“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. . .
“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 . . .
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 . . .
Trump has been ranting lately, most notably in his debate with Kamala Harris, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Missouri are “eating the dogs, the people who came in, they’re eating the cats.” This most recent of Trump’s immigration fables turns out to be balderdash, of course. And, as usual, MAGA enthusiasts have fallen for it, disbelieving the reports exonerating Haitians, apparently dismissing JD Vance’s admission that he, who first reported this imaginary story, had made it all up, unapologetically.
In any event, an enterprising group of Tik Tok users employed AI to discover that Trump had plagiarized his comment about the Haitian-dog-cat controversy directly from one of Adolf Hitler’s speeches. He too was vexed by immigration, especially from Haiti whose citizens yearned for peaceful and bountiful lives in Nazi Germany, and of course, for the wiener schnitzel and beer. Below is the sordid proof of Trump’s plagiarism:
Whether Trump will face disciplinary action, or criminal indictment for his flagrant infringement of Adolf Hitler’s copyright is the question of the day. He certainly has violated Hitler’s rights to ownership of his own words. Plagiarism, as defined, can be considered a violation of copyright law if it infringes on the original author’s copyright, patent, or trademark. In this case, the copyright owner can sue the plagiarist in federal court.
Adolf Hitler. age 135, with his lawyers in Brasília.
Also, in some cases, plagiarism can be considered a felony under state or federal law. For example, if a plagiarist copies and earns more than $2,500 from copyrighted material, he/she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years in jail. The value of Trump’s use of Hitler’s words could be determined to be in excess of $2,500 as it has brought him value due to the absolute delight that MAGA supporters drew from attack on immigrants (the Springfield Haitians, by the way, are in the United States legally). Also, Trump continues to use the phrase at the drop of a hat.
Whether this event will draw Adolf Hitler out of retirement in Brazil to bring suit, or to make a criminal complaint remains to be seen. He has been understandably reclusive for the past 79 years. It will be interesting to see, because it isn’t wise to aggravate Adolf Hitler. My money’s on Hitler.
At a campaign rally yesterday in Pennsylvania, Trump tried to pander to women voters, disastrously, that he’s not a threat but will be their “protector” in abortion matters, and in general:
“I always thought women liked me. But the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me. [But] You will be protected, and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
The president who ushered in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and was found liable for sexual abuse now realizes that the legacy of the Dobbs decision that his three Supreme Court nominees made possible isn’t polling well. So he’s on the reassurance grift. There is a mind-set demonstrated by his “soothing” words that shows a glaringly stupid lack of understanding of even the grade school basics of what women desire in all aspects of their lives, especially abortion.
For example, his “You will be protected, and I will be your protector”: women no longer accept (if they ever did) that their relationships with men be a “protector/protectee” paternalistic bargain, freighted with exceedingly onerous obligations. For example, Trump (of all men) telling them “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free” indicates his belief that men (specifically himself) alone by their paternalistic largesse can make women happy, healthy, confident and free. This, from Trump, a serial sex assaulter, adulterer, adjudicated rapist, defamer, and “pussy grabber.” He and the MAGA crowd simply have no overall, historical, cultural, or conceptual understanding of feminist goals. And trying to fake it just digs them in deeper and rightly alienates millions of women, and men.
And there’s this:
More Reassurance from Ohio…
GOP Senate nominee Bernie Moreno (OH), at a town hall event last week but first reported yesterday by NBC4 in Columbus. As you’ll see, Moreno vocalizes the MAGA self-centered view that one’s vote ought to matter only when an issue DIRECTLY threatens one’sown life, not, for example, the lives of all women, including their daughters and granddaughters.
“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters. Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ … OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50 — I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”
As for Trump’s conclusion, “[Women] will no longer be thinking about abortion,” the absurdity of that in every way spotlights his utter lack of understanding of women’s daily lives. Women walk through life with targets on their chests and backs, at all ages, placed there by men like Trump and Moreno.
“Market watchers have debated whether Trump would sell shares, with some suggesting an exit could indicate he is prioritizing personal profits and alienating loyal followers who have poured money into the stock.” Barron’s, Trump Media Shares Soar After Trump Says ‘I’m Not Selling’, September 13, 2024.
“No, I’m not selling… I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money… I absolutely have no intention of selling.” Donald Trump, Twitter, September 13, 2024
Reporter: Trump Media shares are down about 75% from their peak in March. Your lockdown provision ends soon. Will you sell your shares?
Trump: No, I'm not selling… I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money.. I absolutely have no intention of selling pic.twitter.com/zkQrbPKhE0
Trump’s assurances have a poor track record, as we know. This particular assurance to not sell shares in his Trump Media stock will be severely tested as of next Thursday, September 19. Here’s why.
