This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/02/trump-legally-moving-to-florida-good-riddance
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| So Trump is legally moving to Florida? Good riddance | So Trump is legally moving to Florida? Good riddance |
| (2 days later) | |
| Here in New York City, the overwhelming initial reaction to the news that Donald Trump was legally moving to Florida was: good. one less asshole in Midtown. That momentary burst of glee, though, was followed by the dispiriting realization that he’s still going to be in the same country. And against all odds, he’s found a way to contribute even less to the collective good than before. | Here in New York City, the overwhelming initial reaction to the news that Donald Trump was legally moving to Florida was: good. one less asshole in Midtown. That momentary burst of glee, though, was followed by the dispiriting realization that he’s still going to be in the same country. And against all odds, he’s found a way to contribute even less to the collective good than before. |
| “Rich New Yorker moves to South Florida for tax purposes” is a story as old as time – almost as old as “Rich New Yorker, stricken with sun poisoning and malaria, limps back to Manhattan, vowing never to leave again.” But in most cases, the rich New Yorker in question is not the president of the United States. If you stop and ponder it for a minute, it is really something remarkable for the President of the United States to be practicing tax avoidance boldly, in full view of the voting public. The person most responsible for spending our collective tax payments is, himself, so committed to contributing less of his own money to the public till that he is willing to forgo many relaxing weeks in a Midtown penthouse that looks like what might happen if King Midas stumbled drunkenly into a Pottery Barn. | “Rich New Yorker moves to South Florida for tax purposes” is a story as old as time – almost as old as “Rich New Yorker, stricken with sun poisoning and malaria, limps back to Manhattan, vowing never to leave again.” But in most cases, the rich New Yorker in question is not the president of the United States. If you stop and ponder it for a minute, it is really something remarkable for the President of the United States to be practicing tax avoidance boldly, in full view of the voting public. The person most responsible for spending our collective tax payments is, himself, so committed to contributing less of his own money to the public till that he is willing to forgo many relaxing weeks in a Midtown penthouse that looks like what might happen if King Midas stumbled drunkenly into a Pottery Barn. |
| It takes a very special type of moral fortitude to fly around on your own jumbo jet, bragging about your multi-billion dollar fortune, giving a trillion-dollar tax cut to the rich and ostentatiously dodging income taxes yourself, and then hold rallies in Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana telling lower middle class people that you are on their side. I almost admire it, in the same way that I can almost admire a dog that unabashedly begs for a treat right after chewing your personal possessions to shreds. In both cases, the absolute lack of self-consciousness is amazing to behold for those of us cursed with normal human emotions. | It takes a very special type of moral fortitude to fly around on your own jumbo jet, bragging about your multi-billion dollar fortune, giving a trillion-dollar tax cut to the rich and ostentatiously dodging income taxes yourself, and then hold rallies in Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana telling lower middle class people that you are on their side. I almost admire it, in the same way that I can almost admire a dog that unabashedly begs for a treat right after chewing your personal possessions to shreds. In both cases, the absolute lack of self-consciousness is amazing to behold for those of us cursed with normal human emotions. |
| I grew up in Florida. Thankfully not in the ghoulish billionaire-infested Palm Beach part of Florida, but Florida nonetheless. It is a beautiful state. Yet the burden now being placed on Floridians is now becoming wholly unreasonable. In order to live there and enjoy the beaches and sunshine, it has always been necessary to tolerate a few natural obstacles: hurricanes; mosquitoes; alligators in the drainage ditch, snakes in the backyard, and jellyfish in the tide pools. Then there are the more man-made dangers: the racist sheriffs; the real estate developers stubbornly building gleaming condo towers on rapidly eroding sand; and, of course, the assholes who moved in from New York. | I grew up in Florida. Thankfully not in the ghoulish billionaire-infested Palm Beach part of Florida, but Florida nonetheless. It is a beautiful state. Yet the burden now being placed on Floridians is now becoming wholly unreasonable. In order to live there and enjoy the beaches and sunshine, it has always been necessary to tolerate a few natural obstacles: hurricanes; mosquitoes; alligators in the drainage ditch, snakes in the backyard, and jellyfish in the tide pools. Then there are the more man-made dangers: the racist sheriffs; the real estate developers stubbornly building gleaming condo towers on rapidly eroding sand; and, of course, the assholes who moved in from New York. |
| The truth is that Donald Trump will fit right in in Florida. As a rule, rich New Yorkers who move to Florida are jerks. They think that the atmosphere of the Sunshine State is more relaxed, when in fact it is just that the lower population density means fewer people staring menacingly at them when they do something rude. Floridians understand this well. They have built an entire economy on attracting these people with the lure of lower state taxes, and then making up the difference by selling them plots of rattlesnake-infested swampland at unimaginable prices and getting their children addicted to Disney World. Florida, a paradise that exists only because of air conditioners and advertising campaigns, is a scam. It attracts con men. And usually, it cons them too. | The truth is that Donald Trump will fit right in in Florida. As a rule, rich New Yorkers who move to Florida are jerks. They think that the atmosphere of the Sunshine State is more relaxed, when in fact it is just that the lower population density means fewer people staring menacingly at them when they do something rude. Floridians understand this well. They have built an entire economy on attracting these people with the lure of lower state taxes, and then making up the difference by selling them plots of rattlesnake-infested swampland at unimaginable prices and getting their children addicted to Disney World. Florida, a paradise that exists only because of air conditioners and advertising campaigns, is a scam. It attracts con men. And usually, it cons them too. |
| It is ethically revolting that a sitting US president would rearrange his entire life in order to avoid paying the taxes that fund public goods and services for the citizens that he serves--but then again, there are many ethically revolting things about Donald Trump. It is legitimately concerning that a sitting US president is so mentally incoherent that he would issue a statement attributing his move to the fact that someone poured water on a New York police officer--but we all know that there are many legitimately concerning things about Donald Trump. | It is ethically revolting that a sitting US president would rearrange his entire life in order to avoid paying the taxes that fund public goods and services for the citizens that he serves--but then again, there are many ethically revolting things about Donald Trump. It is legitimately concerning that a sitting US president is so mentally incoherent that he would issue a statement attributing his move to the fact that someone poured water on a New York police officer--but we all know that there are many legitimately concerning things about Donald Trump. |
| We can’t go getting upset about every major ethical scandal by a dangerously demented man holding the most powerful position on earth, can we? Of course not. We must be selective. The only takeaway from this Trumpian change of venue that is really worth remarking on is the effect that it will have on Florida itself. The state will now have one more loud, ignorant, pasty New York guy talking Republican politics at the golf club. The more of these people that trickle into the state, the more pissed off all the normal residents get, and the bluer the state turns. | We can’t go getting upset about every major ethical scandal by a dangerously demented man holding the most powerful position on earth, can we? Of course not. We must be selective. The only takeaway from this Trumpian change of venue that is really worth remarking on is the effect that it will have on Florida itself. The state will now have one more loud, ignorant, pasty New York guy talking Republican politics at the golf club. The more of these people that trickle into the state, the more pissed off all the normal residents get, and the bluer the state turns. |
| Every time a man with a Titleist hat and a Queens accent makes an ignorant remark about immigrants in the checkout line of an Orlando-area Starbucks, the Democratic party in Florida gains a vote. The presence of Donald Trump will amount to this dynamic magnified by a million. Is his self-serving, dishonorable action an affront to good government and moral leadership? Certainly. Is he a big coward who can’t stand the heat of the collective honesty of New Yorkers unafraid to direct obscenities up towards the penthouse of Trump Tower? No doubt about it. And will his irritating, mendacious presence itself be enough to turn a swing state blue in protest? The outlook is promising, yes. | Every time a man with a Titleist hat and a Queens accent makes an ignorant remark about immigrants in the checkout line of an Orlando-area Starbucks, the Democratic party in Florida gains a vote. The presence of Donald Trump will amount to this dynamic magnified by a million. Is his self-serving, dishonorable action an affront to good government and moral leadership? Certainly. Is he a big coward who can’t stand the heat of the collective honesty of New Yorkers unafraid to direct obscenities up towards the penthouse of Trump Tower? No doubt about it. And will his irritating, mendacious presence itself be enough to turn a swing state blue in protest? The outlook is promising, yes. |
| It’s not such a bad thing that Trump is relocating now. When he’s evicted from Washington next year, he’ll have somewhere warm to go cry. | It’s not such a bad thing that Trump is relocating now. When he’s evicted from Washington next year, he’ll have somewhere warm to go cry. |
| Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York City | Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York City |
| Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York City | Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York City |
| US news | US news |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Donald Trump | |
| comment | comment |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |
Previous version
1
Next version