Okay then. Let's all make a lot of noise about Bill Shine.
It may be too late, but we can keep the sexual enabler light and lawsuits shining on him. You're right. With scandals and lies popping up everywhere, it's easy to minimize what should not be minimized.
76% of what Trump said at the Montana rally last week has been judged to be untrue and/or misleading. We all shrug because we're all so tired.
No wonder Trump's parents sent him away to military school.
Wish we could do the same.
16
"Lie Back and Take It, America"
Absolutely the most perfect summary of what's happening. Every single woman understands this exquisitely well, and so will men who've experienced any sort of humiliation from people with power over them.
15
"As of this writing, seven men say that an influential Republican congressman, Jim Jordan of Ohio, knew about the widespread sexual abuse of athletes when he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, and did nothing to stop it."
FAKE NEWS! FAKE NEWS! Wide spread sexual abuse of some of the toughest, strongest ADULT males in America? The fact that any media outlet would run this incredible story is proof Donald Trump, a compulsive dissembler, by his election victory and media taunting, has turned once reputable reporters, columnists and their employers into equally compulsive dissemblers, who will repeat anything, unsubstantiated or clearly fabricated to attack Trump, directly, or through his supporters. The NYT and most media outlets have gone off the deep end of honesty and integrity to wrestle in the mud with the Donald, or any of his minions--like Jordan.
Has the NYT asked Jordan's accusers why THEY didn't report their abuse to the authorities themselves? Better yet, did Ms. Goldberg ask them why they personally didn't give their abuser a wrestling lesson? These were not teenagers like the Olympic gymnasts nor children like the Jerry Sandusky's prey. Any one of those Ohio State's wrestlers could likely have treated the doctor to the same kind of punishment for his behavior that Aleksandr Kerelin routinely administer to his worthy opponents--among the best heavyweight wrestlers in the world--not wimpy MDs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g21jEuHZvs
2
Possibly the people whose job it was to be outraged about the Warren remark have all seen "USS Callister" where (possible spoilers) [ the DNA collection was not even done with the woman's knowledge--was the least of the abuse. Also, you may have heard from general interest TV critics that this show is a parody. I guess it is in the sense that Paramount cannot sue them, but it is not a love letter like "Galaxy Quest". I accept that Rick Berman did not actually mean to ruin Star Trek, but he should hang his head that anything that nasty got filmed and was as recognizable as it was.]
I think that the public at large understands that this is government by Fox News. A Fox News executive taking a job that no one really wants or has done well is another day at the office. It does not affect people's lives in the same visceral way as zero tolerance.
2
So, the Times is tired out by Trump's relentless hammering
but still takes the money pouring in from covering this president. As of today, the Times is on recess? Well that’s just great.
Every Monday The Times needs to be monitoring, measuring and publishing a dashboard of the growing Trump Legacy: The dead, the dying, the disasters, the dispossessed, the dysfunction, the demeaned, the destroyed, the denigrated, the deceptions, the deceived, the denial, the fabrications and the falsehoods.
The Times says, "At this point, who can get that worked up about each instance of White House sexism?" Are you kidding us?
Every prosecutor and true journalist knows that the crimes lie in the perpetrator's collection of insidious unethical behaviors. The gray lady doesn’t get a recess because the work is hard.
So, the Times is taking a break because the old grey lady is worn out, yet the cash rolls in and the Times has sold out the afflicted and has now joined the comfortable.
Break's over. Stop whining that Trump era journalism is too hard, the attacks too relentless. Get back to work. Times' ads about the power of truth are Just slogans. The Times is too tired to find the truth.
Trump now owns the ink barrel. He paid with a song, continuous side shows, and breaking the rules. The Times got Trumps broken wind not breaking news.
Thanks, Michelle. The Times today forgave itself for walking off the field, and probably taking much of American journalism with it.
9
Let's call it what it is - the Gilead Aministration with a hat tip to The Handmaid's Tale - where men are more like frat boys dressing up like men who act like ungodly cretins from the Old Testament, when women were property and slavery was the bee's knees. If they get their way, the Rachel and Leah Center will open right next to the Christian dogma center in Washington D.C. (that cheesy biblical idol cleverly disguised as Hobby Lobby's bible museum). Think it can't happen? Who thought we would be at the point we are today where a known sexual predator is president, an alleged pedophile ran for the Senate, and the U.S. blackmails countries into withdrawing support for breastfeeding.
12
Republican men are useless. The only hope lies in women turning the country around in 2018
17
The connotation in the title of this article is particularly apropos. Trump, king of the swamp, is raping all of us.
13
These despicable old white men are ensuring their own extinction. They are arrogant enough to think they can force women to carry a fetus, execute people of color on the streets, and put brown babies and children into cages. Their hubris is sharpening the focus of the revolution.
21
This Republican administration is setting precedent for future administrations. I want to know if the GOP is okay with sexual assault and pedophilia by everybody from now on or only Republicans?
16
"We learned how often people — particularly women — will submit to sex they don’t want because men wear them out with entitled demands...In the face of men bent on violation, maintaining one’s own boundaries takes energy, and sometimes it flags."
Bullying women for sex is wrong, of course. But, if women are dating these men (as with the woman dating Aziz Ansari) we also need to ask the question "Why are women still dating men who do not respect their boundaries in the first place?" If you're so exhausted maintaining your boundaries that your energy "flags," you are in an abusive relationship. Cultrually, we need to stop romaticizing and eroticizing abuse.
9
It's not the Trump Administration that is "shameless": all of America is. Cross culture specialists describe America as a land of legal guilt, not societal shame vs. say, Japan, which is clearly a land of shame.
4
Sadly, all you have said is true. But here's the thing. Who else would work for this clown other than folks who wouldn't be hired as dog catcher by anyone else. We have sunk as low as we can go. It will be a long time before America is great again in anyone's eyes but his.
18
Roger Ailes (rest his malevolent soul) lost his job, when sued for sexual harassment; and Weinstein awaits trial. My understanding is that Trump is also being sued for sexual harassment, not to mention threatening S. Daniels. Why is he not being indicted and undergoing all the other good stuff that goes with it? Lets get him and get rid of him.
15
Now that the Thai cave kids have been rescued, can they loan us some of those pumps and hoses to do some swamp draining in Washington?
9
Considering the pile-on in the Trump swamp I doubt that equipment would be enough. I guess it's a start though.
2
its probable that trump actually looks for people with shine's pedigree to employ. he needs people of his ilk around him so that trump has someone to tell his dirty politically unacceptable jokes to. almost all trump's appointments that dont require confirmation hearings of this nature.
4
The corporation that fired Bill Shine is Fox News. So, decision was based 99% on the money that he cost them, and less than 1% on the optics of doing something morally reprehensible.
Loading another crate of #MeToo dynamite onto Trump Train seems like a bad idea to all of us roadrunners, but to Will E. Coyote - it's doubling-down on 'genius'.
3
Once again I thank the NYT for hiring Michelle Goldberg. When The British onerously taxed the American colonies about 1/2 of the colonists would not lie down and take it, and after a long war, those who resisted indecency won. The French people rose up finally in 1789 against the corrupt aristocracy, no more lying down. Amazingly, in 1791 the Haitian slaves overthrew their French slave masters and won the war. Then were punished severely to pay France for losing their "wealth".
The US Civil War never persuaded the South their ideas were wrong. The idea that the "superior" race of the earth, especially the rich businessmen with the idea in their sorry heads that only white people who earn well or inherit well should rule the nation and as much of the world as possible, is at the root of the division in this country. Of course it's far more complex, but scapegoating of various types is the main feature of the malignant fantasy propaganda world of the far right. Enemies, conspiracies, only "we" can save you. Ego gone dark and cloud cuckoo land.
Like with the American Revolution and the Civil War, the half of the country on the side of reality and decency must fight to the metaphorical "death" and win the war against the ancient enemy, narcissism that leads to the most selfish people rising to rule and dominate nations. At heart these Nietzsche-like ideas are based on fantasy.Control of the courts, Congress, and the presidency by the malevolent fabulists is a moral depravity.
5
If you're furious about this, do something about it - vote.
If you're not...then I don't ever want to hear any word from you about family values ever again.
7
I suppose Shine AND Ivanka are now "complicit."
1
It's no accident that Shine is in at the White House. Trump's entire conglomeration of political theater is about elevating white nationalist patriarchal views and reminding the rest of it that we are powerless to do anything about it.
I hope the Dems figure out a way to go big tent in 2020, including a thundering moral voice like Steve Schmidt's to end this lunacy forever.
We are NOT 'better than this' at the moment, but we can be, and we will be.
7
This article's graphic and misogynist headline seems a little irresponsible. In their partisan effort to link Donald Trump to the basest behavior between men and women possible, this paper seem unconcerned about socially reinforcing negative gender roles. The casual use of deviant male behavior for political purpose just seems wrong. I would prefer my daughters' early impressions of interpersonal relations to be at a higher plane than where this paper wants to put us.
1
"After all, if Trump cared about the American people’s consent, he’d resign."
Really? He was legally elected, and, according to the news from Gallup.com, some 87% of the Republicans approve of him, along with 36% of independents. So whilst a resignation might please some of the people, for some of the time, no way would it please all the people, all of the time.
The short-lived euphoria in some circles of a Trump resignation would give you the larger issue of a Pence administration. Trump may be dangerous, but he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Pence, with far more experience in government, does. Be careful what you wish for.
3
Voting is the most effective counter-measure, but it is limited in timing and dependant on too many factors. The type of behavior being engaged in publicly by the ruling party ands its de facto leader needs to be called out daily, publicly and loudly - and in each of the forums in which either the principals themselves or their selected spokespersons - appear. Hammering the responsive message repeatedly and forcefully in press conferences and public appearances will eventually get the counter-message across. Much in the same vein as public protests have done on a more mass scale.
2
We are in "Alice in Wonderland" territory, where up is down and down is horizontal. Gradually, there is, maybe not fatigue, but a desensitizing to the madness. President Mad Hatter sold his soul a long time ago and has brought a calculated insanity to our country. He flaunts even minimal standards of behavior on every front.
My biggest question is how the GOP participates in and has allowed this to continue.
9
You know, Michelle, eighteen months ago I thought the claims that the D would exhaust us was just hyperbole, but now I admit, I am exhausted. With that exhaustion comes a complete and total hatred for those who have done this to our country.
I just returned from two weeks in a country that used to respect the United States, and which modeled their government and economy on our success. Now they laugh at us-- at our inability to solve problems like the shooting of school children; at our election of an imbecile for a president, even ridiculing his pompous signature on the many executive orders that, unlike Americans, foreigners pay attention to. "It is all mountains! And there are no mountains in his name!" observed a colleague.
We are at a very interesting time for historians, but an unbelievably low point in our trajectory toward a democratic society, one where our government and its policies reflect the core belief that all men, and too much later, women, are created equal.
12
Ah, it's all true but Senator Kristen Gillibrand did score a big victory by running Al Franken out of the Senate. So, you see the #Me Too movement IS successful...at shooting itself in the foot.
7
We are exhausted by our own outrage. A common thief is winning. Nothing we've done or said is making any difference. Asking a Trump supporter "have you no decency?" means nothing to them.
We need one voice as loud and as powerful as the thief's.
9
VOTE. Don’t bemoan, organize. Make sure your family members, your friends and anyone you know with a sense of decency or compassion votes! Volunteer to help register voters, drive them to polling places, write letters and make phone calls to defend voting rights. Decent people are a majority in this country as in the world, I am sure. We have the option to make our voices heard if we don’t give up in despair. Vote the Republican collaborators out of office at every level: state, county, city, town and country.
3
These two men represent what is worse about predatory behavior, each in their own way.
Shine was an enabler and complicit in what Ailes was doing. Jordan sees things that aren't there but fails to see things that are. That is how we delude ourselves about what we do. We make things up and we deny, deny.
This is how people who fit into the Trump WH view of the world can get resurrected and enabled.
I'm sure Mr. Shine has talents. He ran things and was present during a lot of bad history and survived for a long time.
Congressman Jordan was able to see things that Rod Rosenstein allegedly was doing but not what coaches next to him were doing at Ohio State even though there was chatter about it.
I recommend people view "The Tale' on HBO to see how predators and enablers are complicit in accomplishing their objectives and then fabricate a history to suit them when it comes to light.
Women have to fight back. Victims have to speak out. Voters need to pay attention to how those victimized and those who tell their tale are treated in an era when the truth is taking a hit. This cannot be.
Women and men have the right to speak out and say 'no', and be believed.
5
This is de javu all over again. When Bush and his team of white house liars convinced America to go to war in Iraq I learned that Americans are easily duped to inflict unnecessary harm to innocent people on a grand scale. This is the same thing. Half of our country celebrates a man and an administration who are liars, bullies, and predators. Half of all Americans are just fine with this White House. Just like any other country or people on this planet, half of us have no ethics or morality.
4
You're right. He's wearing the country down. And Republican leadership is accessory to the fact. No wait, they've bound our wrists and ankles.
4
Donald Trump can apparently do or say whatever he wants. God forbid the media, read New York Times, takes a stronger stand against this unqualified and ignorant president. I respect the Office of the President of the United States, but I don't, and I can't respect the fool that is the current incumbent. He deserves no respect from anyone that truly cares for this country. Trump can denigrate, ridicule and make horrible and filthy comments and statements to anyone he chooses, but the rest of us are expected to be "civil" to this cretin. Donald Trump is a course, foul mouthed gutter snipe. The Times and the rest of the wimpy media outlets need to take the gloves off and call a spade a spade in respect to the loser Donald Trump.
7
Why is it not ok for #Metoo to go too far? What does that even mean anyway? I say go farther. How can democrats operate in a world of shameless grifters and grabbers? The people of this country are complicit in this. They are the ones cheering for this as if it is merely a meaningless reality show. This is not supposed to be a reality show! This is not how the government is supposed to go about its business! Running a country is very serious business and these people should not be running it. What can we do? How do we get past this? Ugh...Im exhausted.
3
One word response: November
8
It's now up to the American electorate to show its face and take a stand against the worse most corrupt most despicable excuse for a human being who happens to currently occupy the White House. The US is in worse shape than the late Sixties, and that speaks volumes. If the people don't show up in droves and drive out every Republican possible then America's days a nation to admired is done.
DD
Manhattan
7
Mr. Shine is the perfect man for the job. His past experience at facilitating and covering up sexual predation will serve his boss well. Another great pick by our philanderer in chief.
5
I agree with you on a lot of points FunkyIrish, but No, the President did NOT "admit on tape to sexually assaulting multiple women," he admitted to getting consent from women. Remember, he said, "When you're famous, they let you..." But keep in mind, it seems that statement was the one that launched the #MeToo movement, that will probably destroy the Democratic party, along with all doubling down on brilliant identity politics, because most reasonable and intelligent people think it has definitely gone much too far.
1
"Without the force of law behind it" -- the force of law IS behind it - both rape and sexual harassment are illegal. However, we're talking here about people who did not commit these acts, but rather, to further their own career, kept silent or supported perpetrators. While that's bad behavior and they are not nice people (and a better President would not hire them), it's not illegal - nor should it be. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be outraged about these cases now. Aren't there bigger fish to fry? This absurd opinion piece is precisely the kind of thing that's going to help Republicans in the mid-terms. Now somebody who may or may not have heard something about some sexual abuse is to be treated the same as Dennis Hastert, who molested teenage girls, and we should pretend that anyone who hires Bill Shine is guilty by association, because Bill Shine himself is guilty by association to Roger Ailes... Isn't there an editorial team that reads through articles and weeds out the whacko ones? Let's go after the actual culprits, and focus on the right issues please.
Ken - another whining Democrat playing victim. It’s all so pathetic and feckless. Democrats have learned nothing from the 2016 election: you can’t win by running on “it’s my turn now.” Other legitimate lessons? Don’t stab possibly your only viable candidate, Sanders, in the back. Then there was voter suppression, gerrymandering, destroyed ballots, and Russian intervention. And – in spite of all of this, Hillary won by 3 million votes! She won! But the Democrats don’t want to forcibly address the issue of the corrupt Electoral College system. Nope let’s blame, say, Ralph Nader. Surely he was the cause of Clinton’s defeat.
And what about the difference Democratic Vice President Joe Biden made when he stabbed Merrick Garland in the back by supporting the delay of his nomination until after the election?
The Democrats defeat themselves. And then, they never want to take responsibility; they just want cry and point their fingers at anyone and everything else. By allowing the Republicans to walk all over them for decades, by abandoning the working class in favor of the donor class, the Democrats have opened the door for deplorables like Bill “Slime.”
And now, faced with Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, I fully expect the Democrats to surrender rather than fight, and to slink away, tails between their legs, furtively looking around for an excuse. Oh, we didn’t have the votes. Oh, it was Jill Stein. Oh, I lost my homework.
You reap what you sow.
1
America elected the most detestable, bigoted, misogynistic creep and liar in history, so why is this a surprise?
9
First, I don't understand how Shine would obtain any security clearance to walk in the door of the White House. Second, this is pathological abuse from Trump and all others that stand behind one outrageous onslaught after the other. Third, while the #MeToo movement is a justifiable, necessary culmination of despicable, deplorable, as well as criminal behavior by many, questionable behavior by some-- caught up in it-----it is my belief it started as a a well-planned, manipulated and instigated attack by a conspiring group as a backlash and payback to a so called "fake news" group -from scandals and job loss at Fox----- given this was where the immediate targets were aimed -- CBS, NBC, NPR, CNN, etc. --with the intent to call financial harm. It is just an opinion. So, I question with Trump's relationship with Fox, Hannity, Shine, his persistent accusations against the press and Weinstein's use of the ex-Israeli intelligence and other's in Trump's administration to use the same intelligence to find dirt on ex-Obama staff----- is there a story here?????
1
Oh! I though Goldberg meant that we the masses, of not New Yorker despicables, should just lay back and continue to take the theft of our pension funds, lose of our homes, manufacturing jobs sent to China to be done by no rights slaves, wages killed by decades of flooding labor markets with desperate immigrants ... that she and her Wall Street and neo Marxist tribe have orchestrated in order to get ever more wealth and power, and punish most of us 'others' for the Holocaust that took place 5,000 miles away 3/4's of a century ago and was perpetrated by people more genetically related to her than most of us evil Christian, love our guns too much, nativist Americans.
3
As far as I can tell, there are no Marxists (or neo-Marxists) employed by this paper. I think the genetic-relatedness part of your comment is off the mark and undermines your other points.
1
The Republican Party is the slime party. Forget about abolishing ICE (though that would be good too), demand Trump be sent to the Hague for prosecution. He probably won't receive as long a sentence as Slobodan Milosevic, but he should face justice for crimes against humanity.
2
This is really an obnoxious article. If I am interpreting it right, Ms. Goldberg seems to be suggesting Trump is getting away with more stuff because people are no longer sufficiently outraged.
1) I think the premise that Trump is getting away with more is flawed. Bill Shine, odious as he is, doesn't make my top 10 as far as absurd hires by Trump. 0 experience Kushner, foreign agent Flynn, white national Bannon, Pruitt, etc etc. Having a guy with no ethics who only aids and abets sexual misconduct almost seems quaint.
2) I am far from outrage fatigue and I think anyone paying attention agrees.
2
I can't wait for the coming American collapse. A country this corrupt, this immoral, doesn't deserve to stand. My only salve is in the hopr that Trump supporters get the worst of it.
3
Oh my god.
Jim Jordan's attack role in the House Freedumb Caucus has the stench of self-righteous anger in every smear.
Bullies cannot abide what they dish out.
Everybody at FOX knew who Shine was enabling.
Everybody in the wrestling program knew about the deviant.
Just tell the truth? We can only hope someone will try it.
2
All of Hollywood knew about Weinstein. Should they all lose their jobs?
1
Jim Jordan of Ohio, knew about the widespread sexual abuse of athletes
Widespread sexual abuse?
MIchelle Goldberg needs to do some research before she repeats falsehoods like this. There were no police reports ever filed or even any investigation because there were never any claims 30 years ago. The first two former athletes that came forward have very suspect character with a history of fraud and an incentive to profit from their stories.
A huge problem with the MSM is that when bogus charges are made like this one, there are absolutely no consequences, so this lazy, irresponsible journalism becomes ubiquitous.
2
Porn stars and school boy wrestlers may be expected to just "lay down and take it;" but, we-the-people can and will fight back.
4
Accounts we're reading about Shine's activities seem common for any run-of-the-mill pimp. A good fit for the Trump team.
13
The thing is, we've not given up on being horrified by Trump and the many feckless congressional Republicans. It's that we've moved on to simply making sure these intellectually dishonest, ethics free dimwits are replaced. Voting is the cure. The goal is to make sure five people you know are voting in 2018 and then again in 2020. Removing human detritus from office is both satisfying personally and very good for democracy and the rule of law.
Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
8
About "...if Trump cared about the American people’s consent, he’d resign": What counts as consent? It's true that fewer people voted for Trump than for Clinton, but Trump won in the Electoral College fair and square. He may win again in 2020 thanks to millions of non-Republicans not voting. Doesn't non-voting amount to tacit consent for whoever wins?
4
Why do I need to know all that petty details? How does it benefit me?
White male dominance loves to wrap itself in oligarchy, in unbridled militarism and of course in christian nationalism. I really don't know how to fight it anymore, when for the last 40 years it sapped so much energy just to try get the Left to pay even a shred of attention to the obvious. Thank you Ms Goldberg for continually sounding the alarm. I suppose many years in the future some forlorn leftie will remark, "wow, I guess we should have payed attention to her."
4
If women voted in a block we would not be in this predicament. Explain to me how any women could support this awful human who is a racist, mysoginist, xenophobe, has no empathy, corrupt, pathological narcissist, a liar and has insulted our allies, redirected foreign policies, reshaped the courts, befriends Putin and Kim Jong-un.
And his base actually believes he is "doing it" for them.
Thank you, American voters, for giving us Trump - as incompetent and ignorance as he is he will have reshaped this country and possibly our foreign relations for generations.
For all those, who voted for Trump and those who did not vote - a hardy Thanks a lot!
4
Cohen and Porter gone, Trump needs Shine obviously. Giuliani is not very good at complicity.
3
All this just make me regret not being part of the Women's March. Next year I am on (I just hope it is not too cold).. More than ever women should be together. After seeing the President defend harassers and pervert guys and then put them to work with him, it is just too much. I think it was Maya Angelou who said that when people show you who they are the first time, believe them. Trump showed us the day that conversation on the infamous bus went public.
But I and millions more won't take it. Cant wait to see that Baby Trump balloon fly over London in his FACE!!! I wish they sold mini versions of that Baby Trump balloon for the next Women's March.
5
I am sick to death of the way Trump has demeaned the office of the President, has lowered our standards of discourse, vilified our institutions, mocked real American heroes, supported sexual predators, and tried to bully anyone who stood up to him. I want to stop hearing about all of it. I want to return to a time when I didn't have to worry that my country, a country for which I put my life on the line, is in danger of becoming a fascist state. I want to stop thinking and worrying and just let it be.
But, that is exactly what this poor excuse for a human being wants. He wants us to become so weary that we walk away. He wants us to stop fighting and accept that his way is the new normal.
We cannot do that. We cannot turn our country over to Trump and his toadies. We cannot accept that he is now the standard for presidential conduct. We cannot surrender our rights to him. We must continue to resist him. We must do whatever we can to stop him wherever we can. No matter how small or insignificant it seems, any push back is a victory.
Register and vote in November! Get your family and friends to register and vote! Offer to drive people to the polls! Act as though our country is in peril because it is!!
10
How can Shine get a security clearance? Has that been corrupted by this man too?
2
Leon Panetta was able to hold important positions in the government after facilitating President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. Perhaps Shine should be allowed to as well.
1
You have clearly never been harassed to the point of insanity.
2
Here. Right here.
A consensual sexual encounter is not the same thing as sexual harrassment.
Good heavens man.
That's the worst attempt at false equivalence I've seen in a very long time.
3
Trump hired Shine to coordinate with Fox News because he is a busy man playing golf at his own resorts and taxpayers' expense. Trump might miss a nasty but unproven rumor on Fox & Friends while in the bathroom. Shine will make sure that no untruth that could be used to insult or smear someone will be missed.
It goes the other way too, since Fox is the official propaganda medium for the administration. Shine will make sure that no slur or tweet goes unreported.
5
Michelle, a simple message: You are one of a small handful of things that are keeping me going. Keep on. Keep on.
5
Now in "t"'s world anything goes. We cannot and should not lie back and take it. We must have a President who understands decorum and decency, snd of course the Constitution. He keeps filling the swamp with the likes of him, until it now resembles a cesspool. Thanks to him we have lost our standing in the world and who can blame ( our allies ) them.
The war on women is on and now joined to the war on babies and their mothers, as children are separated from moms and soon set to be caged with them at the border and on our revered military bases; meanwhile, nursing moms are lied to about breast feeding's benefits so as to preserve the profits of baby formula concocters, this time globally.
Women and children first! It was formerly the command of the courageous captain of a sinking ship. The cowardly captain of this sinking ship issues the same cry, but now the women and children are spared the life boats and tossed into the swirling sea.
4
Trump, and his gang, will be taken care of by the criminal justice system, his voters are another story. It is disheartening to interact with his voters, but there is no alternative. Rational people must continue their vigilance to secure liberty. We can only outnumber the irrational at the polls to repair that which the Trump voters have damaged.
3
No matter how tired we are we have to fight. This country's future is at stake. Get to work and help a candidate flip the House or Senate. Get. To. Work.
3
We should hold to the pre-Trump standards. The way to do this is to vote and depend officeholders to stand up for them. There is one thing that Greenberg says that is troublesome. That women are warn down by entitled men. Whether they are entitled or not and male primates do tend to act that way if women can't resist there is nothing any movement can do for them.
I didn't know this about Shine. Thanks for telling us, Michelle! Now, we have to somehow apply enough pressure -- and truth-telling -- that he will be forced to leave the WH.
Unfortunately we have become Trumpetized! Trump is the new normal and now we are shocked by what you report here, shocked that is by the fact that we have both forgotten and accepted this behavior by Trump, Ailes, and so many other powerful men with despicable pasts. Just say "no", I did not do it and you are off the hook. All those who resigned rather than said "no", said that all 14 women are lying, and essentially choose tough it out - so to speak - must be wondering what would have happened if they also had chosen the "dark path", the lying path, as Trump has, and wouldn't they be better off. This is where we are. We are validating power over women, deceit, and a society in which money talks and morality walks. Is that what we want? It is what Trump wants. When will we make a choice about our future? 2018?
I've been saying this all along, and it becomes truer every day: when lawmakers refuse to enforce the law and/or ethics violations for the sake of a political agenda, then we are in deep, deep trouble. In this environment, who else would rise to the top other than the very morally and legally compromised? In fact, I would argue the reason Trump wants people like this in his camp is because he can exploit their compromised positions in order for them to do his bidding. And I'll make one other observation: we are all putting way too much stock in the outcome of Mueller's investigation, as if his inevitable array of indictments will make Trump go away. Guess what? Not only will it not make Trump resign, it will do nothing to shame the GOP which is rotten to the core. A body that willingly went along with stealing a SCOTUS seat against every governing norm and precedent, will have no qualms about ignoring Mueller's findings. This is a coup, my friends. And whether Russia is behind it or not, we have got to come up with a solution to take our country back.
6
The hypocrisy which characterizes our nation as a whole is clear to anyone who opens any American history book. We have been bullying our way to the top since we landed on these shores four centuries ago.
Under the guise of freedom our male leadership has condoned every imaginable injustice within our nation and as we grew in stature and power throughout the world.
Now that our power is waning and Asian nations are rising in both population and economic strength our leaders are unabashedly feathering their own nests by saddling those of us and our children at the lower economic levels with a debt which will never be repaid.
It is fast approaching a point at which there will be no recourse short of insurrection which of course will be met with armed troops and internment. This vision of a dystopian future is gaining traction as our President and his self centered co-conspiritors in Congress tighten their hold on every branch of government.
Our nation may not be doomed, but the standard of living in which many of us now nearing the end of our lives grew and prospered may not return for several decades if ever.
This is certainly America, but it is not the same nation which defended European and Asian liberty during my earliest years.
There has always been a thread of facism woven throughout our nations tapestry, but never before have spools of that depressing black and brown color been so evident.
Myth triumphs again and ignorance rules.
2
Bill Shine and Sarah Sanders will provide us with news that is not FAKE! It will be huge and it will reflect all of my wonderful, beautiful accomplishments. Their dulcet tones will escort America towards a future as a Russian satellite state whose resources are dedicated to oligarchs here and there. It's going to be beautiful. Believe me!
2
I wonder if the women's vote in upcoming elections will surprise the powers that be like the Trumpster vote surprised so many? Let us hope so.
6
USA is sliding down a slippery slippery slope. Not far off now is the harassment of political enemies and journalists. And then the murdering of same. And then...and then...
Can't happen? Who could have envisioned two years ago what we're seeing today.
3
Many of us senior citizens saw this coming quite plainly. People call us alarmists and say, “Well, no one’s lost their job yet.” Then you read about Turkey yesterday: “Turkey fired over 18,000 state employees — including teachers, academics, police officers and members of the military — and canceled their passports, for “alleged links to terrorism groups.” As soon as absolute power is established here, this will happen.
Trump's hiring of Shine, people closing ranks around Jordan, the GOP's indifference to kidnapped children at the border, Oklahoma's welcome-back embrace of Pruitt ... these are all the latest proof that the country is cementing into tribal camps that see themselves at war with the other. All's fair in love and war, and the GOP is basically saying there are no more rules or laws that need to followed in the quest for total domination. Democrats and any people with consciences need to accept this reality and focus exclusively on the only remedy -- voting the perpetrators and enablers out. This will not be easy, as the GOP views voting rights as a prime target for destruction in their war against democracy and decency.
2
I doubt that the @GOP will actually give up power, no matter what the votes say. He will claim the system is rigged. Unless he wins.
1
There is no bottom. #VoteThemOut.
20
We do not expect truth or morality from the Trump administration, so we get what we expect. It's time to Resist and vote!
21
The issue is very legitimate and Ms. Goldberg is right on the money with her criticism. The abuse of women in workplace, with or without their consent, is unconscionable. It simply cannot go on. However, Ms. Goldberg ruins her positive message by calling for Trump’s resignation. It appears that the only reason she raises the issue of women abuse is to call for Trump’s resignation. This issue deserves to be raised regardless of who is in office—Trump or Clinton. The partisan bias in her approach certainly raises question as to whether she is serious in her commitment to the issue itself.
2
Trump is President, Clinton is not. Hence when she asks for the President resignation nothing is ruined. Place the blame or responsibility solely on the person responsible- Trump.
5
Trump does evil stuff, Ms. Goldberg points them out, and Gennady dismisses it by imagining bias. (find it for me, cuz I missed it.) Your last sentence is priceless. So Ms. Goldberg is not a trump supporter = writes about trump's erosion of womens' rights = partisan bias = nothing serious = yawn. And you even agree that sexual harassment "can't go on!" But if trump encourages it to go on, and someone calls him on it, you immediately have to twist pretty hard to dismiss it. Very conflicted, for no real reason. What loyalty do you owe trump in this regard? Can the man do NO wrong for you folks?
3
This is the abuse of women - your wife, daughter, granddaughters, aunts, nieces, friends and coworkers by predatory animals who feel a sense of entitlement. There should be no allowing any of this, sorry.
1
100 MILLION Americans thought it was more important to relax than to vote in 2016. There are consequences and - in the case of 2016 - it was the final death rattle of the American republic. We are no longer a nation of laws. We are no longer a nation of the people, for the people. We are an oligarchy which reigns with terrible consequences. No unemployment, but starvation wages. Gain a dime? They will take it in medical payments. In debt? Ha! Every man, woman, and child owes - in addition to their credit card debt of over a trillion dollars collectively - $64,000 plus interest in the national debt. Grinding down the middle class to gain a nickle on a stock price is the "game" now - as it was in the 1920s before the great uprising. But that was before the huge military budget, the NSA spying on us. Just call us by our correct name: America, Inc. And say goodbye to any freedom except the freedom to die.
44
John is right! Put down your phones, tablets and lap
tops, get off Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and Vote!
If you can do more, donate to candidates running for
office who you believe in, knock on doors or put up yard signs.
Check your county and state's election laws and vote
by mail or show up on Election Day, Even change
parties if you think the primary helps decide the winner.
Run for office, start local-city council, mayor, county
commissioner, state legislator.
Let your elected official know how he or she is doing
by email, Facebook, phone call, letter or attend a town hall in
your area. Let them know how you agree or disagree
them and that you vote!
Educate yourself about the candidates, read and watch
multiple credible news sources. Don't believe it's all
"fake news"!
"We the People" deserve better than the representation
we have now.
2
What you say is correct but there is one big problem: Your Vote Does Not Count.
This is because the voting system is entirely rigged. This statement is not speculation but is based on research by those who study vote rigging in elections.
Not just all the anti-democratic measures like gerrymandering and voter intimidation and voter roll scrubbing, and voter identification laws - but actual voting machine rigging.
Your vote is unlikely to be counted if you vote against Trump. And if you do vote against Trump, there are simple vote flipping programs available.
Of course you do realize that stanch Republicans own the two voting machine companies and no one is allowed to check their vote tally? (There was a way to check the vote tally but the Republicans changed that law)
Don't expect your Vote to save us from fascism.
Even if your vote was counted, why would the Republicans simply hand over power to people they do not consider Real Americans? Because they want to follow the rules?? The end always justifies the means with the Republicans; they believe the rules are for losers.
Forget the Vote, all that's over.
Trump has ushered in the era of slime. Practices once condemned as social disgraces are now tolerated. People who committed acts contrary to social norms are paced in positions of prominence. Trump has replaced decency with sordid behavior--making boorishness acceptable.
How long will his mesmerized, clueless base--especially the hypocritical evangelicals--put up with a man who is the poster boy for everything they supposedly condemn?
44
Cheer UP! Dems need to stick together & keep the message simple. Problem is no single Dem leader out front standing up for us & calling out the Prez. Everyday they should be on TV. What are they waiting for????? We need younger leaders not afraid to call out the Prez. Appeal to the general public! Is this what you want for the leader of the USA? Someone who calls people names, lies, creates chaos in the US and abroad and refuses to show us his tax returns?
Why doesn't Warren play along & say I show you my DNA if you show me your tax returns, followed by "What are you afraid of & you can still show the returns while they are being audited".
Where are our religious leaders who value ALL human life? They need to step up & do local town gatherings.
Point out how Trump loves the Babies but after they are born, No Health care, No education, & now NO breast milk. GEEZS!
27
Re: "Problem is no single Dem leader out front standing up for us & calling out the Prez."
Well of course not! The Prez is a member of the Republican plutocracy, and who you call "Dems" are members of the Democrat plutocracy. Birds of a feather.
Angbob,
Elizabeth Warren WOULD be that person, if there weren't so many Democrats (yes, Democrats) who weren't afraid to rally behind a woman who really does offer a genuine progressive message, or thought that she has a "grating voice".
The "Plutocrats" and moderates need to stop being afraid of real Progressive voices and fall in line behind her message--just like the Republicans ALWAYS fall in line behind whoever is leading them (sooner or later).
1
Not to worry, Ms. Goldberg. Bill Shine will speak in his official capacity as communications director to let us know that both Jim Jordan and Donald Trump are not lying. It is such a relief to such honorable men are in charge and that the black man is gone.
3
In a Donald Trump job interview, being named in both sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits is a plus, not a negative. It's the world's gone crazy cotillion in Trump Land where white is black and black is white; right is wrong and wrong is right. If there is a god, it would be a good time fro an intervention. See: RevolutionOfReason.com
5
My understanding is the woman who replaced Shine at Fox, Suzanne Scott, has tried to intimidate women at that network or minimize their complaints as had the network's chief lawyer, Diane Brandi.
Scott was also responsible for the on-air policy that women only wear dresses that showed their legs and never wear pants.
But, how soon before we get all the big city newspaper op-eds blaming Bill and Hillary for all of this?
2
More than fifty percent of white women were fine with voting to put a known sexual predator into the White House. That’s a lot of women. If we find ourselves in a place we don’t like...paying Bill Shine’s salary, or having Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, we must admit that women had the power to prevent this, but didn’t. If Trump’s behavior before the election didn’t create outrage in these women, I don’t know what will.
44
"If Trump’s behavior before the election didn’t create outrage in these women, I don’t know what will." It may have angered some women, but it obviously was not something they saw as disqualifying for the Presidency of the United States. Perhaps they saw it as boorish male behavior that they personally would never put up with, and would speak out against. This doesn't mean they have to "toe the line" on every liberal issue, or even every feminist one.
3
Janet that is precisely the mystery that seemingly has no answer. Some of the right wing women we have here in my part of the world are more despicable than the men.
3
"It’s hard to imagine Trump getting away with hiring Shine — who has been named in both sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits against Fox News — even a few months ago."
Is it? Actually, it's totally predictable and vintage Trump. As the Sexual-Assaulter-in-Chief, he has never failed to vigorously defend the other deviants in his fraternity. Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, Roy Moore. The list is endless. In addition to sexual assault, Trump's other favorite pastime is corruption. And only in a Trump Administration could a Scott Pruitt have lasted as long as he did. Even as Pruitt was finally slithering out the door, Trump couldn't resist praising this snake for the "outstanding" job he did.
There is nothing surprising about Trump. He's the same person (or, malignant narcissist if you prefer) he's been his whole life, and he's not going to change. So we need to force the change by voting out every shameless Republican appeaser that supports him.
5
ladies ... it's time to bring back the hatpin.
For those who do not get the reference, before 1930 many women wore hats in public. This meant they had a hatpin to secure the hat to braided or coiled hair.
A hatpin, if you've ever seen one, is a very effective close-in weapon; against rape, manhandling, groping ... etc.
And it was understood that a man stuck with a hatpin must have deserved it -- very few complained or even admitted to it.
But many were stuck -- some blinded or even killed.
Rough -- but fairer than today.
3
Your op-ed is good and thoughtful except for reminding us that your piece about Al Franken was instrumental in making him resign. His resignation was an egregious error considering not one real shred of unbiased evidence was provided and it never went to the Senate Ethics Committee.
Shame on you!
25
I agree. Ms. Goldberg's consistency in equating accusation with guilt, rejecting the idea that the accused has a right to face the accuser, disregarding harm to the reputation of the accused, and rejecting any significant differences among transgressions (a pat on the back side is the same as rape and sexual extortion) erodes her credibility when she writes about the disregard for the law and the unjust treatment of individuals. Yes, it is gut-wrenching to watch a cabal of guttersnipes slither into the forefront of leadership in this beleaguered country, led by a proud and self-professed abuser of women. But that has nothing to do with those who object to the way in which some would hijack the MeToo movement, turning it from a powerful, revelatory tool to a catch-all complaint factory, including some who, like Ms. Goldberg, eschew the very process of justice for others that they demand for themselves. And yes, I'm a woman and a MeToo-er.
1
What a load of hot air this editorial is! If there is ONE THING that I for one have known for ages now is that, contrary to choosing the correct path, Trump will almost always take the one that causes the most disruption and turmoil, policy issues be dammed. Worse is that he often gets away with it and worst of all is that his approval rating among women is grotesquely high. We are dealing with the results of having glossed over serious faults within each political party and allowed issues that are clearly undemocratic in a modern society to fester. How we will be able to repair all this damage in the near term, regardless of the outcome of the following elections, eludes me. Lastly, WHO within the Democratic Party has taken up the mantle upon which the party was originally founded upon? We have senators fearful to vote against this nominee because they come from Red States (West Virginia etc). I ask: WHAT GOOD ARE THEY THEN?
10
How can a president who possibly colluded with Russia to win be allowed to appoint lifetime judges??? If he is found to be elected illegitimately, shouldn't his appointments be null and void???
22
Please do not refrain from repeating that the emperor has no clothes...
5
Shine is just another creature added to the White House swamp. He joins Kelly, Nielsen, Miller, Conway, Huckabee Sanders, Sessions and all the others willing to work for a president who has no soul, no ethics and no morals.
I don't think good Americans have fatigue. I think we are waiting for the Mueller investigation to expose the truth about collaboration and obstruction. We need to save our strength for the battle that is ahead.
4
There is blatant bribery at play in our national politics.
Do you rich folks want lower taxes? Then you will have to turn a blind eye to all the entitled men who feel it is their right to sleep with subordinate women (and if those women don't cooperate, then kick them to the curb).
Do you white folks want to hang on to the feeling that we are the real Americans? Then you will have to swallow the corruption of Trump and his kin, and the damage they are doing to US standing in the world.
17
Excellent column. We are all debased by this president. Why we brought this upon ourselves can only be likened to a suicidal urge. Nothing else explains why a country with so much talent and good will would subject itself to this buffoon.
7
When Clayton Williams, oil and real estate tycoon, ran for governor in Texas 1990 against Ann Richards, he made the mistake of commenting about the rain to a bunch of journalist covering his bid by comparing it to rape, saying 'if it's inevitable you might as well relax and enjoy it!' Even in Texas at that time- it did his candidacy in and he lost mightily. i guess today in our demeaning loss of dignity in this current administration- anyone making a comment like that gets promoted to the highest office along with other indignant abusers. We have hit swamp bottom and the creatures there seem alive and more shameless than ever... until this November i hope!!
7
Those who control the media can control the population. It is no wonder that Bill Shine would be an attractive choice in this WH. He is a media expert in the art of propaganda. Besides, he can help normalize male opinions about sexual harassment. He will be so subtle that even women may come to deride the #MeToo movement! In our Shine induced media stupor, we will grow to value SCOTUS for taking away our reproductive rights. No one will complain about the end of Brown v Board of Ed. Collusion will be removed as a word from the Dictionary. A brainwashed public will accept harassment as "teenage talk". Solution? If there is any honest media, please figure our how to wake the public from the mess you made.
8
The basket of deplorables are filling rapidly. Like overly ripe bananas, they will rot and be tossed out.
2
We are Offred in The Handsmaid's Tale, lying back while the Republican Party has its way with us.
8
Desensitized. Demoralized. Demeaned.
Ms. Goldberg’s title is fitting admonition for the “handmaiden”-status government is underwriting for women with policy and attitude. Last night’s nomination of a conservative-based Supreme Court pick can make it “writ”
#MeToo posters can be hung against the wall while the rain washes away their magic marker slogans.
Take heed: “Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
The temperature’s rising.
27
Michelle Goldberg: "But he is credibly accused of being a party to exploitation."
So, he's basically like a Clinton voter? How awful.
Think of the stamina it takes to be a trump supporter? This evil man surrounds himself with cretins of every form. The hateful agenda that they machine gun us with is relentless.
Try to think of one good person, one good idea coming out of the WHITEhouse?
Zero - Zed - Nada - Zilch.
The silver lining? The creeps have all come out into the open and once Trump is back in his familiar role of stealing money from his employees and creditors, they will still be out of their creepy closets.
5
Yes, Donald Trump is not only a dedicated misogynist, he is a mean-spirited, vindictive one who revels in his ability to get away with his women hating antics.
Yet, the GOP ignores his behavior as do the evangelicals who somehow rationalize his conduct simply because he is in this incarnation anti-abortion.
But of course, those fetuses have to mature into young children so that he can deny them mothers breast milk, kick them off Medicare and force them to work in agriculture so they can be sprayed with pesticides. And when they get sick, he'll make sure they have no medical insurance. Praise the Lord!
27
Michelle Goldberg admits "It’s true that Shine, Fox News’s former co-president, is not accused of sexually exploiting anyone himself." In 2017, CNN reported Under Shine and Abernethy, Fox has taken steps to make cultural changes since Ailes' departure. In December, the network hired Kevin Lord, the former General Electric/NBC human resources chief, to head up their HR department. Lord has significantly expanded the HR division and implemented a mandatory "sensitivity training" course, according to the network. Fox has also moved more quickly to address more complaints against staff, firing Fox News Latino's Francisco Cortés in the wake of a sexual assault allegation and comptroller Judy Slater for allegedly making racist remarks to fellow employees. (Cortés has not addressed the allegations publicly; Slater has denied them.)
https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/27/media/bill-shine-fox-news/
2
The continued erosion of women's rights mean only one thing. women will start taking the law into their own hands and deal with rapists and other pigs in a more discrete, yet forceful manner.
6
It's an interesting thought, Scott. "#MeToo" meets "Stand Your Ground."
1
given Trump's lewd behavior one may come to the conclusion that Shine was selected not despite, but because of his transgressions. after all, it takes a misogynistic racist to communicate for a racist mysogynist.
31
I am not tired and I am not fatigued, if that is what people are feeling than we have a serious problem and it is our fault. The solution is to fight back at a grass roots level. When you see these idiots in public let them know what you think of them and their actions. Don't let up. Know for a fact that these people are not well and they attract each other, they behave the same way. When Trump says he does it because he can, it means he will. Stop avoiding family members and others that you know are on the far right, let them know what they are supporting is wrong. It starts on a grass roots level. If your church is supporting Trump, let them know they are wrong. Shame them. They will start avoiding you but so what. I am not going to lie back and take and so shouldn't you.
7
Great job, Michelle. Please be relentless in your efforts to expose the sexual misconduct and continuing deplorable behavior of these “men”. Regarding Jordy, I find it hard to believe a right winger who so zealously defends the congenital liar Donald J Trump.
21
Maybe if he’s gonna’ ask her to take a DNA test to determine whether she’s a Native American or not..., she’ll ask him to get an MRI of his heel spurs to determine whether he’s a draft dodger or not.
4
I remain hopeful that the toxic curiosity that is our current socio-political state of politics and culture will wash out with the ebbing of the white, male, baby boomer tide after a few years. At that point, the question will be to what extent the subjugated majority that is everyone else in this country will have the guts and focus to truly hold the GOP (and its white male base) durably, politically accountable for their decades of malfeasance. This means, among many other things, rejecting notions of false balance and other in-group driven, socially manipulative narratives, and making it clear that it has been the GOP and its white male base that have played footsie with Nazis; ripped off other Americans to line their own pockets; conspired with foreign, hostile powers to take their own domestic power and undermine Western democracies (including the US); raped the environment, poisoned our air, water, and wombs of the unborn for short-term monetary gain; maintained a generations-long cultural apartheid over greater American culture, etc. The punishment we administer on the GOP must last longer than a president's term or two, or a few sessions of congress. It must mean a real confinement to the political wilderness for decades, perhaps a generation or more, so the enablers of the wrongdoers who've perpetrated this injustice on all of us, whether they were witting or not, finally recognize (even in the face of partisan deflecting and conspiracy mongering) their misdeeds.
9
In reality, whose resume is left in Trump's HR file cabinet? Real world professionals would not touch this administration with a ten page resume--whose left, the likes of Shine, Guillani, the mooch---
3
Every person in the Trump orbit, the cabinet, the WhiteHouse, the complicit republican congress, the NRA, the RNC, all seem to be selected for their absolute willingness to betray the American people. They are beyond deplorable - they are traitors and criminals. Make sure you vote America because it is your complacency and apathy that brought us to this brink....only your overwhelming participation can redeem us.
4
White women voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Go figure. If Roe goes down, women are largely to blame. Misogyny is not just restricted to men. What happened to Hillary Clinton was criminal—truly disgraceful. The most massive threat to American democracy and nearly everyone was more interested in kicking Hillary as much as they could. You have to admit the Russians are brilliant.
Women have a very very very long way to go if they want a place at the table. Maybe they can vote again for trump (their friend) and show us how stupid they are. Wake up!
3
We seem to hate any conservative abusers but give Rich and Clinton a free pass way to easily. Just sayin’
3
"We seem to hate any conservative abusers but give Rich and Clinton a free pass way to easily. Just sayin’"
Free pass? How do you figure that? Clinton was impeached! Trump will face no such action from this supine and complicit congress.
4
If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a misogynistic, bigoted, hateful nazi, it's a misogynistic, bigoted, hateful nazi.
In other words, in the ocean depth of disgust and despair that I feel about our Bufoon In Chief, this is just about a few hundred feet of outrage. After all, we elected a groper, cheater and potential rapist. A man who openly maligned and demeaned women for menstruating, having babies etc. For Pete's sake--we are now not just putting babies in cages--now we apparently want to kill the babies of the third world with rotten formula.
I can't even.
In my darkest moments, I think of all the women I know. The ones who donned pink hats back in January of 2017. The ones who have become Facebook activist. Or are running for local office. The ones who joined Emily's List and dragged me to their luncheon.
I think of the ones who donate money and time to the cause. The ones who picket in front of our GOP Congressman's office. I think of the women I know who live in Trump areas but who are, nonetheless, speaking out in their communities clearly and loudly about the train wreck in the making.
I think about the young women--my daughters friends. The ones who are enraged that we had to have a #metoo in the first place. I think about our sons, and our husbands, and the many good men who are allies.
The problem of Donald Trump will be solved via demographics of time, but regardless, he is on the losing side long term. You can't stop progress even if you halt it.
19
My fear is that, in just over 500 days, the arrow of decency has been redirected so far downward that the “demographics of time” will not be able to turn its trajectory upward. Our darling daughter and granddaughter face an already bleaker future.
8
There is a flood of meanness coming from the White House every day and we are drowning in it because all major news outlets realize, if nothing else, that the outrages to decency and respect for others draw readers, viewers and ratings, if nothing else. Like people driving passed a ten car crash on the freeway, they can't ignore it. Gotta look.
This is changing my outlook about my fellow citizens and I suspect it is doing so for many, many other people as well. We have a right wing phalanx who believe that everything they do is ordained by god, or at least is pure and just, while "the other side" is filled with people who are evil in action and intent. Bridges where there might have been a meeting of the minds are burning before our eyes. There is no turning back from this truth as they are revealing it.
The right in America will stop at nothing to get what they want and they will stoop to approving the embarrassment of America before the world to get it. There are no standards of decency and very little morality.
Funded by billionaires pursuing their own self interest, backed by a media propaganda effort like America has never known, corrupting religion as an integral part of their ceaseless political campaign, the right seeks an American in which no one can live happily but themselves.
5
Ms Goldberg sounds understandably worn out and tired. It is hard to not be demoralized, but I agree it's exhausting to endure daily Trump outrage because he pays no consequences and news departments play Trump as if he is operating in a regular order of business. He isn't. His administration's indecency, immorality and ignorance are the base line; we should not expect anything different from them or Trump allies in Congress. We should stop expecting rational responses to his assaults on decent governance and encourage responsible leaders in Congress to stand for a just and fair America. Of course Trump will select always the least qualified, least appropriate candidate for any job in his government. He has no interest in expertise or knowledge because he has none himself. So he has no way of seeing that in others. Our energy has to be on voting better candidates and ensuring civil society maintains the narrative and behavior of a respectful American experience. What we are experiencing with Trump is not a normal course of events; we cannot digest any of his or his allies work with responses that assume it is business as usual.
5
Shine's misogyny is only a symptom of the traits Trump really sought.
Trump needed to replace Cohen; he needed a new a fixer to clean up after him. And Shine has long history of fixing Fox News's many problems, and not just the sexual peccadillos of the abusers and harassers in the ranks.
If Trump's got a problem, he's hoping Fixer Bill can put a Shine™ on it. That it comes at the cost of women's legal rights is just an unintended side effect for a class of people of no consequence in Trump's world view.
4
So simply being named as a defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit proves that the person is a sexual harasser? And simply being named as a defendant in a racial discrimination lawsuit proves that the person is a racist? Ms. Goldberg obviously does not understand the judicial process. Being named as a defendant in a civil case means nothing more than the person had enough money to pay the filing fee and how to spell the defendant's name. Her claim that Shine simply being named as a defendant rendered him unemployable in the private sector is ridiculous, and demonstrates the danger of the "me too movement" when simply accusing a person of being a sexual harasser is sufficient to deny the accused employment. And the source of some of her "proof" that Shine is a sexual harasser is a woman who was paid money for sex - otherwise known as prostitution. So consensual prostitution is sexual harassment? The backlash of the "me too movement" will soon be that legitimate victims is sexual harassment will lose their cases because of all of the other non-victims of sexual harassment who cried wolf once too often.
3
Does this surprise you?
Doesn't surprise me.
One begs the question, where have you been all your life?
Women have considered themselves sex objects as well as men have. I am not blaming the victim, but have you ever noticed the clothes many of them wear? their behavior?
As just one example: have you ever noticed the clothes women newscasters wear? Have you ever compared that with the conservative, professional business attire that men wear? Wonder why that it? Sex sells.
2
Bill Shine was complicit in sexual harassment and degradation, and at the same time, responsible for the toxic content spewed by Fox News. An apex enabler, this makes him uniquely qualified for his current Kool-Aid serving role for Trump.
4
The WH is out of the closet. All the greed, incompetency, racism, misogyny, is fully in the open. They are transparent, and their despicable actions, since they come so fast and furiously, don't matter. Shine is despicable. If any of the allegations about him are true, there is no way he should be in the WH. The GOP through their inaction and apathy owns more of this reality show everyday. No one in the GOP tried to stop trump from hiring this man. No one in the GOP sees a problem with the WH just being another Fox News studio. They are more like trump everyday, and we are the worse for it.
5
And now our president will nominate a conservative (i.e., family values) Supreme Court Justice whilst continuing his lifelong devotion to denigrating women. Hypocrisy at its finest.
4
Who can remember the "Hastert Rule," perpetrated by the child-molester Republican Speaker of the House, which has enabled a small, radical conservative minority in the Congress to block normal democratic processes in this country for a generation?
6
These journalists are drunk on their own power. Jordan doesn't 'have his own sex scandal'. This engineered attack involves a team doctor (now deceased) for many different sports at Ohio State 25 years ago! Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach who some now say Jordan should have been aware of some of the doctor's inappropriate behavior, at least by today's standards. Utterly unbelievable - this attack by the media is very dangerous.
3
Over-the-top misogyny is simply one of the bona fides that gets you noticed by the current administration and demonstrates you have the potential for even greater depravity. It gets you on the list for employment consideration.
6
Shine and Fox have been hired by Trump as a close advisors/communication propagandists and Al Franken got railroaded out of the Senate. Maybe lynched is a more accurate term.
That's why the current Democratic leadership have their head stuck in a brown paper bag and a moronic egoistical nitwit is president and now he will get three Supreme Court picks. It's time for Schumer and. Pelosi to go. The. Democrats are leaderless when they have a host of young bright House and Senate members strangled.
It's past time for the Democrats to be bold and courageous. Whatever the leadership has been doing hasn't worked.
It really is past time for The Resistance to become more than a hashtag and be a Resistance, in the true, radical sense of the meaning. Start with non-violently shutting down DC; there are a lot of allies in those agencies.
3
I sincerely wish, when during Trump and Clinton's last debate, when Trump stalked and loomed up behind Clinton threateningly, that she had turned to him and said something to the effect of "Get AWAY from me, you weird, stalking, loony sexual pervert". Had she done so, I believe she would now be President.
People like Trump, Jordan and Joe "you lie" Wilson have so degraded political discourse in America, that the only thing these people understand are insults, and the bigger the better. We have to get under these people's skin with the truth.
9
My thoughts exactly and ever since that night. Just one of the ways HRC failed herself and the country in 2016.
2
Trump judges others based on his own sexual history of exploitations.
He has never felt remorse or that he even did anything wrong. So anyone who works for him is off the hook, by default.
7
Isn't sexual harassment and abetting it a criminal offense?
2
Shine and his racist, conspiracy-theory driven wife will fit in fine with 45's administration. I seem to remember also that everyone took Denny Hasert's side against child abuse allegations until they didn't any longer. This country has the memory and attention span of a gnat and refuses to learn from past history. The fact that people think these types of behaviors and the people who commit them are okay, says something about this country's moral compass; mainly that we don't have one any longer.
6
Laurie Luhn doesn't sound like a victim to me.
6
Gee, the way things are going in Washington, the next refugees are going to be Americans.
6
What Ms. Goldberg should probably be addressing is not why some people keep their jobs but some of the overkill that has turned off so many people to meeto, including women. Metoo is an important movement that should be about actual harassment or assaults, not politics. Unfortunately, some took metoo as a signal to get revenge for their own mistakes. Aziz Ansari was publicly abused by a woman after consensual sex. It looked like to many that Matt Lauer's most vocal critic, was merely rueing her own poor choice. I saw David Copperfield's name on the Times' metoo list though he was vindicated and his accuser convicted for another false accusation. Those who cautioned some level of moderation were often castigated, particularly men.
People who do not protect others from sexual assault or bullying should not be in charge. But, partisan politics makes politicians very vulnerable and there has to be time to reflect and investigate claims. I didn't like Al Franken's politics much, and, obviously, at one time he could be a jerk, but he should still be a Senator. And though multiple complainers can be persuasive (as with Cosby), in Jim Jordan's cases many other wrestler's support him. In this climate, I can't just conclude he looked the other way.
Metoo is still important. We want to see the Harvey Weinstein's of the world get their just desserts and as much as humanly possible harassment to subside. But, the cultural warriors often end up hurting their own cause.
5
"In Luhn’s telling, Shine was often the one who arranged her encounters with Ailes."
Well, maybe Trump believes that, and maybe that's why he hired Shine.
4
Trump and people around him are treasonous. Time will be their undoing.
4
So "credibly accused" is the standard by which we judge. You are willing to destroy someone's life based on that? This column is a shameful distortion of the legal values this country is supposed to practice.
2
Those that have the tools and moral duty to stop the rape of our republic refuse to, and in many cases aid it. We live in an age of greed and cowardice.
4
I was following you, Ms. Goldberg, right up to the point at which you told us that women submit to sex they don't want because men wear them down.
Really? Coercion - fear of loss of job or career, fear of injury, fear of others getting hurt, the use any type of power physical or otherwise- driving a sexual encounter is rape. Nagging and cajoling is not. We have the agency to shut down even entitled men.
It is an important difference, because #MeToo has a lot of ground to cover, from, as you point out, powerful people turning a blind eye on the crimes of others, to our own government hiring people who have shown either terrible judgement or outright terrible behavior. We cannot water down the drive for justice by making is sound as if women just gave in because they were eventually worn down.
Women have responsibility too. We need to shut down the cajoling and if we cannot, we certainly don't need to give in. Constant pleas in a workplace environment for a sexual relationship is harassment which is hard to fix, because of high stakes and power differences. But giving in is giving in - there is agency there.
2
This is a “shock and awe” presidency. With a continuing barrage of horrors we (the majority of voters) are too battered to stay outraged or to effectively resist.
The impeachment of Bill Clinton many years ago was a grave abuse of Congressional power. But while I respected Clinton's political agenda, I agree, reluctantly, with a previous commentator that one troubling upshot of Clinton's public humiliation was the widespread sympathy it engendered. Though the crime is unproven, the son of an alleged Clinton rape victim come forward in later years. That Clinton was as predatory as Trump is a possibility. I am wondering if Trump could have been elected if Clinton's addiction (and possible crimes) had not been widely exonerated in older voters' minds many years before. An awful thought.
3
So much has happened in the last 2 years that we have certainly become numb to the circus that is the Trump presidency....the worst by far in American history! It has happened because Americans in large numbers chose to ignore Trump's poor behavior and ignore those who spoke out against him from the media.. to women, to Gold Star families etc. The voters in the country chose to vote for Trump after having seen his rude obnoxiousness that was on full display throughout the primaries. There has not been much success to speak of from this administration..and yet to listen to Fox news and his supporters he's doing great! The madness continues. Will we emerge stronger and the better for the experience..?? Will the rule of law survive?? Will our Democratic system heal the country in time? Why have so many voices of reason had to speak out so forcefully and loudly and persistently for so long to begin to see change? In the next election.. voters will have to unite around a candidate that will be sure to win and change things for the better and bring unity and not divisiveness.
By some accounts during WWII in Britain, a popular expression directed towards women was 'Lie Back and Think of England'. On hearing this in my youth, it never failed to be the cause of a laugh, and now it is time to sober up.
Whether wearing stockings or rugged socks, it is a waste of time to be shocked by any of Trump's choices and acts. Under his thumb and the 'anything goes' policy, half the country does not need a booster shot of imagination to expect him not to make the right decision.
Half the country is now prepared for the unexpected, and it is a question or a choice of whether to take this lying down, or saying it without flowers on the dotted line: We are not putting up with Trump anymore and the tarnished buttons of his supporters.
Another Fox in the Hen House is one too many in this era of chaos and disorder. America is not a nation of chickens or peeps, and the big rooster who is busy tweeting away, with no sense of decency, is losing his plumage in a state of flustered rage.
1
In an ideal world, people would look into the merits of a person and then decide if he or she is worth the job.
In an ideal world his or her behaviour would be part of this assessment.
But this the world of Trump, the world of entertainment and bad behaviour of a bully, in which none of the old rules work as he makes up new rules as he needs them.
So forget about the #MeToo movement and the merits and the rules of old.
Trump is about his buddies, his gang of dependables, like every bully does when the rest of the kids on the block (e.g. the rest of the world) does not want anything to do with him.
So he collects a gang of cronies, pardon buddies, to have a gang of his own.
There is no need to discuss the old ways.
If you want them back, you will have to get rid of Trump first.
Trump doesn't listen to such complicated analysis, he gets his views from TV shows like Fox & Friends.
To him, reading is completely overrated.
And if my assessment of Trump is worth anything, I am quite certain that Trump is completely panicking about the chances of him being impeached after the Mid Terms later this year.
Of losing his favourite toys.
Which is why he is trying to make certain that his gang is in seats of power to support him when the time of the impeachment comes.
All bullies are only tough on the outside while completely insecure on the inside.
Trump is a perfect example of a school yard bully from a rich family.
2
You can't stop Trump from hiring an inappropriate person. You can't stop Jordan from trying to avoid the consequences of his enabling inappropriate behavior. But you can do something about it. Get out and vote America. If part of the conservative calculus is that the Democrats did this stuff, the Republicans in a very short time have evened the score. Let's all get out there and vote them out.
3
Vote. Nov. 6 falls on a Tuesday, for those just waking up to how our democracy is supposed to work.
2
Everyone should read Doonesbury from last Sunday. We have become entirely irrational. The adulation heaped on Trump by American voters is inexplicable. Most support gun control, favor abortion, recognize the need to protect the environment, distrust Russia, agree with increasing the minimum wage and oppose separating immigrant children from their parents. But this same majority blindly vows support to a President who harbors directly contrary views. Why? How is this possible? My theory is that it is all about race and sex- if Trump altered his position with regard to Blacks, Latinos, Muslims and the LGBTQ community his support would vanish overnight. But I am not certain this accounts for the insane hypocrisy exhibited by voters. What happened to rational thought?
2
The majority of voters are women. Yet over and over women “ask for it” politically, either by not turning out as much as right-wing white men or by voting FOR their oppressors outright, as white women did by voting for Trump over Hillary. If women don’t react to Trump this fall by giving us the biggest blue wave in history, they will truly deserve what they get. Women have the votes. There are no victims here. Just DO it, women. Marches are fine, but only votes win power.
3
This is a dark time in America. Outrage after outrage coming from what is the white house in name only.
If Mueller does not move soon, his investigation and findings will be irrelevant. In this Age of Outrage, so much is outrageous, rendering nothing outrageous.
I am a very skilled golfer; I view most important tournaments. The USGA inexplicably allowed Fox Sports to televise some tournaments (understandably miserably, with dimwit Paul Azinger and non-golfer Joe Buck). In spite of their repeated nonsense, I tried to watch it muted. But could not. Because it was Fox.
I applaud your brave attempt. I can never even get there.
Plato foretold this over two thousand years ago when he described the lifecycle of a democracy. In the third phase of a democracy the populace has succumbed to the oligarchy and freedom has morphed into unbridled license destroying moral order. The path is made clear for a demagogue. The out exit in America offers some hope: state rights. As a progressive this is a shocking admission but perhaps it is the area in which the Republicans and progressives can agree. The actions of California since the reign of our Clown King have been taking this very route. It is in fact a powerful nation and the anti-Texas. I see several other deep blue states doing likewise. This is where hope lies.
We always knew the men would win, didn't we?
With Trumps appointment of sex-scandal linked Fox News personality Bill Shine as assistant press secretary the die is cast: US politics is further in rapid decline.
With so many Fox News personalities—Shine, Bolton, Kudlow, Hannity, et al.—now high-level,misadvisors to President Trump, Fox News is no longer merely the primary state media outlet for Trumpublicans; it is now the core of the Trumpublican state. There is no GOP. The Fox News Trumpublicans are thoroughly,in charge. Fear and/or disgust have rendered former Establishment Republicans either Trumpublican enablers (the many) or outsider Conservative Independents (the few).
What does it profit the GOP to bargain for a tax cut at the cost of its once conservative soul?
1
The fault here is widely shared. Trump is insensitive. But the endless bringing of decreasingly convincing metoo claims has made his work a lot easier.
I remain angry because to not be angry - normalizes all these immoral people and their swampy illegal behavior.
Yes I am tired and anxious. But I refuse to stop speaking up.
Stay angry. It is one of the few honest emotions left.
4
Bill Shine is now part of the Trump administration.
This should surprise no one. Trump is not president without Fox "News" (and Putin, and Comey, and...).
How America emerges on the other side of the Trump disaster is the test.
3
If someone sexually assaults you against your will that is a crime. Women will have much more of an effect on this behavior by calling the police and making sure charges are filed against the perpetrator. There are many laws making this behavior illegal from offensive touching all the way to statutory rape. Being arrested and going to Court will have an effect. Saying MeToo won't.
2
Michelle Goldberg is one of the reasons I have lost trust in the NY Times and regard much of its reporting as fake news.
In this piece she sexualizes the performance of Donald Trump.
Make no mistake. Donald Trump is a disastrous president. He should be voted down at the end of his term. Perhaps impeached if grounds can be found.
But sexual harassment is not the reason.
Yes, he sometimes treats women poorly. But Trump's tariffs are based on no coherent economic policy and simply bring America closer to the point when it begins to run out of money for social security and medicare.
I was harassed as a child in school. I was called high-pockets because I liked classical music. Should we take the school out and punish it? Exactly how?
Harassment is part of everyday life for many Americans. Yes we want to minimize it, we want people to see each other as individuals not as stereotypes.
But the US is facing genuine problems.
Our per capita incarceration rate is second only to the island nation of the Seychelles, and perhaps North Korea.
Instead of tackling the excessive imprisonment, the fact that incomes of the poor have stagnated, that many of the poor die because they cannot afford cancer screenings, old people in nursing homes are neglected.
Instead of tackling these real problems the NY Times provides us essay after essay which shame the "white patriarchs."
This is hate speech against men condoned and encouraged by the NY Times.
It is not fit as toilet paper.
Trump supports such men as Shine, Jordan and Roy Moore because as a man who has been accused in a court affidavit of raping a 13-year-old girl along with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child molester, he sympathizes with them. The woman, now 39, filed a lawsuit against the two men. In a pre-trial motion, the lawyers for both Trump and Epstein attempted to get the suit dismissed on the grounds of statute of limitations (not that they denied the raping her, but too much time had passed to sue them for raping her). The judge denied their motions.and scheduled a trial date for late October, days before the 2016 presidential election. However the plaintiff dropped the suit due to (according to her attorney) threats to her and her family (sound familiar?).
This is not a "fake news" attempt or a "deep state" conspiracy to demonize Trump. The official court documents can be found on line (search for "Trump and Epstein accused of rape") in which the victim gives a detailed account of the rape. With it is a second affidavit filed by a witness - an employee of Epstein at the time - who corroborates the victim's account.
2
The shipwreck of america....
I left New York for good for personal reasons on January 1 with a bleeding heart. I now feel like a survivor who looks from a distance at the boat sinking faster and faster ... how sorry I feel for the usa. Mass shootings in schools, a mad man in power, women in a brave strike of courage denouncing their aggressors just to be let down by the system, a bunch of angry and power-and-money hungry men who literally take mother's milk out of infants mouth... what chaos.. what a desolation in the land of the free and the home of the brave...
2
Your better than this Michelle. We all know the #metoo movement doesn’t apply to Republicans. And it’s over reaches have been only among Democrats, where the picking is easy. It’s a double standard with which Republican women are OK. Where are the women clamoring to take down Republican Pols? They seem to only have it in for their own. So no, we can’t take a sigh of relief, except Republicans of course.
1
Of course Trump wants a Fox misogynist and sexual harassment enabler like Bill Shine within his close circle at the White House- Shine “gets him.” The two men won’t need to spend valuable “executive time” in verbal or written communication, as Shine should be able to instinctively suss out what Donald wants from him.
Britain’s elite private schools and universities gave us the expression “the Old Boys Network.” With the addition of the despicable Bill Shine, the Trump administration now gives us “the Old Boys Will Be Boys Network.” Sickening.
2
The Fox/Breitbart propaganda machine and wide spread hate radio are dedicated to normalizing sexual misconduct, Trump's ignorance and the hatred for immigrants and people of color. This technique know as the Big Lie was very successful in swaying popular opinion in Germany and Austria of the 1930's. Trump and the Republican Party rely on the steady stream of distortion to maintain their voter base who accept no other sources of information.
4
There is a form of sexual harassment that remains taboo and that is never discussed. I am referring to the forced psychiatric treatment to cure young homosexuals. In 1962, when we were sixteen years old, my roommate and I were forced to undergo psychiatric treatment to change our sexual orientation, with the result that he committed suicide and I became psychotic. You can read this horrific story in my book What Rough Beast.
1
Still waiting for that McCarthy moment when someone will ask, "Sir, have you no sense of decency?" Of course, we all know what the answer will be.
1
What I cannot conceive is why women actually support this misogynism. Are we still living in a Stepford Wives country? I support journalistic endeavors to keep us informed and challenged in the core democratic values of equality, justice and the common good. We can't forget The Alamo, The Maine, The Holocaust, last December or any of the losses in our democratic republic.
2
Apparently, to be involved in the apex of politics with this administration, one's resume should reflect the degradation of women and sexual misconduct of the applicant. We're swirling down the drain, folks.
2
You mean ok after Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein et. al.? Seems like liberals never stopped making it ok. It's not ok for any person - no matter their political bent. Don't make it seem as if the president restarted it. Members of both parties have kept it going - even HRC turned away from enforcing good behavior by her staffers.
On the positive side, there is no longer any reason to maintain any semblance of respect for Trump's supporters. There is no longer any doubt what they are, because there is no way to escape what he is. The GOP has become a Plague Ship, and Cohen is diving for a seat on the lifeboat. Captain Queeg is going to wake up some morning in his guilded chamber and find it is just him and a few crazy rats left, with the water line rising.
3
I take issue with one phrase in this op-ed: "prestigious government job," referring to the position Shine has been appointed to.
After an unprecedented number of Trump White House employees driven from office by scandal and/or clownish behavior, having this job on your resume could not be regarded as a plus. You'd think, in fact, that prospective employers looking over these resumes will wonder just whether they are potentially taking on legal and negative PR exposure by hiring these people.
7
It's a world of double standard, this time between Dems/progressives and Reps/conservatives. The #MeToo movement only applies to progressives, who still have some standards of decency. The conservatives don't care about any of these transgressions, as long as they win. Witness the evangelicals overlooking all of Trump's many, many faults and sins, as long as they got their guy on the Supreme Court, as happened yesterday.
It is a very sad state of affairs, made more sad by the fact that the Democrats seem unable to understand this calculus and adapt their strategies. Saying "when they go low, we go high" sounds great in a speech, but not so great when you keep getting pummeled time after time.
54
I agree with many or even almost all of your points. However, I think it's even more important to avoid hyperbole. Would the SCOTUS "probably end Roe v. Wade"? What does that even mean? Even if SCOTUS did, would a single justice be responsible for doing so? It's an off-the-cuff comment that really shouldn't exist in an article that makes a lot of fine and accurate points. I think no matter what you say about Trump, you can't say the same about the justices so far appointed or promoted by him. You can say other things but I've seen some good opinions by some conservative jurists (from a different era however). We'll see what happens but in this Trump has the right and duty to promote whoever he chooses.
If you want to blame someone for what is happening WRT the SCOTUS, start with McConnell and then blame the voters in the swing states for putting Trump in office.
20
"Probably end Roe v. Wade" is very likely. And that's just a start.
Fourteen, I don't agree with that conclusion, especially with Roberts on the court still and the current make up but I also would say it's something no one knows a lot about. I also don't agree that you can blame it on this one new appointment. There would need to be five justices that agreed on this and not all five would be appointed by Trump. In other words, I don't agree with assigning blame to only the last straw that breaks the camel's back, which may not have been Goldberg's intent but that's how it comes across to me. I stand by my observation that it was an off-the-cuff observation made in otherwise fine article.
There are a lot of negatives about Trump's actions and words (including the appointment of Shine) but this SCOTUS nomination is one I really cannot fault him on, since this was a legitimate vacancy and he sought to fill it with a reasonably competent and educated jurist and that is his prerogative (unlike with the last seat).
Can the Locker Room on the Potomac stand?
I was at the protest after the inauguration, the largest ever in Vermont.
I was at a large protest march here two weeks ago - protesting this administration's immigration policy.
I expect to continue to protest for a long time to come.
Protests make me feel good, voting makes me feel better.
VOTE!
29
Will your vote be counted? Don't count on it.
Keep reminding us Michelle. And let's not forget the loss of a decent man in the Senate for much less: Al Franken.
"It is simply impossible, with Trump’s onslaught of indecency, to maintain pre-Trump standards."
I surely hope not. I hope we look back on this as another shameful painful but instructive period. We have had those. This will not become us, not without upheaval.
45
A newspaper has the space to help us remember and to do it forcefully. Instead of covering Alan Dershowitz's snubbing--a publicity stunt to sell his new book--they could keep covering these stories as if they matter. Many Goldberg columns could be answered with a trip down the hall to the news department. There is no accountability anymore. There is no alarm. See Jonathan Chait's fascinating and reasonable Prump/Tutin in New York Magazine for what it looks like when a journalist connects some dots.
And many of us do remember. I remember 2016. I remember December.
41
The truth is that it is still mostly a man's world because of the nature of testosterone, and the fact that most women are tied up for 20 years or more, with being pregnant, giving birth, nursing, nurturing, and ongoing parenting. It isn't that there aren't good, sensitive, and even men who can self regulate, it is just that their very nature is more driven, risk taking, etc. outside of the whole sexual aspect of relationships, etc. We will just have to hope that when most of the older men are gone in 25 years, those who are more aware, and want better for their daughters, will be in charge. Don't hold your breath however.
33
Hopefully they will die long before 25 years from now. Women should just take over. Impossible to do worse.
Wow. Hopeful.
Michelle is correct that our ability to be outraged is fading. Emotionally, we are being worn down, and it's a human instinct to begin to numb ourselves to the daily horrors, to try to adjust to the new realities, and simply get on with our daily lives.
That is why we must not rely on outrage to motivate us to action. We must consciously decide whether or not our democracy, laws, freedoms and values are being threatened, and if so, whether or not we are going to defend them.
If the answers are yes, then we have no need for additional motivation. We can let go of outrage, and act with clear intent and purpose.
This is not a nightmarish dream, my fellow Americans. This is reality, and it really is happening here. We need to wake up, admit to ourselves we see what we see, and take action.
157
Exactly what action.
Take action starts and ends with voting, and encouraging those of like minds to vote. Demonstrations haven't meant much in terms of stopping or slowing down the chaos agenda of Trump. A new Congress, not Republican -held, would.
If the majority of Americans voted, we wouldn't have these minority extremes forced upon us.
1
"Exactly what action" is for each individual to decide for themselves. Voting, of course, should be priority because as long as we still have a democracy the direction of our country will ultimately come down to votes. Then there are all the multitude of ways one can participate in the voting and political process.
But beyond that, or prior to that, or in addition to that, I am literally suggesting the simplest of positive day to day actions that build neighborliness, community, and trust. "On Tyranny", by Timothy Snyder, is a concise little book that enumerates the steps that 20th and 21st dictators have taken to destroy freedoms.... and teaches what everyday citizens can do to keep their freedom.
Make even one phone call. That's an action.
Imagine the Congress gathered for the State of the Union address with every Congressional in their seats. Now imagine half of them are women. Imagine flying over America with the ability to see the legislature in every state, all at the same time, with half of them being women. Now imagine standing on the moon able to see every legislature in the world sitting in session and notice that half of them are women.
How different would the agenda be? The solutions? The projects? The dreams?
Nothing will change America and the world as powerfully as equal representation. Just as we individuals need a right brain and a left brain to think and live well, humanity needs our two different perspectives to have fully functioning governance.
61
I read this as you saying that, somehow, women have inherent political differences, and that our campaign and election process, with all its money, will have no effect on them. You also imply that the resulting political parties will also be different, somehow.
3
Women are inherently different. Until recently, we have been quite silent. It is time for women to step up and become more involved in the business of politics and justice. The time has never been better. Our inherent differences are exactly what our country needs right now. Step up, ladies.
You say, “It turns out that even if there’s very credible evidence that a man is complicit in sexual harassment and degradation, he can still work at the apex of American politics.” Actually, in the current administration, it’s those very credentials that recommend him so highly….so why act surprised that Trump has chosen someone under a cloud of suspicion….he is looking for anyone who will make him look stellar in contrast…and in doing so perhaps cause all the news outlets to divert their focus in the process of venting their outrage at the choice.
13
There is a huge difference between "suspicion" and "certainty".
1
Jordan, at least, won't get away with it. His fate is not in the hands of the politicians. His case is going to be like Penn State or USA Gymnastics. He will be dragged (as he ought to be) into civil and criminal litigation over which the Republican Party has no control (not yet, anyway). So, he, at least, is a goner; it's only a question of when. Good riddance, in advance.
71
Already discussion in GOP circles of how Trump could pardon him (not possible) or crank up his public propaganda machine (thank you, Bill Shine) to effectively confuse the masses. Jordan and his sympathizers will pull out every stop, and he will need to be dragged through civil and criminal court. Jordan believes he is above the law. Expect more rapid pro-Trump behavior from Jordan while he's still in Congress.
1
Yes, I am appalled at the news coming out of the White House everyday. And I am exhausted by thinking about what Trump is doing. And that's not good for my mental health either.
Yes, I am going to vote in November, but other than that, I feel powerless to change the course America is on now.
I feel guilty about not doing more, although I do donate to ACLU.
Somehow, I need to stop feeling bad.
41
Action. Whatever it is for you, even the simplest action is the best antidote to feelings of helplessness.
33
It's a long game. Hang in there and keep taking action to prevent yourself from giving in to despair. There are more of us than them.
8
Work on getting the majority of Americans to vote. Trump and Bannon's genius was to disgust and turn off sufficient numbers of voters so that they didn't vote for Hillary. This is an easy problem to fix once most Americans are able to realize the nature and intent of Trump's chaos and media manipulation. If you feel helpless and don't vote, he wins. Stop it.
2
when the chickens come home to roost, and they will, I wonder who will be left standing. The damage to America, its psyche, as well as its "values" has been done and will take years to recover from if at all. Placing ones hopes on the midtem election is a tall order. Leadership of both political parties is in disarray with no clear vision and no clear message. this potus and his do-nothing minions in Congress have placed so many issues and polices out of whack (chaos is the new normal), the average voter will be hard pressed to decide who to support. But vote we must. Adding Shine to the cabinet is just par for the course considering whose in charge. Draining the swamp indeed.
25
I have been told for nearly sixty years that modern American women don't need me for anything. I can only roll my eyes at suddenly hearing that they can't take care of themselves, can't speak up for themselves in their sexual relationships, and actually need me to care. Short of stopping an overt physically aggressive assault happening before my eyes, it is all none of my business. I mind my business and expect them to mind theirs.
12
Ah yes, because women not needing men to fix their cars, pay their bills or take out the trash is exactly the same as women not needing men (and other women!) to stand up against those who abuse their power for exploitation.
3
This appears to be the root of the difference between many of Mr. Trump's supporters and those who find him appalling. You say you have been "told for nearly 60 years" that "modern women don't need you."
So all of these allowances Tr,ps supporters make for cruelty, misogyny, bullying, alienating allies and kissing up to enemies of the US, lack of a well reasoned policy for just about everything, and more - all of this boils down to "it's all ok because I don't want to share my exalted place in society with 'them'"?
2
What you heard for sixty years was correct, for both modern American women, and the best of modern American men, based on your post.
2
You know what really grinds my gears? The systemic abuse, both sexual and political, fostered by Fox ruins the entire brand for me. I can't even watch the old "Simpsons" shows when Conan O'Brien was writing from them. I feel too much shame and guilt to enjoy any Fox programming. Now 20th Century Fox is tied up with Disney. I guess I have to abandon Disney as well. Every time I see the logos, I cringe. Re-branding won't help either. I know which franchises fall under the umbrella. I can't be a party to a corporation that facilitates evil. With incestuous industry consolidation, the media options are growing dramatically thin.
And people wonder why book stores are still popular among millennials...
63
Agree. Corporations are the real culprits.
10
We can always hope that Trump defects when he meets with Putin. Sadly, I don't think Russia would even take him; he's much more useful to Putin in the oval office.
29
Trump's 6 month report to his handler.
2
Somebody fix this problem, I don’t care how, I really don’t care how, just fix it, soon.
It is going to go very bad, very, very bad with very little advance notice. He is not capable of running a Burger King, much less the free world.
35
The first paragraph of this comment is exactly what the Trump base was saying two, three, four years ago.
When we don't care who does what or how things get done, we forfeit the moral and ethical part of the voting equation.
All 3 branches of US government are in jeopardy of losing all common sense or rightness. Who knew how fragile our democracy was?
5
Thomas Jefferson knew and warned us that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. Like many others commenting here, however, I am tormented by feelings of impotence, with the hope of change fading day by day. Voting will help if enough of us take our outrage to the polls.
1
He only likes McDonalds as there can be only one Trump burger King. Plump Trump.
2
Ms. Goldberg's point about Trumpian shamelessness is critical. It applies generally to Trump's behavior. I think we can distill its application into a rule. Let's call it the Goldberg rule of Trump's behavior:
If you find yourself wondering about something Trump is doing--say, for example, meeting one-on-one with Putin, with no American aides present, not even Trump's own--and you think, "He couldn't be so shameless as to do what it looks and sounds like he's doing,"
You're wrong. The application of the Goldberg rule leads to the conclusion that the most shameful interpretation of why Trump is behaving will always be the correct one.
61
"Lie Back and Take It, America" - 'and think of the Queen'. (as the old expression goes...)
But the Monarchy didn't protect them from Brexit, so, never mind.
Anyway, this is all on us. Conservatives vote, and my fellow liberals don't. So yeah, you *were* asking for it. Next time, vote.
17
It's a weird feeling to realize that since I am not one of the "base" I don't count. He's not my president. I think he really and truly only cares about himself. The guy is incapable of being president to all Americans, because he doesn't care about all Americans.
46
Every article i read about Trump makes me think the same thing now....it can begin to end in November, god willing.
19
Why would the anti-democratic Republicans (the Real Americans who now control all levers of power, including the guns) give up power to those they consider non-Americans?
Because they play by the rules?
If they did, they know they'd never get it back.
Good luck with the so-called Vote. Which is rigged, by the way - so wouldn't it be smart to have a contingency plan?
I have personally known three women in my life who were raped. None of those incidents were reported, for various (and sometimes indescribable) reasons. So sad. I had a long talk with one of them--the last one, perhaps 30 years later than the first--and said, "You know, if he did it to you, he's almost certainly done it to others before you, and will do it to more after you." I stand by that admonition: A leopard doesn't change his stripes. Bill Shine, Roger Ailes (RIP), Bill O'Reilly, Jordan, Hastert, and on, and on, and on...
Women of America, it's now or never. You want this to continue, or not? VOTE, and get everyone else in your sphere to do the same this November, and again in 2020.
35
Another way of looking at it of course is that #MeToo and Black Lives Matter fuel support for Trump. Gillibrand herself had no compunction abut destroying the career of a colleague who (years ago) was filmed in a tasteless prank but did an enormous amount of good work for the cause of women. If progressives are willing to do this to their own fumbling yet well-meaning (male) supporters, if choosing wine at dinner is taken as sexual harassment .... well then, perhaps all is not well in Denmark.
38
A harmless prank is only known by the person who it was done to. Actions have consequences, even good people do stupod things but they still need to be held responsible for their actions. How are you to know how those actions felt to that woman?
