Just Another Pathological Narcissistic Announcement

 

The U.S. Treasury announced Thursday that trump's signature will appear on all new American paper currency, a first for any sitting president in the nation's history. Starting with $100 bills in June, his name will replace the Treasurer's signature for the first time since 1861, erasing an unbroken 165-year tradition. That, apparently, was just another thing standing between trump and a mirror.

It gets worse. A federal arts panel, stacked with trump appointees, recently signed off on a 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing his image, timed to America's 250th birthday. Here's the kicker: the people who spent years screaming about "trump derangement syndrome" have now branded the nation's entire currency supply with one man's face and autograph, which is about as deranged as it gets.

George Washington refused to appear on the first U.S. silver dollar specifically because putting a leader's face on money is what kings do. A member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee said it plainly: only nations ruled by kings or dictators put a sitting ruler's image on their coins.

The administration calls this a patriotic tribute to the Semi-quincentennial. But trump has already plastered his name on the Kennedy Center, Navy battleships, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. The presidency, for trump, has always been less about governance and more about brand extension. The Founders warned us exactly what this would look like. Turns out they were right.

-The Other 98%