General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you think Mike Flynn will inculpate Donald Trump [View all]politicat
(9,810 posts)What drives the successful, long-term GOP office-squatters is stability. They keep their staff for years and when a kid needs a job, they start them in the mail room. The GOP loyalty that held true with past admins relied on cultivating long-standing, mutually beneficial relationships -- some earmarks for a district in exchange for a meet and greet or fundraiser on the elected side, keeping staff employed on the staff side -- over years or decades. But earmarks have been gone for a long time, staff jobs have become fungible thanks to the free market evangelism, and a lot of the big GOP money is indifferent at best towards l'enfant terrible, when they're not actively hostile.
The Tantrump made his team out of the rejects, because everyone else knows that pack of thieves, scoundrels and grifters are as reliable as a scorpion in need of a trip across the river.
Also, most of that big GOP money isn't young, so they grew up as Cold Warriors, and just because Putin doesn't have a hammer and sickle anymore doesn't mean they think he's any different. Those old Cold War suspicions aren't gone, and they're not even that deeply buried.
Plus, the big money (on all sides) will be super pissed if the shitty condo and teevee asswipe blows the cover off the off-shoring dodge. Even legitimately made serious money sometimes hears the call of a tropical island vacation, and sometimes for reasons that actually make sense (such as leaving an inheritance to a child or grandchild who doesn't want publicity, or has a stalker, or an abusive ex -- off-shoring can be used to maintain privacy). The press is already poking at the very grey line between legitimate off-shoring and money-laundering, and if it's this easy, they'll start looking elsewhere, eventually.