Reminds me of Trumps claims about the A-List stars who would perform at his inaugural. Instead, it was the Piano Guys, even with reported offers of ambassadorships according to Vanity Fair (https://www.vanityfair.com/ hollywood/2016/12/trump-inauguration-performers-quest.)
4
Just so, Mr. Blow. Donald Trump is the "Grim Reaper" who will harvest the soul of the Republic. I keep pinching myself, telling myself that this (Trump) isn't happening and I am just having a nightmare.
13
dt has again been the agent of his own define...and deride. We the people want the best in the white house who DON'T want to be there. That is why they are the best. People at the top of their field who serve, not people who want a chance to resume' the white house. dt does not grasp the clamoring for white house work for gain as opposed to the sacrifice for national service. He does not get awesomely capable people but the awful carpetbaggery. dt does not grasp 'loyalty', certainly not as an oath, but he is addicted to fealty-an overlord that need obedience and servile.
4
Watching this pathetic melodrama play out day after day month after month is exhausting. Trump has brought the dignity of the US to an all time low.
13
We've all been exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of Trump's tweets, speeches, quotes and videos of him speaking. That first paragraph quoting a Trump tweet was not written by Trump alone. Trump sometimes speaks well extemporaneously, but he's very inconsistent, and often very repetitive and limited. His tweets, however, are predictibly similar. That one didn't sound like Trump.
2
The only energy around Trump is a vortex of complicity and incompetence. - You forgot corruption!
10
-Trump later added: “You need people that are truly, truly capable, and you need, and I think so much has to do with past history: how’ve they done, how’s it all worked out. You understand what I mean by that, perhaps better than anybody. And, we have to get the best people.” -
Can we start with the President?!
8
For some reason, these days my mind keeps returning to foreign dictators.
The main aim of Mao's disastrous 'Cultural Revolution' in China was to purge from positions of authority (supposedly reactionary) 'Experts' in favor of fervent, clueless 'Reds.' Result: after a year of economic disaster, Mao had to beg the Experts to return. Understandably, a high percentage of them refused to do him the favor. Why take the chance of getting purged twice in one lifetime?
The chief economic problem of the Iranian revolution is the Islamic Republic's insistence on sticking religious clerics into jobs where their knowledge of the Noble Quran has no relevance. Result: much the same as in China.
The central failing of Trump's revolution is well described by Mr. Blow. Definitely the same sort of idiocy from an aspiring dictator.
10
Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke. I could go on, but these incompetents make Trump’s declarations about how he eould staff his administration a joke - and s bad one at that.
10
And a disaster of an administration is exactly what we have!
7
Trump is the classic example of an emotionally abused child who hasn't the courage or introspective adeptness to rid himself of his ill-formed strategies for coping with the world. You can look at all 14 of the Adult Children of Alcoholic or Dysfunctional Families here: http://www.adultchildren.org/lit-Laundry_List.
Of particular relevance to Mr. Blow's piece is #8: such "adult children" are addicted to excitement. In lay terms, it means if you grew up in a crisis-ridden household, as Trump did (abusive father, codependent mother, alcoholic brother), that's your base comfort level. Unless you recognize and deal with this, you're going to work round the clock, unconsciously, to recreate that atmosphere.
In other words, no matter your sex or gender expression, you become a drama queen. Hellooooo Donald!
The scary part is that aside from all of his horrible qualities as a person, he's got the nuclear codes. Now *there's* some drama.
8
Turnover in a staff can be a good thing if it happens for productive reasons. This white house's staff turnover is for the wrong reasons: disillusionment, bullying, humiliation, disrespect, incompetence, political naivete, opportunism, morning after regrets, etc. Not a healthy way to run any office much less the most powerful office in the world.
8
So if so many of "the best" people are so eager to work in the White House, how come he hasn't even nominated anyone to fill - what is it, about 1/3 of the positions? Why are so many of the people he nominates failing to win Senate approval? Why do we still lack critical people like an ambassador to South Korea?
11
It's evident that Trump's goal has been to put a fox in charge of every government hen house and in that sense he has hired the "best people."
9
I wish those TV Trump spoofs, generally performed very mediocre and utterly boring, would stop and make space for some serious efforts to seriously push a huge part of the electorate past the current state of their denial.
1
First rate manages hire first rate managers. Second rate manages hire third rate managers. Just imagine where that leaves Mr. Trump.
8
Trump argues that his "management" insures a thorough internal vetting of key issues, such as immigration, health insurance, the tax plan, and now tariffs.
But more and more, it appears that his style is what I would call the soft sofa, wherein his decisions bear the imprint of the last person who sat on him. Steven Miller on immigration; Peter Navarro on trade; Wayne LaPierre on gun control legislation.
8
We see over and over that Trump's lies are of the delusional variety. I think he truly believes what he is saying so in his mind he is not uttering falsehoods but just plainly obvious assessments of how he sees things. Shame on anyone who chooses to go along with him down his delusional path of self-deceit. And yet there are still so many in that category who never say die and believe their proximity to the power center is an end justified unto itself.
4
It's amazing how Trump's use of hyperbole and self-centered points of reference cannot mask in the slightest shape or form the uncanny mediocrity that he has brought to the White House. What a sorry and shameful spectacle for all the American people to see!
8
In describing his love of conflict, Trump reveals himself to be a sadist. This was also the unvarnished theme of Celebrity Apprentice. People humiliating themselves for and at his pleasure.
10
If indeed character is fate, we will continue to see an ongoing implosion of the Trump administration. This is like watching a slow-motion disaster and I hope that a true crisis does not develop on Trump's watch.Clearly he does not have the requisite skill set to deal effectively with a true crisis.
7
Trump does not understand the nature of anyone's role in the White House-including being president, so how can he judge anyone's competency for jobs that he can't define? But all he cares about anyway is someone's loyalty to him, to heck with their knowledge or ability.
I'd like to think after this horror show of an administration that the American people will ignore bluster and empty promises in the future and look to someone's resume and past performance instead. Based on resumes alone, it was obvious that a lawyer, former Senator, and former Secretary of State was a better choice than a failed real estate developer and reality show producer.
5
Another dynamic may be at work. Rather than hiring loyalists with no expertise, Trump may hire unqualified people as a strategy to gain loyalty. Consider Bernie Madoff. Madoff's inner circle were grossly overpaid, uncredentialed people who could never find comparable jobs with comparable pay elsewhere. That made them loyal. And complicit when expected to participate in crimes. I think this is a common strategy in criminal circles -- pick people who lack credentials to match their ambitions, and they will be beholden.
6
I am in total agreement. It is painful that such a man is president of this country and such a time in the history of civilization. Climate change threatens and is already upending lives on a daily basis around the globe. The population of the planet is bursting as resources diminish while people like Donald Trump are rolling back reproduction rights 50 plus years. Do I need to go on? I did not vote for him. It’s horrifying who the people in my already great country voted for.
4
The one or two people still left on the deck of the sinking Trumptanic, and who perhaps actually care about doing the right thing, have been going about trying to influence the Narcissist-in-Chief the wrong way. Don’t try to reason with Trump. Instead, just keep telling him that if, for example, he lets South Korea and North Korea negotiate a rapprochement, he will win the Nobel Peace Prize.
6
Notice how Trump says everyone wants to work in the White House; that may be true. The best and brightest don't want to work with HIM at the White House, however.
5
Water seeks its won level.
Birds of a feather stick together.
The Apple does not fall far from the tree.
and
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
There are reasons that these old sayings remain in use.
6
Any resume with "worked for Trump" would immediately go to the "round file" at any reputable company.
8
At this point accepting a job offer from the white house would be evidence of willingness to engage in a criminal conspiracy.
Should you receive such an offer your first question is where will certified funds be deposited in my control for my coming legal troubles.
No, I don't trust you to cover it.
Once funds are deposited, take them and run to Mr Muller.
6
Why does Trump only hold press conferences when he's with a head of state from another country? Is he afraid to meet the press on his own?
17
trump thinks he is still running an apprentice show .
This is the what the new White House is ,just a show devoid of vision, plans for the future, wisdom,integrity,honesty, truth.
Only apprentices will apply, the others will stay away , they will not allow to be branded.
17
The worst people are always tribal people, as tribal people will do anything to protect their own, no matter what they have done, how evil, despicable, how many people they arrest, kill, etc. Most of humanity lives under dictators, and tyrants, in countries like Russia, Syria, Turkey, North Korea, Philippines, etc. The slippery slope of lying often brings individuals, and those around them to commit other crimes down the road. It is always a slippery slope, which either seems to bring those around bad people closer, or makes them want to flee.
14
Trump speak brings to mind the (now paraphrased) lawyer joke... "how can you tell trump is lying? Easy, his lips are moving". 'Nuff said.
Vote Them Out !
PS you can include Mitch McCONnell, Paul Ryan and Mike Pence in that "lying" too. Wait a sec don't forget Sarah Sanders and Kelly Ann CONway.
24
Today's front page news in the Vancouver (Canada) Sun:
Trump Tower Vancouver residents warned to keep windows shut to ensure elevator works
You can't make this up.
24
It appears that Trump has put himself in the exact position he has been wanting. That is controller of all. If he controls trade he then controls us and the world. You know that he will give better tariff "deals" to countries that will do Trump family projects. How is the Republican Congress letting him bring us down without peep. What are they protecting themselves from?
Please Robert Mueller HURRY. Trump is taking us down with him!!!
18
The "Churn" of the low level blue collar work place transferred to the White House. Donald Junior should start a temp agency that all political hires go through. That might help make up for all the money lost since Dad's in government service. Perhaps housing could be provided in the basement of the hotel (deducted from wages of course). It worked with those Polish guys doing hand demolition in NYC? Maybe the office space should be outsourced too. I'm sure that an old strip mall store with coin operated bathroom stalls can be found. What creates competition and opposing points of view better than the one free toilet when you don't have a quarter?
6
On a lighter note, if we had to elect a TV personality and de facto head of a crime family as President, I would have much preferred the fictional Tony Soprano over the low ratings trump. Tony was a more loving father and husband, ate better food, hired more loyal and competent minions, and most importantly, possessed the intelligence to get himself to a shrink. Oh, and let's not forget, he never once proclaimed to be a "good christian."
Charles Blow, your assessment of trump is spot on.
20
He loved the ducks, too.
6
“When you choose loyalists and sycophants over experts and professionals” —Is that how you got this job?
4
Omarosa Manigault-Newman
She was a great one.
6
Birds of a feather flock together. Normal, sane, competent, and professional politicos are not going to work for an ignorant, dishonest and corrupt buffoon like tRump. If, however, you're a nutter like Carter Page and Roger Stone, or simply a "liar for hire" like Sarah Huckabee Sanders, well, tRump was your dinner bell.
19
I would like to see the NYT investigate and publish a list of what previous WH personnel are doing now. Priebus, who has started his own law firm on promises to 'open the doors to the WH' for his clients, is just one example. Who are these 'clients'? How have other, second rate WH staff profited?
10
Trump would be out in a minute if not for GOP complicity - he is a useful idiot for McConnell and Ryan, who are, in turn, serving their mega-wealthy donors.
That's how this happens: vast sums of money are involved in this idiot and the oligarchs couldn't care less if the White House is "chaotic." In fact, they kind of like it - it distracts us from the heist that's taking place.
23
The first person in an argument who issues an ad hominem attack has lost the argument. I'm willing to bet that with Trump, that person wins for that reason alone, Trump having sufficient insight to see what he loves about himself in that person.
5
We (yes, I'm talking about you taxpayers) have spent $2.4 trillion on the war in Afghanistan with nothing to show for it.
"Best people" SECDEF Mattis is clueless. Currently, his success rate in Afghanistan is on a par with Queen Victoria's. The Russian-British confrontations over Afghanistan that began in 1840 should have provided him with ample evidence of this debacle. Our presence there as the Infidel is only creating terrorists.
9
The leaks about Mr. Trump coming unglued due to the unrelenting pressure his self-inflicted chaos has produced lead me to suggest a new White House position: Presidential Jester. Instead of a belled cap and harlequin tunic, he should come dressed in a boxer's head gear and steel cup, a flak jacket and rose colored glasses. His primary duties would be to mock the fake news and absorb his boss's fury over being misunderstood and ridiculed.
10
All the observations, all the frustration, and pain felt by Americans feel about the current state of our United States lead me to conclude there is only one remedy we as a people can undertake with our own hands. VOTE! Vote at the mid-terms to put a real brake on this madness! Let the voters make the politicians understand the folly of their subjugation to 45 (I can't honestly utter his name). VOTE! Vote! vote!
19
Zero integrity, zero morality, zero decency, zero competence, that is what we have in the Oval Office. The people willing to work for such a man are in those categories or are willing to compromise their reputations for the good of the country (General Mattis comes to mind).
It is a constant drumbeat of chaos, malfeasance and lies, that is the music of Trump and his minions.
7
His lies must be and are challenged in real time! Yesterday's "disaster of an administration" only pales in comparison with today's. Our front line against the special interests' salesman is every one of our American journalists who sort out and refute His Myth Making Bunk, instantaneously. Thank you!
7
I hate to say it, but your talent is wasted in putting out these repeated Trump editorials. I totally agree with your points, but generally you're not exploring any new territory and it is a waste of your talents. Maybe once a month? I would love to hear your thoughts on a greater variety of issues.
7
Trump remains so generous about exposing exactly what's happening through his denials. Denial is one of the most primitive mechanisms of defense. I'm reminded of the kids running out of the woods next door where I grew up. One of them was bloody, and another one was yelling, "We weren't throwing rocks!" Of course, I'm getting weary of Trump's generosity and would consider it a further help to take it far away from us as he leaves the presidency a.s.a.p.
5
Not only are they the "worst people" in terms of immorality, dishonesty, avarice and incompetence, but every last one of them are wittingly or unwittingly agents of a foreign power adverse to American interests. If you work for a Russian agent to further his interests, which align with Russia's, you are ipso facto a Russian agent as well. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
7
Trump is a good example of "throwing good money after bad."
4
Thinking about the difference of the humor associated with a banana peel or the indignity associated with living in a banana republic. I suddenly realized that in America, most of us believe we are living in a "banana peel" kakistocracy. Unfortunately for our national pride, the world laughs at us continually while we howl constantly from yet another new imperious embarrassment.
4
Trump says “everybody wants to work in the White House.”
And with his turnover rate, everybody will have a turn.
12
At this point in time Trump appears to be too toxic for anyone even remotely qualified to consider working in his administration. I remember when Charlottsville occurred, Mnuchin's alumni publicly told him to "resign immediately." That was then and this is now. I bet he wishes he had listened then, for now the time is even more desperate than ever. It's almost like those working for and who also pledged their loyalty to Trump are now in a very tenuous situation. Their future prospects are looking dimmer all the time and rightfully so.
4
Any person with integrity and morals would not work in the Trump administration. Romney is a good example of someone with no integrity who bashed Trump and then ran as fast as he could when Trump called him to come eat frog legs and talk about the Secretary of State position.
8
Help wanted. Apply now! People are lining up for the best jobs in the world. Unscrupulous shameless yes-men. White men. No experience or knowledge needed. A once in a lifetime money-making opportunity! No security clearance, no problem. We'll consider anybody. Vast wealth and Ivy League degree a must. Gratuitous principles and pointless honesty not a plus. What you do to women in your own time is your own business. Trump U diplomas will not be honored. Once in a lifetime opportunity to work for a Very Stable Genius who loves blacks and women. Send resume with application fee ($1 million) to Donald Trump c/o The Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office.
8
We get this disaster of an administration, but that also means we get no governance. None at all. We have a "government" full of people who are opportunists and profiteers with no interest or knowledge of good governance; no interest in the public interest; no concept of public interest.
We the people have a country on the brink: of any disaster, you name it: foreign policy (nuclear war?), economics (trade war?), science (environmental disaster) education (an education secretary with no experience or respect for public education). I could go on and on, but the summary is: only we, the voters, can turn this around. Trump will never, ever turn this fiasco around.
4
King Donald rewards his friends and punishes his enemies. Words we call 'laws' are useful only as justification for what king Donald wants to do; otherwise they are ignored. There has been a lot of this attitude on the Republican side of the fence for many years, but Donald has taken it to a level previously unimagined - or untried, at least. He uses the power of the justice system selectively, to enforce his rule.
Donald's partisans are loyal (or perhaps frightened of him) to a fault; there's no reasoning with a fanatic. King Donald can do no wrong, or if he does it's not his fault. Rules are meant for other people - or Democrats - to follow. Trump-populism is just another word for 'scofflaw' - 'wrong' means 'getting caught'.
The ballot box got us into this mess and it will have to get us out…that and Robert Mueller.
4
I would respectfully take issue with this:
"Of course the White House is in chaos. It’s just that Trump has lived his whole life in a state of chaos, so it feels perfectly normal to him."
The implication is that Trump misconstrues the reality of the situation and therefore that his claims, though wrong because they're based on this distorted view, are well-intentioned. I don't agree. In this instance, I believe that he fully recognizes that the Executive Branch is in chaos and is deliberately, cavalierly lying about it. In fact, I think he considers succeeding in verbal whitewashing more important than succeeding in the presidency. In general, I think, his approach to this job (and to life) is that if he can make it to the next day with his two-scoops privilege intact then he doesn't really care about the rubble he leaves all about him.
5
All true, but you forgot to add:
hiring people who hate, and will actively work to destroy, the agency or department they are going to lead.
(In those cases their incompetence actually becomes a benefit
6
Charles, your column that was posted today and your insightful observations keep bubbling up front and center in my conscious mind. When I begin to feel tense as I review Trump's insidious behavior the discerning words of Howard Zinn come to mind: "The lesson of history is that you must not despair, that if you are right, and you persist, things will change. The government may try to deceive the people, and the newspapers and television may do the same, but the truth has a way of coming out. The truth has a power greater than a hundred lies." WE THE PEOPLE must continue to persistently ask probing questions and demand that our questions are answered by Trump, our elected Senators & Representatives & the News Media. WE MUST PERSIST & SEEK the pathways that lead to solid facts & truths. Today, I am especially grateful for the work of Robert Mueller and insightful writers like you. Thank you. If you can keep fighting the good fight so can WE THE PEOPLE.
9
Ther is one example between a comparison of Hitlerand Trumpthat seems to have credibility. The folks who permitted Hitler to rise to power thought they could contain him for their own purposes. How wrong they were! In a similar manner, the GOP establishment while against him in the beginning, came to believe they could at leSt contain him for their purposes. How wrong they are!
25
Damning Trump with his own words is pointless. The biggest promise he made during the campaign was that "Mexico was going to pay for the wall" that was number one on the hit parade. If the wall is ever built Mexico is definitely not going to pay for it, American Taxpayers will, at the cost of billions. So what's the point in bringing up all the times Trump lied or misled, even he can't keep up with himself. And his supporters will back him up no matter what he says and does.
14
That is the scariest thing about Trump - his supporters don't care how many times he lies right to their faces, or how many traitors he has in his administration, or how many times he's been unfaithful to his various wives. Basically he is a horrible person, and THEY DON'T CARE! This is terrifying.
8
I don't understand how the White House is in chaos and if it is, then how is Trump accomplishing so much more than Obama?
Most of the people who left the White House were fired so I don't see that as an indication of any problem.
Instead what I see is a president who has made the economy boom. Unemployment is at an all time low, especially for black people.
I see a man who is fighting radical Islamists and winning.
I see a man who is calling out the free press for its corruption, but upholding the 1st amendment in the process.
I see a man who has made some errors only to be held in check by the systems of checks and balances, in contrast to Obama who corrupted the DOJ, FBI, and IRS.
Last, Trump's popularity rating is higher than Obama's was at this time in the presidency. What's more fascinating about this is that the press covered up Obama's mistakes. In contrast, Trump is under siege from a hostile and biased press, Hollywood, academia, and anti-American progressives who use Alinsky tactics. Hillary outspent Trump 2 to 1 in the campaign and still lost. Colleges are banning conservative thought outright. and yet Trump is winning.
Truthfully, I don't even know why I am writing this--usually the Times does not post my comments. I guess even the Times is afraid of free thought and expression. Well, I assume that someone is reading this, even if it's just one more corrupt journalist!
4
What he’s “accomplishing” is destroying a functioning government, and our country.
2
Truthfully, I don't even know why I am writing this
To remind us of the intellectual vacuity of tRump supporters. And you did just that.
2
Instead what I see is a president who has made the economy falter. More jobs were created in 2016 than 2017. The stock market has begun to slide.
I see a man who came in after Obama had shrunk ISIS' territory, and now takes credit.
I see a man who is calling out the free press for its reporting facts it does not like, praising Neo-Nazis, and calling football players sons of female dogs for exerting their Constitutional rights.
I see a man who has had three appointees at the minimum plead to felonies, while not even one Obama official was ever indicted.
Last, Trump's popularity rating is lower than Obama's was at this time in the presidency, and in fact historically low. What's more fascinating about this is Fox made constant false claims about Obama which the poster above me took in hook, line, and sinker, while not reporting on the current admin's many undisputed crimes. In contrast, democracy is facing an onslought from a GOP who hasn't won more than one popular vote since 1988, Neo-Nazis who the president praises, who commit countless acts of violence including Charlottesville and the Florida shooting, the terroristic NRA, the propaganda outlet Fox News, and so-called Americans who aid and abet Russia's terrorist attack on our election. This is why Russia interfered in our election, with the NRA and GOP's willing assistance, but still lost the popular vote. Colleges are worried about Neo Nazis on their campus, and yet Trump can't even win an election in Alabama.
9
I would love to ask Trump to write a good, old-fashioned compare and contrast essay on his cabinet and Lincoln's.
7
Unfortunately, David, Trump could neither read the information needed nor write anything longer than a tweet.
5
"I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that. And then I make a decision. But I like watching it, I like seeing it ... " Emperor mode, indeed. E.g. Caligula who considered himself a god. I see Mr. Trump imagining gladiators fighting and giving one the "thumbs down", repeatedly. All for his amusement while the wheels are falling off the "empire".
10
If you plan to work for this president you will need a $100,000 legal fund to get in the door.
14
Prepping to testify to Congress starts at $30,000 in legal bills and goes up from there.
4
For Trump the swamp are incorruptible decent judges and civil servants. The elite are people with knowledge who follow facts not feelings. To get rid of the swamp he hires accordingly the opposite.
7
I don’t think I’ll ever tire of 2016 presidential campaign reruns either. Likewise the Andy Griffith Show is still high on my viewing schedule. The world seemed so simple back then.
4
This is what "Small Government" looks like. The Republican party's dream of shrinking government is wide awake with this administration, congress, and courts.
This is what "Privatizing" government functions looks like. He's brought in private sector zealots to run government for the benefit of themselves and private sector giants. They manage it as if it is their own private entity, profits to make, money to spend on oneself and cronies.
It is self evident: Small Government does not work. Privatizing government does not work.
12
Come on Charles,
You deal in objective reality. Of course objective reality informs us that this administration is comprised of the absolute worst people and that no one with the slightest bit of integrity would even consider joining it after the past 13 months' track record.
You have to put all of that aside and get with the program, you know? Think about how well Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson and the rest of the alt-right talking head media figures cope with this. It's easy. Join a "we-put-objective-reality-cognizance-in-a-jar-by-the-door" self help therapy group, and call it a day.
