gift or grift, a 747-8

Every time I take the keyboard in hand and start typing, I’m always hopeful something good, or lighthearted will emerge from the vacuum chamber I call my mind. Except, the pervading national illness is a huge conundrum for me. Both Parties are dead set on destroying any constitutional foundations left. Worse, Party has divided the people successfully where I do believe the majority of citizens would not know what constitutional even means. Unless Party says so, it’s not. Which makes the adage: If it looks like a turd and smells like a turd, it’s probably a turd, so apropos today. And in the political climate, the stench thereof is totally dependent on how one stands with their Party. The vicious cycle where the Constitution is no longer relevant to the outcomes of Party. Its become the all-encompassing constituent being controlled justification of what is right, or wrong, or whatever leaders deem expedient to upset the balance of any equilibrium possible against the opposing Party. And Trump, if there has ever been an angst creator, holds top spot. Take the newest flash point: A Boeing 747-8.

The Qatari Ministry of Defense is donating said jet to the Pentagon to be used as Air Force One while Trump is in office, then the plane will transfer to the Trump presidential library foundation once his term is up. A value estimated at 400 million before the complete disassembly and reassembly to a workable presidential platform begins. You know: Get the bugs out. Or is it: Work the bugs out? Which begs: Can the plane even be completed before the executive’s term runs out? We’re talking an undertaking including a taxpayer expense incalculable at the present time. Throw in the now pontificated complete overhaul of the ATC (air traffic control) system, including the untold trillions Congress spends as grift (but by no means small of scale), and the national debt can only increase immeasurably. It’s already at 34 trillion, so what’s another 10 or 15 more before year end? The debt is the taxpayers’ problem. But to Congress; spending, debt, national solvency or insolvency is irrelevant. This is about the President taking a bribe, a gift, or is that grift? You know, the same grift Congress receives from lobbyists to pass bills (laws) that benefit those who bring the money. What’s that adage: No bucks; No Buck Rogers!

Anyway, the Constitution has the emolument clauses. Defined: Emolument: The profit arising from office or employment; that which is received as a compensation for services, or which is annexed to the position of office, as salary, fees and perquisites. Or: Profit; advantage; gains in general (Webster’s 1828).

Which presents two of the three clauses: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office (Constitution/Article I/Section 6/2^nd Clause).

And then (and also most important): No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State (Constitution/Article I/Section 9/8^th Clause). And there’s the key word: Present. Defined: That which is presented or given; a gift; a donative; something given or offered to another gratuitously; a word of general application. Genesis 32 (Webster’s 1828).

To which, if Congress approves (consents thereof) the plane’s transfer to the United States knowing full well it will again transfer to a presidential library foundation once Trump’s term of office expires, then the hyperbolic cacophony of rhetoric being loquaciously vociferated is all static meant to disrupt and nothing else. Thus, everyone yelling about being unconstitutional is only so if Congress says no to the deal, but the plane still shows up. Congress holds power! So, either approve or deny. It’s that simple, nor that complicated. But the third emolument clause in the Constitution is worth a look as well: The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them (Constitution/Article II/Section 1/6^th Clause). That’s right: the president can only receive one salary, not multiples thereof.

Thus, bottom line, “emolument” is receiving a paycheck while in office. But the now present “gift” requiring the blessing of Congress is straight forward. Just make a damned decision, stop playing games and do something constitutional for a change. But Party politics aside, what should be concerning WE THE PEOPLE: How is it that those in Congress (and executive branch outside of Trump) are able to achieve multi-millionaire status while earning a salary around $200,000.00 per annum. Especially those who have made a career in politics. So, if something is odoriferous on the surface, underneath it must really stink. But there I go again; conundruming when I should be smiling even though evil outweighs the good in government.