Pay to Play

This just in:  Ever since Trump first ran for office, we’ve been hearing about the Emoluments Clause (aka Title of Nobility Clause).  Here is what it says in the Constitution:

The Title of Nobility Clause is a provision in Article ISection 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution,[1] that prohibits the federal government from granting titles of nobility, and restricts members of the government from receiving giftsemoluments, offices or titles from foreign states without the consent of the United States Congress. Also known as the Emoluments Clause, it was designed to shield the republican character of the United States against so-called “corrupting foreign influences.” This shield is reinforced by the corresponding prohibition on state titles of nobility in Article I, Section 10, and more generally by the Republican Guarantee Clause in Article IV, Section 4.

In simple terms, it says the President should not be bribable.  He should not profit from foreign enterprises.  He should do his job as president.

Now, on a completely unrelated subject…

Trump has decided to help China’s telephone company ZTE because our sanctions are costing them jobs.  We put these sanctions in place because ZTE shipped banned components to Iran.

Trump made this decision about 72 hours after China agreed to contribute $500,000,000 to a Trump linked project in Indonesia.

Elsewhere...

Trump’s lawyer is in deep trouble for selling access to the president.  He received over $4,000,000 for providing this access.  Money that he can’t account for and some suspect he passed along to his boss…Trump.

Elsewhere…

Last year, Trump’s son-in-law asked Qatar for a personal  loan of about $500,000,000.  When they said “no”, the United States immediately sided with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries in punishing Qatar.

Now, if Trump wasn’t associated with a lifetime of corruption, I might be willing to overlook this.  However, it appears to me that he has turned his presidency into a “Cash Grab.”  This include his apparent love of Russia, who bailed him out of several bankruptcies when no one else would.

On the entertainment page...

My wife and I like to find shows we can watch together.  It’s not unusual for us to spend an hour watching an episode of some show we both like, before turning in for the night.  We look for shows that have a lot of episodes.  There are two reasons for this.  First, if they probably don’t make a lot of episodes of a show no one will like.  Secondly, we don’t want to have to research for a new batch of shows to watch every few days.  Finding an show with a lot of episodes means we have something to watch for weeks.

We have just started watching two shows that we like: Numb3rs and Chuck.

As for shows that I watch without my wife: Justified and Expanse.

Also…I watched the remake of the Lost in Space series.  I liked it a lot.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim