[markjo]

And thus Tom is now fully in the  "The President should be able to be corrupt if he wants to" mindset.

Well, maybe if he could do it without wreaking havoc on the economy, taking a chainsaw to government services, alienating our allies or shredding the Constitution then it might not be such a big deal.

[Lord Dave]

Up to a point. Zelensky was a comedian before he went in to politics. I don't think the people of Ukraine elected him and then expected him to go on another standup tour or launch a new TV comedy series. Whatever background someone has, you elect someone to run the country, not to enrich themselves.

Actually Zelensky proves that the rules of traditional politics don't apply to stars. There is a video segment of Zelensky playing the piano with his testicles in front of an audience. If a traditional politician went on stage and did it, or if previously filmed segment was uncovered and publicized as they were campaigning, this would be campaign ending for them. For a traditional politician a video of them pants down in front of a piano would be professionally embarrassing and they would have to resign or get rejected by their party. Zelensky got away with it because he was a media and comedic star, and his antics even gained him popularity.

Zelensky may not be using humor anymore in his role as president, but if he had continued with it he would assuredly get away with a lot.

You do know American and Ukrainian culture is different, yes?

[AATW]

More directly, if as Ukrainian President Zelensky went on stage and did the bit where he plays the piano with his testicles again, no one would bat an eye. He would lose no popularity, simply because that is the person they voted for. They would clap and call it hilarious.

This is obviously bullshit. When you appoint or vote someone to a certain role you expect them to do that role and act professionally.
When Sebastian Coe became an MP he didn't run laps of the House of Commons during debates and had he done so literally no-one would have said "What did you expect? You elected an Olympic runner!"

Trump is unconventional and in a way that's not a bad thing. The issues with him are the complete lack of honesty, integrity and strategy.
You MAGA lot might not care, but I'd suggest these are not ideal traits in a leader. Your strategy for coping with it is to either not care or simply pretend those things aren't true.

[Tom Bishop]

This is obviously bullshit. When you appoint or vote someone to a certain role you expect them to do that role and act professionally.

Actually no, why would you vote for someone and then expect them to act completely different? If for some reason the people voted for Snoop Dog into a political position they would expect him to continue being Snoop Dog. They would expect that his anti-police mannerisms stay the same, that he continues to smoke reefer, and so on.

[AATW]

This is obviously bullshit. When you appoint or vote someone to a certain role you expect them to do that role and act professionally.

Actually no, why would you vote for someone and then expect them to act completely different?

Because they're in a different role which requires them to.

[honk]

No politician should

Again, this is the issue. He's not a traditional politician, so he doesn't play by those rules. He is a television star and world famous comedic personality whose running theme is that he runs businesses and makes money, so he can get rich off of his crypto business and meme coins if he wants to.

You may as well argue that if Elvis were elected President that he shouldn't continue to sing in concerts, but those arguments will obviously not go far in the realm of public opinion if President Elvis Presley wanted to lead in a concert. Your social expectations of a traditional president would mean nothing, and they mean nothing here with Trump.

It's an ethical expectation, not a social one. The president's first priority should be making decisions that are in their country's best interests. A businessman's first priority is making decisions that are in their own best interests, financially speaking. Those are two entirely different goals. Two entirely different masters to serve, so to speak. As citizens, I think we deserve a president whose undivided loyalty is to the country and not their wallet. A businessman who's elected president ethically should put their business career on hold while they're in office. I also don't think that your Elvis analogy changes anything. If a famous singer were elected president, then they too ethically should put their singing career on hold while in office, regardless of how popular they are as a singer.

[Lord Dave]

It doesn't matter.
MAGA will happily let Trump di as he wants then condemn anyone else who does the same if they're against Trump.

Profiting off the office of the VP?  Condemnation!  Jail!
Profiting off the office of the President when Trump?  Yes! Bravo!  This is a smart president!

The hypocracy is so thick, it may as well be a concrete wall.

[AATW]

I was looking at Arnie’s IMDB page. He did a few things but there’s a noticeable gap when he was the Governator. Because he had a different job.
Being President is not a side gig, neither should it be used as an opportunity to further enrich oneself.

[Action80]

Up to a point. Zelensky was a comedian before he went in to politics. I don't think the people of Ukraine elected him and then expected him to go on another standup tour or launch a new TV comedy series. Whatever background someone has, you elect someone to run the country, not to enrich themselves.

^Uttered like someone who has absolutely no problem with Zelensky having enriched himself via graft from US taxpayer dollars since he has been in office.

Why don't you hurry up and finish being bored and get the fuck off the boards, hmm?

[garygreen]

There is a video segment of Zelensky playing the piano with his testicles in front of an audience. If a traditional politician went on stage and did it, or if previously filmed segment was uncovered and publicized as they were campaigning, this would be campaign ending for them. For a traditional politician a video of them pants down in front of a piano would be professionally embarrassing and they would have to resign or get rejected by their party. Zelensky got away with it because he was a media and comedic star, and his antics even gained him popularity.

i like how you go out of your way to make it sound like zelensky got caught doing something horribly inappropriate but escaped the scandal during his campaign/presidency due only to his celebrity.

lol it was an obviously-fake skit on a popular variety show from like three years before zelensky even ran for office, dummy. this is like saying "arnold schwarzenegger got to keep being governor of california even though he was once a killer cyborg from the future!!!!!!!"

[Action80]

^lol @ gary thinking he has made some kind of point?

Wtf is wrong with the goddamn bots on these sites?

[AATW]

Uttered like someone who has absolutely no problem with Zelensky having enriched himself via graft from US taxpayer dollars since he has been in office.

If that's true then I'd agree that is also wrong.
See? It's called logical consistency. You should try it some time.

[Action80]

Uttered like someone who has absolutely no problem with Zelensky having enriched himself via graft from US taxpayer dollars since he has been in office.

If that's true then I'd agree that is also wrong.
See? It's called logical consistency. You should try it some time.

^Does not even investigate enough to prevent himself from posting a sentence containing the words."if that's true..."

You are so dishonest in your writings and musings that one would do themselves a service as to view the words," logical consistency," in a facet exactly opposite to that which you hold.

[AATW]

Uttered like someone who has absolutely no problem with Zelensky having enriched himself via graft from US taxpayer dollars since he has been in office.

If that's true then I'd agree that is also wrong.
See? It's called logical consistency. You should try it some time.

^Does not even investigate enough to prevent himself from posting a sentence containing the words."if that's true..."

I don't need to investigate anything. You're the one making the claim, it's incumbent on you to evidence it.
But either you think that using positions of power to enrich oneself is OK or it isn't OK. I'm going to go with "isn't OK".
It's not right when Trump does it, it's not right if Zelensky does it - a claim you have made but been unable to evidence.
The trouble with the MAGA lot is they decide what they think about something depending on who did it.
If it's their Cult Leader in Chief then it's OK, he is their Supreme Leader who can do no wrong.

[Action80]

I don't need to investigate anything.

This response explains a vast majority of your posts.

My main point concerning the validity of your lack of intellectual honesty is thus confirmed.

Please conclude your boredom and get the fuck off the site.

[Tom Bishop]

This is obviously bullshit. When you appoint or vote someone to a certain role you expect them to do that role and act professionally.

Actually no, why would you vote for someone and then expect them to act completely different?

Because they're in a different role which requires them to.

This is wrong as well. The only requirement to be US President is that you are over the age of 35, a resident of the United States for over 14 years, and be a natural-born citizen. Everything else is your personalized whiney rant of the day about what you think a president should do or how they should conduct their business interests. If there were further requirements it would be legislated, not in your mind depending on something you disagree with on a particular day.

i like how you go out of your way to make it sound like zelensky got caught doing something horribly inappropriate but escaped the scandal during his campaign/presidency due only to his celebrity.

lol it was an obviously-fake skit on a popular variety show from like three years before zelensky even ran for office, dummy. this is like saying "arnold schwarzenegger got to keep being governor of california even though he was once a killer cyborg from the future!!!!!!!"

That is actually my exact argument that comedian stars are held to a different standard than traditional politicians and can get away with many more improprieties. This is why Trump gets away with so much. He is not a traditional politician and is held to different standards. Trying to hold him to the standard of a traditional politician will not and has not worked.

[garygreen]

That is actually my exact argument that comedian stars are held to a different standard than traditional politicians and can get away with many more improprieties. This is why Trump gets away with so much. He is not a traditional politician and is held to different standards. Trying to hold him to the standard of a traditional politician will not and has not worked.

appearing on a popular television variety show years before you take office is not an impropriety. your example just isn't apropos.

but even if it were, you're still missing the point. you're fixated on can trump get away with it. i'm sure he can. but the folks here are saying it is bad for a president to use the office to enrich themselves, even if it is permissible.

[Tom Bishop]

the folks here are saying it is bad for a president to use the office to enrich themselves, even if it is permissible.

Yeah, and the "folks here" have coincidentally posted their Trump hate for years. In reality, Trump was selling his name a under the Trump brand during his campaign and for years prior, and only the far left was screeching for him and his family to sell his hotels or businesses as president. Trump came into office selling Trump-branded products and services. The people accepted him as a presidential candidate, knowing full well that his brand might get a boost if he became president.

The theme that Donald Trump sells Trump things already existed. The people already bought into the fact that he was a billionaire who got rich off of the name Trump, so it is not an issue at all. Therefore Trump can continue to sell the Trump brand. It is part of the package. To strip away Trump's ability to sell the Trump brand would be a violation of his very identity, president or not. The traditional rules simply don't apply to him.

[markjo]

Selling Trump merch is one thing.  Using meme coins to sell direct access to the president is a whole new level of corruption.
https://news.sky.com/story/us-senators-attempt-to-ban-trumps-profoundly-corrupt-crypto-schemes-13363230

[Tom Bishop]

Selling Trump merch is one thing.  Using meme coins to sell direct access to the president is a whole new level of corruption.
https://news.sky.com/story/us-senators-attempt-to-ban-trumps-profoundly-corrupt-crypto-schemes-13363230

You actually don't need to own a meme coin business to accept money from people. Trump and his family were making multi-million dollar deals as he was President during his first term, and I am still waiting for you guys to prove that bribery occurred as has been alleged.