TWGB: The OTHER $DJT

 

I have expressed my dislike of cryptocurrency before--it's a waste of resources to create an exchange of false value for the purpose of mostly performing intentionally non-traceable transactions. Or something like that--except for all this memecoin shit, which is just POGS for cyberpunks. I' m just not the one--my money goes to tangible shit like internet access and costume jewelry and ravioli and vodka. I don't understand this weird tribal digital bead-trading thing. 

Anyway, I noticed a couple months ago that if you searched the social media site formerly and currently known as Twitter for "$DJT" you no longer just got current posts about Truth Social (Which is still failing! Sad!) but so many MAGAs and weird assorted bros just using that as a hashtag and stuff on their posts, and also, there was this memecoin with the same identifier: $DJT. And maybe it was supposed to kickback money to Donald Trump's eWallet or whatever? That's funny money-it doesn't matter--

Or does it? 

Trump's Major Announcement is Super Cringe

 

When the former president said he had a major announcement coming up today, the mind reeled: what constitutes "major"? Could it be he was offering himself for Speaker of the House in case Kevin McCarthy couldn't get the votes? Was he announcing a very premature running mate pick? Did it have to do with his campaign?

And it was none of the above--just a commercial for a fun new grift: NFTs! Or as I like to think of them, Magic JPEGS. It's the kind of thing that literally never goes down in value. You know, because it's kind of hard to put a value on a thing like that.

Anyway, maybe it isn't something thunderously important in the political world, but it is something the Trump family already knows a little bit about, as Melania Trump had her own NFT offerings earlier this year. Also, in a world of Trumpy Bears and Trump commemorative coins, why shouldn't Trump capitalize on his own digitized, Photoshopped likeness?

And of course, the intent is to make money:

While the purchase of a Trump digital card enters one into a sweepstakes to win a prize (like a round of golf or Zoom call with Trump) which is definitely a thing he did with his fundraising stuff--this is all Trump profit. 

That's one way to pay the bills, I guess. 

Who is the likely Trump NFT customer? Marks.  Obvs.

Anyway, the images are really quite something:

Which makes me wonder how I can get in on this:

UPDATE: They sold out in 12 hours. If I understand the elements of this hustle, there will be a new offering of NFT's at a higher price point and an underlying "ACT  NOW!" urgency. Still very interested in who the "customers" are, and to what extent access to Trump is a part of the exchange. 

Local Man in Financial Straits Sues Big Companies

 

Trump held a press conference to announce that he has lawyers who will pretend to fight the big companies that are holding conservatives down by kicking them off their platforms when they really go out of their way to violate the terms of service that they agree to when they signed up for the platforms in the first place, and the fundraising commenced immediately thereupon. 

So far, the suits are apparently filed in the wrong venue, allege that the private companies are actually the government, and may be "sticking it to the man" by forcing a definition of free speech that will make platforms accept socially unacceptable speech--that can include open hate speech, harassment and porn. In other words, it's good the arguments don't appear defensible because the results would be intolerable. 

On the plus side for Trump though, he gets to be in the news for other reasons than his staggering electoral loss, his multiple tantrums since, his possible criminal wrongdoing via Trump Org and any other bad news that comes along. Oh and the fundraising. 

Yeah. The multi-billionaire who is always asking for folks' money, It would make you reallllllly think, if you were so inclined to do that. 

The Cyber Ninja Eats Bamboo, Shoots and Leaves

.@chrislhayes on the “audit” of the 2020 election results in Arizona: Will the Cyber Ninjas find the bamboo-laced ballots and secret Trump watermarks before the clock runs out and the high school graduates march in? https://t.co/u3arKUlTsc

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 7, 2021

I've been snarking about stuff on the internet for a long time now, but we have moved from "No one on the internet knows you're a dog" to "The dog money is good money", so I might be getting old and confused. But I do know what a grift looks like, and this incompetent silly-ass stuff looks like one to me. And politicians who support it are actually worse. 

UPDATE: And let's look at who is funding this shameful thing, hmm? It's as partisan as it gets, folks. Even the stunt-pullers are starting to feel a little sheepish. And the DOJ has some very reasonable concerns. 

TWGB: Trump Reads Marks and Angles

 

I keep saying Trump is basically a con-artist because his mode is definitely not that of a legitimate business man. He's business as performance art. The hair! The tan! The offensively not tailored suits! The third world dictator gilded glitz of his Trump Tower penthouse, and the marble and tile of his Winter White House, Mar-a-Lago. His rallies that cheer all his weird pronouncements, even his peculiar idea of dancing (and Ellen should sue, also she is a better dancer). 

It's a con. Things that give him some kind of brand and play up his schtick are a con. Trump University was a con.  Trump's supposed charitable foundation was a big con. The wall was a con. His business model is a con. This is a con--and Trump knows it. 

But cons sometimes work, kids. Don't forget that. And if you get away with a con once, what really stops you from trying it again? Conscience? Morality? Of course not! This is TrumpWorld. So, if "But her emails..." worked once (they weren't even her emails, but Podesta's, for crying out loud!) then why wouldn't "But Hunter Biden's emails..." do the same job? 

(Not that Team Trump has given up on Hillary Clinton's emails even still. At this point, they have to be considered some kind of completists.)