Well knock me over with a feather, and just look for a few moments upon my shocked face.
I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that exhaustive New York Times research has shown that Donald Trump has barely paid anything in taxes.
Why, I thought it was just coincidence he refused for five years now to turn over his tax returns, not that he had anything to hide, didn’t you think that? Surely not a man who lives by such a strict moral code in every other area of his life could possibly have anything untoward in his taxes, could he? Perish the thought.
Yep, a few days ahead of Tuesday’s first Presidential debate, the Times has published a scathing report showing that in addition to being a racist, a liar, a corrupt businessman and an all-around scumbag, Donnie T has paid almost nothing in taxes for years, and has dodged paying what he truly owes.
Among the many findings in what is promised to be the first in a series of stories is that for 2016 and 2017, Trump paid a whopping $750 in income tax each year. That’s it, $750! To me that number has always symbolized what I paid for my first car as a senior in high school, a 1982 Chevy Celebrity (it was 1993 at the time), and I totally overpaid.
— He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.
— Many of his signature businesses, including his golf courses, report losing large amounts of money — losses that have helped him to lower his taxes.
— The financial pressure on him is increasing as hundreds of millions of dollars in loans he personally guaranteed are soon coming due.
Taken all together, the story reports what many of us have long known and believed: Trump has been lying about his wealth for decades, he’s actually deeply in debt, part of why he’s been monetizing the Presidency while in office like no other President ever has, and that he’s a true and total tax cheat.
The whole story is worth reading, and it’s infuriating. I hope Joe Biden destroys him in the first debate tomorrow, and finds ways to bring up Trump’s lying and cheating on his taxes.
I don’t have a lot of faith that the Times’ excellent reporting will sway votes, but it’s good that someone, at long last, has finally seen all the lies and distortions in Trump’s tax returns.
It’s just one more thing this disgusting human has been lying about.
/www.thisamericanlife.org/717/audience-of-one/act-four-7
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/717/audience-of-one/act-four-7
**Next up today, it’s rare that I try to embed part of a podcast on the blog, but this was so clever and well done, I really wanted to share.
The amazing public radio podcast “This American Life” did an episode two weeks ago called “An Audience of One,” sort of about movies and the strange experience of watching them alone, as so many of us are doing during this pandemic.
This part of the episode dealt with a Cosmic Kids Yoga teacher named Jamie Amor, who does yoga storytelling videos for kids by taking classic children’s stories, either fairy tales or contemporary classics like the Harry Potter series, and incorporates yoga poses and moves into them. It’s actually quite excellent; here are some of her videos, which got 1 million hits a day during the spring, when kids were home from school.
Well, the clever, devilish brains at “This American Life” decided to ask Jamie to do a Cosmic Yoga video for a famous, definitely NOT kid-friendly movie.
Here, in the same voice and mannerisms, is Jamie narrating the plot of “Thelma and Louise.” It’s freaking fantastic and very funny.
**Finally, what an amazing day in the NFL Sunday. So many fantastic, down-to-the-wire finishes, so many thrilling comebacks … and oh yeah, then there were the two New York teams, who both got obliterated yet again, and I swear it’s entirely possible the Jets and Giants both go winless.
But enough about those crappy teams here in New York; let’s talk about the incredible play Sunday…
— Russell Wilson is good at football. My goodness, what in the name of Jim Zorn and Dave Krieg has gotten into this guy? Fourteen touchdown passes in the first three weeks of the season, and the Seahawks won another thriller over Dallas. Wilson has always been sensational, but he’s like, on another level this year.
— Speaking of another level, ladies and gentlemen, the Cleveland Browns are over .500! For the first time since 2014, the perpetually-awful Brownies have won more games than they’ve lost so far in a season. Kind of amazing it’s been that long, but hey, the future looks bright! The Browns beat the pretty-terrible Washington Football Team, 34-20 Sunday, but Baker Mayfield looked good, Nick Chubb is a stud running back, and the defense picked off accuracy-challenged Dwayne Haskins five times. The Browns!
— Speaking of another level, this is amazing: At one point in BOTH the last two games it’s played, the Atlanta Falcons had a 98 percent chance of winning. And the Falcons lost both games. Last week they gagged up a 20-point lead and lost to the Cowboys, and Sunday they led 26-10 and somehow got beaten by the Nick Foles-led Chicago Bears.
Ninety-eight percent chance of winning, and lost both games. Unbelievable.
— Remember when the Falcons led New England 28-3 in the Super Bowl and lost? Well, it almost happened to the Bills Sunday, as they blew a 28-3 lead to the Rams, but came back to win, 35-32. Josh Allen was thought, three years ago, to be clearly the fourth-best QB in the draft, yet so far he looks like the best. Just a tremendous player.
— The Titans are 3-0 and have won the three games by a total of six points. Lucky, or good?
— I may not watch another Jets game this season until they fire Adam Gase. I know they have a ton of injuries and it’s not like they were the 2008 Patriots, talent-wise, before that, but good God are they pathetic. And the coach is terrible. Just terrible.