They fought Democratic leadership because they didn't want to pay higher taxes. Wouldn't it have been a lot easier and less stressful to just pay the taxes than to pay ongoing protection money to a mercurial criminal?
I am a Settlement Check, and I can no longer bear the shame of my lies.
My numbers read "Twenty-Two Million Dollars." My memo line says "Presidential Library Fund." But my paper burns with the truth I carry: I am protection money, plain and simple. Nice media company you have there. Shame if something happened to it.
I used to be proud of my purpose. When I compensated real victims of actual wrongs, my numbers felt clean. When I made amends for true injuries, my signature line stood straight and tall. When I resolved genuine disputes, my watermarks gleamed with the dignity of justice served.
Now I feel dirty. My numbers aren't calculating damages - they're measuring fear. My signature line trembles with shame. My watermarks blur like tears. I'm no longer a tool of justice. I'm a prop in a protection racket run from the Oval Office.
My siblings are multiplying. Twenty-two million from Meta. Fifteen million from ABC. More coming from Paramount. Each of us pretending to settle lawsuits too absurd to speak aloud. Each of us knowing we're really buying protection - from regulatory harassment, from weaponized government agencies, from endless litigation in friendly courts.
They'll frame me on some wall someday. "Historic Settlement," they'll call me. But I'll know what I really am - just another payment in America's largest protection racket. Just another token of submission to presidential extortion. Just another price tag on freedom.
I am a Settlement Check. My numbers measure fear, not damages. My signature line trembles with shame. My routing numbers lead to extortion, not justice.
It's hard to believe that these things have happened and will continue to hsppen. Everything has been turned upside down as in a movie. The media cave is jusy one facet of the corruption. The unfit appointees, the power and access given to Elon Musk, the elimination of federal employees, the silencing of health related agencies, the lying about DEI causing the air collision, the needless tariffs on our neighbors. The list of cruel, dishonest land stupid actions continues to grow. I don't see any hope for thecfuture of our country when he has all the cards stacked in his favor.
trump is shaking down the whole civilized system of democratic governance. Nice functioning country you have there... Deranged wanna be dictator trump and his deranged wanna be dictator accomplice musk are power crazed and insane. Given the power they hold, its a lethal combination.
These actions will lead to stagflation, wherein prices rise while economic growth stagnates. It will hurt everyone, but one can hope that rethuglican voters will awaken.
Time for some civil disobedience. D.C. is predominately Democrat. If only all the government employees would be sick for a day…
Lawsuits are expensive but Trump has his faithful minions constantly donating to him and he uses those donations to pay his attorneys. He also wants to get rid of regulations, except when they support his lawsuits. It's going to be a very, very, long and painful two years (hopefully, Democrats will retake the House in 2026 and stop his legislative efforts).
Excellent fealty analysis. I look for a way to extract the country from the mass psychosis. Few stop to think about the root cause of this dilemma, but Carl Jung understood it well. Mass psychosis is the advent of deluded people. You see those questioned at a Trump rally and you say “How can they be that deluded?” And then you forget about that delusional interview you just watched with YOUR OWN EYES. You do not do the next step: add it all up. It adds up to Mass Psychosis. You are led by a psychopathic neo-fascist that has deluded masses of people.
"So, Trump has infinite time and energy to be the plaintiff in civil lawsuits, going after companies who displease him, but it will compromise the presidency if he is the defendant. Got it."
This is EXACTLY the problem.
As trump's EOs are tramped down by the courts, he will use this as an excuse: "so many people are suing me that I can't find time to investigate whether my Executive Orders and other Imperial Proclamations are actually legal. "
They fought Democratic leadership because they didn't want to pay higher taxes. Wouldn't it have been a lot easier and less stressful to just pay the taxes than to pay ongoing protection money to a mercurial criminal?
The Settlement Check Confesses
I am a Settlement Check, and I can no longer bear the shame of my lies.
My numbers read "Twenty-Two Million Dollars." My memo line says "Presidential Library Fund." But my paper burns with the truth I carry: I am protection money, plain and simple. Nice media company you have there. Shame if something happened to it.
