You Will Anyway: Because they can

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Because they can

Il Douche strikes again.

The photo, taken from the Oval Office, was promoted on the president's Instagram account a day after Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser, shared a picture of herself with a can of Goya beans.

[...]

The message appeared to be show of support from Ivanka Trump following the backlash the CEO of Goya Foods, Robert Unanue, faced after publicly praising the president at a White House event last week. But it quickly prompted criticism of its own, as well as accusations that the senior White House aide was violating ethics laws by using her official capacity to endorse a private product.

The Hill

Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, also remarked that Ivanka Trump's decision to disclose her title on her personal Twitter account weighed against her when it came to ethics laws. "If you tout the company's product in an obvious response to the backlash the company is facing for the CEO's remarks about your father-president, you knowingly link your account in people's minds to your official activities; you create the appearance of official sanction," Shaub said in a series of tweets.

Why should she care? They never face consequences for their crimes and unethical behaviors.

According to the Justice Department, a federal employee's position should not be used "to coerce; to endorse any product, service or enterprise; or to give the appearance of governmental sanction."

Before that, it says "MAY not". That makes it a prohibited activity, not a suggestion. On the other hand, it stipulates "for his own private gain or for that of persons or organizations with which he is associated personally." Since Ivanka is not associated personally with Goya (that we know of) or getting any compensation for the ad, she's probably clear of any charges that could have her lose her job (as if they would fire her for anything). If they have stock in Goya, that's another story. Either way, it's tacky and Trumpy, and "SHOULD not" be done, even according to the DOJ. I wonder why that one sentence uses the word "should" when the others use "may". A little suspicious.

UPDATE:

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"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws." ~ Mayer Rothschild

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.