Trump’s Golf Game: “He Cheats Like a Mafia Accountant”

Michael Matheron1 Comment

“Great day with the #President. A gracious host. And, he shot a 68!
My recommendation, try the Trump Burger!”
Kevin O’Leary,
Self described Chairman of O’Leary Ventures and Beanstox, 5 X Emmy Shark Tank’s
Mr. Wonderful, Wine Maker, Watch, Crypto, AI & Guitar Guy, Photographer & Chef
Twitter/X post, January 12, 2025.

Yesterday, Donald Trump enjoyed a round of golf with one of his biggest fans, Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame where he’s best known for treating contestants with rough handling disdain. Although O’Leary is only a cento-millionaire he’s a billionaire in self-satisfied narcissism and, as such, a self-satisfied MAGA enthusiast, particularly his enthusiasm for tax cuts, regulation decimation, banking regs in particular – basically anything that interferes with his pursuit of as many more cento-millions that are available.

In any event, O’Leary’s assertion that Trump shot a 68, on standard par 72 golf courses that would be four under par, a score that would be welcomed by most professional tour golfers. In truth, Trump is not a poor golfer, he has the ability to score in the mid-80s. As a former golfer I can attest that moving from scores in the mid-80s (roughly shooting 13 over par, on average) to a sub-par round of 68, especially Trump’s age (78) is spectacularly unlikely for all but the best players in that age range, for example, Gary Player or Lee Trevino. Trump is neither of those except in his delusional brain salad.

“Donald Trump is the worst cheat ever and he doesn’t care who knows,” Rick Reilly says as he describes a man he has known for 30 years. “I always say golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man. And golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president.

Rick Reilly, author Commander in Cheat, How Golf Explains Trump

It will not surprise Trump aficionados, of course, that Trump is a notorious golf cheat, known far and wide as among the most determined cheaters ever to don a polo shirt: simply google “notorious golf cheats.” His own hometown newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, ran a 2023 story, Donald Trump and golf: Fancy resorts, A-list partners, cheating at highest level, well worth reading. Among a wellspring of examples, he kicks errant shots back onto the fairway; he brazenly reports his scores on, for instance, a par five hole as a four although his golf partners counted at least nine shots; he tosses and kicks his shots out of sand traps; he improves his golf balls’ positions on the fairway; he also has his caddies cheat for him. How does he accomplish much of this? He has a supercharged golf cart so he can reach his shots before his partners!

In short, according to sportswriter and golfer, Rick Reilly, who came out of retirement to write Commander in Cheat, Trump cheats “like a Mafia accountant.” His misrepresentations go beyond just merely kicking a ball out of a sand trap, Reilly further reports: “I kept seeing on [Trump’s] Twitter feed: ‘I’m a champion. You should vote for me because I’ve won 18 club championships.’ Whoa! That’s a lie because [he] already told me how [he] did it. Whenever [I] open a new course, [I] play [the very first round] by [myself] and declare [myself] the first club champion.’”

Summing up, Donald Trump scoring a 68 would be a biblical miracle. And Kevin O’Leary telling the truth about it would be as well. . .

Trump’s Press Conference: More BS About Inflation

Michael Matheron1 Comment

“We have inflation at a level we’ve never had before.”
Donald Trump, News Conference, January 7, 2025

Inflation today is at 2.7%. Historically speaking (and-in-every-other way speaking) the rate of inflation that Trump inherits from President Biden is gobsmackingly below “a level we’ve never seen before.” [Note: Whenever Trump uses the phrase “a level we’ve never seen before” he is – in order of precedence- either lying, or unaware/uneducated about the topic, or in a Diet Coke induced trance. Of course, all three a simultaneously possible.]

Without much need for explanation, see the chart below. In the mid-1900s during the First World War the highest inflation rate is at its 100 year record high (20%). Then, along came World War 2 and another series of backbreaking inflation rates. The 1970s-early 1980s brought high inflation due primarily to the Arab Oil Boycott, the Iranian revolution, and “stagflation” (characterized by high inflation, low economic growth, and high unemployment). Since the 1990s, however, inflation has been somewhat tame, and in the 2000s mostly below 2.5% (which is generally the Federal Reserve’s “target rate”).

Trump’s “highest inflation” view of things is as fabricated as anything he’s, well, ever fabricated. He used it successfully though; pounding on that theme on the campaign trail constantly. Polling found that high inflation was among the strongest reasons he succeeded in 2024. In fact, though, from 2010 inflation has been a pussy cat. Yet, at today’s press conference Trump still cannot let go of his upside-down view of inflation, unless he was referring to the historic high of his own rate of dishonesty . . .

Apropos of Everything: World Gross Domestic Product Vs. Net Worth of Elon Musk

Michael Matheron1 Comment

Elon Musk has done well lately, at least financially, if not in mental health. His businesses and investments and chicanery have netted him an estimated 450 some-odd dollars, placing him in the company of, well, literally no other wealthy humans like Bezos and Zuckerberg who trail hundreds of billions behind. Just for the heck of it I took a moderately deep dive into this topic and present my results below, based upon the 2023-2024 GDP of all the sovereign nations on the face of the earth, at least according to the IMF and World Bank. Whether economically logical or not I’ve compared Elon Musk’s present estimated net worth with the GDP of all sovereign states still in existence today, although some are teetering. Logical or not, this has been fun; hope you like it.