4
So at the end of several innings of play it's Trump 0 and the home team 6. Bannon was tossed out at first, Price was tagged trying to steal home, Porter struck out after he struck, Hicks was tagged out in a pickle of her own making, Preibus, a first round draft choice whiffed, Cohn walked off the field, Flynn got tagged out trying to bunt, Omarosa was cut from the team. Manigault-Newman gave up, Gorka imploded in the dugout, Scaramucci got tossed by the refs for illegal procedure after 11 days, and Spicer made the team look smart and got cut. So, it's a shutout....no runs, no hits, all errors....with Carson and deVos left in the dugout....
8
Mr. Blow, think of what wonderful diversions these people create. They create ratings for the publicity-addicted president ,and for him, any publicity is good publicity. Porn star affairs, wife-beaters, expensive dining sets, private jet travel, bigots, faux Bowling Green massacres and so much more capture headlines and take away the focus on Muller. The only problem is that all these headline grabbers eventually take a hike while Mueller keeps marching forward.
8
We were sitting around last night discussing Ron Chernow's biography of Grant, and Grant's autobiography. We all agreed that someone who could write and speak with such simple clarity had to be someone who could think clearly. Read almost any statement of Trump's and you find a labyrinth of unfinished thoughts, unfinished sentences, and the whole thing circling back to whatever the idea was in the first place - which is usually to attack or deny something. The man is incoherent. No wonder the White House is in chaos.
16
My comment is not original, but is an apropos description of the dilemma..."elect a clown; get a circus".
Unfortunately, the clown is frightening and not entertaining in the least.
8
Don’t understand why Ben Carson, an allegedly remarkable neurosurgeon, becomes in charge of Housing and Urban Department.
5
Yes. Good article. Looks like the rats are deserting the sinking ship.
5
This day-in day-out saga of Trump is getting so old. He's a disaster and everybody - including Republicans - know it. Yet the people in power - Republicans - won't do a thing about it, even if it imperils our country.
Party and Power Over Country = Republicans.
Vote them out. Vote. Every. Single. Republican OUT in November. Out of office and, if I could, get every single one of them out of the country. I hear Russia is getting nicer every day under Putin. But, too bad, Republicans, you can't bring your guns. And I know you love them more than anything. But you'll love Russia, great leader Trump says.
9
Trump says that "everyone" wan's to work in his White House...a week after Chief of Staff Kelly says "I didn't want to leave DHS, but 'God punished me'"
Even the people theoretically on his side lament involvement with Trump.
4
Trump is only America writ large and stupid.
Trump is the way America does things.
Under Eisenhower/Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon, we invaded Vietnam, killed millions, wrecked the environment, and finally retreated in disgrace. Did we ever do anything to fix the mess? No.
Under Bush, we invaded Iraq. Never mind that it had nothing to do with 9/11. Wrong country? a mere detail.
Under Bush, we invaded Afghanistan. Convenient scapegoat. Any real connection to 9/11? Not the government. Details, details!
America is the big kid on the block, and we don't answer to anyone. Let someone else clean up the mess.
Trump is the perfect expression of America's character.
12
And now, as a collective, we are reaping our karma for all the atrocities you summarize.
1
I would love to know what Republicans in Congress are saying to each other behind closed doors. Do they see a problem here? Are they waiting for someone to be bad guy and be a leader on this?
6
Left out perhaps the worst/saddest part of his style of letting combatants duke it out to determine national policy: ultimately he just agrees with whoever had the last word.
4
A democracy, by its nature, allows for leadership volatility. We have always been willing to believe that the checks and balances in the US would mitigate that volatility and help maintain an expected level of steadiness. Instead what has happened in the US over the last three decades is that the slow and deliberate attacks on our society- coming mostly from within through conservative and ultra conservative outlets - has weakened the democracy to the point where we can no longer simply rely on the checks and balances to pull us back to sanity.
Our whole political system is now like a patient operating on a weak heart who has been on an unhealthy diet for the last 30 years and is now reliant on continual surgical remedies to stay alive.
Dems or GOP notwithstanding, there is no strong leadership on the horizon that will pull us back to an even keel. In simply reacting to Trump, we have set very low bars and expectations - for anything that follows Trump has to be viewed as a victory of sorts. We went through the same notion with GW Bush. Then along came Obama and we said "Thank God". Well, we have fallen far lower with Trump as compared to Bush. Who will come next ? I don't see anybody better than Obama on the horizon. I only see pandering and posturing but no vision.
5
There was a comment earlier that a retired General is not a general but a civilian. Not so! I retired as an Air Force colonel in 1980, and am still a colonel on the retired roster. I am still subject to various aspects of the UCMJ. I am still on the Government payroll via my pension. I still,have the right to be addressed as Colonel Kennedy, but never push it. I will never be a pure civilian again, not that there is anything wrong with being a civilian.
I just want to clarify matters.
2
Thank you for the clarification Colonel Kennedy!
3
The result of the big tax cut is $27 more a month. Another result is an increase in the interest rates that will more than gobble up any increase in monthly salary. Last year I refinanced at 3.25% interest. Now it's 4.7% and rising. We have the 1.5 trillion addition to the deficit from the tax break for the rich to thank for that. Again, the results don't line up with the (empty) words. I cannot understand how anyone capable of fogging a mirror cannot see through the constant empty lies from this POTUS and administration.
9
Trump loves to watch people disagree. As did the viewers of his silly t.v. show, in which he pitted actors against one another to compete for fake jobs . Sadly, a very large number of American voters confused what they saw on that t.v. show with leadership, rather than recognizing that any manager who tried to run a company by turning team members against each other would be fired for creating a toxic work environment. Now we daily try to maintain balance in this toxic national dialogue, so that Trump can entertain himself.
5
Donald Trump gave the whole world an in your face preview of a chaotic personality BEFORE he became president. More than 50 million American's, despite undisputable evidence of an endless number of character & value flaws reflected from Donald's own mouth still voted him into office.
I can only surmise that many of these same people enjoyed the show Trump put on then, and enjoy the show he is putting on now. I believe Trump understands this because at his core he is an insecure 24 hour/7 day a week entertainer. Other important affairs, no matter their enormous weight or gravity in terms of how his actions, words and decisions impact the country or the world are even considered. The horror show of Trump's presidency must go on, even if it is a REAL LIFE horror show. Because in Trump's mind, Its entertainment folks!!!
1
Democrats take note: You are are not going to take back the House and unlikely to take back the Senate for the simple reason that those who voted for Donald Trump continue to support him. Moreover, Republican voters who might prefer a different Republican as President still prefer any Republican over a Democrat when it comes to selecting Senators and Representatives. The best chance to take back the Senate is a relentless campaign to register voters. Stop listening to CNN and MSNBC. It is a feel good, head in the sand behavior.
3
The White House is stilled filled with "ex"military Generals and as one would expect after a covert military takeover, the talk of endless war, bottomless Pentagon budgets and scare tactics about monsters in the night are in full bloom. Hold onto you teens and pre-teens, because they are coming to enlist them all very soon. And eeeeeeeevryone will thank you for their service(or death) so don't fret, at least you will have that to put on the shelf along with hope and prayers.
2
Edward. Enlist the teens , as in draft? Never going to happen. The silent masses who march in these occasional faux feel good protests will really take to the streets and then we will see a sixties style rebellion The plutocracy does not want that but maybe that's what we need!
2
As bad as Trump is Hillary couldn't beat him because Democrats handed hom the election. Trump flipped six states compared to 2012 and overall votes by Democrats were down by almost a million in those states.
2
Vote, Americans. Vote. Your country needs you.
17
"My crew? Running round--a bit manic!
But still--I would deprecate panic.
I have plans I have planned.
I have things well in hand
As I steer my stout ship, the Titanic."
More and more. . . .
. .. the horror and the absurdity of this presidency. . .
. . .moves me to verse. BAD verse, I'm afraid.
Sorry.
Good column, Mr. Blow. Says it all. Thanks.
9
Why are the worst people imaginable in the White House? This is my anecdotal evidence.
Just after the Republican primary a year and a half ago I asked a former friend who was known for his polite and gentlemanly manner how on earth he could support Trump, a man that is so clearly and indisputably a very bad person to be leading this country.
I was perplexed and, as it turns out, naive.
His answer was an eye opener I will never forget.
He casually and confidently explained, “Are you kidding, Al, anybody is better than the erudite, liberal, black monkey who used to be in the White House.”
The deep racism and unmistakable hate in his explanation was sincere and I knew in an instant that he was incapable of reasonable thinking despite his fine college education and long professional career.
25
I can see why he’d be a *former* friend.
9
Weird. And what did he say about the person who was actually running against DT?
3
How anyone with any character at all could swear fealty to this man, like sheep, and just because he demands it, is gobsmacking. Proving that many people have not learned one thing, nor advanced themselves one iota, since any cretinous soul swore allegiance to a hate-filled, anti-democratic dictator -- and were rightly rewarded for doing so; often with the gallows.
6
To get a wider perspective of the disintegrating situation in Washington, history offers many examples. Consider the following descriptions of some European monarchs who lost their thrones:
“Red-faced and hot-tempered ……. filled his court with undeserving favourites and spent too much time out hunting”; “was bored by government responsibility and addicted to pleasure and extravagance”; “His attempt to renege on commitments made at the signing of Magna Carta in 1215 led to civil war”; “weak-willed playboy dominated by favourites, …… was an ineffective and unpopular king”; “attempted to reverse the outcome of the English Revolution by establishing an absolute monarchy.”
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Book of Ecclesiastes)
7
During the election a number of my friends on the left expressed their concern that Trump could be another Hitler. Well, I think we know now, he's no Hitler and that's not because Hitler was obsessively evil. No, one should note that when Hitler came to power he brought a well honed team with him (Goebbels, Goering, Himmler, et. al.) and they all literally stuck with him until death. Trump can't keep anyone loyal for even a few months. Looser.
11
roman emperors often loved the blood sport of chaos pitting people against other, then destroying the winner as a threat to their authority. It gave them great fun to have the power of life and death as they turned their thumbs up or down at the Coliseum. So history repeats itself with the corresponding carnage.
But as with any empire the chaos ripples out into the world as described so eloquently by Sylvie Kaufman in this morning's Times. Our allies around the world have learned that they must ignore the chaos in our White House or be sucked down into it. Crazy, out of control tweets can never substitute for solid communications and people you can depend upon to take your back.
When I look at what our presidency which should be a shining light to the world has become I am truly ashamed, but Trump, his supporters and the GOP have no shame, only chaos to give us.
10
The solution to Trump’s turn-over problem is as simple as the President himself. He should just hire the announcers that work for Faux New. They have already demonstrated their devotion, they have little or no governmental experience, and it would be impossible to find a more philistine group. Just imagine how steady and improved it would be if Sean Hannity were the new Director of Communications or better yet, Chief of Staff.
4
This administration is just indicative of a wider societal animus--and especially so in the GOP--against knowledge, experience, and expertise. See Tom Nichols' book "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Expertise and Why It Matters" on this. For example, if my facts are as valid as your facts, then you are not an expert and can be, so who needs experts, credentials, experience, etc. When that is not valued, indeed denigrated, then we all suffer the consequences of incompetence. Perhaps the "best and the brightest" is not always the sole answer, but some level of expertise is necessary.
7
Or try this:
"The Danger of Having Too Many Experts"
by Nick Lovegrove
"Furthermore, it should be clear to us all at this point that Trump’s public relations approach to dealing with unfavorable news is simply to rush to the nearest microphone — or log into Twitter — and say that the exact opposite is true, even when his statement is an easily provable lie."
This has been the Republican MO since at least 1988 and maybe 1980. Often in torturous. coded language.
7
My fear is now the only people enthusiastic about working in the White House will be hard-right ideological purists, and thus, theirs will increasingly be the only voices heard.
6
Forty-three million voters hired the wrong person in Nov. '16. They voted into office a candidate who was grotesquely and transparently unfit for the job. Did anyone really expect HIM to do better in his hiring decisions?
7
I wonder how anybody who has worked for Trump is going to explain themselves
once the horror show is over.
7
Yes!...they will say, what did you do at the WH...did you earn your silver coin?
3
Even after Trump is gone, we will be left with a GOP who stole a Supreme Court seat and only takes care of the rich:
The total debt today is $20 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $133,000 per taxpayer.
With the Republican tax plan, the debt we can expect to have ten years from now is at least $30 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $200,000 per taxpayer.
Over these ten years, someone earning $75,000 a year will get around $7,000 in tax reductions. At the same time their share of the increase to the national debt will be $67,000.
$67,000 for each taxpayer is our share to be put on our Federal debt credit card.
And we know that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell is just waiting for the time they can justify cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Since Reagan welfare queen dog whistle politics and trickle down Reaganomics, our country is sliding noticeable towards being a second world country.
Trump will be gone, but the GOP will continue and the Fox audience will continue voting against their self-interest and the good of the country.
And it is not just poor and working class whites. It is also professional class whites who don't understand the huge debt and increase in poverty we are getting and that it is not good for the professional class either.
The more we spend on prisons, the less we have to fund state universities, etc.
23
I go about my day feeling sad and anxious. Sad that my beloved country has fallen so low, sad that the hatred of "the other" is so rampant, sad that I will probably die feeling ashamed of our government and our so-called leaders. Anxious about retirement savings, the future of health care, our environment - the air, the water and even precious animals. "Oh, relax," people may say. "We've weathered bad times before and come out ok." This time? Pretty sure it's the worst of times for our country. And pretty sure that it will take decades to make things right. I don't think I'm a pessimist. I think I'm a realist. The power that the American people gave to this crazyman in the White House has done immeasurable harm to so many. And his "best people" have followed along, thinking only of how they can game the situation they find themselves in. Trump started out with his "best." The ones that are stupid enough to want a job under Trump now are the real bottom feeders.
23
According to Steven Pinker, David Brooks, and others, this is the best time in world history to be alive. Apparently, some people just don't appreciate that they're living in cyber-utopia. If you ignore the heroin epidemic, the deaths of despair, the mass shooting, the nuclear insanity, you have nothing to worry about.
8
Anosognosia---I wonder if any mental health experts have weighed in on this possible condition for Trump.
Or simply a Narcissistic Ignoramus.
Or a Corrupt Loser.
Or our government, economy, and national security are simply props for his Best Trump Show Ever production.
4
Unfortunately, the majority of people don't understand how personality styles play a major role in leadership. Trump is a major controller personality type who unconsciously hires other controllers like him. Within months they are like Pit Bulls fighting each other on one level or another. The White House is playing this out in spades. I can't imagine Trump's childhood. It is reflected in everything he does. The poor guy obviously lacked loving supporters in his upbringing. Let's face it...Trump will never change unless he spends ten years going to transformation and anger workshops to figure out what makes him tick. In the meantime, the world suffers from his authoritarian presidency.
96
A more effective transformer for Trump would be 20 years in jail. If he lives through it, he'll be transformed somehow.
2
You give Trump way too much credit. He is a C player who in his past hired some B players, but mostly C and D players.
4
The "chaos" word was also applied to Trump's presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton said in a debate that Trump's campaign was "disintegrating".
It must be easy to compete and win against a loser like Trump and his chaotic style.
And here is why Charles M. Brow and others who dislike Trump break down.
They point out this formal issues "like high turnover", "chaos", etc. and don't look for substance.
Substance here is the FACT that Trump also has victories to show for, including winning the presidential election, not a small feat to say the least.
It is worth mentioning that Hillary kept incompetent people on her team while Trump was cycling through people fast until he had a winning team that won.
It is ironic that Trump is often criticized for being superficial by superficial critics.
1
If you consider bullies and those who trample all over people that don't agree with you, winners you may have a problem. That he supported the stealing of a Supreme Court seat for the purpose of gaining election is not a win. That he has no ethical stance on anything, but takes on the ideas of the last person he talks to is not a win. That countries around the world do not trust Trump's word on anything is not a win. That the rich get a win fall tax break and our deficit sky rockets is not a win. Scowling at a camera is a loss for all of us as Trump has done endlessly.
9
THINK ABOUT IT.
Almost all of the destructive initiatives, actions, expressed beliefs and perspectives Trump has carried out since becoming President of the United States are in alignment with the objectives and goals that an enemy of the United States would want to accomplish in order to diminish the United States.
We are witnessing the behavior of a manchurian president. The truly terrible, stomach-turning reality is the behavior of the complicit Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives.
IT'S TRUE...power corrupts...and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
11
Considering the ineptitude of the chief executive, these are probably the best he could browbeat into taking the job. Think about it, if you can competently do your job and someone takes over the company you work for who is less than competent, would you stay? Probably not.
6
Nothing New!
Vote in November! There may be somethings left that have value, like the freedom of the press. But it will be close.
5
They’ve all been gaslighted by this evil man we are obliged to call president, in name only. Trump et al. tell so many lies they don’t know reality. Trump himself is certifiably delusional. They have all turned this White House into an asylum of liars living in an alternate universe. Those who follow him (in a Congress and elsewhere) are in a weakened state because they have been dangerously exposed to the same illness. The country is in peril.
And I wanna say, Charles Blow, you rock. You are a gift to this nation. You are a gift to democracy. You are a gift to the NYT and I hope they give you a great big raise. You are a gift to me because I learn from you, about speaking the plain truth, and writing well. Thank you for this column and sooo many others.
11
Trump has many times described himself as being one of the "best" people, a "stable genius" who knows "more than the generals" etc. The fact that he has this level of delusion about himself indicates he wouldn't know the "best people" if he bumped into them. Everything he says is hype designed to bolster his delusions of grandeur. The "best" people are those who help maintain his inflated self image. I think we should stop reacting to the craziness, as it only encourages him to act out more. His family and the GOP seem uninterested in intervening as this disturbed 70 year old becomes more a danger to himself and others every day.
6
Is Mr. Blow forgetting that Trump has been declared "a very stable genius". I forget who said that.
4
History is full of the "best" turning out to be the worst. Too often we learn the sordid truth about so many of those who rise to power. And yet the myth of the best rising to positions of leadership continues!
3
The real reveal will be how long it will take to replace the recent departures from his inner circle, the quality of those replacements, how much headway is made on 104 appointments not decided on yet after over a year and half. What may be discovered is that little progress is made and the orange has in fact little appetite for working with others. His rule as Emperor at Trump Inc. spoiled him t every having to work and play well with others, a very rude adjustemnt for the orange one .
2
A job in the White House would look on a resume; that's a fairly true statement. However, in the industry it's generally considered bad for a person to have been in a position for less than a year, and not so good for being in a position less than 2 years. Now consider all the turnovers in this White House. Most were in their respective positions less than a year before leaving, and so far, not one has been on his/her job for at least 2 years. This all implies that thus far, working for THIS particular White House isn't good for a resume.
2
I like to write in these comments, but writing about Trump and his stupidity gets exhausting. I am impressed with Blow's -- and many commentators -- continued focus and energy. That's the "great energy" I see -- the resistance, the push-back, the focus of true patriots who tell truth to power. Thanks Mr. Blow, and thanks NYT commentators for your focus and truth-telling.
12
In my years in business I learned that the key to any satisfaction in a job lay with the boss. N'uff said.
2
"This disaster of administration is what you get" Charles you need a realty testing.Let me count some of the achievements of this president.Which are many and unrelated to his personality disorder that I don't like either.
Try to stem the trade deficit which is a disaster waiting to happen.Keeping his promises about Jerusalem as opposed to the prior president.Not coddling up to Farrakhan as the previous president.Supporting the police not like his predecessor.Economic growth at 3%.Reducing illegal border crossings.Lowest black and latino unemployment. Defeat of Isis as opposed to creating a vacuum in Iraq where it grew.Standing up to Assad when he used chemical weapons as opposed to Obama who drew aline in the sand but took no action.Obama was a great person but terrible president but I rather have a president with personal short comings who does great for the country.
2
"They all want a piece of that Oval Office. They want a piece of the West Wing."
What was supposed to be government by the people, for the people, has been chopped up and sold off to Trump supporters, piece by piece, in exchange for favors and "loyalty." But there seems to be some remorse from both buyer and seller. Great energy, indeed.
1
What is this analysis worth?
Trump is a mob boss, trying to retain power by lies and threats.
We are seeing that "back channels" to Russia are key. He is in cahoots with the Russian mob, apparently. This is a new, internationalized version of the war-profiteering that enabled the German assault on world civilization.
This is worse.
8
If people come and go, why doesn't he?
6
I live for the day that 45, 45 Jr., Kushner, Ivanka, Sessions, Huckabee-Sanders, DeVos are all adjacent to each other behind bars. As indicated in this scathing (but true) article, it's all LIES. I hope the people who voted him in are loving their high-paying jobs and the people who are being fired from or quitting this disaster the likes of which I don't remember.
6
We Americans have long been known as the can do people. Give us a problem and we will solve it. Our ingenuity has been world renowned.
So how is it that we ended up with Trump and why is it that he is still there?
Ĺ
13
It is our national problem and disgrace. Fortunately there is an opportunity to do something about it on Nov 6, 2018. VOTE to end so-called republican party control of congress and state-houses. It won't be a perfect solution but it will be a big step in the right direction.
10
The "worst people," carefully culled, brought together, and turned loose on the world, by the very very worst person to "grace" the world stage in a long, long time...
8
An open letter to Sarah Huckabee.
Your place in history is guaranteed as the chief spin person for the worst president in history.
12
I feel baffled every day that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kellyanne Conway, and others in this execrable dministration whose children have not yet reached high-school age aren't having nightmares about what those children will be reading about them and learning about them in the future. Are they really not concerned that their children will discover that they did the bidding of people without an atom of principle and lied through their teeth every day to the American public?
7
Somehow when I think of Betsy DeVos, the phrase "best people" doesn't come to mind.
12
Can’t wait to watch the blooper reel from Trump’s TV presidency. Except it’ll take years to watch.
7
Unfortunately, Trump uses a misguided calculus to determine who is great and competent - does the person have a lot of money? He then concludes they must be great and competent and hires them for a job they are wholly unprepared for.
10
But he fails to accept the fact that the rest of us DON'T like chaos. We want reassurance that things will be OK.
We want to wake in the morning without a new crisis, of the president's own making, everyday. We didn't expect Trump to hire his caddy to work in the White House! Or a party planner, without a degree, who lied about it, to run the largest HUD district in the country. Where is her "track record" in housing expertise?
And we'd feel a lot better if the president didn't refer to his subordinates having a "piece" of his office.
14
There's a reason we have politicians. They are people who have long experience in negotiating the complexities of pleasing some of the public, dealing with bureaucracies, the media and, ahem, following laws to try to get what they consider in the public interest accomplished. People without that background get easily frustrated, confused and frequently angry (see: DJ Trump).
"The government should be run like a business" is one of the tired tropes that gets repeated many times, especially when a businessperson runs for office. It isn't a business and it can't be run that way. Businesses answer to themselves and their stockholders. They push back against complaints from their customers and plow ahead, taking as much profit as they can get however they can get it. In the case of one major corporation that became the subject of books and a movie, "the customer is our enemy" was a commonly heard phrase.