1
The shame is America's. More precisely, it is the lack of shame of that part of America that willing clings to this being : his voters, supporters, enablers, the Republican Congress and Party , FOXNEWS and whoever else aid him.
81
We do not have to do it gently as Donald Trump said about Elizabeth Warren and lie back. Quite the contrary. We will not go gently into that good night as Trump ravishes all forms of decency, all alliances, and opens the gates for the thugs and dictators of the world to take over.
As he flies to disrupt NATO and massage Putin, we can’t lose sight of what his end game is: destroying America.
140
Excellent, scathing and all too apt article.
45
Regarding an adult woman, Goldberg writes:
“...she performed sexual favors for Ailes — in addition to career help, she sometimes received hard cash in exchange — and, at his insistence, recruited other young women for him to prey on.”
And she wants us to believe this grown woman is a victim?
A question for Goldberg: When is someone responsible for their own choices and actions?
18
Did you gloss over the part about her BOSS blackmailing her with pictures he probably coerced her to take? Apparently you don't understand the gross power differential that allows predators like this one to victimize subordinates at will.
6
You might consider the second lawsuit mentioned, in which a woman chose not to do that and claims it hindered her career.
5
Great question. When will Mr Shine take responsibility for soliciting sex from coworkers in exchange for career advancement?
3
It’s probably been over thirty years since I last joked about “lying back and taking it”, and even then nobody who knew me thought that I meant it. But women can get away with just about anything these days. Men certainly cannot.
We still need that national conversation about the limits to which we consign a man to one of the bolgias of Dante’s Hell, and perhaps more to the point to be forever unemployable and shunned when he didn’t actually commit sexually predatory acts but may have heard about them as hearsay and didn’t do enough to stop them – or even anything.
I’d suggest, and I also believe that most men and even a lot of women would agree, that there really needs to be a hard limit to such social penalties, applied primarily to those who commit actual crimes. Because, if we don’t, Michelle will get her apparent wish and almost all men will become unemployable, leaving women completely in charge and employed and men at home vacuuming and nothing else. I wouldn’t wish that on any woman. It’s apparent that Michelle wishes that on Bill Shine, and perhaps on every man for all I know.
Back in the day, long before men had become (rightfully) far more circumspect fearing for their careers and even livelihoods, this kind of thing was rampant. We ALL heard about the guy (or, more likely, the guys) who took liberties with their female subordinates but whose behavior wasn’t so public or outrageous that it caused a general outcry. We exercised our own …
4
… judgment, and had little if anything to do with such “guys” – even refusing to accept their transferals into our own organizations. But we didn’t go to top management and insist that they be sacked, because if we had WE would have been sacked instead – not because top management was predatory but because they prized collegiality and less-than-fatal confrontations.
Among my responders will be those who may self-righteously claim that THEY were never so pusillanimous. I’d call them “liars”, except that the word has been normalized far too extensively in our political discourse, and I disapprove of the phenomenon.
But we need to get on with that national conversation. Shine may have been borderline, but my sense is that Jordan is not. It remains to determine where the bright line really is for destroying a life. If we’re going to destroy a life, then the act requires a bright line.
Besides, I agree with Trump that Sen. Warren should voluntarily undertake a DNA test.
5
"Besides, I agree with Trump that Sen. Warren should voluntarily undertake a DNA test."
You misunderstand what DNA tests tell you. They can tell you your genetic makeup & may show that you have a risk for a genetic disorder.
But they do not necessarily show your ethnicity. That's a common misconception.
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/02/12/466379200/can-you-tell-your...
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/22/578293890/my-grandm...
And I agree with millions of Americans that Trump should voluntarily release his tax returns. You may want to post with fewer sexist undertones, if constructive dialogue is your objective.
6
You hit it dead on with just the title. I see many male respondents confused by your astute "connections" because they fail to really try to imagine what the world looks like from the eyes of women (or any other cohort that finds itself left out- most importantly children of every kind). These are not connections to us, the left out, but rather the web we must maneuver through every day, and, too often get trapped.
Thank you for your service.
20
Bill "Bubba" Clinton gave into temptation with Monica Lewinski - He vehemently denied it- then passively acknowledged it. Where was HIS leadership by example? Why isn't #MeToo going after him all these years later? Funny how liberals have such a short term memory. And this Supreme Court Nomination fiasco- You can blame McConnell all you want- but the real blame rests with Harry Reid for getting rid of the filibuster. Again- selective amnesia..
13
A bit twisted analysis of both, just trying to cover for horrendous behavior now. And even if true, it doesn't excuse current bad behavior.
35
I think Bill was raked over the coals enough, yes? McConnell is a street fighter who could care less what rules he makes up at the expense of all the Americans who voted for Barack Obama. It’s all about power, not democracy, with Mitch McConnell. Harry Reid has nothing to do with it.
22
Whataboutism at its finest. Is Bill Clinton currently in office? Are there any outstanding charges against him? Can he be proven to have committed crimes? If so, then certainly charge him. If not, then really, shut up and focus on what is happening now. Jim Jordan is being called out in the same way that Penn State coaching and administrative staff were -- for doing nothing when young boys and men were being sexually abused or exploited.
2
The #MeToo movement only applied to Democrats...
6
Not sure what you mean. Woman of every political background can be victims. Men of any political background can be predators. There is no defense for sexual assault.
10
The comment was not meant to be taken literally. Consider the case of people like Al Franken and name at least one Republican who has been similarly treated. By the way, Michelle Goldberg was one of the first ones to aim fire at Franken...for something that we did not even get a chance to hear.
Lie back and think of Canada. Seriously.
22
Yes, lie back and take yet another “pig” in the trough, we, as women, have been dehumanized by this administration, kick up your heals ladies, it is time for us to collectively kick these men out!
42
All the “Ugly Americans” have come home from abroad.
7
Trump is incorrigible and truly a despicable character. Only he would have no sympathy and empathy for sexual abuse and harassment against women in the work place.
Shine is an inappropriate and unacceptable appointment.
But again Trump is a cowardly imposter and illegitimately elected minority President and in my opinion in cahoots and compromised by his relationship with Putin.
He is equally unacceptable and inappropriate to any Presidential role. He truly is an adversary to the me too movement and anything decent and honorable in our country. He is a horrible role model for my daughters and for any progressive ideals in the future.
Horrific and just tediously boring and uninspiring!
30
The Vote will not stop this continuous onslaught.
We need new fighting leaders with a hardball plan. People unafraid to go one-on-one with Trump and take him down. Loud people to target the Republicans.
Enough with the go high when he goes low. We need our own junk-yard dog. Maybe Avenatti.
42
This is from The Daily News, not exactly a right-wing newspaper. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stasi-roger-ailes-whore-not-inn...
1
Michelle - care to explain to us the difference between Bill Clinton's philandering and the Trump examples you cite? I think it is absurd that this newspaper defended Clinton in the 90's for the same type of transgressions. Your double standard is appalling.
11
More whataboutism. The 90s are long gone. Clinton and Hillary both have been investigated, investigated again and investigated once more.If you have a specific charge against Bill Clinton please explain exactly what it is. Not something that was adjudicated or settled. Something we don't know.
24
Have you heard of the word consensual? That may be one difference.
3
With Clinton the President was caught and duly punished. With Me Too hundreds of men have been brought to justice by the tormented women. No double standard that I can see. Also the maniac is destroying the norms of our country and is a traitor to boot. Watch out.
3
Midterm elections are coming right up. Let's focus on supporting competitive grassroots candidates who can shift the balance in the House and Senate.
26
Where is the nearest barf bucket?
What in God’s name has the USofA become? I’m sure that Jesus is barfing too. Despite the evil around us, we must not abandon the ethic on which we are founded. Hold on. Don’t let go of the rope.
Trump is: Pathological Liar, Mind-breaker, Soul-breaker, Culture-breaker, Society-Destroyer, Heart-breaker, Family-Pillager, Mind-Numbing Predator ... you pick it up from here..... The Hague is waiting.
We look like we are slowly sinking. But the abandoned, mistreated children and we, the people, the majority, will have the last word.
Are we headed for a civil war? I’m afraid. Hold on to the rope and we’ll pull together. We, the majority,
know the difference between right and wrong. VOTE! For God’s sake VOTE!
71
Shine was Fox's sexual harassment coordinator.
49
The only good thing about the width and depth of the swampland that Trump has developed is that Michelle's columns just get better and better at pointing out the stench and decay.
25
The current (and millions would say the illegitimate) Occupant of our White House loves to inflict maximum pain and outrage on the liberal intelligentsia with nominations like Shine. Believe me, if the Occupant's mentor Roy Cohn had somehow risen from the long dead, rest assured he would be calling the shots in this wicked farce.
23
Trump poisons everyone who works for him, listens to him, or in any way identifies with him. He is sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, and harbors a desire to be a dictator for life. Those are his good points.
26
Bill Shine doesn't belong in the White House? Donald Trump doesn't belong in the White House!
59
Trump is a shameless misogynist. I say without sarcasm, that it is a plus for Trump if a man has a history of sexual harassment or has abetted others (birds of a feather).
We must focus all our energy on winning back the House this fall, so we can at least take away one lever of power from Trump and his heinous republican followers.
45
Where is the voice and moral platform of Bernie Sanders?
Seems awfully silent these days.
Having contributed to the derailing of Ms. Clinton's presidency, where has this patriarchal (and perhaps misogynistic) voice been on this issue and many others?
41
So Bernie is a misogynist because he challenged Hillary in the primary? Really?
16
Bernie Sanders is holding his breath and hoping Mueller doesn't tie his candidacy and his demonization of the Democratic Party and Clinton to Russia.
6
He certainly sat on his hands and scowled for a national television audience while she delivered her acceptance of the nomination at the 2016 Democratic Convention and delivered only tepid support prior to the election.
Yeah, you're right. It's me too: I'm getting bone wearied and yet wanting to scream at the same time. This whole thing really is like torture. Oh me, whatever WILL become of what used to be a decent nation? It WAS more or less decent at one point, right? I've forgotten.
89
As many have said, "elections have consequences." Let's hope learning that lesson the hard way in 2016 means it won't be repeated in November 2018 or beyond.
105
Its too late, as of 9:00 PM the damage is done, a Supreme Court poised to hand the countryh over to the oligarchs and Conservative Christians. Even without another SCOTUS pick, and I am guessing he will get another, 20 years or more of havoc, with another 40-50 years.
4
It really is getting crazier by the minute. There is no shame anymore. And one can easily come to the conclusion that the president is going to push the envelope every day for the next 2 and a half years.....maybe even 6 and 1/2 years. And in his wake will be a crippled, dispirited and listless populace without any moral consideration whatsoever.
It's like with the EPA head resigning and going back to Oklahoma where he might run for office and possibly be re-elected. A suggestion for the people of Oklahoma might be to take ten minutes, google the lyrics to the great tune Oklahoma from Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma - read all the lyrics, and return to your roots and you'll come up with an understanding that even Energy billionaires who truly were pioneers, but they didn't have to back the former EPA nominee just so he would gut the regulations of the Industry.
If we don't have some regulations of industry we'll be a country where anything and everything goes. In other words next stop "total and complete lawlessness."
In the final analysis the president will exhaust the limits of what he can do because he doesn't understand his limitations.
21
Huh? Where was all this righteous indignation during the Clinton Era? What a joke.
23
You may not remember that far back, but there was a lot of righteous indignation, by many women. There was not so much by many men. It was a different time. Just ask Anita Hill what it used to be like for women, and still is in many places. First of all, you are comparing apples and prunes. Clinton fooled around, but he had a vision and policies and a decent cabinet, and he managed to pull us out of the national debt that Reagan created. Secondly, he did not make speeches that included sexual innuendo, racism, anti-semitism, and more. Thirdly, he did not support corrupt cabinet members, way beyond their expiration date. Talk about what a joke? That’s what we are dealing with now.
19
Many Dems agree with you about Clinton, but the assault on women by the Trump administration and the overt misogyny of many of it's members makes Clinton look like small change.
12
The difference being that Clinton had a willing partner. The fact that you think there is any similarity is disgusting. What is being described in this article is woman that were coerced into sexual acts that they did not want participate so that they could hold onto their jobs. Some were paid which is definitely against the law.
3
Any of you Jill Stein voters see a difference yet?
501
We hope she runs again if only to remind entrenched corporate Dem leaders that there's a nation of voters available to them if only they'd break from their self-adulatory elite circles to pay attention to, address the concerns of the hoi polloi, we rabble now milling aimlessly, bitterly at the Trump tent.
Which prominent Dem, ken, is going to do that without the prompting and model of a more honest representative of American concerns?
13
The long term damage of allowing the party to dictate to the voters instead of the other way around is potentially much worse than what we are experiencing now. This is what we have to go through to restore our party to actual democracy. Democratic "leaders" still haven't learned, seeing how they anointed the new chair of the DNC in defiance, once again, of the grassroots, liberal voters, and thus far have made no move to correct the superdelegate situation.
4
The Supreme Court picks alone are going to do damage to this country well beyond the tenure current administration. And forty percent of the nation's populace are in thrall to a serial liar, while the public discourse has been lowered to the point where trying to fight those lies has become akin to stepping in the quicksand of fantasy and conspiracy du jour that is the Flat Earth Society. And this isn't going away anytime soon, no matter who we vote into office next -- once people have been given permission to let loose their worse angels, it's awfully hard to rein them back in. To name just a few problems.
The idea that having Trump in office is somehow better than Hillary, even if just to teach the Dems a lesson, is the very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. And just as childish.
5
Here is one area where you are right Michelle.
Sexual harassment type crimes have been illegal since app. 1980.
Since then countless women have come forth sued, started complaints and won.
I know I saw many in my company.
However, most of the "me too" bunch are enablers and co dependents. Unlike many other women from 1980-2016, they waited 20 yrs to do something, worse only complained when the roles, promotions stopped, or even worse started the sexual activity or even worse celebs like M. Streep, J. Dench, Hillary protected the predator Weinstein because he was giving senior roles to them or supporting liberal causes.
You have never addressed this issue.
However In this case you are right. Trump is an admitted sexual predator and has been given a pass and should be prosecuted.
Now he is trying to get fellow travelers into his administration.
15
This president and his Republican Party know no shame. But we all are complicit when we raise no objections and, out of weariness from the barrage of exhaustive trumpian distractions, choose to remain silent. Many of us never thought we’d see America so disgraced. But here we are.
83
Vote in November!
15
And I thought nobody could make the Mooch look good.
45
The current Prime Minister of Canada, when he was a mere lad of 28, had a "hands on" policy that he managed to consign to the dustbin of history, or just forgot. He doesn't recall any negative interactions, although he made an apology then - Justin case.
The problem with "liberals," whether or not the 'L' word is capitalized, as you know well, Ms. Goldberg, is that they give hypocrisy a bad name.
13
Interesting information, however we were talking about someone else try and stay on subject.
2
You’re right: Justin Trudeau should never work in the White House. NEVER!
2
I couldn’t finish the commentary because I became nauseous. The “leader of the Free World” hired this misogynist to direct how the Trump administration drives its communications. How Sarah Huckabee Sanders can give daily briefings (unless it doesn’t suit her) and go home and kiss her kids goodnight with those lips is beyond me. Oh, wait, her parents are the Huckabees of Arkansas. sad.
58
Everyone deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, with this metoo extremist movement America has turned into like some sort of weirdo version of the USSR where people are purged to the gulag never to come back because someone did something against our Puritan sexual ethics.
14
I am not in love with the MeToo Movement, yes it is over the top. However, you might want to re-read the article for comprehension this time. You're right we all make mistakes and should be given a second chance. However, Bill Shine participated in an atmosphere that fostered sexual harassment. He supplied Roger Ailes with woman for sexual favors, that isn't an oops mistake. That is participating in what is essentially rape. He just pulled the levers in the back ground. I cannot comprehend why you fail to understand this.
2
Bill Shine was not railroaded out of Fox News. He resigned in disgrace. Sure, he is entitled to second chances - in private life. He is not entitled to a senior government position. This is a travesty.
3
Puh. Leeze.
“... did something against our puritan sexual ethics.” ?
No. Sexually violated other human beings. Harassed, blackmailed, retaliated...
Protecting people from disgusting sexual coercion is not puritanism run rampant. It‘s basic human decency.
Give it a rest with the “purged to the gulag” nonsense.
In 1976, a New York weatherman who made a flippant remark about rape while on the air got fired. Today, raw behavior gets you a promotion.
64
I remember that. What was his name? I think it was ABC. He was an institution there.
2
Tex Antoine
2
Tex Antoine.
Those 7 Republicans, from the Appropriations Committee, caught licking the boots of Russians, on 4th of July, while saying absolutely ZILCH about interference in our Election, after the Senate Intel Report had just been released stating, across all Intel Agencies, it's now agreed, Russia interfered, specifically, to elect Donald J. Trump, really put a scare in me. They are showing us ALL where their true loyalties really lie and it certainly isn't with AMERICA much less with #MeToo
356
The irony of all this, at least to me, is that I honestly believe that Trump, if he hadn't always had lots and lots of money, would have been what is called an "incel".
As for the rest of the Republican Party, all I can say is, "Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, how can you be part of it?"
52
Why are none of us who care not surprised at all? And why aren't we all up in arms about this? We're exhausted from being upset about so many worse things. Worse things! Get that? I'm single-minded from now on: whatever it takes to win back the levers of power from these pigs, these fascists, these lying, greedy ignoramuses - that is what we must all collectively do. If we do not, truly our great nation is done for.
187
Just how are the Evangelical pastors going to explain Congressman Jordon behavior as Trump offers100% support of Jordon's total crazy explanation of the deep state causing the victims of sexual abuse to step forward? Evangelicals are aware it is a responsibility and a law requiring adults to report even suspected sexual abuse of students. Jordon turned a blind eye and his back on the law and worse the students when came to Jordon for help against the predator. How could such a large organized block of voters continue to support a political party that has founded baby jails and trashing victims of sexual abuse? Is this another mulligan for Trump by the Evangelicals? Or do the Evangelicals believe that God sanctions these crimes and cruelty against babies and children because Trump and Jordon panders to them? Trump and Jordon should be held accountable both legally and politically. The only way this can be done if Trump and Jordon supporters say no more and that includes you Evangelicals.
39
Let's just say it.
Trump's incapable of rational thought, remains easily manipulated by similarly unscrupulous persons, is proudly uninformed, fed falsehoods by Fox and other right wing sites, and is way in over his head.
Everybody knows it.
Compulsive lying. Multiple scandals. Shameless grandstanding. Hires someone just like him.
Women's rights under this administration are clearly imperiled.
95
My taxpayer money will be paying Shine's salary? Considering SCOTUS has determined that cash is speech and that a union cannot force members to pay dues because it violates their first amendment rights, then it seems logical that using my money to pay Shine violates my first amendment rights! I think it also violates my religious rights because my religion forbids sexual harassment! Where is the attorney who will help me defend my rights?
230
Mr. Shine’s appointment will be good news for Republican media types with spotty work histories regarding their treatment of women who would like to work at the White House. He seems to have met up with whole platoons of them at Fox.
This was exactly the type of appointment we all knew was coming from Trump -- who has not yet found the time to sue the women he promised to sue for falsely accusing him of laying dirty hands on them.
20
"Verdict first, trial later" has never been more relevant than now. Statements made in the course of litigation are not probative, and certainly should not form the basis of a polemic, I mean Op-Ed, unless one is simply interested in promulgating a particular viewpoint.
11
When the system and the powers that be protect men like this from every facing trial, sometimes it's all we have
5
Normally, I think Shine's new role might be viewed as a "prestigious government job" if the administration were highly respected. But in light of what's going on, I consider this appointment more of the same and, no, with Shine in the role, there is no genuine prestige attached.
22
This is an excellent piece. Thank you for writing so well many of the thoughts in my head. Exhausted. Yes. You coined it. Great piece. Thank you
51
Thank you for writing in plain words what has been happening before our eyes. Some days I just find it hard to breathe. We are fighting for the soul of this country. Don't stop writing about this.
178
There was a time when I was in the newspaper business. First as a reporter then as en editor. I learned that one of the most important roles newspapers can play is to take into account all divergent views on issues, and if writing an editorial, provide a reasoned compromise. But the NY Times, CNN and Washington Post have all decided that increased "clicks" is more important than fair play. Having all the columnists like Ms. Goldberg and all "headline" readers blame Mr. Trump and his administration for everything bad might increase liberal reader interests but does nothing to provide a good example for citizens.
11
An opinion piece is just that: an opinion. Before you levy judgement on this excellent piece by Ms. Goldberg, I assume that you must have volumes of words prepared for the travesty of propaganda that is Fox News.
Ms. Goldberg points out both the venality of the Administration, and its hypocrisy. You write this off as an appeal to 'clicks' and 'liberal reader interests.' Sounds to me as if you are crying 'fake news' under the guise of erudition. If you can disprove the validity of what Ms. Goldberg actually says, then I would rather hear that. An uncomfortable truth? Still can be a truth.
49
This is a good point and there's no question they have increasingly succumbed to "click-bait" headlines frequently over the last 4 or 5 years but they do have some conservative columnists like Bret Stephens, Ross Douthat, David Brooks, etc. And they carry guest columnists occasionally who present thoughtful viewpoints from across the spectrum.
It is important to read a wide variety of news across the entire political spectrum. For example, maybe The Intercept and Democracy Now on the left; NY Times, NPR and Washington Post for Establishment-Center-Left; Wall Street Journal for Establishment-Right; and Breitbart for New Right.
There is no one news source that has a monopoly on truth but one can get a glimmer of it and begin to maybe discern for oneself if reading multiple sources.
3
I share your concern. But what does a fair-and-balanced news editor do when a president does so much bad stuff? Ignore half of it? Two-thirds of it? This particular president has broken so many of the rules there aren't any rules left.
9
You don't have to take it. If someone gropes you or worse, take a knee....give him a knee where it hurts and he won't do this again. If it's a boss who has power over you, do a secret audio or video recording to document the offense. Then use this to go after him legally. No longer ok for females to wait for the handsome prince to ride up on his horse and save them; we have the power to save ourselves.
15
The tragedy is that Democrats could have held on to power, but they veered off into extreme leftwing territory (open borders, Islamophobia, microaggressions, cultural appropriation, speech codes, safe spaces, 98 trans pronouns, deplorables, etc.) and alienated their moderate core. In overplaying their hand, they're now set to lose everything.
17
So what you're basically saying is, by being inclusive, they alienated the intransigent misanthropes whose delicate sensibilities want to keep everything like it was in the "good old days" when white men were at the top of the power structure, women were home making bread and babies, there was no such thing as "gays" and "those people" knew their place. Do you still use an 8 track tape player and have an antenna on your roof?
1
Doesn't matter how much energy it takes to fight these entitled pigs. All I have to do is wait 10 years or so and most of them will be dead or close enough. Those of us remaining will enjoy much more equality and the lifestyle that goes with it.
My daughter is already growing up in a much kinder environment than I could ever have imagined for her. These kids will gently scold their friend if that friend tries to pick on someone weaker. Kindness over strength, I never thought I would live to see the day. I've seen glimpses of it and it takes my breath away.
41
But the kids in the dystopian Red States are doing the opposite and you can bet their Trumpster parents are cheering them on.
1
I suspect the so-called president will feel a lot less lonely, engage in a little 'locker room' banter and thoroughly appreciate his uncanny ability to hire only the best when it comes to Shine.
We must accept that the governing, social and personal standards of Vulgaria are somewhat different than is considered appropriate for America.
But then, we're on our way to greatness. Think of the wonderful gold bathroom fixtures.
MAGA MAGA MAGA
13
Trump will be gone in 2 or 6 years, and maybe earlier. He's not going to destroy America's best self, which still exists and we should act like it in spite of him.
14
Trump doesn't think women are his equal. He demeans the #MeToo movement, backed Roy Moore, separates families, even brags about groping women. "I can do anything", and has his own sexual abuse allegations, some settled in court.
"President Trump joked about the #MeToo movement Thursday, making light of the international campaign against sexual assault during a wide-ranging speech in which he also took aim at a potential 2020 White House opponent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mocks-metoo-movement-in-mo...
30
The GOP has not lost its morality. It has just set it aside in order to extract as much money as possible from the American taxpayer, while throwing out smokescreens (immigration, abortion) to divert their attention. I can unequivocally guarantee that if and when Democrats regain power, the GOP will suddenly rediscover its moral outrage.
64
Who informs DJT? Because beyond being a mouthpiece and a great one at that, he seems dumb as a rock. And that’s the base he appeals to. Politicians always campaign talking about how smart Americans are. I wish they would stop doing that.
17
Stephen Miller informs him. There, answered your question.
1
Bill Clinton invented doing it in the Whitehouse and democrats seemed to like Bill doing it. No "me too" moment from him or hill.
9
The issue is not the personal behavior of this or that president, but the unprecedented and deliberate policy of discrimination against women set by the Trump administration.
14
Whataboutism. Could have called it.
5
We are beyond waist deep in putrid swamp eating opportunists. The stench wafting from our current WH and Congress is beyond disgusting. We are fast becoming a tragedy on so many levels who on earth can keep up anymore? That was the plan all along to grind us into a meaty sad pulp. We deserve better. REGISTER and VOTE!
68
Agree. Given Trump's outrageous, abusive behavior, the only recourse applicable, if justice is considered, would be his ouster from government. Trump being the sexual predator in-chief is a disgrace, given that it seems to confer tacit license to all other abusers to feel comfortable about their own misogyny. Case in point, the 'Shines' of this world. Could Shine be a purposeful distraction by Trump so his own sexual abuse goes unnoticed, or is at least diluted?
14
Trump's biggest enablers are the ones who voted for him. They simply do not care.
22
No! trump's biggest enablers are NOT those who voted for him.
Congress is his enabler. They just lie back and take whatever he does while they're taking the money.
With the occasional whimper for form's sake.
1
Perhaps you can explain why those in the #metoo movement could make accusations without supplying facts. But apparently you are willing to believe ALL accusations.
7
Their statements are facts. Their witness corroboration (those to whom they told these stories, sometimes years ago when the event happened) are facts. Most creeps who assault or attempt to assault or threaten careers by demanding sexual favors don't usually do it in a room full of witnesses. Why should accusers automatically be disbelieved? I think there's enough evidence (facts) out there including situations and actions that the accused men have acknowledged and apologized for, i.e. Louis CK that proved that plenty of men take plenty of opportunities to be misogynistic pigs.
1
Jackson, I suggest you get together with a group of women -- your mom, sisters, cousins, friends, coworkers--- & have a conversation. I guarantee you the majority of that group has been groped, assaulted, raped or at the very least put in uncomfortable positions when a boss or customer spoke to them in a sexually inappropriate manner.
Absent video or DNA, what "facts" can women provide? Your attitude is one of the reasons why rape is the most under-reported crime.
2
If Roger Ailes was alive he would be an ideal White House chief of staff .
40
Shine will flame out in the white-hot spotlight of Washington , D.C. and good riddance. Let's keep the pressure on Jordan, a champion wrestler who has obviously never wrestled with his conscience. Credible evidence has come forward confirming that Jordan knew about the abuse....how could you not. It spanned 14 Varsity sports and as many as 1,500 victims at Ohio State. He is the Joe Paterno of the Republican party and he should not get a free pass. The investigation OSU has commissioned will show that he knew about the abuse allegations and did nothing. What a creep!
39
People with a functioning press can remember 2016. Op eds are not enough. The journalists have failed us when they do not get context into the first two paragraphs.
2
I think there have been so many MeToo accusations that they have begun to lose their force.
8
When you have President who himself has been charged with sexual harassment in an ongoing case by Summer Zervos; who was credibly accused by over a dozen other women of sexual harassment during the campaign; and is now also involved in a criminal case with Stormy Daniels over illegal campaign funds used to buy her silence about an affair, Bill Shine is the perfect employee. It seems that women have decided not to "lie back and take it," but to stand up and fight it by running for office and winning in record numbers. Now it's time for the Democrats in Congress to show some backbone and insist that until Donald Trump is cleared of all potential criminal charges, he should not be allowed to appoint any judges, especially to the Supreme Court which is likely to rule on these cases. Those accused under American jurisprudence are not allowed to pick their judges, and Donald Trump stands criminally accused by two women with legal standing with potentially more charges coming from the Special Counsel. Now is THE time for all Congressional Democrats also not to "lie back and take it," but stand with all the brave women who've risked a lot to come forward against the sexual misdeeds of powerful men like Bill Shine and Donald Trump. This is their moment either to "stand and be counted" among #MeToo or once again dither in disarray.
78
I AGREE!
11
I'm reading "Feast of the Goat" by Mario Vargas Llosa, an historical novel about the Dominican dictator Trujillo and how he ruled through deception, propaganda and a complete corruption of power and position. Once he was gone, those who supported him were held to account. This story has been repeated in many Central and South American countries before; Trump, McConnell, Ryan, and their enablers are writing our own version of it here, right now, in America.
When the trumpanista insanity is finally toppled, if we
still remain a United states, we also will live through a period of an accounting. What form will that take?
Somewhere, our own Madame Defarge is adding Shine's name to the long list.
32
Trump makes George W. Bush look like a pious saint by comparison. That's a sad statement. Our Country is sliding down a slippery slope and only divided government can save it. Vote the Dems in, in November.
42
Never did I suspect that I would long for George Bush! But to have just an ordinary Republican standing for everything I am opposed to, would be such a relief right now! And Mr. Bush had the decency to remain silent during his successor's administration.
18
If only Obama had the same decency.
This is so bad. We need to organize a national strike to prevent this criminal taking office.
13
Wish we could get a restraining order against the Abuser-In-Chief since his violence against America is unrelenting and escalating. Robert Mueller, time is of the essence. So, please indict Trump before he kills what’s left of our beloved country.
43
You must be pretty overloaded to suggest this. Everything has an end point and this will too. Karma strikes! Process thinking needed.
3
You still don't get it. Trump and GOP supporters (and they are not exactly the same) have the same opposition to sexual coercion that you do. The difference is that they see it as one among many issues facing the nation. Given the choice between a boorish, leering, groping President who believes in national borders and enforces immigration law, and a paragon of Presidential virtue who'd do catch-and-release, GOP supporters pick the former. given the choice between a Groper-in-Chief who enforces red lines in Syria against chemical weapons and a paragon of Presidential virtue who doesn't, the same. Same for moving the embassy to Jerusalem, dropping support for affirmative action, justice and free speech on college campuses, making allies pay a fair share of defense, lowering corporate taxes, and the like. Sure, in a perfect world, they'd want a paragon of Presidential virtue who'd do all those things. For that, they may have to wait til 2024 and Nikki Haley. Until then, it's the Groper-in-Chief.
11
The abuse of power which Donald Trump flaunts goes hand in hand with sexual abuse which is one aspect of the former. The abuser after all has little or no respect for anything other than the power he seeks and sexual abuse is only one aspect of misogynist authoritarian's feelings of entitlement. Power and the seeking of power takes over for a human conscience. Sexual conquest becomes the tool of the sociopath and Trump is beyond caring whether he hires them or is one himself.
34
It wasn’t so long ago when the American people had no worries about a sex scandal involving President Barack Obama. After eight years free of the sort of Playboy and Hustler and Penthouse magazine-type salaciousness, all we have now is a brown paper bag of naughty-naughties that this anti-woman administration so obviously is and relishes.
One cannot find much sympathy for the women remaining in the Trump White House (I wanted desperately to use another adjective than “white” but that might disparage the endangered species of honorable women who still “work” there.
Donald Trump was never a master of disguises. He never concealed who he truly was in matters pertaining to Eros. He indulged a decidedly un-Christian lust for his only daughter—laughing about it on the air—and never denied it. His extra-marital labors kept the Gotham City tabloid presses running—much to his apparent delight. And, of course, the evangelical “Christian” bloc had—and still has—his back. Not exactly Christ’s admonition about sexual rectitude.
We all know how he got away with treating women because he was “a star.” Yet, women by the millions just thought he was the man to succeed the archetypal Republican husband and “family man”: Barack Obama. I’m not going to waste space on Stephanie Clifford; that’s Melania’s lookout.
Trump’s consorting with sexual predators should long ago have gotten women’s antennae up and buzzing. But many millions are cowed, conditioned to their lowly status as “helpmeets.”
34
President Obama was such a good role model as both a family man and a political leader. We need him more than ever, with the amorality that distinguishes Donald Trump.
Can you begin to imagine what would have befallen Obama if he had even a fraction of Trump’s sleaziness?! Sexualizing his own daughters, bragging about groping women, defending, campaigning for and even hiring sexual predators, being caught in a scandal with a porn star and a Playgirl, serial marriages, known extramarital affairs, threatening to sue women accusing him of sexual abuse and saying they’re not attractive enough for him...
Needless to say, Trump has benefited from an obscene amount of white privilege. And the person to whom we should look for a shining example of a respectful, respectable man will, to some, exist only as the wrong skin color. Depravity all around.
2
Well, all I can say is that I hope it was worth it for Democrats to jettison a perfectly good Senator (let alone man) in Senator Al Franken,
I can only assume that the zero tolerance policy will allow Democrats to have a superior leg to stand on, and with that higher ground be able to go after the President ( whom himself admitted on tape to sexually assaulting multiple women ) and all he litters his administration of the same ilk with.
Of course, it is going to translate to votes (especially for women candidates within the Democratic party) and a cleaning of the house/Senate/Presidency ... right ?
16
Franken only won the Minnesota senate seat by 300 votes.
It's not a safe Democratic seat.
The Democrats could lose it next time.
It could cost them a Democratic majority in the Senate.
Thanks, Gillibrand.
10
Minnesota is not a safe Democratic seat. Franken only won by about 300 votes.
Once he was in, and demonstrated his impressive competence, Franken became very popular and turned it into a safe Democratic seat.
Franken's Democratic replacement might not win the seat back.
If the Democrats lose the Minnesota Senatorial seat, and if they lose the majority by 1 vote, that could cost us the right to abortion. (And a lot of other rights.)
And Gillibrand will have the primary responsibility.
Do you want to do what's good for the country? Or do you want to score a #metoo point?
2
The real traitors are McConnell and Ryan.
We need a check on trump in November, get back Our House and raise the curtain on what he's hiding.
There are more of us and that thought keeps me going.
Good always triumphs over bad.
31
Michelle Goldberg wrote: "Everyone who worried that the #MeToo movement had gone too far can breathe a sigh of relief. It turns out that even if there’s very credible evidence that a man is complicit in sexual harassment and degradation, he can still work at the apex of American politics."
Or at The New York Times judging by Glenn Thrush's career, but I'm certain we won't see an op-ed on that subject. (Uh-oh! I said Glenn Thrush's name. Cue moderation issues.)
4
If I had any respect for Jim Jordan professionally, I might care about his personal conduct. Unfortunately for Jordan, the tank had already run dry long before we got to discussing sexual abuse in collegiate athletic programs. If Jordan likes to play hanky-panky in the boys locker room, his reputation is hardly diminished. He was already at rock bottom before this news broke. I'll celebrate if Jordan resigns but he's disgraced regardless. Somebody frame his picture on the wall of shame. We can footnote the part about abetting molestation at the bottom.
14
In the great Game of Thrones White House World, King Joeffrey has now taken Littlefinger into his confidence. Feel free to match other heinous characters in reply.
6
I wish I had a dragon.
2
"A person with his record would be unemployable at most major companies."
Ah, but this is the Trump administration, home of abusers, kleptocrats, blatant liars and enablers, deviants of various sorts and all-around creeps. What's one more with this lot?
38
I would say that it should dissuade young Republican women from taking jobs in the WH, as it's clear that nothing will be done if they are harassed and abused, but it has already been clear that Trump's abusive temper tantrums spare nobody. And Trump's support for Jordan shows that there's no safety for White House interns, male or female. So that's the working environment if you're a true believer in MAGA.
10
Is former president Bill Clinton still fundraising for Democrats?
Oh.
Okay, then.
13
Ah yes, Bubba.
I voted for Bill Clinton, and as a politician and as an intellect, I have tremendous respect for him. Of course he is still doing fundraisers for the Democrats, and the truth is, many of us would jump at the opportunity to sit at a table with him, or even just occupy the same room.
Bill Clinton was, and still is a rock star, and one of the things that made him one was that he was willing to defy orthodoxy, while still feeling our pain. Rightly or wrongly, Bill brought us NAFTA (a fundamentally Republican idea) and welfare limits, and condemnations of Sistah Souljah. In short, Bill Clinton wasn't a partisan hack, and he was capable and willing to break with ideologues in a way that Americans want their president to do. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Michelle Goldberg, who is about as predictably partisan as Sean Hannity.
1
Michelle, you've hit the nail on the head. We are all getting worn down into submission.
27
Trump finds comfort in surrounding himself with white nationalist sympathizers, so it's no surprise sexual harassers and their enablers would also find shelter — and employment. Trump embodies all of these heinous qualities, these are his comrades. Vladimir must feel such pride.
21
Somebody please send this article to bernie sanders, susan sarandon and all thise women whi went bust (as in bernie or bust) and refused to vote for Hillary Clinton. Ralph Nader gave us Bush Jr, bernie and his followers gave us trump. Nit sure the country will survive this one.
24
Are you forgetting that Senator Sanders not only endorsed Hillary Clinton, but campaigned very hard for her in the general election? Hillary Clinton lost for several reasons, not the least of which is the bizarre US presidential election system that allows the candidate with nearly 3 million FEWER votes to WIN the office.. Plus she did not run a very well messaged campaign, and named an absolute dud to be her running mate instead a strong progressive to unite the party.. It's enough to make me wonder if she really wanted to win.
5
What Sanders didn't do after denigrating Clinton far after the nomination was not his, was to educate his naive supporters about the three branches of government and the harm that could happen when all three branches would fall into the hands of the likes of those who have them now. I would bet those supporters with thoughts of free healthcare and education didn't have a clue of what this would look like. The least educated voter In the Backwoods of Mississippi understood the importance of the Courts. Sanders supporters who gleefully and spitefully gave this election to Trump did not have a clue.
2
You, CLSW2000, are misinformed.
Bernie Bros's anti-Trump votes (millions) gave Hillary the popular vote. 80% voted for Clinton, only 12% voted for Trump.
And this was after Clinton and the DNC rigged the system against Bernie - who, according to analysis, would have won against Trump.
Clinton was a far worse candidate than Bernie or Trump. Without the Bernie Bros' votes she'd have been skunked. That's what happens when you have zero momentum against someone who does, which both Bernie and Trump had.
The Clintonistas still don't get it, listen to them whine, "But we won!" or consider their pallid "A Better Way" tremulously presented by their 80 year-old so-called leaders.
Like that's the future? Not even Democrats will to get out of bed to vote for Democrats.
Bill is gonna make it Shine!
Rarely is such a character so compatible to the rest of an Oval Office and Cabinet Staff.
Anyone nasty enough to get fired by Fox News is a Trump devote at heart.
23
Trump is going to rub your noses in it as long as he can. This fight is going to be allot harder than #MeToo thought it would be. But it has brought down some. The question for you ladies out there is: Is the struggle worth it. Because you are in the trenches on this one. I just don't know. Maybe it's better just to tolerate harassment. That is up to you. I am on your side. I just am not sure you can win this battle and whether it is worth it. But you should never tolerate sexual assault. You need to follow through with law enforcement on that. Hard I know, but a fight is a fight.
1
Don't be on the sidelines.
1
"This fight is going to be allot harder than #MeToo thought it would be."
"Allot" is a word, but it doesn't mean "a lot."
1
2 things strike me about this article. First, the pettiness, focus on a subject which, for millions of New Yorkers facing eviction from apartments they have lived in for decades by the Permanent Government of landlords , and wretched living conditions of public housing:rat infested hall ways, elevators that don't work, forcing elderly, infirm to climb stairs plus peril of living among gangs in fire traps that can be set ablaze at any moment:Witness conflagration in Bronx which cost lives of 12. Joke about Warren's claim to her Indian heritage, funny moreover, is w.o real importance in comparison to real problems faced by out of luck folks like those mentioned above. Nothing more heart breaking than photo taken of a forlorn 70ish woman with her bull terrier dog who seemed to sense the woman's plight, that they would both be homeless!MG's article fits the definition of fake news, not technically fake, compared to life and death problems that columnists should be reporting on, r of tertiary importance!Disagree with Mr. KRISTOF,but concede he has the derring do, to go where colleagues would fear to tread: Sudan to interview victims of Janjaweed militias, to Liberia to write about leprosy, malaria, inadequate medical care! No pain, no gain, Ms. Goldberg. If u refuse to write about issues of real importance, why should Alexander Harrison want to read you? Recall what Beth Spaeth said about her colleagues at Times newspaper: They live in a bubble!
6
Gee I hope there will be a time women can vote for someone who'll have a more enlightened view of issues facing half the population. Oh wait there was; it's called the past and millions upon millions of women voted for a known kitty grabber.
So now women are getting trolled by a man who enjoys trolling so much he'll hire Enabler McShine just to get them angry. He loves it and so do his supporters. If any woman at the rally left because of the Warren comment it wasn't apparent. They stayed and laughed and went along with the troll.
Because he is now there and will have added two additional anti-women SCOTUS judges the decision made will affect the health and gender discrimination of multiple generations of women. The ultimate trolling would be for him to nominate (and have approved of course) a woman to complete the rollback of rights. I'm talking to you Amy Coney Barrett. As it was in the election then it will be women who are in fact hurting women the most.
Not forgetting about millenials either. A pathetic percentage of them voted in the election. It will be a better place if they decide to vote in elections rather than which new flavor of chemically injected carbonated buzz drink should be released.
8
Would you expect anything different from a person who bragged about sexually assaulting others to a complete stranger?
11
"It’s hard to imagine Trump getting away with hiring Shine — who has been named in both sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits against Fox News — even a few months ago. "
No it's not. Who would have stopped him? Shine is perfect.
Trump didn't hire Shine in spite of being named in sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits, he hired him, in part, BECAUSE he was named sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits .
Shine is just the type of (white) man Trump likes to hire. No discernable ethics, a proven track record of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted, and a contortionist's ability to have the Boss's back and look the other way at the same time.
Plus Shine has nowhere else to go and will surely bend a knee to Dear Leader in gratitude for delaying his slide into much deserved irrelevancy for a year or so.
14
So Michele....do you think anything now is, or is becoming about mob mentality or overcorrecting at this stage of #MeToo ? Because I do. Whisper, smear campaigns can rely on someone's version and can destroy a man's career and life. Or a woman's.
I am very concerned about the "round 'em all up corral" frenzy now. It's ready to say the least for many aggrieved women, and I want to see Justice upheld.
I'm just wondering how far this will go without proof like in a courtroom and with many accusations being years old.....to destroy people's lives.
7
For the past 18 months, we the normal people of the world, have been reacting to every outrageous deed or quote of the mentally deranged, know-nothing narcissist occupying the WH.
Let's face it, we have entered the Twilight Zone, for real. Except that Rod Serling's version only lasted 30 minutes...and we could turn it off any time we wanted. Not so Trump.
My American friends, please turn Him and his enablers off ASAP. The planet and it's inhabitants count on you.
20
It seems we are all numb from Trump. I am truly embarrassed right now that we have these men in places of power and that the GOP protects them.
12
Once more our unelected president has demonstrated the fact that everything he says must be turned upside down to ascertain its true meaning. In October 2016 Mr. Mendacity promised to "Drain the Swamp" in Washington. What he actually meant was that he would populate his own personal swamp with a new cast of swamp dwellers.
Judging from Ms. Goldberg's trenchant column, our Deceiver in Chief has added one more swamp creature to his dwindling White House staff, which is increasingly a refuge for Fox Network refugees in need of a job. How long can Republican legislators countenance their bumbling, flip-flopping, Pinocchio in the oval office? I guess it beats working for a living.
13
Trump is doing to the country what he did to Stormy Daniels.
26
Without the payoff, though! Like, the opposite, really.
2
In response to one of my comments someone in Evanston Illinois responded that liberal democracy had almost destroyed the USA and talked about a litany of sins such as gay marriage, feminism and legalized marijuana that had destroyed America.
I had responded that I can think of no better place than Evanston to raise a family, great schools, a great university, diversity, tolerance , intellectualism, a great downtown and all the things 2500 years of Western Civilization had strove for.
I can think of no place better than Evanston to understand that GOP/Russia and Liberal/Western Democracy have no center.
Evanston defines middle-class and America's greatness is the development of the largest most empowered middle class the world has ever known.
The dictionary defines middle-class as those below the aristocracy and above the working class who have the education, values and ethics to run a modern technological efficient modern state. The middle-class is the scourge of Russian oligarchs and American plutocrats. Middle-class means asking all the wrong questions that threaten an hereditary elite and a perceived historical way of doing things.
It was ancient Greece where we first saw a society fall apart because the middle class lost all power and became indentured servants and it took Solon to forgive all debt and renew Athens. We had a Solon moment in 2008 and we exalted the very lenders who destroyed Athenian society.
The GOP is at war on the middle class and American greatness.
53
Michelle, first of all, not everyone was on board with the sweeping and vague claims of the #meetoo movement, of accusation and association commensurate with guilt, of innuendo, and interpretation of that innuendo, equivalent to action. And clearly, Trump supporters find something in his message speaks to them--men AND women alike.
Until the left reexamines its horde-like fear to uncritically examine #meetoo and how it's taken on a life of its own that no one on the left dare question, you are doomed.
8
And to you I say, "Until the right reexamines its horde-like fear to uncritically examine trumpism and how it's taken on a life of its own that no one on the right dare question, we are ALL doomed."
13
Is it really a left/right issue? It seems you have forgotten about the women at "Faux News" that left the network because of the abuse you claim only is being hyped by the left. Look again.
15
I concur that Bill Shine does not belong in the White House. It is dismaying that a single penny of taxpayer money is going into his pocket. But it is further evidence of his own colossal poor judgement that he would join because I will wager that he's about to have his life turned inside out.
The Summer Zervos case is moving forward and I imagine that as the Michael Cohen saga further unfolds, we'll learn a lot more about the payoffs for Donald's sexcapades. It isn't going away. Maybe Donald hired him for precisely his experience covering up the shenanigans of Ailes and O'Reilly. But nothing lasts forever.
Only the aging playboy Donald could think that this was a good idea because he is truly out of touch with women. Plus at this point, he cannot hire anyone who could be employed elsewhere. But it will blow up badly over time as more facts come out. In the spring, Harvey Weinstein was thinking he could get away with a leave of absence and now he must think a long stint in the big house lies ahead.
As for Gym Jordan, well, lovely to see him on the receiving end of what appear to be credible accusations from multiple people. And no, it's not the deep state, it's karma.
75
add to this is the very close connection and relationship between Shine and Hannity.
14
One can understand why the First Lady wore that jacket.
2
The public, our sense of outrage, our sense of democratic norms, even, is like the frog placed in a pot of water.
Turn the heat up, incrementally..and the frog gets used to the new temperature. Keep turning it up and slowly, over time, the frog keeps getting used to increased heat.
And instead of jumping out of the water, when it boils...well you know how this ends.
4
They actually tried this and the frog did jump out
6
To paraphrase, "when we think he goes low, we are amazed that he goes lower."We should not be surprised , but we are disgusted and ashamed.This is an R rated administration which will be treated in history by derision and disgust.
26
The Trump administration instituted a policy of child abuse, to use as a 'deterrent' for families seeking asylum.
After this, nothing can shock.
164
No. The breast milk thing was a real shock. The potus would put corporate profits ahead of infant health. Pro life? I think not.
@C.L.S.: "The Trump administration instituted a policy of child abuse, to use as a 'deterrent' for families seeking asylum.
After this, nothing can shock."
The NRA-inspired Republican reactions to Sandy Hook have the same flavor as the border situation. These people have no decency. At least vote them out.
The "deep state" accusation from this administration, rife with its open conflicts of interest, constant contradiction while they try (or not) to get their stories straight, and a whole channel devoted to their propaganda, would be laughable if not for the fact we pay their salaries and awarded them the Executive Branch.
To the 80,000 or so voters in three states who couldn't be bothered to vote in 2016 (including the two barbers in Minnesota), thanks.
I hope you show up next time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/many-in-milwaukee-neighborhood-did...
16
All I care about is whether he's qualified for the position. I think imposing moral litmus tests beyond that is a thinly-vield kind of fascism, as well as being deeply irrational.
5
Unless, of course, you work for a predator or a predator’s fixer. Have the testimonies of workplace harassment made no impression?
9
You forget that the GOP is the party that has screamed the most about morals. As a gay man I see myself as a direct victim of that “moral crusade” - I was fired from my dream job for being gay, which is the policy of the GOP here in Florida, i.e. it iis a legal reason to fire someone - on moral grounds. The sin with Shine is the hypocrisy, the BLATANT hypocrisy, put on show here - just as with the entire GOP and the faux Evangelicals.
15
Yep.
Bottom line is always money. Can they earn it for me?!
Who cares if they are repugnant beings. Money.
Kicks dogs?! Doesn't matter. Money.
Abuses his wife and family, meh, money!
Then hide behind morality, which is clearly lacking, hyperbole into fascism, and gas-light as over reacting.
Because it isn't happening to me, and I want money.
Republican modus operandi play book 101. MONEY!
8
When Melania wore the infamous message coat people were perplexed and looking for a reason. I never imagined that she herself had walked into a retail chain store and purchased it. I was willing to give her a pass.
No longer. It is clear to me now that the Trump Administration including the family are saying loud and clear to America that in fact 'They Do Not Care'. About anything but their wealth and power.
They do not care about the #MeToo movement, the rights of women or children, the rule of law, the separation of church and state, the rights of any person of color,the climate, on and on. The list is far too long by now.
The Trump Administration exists for the aggrandizement of Trump personally and politically. They will do whatever is necessary to keep their power and privilege and take as much money as they can while their 'serving their country' (NOT).
They have the full support of the spineless GOP controlled Congress and Rudy 'The Scream' Giuliani waging a propaganda campaign of lies, insults and desperation. Bill Shine will join Giuliani in this all out assault now from the Oval Office.
And Trump is going to have a private, secret meeting with Putin to ask for his help too. And the GOP Senators who just came back from Moscow wholeheartedly agree.
Melania was in fact the first to advertise this new and open declaration of the Trump Doctrine. They simply do not care and never did.
314
I loved the jacket !
My wife is looking for it online for her and our daughters.
3
My hope in all of this chaos is that Cohen will flip.
There are millions of documents that have been seized
and maybe some are related to money laundering .
It's worse than you think. Trump does these things not only because he can; he does them for the publicity. He does them to goad our response, to get you to write this column. Because the Fox/Republican base is so immunized against reality, they take any & every accusation of sexual or racial harassment as proof that "liberals" are living in a self-indulgent fantasy of victimization & political correctness. Climate change is proof that scientists are anti-business radicals, poverty is proof of laziness, immigration is proof of criminal intent. The world is a conspiracy to them, and nothing that happens proves anything except that someone is out to get them, and that the unfunny joke in the White House is their savior.
24
The politician who has the most numerous and credible accusations against him, is the only one still in office, and that's "just grab them by the Trump" himself.
Franken, a real pro women's rights issue guy, was ousted over one photo.
The reason is clear: the decades long hypocrisy of the GOP.
40
Don’t forget too, the decades-long hypocrisy of Kirsten Gillibrand: like predecessor the successor.
She who shilled for tobacco companies did an opportunistic number on Franken. She will never get my vote.
2
This government of the creeps, by the creeps, for the creeps, shall perish from the earth. The question is how many decent Americans and American allies will perish along with it.
30
"Amid the flood of personal stories of sexual coercion that has marked the #MeToo movement, we learned how often people — particularly women — will submit to sex they don’t want because men wear them out with entitled demands. In the face of men bent on violation, maintaining one’s own boundaries takes energy, and sometimes it flags. "
Historically, more familiarly known as "marriage." :)
7
The Republican Party is very much like the Catholic Church or Penn State or Fox or MiraMax or or or: ignore sexual harassment and assault because the power of the institution is far more important than the victims.
15
So Bill Shine was nothing more than a pimp for Roger Ailes, and the president and Jim Jordan are two peas in the same pod. They both use the same tired “locker room talk” excuse to pardon the sins of their colleagues who just wanna have some fun.
In 2016, the future president passed off his Hollywood Access tape as nothing more than boys will be boys. Nothing came of his shameful admissions and he went on to capture the White House with more than a little help from Republican women.
Several male wrestlers have placed Jordan in the same sauna where inappropriate touching was taking place. As a coach in any capacity, it was his responsibility to look after his charges, unless he simply didn’t care about them after time on the mat.
Like Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Jordan enabled wrongful, perhaps criminal behavior to happen on his watch. That makes Jordan no better than any sexual predator. His passive approach to inappropriate touching in a locker room is why people in responsible positions take indecent liberties with students.
61
I hate Trump in the extream, but this sort of story doesn't help.
Trump's recent comment re: DNA testing for Senator Warren was not sexually demeaning, as this story asserts. It was in reference to the Senator's claim to Native American ancestry.
Weak stories like this provide fuel to Trump's "fake news" sound bites.
We claim to be the party that is fact based. So, tighten up. Write based on facts, not feel good attacks.
11
Yes, but that Native American thing with Warren has been going on for over 5 years. She doesn’t have a roll card. She said she only has family stories that indicated her Native American heritage and she’s already apologized for the gaffe. (Which, frankly, most Oklahoma natives think they might have a Native American somewhere in their family tree...even if their ancestors failed to apply for a roll card. It’s completely plausible.)
Her mistake (if it was actually a mistake) has been repeated and regurgitated by FOX news since at least 2011 and the President continues to call her racist names as a result. He’s been taunting her publicly for 2 years. Put into context, it’s workplace harassment by a coworker/boss. Yes, it is most definitely a #metoo issue.
18
Actually he managed to do both at once. It was demeaning to women, Native Americans, and Native women. Your statement that it was not sexually demeaning is not based on fact, but on your own feelings.
12
Warren may have made a simple “mistake”, but she derived her career from it. Let’s not forget how she introduced the ideas that Bernie ran on and then hedged her bets by not standing up for her convictions during the primaries. She simply waited until after the nomination to support whoever won. She’s an empty suit.
3
One notion of "Make America Great Again" for Trump and his cult is precisely this. They would like to take America back to a time when white men could harass and assault women without any repercussions, or compel women to stay home and make babies.
Shine helped Ailes prey on women. Jordan apparently knew that male wrestlers at Ohio State were being harassed and assaulted by a team doctor who later committed suicide. Trump made a sexually demeaning insinuation about a senator. Neither Shine nor Jordan nor Trump should be allowed anywhere close to the people's government.
26
The Fifth Wave of Feminism should solve this problem. I have been a part of planning this, for many years now. Slogan: The Personal is Professional.
If "they" want to insist on their identity being white men. Ok. But, on top of that group, in terms of power: Brilliant people. Brilliance is a fantastic color. Someone should let the White House know: Intelligence is Power. ---- Trump and the rest of his School Dunces, do not have certified Brilliant IQ Scores on their resumes.
3
Unfortunately it takes a personal experience before Republicans will ever think this behavior is atrocious.
By personal experience, I mean to themselves, their wives, daughters or granddaughters.
They have no empathy for others, whatsoever. It's a sickness.
35
Why is ti surprising that a president who is probably guilty of both sexual harassment and racial discrimination hires a person who is likely guilty of sexual harassment and racial discrimination?
25
Jordan joins a long list of serial deniers. He neither saw anything objectionable nor heard anything offensive. That at least is plausible but only if Jordan’s definition of objectionable and offensive behavior excludes sexual abuse. Of course, he apparently showered with his young athletes, regularly.
11
Steve Penney, Bela and Marta Karoli come to mind.
Sounds like he's the perfect hire for this administration.
10
It is because of those allegations that Trump hired Shine. Donald Trump doesn't do anything w/o some personal motive, usually either money or ego. Trump loves nothing more than hurting people he feels have aggrieved him, so this is his way of sticking it to his accusers, to let them know the power he has (trait of abusers, btw). So, Trump is actually using Shine for a personal grievance. But for his allegations at FOX, Shine wouldn't have even been on Trump's radar, is my guess. Trump uses people, and that is all that is going on here. It's always about Trump, somewhere along the line. Always.
14
This is really simple.
Keep going after all of them. Call them out in public, shame them in the press, keep the pressure on all of them.
There is already talk of widespread disillusionment in the White House, talk of demoralizing public encounters and social media disparagement.
Shame them into being decent human beings.
33
The later will likely not happen, but keep shaming nonetheless.
6
Nothing wrong with flirting. I've never been offended when a man tells me how nice I look.
4
America doesn't care because much of America thinks exactly like Trump and the Republicans. This is a cult, not a political movement. If necessary, Trump voters will bend their morals to conform with whatever they are told is ok.
36
You are wrong; I know it makes you feel better to believe that, but you are simply wrong.
So the White House employment standards are officially weaker than those of Fox News, all because the Republicans have prioritized a right wing Supreme Court over any sense of decency.
33
We need to stop focusing on Trump and shine a bright and scathing light on his GOP enablers. Trump has a severe personality disorder that will remain with him until he dies - he is immune to entreaty. However, public shaming of the GOP members of government who stand by silently, or slavishly toady up to Trump, must become an everyday part of American life for the time being. Interviews of congress people, of staff, and confrontation of their milquetoast excuses is important - by traditional or citizen journalists.
160
Bravo - right on! Microphones in their face with direct questions making them squirm - relentlessly. Either they show some backbone or are revealed for the worms they are. The light of day is the best disinfectant. It must be shined brightly.
In addition I would ad that professor of linguistics George Lakoff’s advice should be followed in reframing Trump’s lies. The news headline should be a declaration of the truth followed by the fact that Trump lied, raising the question to him as to why he lied? Followed by a repetition of the actual truth. That is the real news story - the one which has its priorities straight and the one we should be dealing with as a people.
6
The only "deep state" in American politics are the Koch Brothers and all the other billionaires supporting a far-right agenda.
Us
34
The deep state developed during WW2. It drives the forever wars and kills on a mass scale with impunity.
It is the military-industrial complex owned by the rich and powerful.
2
Re: the military/industrial complex, you can see it evolve in advertisements from the period. It's a fascinating study - you can buy old magazine ads on Ebay, for example - some of them are ravishing examples of the illustrator's art - lost to us now - but it's impossible to miss the fact that bombers and oil pumps and tans and parachutes are all branded with names we recognize today - Cadillac, GM, Ford, obviously Boeing and Lockheed; but also manufacturers of tractors and artificial silk.
Some ads show flights of B-17's flying in a cross formation - holy Christian warplanes.
The role of "a party to exploitation" is in every job description in this White House. They are not exactly looking for potential whistle-blowers, so this is likely seen as a feature not a failing. Check your ethics and backbone at the door if you must, but preference is given to those who arrive without them.
7
It's not only that we are bombarded by outrages coming from this wretched administration every day that has us numb. Mere "sexism"? It is so low on the list of Trumpian offenses it hardly registers. It's as if Goldberg is asking us to get upset about Nixon's use of profanity over the phone in the middle of Watergate.
10
Most of us are not worn out by Trump's rampant indecency. It is just that as long as the Republicans continue to kiss his ring, there is nothing we can do about it. Even if Democrats take back the House and Senate, there is no possibility that the Democrats will win 67 seats in the Senate, the amount needed for conviction of an impeached president. And Trump has not even the decency of the indecent NIxon. Trump will never resign.
16
Let us be reminded that Senator Warren countered Trumps suggestion she take an DNA test with a request that he take a IQ test. A good idea, but I am not sure that an IQ test measures would measure a total absence of character or moral center...
25
Instead of an IQ test, I suggest examining the radiographs of Donald's 'bone spurs'...I would LOVE to see them!
6
The only point I disagree with is that this is no longer "a prestigious government job".
10
Yes, the corruption in the Trump and GOP seems expanding.
For the next two and a half years we must prepare to battle against the corruption, ethical violations, racism and mendacity of the GOP and Trump.
Folks, this is a marathon not a sprint. Keep working hard and keep up the pressure. Reward sirens who root out the violations and support our press, especially the NYTimes and WaPo. Never give up, never give in. Our lives depend on it.
27
Shine is right in one respect. This IS part of a Deep State conspiracy. We, the People, are the Deep State. And we will fight and stop everything the administration tries to do to abuse, diminish, and dismiss those who do not share their skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
9
You're right, it's hard to keep a full head of steam going - except we have daily stimulus to keep us fired up. Harassment of all kinds, depriving babies of breast milk, actively polluting the environment, exempting & hiring low-paid immigrants for his hotels, separating families, destroying the Western coalition, dismantling safety net health support, excepting his daughter's goods from Chinese tariffs, the list is inexhaustible but so are we when faced w/ all the damage he is doing to our country.
15
Silence is just as bad as the evil person because it is not a rejection of the evil person. I can understand the silence of the Republican Party in allowing Trump to do whatever he wants but silence from the Democratic Party is just as BAD.
7
Yes, why aren't we hearing from 100 so-called Democrat leaders shouting from the roof tops every day? They're hiding under their covers, hoping not to get tweeted.
1
“Jordan has alternately denied any knowledge of abuse and dismissed what he did hear as “conversations in a locker room.””
Those words are reminiscent of Donald Trump himself stating that his own incriminating words on the “Access Hollywood” tape were “locker room talk.” Enough with trivializing degrading behavior and attitudes! Stories of forcibly touching other people hardly qualify as shooting the breeze.
For all the consciousness-raising from the MeToo and Time’sUp movements, having a president partake in, or encourage harassing and groping behaviors is two steps back for every one forward.
14
@NM -- I wouldn't be surprised if Jordan were an eyewitness to certain goings-on in the suana. People talk and word gets around. It's enablers like Jordan who need to be locked up, not a Secretary of State. At least she was serving her country while Jordan was silent but complicit in serving demonic behavior that he never thought would ever come to light.
10
As a man, whenever I hear a woman now defend Trump, I can't but help think that they must have very low self-esteem. There just isn't any logic to their loyalty to this man.
112
Maybe the problem is that you won’t listen to their logic. 63 million Americans are not all racists or sexist. If you don’t see their logic maybe you should look harder.
3
It's cultish brain washing. If he gave them Kool Aid, they'd drink it.
3
As a woman, whenever I hear a man say he would have preferred the vile Hillary Clinton had become President, I can't help but think that he must have very low levels of intelligence and common sense. There just isn't any logic to their loyalty to that woman.
1
Trump may be more familiar with bankruptcy than just about anyone, and his biggest one isn't a casino. It's moral bankruptcy. But he is not alone. The rot at the core of his Republican and right-wing base becomes glaringly clear with each new pass they give this president's and this administration's moral abominations. Trumpers have but one kind of morality, and one only, and it's punitive morality. Always aimed at the political opposition. The Rick Santorums and the Franklin Grahams of this country, along with the lion's share of the rest of evangelicals have been exposed for what they are--deplorable.
29
For Trump, Shine is a perfect choice for White House duties. He knows what the boss man wants and he procures it repeatedly and without any qualms.
Goldberg is right to ask why America has no problem with this and with so many Republican sexual indulgences. However the answer is that most rank and file Republicans don't resent these vices. They aspire to them. Yes, in the tens of millions both male and female, Republicans aspire, especially the evangelicals.
14
It’s only been a year and a half and we are exhausted. Exhausted by actions and appointments that two years ago would have brought our government to a halt, with screams of impeachment. This is all now the new “normal.” Our society has become so coarse and uncivil that we rarely notice and can’t keep up. We have the government and society we deserve.
16
@RJR
I hear you, however the government we deserve ( if you are to go by the popular vote) is a Progressive one, and not this. (the electoral college is a debate for another day)
There were those that wanted the revolution now (abstained and stayed home) but felt the abstract thinking (not realizing how much pain there would be) was worth it.
There were those that showed up (3,000,000 more votes than republicans) thought that we could change things from within the system.
The proof will be this November (and in 2020) when both groups are expected to show up. We shall see.
12
The Electoral College was instituted precisely to guard against someone like Trump being elected. It didn’t work because the states all have different rules about how the electors are appointed. It could work if those rules were standardized and if the Electoral College voted in secret, eliminating the entire concept of the “Faithless Elector”.
6
Just when I think it can't possibly make me sadder about the state of things, I find myself despondent to even think that all of the positive energy of the #ME TOO movement hasn't led to a significant enough change in awareness to prevent this hire.
38
What is sad and exhausting is that "the American people" includes millions who think Trump is the greatest president ever; who dismiss all of his sexism as 'boys will be boys' talk which they deem meaningless; who are sure that most of the women of the #metoo movement are 'making it up' or at least, 'exaggerating.'
Trump is crass, crude, and disgusting, but if those millions are not also crass, crude, and disgusting themselves, they are willing to accept, if not excuse, his behavior as the price for some narrow set of goals (overturn Roe or get a favor for the particular industry in which they work or get rid of people who are 'other' so that only people like them are allowed to be Americans).
Trump and his ilk will pay no price because the "American people" are willing to let it all go by. Sadly, more will be lost by time he leaves office in terms of human rights, women's rights, gay rights, partnerships on the world stage, and care for our environment than has been gained in my nearly 70 years on this earth. It will take decades to repair the damage.
173
Sad isn’t it ? Why we are not surprised that he thinks of women as toys or trophies and even worse how the smRt people in congress are letting him off the hook. Follow the money and VOTE!!!
1
Trump is in good company w8th Shine and Jordan, two enablers of sexual perverts.
Not only has Trump failed to drain the swamp, he has filled it with slimier, stinkier animals.
An$ that locker room that Jordan and Trump talk about? No decent man would be caught dead in there.
136
His strategy is to hire people worse than he is so he looks relatively good. If they get investigated it dilutes his investigations. He's also thinking that he can fire them, which will also make him look good.
Psychopaths are manipulative geniuses.
Remember when he talked about "beautiful babies?" Did you get a warm feeling and have second thoughts about him? That was an example of a psychopath's stone cold manipulation.
Trump is not normal, he is deeply damaged and dangerous. When Trump looks most normal he's at his psychopathic best.
1
The average middle-aged white guy Trump supporter is never going to get that the Right is the problem in this country and NOT the Left--even if the Right punches him right in the nose.
That's why Rightwing media invents things like the "deep state", or finds a conspiracy in one email between two FBI employees who were romantically involved.
Nothing will sink in so long as the "correct information outlets" keep stoking anti-gov't and anti-leftist suspicions, AND no disaster on the level of a World War III impacts the actual lives of Trump supporters, who by the way are mostly well off, contrary to what most of their opponents imagine.
And there is no public pressure that can force the Trump administration to strike a more decent tone on sexual harassment, because there is NO DEMOCRATIC POWER in the federal government to apply that pressure. Everything we see the Republicans doing today would have already been done in the 1980s and 2000s were it not for a counterbalance of Democratic power at the time.
This isn't "the era of Trump"--this is the era of the complete control of "Movement Conservatism". Yes, there are more abusive and cruel words emanating from the top than if we had had a "President Pence" or "President Cruz", but the ultimate impact of the actions taken is the same: an extremely conservative impact.
And its only just starting.
252
Hollywood liberals were never "the left". What you think of as the left is nothing but bland corporate centralism. It's what other western countries call "conservative".
But liberals have always understood that the hard right was a threat to be taken seriously. In Europe at least. This is not the surprise that you seem to think it is.
We've always known there are a lot of people who think like this. The hard right have never been the majority, but are certainly capable of seizing power.
Yes, we know it is a long way down.
So, what are they supposed to do INSTEAD of "doubling down"? All we ever hear is how Trump shouldn't be attacked--that attacking him only increases his support.
So, what's YOUR strategy? Don't criticize him any more?
And besides that? What else?
1
@J.: god bless you and your wise words which are 1000% true!
WE THE PEOPLE never had a voice, the lefty libs pushed us around.
THE WORM HAS TURNED!
The #MeToo movement is a legitimate, important and vital issue in our society. Michelle Goldberg discusses scandal fatigue settling in. That is the understatement of the year.
Our great nation is on the verge of becoming a fascist dictatorship, manipulated by brutal foreign dictators. Trashing the rule of law regarding sexual harassment is just the beginning. If they can do that, why can't they trash any other law regarding civil rights and individual dignity. After tonight, they will have the Court to do just that.
Reproductive rights-gone.
Workers rights-gone.
Voting rights-severely restricted.
Gerrymandering- you betcha!
Corporate power-to the max.
Billionaire power-if they don't own you now, they soon will.
Wall Street profits-through the roof.
NATO-It's toast.
Baltic states-Russian provinces.
And why? One reason. White Male Power!
All of this is happening to the joy of Trump supporters who either ignore, or applaud it with the hopes of reestablishing the white male at the top of it all.
Except it will only be the extremely wealthy white males that will have the power. The intoxicating possibility of Joe six-pack having a piece of the pie gets his vote, but he will never get to take a bite.
It is a sad day for the US that the best hope we have to hold on to our republic is that China and our allies place punishing tariffs on the white power wannabes to get them to abandon their great white hope. But don't hold your breath.
567
One of my colleagues and I have a bet as to which of the EU countries will break diplomatic relations with us first.
6
@Byron
None. They all are just biding time (until 2020) until this administration/President is replaced.
Bruce....some list you've got there. But what do you mean 'foreign' dictators? What about domestic ones--our congress, court, state leaders and big campaign donors?
The financial power elites are raping American democracy and our economy. And it's been all legalized by the Supreme Court in Citizens United.
You're right ---white male power is part of it---but, think of the female Trump voters, those in the Trump administration, plus the female right wingers in Fox News, congress, and and possible court nominees.
They are colluding with our white male American power elites their gain and our loss.
2
It's important to maintain psychological equilibrium and a steely resolve in the face of Donald's presidency. What Michelle describes is the exhaustion born of emotional reactivity. We all need to find ways of dampening that reactivity and maintaining a clear-eyed focus on ending Republican control of Congress this November. We must fight to take back state houses. And in 2020, if not sooner, we need to put Trump out of the White House forever. We can do this, together.
737
Thanks for the pep-talk.
8
@Down62 - Aye, we can.
7
Thank you. We can't let outrage turn into burnout. Keep your slow fuses lit, folks, and keep working on November.
4
Things seem hopeless in America as Trump completes his first eighteen months in office. Traditional American values have been trashed by Trump. Honesty in public life gone. Respect for the judiciary gone. Support for a free press gone.The tradition of cultural diversity gone. The supremacy of the family unit gone. This is the nightmare that Trump has created. It is easy to despair. The only bright side is that Trump can be turfed in 2020. Unless impeachment intervenes. Three cheers for that.
402
Not if ballots aren't hand counted and gerrymandering still exists.
1
We must get out and vote in huge swaths!
1
What are you complaining about? Trump brought on the revolution, just as Susan Sarandon said he would.
1
Trumps shamelessness is unfortunately a political asset; he'll be reelected in 2020.
12
@Simon
Sorry mate. I completely disagree. All signs (polls) show that he is under water electorally. Remember, he lost the overall vote by millions.
That is, of course, whether he lasts that long, considering there are multiple investigations and law suits still pending.
The blue wave is coming and with it will come decency.
402
you mean i might be able to cancel my plans to migrate to Australia? God, i hope you are right.
This nightmare has to end!
I hope you’re right but the polls all showed Hillary winning as well. The GOP has elections rigged with gerrymandering, voter suppression etc.
7
When I was in graduate school to become a family therapist, one of my professors taught us that families are like islands in their own ocean.
He said to always remember they exist among themselves.
He also said that we must be conscious as therapists, that what was below the water was even more important than what happened on the island.
That's where the deepest beauty and, more importantly as therapists, the truly scary stuff lived.
Applying this to the People In the White House Right Now, what is going on that we don't see if what we are seeing is so astoundingly and utterly obvious and obviously corrupt on all levels?
Very scary indeed.
300
You're right, JD--We don't know the half of it. The vast right-wing conspiracy that has brought our country to this sad pass has long lain beneath the surface.
We sustain ourselves here in Dead-Red Country with the anticipation of Robert Mueller's conclusions and those of coming investigations of the complicit Republicans, their Russian connections financial and conspiratorial yet to be dredged from the muck of their swamp.
To that end, we as Democratic precinct chairs are preparing another letter to "our" voters, to be hand-delivered to their doorsteps in the coming days by us and our intrepid team, along with voter information, emphasizing the historic nature of the November election and urging them to be part of the Blue Tsunami. Then, we'll be visiting households where folks don't normally vote in off years or midterms and where we don't know their political affiliations because they don't vote in primaries, and where people who have voted Republican in the past now seem not to be voting. We'll be back in the fall with candidate literature and offers of yard signs--go, =BETO=! There'll be one last message about being part of history, with information about where and when to vote and a listing of Democratic candidates. And from now until the last possible day, we'll be registering new residents and new voters, both within our precinct and as part of wider registration drives.
Be part of history! Call your county Democrats to volunteer to Get Out the Vote!
2
The level of comfort people have with any of this is beyond comprehension. The disintegration of ethical and moral judgement is unbelievable in this Administration. There is not a day when we are not again shocked at how low he can go.
942
''All warfare is based on deception'' - Sun Tzu
There is warfare (psychological and otherwise) being perpetrated on the American people from within and by tweet. There is no time given to absorb the outrage, because another one comes in rapid succession.
This will all not stop until there are consequences for said actions. The republican party has abdicated their Constitutional obligations of being a check on the executive and are complicit.
It is up to us now to do the job - vote
613
Most commenters think that getting out the vote will solve the problem. But what happens when the votes are counted by machines that have been hacked? And there are no paper ballots? We need a Plan B. Unfortunately the only "B" that comes to mind these days is "Bastille." If someone else has a better idea, please share it.
61
Thanks for saying this out loud. Clearly our system has been hacked, our electorate fatally manipulated. How is it that we are able to put such faith in a voting process that produced the illegitimate ascendancy of Trump?
2
Well, all I can say is that I hope it was worth it for Democrats to jettison a perfectly good Senator (let alone man) in Senator Al Franken.
I can only assume that the zero tolerance policy will allow Democrats to have a superior leg to stand on, and with that higher ground be able to go after the President ( whom himself admitted on tape to sexually assaulting multiple women ) and all he litters his administration of the same ilk with.
Of course, it is going to translate to votes (especially for women candidates within the Democratic party) and a cleaning of the house/Senate/Presidency ... right ?
390
Unfortunately, although it probably made no real difference, it was the very same Michelle Goldberg who wrote a column that pretty much demanded that Franken resign for his horrendous behavior. I believe she partially recanted, but it did not make sense then and makes even less sense as we watch the takeover of this country by Trump Inc. (formerly known as the Republican Party).
7
That is an important contrast you mention in the fates of Al Franken and Donald Trump, even more grotesque when their respective charges of wrongdoing are lined up. Predictably, the lowest hanging fruit got plucked.
And the worst offenders stay at, or ascend to, the top. Hardly a triumph for justice.
6
@NM
Aye, you state the obvious friend. I would like to see Franken come back to elected office and for the voters to decide, but alas, I also think he is done. It stung hard.
Let's just hope this (and the revolution of staying home overall) is worth it. Vote.
1
I disagree, Michelle Goldberg, that most Americans have outrage fatigue and cannot maintain the level of anger required to make a difference through resistance.
I am not inured to the president's speech or behavior. Not yet, not ever.
if you resign yourself to bad behavior as normalcy or too hard to fight, well you haven't been raised to fight for your values.
I refuse to believe that evil will always prevail, that thieves get away with murder, and that the American public is so jaded they don't think fighting the good fight is worth it because it's bound to fail.
To do so is to underestimate the American public. We are a vast population, more than half of which are women. Of those, there are enough thoroughly disgusted with rich old white men pushing women around.
Hell hath no fury like a woman ignored.
879
I continue to be outraged, but there's so much going on that I hadn't heard about this until now!
2
Christine McM-yes, we cannot stop being outraged, but as to underestimating the American public:
Once the American public has elected Trump, it would be hard to underestimate it. How much lower can you go? How many statements did Trump make that everyone thought would be his end? Yet he outdid his rivals by name-calling, scapegoating/xenophobia, and lying insinuations. Then he leveraged rich white privilege to become the hero of the disadvantaged, while being the exact opposite. Vulgar, crude, unqualified, anti-environment when climate change threatens every single person's lives, shameless, vain, crude, known to switch positions on abortion strictly to get republican votes, posing as a man of faith when all who care to look can plainly observe he hasn't been to church or prayed in 60 years, married three times-and the American people chose him over a smart, educated, capable, flawed, of course, person who was eminently more qualified and prepared to lead this country. The American people got fooled by Reagan, W. Bush, and Trump. So it would be hard to underestimate us. We don't know what's good for us.
6
Yes, you are right but I had to take a break from trump and concentrate on the boys and coach, the divers, and their families who are doing a most excellent job on this complicated, dangerous endeavor. This inspires me. Humans can do outstanding, even unbelievable things that help, not hurt, humanity. I need this shot. Now hear me roar.
3
When I first became aware of such things, Dwight Eisenhower was President of the United States. The image of Ike, dignified, authoritative, civil, decent, if a bit dry, became my impression, my standard, of what a President should at least appear to be. For the rest of my life, Dwight Eisenhower was my benchmark reference for Presidential deportment. How many young people coming of age today, will go through life with Donald Trump as a model image of what an American President should be?
367
I am afraid you are making a rather unfair comparison between The Supreme Leader of the Allied command in WWll to the ultimate "swamp dweller" of the ages whom as we all know filed multiple bankruptcies, consorted with criminals, stiffed countless contractors and investors for money and had over 4000 lawsuits during his business career.
Unfortunately, all this confirms is the obvious questionable "quality" of the individuals running for office and the voters critical thinking/decision making skills in picking their candidate. Clearly, over the last forty plus years or so, quality has gone downhill at warp speed.
7
Kay Summersby? Was their actually no sexual relationship with Ike or did people just have more class than to make public what is and should remain private. Isn't the public exposure of the private the essence of obscenity. If so, then has the term any meaning anymore? Do Americans have any dignity left to surrender?
2
It's complicated. Powerful men, justly praised for their achievements like DDE, are also exposed to and often co-opted by temptations. They is a strong suggestion if not evidence GEN Eisenhower was in love with his British driver, Kay Summersby, during the war years. There is no clear evidence he consummated that relationship.
Putting people on pedestals is a human desire but when elevated, they often just have farther to fall.
To Michelle Goldberg: you hit a lot of nails right on the head! It should astound anyone who pays attention that no one has said peep about the sexual harasser-in-chief (allegedly-people are saying-I'm not saying that) hiring a person who participated in sexual harassment (allegedly!) from the scandal-plagued Fox network after that network has paid millions in settlements of such suits, and further that the exit from Fox News is now the entrance to the White House. As we have known for some time, Fox has become a de facto propaganda machine for Trump, amplifying without criticism or question his irrational statements. It's like the Escher drawing where one hand draws another. Trump says something, Fox repeats it; Fox says something, Trump does it. Rational onlookers who object are labelled snowflakes. The future of this country is very dark. We can expect Fox to hire all the refugees from this failing White House.
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Nice accounting of the latest atrocities in the Trump circle. But I am dismayed that the piece started off with such glibness. One doesn't have to cheer what's happening around Trump to think that in a few instances #MeToo had gone too far, or at least failed to recognize what is a spectrum of bad behavior. This is a nit with respect to Goldberg's piece, but such framing in the lede is too common needlessly make it *so* much harder to push the conversation into circles where it needs to go.
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This is not glibness. Do not attempt to sugar-coat or rationalize how Trump operates. Michelle's metaphor is how Trump thinks. He relishes "doing it to you", and he wants you and everyone else to know that "he's doing it to you". He gets great pleasure from inflicting his will on others. He will continue to do so for as long as he is in office. He does not understand bounds, except to push them. Laws do not apply to him, let alone standards about normalcy or decency. His ability to force himself on others, literally or figuratively, is at the heart of Trumpian doctrine. He is not a negotiator but a bully. He understands power and acts out of raw fear when he feels threatened. But in the absence of a powerful threat, he is the powerful threat, and he wants you to know it.
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How is this a new development? The President of the United States has bullied, denigrated and commoditized women for decades. We have the man on tape, bragging about groping women and asserting it is his right, his droit du seigneur as a wealthy white guy and 'celebrity.' The same man cavalierly sloughs it off as 'locker room talk,' while hiring and shielding wife beaters on White House staff; touting his admiration for Roger Ailes; castigating women who dare to question his competence to govern as 'pigs' and worse; defaming women who come forward to reveal their own encounters with Trump.
Truth be told, it would be more surprising if Donald Trump were to decline to appoint someone like Shine because of Shine's complicity in sexual harassment. Indeed, given Trump's own issues in that department, one may surmise that Shine's lack of a spine and willful blindness were his most important 'qualifications' for his new White House post.
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After so, so much craven, degenerate and primitive POTUS behavior one would think the people, especially the women of this Country, would be more than enraged... but the predictable shameless, deplorable and hedonistic antics of this man have sadly come to be expected and, I'm afraid, made many of us shrug our shoulders and are numb - one can only hope that Mueller will deliver a blow so swift it will see him exiting rather than admit any culpability for his criminal and treasonous acts. In the meantime, lie in wait for the moment and whatever else make your voice loud - vote, vote, vote!
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Trump is staying because his only protection is that he's president.
But he has just nominated a Supreme Court pick who supports practically unfettered power of the presidency to sidestep prosecution for much of anything short of murder. The Mueller investigation will be rendered moot when Kavanaugh is confirmed (and does anyone doubt that he will?).
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The only good thing is that we are not being allowed to forget for even a second who Trump is and what Republicans have become in pursuit of power and gratification.
We are being called, on nearly a daily basis to step up forcefully—for honesty, for fair dealing, for decency, for defenseless children, for everything that we ever hoped this country would be.
I have avoided political conversation with my relatives for years now. No more. They will no longer get a pass from me, passing off their ignorance in the name of peace. No, they will not change their beliefs in any single conversation. But they will be called to defend what they're doing until even they will have to walk away blushing.
I remember Watergate. Yes, certain things are different now, and yes, I do worry. But I also remember how, in the face of enormous evidence and of outrage from decent people, support for Nixon crumbled.
Decent, honest, caring, positive people can no longer be silent.
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Michelle... How have we gone down this slippery slope so fast, now this low-life merit-less behavior is the norm and many of us are wallowing in it, relishing it, enjoying the spitefulness of it; Voltaire nailed it long ago, " Illusion is the first of all pleasures."
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Why did Al Franken go? Why does the Democratic Party seem intent on shooting itself in the foot at every chance? Maxine Waters is absolutely correct that we need to stand up and not take it anymore. Boorish bullies and their enablers need to know that their ignorance isn’t the same as patriotism, and all this misogyny and hate has to stop. You can’t fix stupid, but you can vote it out of office.
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I live in Philadelphia. (A suburb, actually.) A few years back, a gang of kids attacked an older guy. I don't suppose they meant to kill him.
But they did. The guy was asthmatic.
Our then mayor had something to say:
"This is not who we ARE! This is not WHAT we are!"
Ms. Goldberg!
Where is that loud, commanding voice from the Democratic party?
I don't mean--a clamor of subsidiary voices. Worthy and estimable though they are. I mean--someone who speaks for ALL Democrats. Someone speaking to ALL Americans.
"You out there! AMERICA! This is not who we are!"
I read your stuff, Ms. Goldberg. Valuable--no, indispensable as it is! But you at The New York Times! You are (in a sense) preaching to the choir. By and large, your readers (like me) agree with you.
Where's the voice that speaks out--loud and clear--to America as a WHOLE? Gets their attention. RILES 'em up.
'Cause Lord knows! the Republican party (with Mr. Trump) at their head) has no trouble at all in riling up THEIR base. Like it or not, their message ALWAYS gets through.
I miss that on the Democratic side. And hey! I mean no disrespect to Ms. Pelosi--or any of those other venerable chieftains leading the party right now.
But where's the young folks?
Who can SPEAK?
Who can tell the NATION--
"This is not who we are! This is not WHAT we are!"
As never before, Ms. Goldberg. . .
. .. we NEED such a voice.
DESPERATELY.
Thanks for your piece.
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I'm still in the resistance, but if the Democrats don't win convincingly in the fall, and this requires cooperation from the silly progressives who abandoned Clinton in November 2016, its over for me. I'll spend the rest of my life living enjoying what I still can, and my contributions won't be to help Americans who would be collectively responsible for the debasement of values, but maybe for animals that are also innocent victims of the Trump regime.
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