Javanka And The Paternal Cult Of Entitlement
By
Leonard Zwelling
In The New York Times on March 19, Michelle Goldberg opined on the multi-million dollar golden couple with positions in the White House for which they have had no training, no preparation and no qualifications. There’s a new book coming out the week of March 25 called Kushner, Inc. by Vicky Ward and it is about this very subject.
The question raised in the Goldberg piece is “why don’t they (meaning the Kushners) have imposter syndrome?” Essentially as her title suggests, “Who Do Jared and Ivanka Think They Are?” I’ve been wondering this for over two years now, because as far as I can tell they shouldn’t be allowed in the dog catcher’s office let alone near the Oval one.
Let’s start with Jared, who is in this through marriage only. He’s not even Trump flesh and blood.
His father was a felon (?is a felon?) put away by Chris Christie and Jared appears to be a failed real estate mogul, buying high and being forced to sell low with regard to the property at 666 Fifth Avenue. That was Jared’s boondoggle before the 2008 economic collapse that the Qataris backed out of funding. After that, Jared came down on the Qataris in their quarrel with the Saudis. Hmm….
Jared’s buddy is the murderous MBS of Saudi Arabia and apparently it was Jared who convinced his father-in-law to make the Kingdom his first foreign stop. I guess he wanted to see the old man do the sword dance.
Ivanka, according to former director of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, thinks she could be president one day. Wow! She would be the first woman-Jewish president. Check two boxes on that one?
Let’s be candid. Life is definitely unfair and these two were born rounding third base with the ball deep in left field.
Much like Ron DePinho and Lynda Chin, this odd couple has no business being in charge of anything of consequence. I find the comparison apt, although not identical. At least the DePinhos had scientific credentials, if not managerial ones.
Ivanka, like her father before her, is mostly concerned with her brand. When you have nothing else to sell, why not sell your marketability?
According to Goldberg, Ward attributes much of the behavior and thinking of the Kushners to their relationships with their famous fathers, both of whom are probably deeply involved in illegal matters–although only Kushner’s father went to jail. So far.
After watching The Inventor (on HBO) about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos on Monday March 18, I am now sure that psychopaths rule. The ability to lie straight-faced, even under oath, is a rare talent, but one that we have seen on full display with some degree of frequency from Richard Nixon, to Bill Clinton, and now on to Donald Trump. It is reaching the highest reaches of our government and our corporate world as well.
I wish I knew how to stop it. All I can do is write this blog. It’s something.
Surely Congress should act to strip the Kushners of the de facto power they have accumulated. Neither is curbing the basest natures of Donald Trump and, by the way, Jared, how’s that Middle East peace thing going?
This is nepotism run amok. These two couldn’t negotiate their ways out of the Rose Garden let alone have significant positive impact on American policy. Send them back to New York, although I suspect their old friends want nothing to do with them any longer due to the company that they have chosen to keep.
