What was the first thing that came to mind when you saw the title of today’s post?  The parallels between the 1972 and 2020 campaigns of two Republican presidents seeking a second term.  Deep Throat explaining to Bob Woodward the motive behind the Watergate break-in and other dirty tricks.  “Who did Nixon want to run against?  McGovern!  And who did he end up running against?  McGovern”  Or maybe, a warning that a too far left 2020 nominee like George McGovern would assure Trump’s re-election.

Well, dear reader, you would be wrong.  This entry is about franchises.  It was triggered by an unacceptable experience I had several years ago at a hotel in Panama City, Florida for which I felt some compensation was in order.  After being told by the on-site manager he did not feel they had done anything wrong, I called customer service for the corporation whose name was on the front of the hotel.  Their answer went something like this.

Each facility is independently owned and operated.  They are part of our branding primarily for shared marketing.  We cannot do anything about your complaint.

Based on this response, I immediately cancelled my rewards program with the company and, to this day, have never stayed at one of their facilities.

This morning, there is another entity which operates like a franchise which I hope I will not have to patronize much longer.  Even though I wanted to call it McDonald’s, I did not want to infringe on a registered trademark.  Therefore, I will refer to it as McTrump’s, which by the way recently announced the CEO’s wife is redecorating corporate headquarters complete with a new sign which includes fallen arches and the phrase “…320 million illegally-served.”

The corporate entity operates under the brand name Trump, but like the hotel chain, it has outsourced most of its work to franchisees.  Consider the following.

• Silencing playmates and porn stars was operated by a franchise owned by Michael Cohen and American Media, Inc., i.e. the National Enquirer.  Just like the hotel officials, McTrump told reporters, “I have nothing to do with that, ask Michael.”
• Foreign relations is now left up to franchisees Moe, Larry and Shemp otherwise known as Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
• Middle Eastern affairs are now delegated to franchisee Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Do not ask McTrump about health and human service policy.  All the employees of that Department were hired by and report to Mike Pence.
• And of course, responsibility for the unfaithful execution of the Constitution and non-enforcement of the law is now the sole purview of franchisee William Barr.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.  The title “McGovern 2019” was a bit of a misnomer.  I apologize. It should have been “McGovernMENT 2019.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP