Amazingly enough, it is a Saturday and Cheeto Mussolini is in the White House and not at one of his properties. (He’s probably just too engrossed with his military parade autoerotic fantasies.)
During his first year in office, Trump wasn’t in the office much, spending one-third of his time at one of his own properties. And, according to trumpgolfcount.com, this has cost taxpayers more than $52 million so far. Much of that, of course, goes right into Trump’s pocket as the government pays Trump’s businesses.
As Swindler-In-Chief, Trump is leading by example as we watch our democracy slide into kleptocracy. A couple of weeks ago the Ben Carson nepotism news broke, Jonathan Chait wrote that was only one of four new corruption stories coming out of the trump administration that day. “Donald Trump is a grifter who paid a massive fraud settlement shortly before assuming office. He has surrounded himself with like-minded grifters,” Chait wrote in New York magazine.
Not that any of this is a surprise. In October, Margaret Carlson wrote a piece in The Daily Beast titled: “Trump’s Not a ‘Moron’—He’s a Grifter, and He’s Created an Administration of Grifters.” A month later, The Nation published the article: “Trump Is Creating a Grifter Economy.” There seems to be a theme here.
The Trump Organization hotel businesses remain at the heart of the issue. Earlier this month was the report that Trump’s DC hotel was caught directly benefiting from taxpayer money. Just today, Newsweek reports that the Trump Organization’s Dominican Republic projects could be grounds for Trump’s impeachment.
There are many distractions right now, like wife beaters in the White House and the drama around the fate of John Kelly, but we can’t lose sight of the foundational scandal of Trump and Russia. At the same time, as Caroline Orr (@RVAWonk on Twitter) noted in her report on Trump’s DC hotel: “While the Russia investigation is rightly making headlines, it’s more important than ever not to overlook the rampant corruption happening right under our noses.”
So tonight would be a good time for a cocktail from a hotel not affiliated with Trump. Several good ones can be found in Beachbum Berry’s Potions of the Caribbean. I suggest the Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail. This cocktail from Trinidad simply tastes like the Caribbean, which is helpful in early February.
1.5 oz gold Trinidad rum
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz grenadine
4 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with lime
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 