Are The Republicans Still Looking For Candidates Who Even Obama Could Beat? Donald Trump Says He's Available

How would you feel if "serious" people in the corporate communications industry-- and where else in the communications field would serious people be?-- started mentioning your name as a "serious" presidential contender? Come on, even if you just have a little ego-driven psychosis in you-- and who doesn't?-- you'd get a thrill... down your leg. A couple months ago when Blue America posed the question about always having to choose the lesser of two evils and always having to settle for mediocre, corporate-backed presidential candidates-- thus guaranteeing mediocre presidents (not counting George W. Bush who can only aspire to mediocrity), we were hoping one of the few Members of the political class who Wall Street does not have their hooks into, Bernie Sanders, would consider a primary challenge against President Obama.

Other people mentioned as non-Wall Street alternatives to Obama as a 2012 Democratic nominee-- and, please keep in mind that the bankster sector has shelled out $42,285,749 to Obama, even more than they gave McCain ($34,036,462) or Hilary Clinton ($29,468,940)-- are Russ Feingold, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Alan Grayson, none of whom are willing to do it. On the Republican side, on the other hand, every sociopath who ever won a local election-- and at least one who's never won anything; more about that in a moment-- is frothing at the mouth to get in on the action.

Career criminal and media celebrity Donald Trump, one of the least savory public figures in America today, told ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos that a presidential run "could be fun". Stephanopoulos used the word "serious" to describe this and says we'll have a definitive answer by June, which is around when two other money-grubbing, empty celebrity types, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, claim they may also make their decisions.

“I am thinking about things.  And I'm looking at this country, George, and what's happened in terms of respect.  And the respect for this country is just not there,” he said. “I have many people from China that I do business with, they laugh at us.  They feel we're fools.  And almost being led by fools.  And they can't believe what they're getting away with.”

The United States is a “whipping post” right now and China is “getting away with murder” because it’s manipulating its currency, he said.  But he claims all of that would stop under a Trump Administration.  He would start by tackling the price of oil and taxing China-- even though they are our bankers Trump insists we still have control.

“I don't think the bankers have the cards.  I think you have the cards.  And in this case, in-- in the case of China, you literally are taxing China, you'll pay off your debt very quickly.  And don't forget, you're talking about trade war, right,” he said.

“When you have billions in dollars in deficits with a country, those are the trade wars I like. You don't have to do business with China.  You don't have to do business with other countries,” Trump told me.

Trump would run as a Republican-- although he refused to tell me his stance on abortion-- and didn’t rule out a self-funded campaign. He said he could “very easily” spend more than $200 million on it.

...“Would I rather be in the race or not be in the race? I can tell you, I love what I'm doing. I'm having a great time what I'm doing.  I'd rather not be in the race,” he said.

“But it could be fun because I'd like to see some positive things happen for the country... I'm going to make a decision probably by June,” Trump added. 

One of his potential GOP challengers is Sarah Palin-- who recently told Barbara Walters she could defeat President Obama. Trump warned that Palin would be a formidable candidate.

“She's very interesting.  And don't underestimate her. I mean, I see what she does. Do not underestimate Sarah Palin,” he told me.

“I would take her on.  I like her, but I'd take her on,” he said.

So should Trump throw his hat in the ring? Well, tell him yourself. His special counsel, Michael Cohen, started a “Should Trump Run” website-- without his bosses knowledge-- where you can vote for Trump to either jump into the 2012 race or stay on the sidelines.

Yes, without his boss' knowledge. That sounds serious. And here's what how they're packaging him (without his knowledge, of course):

Are you one of the many frustrated Americans sick and tired of hearing the same old mundane political campaign promises? Empty promises echo across the nation every four years; stringing us along as we wait for something good to finally happen. Well it is finally here, and it is real. It is DONALD J. TRUMP. We need to convince Donald Trump to run for President in 2012 and end all of the old rhetoric occurring in Washington. This campaign will sweep a nation ready for “real” change and improve the lives of each and every American citizen. Trump has the knowledge, the resources, the power and the experience needed to re-shape our ailing nation; restoring our hope. Under his guidance, The United States of America will once again be the land of opportunity, prosperity and strength!

