The Trump Administration is, already, the most corrupt in American history simply because corruption, properly defined, lies in the control of possible channels of influence as much as in money directly pocketed. A prospective deal that would have seen a politically connected Chinese company investing in a real-estate project controlled by the family of Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushnerat the very moment when, however absurdly, Kushner is supposed to play a role in China policyonly got called off after a raft of bad publicity, leaving no principle in place to protect us from more predation. Meanwhile, the Trump boys roam the world making deals on their fathers behalf, giving foreign governments and entrepreneurs every reason to believe that enriching the First Family is a precondition for earning American favor. This is exactly the way government runs in many Third World countries: the boss mans family goes everywhere making deals on his behalf to enrich themselves, with the quid pro quo always perfectly apparent. Nothingno ethical officer, no blind truststands between Trump and his own enrichment through office. One recalls the torturous mechanisms with which poor Jimmy Carter sought to seal off his peanut farm from the slightest appearance of conflict of interestand the vengeful rhetoric of Republican conservative columnists scanning for signs of a failureand one weeps for ones country.