Trump has no experience in hiring "the best people". He ran a personal, family business, not a corporation with stockholders, a board of directors and, for that matter, few on-going products (buildings went up and were sold). The only time he headed a publicly traded corp, it went bankrupt, three times and he was eventually fired as CEO. Not good.
Why did he win the Electoral College vote? For one, the EC is skewed to favor rural states. For another, ALL of the candidates, including Hillary, were afraid to truly stand up to him. That's how bullies win, through intimidation.
13
CB is right but also painfully obvious. On the other hand, everything about Trump has become obvious and aside from 'revelations of the day' around Russia/money laundering and the specific 'impulse activity' of the day, we know with certainty, Trump is not the best person, does not have the best brain, does not have the best memory, is not the best negotiator, does not hire the best people and is not making America great again. He is/does the opposite of all those proclamations. He is robbing America of its democracy - in plain view.
10
Charles Blow is one of the few journalists who continues to call out the bold-faced lies of this man and the disastrous nature of the Trump administration. Most of the media is either too overwhelmed or too timid to do so. Thank you, Mr. Blow, for having the courage and wisdom to speak out with such eloquence.
14
A curiosity, when Trump says the exact opposite of what is true, does he know he is lying or does he believe it.
I knew someone with a personality disorder who really believed those type of things. You could his brain really told him those things were true. It was truly amazing from a scientific point of view.
Of course, he was not president and it was easier to be a disconnected observer.
And regardless if Trump knows he is lying or not, the damage to our country, and even the world, is the same.
10
I think Trump can convince himself of anything. It's a salesman's ability to believe in his product. Plus his wide-ranging ignorance on many topics leaves him unable to distinguish true vs false. A guy with his public record, who can say with a straight face "I'm a stable genius," and claim to be "very smart" is not someone concerned with verifying truth vs fiction. Having a wildly inflated sense of competence and achievement is a symptom of narcissistic personality disorder, along with a great craving for approval and applause.
2
Just listen to these Trump descriptors: "chaos, complicity, incompetence, provable lie, a piece of the Oval Office, trepidation, loyalty over qualification" . . . those are all taken from today's column by Mr. Blow.
Left out of today's article are tariffs and Stormy Daniels.
Why in the world is this utter failure remaining in office? Why has Congress turned away from Trump's disastrous inability to lead?
If America has ever been shown a better reason to vote, show me. The polls await and so does America.
11
Charles has missed the point. Trump does like a three-ring circus because attention flits from one to the other, and while it’s over there, we get away with what’s going on over here.
Like magic acts, Trump is all about distracting the audience.
In fact, the entire White House operation is a distraction from the GOP Congress, lining pockets and feathering nests, to the inappropriate agency appointees, approved by the GOP Congress, happily wreaking havoc.
10
After gaining a BA in Political Science (why a 'science' remains a mystery), then later a International Relations degree, I learned one important lesson:
- Good governance is boring.
Same applies to long-term investing.
Drama usually results in trauma.
5
Indeed. A few acquaintances who were not big fans of Obama now say they miss the relative calm of his 8 years. Don't we all, or at least the majority of us.
3
“It’s tough. I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that. ...But I like watching it, I like seeing it and I think it’s the best way to go.” Interesting that he likes watching but not listening. It’s blood sport to him.
8
Not to be forgotten among the worst, most influential, and most destructive sycophants are two that Trump did not appoint, Mc Connell and Ryan. Until they have been removed from the leadership of the Congress, Trump will continue to be allowed to appoint "the worst people" to positions of power, to cabinet posts, to judgeships, to diplomatic missions and to discredit with their approval qualified and dedicated public servants. It is time for Charles Blow to focus the power of his commentary not just on the President but on
these two major players in the demise of democracy in America.
10
It is obvious, trump really does see the West Wing as his personal reality TV show.
8
Everyday I wake up concerned about what will come out of this disgrace of a White House next. I am so grateful to Mr Blow for continuing to point out the lies and distortions we are subjected to on a daily basis, also for his eloquence in the way he writes. I only wish the Republican party would do their job and start representing the people and take their oath of office seriously. I believe any thinking person recognised that this administration would be disastrous for the country but I for one am shocked at the pace at which it has occured.
19
There’s an easy answer to your question, and in one word it’s MITCHMcCONNELL.
4
There are two types of people that want to work in the trump white house; those that see a way to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense and those that don't understand what democracy is.
26
Hearing different points of view is healthy ; chaos and back-stabbing (much of it coming from the Chief himself) is anything but - no team, no workplace thrives in that, except for Trump, it seems, and only because he considers himself above those conflicts, never one to listen to opposing opinions to begin with since he is always right and always wins, and still thinks he’s on reality TV
11
Trump's primary goal is to be the center of attention. Acting crazy and unpredictable helps a lot with that.
4
Trump is a failed dreamer.
5
when there's no one of quality left willing to sign up for all of these great jobs in the White House, what does that leave us with? Sycophants and imbeciles like Sarah Sanders, Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner and others that will do and say anything to and for their adoring leader. I worry what happens if there is a true national crisis while the children have being left in charge.
16
Go back and read about JFK dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis and try to imagine how Trump would have behaved.
3
So.True.
So. Sad.
6
George W. can take comfort in knowing he's no longer the worst President ever.
19
Right,
Obama was.
It's sad. in America, we vote for people who have charisma. Obama was eloquent, had a great smile, nice family, and he had that booming authoritative voice. Whenever he uttered a word, everyone nodded in agreement, no matter what he said. If he said today was Friday, eventhough its not, no one would argue. And no matter what deficiencies he had, no one in the main stream media would dare attack the first black President, would they?
Under Obama, racism and anti police rhetoric thrived. I can give so many examples why he was a poor leader, but I would get Carpal Tunnel.
The difference between Obama and President Trump is that Obama was the Celebrity in Chief, while DT is the Commander in Chief.
He is a leader. He is in the process of doing great things for the country, but if u only choose to get your news from the MSM, you won't know it.
The media loves the whole Stormy Daniels story, because it's become clear that there was no collusion, so it gives them something juicy to trash him with.
Ok, so DT was unfaithful to his wife a decade ago. Big freakin deal. That stuff is between him and his wife.
Don't forget, Bill Clinton cheated while president, in the oval office!!!
He's cut taxes across the board.- Hey- if Bernie or Hillary were in charge, taxes would already have gone up- to pay for all the free stuff for all those that want to pour into the country illegally.
2
Aside from your rhetoric, your only argument is that Trump "cut taxes across the board."
If you look "across the board" you'll see that the great bulk of those tax cuts will benefit not working people, but millionaire shareholders.
And the tax cuts for workers will gradually expire over the next few years, whereas the shareholders will benefit indefinitely.
2
Naw, say it ain't so!
Hey Republicans, hey Bob Mueller, if you're listening, check out that web of connections between the Trump administration and the Russian government that violated U.S. sanctions against Russia for a mutual "business deal."
It's Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election from contacts between associates of Putin and Trump. Militia profiteer Erik Prince presented himself as an envoy for Trump to create a communication back-channel --the same Russian ambassador whereby Mike Flynn concealed his contacts.
We see George Nader, known money launderer, also at the infamous Seychelles secret meeting--- was snagged by Mueller and cooperating.
All these hidden meetings with Russia, and a complicit GOP.
That's you, GOP--in deep and complicit.
12
The carnival also hires the best people. The best people for talking you into forking over your money so you can try to toss a lopsided basketball into an undersized hoop, to throw a misshapen baseball at a stack of bottom weighted milk bottles, to hit little metal pop up targets with the cork from a pop gun... all so you can win a prize that's worth a fraction of what you end up paying for it. And then there are the sideshows, with the freaks and wonders of the world, all frauds and fiction, with a line waiting to get in.
But it's entertainment, right? Nobody goes to the carnival to get a good deal on a stuffed animal. Everybody knows that a carny's job is to separate you from your money, so the carnival always hires the people who do this best.
Welcome to The Trump Traveling Carnival and Sideshow Spectacle. Step right up... only a dollar a throw. With all the best people running the show.
7
While Trump fiddles, his empire burns. Along with all that CB has written in The Times about this deplorable administration of kleptocrats, other reports about his family business suggests the empiror's own empire is imploding.
Investment partners in his projects are so anxious about the chaos he creates on national and international levels, they are removing the Trump name from the buildings. Fears of lost revenue and equity are driving the desire to dump Trump and his family from projects, current and planned. Even the tenents at the original Trump Tower want Trump's name removed to save the equity they have in the units they purchased.
This administration has been frequently described as a slow-motion train wreck. But is picking up speed.
Impeachment seems inevitable if just 2-3 Republicans in the Senate can grow Howard Baker-like spines and stand up to this fraud of a president. Which is why I still predict DJT will resign "to save the family business." I think it is safe to say, the damage to the family business is already irreversible. Cleary, his children are not capable of saving it, let along running it.
But it was always an enterprise built on fraud, deception, and robbing contractors of their due. It has taken too long for his empire to collapse of its own weight, of its own fraudulent behavior. It's time. Hopefully, he and his family won't take the rest of us, and our allies, with them.
12
Love your penultimate paragraph.
3
Thank you Charles for continuing to be brutally honest about the Trump presidency. In particular, I thank you for never describing Trump as "inexperienced" in the "ways of Washington." So tired of other journalists and of course politicians (including Democrats scared to death of the WWC) who continue to dumb down his dumbness. And don't even get me started on the tolerance of his incivility, immorality, corruptness and criminal behavior. Porn star payoffs. Self-dealing. Conspiracy with a foreign adversary. Waste of tax payer money. Obstruction. Every day there is a new obscenity. The only unknown is whether it will be incompetence or corruption or both. Lies. Arrogance. Incompetence. 24/7/365.
You would think the GOP would be scared to death that they have now lost any ability to lecture and proclaim the high ground on morality, patriotism and competence. However, we can be sure that the Democrats who are terrified of just about everything and beyond incompetent at controlling the narrative will throw the GOP a lifeline. This party by all measures should be DOA.
5
Clearly, Trump's definition of 'competency' is different from mine and from many of the people that complain about his chaotic administration. It is a small wonder that his business has managed to stay in business given his "management style". I think that may have something to do with the ability to throw money (other people's) at any problem (Bankruptcies/Stormy Daniels/Where's my Ray Cohn?) to make it go away.
Incompetence, In Trump's words, sad, disgusting, bigly, the most ever.
2
Symptoms in Trump's and in Nunberg's behaviors; and Meuller observes these in other Trump associates: THE SYMPTOMS OF ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER: •Disregard for right and wrong •Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others •Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others •Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure •Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated •Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior •Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty •Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead •Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence •Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others •Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others •Poor or abusive relationships •Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them •Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or financial obligations.
SYMPTOMS OF NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER •Belief that you're special and more important than others •Fantasies about power, success and attractiveness •Failure to recognize others' needs and feelings
•Exaggeration of achievements or talents •Expectation of constant praise and admiration •Arrogance •Unreasonable expectations of favors and advantages, often taking advantage of others •Envy of others or belief that others envy you.
1
According to Master Kong, Confucius:
"A gentleman does not behave as an implement."
President Lincoln's cabinet contained people with opposing opinions, as demonstrated in Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals. The difference is, Lincoln listened - it wasn't just blood sport to him. Trump sits back and watches his reality show, and then, like a three year old, does only what he wants.
195
Do we really want as the public face of the United States someone whose two foremost international role models are Xi Jinping (President-for-Life) and Vladimir Putin (whose opponents have an unfortunate habit of attracting assassination attempts)?
5
Hillary nailed it: a basket of deplorables.
19
It's not that he didn't - doesen't - hire 'the best people'; rather it's that he has absolutely no idea of what that sort of person looks like. To him, they are the best. Trump is the poster child of stupid and ignorant whose life is based solely on greed and appearance.
11
Continued excellent chronicling of the Orange Man disaster. Now we need similar thinking on how to rid ourselves of this childish hooligan.
6
What did you expect from a Trump administration, competence? From day one of his ill gotten Presidency he has surrounded himself with staff that mirrors his own flaws. The coterie of family and loyalists is shrinking because they either have been exposed or are smart enough to leave before the prosecutions begin. What a bunch of losers.
4
Follow the Ochs's slogan: "All the News That's Fit to Print."
Columnists should respond to all of Traitor Trump's statements with this slogan: "If Trump said it, it's a lie." Anything more, is not fit to print.
2
I think Mr. Blow chose the wrong focus for his column - there are thousands of potential hirees for each position - but like PR assistant Hope Hicks, and reality show contestant Omarosa, and 'what does the department of energy do' leader Rick Perry, and slaughter the environment Pruitt, and discriminate against people civil rights chief Sessions, and raid the schools and overcharge the students DeVos, and dining table shopper poverty housing head Carson, and lie about the news press secretary Huckabee, and assault women equal rights and business Trump - they are ALL unqualified bums.
4
But, how did he get elected? The only explanation I can think of is: "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.", Albert Einstein. And it's not just stupid people that are stupid. Smart people are stupid, too. Hillary Clinton took millions from Wall Street, James Comey influenced the election, Bill Clinton crawls on an airplane with Loretta Lynch, Barack Obama was too stupidly timid to warn the American people about Russian interference, and the press and the media stupidly gave Trump-unfit unlimited free coverage.
2
The real question is what we shall learn from this disaster of an administration. And I hope that the lesson will be that intelligence matters, expertise matters, knowledge matters. I was very concerned when the first reaction to Trump’s election was an attempt to counteract right-wing populism with a left-wing version of the same thing. Trump pandered to the deplorable: the stupid, the uneducated, the envious, the narrow-minded. After his election it became fashionable for a while to hammer the “elites” and to insist that we should “understand” Trump voters. Well, the elites are another word for the people who know what they are doing. Trump scrapes the bottom of the barrel because no first-clas professional will stain themselves by serving in this administration of idiots. Stupidity kills.
4
When Trump Tower went up in 85 I felt like vomiting. Something about this being caught the popular imagination in the United States. Just a few years ago Oprah Winfrey was squealing "The Donald!" on her show. Yeah, "the donald" alright. In a way, Americans are getting karmically done by what most of the country embraced in the 1980's. Reagan gave permission to go low, and low they did. Too bad Americans, even many of the liberals who detest him. This is the result for rolling over for Reagan, who should have never been elected in the first place. A resentful actor, the wrap up is a resentful con man. We won't really recover from this for many years, if ever. Just look at your windows on the street to see what is REALLY going on if you can tear yourself away from your histrionic electronic vacation.....
There is a high probability of criminal charges against Donald and his organization and his operatives. Why would anyone apply to or invest in such risky business?
5
The problem is the people we hire; Congress. Without principled members who honor our country and protect our values, we get what we got. The status quo is permitted as long as it is to the personal advantage of the GOP? It is we, who have been the terrible bosses. Forget Trump, focus the elements of our system that are failing our Nation, Ryan et. al.
143
Don’t forget that it is not only “we” who choose our Congresspeople. it is Fox and Breitbart, etc,. Since Citizens United the oligarch like the Kochs and Mercers and the NRA can outshout ordinary people and brainwash enough voters to win. Half the population isbelow average, and many states’ educational systems are pitiful. It seems civics is no longer taught in schools ; that makes it even easier to delude voters with false promises and by belittling opponents.
5
I agree. It is time for term limits. Two terms and your out of office. Trump is a serious threat but so is the nepotism in the Senate and the House.
4
Here are some words from Dr. Seuss, which belong to our Mr. Trump: "I said and said and said the words. I said them. But I lied them."
3
As our democracy withers, Putin's long-term strategic goal of dismantling it becomes more and more a reality for him.
5
In a rational populace, this would be the end of the "we need to run government like a business" silliness.
Again, in a rational populace.
7
The worst of the worst is Donald Trump himself . His lies are really delusions . In other words he believe his own lies . That is the most scary thing about the Commander in Chief . Anything that will attest to his brilliance , his power , his popularity , his manliness , he will believe . His contact with reality is tenuous . This man is not well . When Sam Nunberg went around ranting on several TV shows , pundits immediately started speculating about the possibility of mental illness or substance abuse . People are very shy when talking openly about the possibility of mental illness in Trump . Yet Nunberg can mostly do damage to himself , while Trump can do damage to our Country and the World . The historical figure he resembles the most is Caligula , the emperor of Ancient Rome . The longer he stays at the helm , the greater the damage he inflicts to the USA .
10
Many Americans still support President Trump and are happy with the progress he has made so far. Employment has increased and citizens have seen higher wages in their paychecks. The largest tax bill has been passed and people will soon see a decrease in taxes they must pay to the government. Mr. Trump has been looking out for the average American which had not happened during the last administration.
The liberals are upset at the president's success and will never agree to his success. They wanted him to fail but it has not happened. If President Trump continues to make America the once great country it was, he will be reelected. His enemies are not making it easy for him but despite this challenge he will be triumphant.
11
The tax bill is Trump's and Congress' doing. We may all suffer more for it, but that is in the future. I don't think he has made progress on employment. Employment has increased while he has been president, but it was increasing under Obama too. Correlation is not causation.
23
The economy has continued to grow at the same pace it was going under President Obama, while the deficit which hypocritical Republicans used to care about, has exploded under trump.
29
The total debt today is $20 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $133,000 per taxpayer.
With the Republican tax plan, the debt we can expect to have ten years from now is at least $30 Trillion / 150 Million taxpayers = $200,000 per taxpayer.
Over these ten years, someone earning $75,000 a year will get around $7,000 in tax reductions. At the same time their share of the increase to the national debt will be $67,000.
$67,000 for each taxpayer is our share to be put on our Federal debt credit card.
16
Enough is enough ! It is time for the Republican leadership to find their spine and join with the Democrats in Congress to remove this ridiculous man from office by whatever legal means necessary . How much longer must we be held hostage by a president who carelessly dismantles international relationships , disregards the poor and minorities at home and erodes the trust and confidence of the American people by refusing to protect us from a hostile country ?
Republicans in Congress , do you care about our country more that your partisan politics ? If the answer is no , you would be well advised to enjoy your power while it lasts, as the time for celebrating yourself will soon be coming to an end .
176
Republican leaders find their spine? *This* is their spine. Their inflexible resolve to undermine democracy and hand federal and state government money and functions to private "enterprise" (billionaire individuals and multi-billionaire companies) is their spine. Their spine has been visible and active for decades.
1
There is no hope for the GOP. Therefore, it is time for the American People to stand up and do the right thing.
1
Agreed Mr. Blow. This guy, Donald John Trump has got to be the worst choice of wearing the hat of president, ever. This reasons would fill the front page of the N.Y.Times.
Impeachment? I cringe at the thought of Mike Pence, a piousness evangelical Christian wearing the hat of president.
The thought that comes to mind when contemplating Trump's impeachment, 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't.'
I suggest riding out this storm until 2020. As a stop-gap, cast our votes in November gaining the a majority of seats in the senate and house, limiting the power of these" worst people'".
5
Of course 'they' want a piece of the Oval Office in the same way everyone wanted a piece of the Berlin Wall.
2
The one critical element (which only makes things worse) missing from Blow's analysis is the nepotism. Jared, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric - all these incompetent frauds being put in positions of great power alongside the Ben Carsons and Scott Pruitts. Trump runs his White House like Brando playing Godfather - family, family, all is loyalty and family. Can anyone imagine a callow ignoramus like Jared being legitimately hired, much less given such a huge portfolio, under any other administration?
12
"The only energy around Trump is a vortex of complicity and incompetence." An absolutely perfect description of Trumpworld. Note that his reaction to the all too evident conflict and chaos is not that the finds it instructive, but entertaining. "I like to watch it..." Your fired! Cut to a commercial touting the positive contributions of Koch Industries to our quality of life.
4
There may be a lot of energy in his administration but it is mostly negative, toxic energy.
Working for him would not only mean a loss of reputation for having worked for the worst president in American history, but it would also mean having to spend a fortune in legal fees to defend against all the corruption, crimes and treason that surrounds him.
3
It's just the "worst" person--our autocratic narcissist-in-chief, a back hole into which people disappear. And, "The worst people" are Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan who allow and enable this disaster that will eventually consume even then to continue to terrorize and traumatize the nation and the world.
4
Donald Trump is the poster boy for “automendacity”: the inability to NOT lie, even when the truth is obvious to all.
2
Words almost fail you when you try to convey his venality. Which is worse, his personality or so called policies. Truly a nightmare that can’t go away soon enough. His Republican cronies are not much better.
6
There will some a day when all of Trump will come to a head like a giant pimple and splatter all over the American mirror, just like slavery, Vietnam, woman's rights, the Great depression and the Great recession The question is, who is going to clean up the mess, who will be the next, Lincoln, Reagan FDR or Barack Obama.
4
How about Elizabeth Warren?
1
trump is "self-funding" his staff? How is it possible for a president of the country to even think that government workers can be paid out of his own pocket? Or, does he actually think the US Treasury is his personal piggy-bank?
3
If Trump were to purchase himself a Lordship, he would become Donald, Lord Dennison.
You end up with something that's cursed,
When you hire the worst of the worst.
Now we have total chaos:
There's lies and there's payoffs.
When will this bubble just burst?
4
Trump lied is as about as startling a headline as Dog Bites Man. We need to focus on what we are going to do about a.) getting this lying group out of the White House and the Executive Branch, and b.) How do we make it harder for this to ever happen again. We all of us, Press, citizens, Congress - all have a part in how it happened and must work together to stop it and stop it from happening again. If you think this is a partisan issue you are a part of the problem.
4
I challenge you Mr. Blow. Write one good thing about the Trump Presidency. I despise him too, but his election does expose a myth I once believed (as a civil rights era Democrat WASP) that racism had all but ended with the election of Obama. It’s a hard way to learn but a lesson none the less: we have work to do. Now you try!
1
And yet despite the chaos and the 'worst people'; the economy is doing fantastic, people of all races are employed, and the market is doing well. I'll take that tradeoff happily.
2
How dare those Fox News types accuse our Trump criticisms as being of a quasi religious nature, mocking us that we are chanting eschatological hymns and enthronement psalms, well, not quite in those words, bu you know what I mean and just because we pray for a new post Trump dawn, they mock;
'what you going to be saved by sainted triumvirate of Nancy Pelosi, Chelsea Clinton or Oprah, or the never ending Mueller inquisition, well, point the finger as you may Fox folks, but remember when you do there are always 4 fingers pointing back at you.
2
CB
As usual hit the nail right on the head
4
The thing that is understood globally and that has Putin rocking back in his chair in satisfaction is that we have no president, no leader.
That is the frightening truth.
And no one with an moral fiber, common sense or self respect wants to come near the White House.
Note that The Mooch is back.
6
And so it goes.
All of this time the only direction gained has been a tighter circle of rage and venom. Now I know how Mr. Trumps' 40% has felt for years. We find our storyline in the media choices and tune in-now bathed in our truth 24/7. But to keep its audience that source needs to slowly crank up the volume of hate. Our rage bone must be fed.
We can do better. Lets get creative. Can the Dems get real? Can we organize effective boycotts? Boycott Fox News advertisers? Send money to red states to fight for blue causes? Yes we can.
Assuming the WH is a business enterprise, the company would have had to close down by now. With so much employee turnover, it is not just the numbers, but the frequency. The stockholders would not waste any time to identify the problem, and the one single issue, which would be - lack of proper leadership.