Join me in creating a grass roots movement designed to save the greatest democracy in the world. Our country is heading down a dangerous path. I ask you to help me urge Donald Trump to throw his hat into the political ring. Our elected officials are mortgaging away our future by spending money that we do not have and in the process, creating unsustainable deficits. We need to stop the bleeding now and Donald Trump will help to heal our economic wounds. We cannot afford to allow foreign countries to take advantage of us, improve their economies and leave our citizens without jobs. Donald Trump will even out the playing field and develop a legitimate plan to reign in our massive trade deficits.

The scandal-plagued multimillionaire corporate welfare bum might fit in well with clowns like Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Huckabee, Thune, Palin, Pence, DeMint, Cheney's daughter, Bush-in-jar and whomever else the GOP is ready to spew out this week, but... president? Of the United State? Donald Trump? Why not Paris Hilton?

Trump's crooked father, Fred Christ Trump, left his conniving and extravagent son, who we know as "The Donald" a hefty portion of his ill-gotten $400 million dollar estate, including The Trump Organization, the company he built. Trump's pig-headed extravagence and notoriously poor judgment led to a series of bankruptcies and a series of unwarranted government bailouts. Is this what anyone thinks should be a respected public figured... let along a president?

American Express never really wanted a 282-ft. yacht. Bankers Trust isn't sure what it will do with the Grand Hyatt in midtown Manhattan, especially in the middle of a recession, nor is Manufacturers Hanover exactly giddy about owning the Regency Hotel in Atlantic City. But then Citicorp is not exactly cut out to be a retailer or an airline operator, either.

Meet Donald Trump's bankers. Like the characters in the fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes, a gaggle of major financial institutions has finally been forced to admit, after lending Trump billions of dollars, that there's a lot less to the emperor-- or at least his empire-- than the banks had believed. Not quite nine months after bailing out Trump with a rescue package that gave him $65 million in new loans and eased credit terms on his bank debt, Trump's bankers last week stopped the game. Already more than $3.8 billion in the hole and sliding perilously close to a mammoth personal bankruptcy, the brash New York developer had no choice but to accept the dismantling of his vast holdings. Meeting round the clock at secret Manhattan locations, Trump's lawyers and bankers by week's end had begun to hammer out a complex series of agreements on the distribution of some of his assets.

...How did a onetime builder of low-income housing become one of America's most dazzling success stories and nearly its most spectacular bankrupt? Trump's financial humbling is rooted in the speculative frenzy of the '80s. Behind every over-reaching mover and shaker, after all, were banks and investment houses looking for the fast hit, the big score. Trump, whose developments were frequently completed on time and on budget in an industry infamous for construction delays and cost overruns, won the confidence of investors early. When the Northeastern real estate boom took off, Trump found he had unlimited credit. As he later remarked in his best-selling 1987 autobiography, The Art of the Deal, "It's funny what's happened: bankers now come to me, to ask if I might be interested in borrowing their money."

Unlike much of what Trump says, that statement wasn't just hype. For 10 years, as the brassy developer rattled the china from Manhattan to Palm Beach with his unbridled hubris and glitzy style, squadrons of bankers indeed lined up to finance his titanic ambitions. Bigger, bolder and flashier were his trademarks-- from the imperially appointed Trump Princess, to the outrageous getups on the Trump Tower doormen, to his plans to build the world's tallest building in an abandoned railyard-- and the bankers lapped it up. Not many people can borrow $100 million over the phone, but he did. Bankers Trust gave the Donald that much without even asking for collateral. No wonder he boasted that he loved risks: others were so willing to take them for him.
While millions of casual observers were dazzled by the glitter of his empire, few understood that Trump's fortune was built on a growing mountain of debt. The moneymen who did understand seemed not to care. "He mesmerized the bankers," recalls a top Trump employee. "They fell for the luster and got greedy."

...Financial wizards usually credited with ample common sense bought it all. Whatever Donald wanted, Donald got. Citibank loaned him $1.1 billion; Bank of America some $400 million; Bankers Trust about $164 million, much of it undersecured. Says a knowledgeable source close to Trump's bankers: "They ought to be shot. They didn't ask questions."

Here, here. They really ought to be-- but not before trials-- fair and speedy ones. After all, who bailed these people out. Yes, our tax dollars. And no one went to jail. Far from it in fact... very far from it.