Mystery solved, sort of

I used to wonder how so many voters could be foolish enough to vote for Cheeto Mussolini. The world has known for decades that the man is a grifter whose only real skill lies in conning people. I know a big chunk of his support comes from aggrieved mediocre white guys who blame their personal failures on prejudice against white dudes even though the majority of the guys who run the country are still white men. It's a weird disconnect from reality. Still, what could explain why otherwise relatively normal people would vote for an obviously cognitively impaired con man?

Then I had an up close and personal encounter with stupidity running so deep you could drown in it. As faithful readers (all 2 of you) know I've been involved with the local historical society for quite a few years. I've been a member since about 1990, a volunteer at the historical museum since 2012, and Treasurer since 2013. In 2016 the Society decided formally to designate me as Museum Manager, which is another way of saying I could decide stuff like ordering supplies without having to run the need for paper towels past the membership. 

Not anymore. Turns out that the illusion of something for nothing turns people stupid really fast . . . and once they're fixated on the something for nothing common sense vanishes. Long story, but back in late 2023 a representative of the Ancient Artifacts Preservation Society approached the Museum about their group doing a small display of copper artifacts, all of which have an Upper Peninsula connection. The Museum decided the proposed display would fit in nicely with the archeological exhibit, and it did. Two AAPS member set up the material in 2024. 

In late October the Museum was contacted by another AAPS member about expanding their display. The Museum said we could fit in another display case without much hassle. That's when the man said he was thinking bigger than just a second case; how would we feel about adding a couple rooms to the Museum? He said he would donate funds for construction. So I did some research, found out the dude was legitimate, i.e., really did have some money, was the author of several books about ancient artifacts and the ancient copper cultures, and was not a delusional loon. Maybe. 

The Museum is on leased land so no expansion would be possible without the consent of the Village of Baraga. I told the dude that and then talked to the Village Council. The Council was amenable to the idea but made it clear that any plans or designs had to be in compliance with current regulations. Because it is Village land, the Village has veto power. I relay this information to the dude.

He tells me the Historical Society needs to set up a brokerage account. As soon as the account is in place he will transfer a few shares of stock just to make sure the process is in place and working before he does a large transfer. We get an account set up with a firm that has a Baraga county office and a good reputation locally. I send the dude the information he needed to do a transfer.

That's when the dude stalls and says repeatedly that he would prefer the Museum use a different brokerage firm. The fact he's asking us for a favor is apparently irrelevant. I tell him it's not easy setting an account up when we're in a rural area. Because we are a nonprofit corporation in Michigan we need to use a firm that has a Michigan office, which would be a problem except the closest office for the firm he's pushing is in the Downer Peninsula 338 miles away. His response is that we need to get people in a car and head for Traverse City. No, at least as fast as I'm concerned. His objection to our local guy is that firm charges commissions. 

So what? All investment companies charge fees. No one works for free. If there are fees charged it would be better to have the money go to a local office than to an office 338 miles away.

The stalling and rejecting the financial company we preferred were giant red flags. So were a number of other oddities. Long ago in a galaxy far away my employer (the federal government) decided to train me as a COTR - Contracting Office's Technical Representative - and  training laid it on thick about the need for detailed documentation. Nothing vague, ambiguous, or open ended. So I kept asking the dude for a Memorandum of Understanding. Just exactly what did he want his donation to pay for? "A beautiful new museum" is not an answer. Something like "A 2500 square foot addition with two exhibit rooms" would have closer to specifics but instead each time I talked with the dude the fantasies about the amazing new museum grew more elaborate. It went from adding two exhibit rooms to becoming two stories and including a 2-bedroom apartment for housing for staff. 

The red flags kept popping up. Every time I talked with him the stock he was going to donate changed. He made very condescending comments about the museum as it exists now when he's never been to Baraga. The last time I talked with him he said he wasn't happy that Baraga Country Historical Society states in its by-laws that the mission of the Society is to preserve Baraga County history. He thought the Society should change that to emphasize the ancient artifacts. The spectacle was looking more and more like an old-fashioned Soviet era May Day parade and not at all like a serious attempt at a donation.

Then a red flag came up that was a doozy. Normally I'd say it was a garrison sized flag, but maybe a Camping World size flag would be more accurate. The dude asked me as Historical Society treasurer to write him a receipt for a 2024 donation valued at over $38,000. He needed the deduction for his 2024 tax return. One huge problem. As of late April 2025 the Museum had received nothing tangible from the dude. Lots of vague promises but absolutely nothing tangible. No money, no objects, just lots of vague promises. 

You would think that when the Historical Society membership heard about the request for us to commit a federal felony they'd react like sane people and recognize the dude was scamming us. You'd be wrong. Instead they pushed hard for kissing the dude's butt, doing the drive to Traverse City, and giving him the false receipt. They seem to think getting the theoretical donation will magically become an ATM for their pet projects. After I made it clear I don't look good in orange, one member organized a meeting without telling me and proceeded to vote me out and installed herself as new Treasurer. I didn't find out about it until several days afterwards.

The sneaking around trying to be clever royally pissed me off, of course. If they had bothered talking with me I would have been ecstatic to pass on the headaches involved in dealing with the delusional dude with the mythical money. I could watch someone else get grilled by IRS investigators while I quietly worked on exhibits or inventory. As it was, the blindsiding bullshit resulted in a bridge so thoroughly incinerated it's gone. Not even ashes left. 

The woman whose brilliant plan it was to remove me totally overlooked the fact that I wasn't just the Treasurer. I was the volunteer curator, archivist, Secretary, and grants writer. They're kind of floundering at the moment. Somewhere the world's tiniest violin . . .

FWIW I believe the dude is sincere in the desire for a museum and he probably has the money but he is either slipping into his dotage or is being poorly advised. For sure he was not behaving like a high dollar donor who knew what the proper procedures should be.