Quick Takes (v73): The Trump Economy

When folks talk about the reasons they were voting, the economy was high on most lists.

For example, 81% of registered voters said the economy would be 'very important' to their vote, according to a Pew Research poll from September.

According to another September poll, this time from Gallup, the economy was the only issue where a majority said a candidate's positions were an 'extremely important' influencer on how they were going to vote.

A post-election survey from AARP found that more than half of aged 50+ voters 'prioritized economic issues.'

Many other pre- and post-election surveys, and a few boatloads of TV hosts and other pundits (perhaps I should refer to them as potential cabinet members?) have said the same thing, using many more words to explain it than James Carville gave us back in 1992.

There's one part of the economy that may have defied expectations: the 'support your favorite billionaire' part. You know, the political Name, Image, and Likeness, or NIL, sector. And nobody does NIL better than Donald Trump, the Once and Future President (OAFP).

If you ask me, the person who shouted the loudest about our horrible economy and how it contributes to our becoming a failing nation is doing pretty darn well with his followers. On his Bibles alone, he made $300,000, for heaven's sake.

Don't believe me? Take a look at all these things you can get with his political brand - and remember that this is separate from all the stuff emblazoned with the Trump name sold by the Trump Organization. And that merch is separate, of course, from all of the buildings, golf courses (with and without burial plots near the first tee), the winery, and so on.

Hats

Ties

Pins

Pens

Flags

Elves

Coins

Shirts

Access

Bibles

Knives

Decals

Scarves

Wallets

Watches

Magnets

Stickers

Jewelry

Pardons

Banners

Sneakers

Troll dolls

Tote bags

Yard signs

Keychains

Backpacks

Sunglasses

Ornaments

Corkscrews

Dish towels

Shot glasses

Medallions

Wristbands

Golf towels

Cigar boxes

Money clips

Tee holders

Beer glasses

Cigar cutters

Beach towels

Garbage bags

Playing cards

Rubber ducks

Laptop covers

Ear maxi pads

Trading cards

Bottle openers

Books for kids

Cutting boards

Pieces of a suit

Greeting cards

Stuffed animals

Digital 'artwork'

Framed pictures

Bumper stickers

Books for adults

Beer can koozies

Funny eyeglasses

Cabinet positions

Cartoon drawings

Zippered pouches

Government secrets

License plate covers

Orange-haired visors

Talking Trumpinators

White privilege cards

Masks (oh, the irony!)

Mugs (beer and coffee)

Commemorative cigars

Oddly-crafted figurines

Pet attire and accessories

Framed newspaper articles

French fry counter trinkets

Bronze busts (made of resin)

Signed mug shot photo pictures

Decanters (with/without glasses)

Bobbleheads (too many to count)

Two-dollar bills (several versions)

Bronze bust (on sale - save a penny!)

Wine glasses (stemmed and stemless)

Personalized artwork (your name here!)

Personalized merchandise (your religion here!)

Glasses (golf ball- and bullet-impaled versions)

Imagine how much money people are spending on this stuff, in this 'horrible' economy, and imagine how much money he's making off them.

If you're interested, here's a fun bit I found on Quora where someone valiantly tries to figure out if there's a way to figure out how much money the OAFP makes on all of this nonsense.

Sidebar: Quick Takes (v60)

In my Quick Takes post yesterday, I expressed concern over the new NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program, which allows college athletes to be paid directly by corporations through sponsorships and whatnot. I proposed a different solution to paying athletes for the work they do for their schools - an equally imperfect solution, truth be told, but one that's more equitable, in my eyes. 

The announcement of these changes came at the same time as a legendary figure in high school lacrosse, locally and nationally, did an interview with a local media outlet here in my neck of the woods. The interview wasn't about the NIL changes, but it touched on some of the things that I can see being exacerbated by them. 

Retired West Genesee Coach Mike Messere talked with Lindsey Kramer of Syracuse.com/The Post Standard. Messere retired three years ago, after coaching the Wildcats to 15 state championships and 30 conference championships in his 40-odd-year career. By all accounts, he was a tough and demanding coach; his retirement was accompanied by scathing comments about his team's performance in their 2018 state championship loss, after all. 

The impetus for the interview was news that the coaches for both the West Genny boys and girls teams had stepped down. As Kramer notes in the interview, Messere "has clearly fought off the mellowing impacts of time and distance."

Among other things, he said "It's a tough time right now to be a coach or a teacher. Everything's changing and it's not for the best." In part, he points to discipline, and parents, and demands on the kids.

The parents want the kid to be more free to do their thing. Score, and be fancy, and shine, and make a show of themselves and stuff like that... They want their kid to get a scholarship so they’ve got to be in a certain spot, they’ve got to play a certain way. Before, years ago when they didn’t know much about the game of lacrosse it was a lot better. They couldn’t say too much. But now they learn the word “faceoff” and they think they know it all. They have their ideas, too.

