The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, people say. In the Trump family tree, it’s fermented fruit—before it even hits the ground. Or perhaps rotten apples are more descriptive. Just as racist, just as uninformed, just as lying—well, you get the idea. The tagline of this blog says, Seeing things as they really are, without the illusions or delusions. So today’s post isn’t just about politics, it’s about the sad truth of the Trump family.

It’s a family unlike that of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or other rich but charitable people. It’s also unlike the Bush or Clinton families as well. Trump’s children follow in his footsteps–get richer anyway you can. Spend those riches on yourselves. Use OPM (other people’s money) to give to charity–not your own. Run for the White House on both narcissistic motives and to further feather the family fortunes. To do so, Trump, Sr. has appealed to the basest instincts of America, lied continually as he does in his private business dealings and offered illegal or impractical solutions to nonexistent problems. Why bring up the family? Because they’re adults, involved in the campaign and will be both the beneficiaries and the managers of family’s ill-gotten wealth.

First up, Donald Trump, Jr. Rotten apple number one. He recently tweeted a meme comparing Syrian refugees to poison skittles. You have no doubt seen the graphic.

Seriously? All part and parcel of the Trumps’  core xenophobic trope that immigrants, especially Muslim ones, are dangerous terrorists. No, they’re not. But facts and logic mean nothing to the Trump family. Here’s the reality, from a Cato Institute report dated September 13, 2016 (The Institute is a Libertarian think tank funded by the very conservative Koch brothers).

“The chance of an American being murdered in a terrorist attack caused by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year while the chance of being murdered in an attack committed by an illegal immigrant is an astronomical 1 in 10.9 billion per year. By contrast, the chance of being murdered by a tourist on a B visa, the most common tourist visa, is 1 in 3.9 million per year.  . . The hazards posed by foreign-born terrorists are not large enough to warrant extreme actions like a moratorium on all immigration or tourism.”

The twitterverse and the web erupted in outrage at Junior’s terrible tweet. The refugees, of course, are the victims of the war in Syria–not terrorists. They may be Christians or members of any number of faiths other than Muslim. Some have been injured by ISIS, more probably by Bashar Al Assad’s forces and many no doubt injured  by Russian airstrikes ordered by the Trump BFF Putin.  Here’s just one example of the massive critical response. This one comes from Jon Favreau, President Obama’s chief speechwriter.

The fermented (or demented) Junior says the real reason that his Dishonest Dad won’t release his tax return is that it’s 12,000 pages long and would raise so many questions that it would distract from his father’s main message.

Seriously? Trump actually has a message? Oh, right, like these points not of light but of darkness:

• Ban the Muslims or at least do  “extreme vetting” of immigrants
• Build the wall that Mexico will pay for
• Deport all the undocumented
• A “secret plan” to defeat ISIS.
• Oh wait; he has an “economic” plan—which will add $3.5 Trillion to the national debt over the next decade! (Clintons will add $200 million) according to a nonpartisan group

But wait, there’s more on Donald Jr.! Here’s what he said about Hillary Clinton in a radio interview with 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia,

“Without the media, this wouldn’t even be a contest, but the media has built her up, they’ve let her slide on every indiscrepancy (sic), on every lie. . . If Republicans were doing that, they’d be warming up the gas chamber right now.”

Seriously? It should be noted that he later clarified he was referring to capital punishment, not making a Holocaust reference. Despite how much Trump Sr. doesn’t like the Bush family, funny how Junior talks like Dubya, isn’t it—with the mangled words and all.

Finally, there’s the “blind trust.” That’s where the holdings, the decisions and all the news of the Trump Organization will go if Senior wins the White House. Junior says discussion of the family business will be off the table.

Seriously? We just have to trust him, Ivanka, Eric and the rest of the Trump progeny. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any of them giving me the time or the temperature. Neither do 50 former government officials who signed a letter demanding Trump detail his foreign investments before Election Day. Fine, but not nearly enough. Read the Newsweek cover story on the financial, national security and foreign policy conflicts of the Trump Organization business dealings in 22 countries. No matter how rich or Trump is or isn’t, having the ability to tailor foreign policy to benefit his business could make him much wealthier after a stint in the White House and endanger America’s national security. So no, don’t believe Junior or Senior. We know from all of the lawsuits against Trump’s businesses—the fraud charges, the corruption and the exploitation that he can’t be trusted with other people’s money. How can America trust him with its money and its national security?

We’ll just do a synopsis of Ivanka. She takes credit for Daddy putting up his maternity (not parental) leave policy. Apparently, she recently discovered that not every mother has a nanny to care for her children. She seemed to think this a novel idea that no one has ever done before. Flexible spending accounts for dependent care, tax deductions, credits, etc. have been around for at least 25 years—but then why would Ivanka know this—coming from her wealthy upbringing. Clueless and uninformed like Dad. Both she and Dishonest Dad lied and said Hillary Clinton has no childcare plan—she does in fact, 12 weeks to Trumps 6 and for parents, not just mothers. With her behind him, Trump announced his plan and sad that Hillary Clinton “doesn’t have such a plan and never will.” Clinton’s plan is on her website, which the Trumps couldn’t bother to check or just flat out lied. Ivanka also falsely claimed that the Trump hotels have paid family leave—they don’t. When questioned during a Cosmo interview, she left in a huff because the questions didn’t focus on how wonderful the Trump was. Seriously?

Do you recall that Senior said the advisor status of the fermented fruit might continue after he moves into the White House? Yes, he really did (he didn’t call them rotten apples of course; insults are for others). Maybe he was joking about cabinet positions for Junior or Ivanka. Still, given their input on campaign staff hiring and firing, it seems reasonable to assume a continuing role. Trump takes advice from few people. When he does, he takes it with a grain of salt—but he listens to the family. Unlikely the Senate would approve official Cabinet positions, but then there’s the “kitchen cabinet,” which requires no approval. So there goes the “blind trust” walling off the Trump Organization from the President! Apparently there are no actual laws that might prevent Trump from using the White House and what he could get through Congress–when approval is necessary, to become as rich as he has claimed he is.