QOTD -- Cesspit Of Corruption

 

"... Despite the extent of Trump and Co’s corruption, there’s still some voter education to be done here. Given everything else — the disastrous Persian Gulf war, tariffs, inflation, threats against our closest allies, visions of AI annihilation — it has taken a long time for Trump and Co’s lurid, open corruption to emerge as a major political issue. But there are growing signs that corruption is finally breaking through into the public consciousness. Hopefully this breakthrough will be hugely important not just for the midterm elections but for what happens afterwards.  [snip]

"Given the extent of the corruption, the rise of oligarchy in America, and the ever-rising flood of money in politics, many people may reasonably ask “Why will this matter?” Having elected Trump twice, can we trust Americans to vote for what is right rather than for lies? And can we trust Democrats, once in power, to be immune to the seduction of Big Money, as the Big Money will certainly try?

"So, in a very real sense, once in power Democrats will have multiple battle fronts on their hands. In addition to battling Trump in his two remaining years of power, they will also have to prove to the American people that they will be immune to the inevitable attempts by Big Money to buy them off through campaign contributions and back-room deals. A couple of examples of what is already going wrong are the recent employment of Chuck Shumer’s daughter by OpenAI and the crypto billions raised by Kirsten Gillibrand’s 22-year old son for a new venture..." --Nobel economist Paul Krugman in his Substack, on "The Trump Administration is a Cesspit of Corruption."  Democrats can fold in the Malignant Fascist's increasing and increasingly obvious corruption into their "are you better off today" economy/ affordability argument ("You and your family are struggling, but not Trump and his cronies...") Krugman also makes the crucial point that Democrats, now as well as when they're back in power, need to get their own house in order,  because even the "small potatoes" deals he cites above might make the average low-information voter think Democrats are as corrupt as the unprecedented corruption and self- dealing of the Malignant Fascist and his Epstein class grifter minions and lickspittles.  The clock is ticking.