adhd_tracoFeb 22
Bezos return of investment for sucking up to Trump
Show threadMulligrubsFeb 22

Pay for play is what made Trump the President possible, see Super PACs and Citizens United for more details.

PACs financed by, well, any country or organization or person, really, can funnel millions directly to their chosen candidate (or their favorite shell company, and so on).

They call it “donations”, because fuck you.

Remember, we’re only told about the up-front “donations” that they openly claim for publicity. It’s a lot more than that.

Show threadFlashMobOfOneFeb 23

Pay for play isn’t just a Trump thing, and it’s been around at least the last 40 years. The presidents from Reagan to Obama paved the way for this grift. For example, when body scanners became a thing at airports, it was reported that one of the major contractors in the effort was a personal friend of Barack Obama.

But there are plenty of examples: Halliburton and the Clinton Foundation, the Trump Organization, taking $500,000 for a “speaking fee”. (When really, it’s a payment for a future favor.)

Presidents making money for themselves and their friends has been a tradition since Reagan. As much as I despise Jimmy Carter, I’ll give him a modicum of credit for not monetizing the presidency.

Show threadCarrolade

For example, when body scanners became a thing at airports, it was reported that one of the major contractors in the effort was a personal friend of Barack Obama.

I can’t find anything on this. Can you point me towards a source?

Feb 23 at 2:06pmWeb
Show threadFlashMobOfOneFeb 23
Will probably have to look at newspaper archives. It was reported on at the time in the wake of the underwear bombing attempt. There was a lot of controversy around it, not just because of the grift, but because of health and privacy risks associated with the tech. And the alternative to walking through the scanner was to get systematically groped by the TSA.
Show threadCarroladeFeb 23
I remember the privacy concerns for sure. I can’t find anything about any grift though, nor do I remember ever hearing about it. If true, that’s pretty significant.