Tag: pay-to-play scheme

How bad does it have to get before we use the 25th Amendment?

We have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who does not believe in science or medicine, including time-honored and scientifically-proven vaccines.

We have a Secretary of Defense who mixes a conservative evangelical religion with a statement that the U.S. will show “no quarter” as the war in Iran continues. “Giving no quarter” is in violation of international law. If the U.S. starts slaughtering its prisoners of war, we have surely lost our humanity.

The U.S. has an all-volunteer armed forces made up of people of various religions and no religious beliefs. It is not the Secretary’s place to inflict his religious beliefs on the troops. If the Secretary is a Christian, as he claims to be, I would like for him to tell me where in the Bible it quotes Jesus as advocating giving no quarter to anyone.

We have a Director of National Intelligence who said that only the U.S. President – and not the intelligence community — can determine when there is an imminent threat to our national security. It is ultimately the President’s call, but her answer on Capitol Hill yesterday made it sound like she and the intelligence community have no part to play in the process.

We have a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who warned TV networks that they run the risk of not having their broadcast licenses renewed if they continue to report the full picture of the war in Iran. He also wants them to concentrate on “patriotic” programming this year.

We have a Secretary of Education who thinks so little of public education that she vowed to shut down the Department of Education. Perhaps she should go back to her former career in pro wrestling administration.

We have a Secretary of the Interior who is okay with opening national parks for extensive logging and oil drilling while taking down informational park displays that tell not only the good but also the bad and the ugly of our nation’s history.

We have an Attorney General who has difficulty answering questions in a way that might not align with what the President wants her to say. In fact, every Cabinet Secretary has that same problem.

All these people were hand-picked by Donald Trump to “serve” in those positions of power and influence. They also had almost 100% approval of the Republicans in Congress.

We have a U.S. President who announced on TV that a member of Congress “will be dead by June” as he took it upon himself to reveal that Congress member’s devastating diagnosis of terminal cancer without that Congressman’s permission. The fact that he turned to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and laughed was the icing on the cake! (Here’s a video clip, in case you missed it or don’t believe it: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-appears-to-confuse-who-is-president/vi-AA1YRwG1?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69baf386c77447a397c28662c1c9bfb8&ei=22.)

We have a U.S. President who clearly has no filter. If a segment of a thought or fantasy pops in his head, it comes out of his mouth or gets splattered all over his Truth Social account in all capital letters.

We have a U.S. President who has repeatedly called the war in Iran an “excursion” instead of an “incursion.”

On Monday, Trump said, “The President of the United States, Gavin Newscom, said that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia, everything about him is dumb.” That statement is wrong on so many levels, in addition to the fact that Trump called Gavin Newsom “the President of the United States.”

We have a U.S. President who orders shoes for his rich Cabinet members. That would have been ludicrous and inappropriate even if he had bothered to ask them their shoe size… which he did not.

We have a U.S. President who has “decorated” the Oval Office like a house of horrors… which, come to think of it… that’s what it is now.

Our closest ally, Great Britain, is now in the awkward position of advising their King not to visit the White House in April because the U.S. President might embarrass him. (I think we can guarantee that Trump will embarrass King Charles. Belittle and embarrass others is what he does best.)

We have a U.S. President who started a war without the blessing of Congress or seeking the support of the American people. Then, in the middle of a sticky situation in the Strait of Hormuz and a worldwide oil crisis, he begged our NATO allies for their help.

When our allies said, “No,” Trump said, “We don’t need NATO…. We do not need the help of anyone.” What an arrogant and short-sighted thing to say!

He said this was a test to see if NATO would ever help us. How ill-informed he is if he is not aware of NATO’s response after September 11, 2001!

Donald Trump said, “I can take Cuba…  It’s a failed nation…. I can do whatever I want to with it.” What an arrogant and egotistical thing to say about a sovereign nation, even if it is on the verge of collapse!

In case you are not informed about Trump’s latest “pay-to-play” scheme, which promises to put our national security at risk like never before, please read my blog post from yesterday, https://janetswritingblog.com/2026/03/18/more-telling-things-about-trump-administration/.

I hope I never again hear Americans say, “We need a businessman in the White House.”

Just how bad does it have to get before we use the 25th Amendment?

If the 25th Amendment is not called for now, I shudder to think under what circumstances it would be put into force.

Part of Section 4, 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Of course, if we use the 25th Amendment now, we get J.D. Vance as our President. Vance was hand-picked by Donald Trump. Again, I shudder to think about that.

Perhaps that outcome is what is holding back everyone on both sides of the aisle from seriously pursuing the 25th Amendment.

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.

More telling things about Trump Administration

Today’s blog post is a continuation of Sunday’s, Various telling things about Trump Administration, (which I meant to schedule for today but hit the “publish” button instead of the “schedule” button my mistake.)

As I said in Sunday’s blog, the nightly TV network news programs cannot cover everything in a half hour. Here are some things you might have missed hearing about.

Columns at what’s left of the White House

President Trump wants Corinthian columns on the new White House ballroom. Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., Trump’s appointee who chairs the Commission of Fine Arts, says there are Corinthian columns at the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court building, so he can’t imagine why the lowly Ionic columns were put on the White House 200 years ago.