Firstly, his assertion that he won’t sell his shares because he “doesn’t need money” is untrue. Trump always needs money; he’s always been raising money to, for example, fend off bankruptcy of his casinos in the 1990s. And now? Civil judgments against him, and tthe legal bills accompanying them are in the neighborhood of $600 million. In addition, financing his appeals of various legal actions against him by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and others cost tens of millions of dollars. Many of these bills are being paid for not ot of his own pocket but by the RNC which is run by his daughter-is-law Lara Trump which has led to a short fall of donated funds available to his presidential campaign. So, yes, he needs money.
Secondly, he doesn’t care who he fleeces to raise money. In fact, he’s been trying to fleece the MAGA herd since day one. And, conveniently, they keep coming back for more. This is a guy who has sold his supporters digital trading cards, gold colored sneakers, and commemorative coins. So, despite the fact that a goodly number of those supporters have invested in DJT, he’ll not hesitate to fleece them by, for instance, selling large lots of shares and thereby causing the price to fall, perhaps causing a large drop from its present anemic price. Recall, he needs money.
Here’s his estimated DJT position:
Total Shares = 194,000,000; Trump owns 60%. = 116,400,000 shares; = 7,708,008,000 billion at its 2024 high $66.72/share, BUT that’s shrunk by more than 70% to 1,978,800,000 billion at today’s share price of $17/share. An on paper loss of some 5,730,000,000 billion. Trump is not pleased, we might suppose.
The Crucial “Lockup Period”
The trading debut of DJT initiated what’s known as a lock-up period, a standard procedure for newly public companies in which certain shareholders, like those who own 5% or more of shares or who serve in a high-level management role, mandating that they cannot sell shares until a predetermined date. At DJT these insiders include Trump himself; DJT board members (i.e., Donald Trump, Jr., David Nunes, and other Trump confidants); co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss*, both former contestants on The Apprentice; and others.
The company’s latest prospectus filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlines three factors that would trigger the lock-up period to conclude:
The end of the first six months of DJT stock trading as its own entity on September 29, or
Trump Media shares trading above $12 for any 20 of 30 trading sessions on September 19, or
a transaction, like a merger, in which all shareholders have the opportunity to trade in their Trump Media holdings at the same price, or
an affirmative vote by DJT’s Board of Directors
That means the earliest possible date Trump can sell is Sept. 19 if Trump Media shares remain above the $12 threshold, otherwise his selling date will open is on Sept. 25. Note, however, that “”Insiders might still be prevented from selling their shares after the lock-up period expires. That can happen when an insider has access to material, nonpublic information, where the sale of shares would legally constitute insider trading.”
I expect that he will sell whenever he can do so legally, although should he sell large blocks of DJT over few days the stock price would likely fall precipitously. He might still make hundreds of millions at lower shre prices, as would other insiders, yet Trump would take a public relations hit, especially if his MAGA supporters took a beating on their own desperate sell orders. A better strategy would be to sell more slowly, or not sell at all and, instead, seek a loan or loans against his holdings, yet, who is eager to loan him money on any collateral. Poor Trump, he needs an intelligent strategy and tactics. And he’s remarkably stupid. We’ll see what happens after September 19th.
“District Attorney = Democrat Prosecutor = donated to Biden in 2020 = Prosecutor = paid by the DNC, former Biden DOJ official = Jury = pulled from one of the most liberal areas = Judge, donated to Biden in 2020 = Trial and Conviction = total sham” Twitter/X May 31, 2024, MAGA & causation expert Rep. Russell Fry, R SC-District 6, immediately after Trump’s 34 NY felony convictions
As you can see above, first term backbench GOP/MAGA congressman Russell Fry had his dander up on May 31st, one day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies. He torched the usual MAGA suspects: the District Attorney, the prosecutor, the jury, and, as a result, the 34 convictions.
And. as we’ll see after the next section, in April of 2023 Fry began to take on the federal criminal procedure that disallowed Trump from removing his election fraud case from New York to a federal District Court. His bill, H.R. 2553, has been percolating since then and, significantly, was reported out of the Judiciary Committee in January 2024 onto the House Calendar. It’s shyly named, “No More Political Prosecutions Act of 2023”. It’s important and potentially game changing.
But first, and briefly . . .
For a Backbencher He’s Got Front Bench Chutzpah
Fry is a typical MAGA extremist, beloved of Donald Trump. He describes himself on Twitter/X as: “Husband. Dad. Sock game on point. 8th grade ping pong champ. Fmr Chief Whip in SC House. #AmericaFirst. Trump Endorsed.” And there’s more than just sock game on point to please him.
