Tupac is gone now but the message is more real now than when he left it to us. Most of us hem and haw about the issue of greed -- we do not see it for what it is. It's venality. The word means open to being bribed and desiring money unnaturally. Donald trump is a poster child for venality. His buildings are a testament to a cheap sort of opulence. America is a little that way which explains his portion of popularity -- about a third of Americans like him.

Greed is an appropriate subject for a column about what is happening in Washington as we speak.

We are witnessing the baldest and impunity-laden exhibition of greed that I have seen in the 81 years I've been given on this glorious and threatened planet. Trump couldn't care less about the planet but he loves those bucks.

Fakery for real

Greed requires Hypocrisy to make it seem alright. Hypocrisy is the claim that something evil is good. It is evil if people are denied health insurance but in Trump's lingo, it is good -- this Tax Bill that will accomplish just that denial.

The biggest Trump hypocrisy is his claim that he is draining the swamp.

He regales his base with this promise. What he is actually doing is giving the swamp money that his base needs to get health care. He is bowing down to the swamp and giving them anything and everything they want.

Who do I mean by swamp? Certainly the GOP Congress.

We are all susceptible to bribery I suppose.

But I am old enough to see how tawdry and ugly it is to believe that having more than you need is more than a burden and an injustice. The swamp is everyone who will have a long term benefit from this con of a bill.

Will it pass?

I am writing this on the day the tax bill is supposed to pass. If it does Trump will exult and pour on the hypocrisy.

There won't be any money left to do much else. And if we actually get any infrastructure I will bet dollars to doughnuts that the cost will be passed on to the generation that will already be hit with a $1.5 trillion bill for the satisfaction of Trump-generated greed.

There are three values that together create a good life. They are tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy. Trump and the GOP have a very bad record on tolerance and they do not seem to be for helpfulness. Helpfulness properly understood is education and enablement. There will be little (if any) money left for these excellent pursuits,

As for democracy, we may be saying sayonara to it.

Two-thirds of Americans like neither Trump nor the tax bill, but that has no effect on either the media or Congress. Maybe when this is published I will be happily surprised and the tax bill will have failed. I am not holding my breath.
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