Ours was tried and proven and true the way we were doing it. But it takes discipline, learning a lot of basic skills. Nothing fancy. They’re not jumping up and down and spinning around and making a show of yourself. And the parents don’t like that. They want their kid to do all that stuff to get attention.

And there's more - he's definitely not shy. In some respects, it sounds like he ran his program the way Steinbrenner ran the Yankees. 

The kind of quitting, how do I explain it? They gave up on the West Genny way. Kids weren’t keeping their socks up; they were kicking them down. All the stuff that made you that little bit, not that it made you a better player. It made you different than the other kids. A little more special. I don’t know if they got that or understood that. When they see you come, they know who you are, and you’re something special just by the looks of those socks. It’s a discipline thing. Everybody dresses the same, we play the same, everybody respects everybody else the same way.

And when you think of NIL, can you see what Messere's talking about coming into play? I sure can.

Look at me! I'm the funny socks guy, and I'm getting $1oK for that! Check out my on Insta and TikTok - I'm getting paid for clicks! My team? Losing record, but I'm getting paid! Woo hoo, look at me!

In a lot of ways, I agree with Messere on the importance of team, discipline, and uniformity, especially before the kids get into college. That is not the way of the world now, with competitive teams - travel teams - for kids as young as five or six in some sports. That's a lot of years to learn how to wear your socks just right to get noticed. I've seen myself how kids even that young are being encouraged by parents to star as individuals, rather than as team players.

In addition to being ripe for encouraging selfish behavior on the part of the kids (and their parents) the NIL program also seems ripe for a lot of other stuff, such as illegal payments to players before they get into college, payments to families or coaches to nudge their kids to choose this sponsorship deal over that one, and so on. You know: all the stuff the NCAA has been punishing for years, and which colleges are sometimes willing to turn a blind eye to, if it helps them get a high-powered coach who can recruit great players and bring in the bucks. 

With the new rules, will we eventually see a game where the players are all decked out like NASCAR drivers, proudly touting their sponsors, with maybe a little space saved for their team's name? 

I'm old - or, at least, old school. Shine through your play, not your 'style.' Be part of a unit, not an attention-grabber. Play for the team, not for individual glory. Pull up your socks. Tell your Mom and Dad to take a seat.

Oh - and get off my lawn.

The Irony Board: 45's Cease and Desist Orders

You may have heard someone say that a headline or an article 'almost writes itself.' Well, this is one of those articles.

It seems that the twice-impeached former president has declared his name and likeness off limits to the Republican National Committee (RNC) the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). 

According to Politico, lawyers for the former president "sent out cease-and-desist letters Friday to the three largest fundraising entities for the Republican Party  - the RNC, NRCC, and NRSC - for using his name and likeness on fundraising emails and merchandise," according to a Trump advisor.

Apparently, still according to Politico,

...Trump was furious that his name has been bandied about by organizations that help Republicans who voted to impeach him - without his permission. Trump, who made his fortune in licensing, has always been sensitive to how his name has been used to fundraise and support members, even while in office.

And, there's also this, again per an advisor.

...Trump remains committed to the Republican Party and electing America First conservatives, but that doesn't give anyone - friend or foe - permission to use his likeness without explicit approval.

That's so rich, coming from Trump - complaining about someone using him without permission. After all, Trump and his campaign have not been at all shy in using other people's intellectual property without permission, suggesting that they are folks who support him and his message. 

From classic American rockers to British artists to the estates of late legends, here’s a look at some of the musicians who have objected to Donald Trump using their songs at campaign events.

John Fogarty, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen  Some classic rockers say not only do they oppose Trump using their music, the choice of songs is ironic or downright wrong... 

Neil Young, Eddy Grant Most musicians have stopped at legal threats, but a few have actually sued over the use of their songs... 

Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Prince The heirs of dead artists have been as quick as living musicians in objecting to Trump’s use of songs... 

The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Adele Artists from the UK have been as vocal about their songs as their American counterparts... 

Panic! at the Disco, Pharrell, Rihanna It’s mostly Baby Boomer favorites who have objected to Trump’s use of their music, but younger artists have cried foul too, sometimes with foul language...

R.E.M., Guns and Roses Generation X bands have been as angry as anyone about the use of their tunes...

I think it would be interesting if the Republicans treated Trump's cease-and-desist orders with as much respect as he treated the requests from these artists - which was pretty much none. A few of them had to go back a second time when their first demands were ignored.

But what's really going to be fun is seeing how the RNC, NRCC, and NRSC work around not being able to use Dear Leader's name and/or likeness - or how much they'll be asked to contribute to him for the privilege.