The White House, Washington, DC. (Photo by Melo Liu on Unsplash)

Cook says he has not yet discussed with the President that the existing Ionic columns on the North Portico and South Portico of the White House should be replaced with Corinthian columns.

Example of an Ionic column. (Photo by Maik Winnecke on unsplash.com.)

As reported by The Washington Post, “The Corinthian would be inappropriate for the Executive Residence,” said Steven Semes, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and an expert in classical architecture, warning that it would ‘harm’ the original design of a building long known as the ‘People’s House.’

Example of a Corinthian column. (Photo by Ruben Hanssen on Unsplash)

“He added that the White House’s Ionic columns evoke ‘the character of dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity,’ whereas Corinthian columns are ‘used to express the height of formality and monumentality’ for buildings such as the Capitol.”

The official White House response earlier this week was that there are no plans to replace the Ionic columns at the White House. How many times have we heard the Trump Administration say, “There are no plans,” only to see something like the East Wing of the White House become a pile of rubble?

The truth is not in these people.

Just you wait. We will wake up one morning to see piles of rubble where the Ionic columns now stand. Money is no object to the Trump Administration, unless you want to spend money to benefit human beings.

The wrecking ball being used at the White House is a metaphor for what the Trump Administration has done to our country and everything it stands/stood for.

Shoes

Perhaps the latest fiasco within Trump’s inner circle is that he decided to order wingtip shoes for each of the cabinet members (or, I’m assuming, only the male cabinet members), but he overlooked one detail. Shoe size.

 He (or one of his minions) guessed at what shoe size each person needed. It seems that Secretary of State Marco Rubio now must wear shoes several sizes too big. The pictures are laughable, but I doubt Secretary Rubio is laughing as he tries not to walk out of his gigantic shoes.

Do we not have one single department head in the Trump Administration who is brave enough to tell the President that they aren’t going to wear the shoes?

I read that he has also given these shoes to other VIPs and lawmakers he likes. I refuse to say the brand name and give the company any more free publicity.

It’s not enough that his people must mimic Trump’s every word; they must also wear the shoe brand he prefers, no matter what size they are.

It is more than a little jarring to know that in the middle of an illegal war, the U.S. President is thinking about buying shoes for his rich friends.

Has there ever been a more out-of-touch U.S. President?

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Since President Trump put his own name on The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts last year, numerous artists have cancelled their appearances in protest.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC. (Photo by MIKE STOLL on Unsplash)

As a result, Richard Grenell, Trump’s appointed director of the facility, has now lost his job.

Trump could not let us think that the cancellations were a result of his naming the building for himself. It had to be someone else’s fault. It just had to be.

The beautiful, iconic living memorial to President John F. Kennedy will close on July 5 for two years for “renovations” and “upgrades.” I doubt it will resemble its old self when Trump gets through with it.

I choose to remember it the way it was. Trump can put his name all over it in flashing neon lights if he wants to, but it will always be remembered as it was in its original elegant form, and it will NEVER be thought of as “The Trump Center.”

Another baseball cap faux pas

It wasn’t enough that President Trump wore a baseball cap to the Dignified Transfer of the remains of the first five Americans killed in the war in Iran. Even after receiving criticism – or perhaps because he received criticism – for his inappropriate choice of head gear, he then used a photo of himself at the somber event to launch a “pay-to-play” scheme.

It begs the question, “Was the white “USA” baseball cap all part of a grander money-raising plan?”

It is inappropriate and disrespectful to our fallen military personnel and their families to use photographs of one of their flag-draped coffins and his baseball cap adorned head to raise money, and it is beyond the pale that he is using this photograph to offer donors national security briefings.

You didn’t know that? Please keep reading.

The soldiers killed in the first day of Trump’s war were Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1stt Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia.

Mr. President, they were human beings. They were part of our all-volunteer armed forces. They volunteered to put their lives on the line from the people of the United States of America. They swore to defend the United States Constitution. Unlike you, they took their pledge seriously.

And now, Mr. President, you use a photograph of yourself in a ridiculous baseball cap along with the top of one of their flag-draped coffins in a pay-to-play scheme.

The request was signed “President Donald J. Trump.” Never Surrender Inc. paid to send it out for him. By paying to play, donors were told they would have “National Security Briefing Membership.”

Let that sink in for a minute….

Here is part of the online report from Navy Times on https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/14/trump-fundraising-email-uses-photo-of-march-7-dignified-transfer-of-deceased-soldier/ which includes quotes from the pay-to-play scheme:

“’I’m the strong commander who stares down tyrants, obliterates terrorists, and never backs down,’ Trump states in the email. ‘This is for patriots ready to stand with that kind of unbreakable strength. Not for the weak or the wavering.’

“The email promises donors a series of private national security briefings and updates on ‘threats facing America… border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.’

“’You’ll get the inside scoop DIRECT from me, President Trump,’ the email continues, ‘the leaders who’s rebuilt the greatest military in history, and put America First like no one else.’”

This scheme goes way beyond being inappropriate. What national security briefing details does Trump and/or Surrender Inc plan to share with donors? This goes beyond stupid and reckless.

Add this scheme to the trash pile of never-ending Trump money-making schemes. We can only hope this scheme fails like many of his other schemes. I mean, you have to be pretty inept to bankrupt a gambling casino, don’t you?

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.