Ignore the Bully

“Just ignore the bully and he will go away” is a classic piece of advice.

I try to ignore The Former Guy but he remains omnipresent. Recent Trump news included:

Don, Junior founded a publishing company to produce a book, based largely on photographs in the public domain, of the glorious days of the Trump presidency. Books go for $75 unsigned and over three times that with Donnie’s signature. The company paid Trump, per a multimillion-dollar advance for signing copies, writing captions and helping curate photos. Hey, you can’t play golf all day.

Not to be outdone, Melania Trump has sold digital images of a painting of her eyes for about $180 each, with payments that had to be submitted to her website in the form of a cryptocurrency called Solana, the better to hide income from the IRS. I know that I wouldn’t find it creepy to have Melania’s eyes staring from my wall. She has also put a hat she wore greeting the French president at the White House, a painting of her wearing the hat, and a digital image of the same, for a minimum bid that she originally pegged at $250,000. A quarter million dollar hat is a bit much for the 99%, Melania.

Trump and his family have also been hitting the road, with both The Former Guy and Trump Jr. taking part in a for-profit speaking events. Tickets for the American Freedom Tour range from $9 for satellite room viewing (no mask required, of course) to $25 for a general admission seat (higher for those prime seats behind Donnie that get you on the newscast, MAGA garb required) to $3,995 for a meeting and photo with the younger Trump. The price to meet and greet The Former Guy is unspecified.

What do these items have in common? They all add to the $110 million or so that Donnie has collected since he left the presidency. I’m sure that Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, G.W. Bush, and Obama are not missing any meals since they left office. Former presidents receive a $200 K annual stipend and their office expenses are reimbursed. I wonder if the poor soul who coughs up $75 for Donnie’s photo book, $180 for a print of Melania’s eyes or $25 to hoot and holler at a Trump rally realizes that the Trumps are taking advantage of them.

By Ed Dufton