nyti.ms/2P0PvuC

Milli Vanilli had to give up their Grammy, does Donald Trump now have to give up the Presidency? Then again, Clive Davis is almost as big a blowhard as Trump, and the press has bought it. Forget the overspending at Arista, forget the forgettable hits, what kind of man foists a fraud upon the public?

One with a very big ego and a ton of insecurity.

Now I happened to be online when this story broke. But my inbox did not blow up, my Twitter feed did not go insane. Which is kind of strange, Geoff Emerick dies and there are a gazillion tweets testifying to his greatness, America's foremost newspaper blows a hole in the President's origin story and...crickets.

But it gets worse than that. I was stuck in traffic for an hour at six o'clock, pushing the buttons on the satellite from CNN to MSNBC to Fox. Do you think they mentioned this story on Fox? NOT AT ALL! Proving we all get different news and all get different spin, and since spin wins, hell, Trump agreed to broaden the FBI inquiry after the Democrats complained, don't expect to hear truth anywhere anymore.

And if you're hewing to the line, you're losing.

The job creators... The rich are better than us. They deserve our fealty. But the truth is where there's a great fortune, as that old seer once said, there's a great crime.

And then I found it funny. We're now living in Italy. Or maybe Greece, that's where they famously pay no taxes. But we laugh at Italy, as their heads of state are caught up in shenanigans and the country never seems to be able to get out of its own way. THAT'S US! They laughed at Trump at the U.N. Wouldn't you? A lying narcissistic who's tipped the world and admits right up front it's America First? And for those thinking this benefits you, America First is code for "entitled white people first." They don't care about minorities, they want to keep them out. It's your fault you're poor, if we get it right we're not only gonna plug the immigration leaks, but kick your sorry ass out of the country too. USA! USA!

Meanwhile, we've got the Democrats thinking they can win through honesty.

There is no honesty! The guy trying to get on the Supreme Court lies about high school slang and you're supposed to speak the truth? Oh, you righties, don't get your knickers in a twist, he's gonna get confirmed or someone just like him will so you're gonna win in the end. That bugs me most, the winners complaining, kinda like the war on Christmas, all you see on Fox is people lamenting the sorry state of affairs, how they're oppressed, they should be having a victory party, THEY'VE WON! By promising what you can't have. Better schools for less taxes. Lower health care costs and no pre-existing conditions. While they're at it, why don't they promise cars that get a hundred miles an hour and throw in a cure for cancer, the American public is comprised of nitwits who'll believe anything.

And it's not going in the right direction. The Supreme Court will lean right for DECADES! And the Republicans, much better organized than the Democrats, have defined the issues for decades. Taxes...BAD! Yeah, but look at our declining infrastructure, who's gonna fix that! Private industry! Look what they did for our prisons! "The Failing New York Times." They've made it so the paper of record is irrelevant, meaningless, even though the whole country is run by it, because the "Times" is the only news outlet with reporters on the ground everywhere. Hell who else could dedicate all this manpower over eighteen months for one story? Certainly not the "Denver Post," pushed toward the cliff by financial owners. And did you see that Bain and KKR are gonna throw $20 million to Toys"R"Us employees? Out of sheer guilt? Don't laud them, just think of how much cash they made if they're willing to throw this amount away!

Yup, they put Toys"R"Us out of business.

But still, the average person has no idea how hedge funds work, how they load their purchases up with debt and become whole instantly while the corporation tanks.

And no one can understand the tax games in this "Times" article.

But I can. I liked tax in law school. I like math. The principles are not hard, but they're hoping you never go deep. That's America, it's all surface all the time. And if you say anything negative you're a hater. The blacks are doing better than ever! Kaepernick is over the hill! The truth is you repeat these falsehoods enough and people believe them.

Just like Trump told us he was a brilliant real estate developer of extreme wealth.

No, he was an entertainer.

That's where facts never ruled. The gig is sold out! But it's not. The album went gold! But it didn't. The deal is worth a hundred mil! But it's not.

But now this game is being played by the President. It started long before the "Apprentice." Trump has played a very long game. Trading in one wife for a theoretically more desirable one and then one even better, completely subservient. He went on Howard Stern to humanize himself, present an identity to the public, to be known, and it worked! You keep decrying what he said to Howard, you know nothing about publicity, it made him FAMOUS!

If you ever felt powerless, now's the time.

And you can't follow in Trump's footsteps, because white collar crime only works when it's surrounded by high-priced attorneys and accountants. That's right, tax is a game, a sport, you can say whatever you want until you get caught. But few do. Manafort. Cohen. And Trump himself. If anything, this proves you should stay out of the public eye!

But that's not reality TV. That's not Snooki. That's not Kanye.

Everybody wants to be in the game.

And those who are not pooh-pooh it, or don't understand it, but the joke is on them.

They hate the superhero movies. But wouldn't you want escape in today's world?

They hate the rappers promoting hedonism and sexism. But when your life is short, when you only get a little time with the brass ring, don't you want to live it up?

And we keep lionizing these losers. And they mess with the outlets if they mess with them. They won't give access. And one of the most important points in this article is how the "Times" itself was snowed too! They admit it, they bought the Trump act, hook, line and sinker.

But it doesn't matter. Trump is going nowhere. His acolytes should stop complaining and start laughing. They've preached a platform that appeals to people, that really appeals to five year olds. I'll give you everything and it'll cost you nothing! And then in a few years it becomes someone else's problem. Just like the corporations, run by CEOs for the bonus that fold right after the execs are gone.

That's America folks.

We used to depend on religion for a moral compass. But now religion is in cahoots with the insanity.

We used to depend on artists, to tell us the truth. But now they keep complaining someone stole their lunch money and they've got to sell out to survive.

We used to have Mr. Smiths who went to Washington, or at least Nader. Today Ralph is seen as a chump. Who wants to live as a monk? Who wants to give up all that MONEY!

And we've got a Wall Street that mints millionaires but builds nothing.

And an amoral tech elite.

There you have it folks. A nation without character. Where your word means nothing.

This is not the end. As a matter of fact, it keeps getting worse. Hell, political news should be on the sports page, that's what it now is, an adversarial contest.

All this hogwash about "originalism"... If the Founding Fathers were alive today they'd throw up!

--
Visit the archive: lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, Unsubscribe

To change your email address this link