***** “Corruption..is an operating system of sophisticated networks in which government officials, key
private-sector interests, and our-and-out criminals interweave.” {Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption in America”]
Following are excerpts from: “The American System Is Not Designed To Resist Corruption”. [Ben Rhodes; New York Times; 6/8/25]. READ the article!!!!! Read and then THINK on every quote. Make no mistake – Donald J. Trump and cronies, and most importantly – THE POWER BEHIND THEM – ARE. corrupting YOUR government Partly for twisted ideological reasons, but most of all – GREED. Continuing 1981- Republican policies – they are cutting taxes on the already obscenely rich and corporations – and shifting the tax burden onto people like YOU.
1]. “President Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth since starting his 2024 election campaign. Billions of foreign dollars have flowed into his family’s real estate and crypto ventures. A plane that doublers as a “palace in the sky” has been given for Mr. Trump’s use by the government of Qatar.”
2]. “It is easy to dismiss this as just a bigger and more brazen version of the self-dealing we saw during the first Trump term. But it poses a more fundamental danger. Our political system is being transformed into something that no longer serves the people…the United States is seemingly becoming just another country with a corrupt strongman personalizing and profiting from power.” [ Read this again – slowly. think what has just been written here.]
***** “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty – power is ever stealing from the many to the few.” [ Wendell Phillips ]
3] “As with Mr. Trump and ..Recep Tayyyip Erdogan, this includes Mr. Orban’s son-in-law. Family members and associates double as gatekeepers and deal makers operating outside formal government roles, which come with rules and oversight.”……….
“The story he tells echoes America’s. A justice system being captured by the leader’s loyalists. Checks and balances weakened or ignored until they barely exist. Moral and ethical frameworks eroded. Oligarchs becoming richer and more powerful than institutions.” [ Read this again – THIS is what D.J. Trump has/is doing to America.]
4] “Mr. Lederer likened the pressure corruption puts on a system to a river bearing down on a dam. Once the dam breaks, you’re washed downriver by currents you can’t control…opposition parties in Hungary, as in the United State, failed to understand that the system had collapsed…because the rules and expectations it relied on had disintegrated beyond salvaging……The corruption becomes a flood, a new normal, carrying the entire country along with it..”
*****”To usurp supreme and absolute authority..in a freee state and subject it to tyranny, the people must have already
become corrupt by gradual steps from generation to generation.” [ Machiavelli ]
5]”Americans are further downriver than we seem to understand..over the past several months, Mr. Trump has made moves that far exceed anything Mr. Orban has done. What separates Mr. Trump from an Orban or even a Putin is the awesome economic, technological and military power of..the United States of America.
“No country has more leverage over the global economy. Through tariffs announced on every country on earth, Mr. Trump has personalized that power.
6]. “On “Liberation Day,” Mr. Trump announced a 46 percent tariff on imports from Vietnam. He then paused it and created a 90-day period to negotiate..the Vietnamese government hastily approved a $1.5 billion deal involving a Trump golf complex before a ceremony attended by Eric Trump…….
“It’s impossible to know if this was a quid pro quo for tariff relief. But the ambiguity is the point. Governments like Vietnam’s are left to wonder what they can do to appease the U.S. president.”
*****. “There is nothing so characteristic of narrowness of littleness of soul as the love of riches.” [ Cicero ]
7]. “The American people will be losers in this process. Mr. Trump has ideological and personal reasons to perpetuate tariff uncertainty to maintain his power. Even if he succeeds in extracting some trade concessions, America’s businesses, investors and consumers have to expect continued volatility, higher prices and only temporary resolutions to trade tensions..”
8] “In the second Trump term, A.I. is going to be increasingly deployed globally. In the absence of careful planning, U.S. workers could face mass job displacement. In the absence of regulation, A.I. poses security threats: from cybercrime, disinformation and surveillance to the production of new weapons to the unforeseen dangers of superhuman intelligence. Yet instead of empowering experts or negotiating norms, Mr. Trump has slashed government agencies and personalized decisions. The “big, beautiful bill” that passed the House would even bar states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years. Power and the potential to profit off it, rests with Mr. Trump and whomever he favors.” {!!!!! – Read this VERY carefully again – there is so much here that imperils YOU, your family, America it is mind boggling!!! Trump has literally “sold YOU down the river” – for GREED.]
***** “the point is you can’t be too greedy.” [ Donald J. Trump ]
9] “If deregulated crypto markets generate a worrisome bubble, will Mr. Trump prioritize his family’s investments or the health of the global financial system? If justice is selective and pardons can be purchased, will white-collar crime proliferate? If the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act continues to go unenforced, Will bribery be normalized as the cost of doing business?
10]. “Corruption is a powerful tool, but it is not popular. To build a movement powerful enough to push back on Mr. Trump’s self-dealing, Democrats must show people how it will affect their lives.”……
“Already Mr. Trump has cut government programs that people depend on but that do not bolster his power or offer opportunities for profit…the “big, beautiful bill” ..would be a boon to his family and the wealthiest supporters while slashing Medicaid and nutrition assistance. It would add over $2 trillion to the national debt wile exploding inequality and making life worse for many Americans. That too is a story of corruption..”
***** “You have despised the poor. Is it not the rich man who oppresses you, and drag you before the judgment seats?” [ James 2: 6 ]
With Justice For All 