Opinion
By Steve Nicklas, 6-3-24
Like with the former No. 1 beer in the U.S., our country’s stellar reputation has been smeared by a woke, politicized agenda. It will take years to fix, if it is fixable.
The Bud Light brand has reached perilous depths over an advertising blunder. Its proud, patriotic reputation sank faster than a shot glass dropped in a mug of beer. And America is on a similar decline, due to the illicit actions of our runaway federal government.
We are stooping to historic lows when a former president, billionaire businessman and prominent presidential frontrunner is convicted in a staged courtroom drama. Our country can spiral treacherously lower, however, following the show trial of Donald Trump. Like a banana republic, or communist state.
We already employ communist-style tactics. The U.S. justice department is pursuing political opponents with full force, even jailing them, to the delight and applause of the lapdog national media. Yet the media is constitutionally tasked with keeping the government in check. Not aiding and abetting the Democrat side.
One esteemed entrepreneur is sounding the alarm – and yelling fire. Kevin O’Leary, a star on the popular “Shark Tank” show, is hangover-level sick about our country’s direction.
Ironically, O’Leary was negotiating a business deal overseas while porn star Stormy Daniels testified in Trump’s lopsided trial. The sordid testimony from Daniels raged across the globe.
“This is hurting what every entrepreneur does in America,” O’Leary said. “For me, we dragged our brand into the toilet on this one.”
Foreign investments flow like ocean currents into the U.S. because our system adheres to strict laws, particularly within our financial markets. This has changed forever with Trump’s treatment. “They (used to) trust our system,” O’Leary said. “This has rocked the bedrock of that belief.”
Another financial expert with the same first name shares the same concerns. Kevin Hassett says the “undemocratic, unconstitutional rulings” against Trump in the sham trial can unnerve the financial markets. Especially if Trump is sent to prison.
“If President Trump is in chains, going to Rikers Island, would you want to buy a U.S. treasury the next day?” Hassett pondered. The brilliant Hassett, who headed up the Council of Economic Advisers, believes the bond markets would hemorrhage. In lockstep, the public demand for treasuries has already been waning. And treasuries fund our $35 trillion national debt.
E.J. Antoni, a noted economist in public finance, echoes Hassett’s thoughts. “Who on earth wants to do business with the United States government that doesn’t respect the rule of law,” Antoni said. “Who on earth would loan the U.S. treasury money under such a regime?”
A parade of lawyers has been commenting on the legal verdict. Most of them, including high-profile Democrats like Alan Dershowitz, are aghast over the judge’s biased antics in the Trump case.
Mehek Cooke is part of that lawyerly parade. She spoke out in disbelief.
“As an attorney, I thought the rule of law would prevail,” Cooke said about Trump’s fake trial. “So, this is only the beginning. Every single American is a target. We saw that with FBI agents going after parents who were speaking out (at school board meetings).”
Trump insists the legal deck in New York is stacked against him, like in a rigged poker game. “Mother Teresa could not beat those charges,” Trump said before the latest verdict landed like an asteroid.
Trump has lost all three trials in New York City (two outlandish civil cases and the criminal case). It must leave a bad taste for a New York City native who decorated the city’s skyline with his luxurious properties. It’s the taste of sour beer.
But this is more than a moment in time. As Bud Light learned, moments turn into years. The destruction of our legal and political systems has correlated with the three years of the Biden administration. And there is much more.
Open borders. Overseas wars. Overspending. Woke military. Sagging credit ratings. Unchecked crime. Suffocating inflation. Insanity in politics. Weaponizing the justice department.
The last one hurts the most. Shakes the public’s confidence the most. This isn’t all about Trump. If these Soviet-style tactics work, it will be about any political foe.
The world is watching, with dread, disdain, dissatisfaction. Hand me another beer.
Steve Nicklas is the managing partner of Nicklas Wealth Management in Fernandina Beach. He is also an award-winning columnist. His columns appear in weekly newspapers in Northeast Florida and in Southeast Georgia, and on his website at www.SteveNicklasMarketplace.com. He has published a book, “All About Money,” of his favorite columns from the past 20 years. The book is available on Amazon. He has also done financial reports for area radio stations and for National Public Radio in Jacksonville. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 904-753-0236.