This is such a sad stage in our country's history. You just cannot understand what is happening here.
The last paragraph summarises best, our discussion :
"When you choose loyalists and sycophants over experts and professionals, this disaster of an administration is what you get".
2
Unfortunately none of this incompetence is grounds for impeachment. As long as Trump is not indicted, he has the legal authority of any president. This is not going to change. What will change are the future prospects of the United States as he slides us toward Perdition.
2
Only the 'worst words' come close to conveying the tragedy Trump's presidency represents to our country and democracy.
And I can't say them here.
His lifetime of egregious behavior is deserving of a colossal reckoning, the odious man has never atoned for any of it.
1
Worried about turnover? Worry more about the replacements.
2
When wondering how Trump became president and why he is still adored by his base consider this: the average IQ is 100, however, the range is between 85 - 115. I would guess the readers of the NYT to be at the high end of the range; Trump's followers - and Fox News watchers - at the lower end. They are concrete thinkers. Subtly and nuance really do escape them. They have difficulty decoding metaphors. So, be kind. They are doing the best they know how within their ability to grasp the issues.
The plutocrats, on the other hand, know exactly what they are doing. Hold them accountable. It is their game, their money, their twisted sense of entitlement that is driving us off the cliff. Shouting at the kids in the backseat does nothing. Hold a (metaphorical) gun to the head of the driver.
3
Several commenters have asked why the GOP doesn’t stand up to DJT’s crimes and misdemeanors. The answer is not money (the Bible convicts not money, but the LOVE of money) but their anti-civil rights agenda. For the GOP, if they can get Roe v Wade overturned, if they can lord Christian values and laws over all persons, if they can force everyone to own an arsenal of guns in the event of their fantasy insurrection against folks who look like them by folks who don’t look like them, if they can roll back all laws and regulations that protect consumers, our public lands, and any path to a better education (stick it to the “elites”) or citizenship for non-whites, they will keep their 35% base very happy. And the 35% won’t care if their representatives and president are cavorting naked in the well of the House, Senate, or the White House lawn. Why that would just be folks acting authentically and just like “us.” The GOP is apparently ready to allow and stomach any debauchery and crime. I’ve given up expecting any moral or sane leadership out of the GOP. My family of life long working and professional class Republicans would be grief-stricken and appalled were they still alive.
7
Trump lacks any moral fortitude. He's attempting to govern by pretending to be a patriot, pretending to have the interests of the people and the country at heart. He plays to their prejudices & manipulates them so their "informed" opinions are no more than fear of what he has told them others are doing to them.
His guiding star, now as in the past, is how he looks. He sees himself as the owner of a ludus and his staff as gladiators--all for his own entertainment.
To him that is the "best" he attracts.
3
Trump sets an intriguing precedent. There could never have been a blatantly anti-American president - not even imaginable in a novel. Every decision, indecision and utterance of his adds to the festering chaos he is imposing on the country and the world.
2
Who would want to work for a boss who insults you in public even when you do the right thing, blames you when things don't work out for him and takes the credit when they do? This is "loyalty"? It seems that for this president the concept of loyalty represents a one-way transaction.
7
Ya know, Mr. Blow is a bright man and a great writer, but this is getting to be echo chamber stuff. We know the president is an abject ignoramus surrounded by sycophants, crazies, and like dolts. I know Mr. Blow's job is to write opinion pieces, but why not try to get a staffer on record? Why not try to dig something up we haven't seen yet?
16
The tactic is to keep repeating just how much of an abject ignoramus #Madman45 is; through repetition comes increased awareness, like the constant reporting of an impending hurricane in the hours leading up to the destruction. Be forewarned...
1
Enough giving Trump headlines. Constitutionally, he is less powerful than our French president. DJT will be gone soon enough; impeachment or his term ends per the constitution. Americans (including the media Mr. Blow), should be concentrating on ridding the USA of the Ayn Randians and other sycophants in your federal and state legislatures. They are coming for the rest of what social democrats created in the 30's. Allowing the lobbyists to decide who represents you and what laws are passed is your biggest problem. I have a hard time comprehending that the media discussion is not focused on what your congress did when it passed the "tax overhaul" in 2017. Trump had nothing to do with that other than sign his name to legislation "passed" by the lobbyists' minions.
24
Trumpian thinking is incapable of truth finding, truth speaking, rational thought, meaningful analysis, and centered problem solving. Quite simply Trump is too impaired intellectually, emotionally, and morally. His deficits are structural and a permanent part of his psychological architecture.
Emotionally he is incapable of empathy, interpersonal sensitivity, and of self reflection. Impulsivity, chronic, insatiable needs for attention, self aggrandizement, and malevolent retribution.
He is annoyed with having to read and is impulsively compelled to dispatch all decisions without adequate consideration. He is a classic case of executive dysfunction with gross disregard for the rule of law, ethics, and all manner of civility.
Jean C. Soucy
10
The President may thrive on conflict and chaos, and that's fine if he's running his own company -- especially companies without boards of directors to which he must report. But that's not the case here. He now has a very large board -- the American people, as well as the three branches of government -- and many of the rest of us don't thrive on or benefit from the continual whiplash that his preferred management style induces and which places us in danger. As today we get to experience his flip-flopping on the imposition of steel and aluminum tariff's (what will this afternoon's meeting bring -- or will there even be one??), we can only hope that he realizes there is no 'do-over' when it comes to pushing the nuclear button and there are no exemptions for particular countries when the missiles fly and the bombs drop. What's scary and appalling is that his "best people" -- the so-called "adults in the room" -- are fleeing as they themselves realize that their boss's whims and temperament cannot be tamed, that he lives in a perpetually altered state of reality, and that what little integrity they have left will be entirely squandered the longer they remain in the White House, deflecting, ducking, deferring, and doing his bidding.
6
Fred Trump on learning that Donald had been bitten by a radioactive spider: "With great power comes great unaccountability."
5
The worst people are the California Democrats who support illegal immigration and open borders. The reason President Trump is sitting in the White House is that he promised Americans he would put an end to people entering our country illegally. He is certainly trying to fulfill this promise but the leftists are fighting him every step of the way. Mr. Trump must not give up the fight and proceed in this illegal immigration battle. Many citizens support him on this very important issue and want him to succeed. Illegal immigration has been occurring for years and the people want to put an end to this illegal activity once and for all. They do not want to stop immigration just those break our laws.
3
Trump has proven that for reality TV/President, being wildly outrageous is a winning formula. Making a mistake or lie here and there is a problem, constant lying and incompetence is so overwhelming, it numbs the mind. Americans love mind-numbing, truly outrageous, fumbling acts as seen by the recent episode of “The Bachelor”. When the series ended in a horrifying, humiliating manner, it was big news, breathing life into the tired concept. Trump has brought this reality TV experience to the presidency. Every morning people wake up wondering, what has he lied about today? Great entertainment.
3
One of the hallmarks of those with a personality disorder (Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, for example) is lying constantly, and often for no reason.
Watching Trump's behavior is almost like a primer for NPD, BPD. Psych and mental disorder classes could easily base a course on Trump as a case study.
7
One of the most disgusting things about this administration has been watching how Trump forces everyone around him to abase themselves: the nauseating spectacles of his cabinet meetings in which every member has to try to outdo the others in fawning flattery of the Big Man, the fact that even a Navy doctor of Admiral rank could be coerced into lying in his teeth about the President's supposed "excellent" health when we can all see with our own eyes that the President is obese and addicted to junk food. The taint of corruption rubs off on anyone who comes near him.
7
I think we need to think about what might come next if this is it. If we manage to get rid of Trump (he is not likely to win re-election, but he might survive Mueller as the GOP Congress furtively tries to take down the DOJ and FBI down instead). If the Dems cannot take back Congress or state houses as NYTs pundits are constantly wagging on about...our future could be living in an economy and not a democratic republic. We will have experienced a Fox News/oligarch/Putin soft coupe.
4
Wake up America. Trump's behavior & his performance as POTUS is deplorable on so many levels. But his behavior IN the Oval Office is no different than his behavior was when operating from Trump Tower or on the 2016 Presidential campaign trail. The key factor ALL Americans need to admit is that it is NOT JUST Trump's behavior that's appalling. The motives & actions of the Republican Leaders in the Senate & the House are reprehensible. There are very few elected officials acting or working in any way to serve the best interest of the American People (unless one is a member of the wealthiest 1-3% of our population). Frankly, the 2016 Presidential Election was easy fodder for Putin & the world oligarchs to decimate. Many Americans played a huge role in this travesty. Trump's motivations & intentions were obvious to anyone paying attention. In many cases, citizens voted against their own interests & selected this narcissistic, dishonest tycoon as the defender of our nation. Instead of critically thinking & resolutely reflecting on many important issues this nation faces we allowed ourselves to be manipulated by Trump's ignorant Twitter responses that were designed to fuel the racism, misogyny, greed & anger that will destroy us if WE THE PEOPLE don't come to our senses and take action. WHAT DO WE DO? We need to make EVERYONE in our government ACCOUNTABLE for their actions... or their irresponsible lack of action. We need stop this insanity & VOTE.
8
No fan of this administration, but political appointees are a fact of life for every change of power. Over 4000 positions go to people who likely were involved in running the winner's campaign. I still remember being frustrated reading that a 20-something college alumnus got a policy position at NASA despite having no scientific background whatsoever - their qualification was that they assisted with Obama's campaign, and were soundly rewarded for their effort with a government position.
Eliminate political hires!!!
2
Do people not realize that whatever problem comes up - Chaos, flip-flopping on policies, "best people" leaving , etc - Trump always tries to imply in his remarks that this is something he wanted to happen? As if he had a (coherent?) plan, an idea, a conviction. And he keeps doing it - despite the evidence that he is clueless, lying, lacks any moral compass, and does not care for the american people. This guy is so hollow - it is not even worth looking for a shred of meaning in the garbage that comes out of his mouth. Tomorrow he will say or tweet the opposite. I just hope the american voter sees this, too, and acts responsibly in Nov 2018.
3
With the exception he is at the head of the line, there is little difference between his self-serving manner and those of his support base. This greedy man whose character has always been in question was elected by those who have no real idea of what living among the diversity of our culture is about. His response is theirs; avoid any contact.
If he alone was the problem, which has and will continue to arise, it would have been addressed in a smoother manner without this result, but he is the tip of a "populist" iceberg which is floating in our political swamp.
The world has been sold a bill of goods by those who found wearing the robes of sanctity and professed virtue catapulted their fiery message into the wall of reason, delaying if not destroying this path to enlightenment, by burning it at the stake. The message is the same
They have captured fear in their elixir and sold that brew to much of the world, apparently drunk with a promise which guarantees a heavenly afterlife if they "just follow orders" here and now.
This best selling fiction, modified in small ways by different translators, is published and sold in many languages where it is uniformly used to transfer wealth and power from the mass of humanity into the hands of a few.
Our mental process has been hijacked by ignorance and fear.
The very things a majority among us hold as sacred are in fact profane lies used by the class who control our world.
The original lie of an afterlife is the original sin.
1
Turns out Trump's self funding campaign was really financed by the Russians who now seem to have veto power over Trump's cabinet members.
8
Of course he doesn't have the best people! Trump wouldn't know who the best people are if they held a parade. He picks people who are willing to fawn over him, people who agree that the government must be torn down, people who think that this country belongs to those who have money, people who have it made and don't want to share the wealth.
Unfortunately, a third of the country agrees with him. Throw in millions of people who blame the Democrats for being left behind and you can see why he 'won' the election.
It is going to take a long time to recover from this presidency. Remember to register and vote! And urge your family and friends, especially in red states, to do the same.
3
I'm not sure why no one had figured out a way to explain Trump to his supporters in a manner they might understand and agree with.
He is truly the worst President ever but his followers think just the opposite.
Okay, I understand tax cuts make Trump the hero of the super rich but his supporters aren't all wealthy.
No, I think his appeal is his vulgarity and gorilla approach to governing that lacks any manners or consideration for what his executive orders mean to so many people affected.
Trump supporters are racists no matter their denials. And that makes Trump their hero because he says publicly what they think privately.
3
Is it a coincidence that Hitler said “make Germany great again”? Of course Ronald Reagan used the slogan too except he used the same one as trump.
“Great liars are also great magicians” also said by Hitler.
11
Why does DT even need a Cabinet, or any staff? He said "I alone can fix it."
So what's he waiting for? /s
14
Don't forget, he also said "I'm the only one who matters." and when he was asked about the reasons why NK is now willing to talk with SK, he initially said, "Me". When an embarrassed silence had stretched for about 10 seconds, he said, "No one got that." Oh, everyone in the room got that. We're ashamed that you represent us.
Remember, now that no voices of reason remain Trump will stumble through the North Korean crisis with the bumbling assistance of Rex Tillerson. My question; how long until Trump is made to understand that "denuclearization" means U.S. troops have to leave South Korea as well. That's when I believe we will be closest to war, which could go nuclear. Hopefully it won't spread beyond North Korea and the U.S., but if Trump goes as far as launching any sort of nuclear weapon, of course it would.
3
At our worst, we are greedy; and the problem is we've been at our worst for decades.
Everyone knows the rich are getting richer and the middle class is falling. We all know that. The real issue is: we do nothing to stop this, in fact, we encourage it.
The latest tax cuts will make us less equal and less democratic. I think as 'citizens', We the People are the worst: so lazy, so disengaged, so uncommitted to real democracy. So, shame on us all.
The Democrats only have a wing that's really speaking about poverty and wealth and the grotesque inequality in our new plutocracy. It's not by mistake that Trump's worth hundreds of millions (probably not a billionaire; the liar).
How much are Bill and Hillary worth now? Money seems to drive both parties. Money ruins this land. Money is the worst.
14
Money is neutral; GREED is the worst, and its home is in the Repub party.
B.Clinton once said something like (paraphrasing here) "I have nothing against money – I just want everyone to have some."
We all need some; some want it ALL.
THAT's the difference btwn Rs & Ds.
1
If PT Barnum (Trump) is to sustain the fact that a "sucker is born every minute", then you must surround yourself with misfits, brain surgeons and other assorted sycophants. You must continue to ignore facts to keep the "con" alive. I simply don't expect the circus show to change its actors or its storyline. It works and sells tickets, especially to the media, who wait in the wings, cameras ready for the next character to fall off the high wire or eaten by a hungry lion.
I'm uncertain as to what today will bring, but I am certain people are already lining up to buy tickets, while management works behind the scenes spending our money.
8
People, remember when voting next time to renew your hearts, thoughts, prayers at the polling station and never ever consider such a lying dastardly demon candidate, like trump.
9
The truly sad thing is that Trump ran his business the way he would like to run the White House and government.
But it doesn't quite run like that.
Trump see his tenure in the White House as like he's the king, the emperor.
He doesn't yet get that there are checks and balances in US government that doesn't necessarily exist in the outside world.
He knows nothing about the constitution and why it was set up the way it was.
How sad for him and sadder still for us the American people.
11
At least Spicer got out early and had a chance at salvaging his career.
I don't know if Spicer can salvage his career. Day 2 he was lying about the size of the inauguration crowds. No one will forget that.
1
I hope not. Responsible for telling lies to prop up the boss's ego isn't much of a resume header.
Why, in god's name, does this GOP Congress continue to put up with this nincompoop in the White House? Mr. Blow includes Trump quotes in this article, and reading them, it is clear Trump's thinking is on a very shallow level. Who talks like this? Congress' complicity either means they share the incompetence and utter stupidity of Trump, or else the GOP is maliciously destroying this country and our reputation in the world, in order to have a few bills passed that they love, such as tax cuts for the 1% and elimination of as many regulations as possible.
I'm very angry and even here in very red eastern Idaho there are many who share this anger at the GOP and Trump. Get out the VOTE!
12
" Congress' complicity either means they share the incompetence and utter stupidity of Trump, or else the GOP is maliciously destroying this country and our reputation in the world, in order to have a few bills passed that they love, such as tax cuts for the 1% and elimination of as many regulations as possible. "
That's what the GOP are doing. Remember republicans hate democracy that's why they're not Democrats, and also remember republicans love money.
2
The racist GOP forgot how to do its job when they sat on their thumbs during President Obama's two terms. They richly deserve trump, but the majority of the country does not.
2
to Pat Boise, an excellent question and one that should be put to every Republican Congress person and Republican voter. What are your motives in continuing to acquiesce to this dotard.
2
P.s. those shoes were made fer walking', too
When your base is composed of 32% of Americans who embrace bigotry, hate and divisiveness, the daily ration of ignorance that the carnival barker delivers to them is more than sufficient to satisfy their limited intellect.
19
The GOP is a disgrace. And quite frankly traitorous as they enable the decimation of one of our branches of government.
11
to Jamila, on the contrary, they are complicit in destroying all the government.
And what about the judges, who are appointed for life? Is there any recourse on these?
1
Judges can be impeached.
1
Perhaps the most chilling of President Dennison’s remarks during his press conference with the Swedish Prime Minister was, “I like watching it,” in reference to the chaos and conflict in his White House. As if the discord and turmoil in the West Wing is little more than an entertainment for Dennison’s amusement. It called to mind Chauncey Gardiner, the protagonist of Jerzy Kosinki’s “Being There,” in which the simpleton-who-would-be-president repeatedly says, “I like to watch, an allusion to both the television and life as a neverending entertainment.
This is what happens, America, when you elect a person whose main claims to fame are “reality” television and “real” estate, probably the two least authentic activities in our nation’s life. You wind up with a president whose idea of “executive” time is sitting in front of the boob-tube, waiting for Faux News to feed him his next tweet, tirade or conspiracy theory—and a country watching it’s very integrity, reputation and democratic institutions crumble before its very eyes.
10
And you know that the Russians have kompromat that would put trump in jail for as long as Madoff.
This White House is certainly filled with people who have accepted $Millions from corporations antithetical to the greater good for the American people. Trump is said to have received $30 million from the NRA for his "campaign"--and so he is playing their song "the shootings are all about video games and mental health issues"--not about the plethora of assault weapons in America.
The Times has published lists of Trump "loyalists" who have each received $millions for their "campaigns", so from day one in the White House and in the halls of Congress their prime loyalty is to their corporate sponsors, not to the American people. And their corporate sponsors want a malleable imbecile sitting as President, so these Republicans obey their corporate masters--with no concern for their constituents.
Of coarse chaos reigns when unqualified people are milling around trying to appear as though they know what they're doing, keeping on the good side of the corporations and billionaires who handle the puppet strings.
9
This is becoming the new normal.
Because we are lucky and have dedicated people in our government who are still doing their jobs this circus is not directly affecting the lives of the majority of people but that could change in an instant.
Adding to that is the reality that many people have become numb to the ridiculously egregious behavior of our current "president'. His popularity has rebounded significantly in the last two to three months despite all of the lies and insanity. Why? Because this is becoming the new normal - the bar is now so low that things like rolling back environmental protections don't even register on the radar of most rank and file citizens. Things that would have been a major career ending scandals a generation ago are barely a blip on the newsfeed.
We cannot let this happen. This is not normal and we must maintain our outrage until the midterms so we can gain the majority and oust this joker and allow the details of the Mueller investigation to come to light and hold people accountable.
RESIST!
17
I remember that, shortly after Trump's inauguration, someone who had voted for Trump said, we should give him a chance. How much time do we allot for that chance? During his first year in office he has proven that he is a misogynist, a racist, an ignorant know-it-all who has destroyed our solid relationships with our allies. The man is a wanna be dictator and anything else that proves him to be the worst president ever.
11
"I read where, oh gee, maybe people don’t want to work for Trump, and believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House. They all want a piece of that Oval Office. They want a piece of the West Wing."
Yeah, therein lies the problem. Public service is less an incentive in this administration, rather the opportunity to line one's pockets. Our White House is being torn apart by a bunch of grifters from the top down.
11
We should step back for a moment and assess the near-total disorder that grips this White House as an evolving "normal" process, given the narcissistic pathology which drives and controls its Chief Executive. The White House Organization is inexorably reverting to the mean, the privately held and director-less Trump Organization, a tightly led small business, with all of that entity's known irregular, idiosyncratic, unprofessional, and ethically challenged characteristics and antics.
Viewed through this "lens", the chaos engulfing that venerated, iconic place, while unprecedented and deeply upsetting, should not be unexpected. Before our eyes, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is more and more morphing into Trump Tower on Park Avenue, New York. In fact, if he could do it, one could easily imagine the loner Trump setting up an actual Oval Office East in his comfortable, familiar old haunt in the Big Apple. (First however, he would need it swept for any listening devices surreptitiously installed by his predecessor.) Trump's dream would be to effectively run the third branch of the federal government just like his real estate/branding company.
3
In reality, he is running it like he did his New Jersey casinos.
2
Charlies, isn't the real issue, the only issue really, that Trump is seriously mentally ill. We can spend thousands of words analyzing his warped, illogical and inconsistent behavior, but at the core this is all a mental health issue.
Trump is not fit to serve, because it is stunningly obvious to anyone paying the least attention that he has serious mental health problems.
3
"You know, I read where, oh gee, maybe people don’t want to work for Trump, and believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House."
Then why is Trump's administration tops in staff turnover compared with the last four administrations? https://www.npr.org/2018/03/07/591372397/white-house-staff-turnover-was-...
The only people who will work for him are incompetents willing to put their own and Trump's agendas above duty to the American people. Anyone with a conscience and a lick of integrity will not go near this White House.
3
If "best people" means those who are as qualified for the position as you are for yours, I am highly qualified for any openings that you have. Please offer me a high paying job, so I can prove that the "best people", in fact, do not want to work for you. Please.
2
Isn’t it telling that the Trump says everyone “wants a piece” of the Oval Office and west wing?
8
Time is running out for the worst people on all sides period.
HELP WANTED: must be proficient liar; must be willing to clean up boss’s mess; no experience or knowledge of job necessary. Must be flexible and lack principles and conscience. Pay to be determined by loyalty to boss.
7
In Trump's limited tiny mind, energy and chaos are the same. Like a bomb blast. Not very productive. Sad.
1
take a deep breath......democracy has spoken ......he is our legal leader.....
in a few months , the congress may change...let's see how the public acts then
Trump is bankrupt on every level imaginable, and completely unqualified for the job. Finis.
5
"Elect a clown, expect a circus!"
Not sure who first coined that, but it remains painfully true.
4
To paraphrase W.B. Yeats, “The best [people] lack all conviction, while the worst [people] are full of passionate intensity.”
1
Everybody knows it but Trump and the people who elected him(fighting against buyer's remorse by sticking their heads in the swamps they live in).
Trust is ephemeral, easily lost and so terribly hard to regain. That will be the real legacy of Trump - that nobody, not the citizens, not our allies, will give implicit trust to the USA.
We've had bad Presidents, bad legislators, bad cabinet officials, and bad relations with other nations in the past but rarely as bad as they are now both internally and externally.
This is a test of our Constitution and Laws, the test that will tell us if our experiment in a Democratic-Republic will be a lasting success or yet-another failed state in the history of the planet.
Are We-the-People up to the task? Time and the next elections will tell.
279
But here's the worst part, Trump is but a symptom.
Focus on what's really gone on during Trump's destructive, distracting, chaos.
The Republican Donor Class got its Tax Bill and its judges.
Think about McConnell and Ryan. They haven't just cooperated with the madness. They've exploited it.
If this was Star Wars, McConnell would be Palpatine -- and Trump, Jar Jar Binks.
5
IF we all vote and turn the country over to the dithering Democrats and IF Mueller has impeachable findings, we may be able to get rid of Trump before we reach the point of no return. That may bring back international trust in our institutional strength. If not, a revolution will be the only remedy and the outcome of that is not assured.
3
"Trust is ephemeral". Yes, indeedy!
Unfortunately, Das Donald ain't.
He's aiming to be eternal.
1
Trump invents his own reality which is then dutifully conveyed and sustained by Fox News and the rest of the right wing media bubble. Without the right wing media, Trump’s fake reality wouldn’t make it past the supermarket tabloids.
4
Ages ago, Bill Gates said, "Hire for character, train for the skills." Trump has struck out on both counts. So did those who voted for him in the first place.
26
Trump and the GOP are evidence of the cancer in politics which is the unfettered amounts of money being poured into the system by the wealthy. The Supreme Ct. unleashed this disease upon us in the Citizens United decision and by declaring corporations are people.
It is unclear if our democracy can survive it.
19
The polls are immune to Trump's lies, his repellant character, his destructive stupidities, and to America's loss of standing throughout the world. Something larger than Trump is happening, and it is not good. In the the delayed aftermath of 9-11, it may be the ancient mutual hatreds of the Muslim and Judeo-Christian worlds, exploited by foreign interests (Russia) and by domestic interests (FOX and their GOP nation).
9
The White House will end up as The Trump Organization. It's clearly headed that way.
The Trump Organization had 6 bankruptcies and was a party to 4000 lawsuits. It settled a fraud litigation with a $25 million payment just days prior to taking office . It could not get a loan or credit from any US banks because of its disreputable practices.
Trump has recast the GOP which has seen fit to acquiesce. Even Utah Senate candidate Romney thanked Trump for his endorsement. Trump will fire Mueller , and Ryan and McConnell will say that it is his privilege as President.
When Trump loses in 2020, he will say the election was rigged . He will suspend the Constitution and declare martial law. He will name Ivanka Trump as Vice President and Kushner as Secretary of the Treasury.
We are in big trouble. Trump is unhinged but has the full support of the GOP and their rich donors. This is their moment and they are not going to let it slip away.
I renewed my passport.
12
To the +80% of the GOP electorate that still love him despite the chaos, the incompetence, the graft, the dismantling of our democracy, Trump presents no problem, as long as their gated communities are protected and held harmless
from any obligation or responsibility for the common good.
9
Another "truth" telling from Charles! Contrary to what Charles says, it appears that Trump is the one telling the truth, though there are some spins and exaggerations like any politicians. Look at the campaigns he ran, there were turmoil and many personnel changes, but he won. Also, contrary to what Charles says, I don't see any loyalists in Trump's cabinet or hold major positions in the WH. It looks like many who come to work for Trump cannot cope with Trump's energy and they leave or meet Trump's expectations and are replaced. Not a big deal!
3
Ye of rose colored glasses.
FYI- your emperor has no clothes!
Betsy DeVoss (Secretary of Education): qualifications, none.
Ben Carson (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development): qualifications, none.
I would continue, but my coffee's ready.
John D., present facts!
While we stand in awe of the chaos, his administration is changing regulations that undermine every department. Every day is further eroding.
16
The most disastrous hiring decision of all isn't Trump's. It's the Trump Voters.
42
Trump hires the best people- himself. Remember when he said he looks in the mirror and sees his best advisor? The rest is window dressing.
5
America's malaise manifests most vividly among the roughly 40% of poll respondents that approve of the Trump phenomenon. I've learned how to listen when they talk at me - I simply keep my mouth shut and nod my head. I've found they are fairly consistent: most are driven by deep, unacknowledged anxieties that erupt in free floating anger aimed at stereotyped caricatures. Their rationale has little or nothing to do with leadership qualities such as statesmanship, integrity, etc.
The primary skill of a con artist is identifying targets most susceptible to manipulation. Trump diagnosed the 40% to whom he could reliably appeal with bombastic demagoguery, and slanderous lies about competitors - all tuned to resonate with the fears and anger of his target audience. It worked. The disapproval of the 60% that are aghast and offended by his behavior only reinforces the approval of his base.
This, in turn, reduces the Trump's executive staff selection to attracting lickspittles willing to emulate the boss and dance to the music until the investigators appear. The GOP is a deep pool for that talent.
Abetted by the bewilderment and disorganization of the disapproving 60%, the poisoning of U.S. political culture may proceed along the natural course course of all unopposed epidemics: they expire when they exhaust the host population. Or it could be undone by a miscalculation that enables a solid, sweeping criminal prosecution. One can hope.
17
Yep, and our tax dollars are paying for this massive disservice. As if Trump would know the meaning of public service anyway. What a disaster.
5
One flaw in the argument. All pundits want to treat Trump as separate from the “true” Republican, as if he is an anomaly. However, Trump did not arise de novo. He is the fullest expression of the the Republican Party, the pure distillation of republicanism. Sixty million Republicans voted for him. He is the best and the brightest that they have. You can see that in their sterling legislative achievements and their ground breaking collaboration and partnership with Russia. All that took was Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump—and co-conspirators in the House and Senate.
12
he did, however, hire the best family people
2
For details of just how much danger the nation is now in read Jane Mayer's expose entitled "Christopher Steele, The Man Behind the Trump Dossier" in the current issue of The New Yorker. This administration is corrupt up to its eyeballs. Mueller has obviously pieced the puzzle together now, but the problem is that it simply will not matter. Nothing can move the GOP or its voters to admit the truth and protect the country. We are succumbing to greed, just as Khrushchev predicted decades ago. In the final analysis, that's the human flaw that has done in every once-great civilization, and ours is no exception. We are witnessing the final days of this democracy, as our collective intelligence and community sense are clearly not up to the task of maintaining it. I weep for our youth, as they won't even get the chance to fix it, and I apologize for my generation, which inherited the world and made a colossal mess of it.
11
Blow still doesn't get it.Trump is not simply about retaliation.He knows that if he says anything at all, the country reacts in the following way; one third of Americans believe him, one third do not and one third aren't sure.At that point, he has already achieved his objective.
4
His objective is to get people to react yet again in the exact same way they always do?
That is weird and pointless. I don’t know why some people think Trump is a mastermind for doing what is basically just trolling. So he likes to get a reaction out of people. What good is he trying to create in the world?
Trump manages the WH as effectively as his casino endeavors.... need I say more? Res Ipsa Loquitor
8
To an ignoramous, ignorance is the highest qualification.
25
If everyone wants to work in the White House, why didn't Trump have a replacement for Cohn ready to go at the time of his announcement? Trump has known about this upcoming vacancy for weeks.
13
Yawwnnn...yet another waste of space from Mr. Blow, a member of MSM who still won't address solutions, only problems. Yes, Trump is a fool; yes, Trump is incompetent; yes, he's a threat to the nation; yes...yes...yes. Now, what do you suggest we DO about it, Mr. Blow? You are part of the complicit media that contributed to putting him there.
7
I'm pretty sure it was it was the people that "want our country back" that put him there. Just saying.
He only hired the best porn stars.
35
Disappointing column from Mr. Blow today. He's usually so relevant and sharp. Here he is just stating the obvious and rehashing old news. Waste of OpEd space.
5
If his hires have a conscience and mean well, they quickly are dragged into Trump's morass of deceit and ineptitude. Trump runs his shop like a Mafia don. Loyalty first. He will discard those who break his code without hesitation. Trump's stain on the Whitehouse will be hard to bleach but the institution and our democracy will survive.
5
Anyone working for or with Trump is soiled forever. Moral lepers.
29
Not once in Trump's quote about people who want to be part of the White House staff did he mention that they want to be there to serve the public.
To say that a position in the White House looks good on your resume speaks volumes of his disconnect to what his role, the role of his cabinet, and anyone working in the departments is there for.
11
The White House's "great Energy" is the fire of Trump's pants
6
The easiest way to understand Trump and the mess he has made is to take whatever words come out of his mouth and turn them upside down. So when he says " I hire the best people," we know his hirees are the worst. When he says "The White House is a great place to work," we know that working in the White House is like working as a furnace tender in Hell. And, of course, when Trump says "No collusion," the reality is collusion, collusion and more collusion, not to mention, obstruction, corruption and other foul crimes up to and possible including treason. After just a year in office Trump has already nailed down the top spot on the worst president list. Before this grotesquery is over, he may also supplant Benedict Arnold on the biggest traitor list.
10
The worst potus EVER and the worst most incompetent grifty administration and cabinet EVER. What a bunch of crooks liars and thieves. They have besmirched the White House and democracy. Can't wait until they are all gone! The worst!!
11
Can you not find something else to report on? Your constant critique of the White House has been tiresome for a while now.
5
Yes, the corruption of this White House is tiresome, but no, we can’t let that go.
Is it the constant critique that’s tiresome or the ongoing fiasco in the White House?
The voters who elected Trump chose someone who they knew intended to act as a de facto dictator. Part of being a dictator is getting rid of people who disagree with you. So much like the other well-deserved criticisms of Mr. Trump, the fact that there is record turnover at the White House will fall on the deaf ears of his supporters.
3
Up is Down. But, Charles and NYT, Trump is Goebbels. You all ignore it.
It's all about propaganda. Americans are brainwashed to 'believe' rich, old, white people. America is one scary notion when you think of it like that.
2
Charles it seems to me you kind of mailed this column in. Not a lot new or insightful. I and assume others have come to expect much more from you. Everyone needs a mulligan now and again.
1
you know whose in chaos, it's liberal freaks. Progressive fantasists who care nothing for facts but their particular narrative. Blow, you're an embarrassment to journalism. You have 3 basic columns. White cops are hunting and killing Black males because they're racist; whites are racist, Trump is incompetent and must be removed. With this template -- all you can produce is 2 columns a week? Hard to believe these take much more time than eating breakfast -- and frankly I prefer breakfast to reading your drivel.
Nothing personal of course.
4
Ralph
Why read the NYT?
1
I like to keep in touch with how the nonthinking part of our country is doing.
1
Thank goodness we're in a time of relative calm and economic stability. Could you imagine this president and his team of flatterers and bootlickers trying to handle a real military or economic crisis? Oof.
Let's hope the momentum from the Obama administration lasts a few more years. Right now, the government is functioning, but corruption and incompetence is seeping in from the top down.
Everyone needs to vote in 2018 and then in 2020.
6
The way Blow's mind races around, one would think he is in chaos.
Yes, it’s been well-proven that Trump hires only the worst and dimmest—and has trouble even keeping the sycophantic amoral losers who do join. However, they have one consistent trait (well, besides being ignorant liars): to a man they hate the US system of Government. They are literally out to destroy it for personal benefit. Personally, I think it’s what Trump’s handler, Putin, wants and is ordering. It explains so much of Trump’s behavior, which was markedly different only ten years ago (well, except for the lying and ostentatious bragging). Because for a guy who craves popularity, Trump sure goes out of his way to alienate the majority. Most call it playing to his base, but I don’t know, I think he’s following orders. It’s the only rational explanation because if he truly wanted to be popular, he’s had literally the easiest route imaginable, inheriting a great and growing economy in a great and growing world economy, and just as the Middle Eastern wars start winding down. Literally, the only major threat to us is Russia, and that’s just who he plays too, to the detriment of the country and all of our allies. Trump’s an ignorant loser for sure, but I don’t think he’s THAT stupid. I think he’s compromised. It’s the only explanation.
5
Mr. Blow, smell the rot and admit the fact: america is dead! The sooner you do, the sooner you can set about preparing for what comes next - separation of the states into independent countries. Otherwise, you are wasting time with these whiny articles that do nothing but cry over what is obvious.
#calexit
3
No wonder chaos is abounding in the White House and everywhere else Trump hangs his M.A.G.A. cap from Nrew York City down to Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Trump has surrounded himself with "the worst people" as you say, Charles Blow. We have been spoonfed pablum by the most execrable and ignorant president in U.S. History. His lies spurt from his mouth like toads and snails from the mouths of little boys! "I know the best people!". "The White House is just a great place to work. It's got tremendous energy." "There is no Chaos, only great Energy!" in his White House. Complicity, incompetence, ignorance, the whole ball of wax, the whole olla podrida, the whole can of worms is what we're witnessing today and every day that President Trump remains in our White House and Oval Office. Please, God, send us a Deux ex Machina before it's too late!
There is an old saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."
Big Bird, (Sesame St.) was a yellow anthropomorphic canary vulnerable to language mishaps or was that mistweets.
After Trump was elected and some of my friends panicked, I told them to relax and wait until he picks his cabinet. We know how that went. Good or bad, the Fed has been in control of the economy and the real driver behind the stock market. We have a new Fed chairman, Powell. Providing there is no nuclear war, we will just have to wait this out.
1
If you are a relative of Trump or a suck up to Trump, you will get hired by Trump.
And when the going gets tough, the tough surely do get going under Trump - they get going fast under the back wheels of a moving bus, thrown there by the driver, Trump, heading who knows where.
Trump mentions "past history." Has he ever heard of Watergate? What is there left to say about Trump? He's a moron.
1
The realty is that trump can't bear to have people around him who will show him up to be the moron he is. Thus those with the slightest integrity and intelligence are sooner or later weeded out.
Perhaps the " best people " in Hell. Otherwise, not so much.
Just saying.
3
Keep writing, Charles.
Never, never stop in exposing and denouncing this incompetent fraud!
22
The White House looks more and more like the ads for one of those terrible tropical island "reality" shows where it seems that everything but outright murder is expected and possibly encouraged. Is it any wonder that people living on a diet of insanity for prizes votes for an insane, greedy and ridiculous liar for president? They are so full of the swill on tv that they don't realize it isn't normal and it isn't any way to run a country.
They deserve everything they will get from this "president" and the GOP--from their future obligation to pay for the huge tax cut for the wealthy to the dirty air and foul water that are surely on the way. And they won't even notice when their kids turn out dumber than their parents after Betsy DeVos gets done hollowing out education and eliminating all standards for learning.
No wonder they hated President Obama--just by standing tall and speaking in full sentences, he made them feel small and stupid. Thanks, Obama--this is all your fault by making these Trump voters angry at Democrats for being so darn respectable. They elected their own King Midas wrapped in gold foil to get back at your honor. Yet another bad choice from chronically stupid people. No wonder there's an opioid crisis.
13
Everything in this WH and Trump are stormy, no pun intended.
4
Apparently the only criteria to work in this White House is to say, “you are, sir!” whenever Trump asks: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most handsome and stable genius of all”
5
I’m so bloody sick of all of this. Everyday we read his lies. He knows he lies. We know he lies. Yet we spend everyday, all day, watching his lies discussed by reporters, news hosts, and analysts. Newspaper front pages, editorial columns and op-Ed’s are consumed with articles about his lies and actions. Events, news and important stories happen everyday here and around the world, get a brief moments notice and then back to this man and his lies. We’ve now spent days in trash tv discussing an affair with a porn star. What I would give for one day a week with no coverage of his pervasive lies and deceits. Yet even when he is no longer in office I fear he will continue to manipulate news coverage with his lies so he is front and center to assuage his pathetic ego.
7
The one word/concept you never hear from either inside or outside is “teamwork”. If Trump were the coach of any professional sports organization, they we be at the very bottom of the standings. Teaming is what makes America great again and again. We even had to relearn it from the Japanese car companies. Neither golf nor Fox News is a team sport. Trump should spend more time watching football or basketball and bring on successful team coaches.
Kakistocracy. D'uh. An abomination.
2
When I cannot even turn the tv on in the presence of my grandkids because the president of the United States is being called out for having an affair with a porn star - well.......anyone can finish the sentence.
This is Donald Trump. Liar, fool, creep, blowhard......anyone can finish this sentence, too.
8
Trump and all the little trumps are complete frauds..it addition to being corrupt and thoroughly dishonest. None of this is a surprise and Mike Bloomberg’s description of him as a con man is bang on...
4
As harsh as this will be, it has to be said that, Trump also attracted the worst amongst the American voters, aka "Deplorables": racists, sexists, misogynists, a "religious right" willing to practice a fundamental Christian values, forgiveness, for the multiude of Trump's sins but not for Democrats (which makes them not Christian or faithful), Americans ignorant of American civics....or willing to suspend them for Trump...I cannot see one redeeming quality in Donald Trump, so for him to appeal to someone, that someone is missing a few important character traits themselves.
4
After binge watching news last night, I dare any WH reporter to ask SHS this question: "Did Stormy Daniels have Donald Trump's illicit love child?"
Ok, that aside, great article Mr. Blow. I continue to wish the anti-turnip, er, trump, opinion pieces weren't true in the NYT. The GOP's destruction of truth, logic, objectivity and America has been undertaken and ahead of schedule with turnip, er, trump.
3
Charles, why so many words to simply say worst president ever?
Not your best column.
1
"You know, I read where, oh gee, maybe people don’t want to work for Trump, and believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House."
No, Donald, that's just another lie. There is nothing anyone could offer me that would make me want to work in your White House.
5
And then since Trump is 'good at lying'.....since this is now a fact....then why
do the 'smartest people' referring to those who support Trump continue to
support Trump's lies....
Why does Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan support Trump ?
and
Why does Mitch McConnell support Trump...
These men must also support Trump's lies....so what is your opinion on
those in Congress who support all of Trump's lies....there should be an
answer to this question....and my guess is this;
Ryan and McConnell need to support Trump's lies....so they can somehow
get an outrageous tax bill passed that cheats the poor and favors their rich
campaign funders...that is the wealthiest autocrats in the US...and perhaps
elsewhere....those funders include the NRA...and big Pharma....etc...
Lies....are accepted by the GOP...because of unprecedented greed....
This is a disgusting administration...and I hope that the people of our nation
will face down these crooks.
3
"everybody wants to work in the White House."
Really? I submit that everybody with a soul and a conscience would rather chew glass than work in this WH.
4
"Then Trump lurches into emperor mode, discussing how much he enjoys the gladiator-style blood sport of the administration he has....."
Meuller = Maximus
Trump = Commodus
Sessions = Quintus ("Sheath your swords!")
Trump can't possibly work with the 'best of the best', as he doesn't have any idea what that means. His 'business' contacts have been are still are either losers, criminals from Russia, first prize liars with whom he is comfortable. The White House must continue what has become a chronic illness of regurgitating this venom - far better to be infested with real roaches and rates. Easier to get rid of. Good idea to include the Congress in the process of extermination. The days are becoming more dangerous by the hour.
1
It is almost understandable that when Trump was elected and the call came in to serve, people of good conscience looked past what was thought to be campaign rhetoric and headed the call. Today, the decision to serve in this WH lacks any ambiguity as to what is required. From the official handbook "#1- You must be prepared to lie, then lie again, and lie once more. This is not about nuance or being partisan but the #1 requirement for the job. This President has made this his personal signature. #2 - You must agree with everything the President did, said, or in changing narrative will say. #3 You must never criticize the man but must be willing to publicly demeaned - This is the definition of "loyalty" #4 Expect no loyalty - loyalty is a one way street, you must fall on your sword when asked and must expect the sword in your gut at anytime. Fun times. #5 Policy? Actually not important - if you follow the above rules, you succeed. If you were anti-nuclear weapons and he wants more weapons, follow #2. If he changes his mind, do the same. #6 Finally, you must be a cheerleader. You cannot stand in silence. Public kowtowing and praise for the supreme leader is a requirement of the job. " - Official North Korean Kim Jong-Un HR handbook
1
Amen! Lie after lie after lie.
The worst of America is in the White House.
Stay vigilant Mr Blow!
It will make for a good book some day.
1
You are losing credibility by the day. Not unlike the New York Times with the swing to the right providing support to the oligarchs in Venezuela and Mexico. The screed yesterday from Mexico was somewhat disgusting.
The smartest people? Certainly the most vain and greedy are equated with the smartest in America!
Trump looks tired. A failing man. White lies. White House lies.
Lies will take one down. Soon I hope.
3
" - I know the best people.”
Yes he does. They're the ones who told him to "Take Your Job and Shove It" (Apologies to Johnny Paycheck for the pronoun change).
A moron who was "elected" by morons who continue to be morons.
5
Even if Trump could hire the best people he would quickly bring them down to his level. Everyone he touches is tainted, because to work for him you have to compromise your ethics to accommodate his lies, corruption, and narcissism. As the old adage warns, when you lie down with dirty dogs you get fleas....
3
Hey, is anyone else out here starting to worry about the erosion of our preparedness to deal with national or international external threats while this presidency obviously winds down? Trump is leaving the country next week. I don't want to get all paranoid here but I'm not sure I like that idea? Just a few minutes of confusion could lead to the movie "Fail Safe". Strangelove is not cutting it in my usual flippancy about nuclear armageddon's imminence. It is utterly obvious that criminal activity has occurred at the highest levels of this administration. That Trump is a Russian tool. Putin brazenly attempts to kill off old enemies and their children in the process. Putin is an animal that must be caged and yet our president and Sec of State simply shrug like Atlas. "Nothing going on here" comes from Fox News as if they think they are Obi Wan Kenobi sitting in a speeder in on Tatooine. Some portion of Americans are actually acting like they are. If I rob a convenience store the cops don't wait "til late next year" to arrest me. Why no immediate action given the scope and nature of these crimes? We have suffered a cyber attack coordinated with a Manchurian candidate and resulting coup. We keep speaking of "Mueller time" but will there even be a country left when that time actually comes? We must stop marveling at the unbelievable and begin to come to grips with the terrible reality we're facing. Trump is leaving town. I have a bad feeling about this.
2
There once was a grifter named Don
Who published "The Art of the Con".
He used those he'd choose-
Abuser, effusers (on booze?).
No losers among them 'til gone.
The Trump White House is a sick, corrupt joke, staffed by inept, unqualified people from the president on down. The Russians know it, the Chinese know it, the Europeans know it, and most Americans know it. The really worst people are Trump's Republican enablers in Congress. Even the so-called "sensible" ones like Lindsey Graham are assisting Trump's attempts to derail the Mueller investigation by denigrating the Justice Department and the FBI and calling for a second special prosecutor to investigate fictitious abuses in the FISA warrants -- warrants that were used, I must point out, to keep tabs on suspected Russian agents. As far as I'm concerned, they are traitors guilty of treason.
1
With some past administrations, after a year in office one expected some winnowing down of staff, but with the Trump White House it has been a continuing process of separating the chaff from the chaff- there never was or will be any “wheat.”
Mr. Blow, you must be living in a different world...stock market up, military adventurism down. As we learned at our mother's knee, "wishin' don't make it so." Positing a disaster doesn't create one. Afraid you need to open your eyes and perhaps do a bit of traveling west of the Hudson.
1
At the rate that this president, the worst in history has his appointees leaving the White House pretty soon the only ones left will be the maintenance crew.
The scandal about his affair with that porn star has that person in the White House constantly referring to President Clinton, who in case we forget, is a Rhodes Scholar. That person in the White House cannot put an intelligent sentence together. For the record 14 other presidents had affairs, some resulting I'm fathering a child ( or more ).
