret of Hillary Clinton, her emails were public property. Any other person working for the United States Government – or even a major financial institution like Goldman Sachs (see Michael Lewis’s Vanity Fair expose on Sergey Aleynikov), would be prosecuted without mercy.
The disappointment – and outright disgust – of the American people towards their options in this year’s presidential election are understandable when they know full well that they could never, ever get away with any of the shenanigans we have seen from this year’s presidential contenders. It is insulting to President Obama’s commitment to having the privileged “pay their fair share and play by the same rules”, and a rallying cry for Senator Bernie Sanders’s supporters that call for a revolution.
Rules and laws are applicable to us mortals, but only a suggestion for those in power or of means. As much as Donald Trump may complain about “the establishment”, he is one of its shining pillars, an example to all: he pays no taxes and can have his way with women with or without their consent. The law is optional for him. But the Central Park Five can attest to the functioning of our criminal justice system, and its penchant for riding right over us mere mortals.
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