By the way, Elon Musk, the country, is designated as “The Principality of MUSK”:

Next in our review is the World Bank’s GDP data for 32 countries, one of which I have added to update its (incomplete) data, i.e., adding in The Principality of MUSK. Note that the World Bank includes 217 countries as having lower GDP than Elon Musk’s estimated net worth – These amount to 185 sovereign states, including Iran, Denmark, South Africa, Portugal, New Zealand, Finland, and just about the total number of Latin American countries, encompassing Central and South America, other than Brazil and Mexico. Given the Principality of MUSK’s propinquity to the incoming U.S. President, one can guess that the Principality may move up several notches in the list below by the end of 2025, perhaps surpassing Saudi Arabia, Norway, and Spain. It is equally possible that the Principality may fall off the map altogether given its chaotic and clinically psychotic leadership, of course, the same could befall the United States bearing in mind its own embrace of mass psychosis.

Negative Space: First in a Series of 2025 Resolutions

Michael Matheron1 Comment

I’ve been thinking. Again, as I do every New Year’s day, I’m pondering how to help you. You need resolutions! And, since 2025 is already in the toilet, with Trump threatening various sovereign countries with invasion among his other grisly resolutions for the year, it seems appropriate to help you immunize (excuse the term) yourself with not simply one, two, or three resolutions, but with as many as I can think of. Although 2025 is a year I don’t plan on thinking much, I can’t predict just how many resolutions I’ll offer you, but they’ll be numerous, or not – I just don’t know. Anyway, here’s the first in a series of resolutions or goals to help you screen out the reality of Trump 2.0. Hope this helps. Hope you have a chair,

MAGA Universe: Vaccine Promotion – Louisiana Is Now Immune from Informing Public About Vaccines

Michael Matheron1 Comment

Reported by NPR here’s another deep dive into MAGA America from Louisiana’s Department of Health:

A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop.

In a statement, the Louisiana Department of Health told NPR it has been “reevaluating both the state’s public health priorities as well as our messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and influenza.” The [Department of Health] described the move as a shift “away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance” to a stance in which “immunization for any vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are an individual’s personal choice.” [It] did not address mpox vaccinations. The statement said that the flu vaccine can reduce illness severity and therefore may help high-risk patients — but falsely claimed “the flu vaccine does not prevent one from getting the influenza virus.” 

How far will they go in the months ahead in MAGA Universe? Will it go as far as the limit? – Banning vaccines altogether? Department of Health employee prayer groups dedicated to eradicating viruses? There are, apparently, no limits.

What Would Christmas Be Without a Cheery Message from Donald Trump?

Michael Matheron1 Comment
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Donald Trump’s Christmas started out well enough on TruthSocial when, at 9:47 a.m., he posted:

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!”

I was certainly surprised. I;ve been following for more than a year his holiday-themed messages to America and they do not shine like a bright light. In fact, they are uniformly the nasty diatribes of a man whose damnable attributes are well known. So, I was not surprised that bu 7:43 p.m. he posted this:

“Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky “souls” but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

It would’ve been disappointing if he had not posted that. Therre would have been a missing holiday missive in my collection . . .

Senator Chris Murphy Warns Media of the Urgency of the Hour

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Quote of the day:

“When the media decides to start hedging, or not telling the full story, combined with people being reluctant to engage in political opposition because they fear they will land in jail, that’s just not a democracy any longer. And it’s not like we’re six months away from that. It feels like we might be a month away from a world in which people start to retreat from politics for fear of criminal prosecution, and the media just uses kid gloves in dealing with the regime. I don’t think this is hypothetical two years from now; we may be living in a very restricted democratic space in January.”–Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), speaking on Greg Sargent’s podcast The Daily Blast

Media Warily Sizes Uo Trump Regime

Michael Matheron1 Comment

“Shortly after Donald Trump narrowly beat Kamala Harris, Politico, the all-politics-all-the-time news outlet, invited readers to participate in a contest: Predict Trump’s cabinet appointees. Whoever did best would walk away with assorted Politico swag. A convicted felon and deceitful demagogue who four years ago incited an attack on the Capitol and tried to overthrow American democracy—a man described as a “fascist” by retired generals who worked with him—is returning to power and bringing with him to the White House a fistful of threats, including vows to suppress the media. But we can have fun, right? Pin the tail on the Trump appointees and win prizes! This was a stupid and small move that received scant public attention. But it symbolizes a shift in the media, as news outfits figure out how to contend with the new order. Too many, I’m afraid, will either purposefully choose or drift toward an accommodationist stance.” David Corn, Mother Jones, The Media and Trump: Not Resistance, But Not Acceptance, Nov. 20, 2024.

Most of us saw it coming but I, for one, didn’t think the “preemptive knee bending” would happen so swiftly or so widely. Fairly quixk out of the gate we’ve watched Joe Scarborough and _____ Brezinski bend their knees for Trump by having a pleasant lunch with him at Mar A Lago, and this after years of ripping Trump the shreds on Morning Joe. Then there’s the craven Lindy Li, a member of DNC’s Finance Committee, who had this to say on FOX News, “People are dying for a change, so I think we’re about to embark on an entirely new era of prosperity, I certainly hope so. You can just feel it, even in the last couple weeks Americans are celebrating. . . [The Democratic party] has the stench of loser written all over [it].” Sounds like Ms. Li has switched parties, and now after having seen the light is auditioning for a job in the Trump administration. Many news outlets, have kissed Trump’s ring, with the LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong instructing staff to go easier on Trump. The list goes on.

Cozying up with a wannabe dictator is certainly an option, especially since the Democratic party has been consigned to the desert for who knows how many years. News outlets want access to the Trump administration, of course. But this much “anticipatory obedience” is painful to watch. . .