Cheaters Never Prosper… If They Get Caught

While the kleptocrats in control of our political system have wielded their power to widen the wealth gap, the ultra rich have rigged the future for their underachieving offspring by gifting them Ivy League College admissions that likely come with matching ill gotten diplomas.

Let’s be honest, this shocking college admissions scandal is nothing new. The super rich have been buying their children admission to and diplomas for Ivy League schools forever.

Donald Trump is a perfect example. He was not a student of choice for Wharton School of Business. If anything, the school has lost much of it’s credibility because they allowed Donald Trump to slip through the cracks. He can’t form a simple sentence without making several simple mistakes.

Further proof that Trump didn’t earn his entry to Wharton was provided by his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who admitted during testimony to having threatened Trump’s former schools with lawsuits should any of his transcripts be released to the media.

The current college admissions scandal is only shocking in that it has created problems for least 50 people.

Those 50 people have much in common:

1. They’re among the wealthiest Americans
2. They received an unbelievable tax cut this year
3. They all have children roughly the same age
4. They all purchased the services of a man, Rick Singer, 58, who guaranteed their underachieving children admission into the school of their choice.
5. They’ve all been arrested and charged with conspiracy related to racketeering, wire fraud, and more, as a result of #4👆🏼
6. They used the fee they paid, to cheat, as a charitable tax deduction. (Tax fraud?)

Rick Singer, Admissions Fraudster

Among the newly felonious ultra rich parents are:

Hedge fund execs, doctor’s, some coaches bribed to play along, also…

• Fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, and his wife actress wife Laurie Laughlin, of “Full House”*Photo credit Jeffrey Hudson @ItsJeffHudson twitter

Mossimo is a Trump fan who has been heard complaining about there being “a lot of takers and entitled people out there.” (Oh, the irony.) Laughlin has been dropped from her contract with the Hallmark Channel, but I think they’ll survivor without her income. “Mossimo”, a target brand, was bought out in 2005 for $135 million. Target is currently phasing out the brand.

Their 19-year-old daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, freshman at USC, is a “YouTube star” with over 1.9 million subscribers, whose persona revolves around her college dorm life, her party life and of course her makeup line (cancelled) with Sephora. She’s on video making statements like:

“I do want the experience of game days, partying, I don’t really care about school, as you guys know.”

“I don’t know how much of school I’m going to attend.” ~Jade Giannulli

• Actress Felicity Huffman, of “Desperate Housewives”

• Gamal Abdelaziz, former president and CEO of Wynn Resorts Development,

• Extremely arrogant and unapologetic attorney, Gordon Caplan, co-chairman of the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP,

Jane Buckingham: president of a consulting firm whose clients include numerous Fortune 500 companies, she is also the author of 6 books, ironically, one is a guide to motherhood.

Jane Buckingham

“My child doesn’t test well.” ~ Jane Buckman

(Somebody tell Ms. Buckman, a lot of people’s children don’t test well.)

Gregory Abbot, CEO of the International Dispensing Company, and his wife Marcia.

Gregg and Marcia Abbott’s daughter who benefitted from cheating has not commented, but her brother Malcolm Abbott — also known as rapper Billa B, who happened to be smoking a *blunt when approached outside of the family’s 5th Avenue Apartment in NY, shared his insight:

“I believe everyone has a right to go to college, man.” ~Malcom Abbott

I believe this guy doesn’t get it.

*I’m not hemp to the jive; I had to google search “blunt”: It’s a hollowed out cigar filled with marijuana… you’re welcome. You’re never too old to learn something new, man.

Ah… the entitled elite. The entitlement of their children should not come as a surprise.

What is one entitled to, really? This is one of those existential questions like— What is life? The answer could be anything. It has been said that life is a novel.

What are entitlements? – The dictionary says entitlements are a guaranteed right.

As with everything we all have different answers to every question. Everything is subjective.

Life might be what you make it, and entitlements might be…

A. For the super rich they might be life changing unfair advantages- like buying admissions to Ivy League schools, buying politicians to create legislation that will grow your riches, buying immunity from the law, having connections who will employ you in a job you don’t deserve.

B. For those among the working class they are benefits they paid into throughout their lifetimes, like Social Security and Medicare, affordable healthcare.

The irony is that those in group A don’t believe those in group B are entitled to their entitlements.

Wealth gap guy w/healthcare, Joe Walsh, doesn’t think healthcare is a right. The United States healthcare system ranks last on the list among developed nations for having accessible healthcare. We CAN afford to take care of our people, but the greedy super rich are not required to pay their fair share of taxes, as are the middle class, so there is no money for healthcare. That and the fact that too many people are making money off the backs of the sick.

I may be a terrible person for deriving joy from the misfortune of others, but the timing of this story of indictments came as I was weighing options for medical bills I have that I simply can not afford to pay. (No need for indigence, I’ll find a way.) Even with “excellent health insurance,” healthcare in America is unaffordable. These newly felonious people have just posted millions of dollars in bond, after paying tens of thousands of dollars to cut in the college admissions line, and I can’t afford my portion of a bill charged by an in network, outpatient, facility where my daughter’s tonsils were removed.

Anyway, how did the cheating commence?

• Some kids claimed to have learning disabilities, and as such, were given unlimited time to take their college entrance exams, ACT & SAT.
• Some tests were taken for the kids by “ringers” (a genetically gifted 38 year old Yale alumni).
• Some kids test answers were changed prior to submission.
• Essays were submitted that were not written by the student.
• Some kids claimed to be athletes, photoshopping photos of them in action, and bribing coaches to concur.

Here is a picture of ME doing my cool down lap after winning the gold for the 400 meter backstroke in 2024 Summer Olympics… I don’t recall where it was held. (I’m so frugal that I still wear those glasses.)

With everything going on in the world today, it’s stupid to focus on this trivia, right?

Well, considering what just happened in New Zealand, of course this is a thoughtless post, and I’m sorry for it.

I think these problems are all somehow connected though. Divide and conquer goes back to Roman times.

My only defense in focusing on this today is my three college aged children. They are of the 99%— not rich. They have to work hard for everything they get. That’s fine if everyone is given the same opportunity to succeed.

There is nothing wrong with working hard, but there is something wrong if we’re working hard toward an unattainable goal, then we’re all just fools, aren’t we?

The rich and powerful are using their money to keep themselves rich and powerful and, in the process, stacking the deck against the rest of us, the 99%. They already have an unfair advantage. They have the money for private tutors, test prep courses, prep schools.

Rich kids miraculously getting into schools that should be beyond their, scope due to a lack of intellect and impetus, it’s not new.

I’ve been hearing first hand accounts from my own children. These kids cheat to get in, then they have to cheat to get through, then once they have their diplomas their family connections get them jobs they don’t deserve, eventually they’re on the Supreme Court, and they will never know what it is to have the weight of student loans bearing down on them.

The struggles of the middle class are nearly insurmountable when rich people cheat.

There are rules in life; it would help if we all followed them:

• The golden rule— “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

• The coach rule— “Quitters never win, winners never quit.”

• The pirate coach rule— “There’s no aye in team.”

• And the fairness rule— “Cheaters never prosper… if they get caught.”

Every charge and accusation facing the parents in the college admissions scandal

Hollywood actresses among dozens charged in college entrance exam cheating plot – NBC News