Don’t Blame The Chumps On The Chump Train, Blame The One Percent
I don’t blame Mr. and Mrs. Chump from Kentucky for jumping into the abyss of the trump train, they have been battered and hoodwinked by incredibly powerful and sophisticated forces that have convinced them that trump will lead the nation back to goodness and godness.
Of course, there are those who deserve no respect, those who are unabashedly racist, miscogenist, sexist. But for those who gave their hearts to trump with great but misplaced hope for a better future, I ask that you look around with open eyes and see the way that trump has led the country down into dangerous territory.
But I offer no such forgiveness for Charles Dolan, Ronald Perelman, Tilman Fertitta, Stephen Winn, Ronald Wanek, Charles Simonyi, Joe Liemandt, Ronald Lauder, Ken Fisher, Peter Thiel, Stewart Rahr, Thomas Peterffy, Farris Wilks, John Paulson, Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury, Darwin Deason, Phillip Ruffin, Stephen Schwarzman, Charles B. Johnson, Diane Hendricks, Dennis Washington, Joe Ricketts, Andrew Beal, Ike Perlmutter and others like them. They are billionaires, the one percenters you probably never heard of who donated hundreds of millions to keep trump in office. These are not chumps on the chump train but rather incredibly sophisticated un-Americans who selfishly supported another plutocrat, despite the obvious and imminent dangers to our nation. And the danger is that these co-conspirators are still around and ready to get behind the trump caravan into darkness in 2024.
And there are those others who call themselves entertainers, who try to spread their misplaced adoration for trump as they leaped like lemmings into the septic pool of the trump camp, people like Lil Wayne, Lil Pump, Rick Harrison, Conor McGregor, 50 Cent, Robert Davi, , Mariano Rivera, Colby Covington, Kid Rock, Dean Cain, Willie Robertson, Stacey Dash, James Woods, Kirstie Alley, Jon Voight, Ted Nugent, Dennis Quaid, Scott Baio and Roseanne Barr. These rappers and wrestlers, actors and singers can sing, rap, wrestle and act, but it doesn’t mean they can think clearly so they are ranked just ahead of Mr. and Mrs. Chump.
The story about Ivana Trump’s recent death offers insight into the ex-president that every trumper should understand. At the funeral, trump’s name was mentioned just once and only to note that he was at the funeral. Their children spoke about their mother with not one mention of the ex-president who still believes he’s president.
People who still cleave to trump ought to think about his former wife’s funeral. What kind of man, husband, father doesn’t merit even a passing reference from mourners, who included three children by Ivana and Donald trump? That kind of man shows the cardinal sign of the sociopath, an inability to feel for others and in turn an inability for others to feel for him.
There has been so much evil uncovered in recent days and weeks and the story is far from over. At least, Steve Bannon of the dark side, a former top advisor to trump, was found guilty of contempt in federal court for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by unhinged, trump supporters. I believe we have not heard the last of Bannon, who believes that he is leading a holy crusade to destroy everything that is America.
Of all that has come out in the hearings, the most damning moments involved trump’s actions after the rabid mob had violated the Capitol, maiming and killing police and threatening the lives of elected officials, including the vice president of the United States. During that period between when the insurrection began and when it finally ended of its own weight, trump did nothing to stem the bloodshed. Instead, he acted in the only way a sociopath knows, in what he thought was his best selfish interest, while the blood ran cold.
Think about it. The president is elected to lead the nation, to uphold the values that comprise the nation, to abide by the Constitution and all of its ideals, to defend the nation from all dangers, foreign and domestic. Trump watched the rioting with glee on television, as he was repeatedly urged by his closest advisors, including his son and daughter, to tell the trouble makers to stop the mayhem and go home. Instead, he dug in deeper as he gazed resolutely in support of the cretins who thought they had a right to destroy the seat of democracy and he cheered them on.
Trump was evil and calculating throughout his sordid presidency, from the first day’s lies about the number who attended his inauguration, to his welcoming help from Russia to win the election, to his clumsy attempt at blackmailing the president of Ukraine into digging up dirt on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, to the long, unremitting, calculated campaign to overturn the 2020 election results including his request that the governor of Georgia “find” 11,500 votes, capped with the bloody attempted coup d’etat.
Trump got rich through his years of criminal activities when he was amassing his fortune on the backs of numerous bankruptcies, misleading ventures and so much more. And he further enriched himself as president and that always was and always will be what keeps him going. And he had plenty of very wealthy, powerful help from people who are still very much on the scene.
The story is far from over because many Americans did not follow the house hearings and instead wrapped themselves in the comforting, suffocating blanket of stench, lies and denial of Fox News and its treasonous actors. Fox and all its venomous tentacles should also be tried for being complicit with trump’s efforts at rebellion.
For those who gave their hearts to trump, I ask that you look around with open eyes and see the way that trump has led the country to spiral down into dangerous territory. If upon reading and following various media reports, and following the facts as unearthed by the House committee, you still have faith in trump, then I have lost and so have you. If trump is re-elected, we are doomed. There would only be blackness on the horizon and armed insurrection. I have no idea how to counter this tornado of darkness.
Remember that trump didn’t get to this point alone, he had support and love from the rich and famous, many who believed they could gain by gaining the gratitude of trump.
Mr. and Mrs. Chump are no doubt influenced by the actors and singers they see on TV and in the movies. The information below comes from a story in Definition.org, launched in 2013, as a leading digital reference platform.
Entertainers make sexy copy but they are not known for their incisive commentaries. There’s Roseanne Barr, a trumper from way back, who said in 2018, “I’m not a racist and the people who voted for Trump, they’re not racist either, and Trump isn’t a racist, sorry. We just have a different opinion.”
Trumpers were thrilled with Scott Baio of “Happy Days” fame. who lavished praise on trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention and actively campaigned for trump in 2020.
As recently as May 2020, Dennis Quaid proved yet again that the talent to act doesn’t necessarily translate into intelligence.
“I think Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is doing a good job at trying to get these states — and all of the American people — what they need… and also trying to hold our economy together and be prepared for when this is all over,” Quaid said.
The thoroughly unlikeable Ted Nugent won’t get into Mensa, as he campaigned for trump because “Donald Trump’s message sings to Americans because he doesn’t play politically correct brain-dead games. He calls them like he sees them.”
In the trumpaverse, everybody’s talking about Jon Voight, who said trump should have been reelected “so he can carry the torch for this land of the free.”
I have no cheers for Kirstie Alley who has tweeted far and wide for trump while referring to President Joe Biden as “masquerading as a coherent presidential candidate.”
James Woods, who portrays tough, smart sensitive types, loves trump because he feels a kinship, as when he warned us all that trump “is the last firewall between us and this cesspool called Washington.”
Stacey Dash was so clueless as a self-professed “woman for trump.”
Another quack, Willie Robertson, said in 2019 that trump is “a real leader. He represents success and strength, two attributes our country needs.”
Dean Cain was anything but super when he said in 2019 that he had “full and complete faith in the president.”
Behind perhaps only Ted Nugent, no musician has been more supportive of trump and more repulsive than the obnoxious, massively untalented Kid Rock. He’s visited the White House, and regularly golfed with Trump.
UFC fighter Colby Covington obviously suffered one too many head blows as he proudly wears his MAGA hat in the ring and has developed what he thinks is a friendship with trump Jr.
Mariano Rivera’s famed slider failed him when he repeatedly backed trump, most recently in 2020 when he said of trump, “I respect him. I respect what he does and I believe he’s doing the best for the United States of America.”
There’s Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, former owners of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) league and owner of Red Rocks Resorts casinos, who gave trump $793,000 in 2016, and $721,200 in 2020.
Stephen Baldwin, one of the stars of “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” sounded like Fred Flintstone when he said he admires trump because he “doesn’t care what anybody thinks” and “is not a politician.”
Conor McGregor, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar, described trump in January 2020, as a “phenomenal president. Quite possibly the USA [greatest of all time]. Most certainly one of them anyway, as he sits atop the shoulders of many amazing giants that came before him.”
As far as the uber-rich, their motivations for backing trump are obvious, they expect to be repaid in the millions they hope to earn through trumpian policies. These are the incredibly rich who gave so much to trump and while the numbers are massive, they barely cause a ripple on these billionaires’ bottom lines.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican National Conventions and has donated more than $1 million to Trump reelection efforts.
Charles Dolan, parents of the owner of the hapless New York Knicks, are hapless in their own right as the couple worth $4.7 billion, gave trump $125,000 for the 2020 campaign.
Corporate raider Ronald Perelman donated $125,000 to trump in 2020. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, worth $4.7 billion, donated $140,000 to the Trump 2020 committees. Software billionaire Stephen Winn gave trump $150,000 in 2020 and $100,000 in 2016.
Ronald Wanek,founder of the Arcadia Furniture manufacturing company, is worth $2.4 billion. He supported trump to the tune of $170,000 in 2020.
Charles Simonyi designed Word and Excel and his bankbook totals $4.1 billion. He gave $200,000 of his bankroll to trump in 2020.
Joe Liemandt, founder of Trilogy Software, is worth $3 billion these days. In 2020, he donated $200,00 of that $3 billion to Trump.
Ronald Lauder, chairman of Clinique Laboratories, is the son of the legendary Estee Lauder and is worth $4 billion. Lauder donated $200,000 to trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
Ken Fisher founded Fisher Investments in 1979 and parlayed it into $4.4 billion in earnings. He and his wife, Sherrilyn, donated $250,00 to trump 2020 and $50,00 to trump 2016.
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, is worth $2.5 billion and threw $250,000 to trump in 2016 and 2020.
Stewart Rahr converted his Kinray pharmaceutical distributor into a company worth billions and he has a personal net worth of $2.3 billion. Trump benefited with donations of $449,650 in 2016, and $250,000 in 2020.
Thomas Peterffy created the online trading platform, Interactive Brokers, and owns 500,000 acres of timberland in Florida.He’s worth $16.2 billion and donated $250,000 to trump 2020, and $100,000 in 2016.
Farris and Dan Wilks founded Frac Tech in 2022, which they grew into one of the largest fracking companies in the world. Farris and his wife, JoAnn gave trump $250,000 in 2020.
The list goes on and on, possibly topped by Dennis Washington and Joe Rickets. Washington owns Washington Companies which includes a copper mine, railroad and stakes in two diamond mines. Dennis and Phyllis Washington gave trump a cool $1 million in 2020.
Joe Rickets is founder of the brokerage firm Ameritrade which he sold for $2.9 billion and was renamed TD Ameritrade. Rickets’ kids also own the Chicago Cubs. Joe and Marlene Ricketts contributed $1,050,600 to trump pacs in 2020.