Name Shame

The likelihood of Donald Trump not having anything to do with his name being on the stimulus checks is about as likely as him not being responsible for naming Trump Tower, the Trump jet, the Trump helicopter, the Trump yacht, Trump hotels, Trump resorts, and Donald Trump Jr. If it’s stupid, it has his name on it.

The man is a narcissistic baby who’s too much of a coward to be honest over his blatant self-promotion in the time of a crisis. That is, blatant self-promotion on government resources.

Yesterday, during his daily LookAtMe-LookAtMe-LookAtMe party, he was asked about his name being placed in the memo line of the stimulus checks. How’d the orange shitweasel play it off? Like a coward.

Trump said, “I don’t know too much about it. But I understand my name is there. I don’t know where they’re going, how they’re going. I do understand it’s not delaying anything, and I’m satisfied with that. I don’t imagine it’s a big deal. I’m sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat, beautiful check and my name is on it.”

With Trump, everything is big, beautiful, strong, powerful, best ever…and a lie. And the reason he doesn’t know “where they’re going” or “how they’re going” is because he doesn’t care about that part. He only cares about what it can do for him.

What kind of egocentric, narcissistic, self-centered, asshole puts his name on relief checks during a crisis where people are dying? According to Trump, not him. But it was him. In fact, according to sources, he held meetings and strategy sessions over it.

This is the guy that surrounds himself with sycophants every time he signs a document, then holds it up to show off his giant signature made with a Sharpie. He’s like a baby proud he used the potty all by himself for the first time.

It’s a long-standing practice that checks from the Internal Revenue Service feature a signature by a civil servant. The president can’t sign the checks. So, what Trump and Treasury Secretary Baby Fishmouth Steve Mnuchin concocted was to put “Donald J. Trump” in the memo line.

This is just like his fucking charity that was a scam. Donald Trump didn’t put his own money into the Trump Foundation. But celebrities and other billionaires did. So, when Donald Trump would actually contribute money to a charity from the foundation, instead of his usual practice of spending it on himself to buy gifts and pay off fines for his golf clubs and bribe Republicans not to sue him, he would take credit for the charitable contribution. He’d boast about how much he gave to a charity and what a wonderful asshole he was. The truth is, he was taking credit for contributing to a cause with other peoples’ money. This is the same thing.

In this case, Donald Trump is taking credit for giving you money that belongs to you.

This isn’t Donald Trump’s money. In fact, it’s not even something he should get the credit for. The $2 trillion “Economic Impact Payment” that’s going out to millions of Americans had to pass both houses of Congress. If anyone should have their name on the checks, it should be Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.

But what would be best if there weren’t any politicians name on a government check. Donald Trump is already using government resources to campaign for his reelection. Why? Because he’s a conman.

Earlier this week, he aired a propaganda video at his daily press conference that was boasting about all he did in combating the pandemic while leaving out the entire month of February. Now, he’s using payments from the IRS to taxpayers to campaign for himself.

Here’s the other thing about this scam: It may delay when the physical checks go out. Why? Because it wasn’t announced until Monday to just five senior IRS officials. In addition to having the task of quickly disbursing billions of dollars to taxpayers in a crisis, the IRS must change the computer code to add Trump’s name before the Bureau of the Fiscal Service can print the checks. What a fucking asshole.

With Trump, it’s me, me, me. And his sycophants support it. We’ve had three years of people pretending Donald Trump isn’t an idiot or a narcissist. And every time his cult defends behavior like this or pretends it’s normal, they come off looking more ridiculous and pathetic. The real irony here is that the people who complain about socialism and welfare will now have a socialistic welfare check with Donald Trump’s fucking name on it.

Senator Chuck Grassley said it was “nothing out of the ordinary,” except, it’s never been done before. He also said the expense was “negligible.” That means, doing this cost us even more money. I doubt Grassley would have been so kind if Obama had put his name on checks to voters. I’m pretty sure the entire Republican Party would have stormed the White House pitchforks, torches, and rope for lynching. They already had the rope.

If this selfish scam by Donald Trump even has the slightest chance of delaying these checks, he should have declined doing it. But that’s ignoring he never should have brought it up in the first place. Even speculating or asking was a dick move.

Pelosi said, “Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump’s catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands.” She’s right. Trump is putting more focus on himself than helping Americans through this pandemic. Once again, it’s all about Trump, Trump, Trump.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said it was the “height of insecurity” and, “In the midst of this crisis, President Trump is doing what he always tends to do: make it all about Trump.”

Representative Aryanna Pressley, who is one of the women Donald Trump referred to with his “Send them back” comment, said it was “a cruel political stunt from a petulant man who’s failing our families.” Ah yes. I haven’t used “petulant” in a while to describe Trump. Thank you, Ms. Pressley.

Keep in mind, his name on the checks is not the signature a check requires. His name will be on the memo line. The memo line isn’t important. It’s rare that people, when they actually do write a check, write anything in the memo line. So if you’re one of the Americans receiving an actual physical check instead of direct deposit, you can have a little fun. You can make an addition to the memo line next to Trump’s signature. Go crazy. Be creative. Be clever. The IRS will have the ability to see the deposited checks eventually, and maybe seeing what you added to the memo will brighten some civil servant’s day.

I’m one of those who will receive a physical check. I haven’t received a refund in a very long time so the IRS doesn’t have my direct deposit information that I’m aware of. I’m also a little hesitant about giving Donald Trump my social security and bank routing and account numbers. So, when I get my check (I think I’m getting one), “Donald J. Trump” will be in the memo line.

Guess what’s going to be in the memo line when I make my deposit.

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