You forgot to mention he is also the first president ever compromised by a hostile foreign nation.
He is unhinged and senile (in addition to his many other sterling qualities). And America has become a bad movie. A sad, prepostereous, painful joke. Any wonder there's an opioid crisis?
We all, including Congress, knew what kind of man trump was before he took office. Now he sits in the highest seat of power where he can do great damage, and those who have the power to rid us of him do nothing. He floods us with Twitter blather about his greatness while the country hangs its head in shame. At long last, Congress, have you no shame for not performing as your sworn oath demands? Rid us of this scourge before he damages our democracy beyond repair.
Mr. Trump is completely delusional. His hires, and attempted hires, in EPA alone, have been an embarrassment, and that includes Mr. Pruitt. Many of the people who are being considered for positions in the White House have little or no experience, or are fawning sychophants. This, according to a recent story in ProPublica and the New York Times.
1
He talks like a thug, "They all want a piece of that Oval Office. They want a piece of the West Wing." This is the People's House that he is speaking about. I find his choice words, as usual, disgustingly insulting, but this time even more repugnant.
It isn't supposed to be about the "action," as (if?) he is a kingpin mobster amassing his loyal "family." Working in the White House is about public service to this country, something far greater than oneself. Of course he would never understand that.
2
I realized yesterday that if Trumps actions, behavior, ideas and words over the past 2 years were to be made into a book or movie, no one would buy it! This situation is unbelievable. No one could make this stuff up!
Every day I ask myself, how anyone could avoid seeing the obvious? It's the equivalent of marrying a man who cheated on his wife with you and believing the same thing will never happen to you!!!! What are the odds of that.
American voters ignored all the warning signs. They hired a man who couldn't do the job. He can't even do the things he promised to do well. There are 4 kinds of people who voted for him. 1. people who put party over county. 2. people who saw a road to legitimacy (KKK, alt-right) because they are as vile as is he. 3. politically low-information people who felt so isolated, angry and hopeless that whatever critical thinking skills they did possess were inoperable during the campaign! 4. people who consider themselves to be Christians, but are willing to ignore every flaw/atrocious behavior because he'll do what they want him to do.
Add in the Russian attack on our election, (it was an act of war) and here we are today! We abdicated our role as leader on the world stage. Now we are laughed at and/or reviled. We have betrayed our national security and the security of our former allies, while Russia and China seize opportunities to advance their anti-democratic doctrines! We will be sorry we were so stupid!
I had hoped that people working in the oval office and the White House were there to serve the country they loved and work for the American people. Under Trump it's just they "want a piece of the oval office". My bad.
My neighbor across the street as since taken his Trump flags off his big truck. I haven't seen him in awhile. I guess shame has its power over pride.
When a truly horrible person, someone with criminal instincts, several mental disorders and total lack of human compassion, is the president, this is the kind of administration you get.
Hear,hear.
A Larry Eisenberg Collection, sortable and searchable.
Based on public nyt data.
https://nytimes-comments.github.io/
1
And yet 30+ percent of Americans approve! Will they ever wake up and admit they were conned, will they ever admit WWF is fake, the mega church they belong to is fleecing them, manufacturing jobs with good pay and union representation will not be delivered, the opioid crisis is their fault! Nah, it’s all Hillary and Obama’s fault. Pathetic stupid people and I refuse to even acknowledge their existence. Suicide by opiates, guns or eating sugar, uneducated and proud.
1
The Republicans, the Evangelicals, and his "base" will never do anything to punish David Dennison for his indiscretions. They are his moral equivalents.
The Democrats have not yet seized power.
There is but one person who can make a difference . . . .
Melania, where art thou? Leave this lyin', cheatin' poor excuse for a man and electrify the world!!!
Stand by your man? I don't think so.
You have a son, little Barron, to think of. Do right by him and us.
Donald will never "Walk the Line."
It's time, Melania. It's time.
3
Why go to work for a man who will ruin your reputation at least two ways - first because you were craven enough to work for this self promoting moronic cretin, and second because he will ultimately vilify you no matter what you do. Simply accepting a role in this administration will ruin your reputation forever. This holds true for the Republicans in Congress as well. Vote them out.
As much as I despise this idiot and how he's ruining our wonderful country, I feel an iota of sympathy for him. He didn't expect to be president. Yes, he's making money hand over fist, so why feel sorry for him? Think about how 2/3's of the country hates you and you get bad press every day. I bet he's a sad, lonely old man. If only he'd just shut his mouth, and stay in his bedroom, eating his cheeseburgers and Diet Coke. He could watch Fox all day, and on the taxpayer dime, play golf every weekend. He could just hide out, not doing anything more, and let the years pass till he could end his term. We wouldn't have to have the gut-wrenching spectacle that bombards us every day. That's probably what the GOP would hope he'd do.
1
Trump is so incompetent and morally bankrupt, it's a lose/lose situation for him no matter who he hires.
His ego couldn't tolerate the best people stealing the limelight and genuine admiration from him.
And surrounding himself with the worst people makes him look even worse than he already is.
Trump's thoroughbred race horse, due to Trump's moronic judgement was practically run to death, ended up having his front hoofs removed. A heinous foreshadowing of Master Trump's treatment of his staff and their legacy. Fortunately he does not have a dog.
1
Woe is me. Oh, woe is me.
Trump is just doing his low brow grifter show as usual. But before it was the world of cheating Queens contractors or not paying illegal Polish workers ,or abusing young females caught in his web. In the spotlight of Washington all the warts, sores and moles are there for the world to see.
I wait with great joy at Mueller exposing this Conmans life of crime, treason, rape and plunder. Mueller is no Queens alderman with a dirty hand out stretched . Trump is about to get a lesson in life, and life imprisonment, or maybe what he really deserves execution for treason. Tick - Tock.
Millions of words, probably billions of words, have been spoken --- and written -- about this disaster in the White House. This con-man will try to: sell us, schmooze us, divide us, conquer us, and then run away with the gold, just like the "old west" -- where guns slingers roamed, with a tribal "law and order" of inner-city degenerating neighborhoods, ruled by thugs, gangs, handguns and home-grown terrorists wielding AK-47s.
The NRA thinks they are helping us become a great nation -- and while we align ourselves with Saudi Arabia and other repressive regimes we create the seeds of our own destruction in the inner-city, our Chicagos, our Clevelands, our New Orleans, our East LAs, . . . our Syrias, our Boko Harams, our ISISs . . . ad-infinitum . . . it's called the evil of monotony and incompetency, and Trump is the head of the snake.
1
Sam Numb-berger - what a perfect poster child for this pitiful delusional liar child president. Catching on yet, suckers? "America First" means Billionaires, first, foremost and always and you last!! Trump will throw whoever he needs to from his bloated balloon until he's dragged from its broken basket to the bitter end.
We are experiencing the effects of life under an imposter, a con, a crook, a narcissist, a pathological liar, a moron, a racist and a sexual predator. People aware of Trump's character laughed at first when he ran for the presidency and were then shocked by his victory. How could Donald J. Trump's administration be anything but a reflection of the man? The most horrific aspect 'The Worst People' as Blow names them, is that we are major players in this horror show. And then there is the Republican Party and what is now The American Way.
1
Pity the poor fool. All he will be able to attract are those who will pick his pockets and then throw him under the bus at the first whiff of trouble.
This White House is The Peter Priciple come to life.
5
"The best people?" Give us a break!
Here's a very short list of firings/resignations of his "best people" appointees that have occurred since Inauguration Day:
- Steve Bannon
- Tom Price
- Mike Flynn
- Hope Hicks
- Carl Icahn
- Rob Porter
Citation:
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-trump-firings-resignations/
Currently, approximately 130 White House staffers (including Jared and Ivanka Kushner) have still not received full security clearances. If they were the "best people" what is hold up their status?
Citation:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/scores-top-white-house-offic...
In addition, at least 15 nominees for heading governmental agencies were rejected or have withdrawn thus far.
Citation:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-ap...
If Trump has such a long list of possible appointees breathlessly waiting in the wings for positions, why doesn't he release the list? The public needs to know who these "best people" are now!
2
Trump has found a new communications director: Sam Nunberg.
1
Trump is competent enough to know that if you cross Russia there is a pretty good chance you and your family won't live too long. Upon being autopsied finding some extremely rare toxin in you system. This possibility, along with being exposed as a major indebted money launderer, keeps him in line with the modern KGB.
5
Pretty soon Putin will have to start filling empty White House positions with Russians since Trump has so disgraced the office and has run out of sycophants to work for him.
7
Working in this administration, for this President is no way to pad, or polish your resume. In fact it may be something you wish to hide.
2
So many of Trump’s horrors are accepted, apparently, as normal. For example, his rant during a joint press conference with Sweden's PM, as CB relates. At the next election, the POTUS said: "I think we will do very well." It took me a moment to realize that he meant not America but the GOP. A naked piece of party politics during an international event! Earlier, we heard that he and VP Pence met with a representative of the NRA at the White House. None of the media seemed to be bothered by the fact that the meeting was with a lobbyist, and in the Oval Office. I suppose that having met with Russian spies in the Oval, and having divulged secret intelligence to them there, it’s hardly a surprise that he again used the Oval like a saloon bar to meet a hack of the NRA. Yes, Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer comes to mind often these days:
“God, give me grace to accept…the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
1
The problem goes beyond Trump's mendacity. The best people simply will not work for or on behalf of Trump. The same goes for good people.
The worst people are all that are left.
3
This is a failed presidency.
3
The chaos we’re living with is because everything Trump does is probably at the behest of the Kremlin.
2
on the plus side the president is as he ran during the campaign. he showed complete ignorance and constant obfuscation. another fine column about the single biggest problem the planet faces right now.
2
People who prize their integrity and self esteem would never work for this man-child.
One goes into the job, whatever that job is in this White House, knowing that the president is incurious, uninformed, and only interested in satisfying his insatiable ego.
The only apparent hiring criteria appears to be a willingness to always praise the president, regardless of how embarrassing that might be to the subordinate.
1
The GOP deserves Trump, the rest of do not. C'mon Mueller
2
It makes perfect sense that we'd at some point find someone so selfish, incompetent, insecure, so corrupt, so full of loathing and doubt, to show us once and for all how bad it can actually get. Through a confluence of unfortunate circumstances, a spin of the wheel and the cruel irony of the fickle finger of fate we find ourselves led by a man who is legendary for his foolishness and buffoonery. If he were merely a clown it might not be so bad but he's also renown for being vindictive, petty, hyper- aggressive and as easily confused as he is insulted. To put such a man so lacking in charm and tact in charge of world affairs is a lot like saying "here, hold my beer and watch me pick up this rattlesnake". In the realm of diplomacy/espionage, which is really just war by other means, our general is Captain Crunch. I mean, really, by comparison J. Beauregard Sessions is a man of character. Most people who've worked in most administrations first instinct is to do the right thing. In this administration their first instinct is to lie. What's worse is it's done in support and furtherance of a criminal enterprise whose agenda is the very destruction of our once great nation, an agenda aided and partially designed by a hostile foreign power.
Many are starting to feel their chickens are coming home to roost. I'd caution that those may really be turkey vultures, seagulls and flying rats. Let's hope Mueller can finally rid us of this albatross around our necks.
1
The worst is yet to come.
8
Oh, come on! He hired a renowned brain surgeon!
(And maybe next there will be a rocket scientist?)
Trump's administration is not just a disaster, it's terrifying!
3
I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing that Donald Trump never actually says anything. His rhetoric is as empty as his suit. I just cannot understand how so many Americans could have bought the snake oil this conman was selling, mostly because, yes, he's a conman, but he's not even a good one. He oozes sleaze. He's not even charismatic, a trait usually required of conmen and cult leaders. Donald Trump will go down as the "Mistaken Presidency", and I am certain that, after he leaves office, whenever and however that happens, Americans who say they voted for him and approve of his performance will not come close to matching those numbers now, a la George W. Bush.
3
Republicans all claim to be pro business. If if Trump were president of a publicly traded company with stock holders and a board of directors, with all the lies and bonehead moves he'd have been booted within the first two months.
Lucky Trump had a privately held company his daddy gave him a "small loan" of million dollars to start.
2
If you had taken a moment to watch some of the AIPAC conference, you would have seen something rather remarkable. US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman proclaimed that Pres. Trump is the best thing that's ever happened to Israel. Needless to say, he got a rousing, standing ovation from the crowd of thousands. Also needless to say, none of those in attendance were toothless hillbillies or deplorables, on any level, yet they are offering hearty support to Mr. Trump. Clearly, without the support of this key demographic, Trump would not be where he is, and neither would he feel like he's at the top of the world. Americans need to take note of this.
Thank you for this little bit of antisemitism - just to prove that the left can be as unhinged as the right (there is another commenter somewhere, insisting that he children dying of hunger in Venezueka are a capitalist plot, so you are not alone). Why don’t you go ahead and name this “key demographic”: Jews. Antisemitism used to be able to speak more openly. Yes, we all know, Trump was brought to power by the Council of the Elders of Zion, with some help from our reptilian overlords. I’m sure Alex Jones has a conclusive proof somewhere. And the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville were very fine people. It’s depressing how the far right and left meetvin the cuckoo land.
This is a guy who spent his whole professional life only caring about employees as long as they served him and did his bidding. He calls this loyalty, but he does not see, and the rest of us can't help but see, he cares not if the loyalty he requires means someone is disloyal to our country. When this house of cards finally falls he will only see it as a case of disloyal people and the press that is out to get him! Oh let this moment come sooner rather than later!
1
There is a tiny side of my heart that is enjoying watching Trump self- destruct. As a Black woman I take glee in this because he started his “political career,” on a racist, vicious lie about President Obama. This administration is incompetent, weak, criminal, and stunningly low class. Everything racists were expecting the Obama administration to be and was not. Trump is going to surpass Buchanan as the Worst President this country has ever experienced. Frankly, it is exactly what many in this country deserve.
But then reality sets in because I am American and this is awful. Everyone is affected by this foolishness including Trumps most cultish supporters.
I am past being surprised by Trump and his minions awfulness. I just wonder how long this recovery will be.
5
This same delusional man ran several of his former businesses into ruin by NOT LISTENING to some of the experts he hired from their fields of expertise. Trump airlines is a perfect example. He surrounds himself with now with sycophants eager to further their own fortunes then finding that they made a grave error.Others who have been through the revolving door were from the pay-to-play realm.
This administration cannot continue .
The Republicans knew full well what he was about yet they let their greedy desires for their own agendas overcome their better judgment.
The GOP has unleashed the most corrupt, inept and dangerous plague upon us . Who’s going to fix this?
1
Respectfully, Mr Blow, we REQUIRE you're observations on a non-stop running line at the bottom of the page, as in, more more and more.
This disaster MUST be called out articulately, plainly, and repeatedly, until the threat is removed in its entirety.
Please continue !
1
As disgusting as Trump is, we must look even closer at why he is there. If we don't objectively analyze these circumstances, learn how to become effective citizens, and improve our democracy, we may altogether lose the meager vestiges of democracy we still have.
1
Translating Trumpspeak, as Mr. Blow notes, is a matter of cognitive inversion. Virtually everything that our president says is the opposite of truth and reality.
This is the "alternative fact" world that emerged in the president's inaugural crowd size controversy. In order to decipher the true meaning of Trumpspeak, antonyms must be substituted for declarative nouns, verbs and adjectives. What he says is not, is. When he says something is, it is not. We have a semantic swamp in the White House.
And, curiously, the two "best" of the bunch happen to be blood and marriage relatives.
"The only energy around Trump is a vortex of complicity and incompetence."
Nailed it.
2
Trump wants his people to have 2 qualities, 3 if they are female.
1) Absolute total loyalty to Trump. Total fealty, even when he is blatantly disloyal to them. Loyalty obeys the Law of Gravity--what goes up needs to come back down.
2) Making sure problems (ie, things that threaten Trump) go away, by any means, fair or foul. "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"
3) Do I really have to explain the misogynist-in-chief?
After all, Trump is the center of the (ie, his) Universe and every other human being is merely of value for how "the Center" can exploit them.
1
And 85% of registered Republicans still support him!
Scary!
2
Who are the 'worst' and who are the best people in the Trump Administration reflects a partisan political divide perspective that must begin and end with the occupant of Oval Office.
Donald John Trump is President of the United States because 63 million Americans voted for him in 50 separate state elections plus the District of Columbia delivering him a meaningful 304 Electoral College majority. Trump won the votes of 62 percent of white men and 54 percent of white women.
Hillary Clinton infamously labeled them 'deplorable'.
Trump never hid who he was by nature and nurture from the nation. While Trump hovers at 38 percent in the national polls he is 2x that in his Republican Party base. No one is indispensable in the Trump Administration. Melania is the 3rd Mrs. Trump. Trump has four children who are not members of his administration.
Trump's claim of high energy and hard working in the White House is belied by his spending a third of his time in office on vacation at his resorts and hotels including 100 days playing golf. Trump's claim of hiring the best people rests on his reliance upon men in military uniforms. While ridding his team of so many bad seeds so soon is arguably very effective quality control.
But since we live in a divided limited power constitutional republic the worst people are Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who enable and embolden Trump.
1
A crazy uncle that should never been let out of the attic is wha that this “president” is, not someone who performs as a leader.
Anyone who enters Trump's orbit is stained forever. When will this joke end? The cowardice of the GOP should be the end of them. They are a disgrace, they sit by and watch while Rome burns. As long as they get their tax cuts nothing else matters.
Just stop and think: Imagine if a democratic POTUS behaved this way and was this corrupt?
But Obama once wore a beige suit.
1
Of course Trump only keeps those who tell him what he wants to hear. He is congenitally incapable of either telling, or receiving the truth. Anyone with a shred of decency in this Administration has left. The majority of us have known this for some time.
But we need to understand that Trump's base knows he lies, and they want him to continue to lie. Why? Because like him, they too, want to hear only what they want to hear, no matter how far it is from the truth. And as long as his base controls this country, we will be led by those who lie with impunity.
Many commenters here have bemoaned the fact that Fox News has "brainwashed" so many Trump supporters. I argue the opposite. Trump supporters aren't naive, gullible people who have been hoodwinked. Instead, outlets like Fox understand that they are broadcasting exactly what some forty percent of our population wants to hear. Some forty percent of our population wants to believe, whether any of it is true or not. Fox is in business to make money, and racism, xenophobia, sexism, and anti-gay sentiment is still quite profitable in this country.
Trump's lying, toadying sycophants in the White House are there because he wants them there, but more importantly, because his base wants them there. And the rest of us need to take the blinders off about this malignant nature in some forty percent of our population. They are hateful, bigoted people who want a hateful, bigoted presidency. And they know they call the shots.
17
Nice shoes.
And that's it, folks...
And who are those toadies standing at attention as mr. goodie-two-shoes gropes for the exit?
This says it all:
"Trump is the worst boss who hires the worst people: People who confess to crimes, are secretly operating as foreign agents, allegedly beat their wives and have absolutely no expertise in the area in which they work.
When you choose loyalists and sycophants over experts and professionals, this disaster of an administration is what you get."
2
Watch old movie “Aguiree, The Wrath of God” to see what we’re dealing with.
1
What is the "standard" Trump uses to gauge who the "best" people are? Why, himself, of course. When you are a person who serially cheats on his wives, when you are a guy who pays off women you had affairs with, when you are a man who goes on tape to brag about sexual abuse, when you are a man who expresses racist views over and over, when you are a man who stiffs contractors over and over, when you are a man who lies as often as he takes a breath, when you are a man whom I have NEVER seen engaging with his 8 year old son (like taking him to a ballgame), when you are a man who calls his daughter hot, when you are .. ...Oh., you get the picture. The BEST is Trump. He isn't going to hire people who will make him look bad. So they naturally would engage in similar behavior to himself. Or worse. Expect Newt Gingrich to join the White House. He cheated on his wife while she was undergoing cancer treatment. Oh yeah, Trump only did it after his wife just had a baby. Gingrich would make Trump look like an amateur. Can't have that.
3
The only people who would want to work in this WH are those people who are totally incompetent, totally corrupt, or already have a reputation in the toilet. Anyone with any sense of integrity and/or honor, can't run away from his fiasco fast enough (to say nothing of the chances of being dragged into the Mueller investigation and its ensuing stress and costs).
1
Trump is one of those people who believes the best defense is a good offense. So he's always on the offensive. He is an offensive person.
3
Trump hasn't drained the swamp, he's filled it with incompetent people as ignorant and self-serving as he is. The claim that he has, and hires "the best people" is a joke. It's just like him saying Jared doesn't get the praise he deserves. Praise? Jared lied with gaping omissions on all three of his security forms, got half a billion dollars for his family's biz by courting investors at the WH, has no expertise in the Middle East or Mexico or revamping the Office of Innovation, whatever that is. Yet Trump claims he's a brilliant guy. If Trump says something, you have to believe the opposite is true. I'm so tired of this circus and this clown. I wish they'd close their tent and go home.
2
I am waiting for Richard Luettgen to weigh in and tell us that we are unfairly judging Trump by standards we did not apply to Obama. Or that the energy in the White House is refreshing and things needed to be shaken up a bit. Or that when Trump threatens to demolish institutions or start wars trade or nuclear, that people will always back off.
Or, or, or. It's always some excuse for the most incompetent administration in the last hundred years. Is Trump worse than W yet? I believe not, because he has not killed over hundred thousand innocent civilians in a little war that he started. I hope Trump doesn't get a chance to show us how he can surpass W's miserable record.
2
Great column! We need to talk about his lies daily /hourly and most of all zero in on Donald’s corruption. Many people seem to have a soft spot for “lies” ( we all do it sometimes) but they hate corruption and Donald is the most corrupt “ president” in American history— need I site sources?
2
"...and I think so much has to do with past history: how've they done, how's it all worked out."
I could not agree more. If one looks at Mr. Trump's business dealings before being elected, the erratic pattern was clear to see. The bombastic rhetoric was well-established. The lack of ethical and moral behavior was obvious, as was a pattern of lying and wild exaggeration.
For those rubes who bought into the idea that we need to run our country more like a business, that general concept might have some validity - but there are many, many types of business people, and you gave your vote to a huckster with a terrible background. The results are not surprising.
1
It’s a shame this man never learned the fine skill of introspection.
To be perfectly honest, Charles, I wouldn't give a flying whatever about any of these people, and their absurdities and peccadilloes, if it weren't for the chaos their chaos brings to the rest of the country.
If they implode in isolation, no big deal. But we know if they implode it's hardly in isolation.
If only they could be quarantined.
1
It's a form of self hate. That's the only thing I can think of. If you put aside the politics for a second and just try to figure out why he do what he does, he hates himself for not being good enough at anything. So he tries to wreck it all. He lies because the truth hurts and he hate himself for being hurt. He hates his sons so he grab onto Jared, but hates him now for putting him into more criminal jeopardy and he hates himself for making the mistake of trusting Jared. He hates Obama because he's everything great a president should be that he can never be and he hates himself for that. He hates competence because it makes him look incompetent and he knows that and he hates himself for that too. People lie because something is wrong in their lives. They lie to cover up their misgivings that they know are absolutely true. And they hate themselves and everyone else because of it. What a sad little man.
1
Thank you, Charles Blow, for continuing to tell the truth when others don't. I am disgusted at the attempts to make this administration seem "normal" by ascribing motives other than greed, racism and obtuse ignorance to its decisions. The worst people make the worst decisions, as anyone who has ever worked anywhere knows. Trump and his GOP sycophants make terrible decisions because greed, racism, and ignorance are the only things they know.
2
More frightening is that this disaster of an administration is an even bigger disaster for the country.
1
I don't understand how anyone can be surprised by how Trump has acted throughout his time in office. He's delivering exactly what he promised his voters during the campaign: Blow up the system and drive his opponents insane. His supporters love him for it, because they see themselves as victims who need a strongman to protect them from elites and minorities. Trump calculated that he could win the presidency by appealing to nativist biases, promising to isolate America, turn us into a theocracy, restore white people to total power, deport all the illegal immigrants, prevent any new ones coming in (unless their skins are white, of course), and return women to second class status. All the while making sure that rich people like himself get even richer by giving them tax breaks and eliminating pesky regulations. And whenever he thinks they might be getting bored, he tosses out another piece of red meat, from getting rid of transgenders in the military to this week's tariffs. Whatever else you might think about this incompetent, ignorant wannabe dictator, he's delivering on his campaign promises.The saddest thing is that so many Americans want what he's delivering.
5
It is truly said that our Fearless Leader doesn’t know what it’s like NOT to live in a burning house.
1
"When you choose loyalists and sycophants over experts and professionals, this disaster of an administration is what you get."
You left out nepotism.
The best people meant hiring those who could improve his and his family's finances. Gary Cohn did his job in helping to vastly reduce Trumps tax bite as well as the Republican donor class. Mission accomplished.
1
Good. But we already know trump is a liar and scoundrel. Tell the people what they need to know to WIN THE NEXT ELECTION. Speak of real issues. The Democratic party, and the NY Times as a whole, must return to policies that support the middle and working class. If we're to win you must push for greater control of the banks that led us into the last recession, a 15$ minimum wage, free government sponsored health care for all, free college tuition !
Filling columns with trump every day, every news program on TV without pushing this positive agenda is defeating our cause, maybe our last chance to defeat him.
2
It's the 'fake news' narrative that keeps me up at night. Thanks to Fox News, Trump's base is permitted to take ideology as truth, regardless of the facts.
The memory of Roy Moore's wife, campaigning on the night before the Alabama Senate election, riling the crowd with what 'fake news' would have you believe about her husband, in her southern drawl, dripping with bile and tinged with malice, will haunt me for years. The crowd was eating it up. There was no discerning the truth.
Only Moore's narrow loss gave me a modicum of hope.
2
Narcissists encourage chaos in underlings. It makes them feel powerful. Trump will purposely undermine a member of his team, simply for his own amusement and to drive home the point that it's Trump that is in charge and makes the decisions. The White House turmoil isn't simply due to incompetence, it's by design to bolster the fragile and insatiable ego of the president.
3
Mr.Trump lives his lies-there is a point when he becomes totally unhinged from reality. Those who work with him at the White House lose their credibility and eventually their savings as they cover their legal bills.Mr.Trump is not only a cheap huckster, he is a manipulator who cares about only one person- that would be Donald Trump.
1
There is much narcissism in politics, in what we watch on TV and what we listen to at work, even in our families. A self-preening, an unexamined prancing and braying. But this comes almost always as a matter of degree with other qualities that might be acceptable, even admirable.
We have not seen before in the halls of power the pure narcissist absent of any redeeming qualities. America will get the worst of it until we can see Trump for who he is - a prevaricator, an insecure self-preening double dealer with not a whiff of empathy for anyone but himself.
This is the flim flam man who many voters wanted and who the GOP thought they could exploit.
Donald Trump is the caricature of an insufferable blowhard in a nation where the majority of its motivated voters respond willingly to extreme bloviation. Trump is what we are. Not you; not I perhaps but the collectivize "we" is either too shallow, too resentful, too bigoted or too apathetic to terminate the madness we have chosen.
I hope that this coming November proves me wrong, but I wouldn't put a dime of my own money on it.
Anyone who lists employment at the Trump White House on their resume is taking a risk of being branded as a lackey for a traitor. Not generally what most employers are looking for in a new recruit. There may be some openings cleaning toilets at evangelical churches available, but not many opportunities on Wall Street.
The current atmosphere of Trump's administration is causing the competent, educated people who want to do a good job to give up, resign, recover and go on with their lives. Those who remain are the incompetent and submissive, willing to be over-run and bullied by Trump who somehow fancies himself as highly intelligent. It is difficult to imagine the chaos and destruction we will see before his term ends. Hang on, boys and girls. It's gonna be a bumpy night.
Before the election I predicted the Trump administration would attract three main types: fawning sycophants, ambitious posers, and political has-beens.
Turns out, that was Trump's A team, most of whom are now spent and limping off the field. Now his B team is lining up: scheming sycophants, ambitious losers, and political never-weres.
And please, let's not forget who's responsible for this: The Republicans in Congress who are not doing their jobs as a check on executive incompetence and abuse of power and privilege.
1
The three legs of the trump stool are:
Say the opposite of what is true.
Say the opposite of what you intend.
Act to increase your personal fortune and the fortune of your family dynasty, and/or to stave off the financial ruin of that fortune and dynasty.
While the first two maintain the faithfulness of his 'base,' the wobbliness of the third is coming under increasing legal scrutiny, and with real consequences.
A chair on two legs cannot stand.
Lincoln's 'house divided against itself' may apply to family and ultimately party as well.
1
The more he tweets and talks about something you know the opposite is happening ( great people ie Miller, there was no collusion ie Trump Jr,) and it's funny that his base hasn't figured that one out. The only great deal maker in the WH is his son in law (ie bank loans) and the great negotiator is Ivanka who can spin her father like a top. Yes he like the blood sport of people fighting (WWE) and the reason his base likes him so much is because he's funny and an entertainer. The chasim that he has created will not be easy to fill and corrected. Vote women!
With Nixon, the catch phrase was "Impeach with Honor." There won't be any honor this time. Just disgrace.
To slightly modify Mary McCarthy: "Every word he says is a lie, including and and the."
When your sole goal is to retain power and avoid criminal charges, you don't want the best and the brightest ... you want the loyal followers who will keep their silence ... wait, that doesn't seem to be the case her with The Don.
Mr. Blow, when will everyone learn that everything that comes out the mouth of this creature should be interpreted as the exact opposite? End of story.
1
One day he will hit the intercom button and no one will answer, he will open the door of the Oval Office, and no one will be out there either. He will slowly realize he is the only one left in the White House.....and then hopefully his reign of incompetence will finally end.....if there is anything left of America at that point.
Charles, the current White House is a mess, to put it mildly.
The fact is this current administration led by a sycophant is a complete disaster.
And it's all because that man in the top is a total fraudster.
Yes, there should not be any doubt in anybody's mind that Trump who used fraudulent means to make billions of dollars in his private business and personal life (Stormy Daniels, anyone ?), is using a mixture of total fraud and complete lies in running his administration.
His running of the popular show "The Apprentice" on tv, not so long ago where he fired almost every contestants, is not helping him at this greatest show on earth. The presidency of the United States.
Lot of Americans recall how he fired one White House employee after another on some pretext or another, sometimes even forcing them to confess that they're leaving his administration at their choice like we saw recently with the firing cum resignation of his favorite aide, Hope Hicks who most probably told him to keep his hands where they belong to. In his own trouser's pockets.
So if we're being governed by a man who once took hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of compensation from our govt. after 9/11,saying his building on 5th Avenue got some damage too from the blasts that toppled the twin towers which we all know now he fabricated and then lied to our govt. officials just to get that "free money" from our govt., the one he always blames only on our minorities and our immigrants. Nobody else.
Trump can’t even hire the best lawyers to defend himself in the Mueller investigation or in the Stormy Daniels mess—he’s a lawyer’s worst nightmare as a client as well as an employee’s worst nightmare as a boss.
1
Mr. Trump, if you want loyalty, get a dog.
1
I can't imagine the difficulty of finding future work in a profession for those shleppers who have "worked for the Trump administration" on their resumes.
1
All applicants for jobs in the white house should consider Kelly Anne's qualifications before applying. The applicant must be an excellent liar, have no regard for the law, possess sociopathic tendencies, and be content working around a misogynist, egomaniacal male. Special consideration will be given to applicants with past experience in duplicity, working with lobbyists (aka: congress) and bankruptcy.
The saving grace may be that those that are left and those that he’ll hire in the future are so incompetent that even the gop enablers will balk at more stupidity and just leave us where we are at
It's ironic that Mr. Blow writes about revenge and retaliation being the core of Trump's operation when it is transparently obvious that he engages in it in every column. It seems like Mr. Blow would have no problem with hiring loyalists and sycophants if they were experts? Or is the point just to use the words "loyalists" and "sycophants", and, if so, could you please recite the professional "expertise" of Valerie Jarrett.
1
Obscene greed, overweening vanity, narcissistic individualism, belligerence, anti-intellectualism -- if these are Donald Trump's defining traits, then he's as American as apple pie. Perhaps that's what mainstream media's big name pundits, Charles Blow included, hate most about Donald Trump: that he's giving away the game. That he's the culmination and symptom of 40 years of neoliberalism, the snarling gangster face of capitalism unbound. The worst in human nature, handsomely rewarded.
Once again we read and hear everywhere how truly terrible Trump is and how much damage he is doing here and, potentially, all around the world. OK, I get it. Now, when will the sycophants around him awaken, and the Republican in the house and senate who can still think rationally, take the necessary steps to rid us of this evil, incompetent buffoon?
It's aboundantly clear that multiple instances of "high crimes and misdemeanors" exist to be adjudicated, so when will the process begin?
Yes Charles, it's the classic case of "the emperor has no clothes." When you have an autocratic narcissist, you have have government "of me, by me, and for me." Submissive, even groveling, loyalty is the price of being exposed to the beautiful energy that is the human black hole that characterizes extreme narcissists like Donald Trump. Narcissists have no friends, only enemies and all in their path are eventually burned up like Gary Cohn or burned out like Hope Hicks. Narcissists lie because their need to be the admired (the only love they understand) is overwhelming. Everything is the "best" and the "biggest" and woe to those who dare say otherwise. Not everyone who works for a narcissist is a terrible (or "the worst") person, but they soon discover (as John Kelly recently did conflating Donald Trump to God's punishment) that they work for the very worst person. And, that is the problem the nation has been confronting for the past 15 months. An executive mentally unsuited and unqualified for the the job of Commander-in-Chief propped up by a feckless Congressional Republican Party that has exposed themselves as some of "the worst people."
1
How does that old saying go...?
Oh yes, "A fish rots from the head down."
A sidenote: Doesn't trump sound like Rupert Pupkin
( De Niro in 'King of Comedy') hosting a telethon
promoting ignorance.
1
Trump is destroying the federal government. Intentionally by leaving hundreds of positions vacant, unintentionally by complete incompetence. Either way, the results are the same, libertarian chaos. He'll lose the House in 2018 and then blame his failed agenda on congress and get re-elected in 2020 posing once again as an outsider. He has failed as a casino owner, owner of an airline, owner of a pro football team, and as a spouse. He doesn't care about the responsibilities of his actions, he just enjoys the stature. He's nuts.
1
"People who confess to crimes, are secretly operating as foreign agents, allegedly beat their wives and have absolutely no expertise in the area in which they work."
So "beat their wives" is the only thing on this list that requires the use of the hedge "allegedly". Hmmm........
1
The most interesting thing to me is how a person can be POTUS and still be a wannabe.
Trump operates in the White House as he did in his casino businesses and similarly, he is an abject failure. His dishonesty, vengeful spirit and demand for loyalty over competence is now bankrupting the USA. History is the best predictor of what will come in the future. It's no surprise, that Trump is morally and, given his trade philosophy, financially destroying our country.
1
All you have to do is look at his cabinet to see that he does not pick the best people. He picks ideologues who are in opposition to the very purpose of their department(Betsy De Vos, Scott Pruitt) or incompetent, know nothings(Ben Carson, Rick Perry). I do have to admit that Generals are mostly, quietly effective and Sara Huckabee Sanders is remarkably adept with verbal jousiting.
1
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is horrible, evil and incompetent.
1
If there had been a television series five years ago in which this Presidency had been portrayed, it would have been a satire and lambasted as a cruel and unbelievably exaggerated depiction of declining American ideals. We have elevated the worst because they claimed to be the best and we enjoyed their bravado.
314
Maybe House of Cards was the series we needed to be thinking about.
3
You just reminded me of one difference between Trump and Mueller: Mueller has very little swagger and bravado about him.
3
No TV show, but there was a movie, titled Idiocracy, and while the visuals and plot may be slightly more cartoonish (poetic license) the substance and effects are eerily familiar.
2
One sentence in Mr Blow’s column speaks the truth best - Trump is the worst boss who hires the worst people. Why did so many people think that his crude management style would change once he assumed the Presidency? Whatever made an immoral and vulgar failure of a businessman capable of being POTUS? The Mueller investigation goes on. Thank Goodness.
4
Perhaps it's not entirely fair to blame this all on Trump. After all, he has to make sure he has Putin's approval for his choices...
1
There is a method to this man’s awful madness. He doesn’t merely choose “loyalists and sycophants” to join him in the White House because he loves getting stroked. He chooses loyalists and sycophants whose histories prove that they oppose the federal government and are irritated by its regulations protecting civil rights, the environment, the elderly, the disabled, small investors, public schools, and anybody who would prefer that her children not be killed by bullets from an AR-15.
In short, Trump’s lackeys have been selected to tear down our government and advance Personal Freedom. American Independence on the World Stage. Every man for himself.
That’s the Republican creed. It’s a strong outdated, simplistic, macho frontier creed.
And here’s what I just don’t understand (my amazement grows day by day). Why would any American who might have friends with children who require long-term healthcare, or sisters whose kids rely on free school lunches and food stamps, or parents who benefit from Medicare, vote for a Republican? Why would any person who prefers to drink water uncontaminated by coal dust and/or industrial waste vote for a Republican?
Obviously many do. Half of our United States (25) are led by a Republican governor and a state legislature with both houses dominated by the GOP.
Why? Just because these voters keep seeing too many Mexicans and Muslims in the grocery stores ... and Hillary wore pantsuits and acted uppity?
Why be so cruel? Is it a sport?
885
As he said, he likes to watch the gladiatorial battle between advisors--he enjoys the fight. I suspect that he has a huge voyeuristic streak in him as well.
I agree that his favorites hate any governance that doesn't principally benefit themselves at the expense of others. The common good is a concept completely alien to all of them. This will not end well.
8
Americans (maybe half of them) are in an essentially psychotic state. A group psychosis, if you will, as Carl Jung might have described it.
Why indeed if you have people you care about who need food, medicine , shelter, would you even think about voting Republican. The "dumbing down" of the country which Reagan's people to some degree did on purpose is now in full effect. People refuse to see the consequences of all this. But they will soon, when the economy collapses from the tax heist. Less than two years away I would guess....
12
Deborah this is the best comment of the month. Absolutely on point.
14
Working for Trump is NOT a resume builder. Has any of his former subordinates enhanced their careers by association with Trump?
He is too dominant and does not allow for others to grow. Trump is a negative mentor...you are diminished by working for him.
And that's why he has a difficult time hiring the "best" people.
2
“Trump’s turnover is record-setting, more than triple that of Obama and double that of Reagan."
What this means is that both presidents had some idea of how they wanted to govern and they knew they would need, quickly, quality people in place so, as the saying goes, "hit the ground running."
That signal sentence also meant that President-elects (Ronald) Reagan and then (Barack) Obama sought quality as an effective way of governing. Whatever one may say about the Reagan presidency, with its own nods to nationalism and racial antagonisms, those who signed on to his vision for America brought with them credentials of an almost impeccable nature. One surely may be a conservative--rightward-leaning, even--and be a person of quality and substance, one honestly (and honorably) pushing forward the president's agenda.
Donald Trump, from Ground Zero of his candidacy (descending the gilded escalator in his own fortress of Barad-dûr), addressed the world with his gloves off, hands bared for combat. It was only natural that he would attract, like a magnet, those of an (unpleasantly) aggressively warring nature. He would surround himself with individuals completely without nuance and subtlety, perhaps because these intellectual tics are at variance with his own sense of self-importance and blaster. And, make no mistake, he sought out those who would seize upon his celebrity and not his "policy."
The turnover in his West Wing is reflective of the jumping chaos of this president.
3
For the moment Trump has chosen the best of the worst, but with so many of those leaving, it will soon be the worst of the worst. We haven’t touched bottom yet!
1
The whole GOP establishment backs Trump, showing that their historic claims about morality, balanced budgets, and patriotism were fake. What does it mean for our future when the GOP has shown it cares about just two things: tax cuts for the super rich and promoting racism?
When we compile a list of worst people in the Trump administration, we shouldn't leave out Republican members of congress. The really horrible reality of Trump is his policies have been endorsed and supported by the Republican congress. And this is a congress willing to defend Trump and his criminal cabinet at every new opportunity. In this case, it is the people who have chosen, "loyalists and sycophants," and until the people come to their senses, we will stay mired in criminal corruption and government dysfunction, not just because of Trump but because of the oligarchs who run the country.
3
I completely agree, and I completely disagree. Trump is what he is, and, like most of us, he will not change. Rehearsing every new proof of his incompetence & corruption does not respond to our urgent situation; in fact it contributes to it, since Trump's supporters automatically take any criticism of him as proof of our blindness. Our problem is the fact that significant numbers of our fellow citizens see competence in incompetence, truth in lies, purpose in confusion, and reform in corruption. That's the thing that we must address if the country is to survive. Because if that mass madness isn't diagnosed and treated, even if we survive Trump, the next Trump will be worse.
26
Trump is delivering on many of host promises, especially the ones that have the most destructive effect on our society. In less than 14 months he had killed Obamacare, passed huge tax breaks for those who don’t need them, speed up the injustice deportation machine, relaxed regulations on the biggest banks, rolled back consumer protection and important environmental regulations, upped military spending, defunded diplomacy, affordable housing, social programs, national parks, environmental protection and infrastructure projects. He is delivering on his promises to the right wing Christians for putting God back in our society and government. So far it has been a very quick and successful rollback to the dark ages in every aspect of public life and policy. Civil rights and prison reform are running fast into the 1959’s. Don’t be fooled that things don’t get done and targets not hit by him. In so little time he has done so much damage! We cannot comprehend it all and well because the market is up, unemployment and gas prices are very low. But we drowning in injustices and poison. And there is no safety in being passive and waiting to be saved.
Many of us live in a distorted reality and believe that we need to work toward a more perfect, just and progressive society. Don’t worry, we are going to keep working on this for the foreseeable eternity.
But, we are steadfast making huge leaps back.
Imagine how much would’ve been destroyed if DJT had more talented villains on his side!
495
This is a great review of the dismantling of our democracy in such a short period of time. Trump has learned well from his former Whisperer-in-Chief, the self-proclaimed anarchist and Leninist Steve Bannon.
4
Just one minor correction: DJT did not "put God back in our society and government." God was never absent from our society and our government. What DJT did was help push out other non-evangelical interpretations of god (and I mean lower case god).
Also from now on, please use Evangelicals instead of right wing Christians. There's nothing Christian about Evangelicals. They have no idea what Christ's message is really about since Christ's message was for the poor, the sick (kill Obamacare?), the homeless (Syrian refugees, immigrants), the downtrodden, the meek, and non-violence (Those who live by the sword, die by the sword, Mathew chapt 26, verse 52). There's nothing meek, caring, empathetic, or loving in DJT's black hole of a heart. He is, in fact, the Anti-Christ in every sense of the word.
4
During the years I was in the workforce I had the privilege of working for people of sterling reputation and was proud of my association with people known for their honesty and integrity. I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to have on their resume that they were a part of this White House. It is the place where reputations go to die.
14
Or they go to Fox News for big bucks and a built-in brainwashed following.
1
This administration will stand out not only for being one of the worst, but how it operated. One lesson is that business people most likely don't make good presidents (though this guy is a bad business person, just very lucky).
2
Our political system which elevates grifters and worse to the highest positions of power have left me no option but to subscribe to factual news sources rather than gift any political party my hard-earned $$. A free and factual press is the only way we will get out of this current catastrophe.
6
And let's not forget: family members.
1
We knew he was a liar long before he decided to run. His campaign underscored that understanding and his presidency has amplified it.
Too bad that the press corps, unlike teachers in West Virginia, can't simply walk out and stop repeating his words.
5
Prior to becoming President, Trumps associates were the moral dregs of society, industry, and real estate. He had no close association with anyone of character. The WWF was about as high as he went. As president, he has surrounded himself with similar baskets of deplorables who flee like cockroaches when the light is turned on. To be surprised at this means one wasn't paying attention or one was hopelessly optomistic.
The Trump admisistration is not hydra. There is only one head that needs to be removed. Mueller appears to have the sword.
17
How does this president have so much power?How does he change,for instance ,trade policy on a personal whim?
4
W. B. Yeats might have been thinking of this:
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
5
If, in fact, Trump is Putin's stooge, he is doing a masterful job of creating dysfunction, confusion, and long term financial distress for the US.
The right man for the job.
Unfortunately, the job is to encourage Republican blind greed so they will ignore his damage, all so they can loot the treasury and its tax laws.
The job also is to use all tools to magnify divide and conquer Republican tactics, so the South is inflamed with racial tensions and the coasts are under attack from Sessions and Trump.
Fanning the flames of fear and ignorance, all for the enjoyment of Putin.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
10
If History is any guide, it shows us that regime's like Trump's do not last long and do not end well.
But there are a number of different factors at play in Trump's case that may make new history. First, the amount of money from Republican donors is simply staggering, and courtesy of a truly disgraceful and illegally constituted Supreme Court, that already obscene amount of money can grow infinitely.
And second, an entire political party, the Republican Party, has more or less become treasonous and its members make no bones about valuing party loyalty over the oath they swore to protect and defend the Constitution.
When you throw in the disarray and obvious corruption of the Democratic Party leadership during the 2016 election, you have the present situation.
In older times, the torches and pitchforks would come out, the equivalent of a Bastille would be stormed, there would be traitors' heads on pikes in the Forum, and a new country would rise from the ashes. But that won't happen here. Quite frankly, too many of our people are watching Fox, or American Idol, going to movies about comic book heroes, and otherwise not paying attention.
511
Only late epoch Rome can compare with this Congress and White House leadership.
6
There was no corruption in the Democratic Party leadership in supporting the only Democrat running for president. I can't believe that some folks still believe that Democrats would vote for a self-declared socialist who loudly declared he was not a Democrat. He only borrowed the label long enough to get attention and quickly went back to being the cipher in the Senate that he has always been.
6
Hi, Norma -
Yes, Sanders is a Socialist, but he has always caucused with Democrats. It is beyond dispute that the DNC was almost penniless, and became beholden to Hillary as a result. They put their thumb on the scales in favor of their worst possible candidate, and Trump is in the White House.
1
“Loyalty was a great thing, but no lieutenants should be forced to choose between their leader and a circus with elephants.”
― Neil Gaiman
91
Mr. Blow, everything you say about this dysfunctional presidency is true. The man is on the defensive, backpedaling and nearly in full retreat these days. Chaos and scandals don't begin to describe the state of this White House. Rather than trying to be presidential and govern, the president is reacting to every news story with scorn and ridicule, determined to have the last word about anything.
Former presidents were simply too busy to wallow in the mundane, trivial and minutiae of daily news cycles and Washington gossip that seem to consume this president. The 45th goes out of his way to be the center of attention, the eye of the storm, the straw that stirs the drink.
The president has the worst people because he looks for the qualities he values in himself. He thrives on chaos and confusion because they guarantee headlines, however negative they are. He just wants America to be about him. He is a disruptive force, and to him anyway, chaos is better than harmony.
7
If there are so many people clamoring to work in or for this White House, why are so many positions vacant, with a thick layer of dust on the keyboards and dust bunnies multiplying under the desks?
Up real close, "tremendous energy" and panic are indistinguishable.
2
kakistocracy is a system of government which is run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. This is what we have. Charles just wrote us a nice narrative. A good one at that.
8
Good morning Charles. Much of what you say is absolutely true of Donald Trump, and yet, after over a year, he says, “I’m still here”. He has the lowest popular status of any president in the first year of recording these statistics. That’s a fact! Yet, how is he able to still hold onto around 35% of the voting population? If you can answer that question with FACT, then we’ll surely be on the road to recovery. The problem is that statistics and beliefs are two different animals. All of us reading this has at least one friend or family member that still supports Trump. Are they insane? NO. They just believe in their RED team just as much as YOU believe in your BLUE team. Let me give you a personal example. I supported Bill Clinton all during the Monica Lewinsky episode. No matter what dirt the Republicans could bring up about Bill, I let that fall off my back like a duck in the water. To me, all I cared about was that I liked Bill and thought he was doing a great job. What does that say about my moral fiber?
In retrospect, do I at least admit that what he did was wrong? Yes. Would I still have voted for him knowing all of that? YES. Why? Because I really felt and believed that what he did was good for the country, regardless of the side show. Trump supporters think of Donald pretty much the same way.
We can change this insanity by voting NOT to remove him from office, but by giving the American public a better choice in the next election. That’s how a true democracy works.
4
Far from "the best people," Jared Kushner is quite possibly the worst possible option for his job. It would be rather easy simply to find a random incompetent, unqualified and clueless person to fill his job. But to find someone who has leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars to adverserial countries is truly unique. Would it be possible to find someone even worse?
Perhaps Trump should have had even more wives, and more children so there would be greater competition for the most sensistive positions, and he could watch them fight it out.
1
It's been said so often: Trump is uncurious and doesn't read anything. He has no meaningful knowledge of anything. That means he is clueless when listening to two people competing sides of any issue, so he will fall on the side of the loyalist or sycophant every time, and then change his mind when he meets a yet more convincing loyalist just hours or days later. Experts need not apply.
Given the power he wields, Trump is an existential danger every minute that he is awake.
954
William, what a succinct insightful observation that should make every patriotic American their mission to remove this threat ASAP while you still can.
5
"he is clueless when listening to two people competing sides of any issue, so he will fall on the side of the loyalist or sycophant every time"
That's as succinct an explanation as I've yet seen -- spot on. His brain must really hurt when he has to analyze a complicated situation, so he just bails, mentally, and let's his "people" do the "work".
4
I don't know what you are talking about. They are best at following him around and telling him how wonderful he is. That's all he requires.
2
Henry VII, as well, I had trouble finding someone to be Queen of England after some candidates saw what happened to the ones before them.
1
"'“It’s tough. I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that. And then I make a decision.'"
Yes, of course. DJT is emulating POTUS 16 and has surrounded himself with a Team of Rivals.
Next up for positions in the White House:
Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd
Road Runner and Wiley Coyote
Popeye and Bluto
Batman and The Joker
Sherlock Holmes and Moriarity
Interesting times, indeed.
To be quite frank, there is no way the "Best People" would ever be attracted to, much less want to work for an obsessive narcissist like Donald Trump -- simply because they'd know from the beginning that they'd never be able to get their work done.
That's what happens when you have someone who always knows everything better, and who doesn't know how to listen to advice. So, as a result, Mr. Trump has filled the ranks with
his personal cronies and subservient neophytes who always know their place, never question him and most importantly of all, never steal the spotlight.
Of course, it's all very telling that after only a year in office, a large proportion of his administration is bailing out in droves.
At least that's the greatest advantage they have over the rest of us.
3
We must not dwell on Trump and his ugly life. We must look for solutions and how we can save this country and Democracy. The Trump supporters are planning to raise 100 million for 2020, because they will make millions more under this corrupt so called government.
George Carlin was correct - The crooks have all the money and they want more.
We Must find solutions to fight this take-over of our Country, instead of constantly focusing on the evils that surround this man. If a high school kid can be so focused and get results on gun control, we should be able to accomplish something.
Start by supporting people like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. It might help.
8
We are so distracted by the never ending onslaught of disasters caused by this ruinous administration that we are losing sight of what needs to be done to extricate ourselves before it is too late. The Dems must champion constructive policies to forward healthy policies and field excellent candidates to correct and strengthen our democracy. Will the worthy leaders please step up. Your country needs you.
1
It is true that Trump knows the best people, the problem is they know him too.
1
The best-known and most effective proponent of putting people of opposite viewpoints together to work out the best solution was, of course, FDR. The difference is that he did get the best people, set goals because he was clear about what needed to be done, and was able to move the process along when the differences seemed insurmountable.
He famously put leaders of industry and labor together to work out the rules for price and wage controls, collective bargaining and its limits, and similar, during WWII. The best people readily came when he called, some devoting months if not years of their lives, often collecting only "a dollar a year".
Today, we are not united on our goals and objectives as a nation. The political leaders, especially Trump, McConnell and Ryan, either have no vision for the nation, or their vision is "Me and Mine First", party over country, our pockets over your health and well-being.
Why would good people, not to mention the best, go to work for such a rudderless, venal and self-serving government, even if conditions in the WH were much better?
567
I would say it was Lincoln.
1
"The best-known and most effective proponent of putting people of opposite viewpoints together to work out the best solution was, of course, FDR." FDR was great, but weren't two other great presidents doing the same thing? I mean Washington and Lincoln.
Have you ever wondered about the intricacies of how Trump has manipulated and conned people throughout the course of his life? You need wonder no more. We all have front row seats watching the latest Trump victims, and that would be us. We must have wanted it this way, because we voted for it. Now we can savor the drama as it continually plays out before us. You can't always get what you want. Unfortunately, we did this time -- and we'll keep paying the price -- until we decide we've had enough, whenever that day comes.
I am reminded of lines from Yeats' poem: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/ The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere/ The ceremony of innocence is drowned;" Although Yeats is speaking of the aftermath of WWI, Trump's anarchy is being loosed upon the world. It speaks volumes that Trump's mentor was Ray Cohn, the top aide to McCarthy, the brains behind McCarthy's Communist witchhunt. Then there is Roger Stone, early advisor to Trump's campaign, known as a "master of the dark arts" according to an article in this paper and a political dirty trickster. These are the men Trump admires and emulates. Trump has no moral center. He has no organizing ethical principles. The ends justify the means. His only organizing principal is to do that which benefits him emotionally and financially. He can not see beyond his own bottomless and insatiable need to be obeyed and adored. There is no room for integrity in his very narrow world of self-promotion and self-gratification. There is no honor. There is no desire to do anything for the public good or for the benefit of others. There is no room for that in a world of Ray Cohns and Roger Stones. There is only Trump. And he will continue to surround himself with people who will do his bidding. And we will stand by and witness this "blood-dimmed tide" and the drowning of innocence.
The center is not holding and we are all falling apart in the wake of Trump's anarchy.
2
Donald Trump's impudently empty verbiage is of a piece with his chaotic way of working, or feigning work.
Trump has to stay in frenetic motion so that no particular responsibility can attach itself to him and no particular yardstick can be stood against his accumulation of achievements or lack thereof. His "energy" is the kind that's supposed to yield great results by and by, just you wait and see. His "conflict" is the kind that has people vying to keep the straightest face while he makes a mess of things.
So of course the only kind of speech and writing he can afford is the irresponsible kind that defies measurement by the yardsticks of truth and consistency. The tangle of lies, contradictions, and empty superlatives that he throws out is a barrier of accordion wire. That and perpetual motion are his main defenses against accountability.
http://thefamilyproperty.blogspot.jp/2018/01/the-voyage-to-restoration.html
For "accordion wire" please read "concertina wire". Thank you.
From now on I'll leave such allusions to musicians, who understand all that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, this laugh's on me.
I tend to agree with the criticism that Donald Trump is not a good leader, but that is a subjective judgment, not susceptible to objective verification. Thus, you lose me when you keep calling Trump's subjective boasting "a lie." Is it a lie to say that the White House is not in chaos? No! It is an opinion. This type of churn is Trump's leadership style. I find his leadership style boorish and often self-defeating, and I believe there are long-term costs to it. That having been said, you have to give the devil his due. Trump has accomplished a monumental change to the tax code, including a lowering of the corporate tax in a manner that has been sought for decades. He is reshaping the judiciary. He is reshaping the regulatory environment that all sides agree is significant. Liberals think it will gut our protections, and conservatives will stimulate the economy. We will see, but Trump leadership is consequential. He has responded more forcefully to the Syrian-Iranian-Russian axis then Obama ever did. He has not drawn any fake red lines. Of course, it is not literally true that everybody wants to work at the White House or that he can hire anyone, but using an absolute is a rhetorical device not to be taken literally. Whether he has the "best people" or not is subjective. I don't find most of his people among the best, though I think Mattis is, but what I think is not dispositive of the point. Claiming that he has the best people is an opinion not a lie.
1
Trump has no accomplishments.
A true accomplishment is something that transcends the ages: FDR created Social Security. Eisenhower built our freeway system (not to mention defeating Hitler). Lincoln ended slavery. Reagan (and Bush) defeated the Soviet Union without a war. Teddy gave us pure foods and the Panama Canal.
Both Republican and Democratic presidents have had great accomplishments. It's not a partisan issue.
Compared to those, a tax cut really don't cut it, does it?
2
And yet...35% of our fellow Americans think he's doing an excellent job. I just cannot wrap my head around their thought processes. The crazier the trump administration gets, the more they love it. It has definitely morphed into a mob mentality. Or perhaps a cult would be a better description. I live in the 18th district in PA and we are hoping Conor Lamb is able to win (against the odds) in the congressional race. He is up in the polls but we all know that doesn't mean much. Election day is March 13. We have a lot of enthusiasm here. People who have never voted are now becoming politically active. If we do not vote these clowns out, we are destined for another 6 years (or more) of this circus.
2
Why would anyone with a great resume of experience want to work for or with Trump? Your competence would not be valued in any way.
During the convention Trump did tell the truth when he said: I ALONE can fix it.
Trump wants loyalists and an audience. He needs that audience in the Oval Office on a daily basis because he needs the constant praise that his defective narcissistic persona demands. He simply thinks that HE has the best ideas ever thought by a human because HE is HE.
The Oval Office staff are mere supporting players in Trump's daily reality battle TV show. Every day Trump must win, win, win. The tweets are great and all but Trump needs the constant adulation and groveling of his staff to affirm his win.
Trump's staff are nothing but bit players easily exchanged if their clapping and supplication become insufficient.
It id hard to think in a forest fire or a dust storm and it's the same problem in focusing on the Trump administration and its "achievements." It is easy to lose sight of things such as that Obama began his presidency when the country was in extreme financial instability. He not only saved us, but he went on despite the Republican vow not to let him succeed in anything. Trump fears the growing bipartisan mood in Washington. He seeks division and enough confusion that we cannot get a fix on what he is doing. Charles is right. The so-called demand for Trump jobs can be no more than a lot of capable people have been upended in DC due to the war waged by his Cabinet on key agencies. He has made Hard times. Having worked in the government I know how dedicated most of us were and how long and hard it is to achieve new gains. And I am reminded of my grandmother saying "Even a broken clock is right 2x a day."
Yes. Many are unqualified and many are proving to be the worst ever. You could also sy that this is because Trump doesnt know how to vet "experts". He values opinion and people dedicated to destruction of anyone who disagrees with their own position, and Trump doesnt evaluate their goals. In Government, the goal should always be the greater good, the least harm, the most opportunity, ensuring the fairness and dogged dedication to human advancement... In Trump you find a childlike quality to please only thise inside his bubble without objectively analyzing any sides outside the bubble. Trump does a cursory review of only what is in front of him and agrees and then tries to find a strategy to win at all costs. I doubt if he has ever tried to seek out the collective expertise or experiences of humanity outside of his bubble. Does he ever say to his advisors, "okay, now tell me everything about what the other side needs and why it is a good thing." He is not able to govern for all people in this country, not even for a majority, his tweets are news but he has only a few thousand real followers, there is no support for him. How he will continue to govern without splicing off all but the inner circle is a mystery. Creating pain and enemies everywhere. Your next article could include a list of the empty seats at the Department of State, a list of our empty job seats of information officers overseas, lists of the empty positions at HUD and EPA etc.
There are still plenty of Americans who think Trump's incoherence and self-created chaos is a sign of his "genius". It takes time for his incompetence to work it's way through the system enough to show signs of self-induced collapse. There is a mindless "give him a shot" process at work in many voter's minds that is going to push the US to the brink before this administration finally collapses of it's own weight. Maybe Mueller will save us. Or maybe Mueller will be seen as interfering in Trump's "shot" at succeeding. The scariest thing about Trump's presidency is hearing other voters thought process in justifying his corruption and incompetence. They see it as "toughness".
626
Agreed. Trump is no more tough than the guy who beats his wife and kids and thinks of himself as the king of the castle. Trump is a blowhard whose television show and insulting debate style convinced millions that he was an "amazing success" and a "genius." The truth is he is a big marketer, and he knows how to get out and leave others holding the bag.
8
I once heard Condoleeza Rice say that the biggest threat to our country isn't Pakistan or ISIS; it is our education system. Now I know why.
1
SOMEbody voted for this person! they are willing to go down with the ship and this captain....his followers have more loyalty to him than he has to the American people. I cannot see thru all this fog.
Ever wonder what he’d do to earn a real living, if he hadn’t inherited a fortune? It’s hard to imagine. My first thought is salesman, because of the fast talk, but I don’t think he could handle paperwork or build relationships. With his attention problems, I wouldn’t let him anywhere near a plane, boat, train, truck or cab. I’ve worked for a bank, and they want more decorum from their officers. I can’t imagine he’d do well in the military, following a chain of command. He’s a complete no-go as a reporter, given the lying, the self-focus, and the poor grammar and spelling. Teach what, to whom? I work in medicine now, and I can’t imagine him having the mental discipline and ability to withstand pressure for that. Scary.
1
He’d be like one of his typical supporters: unemployed, angry, bigoted, stupid, (even more) overweight, blaming everyone else for his station in life, and shrieking, red-faced at the TV, while his family suffers and makes half-hearted excuses for his buffoonery. Basically, like he is now.
3
It is not likely that anything true, factual, or the entire Republican House and Senate voting against the president will alter who he is and how he behaves. That is why the Mueller investigation is the bulwark against his infernal presidency. Yet for peace of mind look beyond that to when his time in office is up or he resigns. What will he do? Will he try to become Pope? Will the 60 million who voted him return to what their lives were before him and await their next "savior?" Will he have changed the presidency forever? Will we still have a democracy? A First and Second Amendment? His life after this will be filled with the same old sycophants and he will wither with age. And then will come the reckoning.
Thank you Charles for the succinct words on this on-going, seemingly never ending catastrophe/disaster.
It appears the only recourse is the Vote. Approximately 70% of the populous favors progressive movement on guns, healthcare, education and most important of all our environment.
There is no longer any need to parse Trump's statements for elements of veracity. If he's talking, he's lying – to us, to the world, to his wife and family, and certainly to himself. Smarter people than I will have to diagnose his affliction, but there can be no doubt he has one.
2
Very soon, Trump will be working all by himself, running communications and media, energy, transport, trade, immigration, diplomacy, education, health care, defense, supreme court, environment, food and agriculture, infrastructure and everything else. Here in the Boston area, we were out of power and heat for hours, schools are closed, foot of snow is yet to be plowed by the town....soon Trump will be directly responsible for these.
1
The real problem for our country is the precedents that are being set because of Trump. Look at the investigations going on today,. What common results are coming from them? "I refuse", "I deny", "I never said that", " I'll only answer these questions", "I won't appear", "I don't recall/remember' (take your pick). Just think back and remember how many criminals have been able to respond so and yet have expected and received the response of like-minded questioners, "moving on then"? Is it because the questioners themselves are trying to build a future in which this kind of investigating will become normal for them and their kind?
It used to be said that a liar needs to have a good memory so as not to publicly contradict previous statements but that also seems to have been left in the past.
15
The Daily NOISE is Deafening !
Each and every day, we are all drawn into never-before-seen lows from not only our Executive Branch, but also our Legislature as well.
It appears that our Justice Department "IS" doing the right thing - only be constantly attacked by the GOP and the White House.
The Scandals, the Incompetence, the Personnel Turnover . . . the Tweets - Fully Occupy the the News Cycle.
While this Daily 24/7 Drama Plays Out . . .
America is being taken apart, Brick by Brick - Under Cover of this Smoke Screen.
The New Tax Law is Tragic for All of us but the very, very wealthy.
The Banking Laws implemented by Obama; Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, and the Consumer Protection Act are all but gone -
The Banking Industry is currently drooling over the prospects of getting back to defraud the average hard working American.
Our EPA has been all but shut down and the high-polluting industries are poised to and financially motivated to get back to destroying our planet.
The impacts of the forthcoming financial deficits will cripple the services most needed by our citizens - Education, Social Security, Medicare, and Infrastructure.
Our crumbling country does not need to increase military spending - we are already #1 and Outspend Russia 10:1.
While the Circus is in Town . . . America Burns
77
I've worked in places that are in chaos. Oops, let me rephrase that: I've been in places that are in chaos. You can't work in them. You can't get anything done in them. At best, you can fight to keep things together, not letting things fall apart. You can't move any projects forward because you don't know who will be in charge in a month (or even next week). New boss = new projects, new rules. When the organization is in chaos, what you do is keep your head down, collect your paycheck, update your resume, and try to survive.
33
Shortly after the election, Ross Douthat wrote a column encouraging qualified and responsible Republicans to join the administration, in an effort to curb Trump's excesses. In most cases, as Mr. Blow stresses, these individuals did not get the opportunity to follow Douthat's reasonable advice. The new president selected advisers who shared his unfitness for high office.
When Trump departed from this practice, the sacrificial lamb selected paid a high price for a willingness to serve the country. Jonathan Stevenson has written a very revealing profile of national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, in the current New York Review of Books, detailing the compromises demanded of the general by Trump's style of leadership. Douthat's recommendation stemmed from an assumption that Trump would often follow the advice of veteran government officials.
But Stevenson's analysis demonstrates that this premise underestimates Trump's determination to follow his own instincts. During the campaign, after all, he clearly stated that he was his own best adviser. While the president occasionally heeded McMaster's counsel, therefore, in most cases he later repudiated it in favor of his own views. McMaster, not Trump, modified his public statements, publishing an op ed piece in this paper endorsing the president's vision of international relations as an arena of conflict akin to the state of nature.
Working for an incompetent egomaniac does not reform him but corrupts the subordinate.
22
Let's not complicate this. Trump has also told us all that 'I am the only one that matters." When a man tells you what he thinks, take him at his word. Hard stop.
13
Maybe the strategy was to hire people who are so bad that they miraculously might even make him look good ... but he sets a very low bar so that’s hard to achieve.
You can’t blame a guy for trying!
3
Since FDR, the US President has had a science advisor. Until Trump, that is. The post is vacant since January 2017. This is an astonishing development. The leader of any major country today needs good objective information on which to base policy in any number of areas -- nuclear weapons, cybersecurity, energy, antibiotic resistance and medicine more broadly, agricultural preparedness, environment, climate insecurity, telecom -- the list goes on and on. Yes, there are individual departments and agencies for some of these matters, but a science advisor is in a unique position to put them all together and present the bigger picture.
And therein lies the problem. A good science advisor has to be constitutionally incapable of telling a lie. There have been plenty of science advisors who were defense hawks, but on whom you could bet your life to give you the best scientific information of the age, honest and unvarnished. Under Trump it is hard to imagine a man with the integrity of an Isidore Rabi or John Gibbons agreeing to serve. Trump is constitutionally incapable of telling the truth, he'd never tolerate any one who told him so.
24
Trump feels he doesn't need any diplomats in a State Department. Why in the world would he need a Science Advisor? Trump is his own best advisor in all things. Haven't you learned that yet?
1
Keep up the good fight, Charles Blow, bravo! Trump needs to be a one-term or less president if we are to survive. The Republicans need to wander in the desert for a few generations until they figure out that America and the Free World have to survive or there will be nothing to dicker over. Please everybody, vote Republicans out of office.
12
Two of his top advisors are relatives with no experience and are unable to clear security clearances. I think that says everything that needs to be said in response to any claim that Trump has hired the best.
44
If only the turnover includes Trump, it would bring "tremendous energy" and "tremendous spirit" to the country. Hurry up, Mr. Mueller!
31
"When you choose loyalists and sycophants over experts and professionals, this disaster of an administration is what you get."
That last sentence says it all. He will leave, eventually, and we will be left with mess he's made, not just here but around the world. This is not going to be pretty.
10
"...and believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House."
I've got news for trump. The only way I would work in his White House would be as one of the people honored to be escorting him out in either a straight jacket or handcuffs. I'm not picky - either restraining tool will work for me.
24
Anyone willing to genuflect and promise unquestioning loyalty is welcome to apply of a job in the Trump administration. Prior experience and depth of knowledge are unnecessary.
DEMOCRATS NEED NOT APPLY!
4
What competence there was in the White House has already headed out the door. Power is a very seductive thing and it certainly attracts well experienced and somewhat idealist people to the White House. But not this time. Mostly it has attracted fame seekers, wealth seekers and power seekers.
It is not enough be an expert in the fields necessary to improve this country. It is also necessary to have the best interests of this country in focus. You must be dedicated to the Country, not the boss. This is the difference between serving in an Administration and working in the private sector.
Obviously those who have served and those who still serve have never had the best interests of the Country even on their radar. The fact that they would take a job in Trump's White House says it all.
452
Anyone considering working in this White House should first form an LLC to contract themselves to the position so that personal and family assets can be protected from seemingly inevitable legal liabilities. Also they should attempt to negotiate an indemnity insurance rider into their contract. This might al least protect them financially while they lose their reputation and dignity.
10
Another irony of this alleged desire to hire only the best people is how poorly so many of his choices are vetted. While Trump disparages the vetting done by multiple agencies of potential refugees, so many of his choices for administrators, aides and judges have turned out to have little competence, ethics or relevant experience, and appear to have been chosen for loyalty or rigid orthodoxy.
We will survive this great electoral blunder, but some of the effects -- the Supreme Court, the environment, alliances, our fiscal condition, and trust in our leaders -- will be long lasting
5
I think it’s time to look outward - so many social issues - both here and abroad.
1