His voting record for his first 19 months in Congress is rated as highly as the most MAGA Republicans in the House. He’s earned a 94% from the maniacal Heritage Foundation (the average House Republican garners an 745% rating). The Freedom Index has him at 90%, and for comparison, madman Jim Jeffords is at 80% and the equally mad Speaker of the House is at 73%). So, you know who we’re dealing with here . . . If you need any more info, there’s this: He received the Award for Conservative Excellence from the infamous The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He liked that: “It is an honor to receive the Award for Conservative Excellence and be rated among the top 10% of the most conservative members of Congress. I will never stop fighting for conservative wins in Washington!” In short, he’s a MAGA doozy, thinking erroneously that he’s a “conservative,” when he’s a MAGA bomb thrower. And he seems to be a MAGA up and comer, especially given his bill’s success, No More Political Prosecutions Act of 2023, now on the House Union Calendar.
The No More Political Prosecutions Act of 2023
On April 11, 2023, Fry introduced H.R. 2553 and referred to which was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by the MAGA star and irritant Jim Jordan. Fry’s website described the bill,
“Congressman Russell Fry (SC-07) has introduced the No More Political Prosecutions Act, legislation that would give Presidents and Vice Presidents, both former and current, the option to move their own civil or criminal cases from a state court to a federal court. Presidents and Vice Presidents are among the most visible politicians in the United States government — making them a target for rogue prosecutors looking to build up their profile and make a name for themselves on the political stage. Because of that threat, it’s important for Presidents and Vice Presidents to have the option to move their case to a federal court — where judges are confirmed by the U.S. Senate, serve in their role for life, and don’t need to win an election to keep their position.
‘I’m proud to introduce the No More Political Prosecutions Act. Politically motivated prosecutors should not be able to wield unwarranted power and target our nation’s top leaders for their own personal gain. This legislation will prevent the political prosecutions of Presidents and Vice Presidents and thwart corrupt prosecutors’ agendas.’” [Emphasis in original]
28 U.S. Code § 1442 – Federal officers or agencies sued or prosecuted
(a) A civil action or criminal prosecution that is commenced in a State court and that is against or directed to any of the following may be removed by them to the district court of the United States for the district and division embracing the place wherein it is pending: (1) The United States or any agency thereof or any officer (or any person acting under that officer) of the United States or of any agency thereof, in an official or individual capacity, for or relating to any act under color of such office or on account of any right, title or authority claimed under any Act of Congress for the apprehension or punishment of criminals or the collection of the revenue. (2) A property holder whose title is derived from any such officer, where such action or prosecution affects the validity of any law of the United States. (3) Any officer of the courts of the United States, for or relating to any act under color of office or in the performance of his duties. (4) Any officer of either House of Congress, for or relating to any act in the discharge of his official duty under an order of such House; (5) The President or Vice President, or a former President or Vice President. [Emphasis added]
(b) Application.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to civil actions or criminal prosecutions pending on the date of enactment of this Act or commenced on or after such date. [Emphasis added]”
The Donald Trump Legislation Machine
Fortunately, this legislative proposal, which is among many MAGA/GOP ideas specifically designed to protect Donald Trump from accountability, languishes on the House Calendar; let’s hope it stays that way. It’s another super-partisan example of the extent to which MAGA politicos go to subvert the very idea of creating laws of general applicability. The No More Political Prosecutions Act was introduced in January 2024, two months before Trump’s New York state criminal trial began, a trial that Trump, in 2023, tried to remove from state court to federal court where his team believed he’d fare better than in New York’s state court. This attempted movement is not illegal or even underhanded, it is an attempt at what is labeled forum shopping and is subject to complex removal rules.
Trump averred that the federal district court had subject matter jurisdiction because he was charged “for conduct committed while he was President of the United States that was within the ‘color of his office,'” and that the charges involved both federal and state election law violations about which the state election law was preempted by federal law, and thus ought to be removed to federal court. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who heard Trump’s removal request, denied it. POLITICO reported:
“In his written decision Wednesday [July 19, 2023], however, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein found that ‘[t]he evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event. He added: “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the President’s official duties.’” [Emphasis added]
As you see again, Trumpists have a very “liberal” view of official presidential acts. Don’t they see the irony in that? Of course they do. They just don’t give a damn.
In any event, Trump stayed in the New York judicial system and was crowned on the last day of May with 34 criminal convictions.
One can see, then, that Congressloon Russell Fry’s No More Political Prosecutions Act, introduced in January 2024, was then an obvious pander to Trump and for no other purpose. The bill’s language (see above) is phrased in general terms; it would be a bridge too far for even a MAGA superstar like Fry to explicitly limit the proposed legislation to Donald Trump exclusively. But for many MAGA acolytes, Trump presents a single purpose for them, to protect and defend. I have little doubt that Fry’s interest in the complexities of federal-state removal law ever burdened even a moment of thought prior to Trump’s New York indictment. He is, after all, just a water boy.
Three days ago, Judge Merchan issued the letter below to the defense and the prosecution in the so-called hush money case, more properly called the election interference case (emphasis added). So, the Supreme Court has teed this up for Trump’s attorneys and God knows whether the 34 convictions will be overturned. A sea change . . .