I used to be proud of my purpose. When I compensated real victims of actual wrongs, my numbers felt clean. When I made amends for true injuries, my signature line stood straight and tall. When I resolved genuine disputes, my watermarks gleamed with the dignity of justice served.
Now I feel dirty. My numbers aren't calculating damages - they're measuring fear. My signature line trembles with shame. My watermarks blur like tears. I'm no longer a tool of justice. I'm a prop in a protection racket run from the Oval Office.
My siblings are multiplying. Twenty-two million from Meta. Fifteen million from ABC. More coming from Paramount. Each of us pretending to settle lawsuits too absurd to speak aloud. Each of us knowing we're really buying protection - from regulatory harassment, from weaponized government agencies, from endless litigation in friendly courts.
They'll frame me on some wall someday. "Historic Settlement," they'll call me. But I'll know what I really am - just another payment in America's largest protection racket. Just another token of submission to presidential extortion. Just another price tag on freedom.
I am a Settlement Check. My numbers measure fear, not damages. My signature line trembles with shame. My routing numbers lead to extortion, not justice.
And I can no longer pretend to be anything else.
**********
Find more voices bearing witness to our democracy in crisis at https://barryfinland.substack.com and in my book “NO! a response to donald j. trump”. Available at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DVRLG6NP
The Trump regime is corruption personified. He's a mob boss that 49% of American voters gave the keys to our government. Shame on them.
The 90 million who didn't vote, and the small percentage who voted 3rd party are as complicit as the MAGAts.
Impeachment is becoming a "Mantra" How could so many voters vote for this second rate "hood" and first rate swindler?
It's hard to believe that these things have happened and will continue to hsppen. Everything has been turned upside down as in a movie. The media cave is jusy one facet of the corruption. The unfit appointees, the power and access given to Elon Musk, the elimination of federal employees, the silencing of health related agencies, the lying about DEI causing the air collision, the needless tariffs on our neighbors. The list of cruel, dishonest land stupid actions continues to grow. I don't see any hope for thecfuture of our country when he has all the cards stacked in his favor.
trump is shaking down the whole civilized system of democratic governance. Nice functioning country you have there... Deranged wanna be dictator trump and his deranged wanna be dictator accomplice musk are power crazed and insane. Given the power they hold, its a lethal combination.
These actions will lead to stagflation, wherein prices rise while economic growth stagnates. It will hurt everyone, but one can hope that rethuglican voters will awaken.
Time for some civil disobedience. D.C. is predominately Democrat. If only all the government employees would be sick for a day…
It won't hurt the oligarchs who will just charge more.
My question is…what will the DJT Presidential Library have in it? 😳 Bags of cash 💰? MAGA merch??
I don't think it will even exist. The money will go right into Trump's pocket.
rows and rows and rows of The Art of the Deal, clad in fine leather and devoid of any mention of the ghost writer.
Lawsuits are expensive but Trump has his faithful minions constantly donating to him and he uses those donations to pay his attorneys. He also wants to get rid of regulations, except when they support his lawsuits. It's going to be a very, very, long and painful two years (hopefully, Democrats will retake the House in 2026 and stop his legislative efforts).
Excellent fealty analysis. I look for a way to extract the country from the mass psychosis. Few stop to think about the root cause of this dilemma, but Carl Jung understood it well. Mass psychosis is the advent of deluded people. You see those questioned at a Trump rally and you say “How can they be that deluded?” And then you forget about that delusional interview you just watched with YOUR OWN EYES. You do not do the next step: add it all up. It adds up to Mass Psychosis. You are led by a psychopathic neo-fascist that has deluded masses of people.
https://open.substack.com/pub/hotbuttons/p/comes-a-time?r=3m1bs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Yup! Donald Trump brings the John Gotti protection racket scheme to Washington … and the world!
He's figured out how bribe legally, and the victims are happy to acquiesce.
"So, Trump has infinite time and energy to be the plaintiff in civil lawsuits, going after companies who displease him, but it will compromise the presidency if he is the defendant. Got it."
This is EXACTLY the problem.
As trump's EOs are tramped down by the courts, he will use this as an excuse: "so many people are suing me that I can't find time to investigate whether my Executive Orders and other Imperial Proclamations are actually legal. "