The Anti-George Washington - Grifters all the way down -- Tom Sullivan, Heather Cox Richardson

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2026/02/17/the-anti-george-washington/

President Shitposter cannot find time to work at lowering the cost of your groceries or your rents. Donald J. Trump is too busy having his boots licked, issuing overnight extortionist threats by "truths," suing people (including the government he leads) for damages, and taking bribes. In his spare time, he's finding even more creative ways to turn his public office into private profit. It's a pastime enjoyed by many members of the federal government, but most are discrete about it. Not Trump the Shameless. He may not be the Antichrist, but he's certainly earned "the anti-George Washington."

Heather Cox Richardson noticed:

On February 13 and 14, President Donald J. Trump's representatives filed three applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark his name for future use on an airport. As trademark lawyer Josh Gerben of Gerben IP noted, the application also covers merchandise branded "President Donald J. Trump International Airport," "Donald J. Trump International Airport," and "DJT," including "clothing, handbags, luggage, jewelry, watches, and tie clips."

Because of the trademark filing, Gerben notes, any airport adopting the Trump name would have to get a license to use the name, potentially paying a licensing fee. Gerben emphasizes that while it is common for public officials to have landmarks named after them, "never in the history of the United States" has "a sitting president's private company...sought trademark rights" before such a naming.

You'll recall, as Richardson does, that Trump has cut off funding for new tunnel construction under the Hudson River. Because DEI, something-something, and until you rename Dulles Airport and New York City's Penn Station after oh, marvelous me.

In 1789, when George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States of America, no one knew what to expect of leaders in a democratic republic. Washington understood that anything he did would become the standard for anyone who came after him. "I walk on untrodden ground," he wrote in 1790, the year after he assumed the office of the presidency. "There is scarcely any part of my conduct w[hi]ch may not hereafter be drawn into precedent."

After watching colonial lawmakers under royal rule demand payoffs before they would approve popular measures, Washington rejected the idea of profiting from the presidency. In his short Inaugural Address, he took the time to state explicitly that he would not accept any payments while in the presidency except for an official salary appropriated by Congress.

Washington noted that the support of the American people for the new government was key to its survival. He hailed the pledges of the new nation's lawmakers to rule for the good of the whole nation, not for specific regions or partisan groups. He also predicted that the power of the government would come not from military might but from its determination to serve the needs of the public. He promised "that the foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of a free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world."

[We pause for those who did a spit-take to wipe the coffee off your monitors and keyboards. ]

. . .

At the end of Heather Cox Richardson's post this morning, she notes:

Trump has made no secret of wanting his image carved onto Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where sculptor Gutzon Borglum carved the busts of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hills of the Lakotas. Beginning his sculpture in 1927, Borglum chose President Washington because he had founded the nation, Jefferson because he had launched westward expansion, Lincoln because he had saved the United States from destruction, and Roosevelt because he had protected working men and helped fit democracy to industrial development.

But Trump's interest in being added to Mount Rushmore does not appear to be related to a desire to advance the interests of the American people. In September 2025 the IRS granted tax-exempt status to the Donald Trump Mount Rushmore Memorial Legacy, making it a charity that can accept tax-free donations.

Happy Presidents Day 2026.

[rampartd]

1. what a gig

maybe this is why normally someone ha to DIE before things get named after them.

we had better make sure he isn't getting a cut of kennedy center or

[erronis]

2. Of course he's getting a cut of the Kennedy Center. And it wouldn't surprise me if he turns it into a casino/hotel.