99 points

Iā€™m pretty sure this million that everyone is paying is protection money so they donā€™t get a shake down

permalink
report
reply
28 points

Itā€™s called a racket. This is literally racketeering.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

Ohā€¦ so, ā€œbusinessā€ got it.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

As in waste management business.

permalink
report
parent
reply
27 points
*

ā€œProtection moneyā€ implies a significant expense. A million dollars is so little to a big tech company (and not that much to Trump) that this is more like a ā€œCongratulations!ā€ card with a Starbucks gift certificate inside. Itā€™s as little as Altman can send without being insulting, but if the fact that he sent anything at all sways Trump even a little bit then the return on investment will be enormous.

permalink
report
parent
reply
18 points

It doesnā€™t imply a significant expense. My grandfather used to tell us a story of how he paid what was basically a mafia a monthly fee so his barber shop wouldnā€™t get broken into. I forgot the exact amount, but is was like $500/m or something.

Trump also deals in these ā€œsmallā€ transactions. Get a hundred of them and it adds up.

permalink
report
parent
reply
19 points

I suppose this is just nitpicking, but I think $500 a month is a lot more to a barber than a million is to Altman.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

Itā€™s to keep their name off a list. The Revenge President is back with more power, so better at least pretend to be with him if youā€™re also powerful.

permalink
report
parent
reply
23 points

Iā€™d say this is more like kissing the ring.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

It must be a very tiny ring.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Iā€™m sure the oligarchs in Putinā€™s system do the exact same thing.

permalink
report
parent
reply
49 points

fucking gross

permalink
report
reply
42 points

From Trumpā€™s point of view, this is his new subjects lining up to pay tribute.

From the perspective of the wealthy people making these donations, itā€™s like stuffing a twenty dollar bill in the doormanā€™s breast pocket.

permalink
report
reply
15 points

From everyone elseā€™s point of view itā€™s also his new subjects lining up. Thereā€™s no reason to excuse these companies regardless of what percent of the bottom line a million dollars is.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Itā€™s also obeying in advance. Altman is Jewish. Just saying.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

What does him being Jewish have anything to do with it?

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

To the NatCā€™s that adore donvict it means quite a bit. The fact that heā€™s obeying in advance wonā€™t mean a thing.

permalink
report
parent
reply
0 points

From the perspective of the wealthy people making these donations, itā€™s like stuffing a twenty dollar bill in the doormanā€™s breast pocket I think you misspelled hooker and G-string

permalink
report
parent
reply
33 points

Bribe. Itā€™s a bribe.

permalink
report
reply
5 points

What the fuck is an inauguration fund?

permalink
report
reply
2 points

Itā€˜s a ticket to bribe Trump, so he continues to serves the upper 0.0001%

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

A way for captains to kick something up to the mafia don.

permalink
report
parent
reply

politics

!politics@lemmy.world

Create post

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the siteā€™s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. Itā€™s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). Itā€™s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to ā€œMom! Heā€™s bugging me!ā€ and ā€œIā€™m not touching you!ā€ Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

Thatā€™s all the rules!

Civic Links

ā€¢ Register To Vote

ā€¢ Citizenship Resource Center

ā€¢ Congressional Awards Program

ā€¢ Federal Government Agencies

ā€¢ Library of Congress Legislative Resources

ā€¢ The White House

ā€¢ U.S. House of Representatives

ā€¢ U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

ā€¢ News

ā€¢ World News

ā€¢ Business News

ā€¢ Political Discussion

ā€¢ Ask Politics

ā€¢ Military News

ā€¢ Global Politics

ā€¢ Moderate Politics

ā€¢ Progressive Politics

ā€¢ UK Politics

ā€¢ Canadian Politics

ā€¢ Australian Politics

ā€¢ New Zealand Politics

Community stats

  • 11K

    Monthly active users

  • 17K

    Posts

  • 479K

    Comments