What does it say about the American economy when our memory of iconic businesses is shorter than their advertising campaigns?  Such is the case with Smith Barney.  In a September 25, 2012 press release, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management announced it would cease using the “Smith Barney” moniker even though Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman conceded, “The Smith Barney name stood for investment excellence for three quarters of a century.”  So much for standing on the shoulders of giants.  Edward Smith and Charles Barney became an inconvenient reminder of the days when clients’ interests came before executive compensation and golden parachutes.

Historical Footnote:  Morgan Stanley reached a $3.2 billion settlement for misrepresenting the risks of mortgage backed securities during the 2008 housing and financial crisis.  On second thought, maybe James Gorman had a midnight visit from the ghosts of Smith and Barney demanding he take their good name off Morgan Stanley’s label.

Yet, it is next to impossible to erase Smith Barney spokesperson John Houseman’s voice reminding us, “We make money the old fashion way,  we earn it.”  I thought about the commercial when I read Washington Post writer Petula Dvorak’s article about, “…the middle-finger salute seen around the world.”  The story chronicled how an employee Juli Briskman of Akima, a government contracting firm, had been fired after admitting she was the unidentified cyclist who, when biking past Donald Trump’s motorcade, visually expressed her displeasure with Trump’s policies and behavior.  As one would expect, the alt-right propaganda machine became more hysterical than Gone with the Wind’s Aunt PittyPat during the burning of Atlanta.  “My, my, how awful.  Such disrespect.  Is chivalry and honor dead?  Whatever will become of us?”

Now there are many issues associated with Ms. Briskman’s termination which deserve our attention.  She was not representing her employer or even on Akima’s premises at the time she exercised her First Amendment rights.  What does that say about an employer’s control over one’s private life?  How about the double standard?  When another Akima employee called a colleague “a fucking Libtard asshole” on a Facebook conversation about Black Lives Matter, he was allowed to delete the comment and remains in his senior director position at the company.  In contrast to Ms. Briskman, the poster’s Facebook page clearly identified him as an Akima employee.

But today I want to focus on the “supposed victim,” the entitled-in-chief Donald J. Trump.  His defenders were quick to point out the office of the president deserves respect regardless of the occupant.  (On yesterday’s episode of the new PBS program Mr. Obama’s Neighborhood, children are being asked “Can you say hypocrisy?”) But an office is an intangible concept.  And individuals who are respected come to that status, as Smith Barney used to claim, “…the old fashion way, they earn it.”  Something Donald Trump clearly does not understand.  Remember, he…

• Accepted a Purple Heart he did not earn.
• Constantly references the Super Bowl Ring he received from Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft which he did not earn.
• Claimed to understand the dangers of going to Vietnam by comparing it to his not contracting STDs.
• Takes credit for an American economic revival by promising everything and accomplishing nothing.
• Brags about his net worth even though he inherited $200 million from his father.  And, if he had invested it in an indexed stock fund, would be richer than he is today without multiple bankruptcies, bilking employees and subcontractors, laundering money and playing footsie with organized crime and America’s adversaries.

You want respect Donald?  Take your own advice from your October 29, 2017 Twitter meltdown about the failure of Republican members of Congress to save you from Robert Mueller.  “DO SOMETHING!”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP