America needs to elect a new generation of leaders with an action plan to shine a bright light on the endemic corruption that is strangling our constitutional democracy. Before this can happen, we all must face the fact that the U.S. today is fast becoming a bigger, more polished version of Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana prior to the 1966 coup. In his 1975 book, Political Corruption: The Ghana Case, political scientist Victor LeVine examined how corruption became a pay-to-play form of government, like communism or constitutional democracy, under Nkrumah. We would be wise to apply LeVine’s analytic model to the U.S. and accept that presently we have a similar form of government. Today, pay-to-play is the preferred modus operandi for many of America’s “winners.” Look no further than Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, Chew, Altman, and Pichais’ inaugural “kow tow” to Trump.
Great in-depth reporting Michael. One of the best yet.
Sometimes it seems so hopeless but try to envision this.....Dems wins the midterms, Trump and his sycophants are booted. A new leader appoints Jack Smith, yea THAT Jack smith as attorney General. And the criminals have their ill-gotten profits seized.
A fellow follower of DL that I had coffee with yesterday pointed out that removal by the 25th amendment only gets rid of the president while impeachment covers others as well.
I would like to hear (learn) from other here....Is this accurate? And how far down the line does the removal extend?
I have often encountered the inability to “like” on several Substack platforms - when I go out of the platform and return, it “allows” me to light up & “like”. It’s like a reboot of sorts. Maybe this helps.
Good 'translation', MIchael! I really appreciate your break-down and moving from simple to the complexity level and bringing it back to our long-standing ethics we all try to embrace with our actions... especially in the political arena, where the People need to trust their elected officials. We are failing there. I love your maybe even pithiest if-then phrase ...
"If the project is truly in the national interest, it should be able to survive without Trump-family and Lutnick-family participation.
That is the simplest test."
Thanks again for taking the 'almost famous' stories and adding dimensions to the news!!
This is why the next Congress needs to set up a corruption panel to map out all the corruption and hold all of them accountable. A world where Trump gets impeached and sent to prison but his family and friends keep all the money is not acceptable. We need to take down the whole thing as a warning to anyone that tries this again! In a perfect world the supreme Court justices that accepted bribes go to prison too.
When I worked at an Upstate NY utility, several years after leaving to move to Oregon, my former boss shared with me that his senior VP mentor had given him the heads up that he might want to 'sell'. I saw first hand how the stock price was manipulated through half-truth press releases, painting a picture of something internally that might lead to a devaluation of 'stock', resulting in an actual drop in stock price so that the incoming wave of VP's can optimize their stock options at a low price as the outgoing VP's sold their stocks at a high price, prior to the press release. Playing the stock market is like going to the casino as far as I'm concerned...it's ALL rigged unless you have insider information and know when to use it.
And as for the administration...it seems that our congress and other administration personnel have been cashing in on insider information for as long as I've been an adult (40+ years). It's the Fox Watching the Hen House and those in power keep making the rules so that they stay in power and the rules favor them.
While I accept this is wrong and now pretty well standard MO of the Trump admin, is this different from Biden’s support for Hunter Biden’s business dealings? This is not a rhetorical question.
There is such a deep darkness settling over America now. Michael, you shine light into dark corners - it is the beginning of a determination to disinfect the country.
Makes the “Biden crime family” seems like small beer, does it? But the folks who whinged about the Bidens have turned a blind eye to Trump & son’s overt enrichment. I’m starting to think less that Trump is Hitlerian and more that our citizenry is (between wars) Germanic - unable to resist the (very debatable) charisma of a mentally ill charlatan. Vote in November!
Did you write anything about the $ billions corruption of Medicaid in Minnesota (iIlhan Omar and Tim Walz), in California and other democrap States ….? Or you only rant about Trump ?
Did you write anything about the Fauci corruption and hidden gain of function in 30 labs around the world to create bioweapons ?
Yea I heard Fauci and Tim Walz were at the heart of this and I'm pretty sure it's true. I heard it at the barbershop, or maybe the bait shop. They're the best sources for this stuff.....I'd like to hear more about the 30 labs and the bioweapons.....pray tell!!
Thank you for this thorough & helpful article. Where you say This is the obvious rule in this section: “And it would bar firms tied to the president’s family or cabinet officials’ families from participating in government-backed deals.
That is the obvious rule.
Not because every family member is guilty of something.”, can you clarify if the rule is law or a norm? On that basis what recourse do US citizens and/or states have to rectify the common problem with the Trump-Vance blatantly corrupt “administration”? Are these roughly 15 transparent corruption maneuverings in violation norms but no Federal statutes are they still in violation of NY finance regulations?
Thanks for all this deep diving you do! I have so many hypothetical questions.... where to start?
#1. With Kazakhstan being a former SSR and also sharing a border with China, if either (or both) of those entities decided to "do" something about all that tungsten, then this deal would fall apart, no? So, this "deal" is dependent on a lot of variables, geopolitical and geographical? (NOT to mention economic.)
#2. Rare-earth minerals keep popping up in any discussion involving our "national security" and seem to be a reason our defense spending is measured in the trillions these days. Is there anyone out there in R&D-land who is researching alternatives to these costly minerals?
#3. Why do our munitions and defense capabilities cost as much as they do these days? Does tungsten have a role in this?
America needs to elect a new generation of leaders with an action plan to shine a bright light on the endemic corruption that is strangling our constitutional democracy. Before this can happen, we all must face the fact that the U.S. today is fast becoming a bigger, more polished version of Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana prior to the 1966 coup. In his 1975 book, Political Corruption: The Ghana Case, political scientist Victor LeVine examined how corruption became a pay-to-play form of government, like communism or constitutional democracy, under Nkrumah. We would be wise to apply LeVine’s analytic model to the U.S. and accept that presently we have a similar form of government. Today, pay-to-play is the preferred modus operandi for many of America’s “winners.” Look no further than Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, Chew, Altman, and Pichais’ inaugural “kow tow” to Trump.
Great in-depth reporting Michael. One of the best yet.
Sometimes it seems so hopeless but try to envision this.....Dems wins the midterms, Trump and his sycophants are booted. A new leader appoints Jack Smith, yea THAT Jack smith as attorney General. And the criminals have their ill-gotten profits seized.
One can only hope.......
jB, you just outlined my fondest daydream -- winning the midterms, then again in '28, followed by...RE.TRI.BU.TION!
A fellow follower of DL that I had coffee with yesterday pointed out that removal by the 25th amendment only gets rid of the president while impeachment covers others as well.
I would like to hear (learn) from other here....Is this accurate? And how far down the line does the removal extend?
*
Stopping by to say you're one of my favorite substack. Thanks for keeping us up to date. Proud subscriber. Hope you make 1,000 soon
BTW, Your 'like button (heart') still doesn't light up when clicked. Might make a difference, something to do with algorithms.
Hmmm....thanks for reminding me. And for clicking the button even if it doesn't light.
I have often encountered the inability to “like” on several Substack platforms - when I go out of the platform and return, it “allows” me to light up & “like”. It’s like a reboot of sorts. Maybe this helps.
Wow, that really is complex. Thank you for spelling it out for me to understand the scheming better!
Good 'translation', MIchael! I really appreciate your break-down and moving from simple to the complexity level and bringing it back to our long-standing ethics we all try to embrace with our actions... especially in the political arena, where the People need to trust their elected officials. We are failing there. I love your maybe even pithiest if-then phrase ...
"If the project is truly in the national interest, it should be able to survive without Trump-family and Lutnick-family participation.
That is the simplest test."
Thanks again for taking the 'almost famous' stories and adding dimensions to the news!!
This is why the next Congress needs to set up a corruption panel to map out all the corruption and hold all of them accountable. A world where Trump gets impeached and sent to prison but his family and friends keep all the money is not acceptable. We need to take down the whole thing as a warning to anyone that tries this again! In a perfect world the supreme Court justices that accepted bribes go to prison too.
When I worked at an Upstate NY utility, several years after leaving to move to Oregon, my former boss shared with me that his senior VP mentor had given him the heads up that he might want to 'sell'. I saw first hand how the stock price was manipulated through half-truth press releases, painting a picture of something internally that might lead to a devaluation of 'stock', resulting in an actual drop in stock price so that the incoming wave of VP's can optimize their stock options at a low price as the outgoing VP's sold their stocks at a high price, prior to the press release. Playing the stock market is like going to the casino as far as I'm concerned...it's ALL rigged unless you have insider information and know when to use it.
And as for the administration...it seems that our congress and other administration personnel have been cashing in on insider information for as long as I've been an adult (40+ years). It's the Fox Watching the Hen House and those in power keep making the rules so that they stay in power and the rules favor them.
And so it goes......
The Trump regime corruption is like pornagraphy: it may be hard to define, but you know it when you see it!
Good luck with that. I used to work in Kazakhstan. Those bureaucrats will have their way.
While I accept this is wrong and now pretty well standard MO of the Trump admin, is this different from Biden’s support for Hunter Biden’s business dealings? This is not a rhetorical question.
There is such a deep darkness settling over America now. Michael, you shine light into dark corners - it is the beginning of a determination to disinfect the country.
Makes the “Biden crime family” seems like small beer, does it? But the folks who whinged about the Bidens have turned a blind eye to Trump & son’s overt enrichment. I’m starting to think less that Trump is Hitlerian and more that our citizenry is (between wars) Germanic - unable to resist the (very debatable) charisma of a mentally ill charlatan. Vote in November!
Did you write anything about the $ billions corruption of Medicaid in Minnesota (iIlhan Omar and Tim Walz), in California and other democrap States ….? Or you only rant about Trump ?
Did you write anything about the Fauci corruption and hidden gain of function in 30 labs around the world to create bioweapons ?
Yea I heard Fauci and Tim Walz were at the heart of this and I'm pretty sure it's true. I heard it at the barbershop, or maybe the bait shop. They're the best sources for this stuff.....I'd like to hear more about the 30 labs and the bioweapons.....pray tell!!
Trump may be setting up for when he resigns and Vance pardons him and his family.
From Europe it is a relief to see that people like you are finally tracking the corruption of (t)Rump family incorporated!
Thank you for this thorough & helpful article. Where you say This is the obvious rule in this section: “And it would bar firms tied to the president’s family or cabinet officials’ families from participating in government-backed deals.
That is the obvious rule.
Not because every family member is guilty of something.”, can you clarify if the rule is law or a norm? On that basis what recourse do US citizens and/or states have to rectify the common problem with the Trump-Vance blatantly corrupt “administration”? Are these roughly 15 transparent corruption maneuverings in violation norms but no Federal statutes are they still in violation of NY finance regulations?
Hi Michael!
Thanks for all this deep diving you do! I have so many hypothetical questions.... where to start?
#1. With Kazakhstan being a former SSR and also sharing a border with China, if either (or both) of those entities decided to "do" something about all that tungsten, then this deal would fall apart, no? So, this "deal" is dependent on a lot of variables, geopolitical and geographical? (NOT to mention economic.)
#2. Rare-earth minerals keep popping up in any discussion involving our "national security" and seem to be a reason our defense spending is measured in the trillions these days. Is there anyone out there in R&D-land who is researching alternatives to these costly minerals?
#3. Why do our munitions and defense capabilities cost as much as they do these days? Does tungsten have a role in this?