10 August—The August 2024 American Rifleman—the premiere publication of the National Rifle Association and one reason I joined the NRA as a life member in the early 70s, before Wayne LaPierre knew it existed and lobbying became its absolutely necessary raison d’être—contained an ad for the Presidential Commemorative President Donald J. Trump Masterpiece Stein, “a truly grand, highly collectible historic tribute to our 45^th president. . . .”

And it’s a stein, not just a mug. For the record, a stein is a fancy mug, usually made of earthenware or metal and equipped with a thumb-levered lid, generally intended as a collectible or souvenir.

Trump’s 22-karat gold signature at the bottom of the stein is a bit different from the one we usually see. But that’s irrelevant. The quote on the back of the stein ascribed to Trump doesn’t sound at all like it came from his brain or his mouth, which probably aren’t connected at the best of times.

“No dream is too big, no challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.” Even if you worship Trump as your messiah, you know that’s just not him. And in all events it helps if your daddy got you started with a bloody great fortune and daddy and a brilliant but corrupt lawyer taught you how to screw the world.

Anyway, to see if the people who market the Trump stein for $129.99 plus $18.99 (minimum) shipping and tax give equal time to less gun-friendly pols, I went to the website. And sure enough Joe Biden and Barack Obama also have heirloom collectible porcelain steins for the same price. And with equally unlikely quotes. Capitalism is great. But no earlier presidents of any persuasion in the collection.

Biden’s “Freedom is an overwhelming American notion. The idea that we want to see the world, the peoples of the world free is something that all of us subscribe to,” besides being pretentiously sententious, is just not true. But it sounds feel-good and reads well. And that’s what counts.

On the other hand, Obama’s “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek,” even with a gratuitous comma, isn’t bad. Sounds good (if not overly feel-good), reads well, makes sense.

So here are the three $129.99 presidential steins, front and back. You’ll note that Obama’s signature is a bit more detailed than the bare BO pictured in yesterday’s disquisition and that Biden is the only guy who’s smiling: