When I was spending significant time in Washington, DC, with both the NEA Board of Directors and the NEA Executive Committee, I found a shop belonging to the White House Historical Association. It sells lots of commemorative historical items, which are well made and meant to increase pride in being an American.
When my days ended, I decided that probably the best way to extend nice memories was to purchase the White House Commemorative Christmas Ornament, the development of which began in 1989, upon the 200th anniversary of George Washington's inaugural presidential year. Each year, the 'next' president is honored with some kind of designation on the ornament reminding us of his presidency. All of them are classy, ornate, complex and quite beautiful. They look great on anyone's tree.
My Christmas tree has filled up with them--I really don't need any other kinds--as well as others commemorating the first meetings of Congress or the building of the White House itself. You can also go back to the beginning and get all of them at once. They are also sold in groups of five. We haven't always had terrific presidents, as you well know, but their commemorative Christmas ornaments are worth having.
By this year, the succession has come to Lyndon Johnson. The ornaments are terrific. I make sure to get one for special people in my life as well as myself. They aren't cheap, but the value remains great.
Being too far away now, I don't go to the shop in DC to get them, as I used to and just put them into the luggage. You can order them online, of course. Any self-respecting business has a means of access.
So do businesses that aren't quite so respectful. If you aren't careful, you could wind up contributing to ex-'s campaign, or so it appears. These people are relentless. They even try to pry your money out of you unwittingly under the auspices of patriotism at Christmas--which, I would guess, lots of people have already fallen for, as I nearly did myself.
When you type "White House Historical Association" into your browser, it isn't the first thing that comes up on the selection page. Actually, the real website is at least two titles down, if not more. The top title says "2021 White House Holidays Ornt--Purchase Your Ornament Today." Looks genuine, right? Sounds like the same. It isn't. You have to be sure that the listing of the website address is the one you want. This one wasn't, but it sounded like it could be.
If you open it, it has that same genuine feel. You can click right on an icon of the ornament itself and, of course, the website takes you right there--for $34.95. The real White House Historical Association, though, doesn't charge $34.95 for its ornaments. Instead, it charges ten dollars less, $24.95.
So where do those extra ten dollars go? That would be a good question. If you continue down the first site, though, you begin to get a sinking feeling that this doesn't have much to do with history--it has everything to do with fund-raising.
A few pages into the site, there are items promoting ex-'s supposedly upcoming 2024 campaign. Now, in no place at any time have I ever seen the actual White House Historical Association promote anyone's political efforts. But here's a classic bait-and-switch: As long as you're here, why not buy that stuff, too? And where does that money go?
If it should happen to find the coffers of ex-'s re-election campaign, I wouldn't be surprised in the least. I can't know for sure, of course, and I don't have the resources of a great media organization. But I'd certainly like one of them to check it out.
Is this illegal? I would bet not. I would bet that someone's lawyers have done the appropriate research and know the fine line between copying someone's site and getting close. But if it nearly fooled me, and I'm not that gullible, it certainly fooled others who want nothing to do with politics at Christmas. And who's going to take them to court?
Thing is, it's sneaky. There are other historical items in the selections, some of which are also on the White House Historical Association's site. I was also looking for a particular book, though, which this phony site didn't have. That got my attention, because I was sent a catalog in which it was displayed.
Again, the phony site is listed on the web page first. You have to scroll down to get the actual White House Historical Association site. The genuine site has a copyright emblem attached to it, but people aren't always paying attention to that.
If you are just looking for ornaments, you could be easily tricked, especially if you hadn't bought anything on the real site before. You could also be, by paying inflated prices, giving a donation to ex-. You might like that. You also might not.
If this is all going to his coffers, or any part of it, it is folly to assume that he doesn't know about this. He is the ultimate control freak. He thinks all of us are chumps, even his friends for believing in him when all he's about is himself. He is insidious and conniving. He'll get the last dime out of anybody and everybody he can. Ethics ceased to matter long ago.
They really are nice ornaments. Just don't go for the first website listed. Scroll down just a little. You'll stay non-partisan, and contribute to a piece of history that ought to remain so. Don't be fooled when you get presents for those you care about, so the source isn't someone who doesn't care at all about you or anyone.
Be well. Be careful. Get a booster. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment