I'm spending some time in Central Europe, so for some historical background and context, I just watched the documentary "Hitler - A Career" on Netflix. I was astonished to see how Hitler conducted his rallies in the 1930s --- and how he routinely used the mass media --- because Trump does the same thing to arouse his base. Well, I was more than astonished. I was --- and am --- alarmed.
121
To the MSM, stop going to these rallies. We learn absolutely nothing from them. Stop going to the White House for press briefings. Stop standing outside yelling questions to Trump.Trying to decipher the lies is truly quixotic. He needs you people more than anything else in his life. You guys helped in creating this monster during the 2016 election. It is time to stop feeding the beast.
The best way to get someone's attention is to ignore them. Let him go on Fox all he wants but what he really craves is you. You are his foil. So please stop all of this nonsense especially in the prime time opinion shows. There is so much real news to cover. You are all better than this. And I mean especially you, Brian Williams.
163
The same axiom applies whether you're Jussie Smollett, R Kelly, Alex Jones or Trump: The louder you scream, the guiltier you are.
56
Maybe America is just tired of Trump's whining.
40
Trump is a small, petty, vindictive and cruel man.
Oh, and he is a LIAR.
November 2020 must be when he is voted OUT of office. All else must be put aside to achieve this.
Register and vote please!
70
Trump will be winding down soon without a new foil as he tries out shutting down the border with Mexico which would create economic chaos for both countries. Trump has his Roy Cohn to protect him and redact the Mueller report to make Trump shine like a real hero more so than that traitor John McCain. If he can pull that off the military is his political toy as is the Justice Dept and he can call Kavenaugh for a favor as required he owes him. People do get tired of TV shows and that is all the Trump presidency is perhaps 4 years of dividing the country attacking non whites and appointing corrupt incompetent agency heads will expedite his downfall. If the economy slows down Trump will lose his safety net and flopping on Health Care will finish him off. Will Trump leave office peacefully or cry a deep state plot with election fraud by the radical left socialist evil democrats vs the loveable kindly sweet buffoon Trump.
23
"Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share..."
John Lennon's right, sooner than later we all learn the hard way that we're everyone we meet, "a superstar, well right you are... and we all shine on...."
Come on now.
14
We're way beyond Circus Maximus, Maureen.
29
Maureen, are you giving Trump a victory all on your own? That is unlike you. Has Vanity Fair, or The New Yorker missed your mailbox?
Regardless, as usual, you give me word to look up: merch.
3
"I'm too gutless to enforce the law."_Final conclusion of the Mueller Report
37
It is amusing to read these comments. Each outraged progressive seeks to outdo the others in their rich description of their contempt for President Trump and the half of the voting public that put him in office. He is Caligula. He is a sinister agent of Russia. He is an idiot savant. On and on.
What's really great is the fact that no one outside this forum gives a moment's thought to your blustering rage and wounded sense of entitlement. Oh the horror! The world keeps turning and your preening before your peers continues to be mocked by a president and a people whom you believe to be beneath you.
I thank you all for the delicious arrogance on display in these comments. Please, keep it up for another 19 months. It will do wonders for the conservative slate of candidates amongst the electorate.
12
At what point will the Trump Show finally be cancelled? The script is boring, the acting is atrocious, and the plot-lines are always the same. Who still tunes in to this ridiculous show, and why do they crave so much ugliness in their lives?
39
The President is a bully. This is how they behave. The whole world is against him. He will have his revenge. He will bark and go after his enemies. He will have retribution. He will be mean. He will be a sore winner or a sore loser. He will bray and stomp because he is all about himself. He is a bully. It's what his followers want out of him. It's what they want because they too feel aggrieved in some way. They too want to smash and scream and stomp about. They want to be bullies too or at least toadies. It is pathological. We are all caught in an unhealthy relationship, a toxic environment. Democrats can talk about programs and the climate and health care but in the end, what the campaign needs to be about is corruption and the toxic environment we find ourselves in due to change.
24
Other than the media there to cover it, because they have to, no one attends at Trump rally in Grand Rapids, or anywhere else for that matter, because their lives are going well.
No one who has succeeded professionally howls and claps for Donald Trump Jr.
No one whose time is valuable spends a few hours listening to Donald Trump moan about how unfair life is and brag about his inherited money, and lie about his education, and claps and screams for him.
Trump supporters are sad people to begin with, but the ones who attend his rallies to prop up his cesspool of an ego and his catastrophe of a presidency are downright pathetic.
71
Rest assured, there are many in Grand Rapids who reject utterly all that Trump and his red-hatted hordes signify.
51
Those on here defending trump .. I guess you also agree with his behavior in Helsinki ...it’s truly amazing the respect you give a man who cowers in the presence of Putin calling him a strong leader .. doesn’t Putin murder those against him.. why was trump showing him such admiration.. it just makes no sense
39
You have a circus only if there are enough spectators to support the show.
The tragic part is that now those spectators continue to applaude and to give a cheer while they are badly abused by the clowns.
15
Trump has done us a favor by identifying the fact that our democracy is fragile. Everybody got lazy. The media got stupid. The democrats gave us a highly flawed candidate with no clear message. Trump didn't even want the job, and he got it anyway. If we don't take care of our planet it will become uninhabitable for us. And if we don't take care of our democracy, we will get more of Trump.
33
How could Trump be so stupid? From everything I believe to be true and effective in politics, it is stupid.
However, the man did not get to where he is by being stupid. He did not get there thinking the way I do either.
So from what point of view could this be not-stupid?
We are talking about Trump's own actions, not those of "his people" that could be more randomized around him.
I believe he sees himself as having won because he dominated the media coverage. He sees that dominance as coming from his efforts to throw something new out there constantly, so nothing can be examined much before the next new one arrives.
All he cares for substance is that what he throws out either pleases his base, OR enrages the people his base hates and enjoys seeing enraged.
None of it actually means anything, beyond the reactions. Those reactions are of media paying attention, opponents enraged, and base pleased by either the idea or the rage of those they dislike.
It worked especially well because the last time the Democrats played into it, by giving him an opponent so many enjoyed hating. That included Dowd, and many others not really Trump supporters.
If I'm right, most of whatever he did won't last out the week, and none will last out two months. It is meant to be swamped. It is meant to just go away, disappearing under the mud that follows.
16
The Dems ought to ask the American public until Nov 2020 election "Folks are you tired of this carnival barker's stale act?" and "How can Republicans in Congress support this ridiculous D-Lister fake."
Forget his base of 20% (yes, 20%, the other 15% support only because they hate Democrats and even they want him to shut up).
9
When I see "I trust him", "I knew" it makes me wonder where they have been and where they get their information about him? This man lies constantly, uses misdirection, denies truths, etc. The Mueller report has not been released!!! Why is the AG dragging his heels on releasing it if "exonerates" Trump which even he said it doesn't??? This is cult behaviour. Their minds are locked in. They believe but they don't process what is being said by most other media except their chosen propaganda organ. Please wake up. You are being used by this charlatan.
28
Let’s hope Trump’s “Ides of March” (and, by extension, Don Junior’s, too) is the Southern District of New York.
16
Well, Maureen, you helped elect him and I've no doubt that you'll do it again.
25
I do not care if Trump turns the Rocky Mountains into gold. I voted for him but will not again, as he is a nasty despicable person---and i cannot be bought.
26
Pith Ms Dowd................T D S is still alive and well. Though I did nit vote for DJT or HRC, DJT's only real sin is his boorish manners do not comport with the elites and the DC bubble mob..............DJT is just a result of the wide acceptance in America of the coarsening seen daily in ALL informational outlets.
5
I know you are an opinion writer and not an investigative journalist Ms Dowd but there is a lot of evidence from such journalists that this was a set up to take down this President. I think you Progressives and Never Trumpers need to open your eyes a little and put your hatred and disgust to one side and look closely at the facts. What happened to him and others by the actions of our intelligence community and DOJ should give us all pause.
6
Looking at that picture, I'm remineded of all the illegal immigrants Trump used then fired when they told their stories.
He has nobody left to iron his shirts.
21
At least the Roman generals didn’t dodge their military service.
22
Donald Trump is just too frenetic for many. I wish he had stuck to just one term. But then who would replace him?
3
Good Ol Maureen - she never disappoints. That is -she never wanders far from her lack of understanding of humanity. People all over the world have become increasingly disillusioned with the leftist-progressive story. Resistance to immigration, particularly illegal immigration as we see in the USA and trade agreements is mounting. But for Maureen and her "people" this is vague and murky- they don't get it. Additionally in the USA the Democrats have undermined the independence of the judiciary system, restricted free press and portrayed any disagreement or opposition as treason or with the latest name calling "white supremacy". They have morphed from racist to this moniker in desperation. Probably more than anything their aversion to recognition of disagreement is their biggest Achilles heel. I believe that this describes one of if not the most significant difference between conservatism and progressivism. Conservatives are quite willing to say "we prefer this or we like this better" because they are capable of perceiving differences of opinion. The Progressives are not- they believe they are "right" rather than they have an opinion. This is why so many people are beginning to hate them and support Trump. Not because they particularly love Trump but because he isn't a progressive. It's quite simple actually.
6
I have yet to see one article in the NYT about how MSNBC, Rachel Maddow in particular, spent two years on Russiagate, playing it for clicks and views like a Tom Clancy thriller, when instead they could have paying attention to what Trump was really doing. Now they've given him the bloody shirt to wave, and we've lost two years to make the case against him. He won't stay tired long.
8
Trump along with many regular people and even the media use the words that ‘Mueller found no collusion.’
We don’t know that!
Barr’s cleverly worded book report first states Mueller did not FIND conspiracy. Then he backs that up by quoting a Mueller sentence fragment, which simply says he could not ESTABLISH conspiracy with the Russian GOVERNMENT. That’s either bad lawyering or intentional deception.
We know nothing of Mueller’s findings with regard to collusion with potential Russian cutouts or proxies. We do know that Natalya Veselnitskaya, the lawyer offering dirt at the Trump Tower meeting, was indicted for obstructing justice. We do know Paul Manafort violated his cooperation agreement by tampering with witnesses. He also refused to fully share information about his contacts with Konstantin Kilimnik or explain passing private polling data to him.
We also know little of the information provided by George Nader, a cooperating witness. He’s a Lebanese businessman, and convicted pedophile, who served as a liaison to various Mideast countries much more inclined towards a Trump presidency. (Curiously, those folks now share the widest grins.) But Mueller knows and no doubt fully documented this.
Trump still claims he won the popular vote and that his inauguration crowd was the biggest ever. Now he claims total vindication by Mueller. My guess is there’s not a chance. The full Mueller report is more likely to lead to impeachment than vindication.
10
While I share Maureen's disdain for Trump's behavior, I also disdain the coup high level operatives in the Obama administration attempted to pull with the Russia collusion narrative They were the poor losers. All of that brought out the worse in Trump who is not good at taking false accusations lying down. The deplorables had no right to displace the chosen Hillary as the election winner. How dare they have the temerity to vote for their own political/economic interests, at least as they saw them.
3
I suspect many Trumpers have deep feelings of inferiority, but are too proud to admit them. They won't whine, but they love the Whiner In Chief when he attacks "enemies".
The pseudo-conservatives at Fox (check out their backgrounds and where they live) abhor "identity politics", but the crowds at these Trump rallies sure seem to have a lot in common.
9
Perhaps the media should just turn off the lights on this guy. In the camp where I am at, no one cares about his rallies. We are a bit rift about paying for his his self adulation events, but it is what it is.
Headlines and rallies are fuel for him and his disgusting rhetoric. Let him spin it with no media coverage. It is not like he has any respect for the press.
18
The collective insanity of these rallies is most disheartening. Trump's mob scene reminds me of the reels of Mussolini's speeches that led to his dictatorship. His quote seems to fit here, "Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hands, and an infinite scorn in our hearts."
17
Perhaps Trump is as exhausted by his utter emptiness as are most Americans.
15
Mo, it's clear that no one in the Trump Crime Family understands irony. Or the concept of shame. Their DNA doesn't include such concepts it seems.
So....the Beast Unleashed was a little Jebby, was he? A little low-energy? Can't tell from the 'clips' that shape our 24/7 news cycle. And I can't bear watching any more of him than that so I appreciate knowing this news. Rather interesting. Perhaps those extra pounds he's pounding on just wore him out. Maybe it was the bone spurs. Maybe his poor widdle feet were hurting. Who knows? Who really cares?
Let's move on to Pete Buttigiege and his husband, Chasten. Far more interesting, fun, human, appealing, smart, compassionate people than the TCF. Two great rescue dogs, one with one eye and their own funny Instagram account (I'm looking at you, Chasten!) Just what I want in 2020. Decent people. How about a column on them, Mo and leave this loser Trump to his irrational, illogical, immoral cult fan base?
14
Once the Gods gave a cockroach a divine gift: it can choose to become a human being. Gods even made that cockroach the president of America, the greatest democracy on planet earth. But cockroach, being a stubborn creature, resisted all good that can happen to it, resisted evolution, and continue to live in filthy gutters.
Not sure if there is any moral that can be drawn from this sorry story of a cockroach other than that the Gods also make mistakes and underestimates stubbornness of cockroaches.
6
We must rid our country of this dreadful man and his sycophants and enablers in congress. But then, I fear, comes the longer, harder struggle to restore mutual trust and put an end to the fear and anger that his bewildered and deceived, lost followers feed on.
13
Proposal: Stop All NYT coverage of Trump. None. Do Not mention his name under any reporting you do. Get serious about removing him. You are Not going to convince any NYT reader of his ineptness. You are Not going to sway any fence sitter to vote against him. You Cannot convince the world he has done irrepairable damage to Everyone. They know. So stop. Do not give him a platform. TAKE it away from him. But Do contnue to investigate. Change is hard. But after 2 years, you have not changed anything about him.
16
Hey folks; let's face it, America is really bad news now with Trump leading his chumps loaded with guns, hate and violent intentions. So we should all leave the nightmare and migrate to peaceful happy nations and watch what the world does to the wild Republicans that remain. Now do you understand that Trump's Wall of Hate is also meant to keep us in to feed his beast?
6
Smugness Maximus may turn into Smugness Minimus after the 400 page Mueller Report is released. Mr. Barr might seek a dark cave in the hills and the POTUS might hide into a secret cellar of Mar a Lago. He can cheerfully gloat until then.
6
After Trump runs down his list of grievances, it must really get to him realizing he's the President of a country so full of, in his words, "losers."
7
This is America at her nadir.
5
Will there be a Republican challenger to Trump? I only ask, because his approval ratings are so low. Any sane Republican could challenge him.
But, that would split the Republican base and a Democrat would win. Hmmm. Maybe not. I guess Jeb and Mitt aren't up for the fight. How about Kasich? He seems like a reasonable bloke. Unless retirement suits him. What about Mr. Coffee? Maybe an independent could take the wind out Trump's sails.
My guess is, the next President will be an old White guy. Sorry, Beto. It's Joe or Bernie versus Mr. Perfect Hair.
If this is too depressing for my liberal friends, let's change the topic. Close the border. We can read the Mueller report on Infowars.
1
Was Trump exonerated on the "collusion" charge because there was no evidence of active cooperation on his part? Perhaps, in those meetings with Putin he was told to just relax, relax and distract, and let others do the driving. There would be no "tacit" evidence (how could there be?!) of a passive cooperation with Russian actors.
3
We should remember that both Barr and Mueller are lawyers and when they say there was "no colusion" it mean they found no smoking gun that would prove beyond doubt that there was collusion. Whether or not there is some evidence of that no one will no until the full report is made public. Don't hold your breath.
4
We the people and Congress needs to see the full, unredacted, Mueller report, plus the underlying evidence, anything less is a coverup by William Barr and must be investigated. Now is not the time to shrink, shrug our shoulders and give up. Our democracy is in peril. Call your representatives in both houses of Congress.
12
I feel a profound sadness that respected journalists seem to leap to the conclusion that the summary of the Mueller Report actually demonstrated exoneration of Mr Trump. We have yet to see the 300 pages of that report. How can we form conclusions based upon a summary by a political appointee such as Mr. Barr? Of course, the so-called journalists on the right, the most notable of whom never graduated from college, leap to the exoneration conclusion. Of course they do because they never learned the critical thinking that often is formed with the experience higher education. This is in stark contrast with many of the journalists on the left who possess graduate degrees. What comes from such training is the patience to await proof of fact. While the Mueller Report might not develop facts that offer proof of a criminal conspiracy with Russian officials, there just might be a few other facts developed in that report that demonstrate what is obvious to people who have the ability to reason: Mr. Trump is unfit for any public office. Continuing to support Mr. Trump merely because of a perception of a robust economy seems naive at best. Of course, perceptions always have an edge over facts.
25
Maybe Trump is getting bored of the stadium rallies. Perhaps, to stoke his interest, he'll need to decorate the stage with pyrotechnics, like a Motley Crue concert, install a revolving podium on a roller coaster, like Tommy Lee's drum kit -- orange hair aqua-netted in place, red tie tapped down. Maybe that will get Trump back into the spirit of the show.
10
Why do we the taxpayers have to pay for Air Force One and millions in security to fly this guy to his non-job-related Satyricon-ish rallies?
38
@George
For the same reason that we paid for that guy Obama to attend his rallies. It's what modern presidents do.
5
Trump belongs in a cage, but unlike Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” who the public view because of his self-denial in fasting not able to find the food for which he hungered, Trump wants to be exposed strutting and fretting upon the stage like an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Trump’s audience is mesmerized by their own emptiness reflected in his hollow words and sordid deeds. They have a hunger for worshipping a false idol, a gilded fatted calf, to feel omnipotent themselves over migrants, the oppressed, and the poor of this world.
Instead of watching his deluded pathos, I prefer watching Adam Schiff in his capacity to be a humane leader, able to articulate decent and democratic values to remind us who we are.
25
Does anyone remember the Pied Piper of Hamlin? The elders refused to pay the Piper for ridding their town of rats so he played his songs, hypnotized the town children, and walked them off a cliff. Figuratively speaking, Trump's supporters are comprised of rats and mindless children walking off a cliff, following a Pied Piper who believes he's somehow been cheated by the establishment. Hollywood refused to embrace him. The mainstream press uncovers his lies on a daily basis. People with a modicum of intelligence who lack the power of self-denial know he's a lying thief. He longs to be loved but it's just the rats and children listening to the same tired old tune.
22
Why was Trump deflated? He'd spewed all of his venom ranting and raving about Mueller for months. But, never fear, Trump voters, like a pestilent boil, he will fill up again,
10
I can't help wondering how many our Great White Dope's Meshuggenehs- I mean Michiganders- really believe that he wasn't guilty of collusion and how many are envious of his somehow managing to get away with it.
19
"He seemed to lose altitude" (penultimate paragraph)
Thanks Maureen...
1
At some point he is going to realize, as many President's before him have, that he can concoct a good yarn and attack almost any country in the world with American military might.
6
I do not believe that posturing fools, such as this man is, win out in the end.
12
I have tried to imagine the inside of a Trump voter’s mind. I have thought it to be something like Vincent Price’s 1959 horror classic, “The House On Haunted Hill,” where, by invitation, the contestants show up for a promised fortune if anyone survives the night. It’s a motley crew of alcoholics and ingenues and dowagers past their cotillion days and quarreling married couples separated by their lust and greed, together again for one night, unhappy but hopeful of an easy payday. Of course, the mansion’s owner (Vincent Price) has a scavenger hunt ready for them; he’s not giving up a nickel.
Hillary was sadly incorrect about MAGA nation. They’re not “deplorables;” they’re clueless. They believe in the quick-hitter, the lottery which they all win. If justice is to be served, they’ll find that their president is really Masala in Ben-Hur, Robert Mueller’s unreleased report the spoke in Trump’s chariot wheels that will bring him down, a mutilated, bloodied crippled mess. Kind of what America is like as we speak.
Then what will they do?
8
We - by which I mean all of us, including the media, who were imagining that the report would articulate the legal basis for the end of the current administration - have to take some responsibility for creating the conditions that led to this past week’s right-wing smugness festival. That was never going to happen, and we should have known that. Obviously it’s frustrating because we all know he’s broken enough laws and norms to be impeached ten times over, but this particular charge was always going to be a hard one to prove, because both Trump and his namesake son are so stupid, arrogant, contemptuous of democracy and susceptible to flattery that they can allow themselves to be used by foreign agents without understanding what it is they’re actually doing. It’s also frustrating because we all have a hard time believing that Trump legitimately won the election.
I think we have to accept that Trump did indeed win the Electoral College and that may well have happened even without Russian meddling - and that meddling by either foreign or domestic bad actors is something we have to get a lot better at dealing with, which is ultimately an American IT issue. And while it’s unfair that some of the Democrats’ dirty laundry was revealed via Wikileaks, that doesn’t mean the laundry wasn’t dirty and that we shouldn’t take responsibility for what it revealed, which is that our side can also be too cavalier about upholding democracy.
Onward to 2020. Let’s get it right this time.
15
@James Jacobs
Possibly the only sane, mature response by a progressive in this entire string pf delusional, hate-filled comments. Your friends on the left may villify you for speaking truth, but I appreciate your effort to stand above the howling mob.
1
Just think how many people could have health insurance for the cost of even one of trump’s asinine rallies.
24
@T. Rivers Or the taxpayer money that supports his golfing. A February 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office says four such trips early on in Trump's presidency cost taxpayers $13.6 million, or $3.4 million each.
11
Mueller's 300+ page report, being diminished to Barre's 4-page synopsis, is basically like using a cocktail napkin to write a book report on 'War and Peace'.
20
He’s not tired – he’s disconsolate…
Compared to marriage, this presidency thing has become a drag…
Realized he can’t marry the US for a third time, even if he wanted…
And if he marries it for a second time, it’d be the same country, all over again – so what’s the point…
And what of a legacy…
More than one of Bush41’s sons wanted to be president – and bigly…
None of his sons do…
But – as always – at that thought, a smile suddenly and easily filled the big guy’s face, and a spring returned to his step…
Though now the presidential limo has a bumper sticker:
“My White House daughter can outpoll your White House daughter”
In smaller print below:
“In the Electoral College, anyway”
As always, devil’s in the fine print – as his own dad taught him, the art of the fine print, so well…
5
@W in the Middle
"More than one of Bush41’s sons wanted to be president – and bigly…
None of [Trump's] sons do…"
Respectfully, Don Jr. aspires to the Oval Office, his desire so deep that he dumped his wife for the former First Lady of San Francisco to groom him for said office and for a run against her former husband in 2024.
There has also been talk of a run that would pit Ivanka against Chelsea in the 2030s.
3
I get it now. I'm slow, but I finally got it. This whole sordid display, since the moment of the ride down the golden escalator, is based on the fake wrestling template. And his base is precisely the same as the fake wrestling fan base, motivated by the same urges of spite, revenge, to the point of hatred, although that's somewhat fake too, as most cannot describe precisely what it is they hate. And the best part? Just as with fake wrestling fans, they know it's all phony, he's all phony, which makes it even more enticing, because they're in on the joke. Heck, they're part of it. A major part. And it's probably the only thing that most of them are part of, and that is the source of the problem.
26
Sadly having a morally corrupt President is America’s sad legacy because your slave owner founders feared Great Britain the mightiest democracy of its time that was preparing to abolish slavery, what the the slave owner founders concocted was the Electoral College that denies the presidency to the popular vote and allowed three fifths of a black man added to the total number of white persons in a slave state, and a senate that can have a majority with as little as 18% of the national voters. Little wonder the US has one of the least respected governance models anywhere.
10
You should have taken your analogy one step further and compared Trump’s post-Mueller parade to the triumph of one Roman emperor in particular: the barking mad Caligula (Latin for “Little Boots”), who held a triumph to celebrate his victory over the sea god Neptune. Apparently he ordered thousands of troops to charge into the surf and thrash the waves with their swords. To provide evidence of his victory to the citizens of Rome, Caligula brought back tons of sea shells taken from the beach to display as spoils of war. He then elevated his loyal beast, his horse Incitatus, to rank of Senator (perhaps Kelly Ann Conway may soon receive a similar promotion). The comparison between the triumph of Caesar Caligula and that of President “Caesticula” (“Little Mittens” in camp Latin, more or less) would be to note an emperor painted his face with red ochre for the parade; mayhaps Trump was going for a similar look with all that Cheeto dust.
13
Just a snapshot in time. With Trump it's always just a snapshot in time. Ostrich jackets today! "Fiyad", tomorrow.
The long arm of the law is more Maximus than he or his fingers.
Some folks do things right. I'm sure Mueller is one that does. That would make it difficult to attain a charge or a conviction on any particular transgression. The boss doesn't have to spell out what he wants. You wanna make it big, you figure it out. My guess, that's the maximus obstacle for this honest lawman to overcome.
Obviously, Trump is still nervous. The hoopla died too, soon!
4
What's worse...gloating over the results of the investigation or beaurocrats trying to steal a presidential election outcome by falsely accusing the president of beingba traitor, and then spending two years prosecuting him in your opinion pages? Let me see...I'd say the latter by a margin that's uuuuge and very very big. If by spewing bile, you mean that Trump told the truth about the results of the investigation then you could just say, "Donald Trump talks to audience about how the media falsely vilified him for two years because of what amounted to as a failed coup" Then you would be spot on.
6
No mention that even Barr's letter didn't clear Trump of "collusion"?
11
Isn't Trump's obsession with others "loyalty" curious? Perhaps it's a diversion from his disloyalty. Roman's indeed, the biggest battlers of Good and Evil we now endure.
3
Whenever I've attempted to watch footage of his rallies, to try and discern what supporters find so appealing, I've never been able to make it through more than a minute. His divisive, juvenile and hateful fear mongering always remind me of that "Twilight Zone" episode "He's Alive," featuring Dennis Hopper as a young American fascist, emboldened by a shadowy historic despot. It's eerily resonant, given Trump's inflammatory rhetoric, and is worth viewing, especially for Rod Serling's excellent commentary.
15
Julius Caesar, Augustus and all the other Roman tyrants always had to worry about the ignorant, the gullible and the emotional parts of their populations. Collectively, they were called the "Mob."
No less than the tyrants of Rome, Trump depends on such a modern day Mob, which is now called his "Base" in order to intimidate Republican lawmakers into submission and by that exercise power.
Fortunately, the Majority of Americans disdain Trump and will never join his Mob. Even many in Trump's base will abandon him if the economy declines or he takes aware their health care, which he is intent on doing.
Trump would do well to have someone warn him of his political mortality every day, for it is fleeting.
7
"Why in the world would they cheer madly when he proposes to crush healthcare?"
Why? I'll tell you why. It's because they're the kind of audience that would cheer if the roof caved in.
20
For me, Mueller is the untold story inside this
“triumph” of Trump. Did Mueller really do his job to the fullest? He took a long time, but did he follow every lead to its logical conslusion, and press as hard for facts as he and his team could? He has ben so lionized in the press.
A proven liar such as Trump is clearly not an innocent man.
5
We all know what’s going on, we just aren’t ready to admit it. He’s boring.
6
How can an obvious phony such as Trump have so many followers in the greatest country in the history of the world? Neither the Greeks or the Romans would have tolerated Trump.
3
Every time Trump voters are interviewed it substantiates my impression that these are irrational and dangerously undereducated people. Of course, that is to be expected given how Republicans have emaciated the public education system at state levels assisted by the US Department of Education.
15
Maureen,
I just absolutely LOVE how you tell like it is! Keep it up! We so need public voices like yours.
5
Maybe Mueller has lured trump to the bamboo booby trap. The question is, will the Senate republicans fall in it with him?
5
Trump has been a beast unleashed for 30-odd years, nothing presidential about this man, nothing moral.
12
The rally was full of lies, insults, and a POTUS who did nothing but bragged about himself and his based in attendance ate it up. It was embarrassing. The only positive thing on the program was its duration wasn’t anything near the two hours in length like his last rally where the lights began to melt his makeup. POTUS has nothing to run for re-election on but the blame everybody but me game. His base numbers should shrink some now that they realize they to can lose their health care or the rural communities weren’t protected either by this president’s fool policies. Congress please protect NATO. This puppet wants to give away the alliance that’s been protecting the world since World War-II.
8
This reads like Op Ed fast food--deliciously entertaining for a moment, though hardly illuminating while leaving a lurid aftertaste, little in the way of sustenance, and perhaps a little indigestion. We've known the nameless one (thank you, Jacinda) is a monster for 2+ years now. Instead of always stroking his desire to be talked about, how about the media putting it's money where it's mouth is and shining a light on the many life and death issues that cry for attention. Just one example: the persecution of GLBT folk in Arab and African nations and uplifting examples of progress made on this issue. And instead of only complaining or highlighting tragedy, how about letting us know how the more fortunate among us can help.
5
Trump speaks (and tweets) like a mob boss; apparently, presidential decorum holds no importance to his loyalists. The Mueller report clearly does NOT exonerate Trump of obstruction, but Trump and his loyalists claim complete victory.
No fewer than 215 criminal charges, 38 indictments or pleas, and five prison sentences arose from the Mueller investigation. No problem, say the loyalists - Trump is "exonerated"! Many of those indicted were subsequently convicted of lying about their connections with Russians, among other things. That's OK with the loyalists - Trump is "exonerated"!
It's not over. Federal prosecutors are conducting ongoing investigations in NY's Southern District, the Eastern District of Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Justice. Additionally, tax departments for New York State and New York City have opened investigations into Trump’s taxes to determine whether or not Trump benefited from a $400 million tax scheme, as reported in this newspaper. No biggie, say the Trump loyalists, who presumably pay their own taxes...
"The left" is not "indignant" about Barr's summary - we are confused. We await an explanation - and further indictments, which may be coming on the local level. It is extremely hard to believe that Trump is vindicated - he speaks and acts like a guilty man who has gotten away with a major crime.
11
@Chris Wildman
What if Trump supporters do not pay their fair share of taxes but belong to the paid-under-the-table guild and “Love the guy” for being one of them, all thumbing their noses at the rest of us suckers? Self-employed people more often express their support in defiant bumper stickers on vans and pick-up trucks and in offhand (and inappropriate) comments, testing the waters for other supporters. Don’t see or hear much of that in corporate parks.
2
Ms. Dowd omits the President's critique concerning the inadequacy of Adam Schiff's neck. Each time that we hear Trump rant about the anatomy of his opponents, and other equally unacceptable comments, we need to remind ourselves: people who are thinking clearly simply do not talk this way.
The time remaining in his term is ample for this transparently deranged and unstable man to visit upon America truly irreversible damage, nuclear or otherwise. All legal options to limit this risk should be urgently pursued.
28
The Democrats handed my home state of Michigan to Trump. Hillary Clinton never ran a single TV ad there reminding people that Obama had saved General Motors and Chrysler, not to mention the rest of the economy. Hopefully the Dems will learn from that.
16
@HAP To be fair the good folks in your home state should be able to think for themselves and not rely on campaign stumping to tell them who to vote for.
7
I was standing outside the arena Thursday night in downtown Grand Rapids. After an hour, even some of his supporters were growing tired, and left the scene. His arrogance, vulgarity, and aggressiveness do not belong in this Republican stronghold where residents normally follow the unspoken rules of "West Michigan nice." This is still Jerry Ford's town.
426
@Jim Oberstadt--
Sorry, Jim. Your defense of your state is admirable, but while some of those in attendance at Trump's rally may have left early, most remained and engaged in what Trump's supporters always engage in: taunting, name-calling, insulting chants, cheers for his bragging and profanity, applause for his lies, as when he claims auto industry jobs were increasing in Michigan, when in fact layoffs at Ford are predicted any day. Jerry Ford was rolling in his grave. Trump supporters show who they truly are at those rallies, and there's nothing "nice" about them.
166
@Jim Oberstadt I know just what you mean Jim, it would be far better for Trump if he never spoke in public (leave out the vulgarity though- the democrats have him beat easily on this one) again- or only by reading scripted speeches. It's his conceit and arrogance and just plain ol inability to speak well in public that is paramount. He will be re-elected anyway though because many perceive this as "the difference between "regular people" and lying politicians. Obama was the straw that broke this camel's back. It's strange that it works for him that way.
10
@Jim Oberstadt. Yeah. Good luck trying to convince the diehards what a catastrophe he is for their “beloved” nation. They wouldn’t sit at dinner with a person this obnoxious but he’s, “OK” to trash and vilify what they resent. And then they attend church on Sunday. We all know these Trumpers.
79
From an outsider’s perspective, the existential question facing your country is whether there is a majority of you so sickened by the sheer ugliness and destructiveness if this man and his enablers that you vote him and his party out of office in 2020. It is frankly terrifying to me, and I suspect the rest of the world, that there is even a possibility that there may not be.
678
@John David James Keep in mind, though, that we are not a majority rule country, a least not as long as the Electoral College is still around.
90
@John David James, I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, a majority of us didn't vote for him the first time, by a margin of nearly 3 million votes. Our electoral college system is archaic and undemocratic, and now we (and the entire world) are paying the price.
127
@John David James. Ugliness - yes. Destructiveness - no. His policies have produced better results in 2 years than Obama's could, in 8 years.
Arrogance we can tolerate, sweet talking sliminess, not so much. As an outsider, you have been fed what the American media cooked. Reality is much different. Unfortunately, it took 2 years for it to come out,
12
The word is “scapegoat”.
Trump indulges in people’s desire to find the appropriate scapegoat that will explain all ills, real or imagined. It is a primitive reaction. Once the scapegoat is found, any problem, big or small, can be attributed to the scapegoat. Fading Hillary is still the scapegoat.
One can understand the Trump supporters need to locate the scapegoat. For many, there is a sense that they haven’t gotten their fair share. And instead of looking up at the castle as the reason, which would be logical, they look to the people in the same boat, or worse off.
Why Trump wallows in this sense of aggrievement is mysterious and probably for deep psychological and emotional reasons. After all, he has been given every advantage possible in his life.
Scapegoats are convenient and easy targets. Regrettably they are not the cause of problems. So the problems continue. Health care costs, infrastructure repair, income inequality won’t go away by having rallies. And Trump, if he were self-reflective, would know what happens after the people realize that scapegoating doesn’t fix the problems. Just look at what the Trump supporters did when they realized Trump University was a fraud.
262
For those that wrote the investigation was a waste of money: it seems that the money collected from the convictions from the investigation will exceed the low (less than $30 million) cost of the investigation. Mueller was being a good Republican and not wasting money; he bagged a bunch of criminals and made money for the government in the process.
5
And just think that Ken Starr’s pursuit of Clinton cost in access of $80,000,000. The GOP always fails to live up to any notion of fiscal responsibility when they are in power.
9
Trump is committing a very old sin the ancient Greeks called "hubris", and it will be his eventual undoing just as it has been the eventual undoing of many before him.
The phony four-page summary of an almost 400-page report is already being so completely condemned by the legal community at large that the "fourth stooge", William Barr, has already issued a second letter trying to explain and excuse it.
Trump and his zombie army can gloat all they want. In 2020 he has to run on his record of achievements, and having set a new record for pep rallies is about all he's got.
5
One thing is certain; Trump is easily manipulated by others. I think we all have to focus intently on those who have his ear.
5
QUESTIONS I HAVE AS A VETERAN AND TAX PAYER
1.How many tax dollars are being spent on Trump's campaign and golf travel, when he should be in Washington doing the president's business? Much of this waste or resources could be spent on flood relief and infrastructure spending.
2.How do you send our armed forces to fight when (5 bone spur) Trump has destabilized our world alliances and supports autocrats that move the world closer to a major wars.
3."Beyond a reasonable doubt" is the high standard for evidence in a criminal trial. It does not mean that there is no evidence of collusion or obstruction. You judge a person by the company he keeps. When so many of your colleagues around you are guilty of crimes against the United States, and you will not release your financial records, it can mean you can not stand scrutiny of your business and personal life.
Republicans, when are you going to vomit this malignant man from your leadership and return your party back to Democratic values?
15
Democracy is just another plugged nickel in the USA. We live under a travesty of democracy.
1
Trump's supposed concern for the Special Olympics is so touching. However, we actually saw the video of how he treats persons with disabilities when he mocked the reporter. Donald is the most disabled of all, seeing as he has neither heart nor soul.
18
When you tag along at his rallies, to denounce his manners exactly as he wants you to do, you waste the priceless perch of resistance to his cruel, rapine misgovernance of the nation and attacks upon the globe. I am sick of 75 months of this non-stop non-aggression pact between Trump and his enabling critics. Please yield your place to someone who'll serve its purpose.
I hope you did not pay him for the time he was talking about Trump. Fair is fair. Time is money.
1
There is a problem with trying to understand the feigned madness of Donald Trump. He slips into it so seamlessly, it's hard to tell when he's working at it.
But the take-away is that Donald loves revenge. Like the salting of Carthage, Donald isn't satisfied with winning, he must destroy the vanquished.
What remains curious is that he claims ground he hasn't yet occupied. When the truth of the Mueller report is known, Donald will be laid bare -- a distressingly vivid image -- and... not a single vote will change.
5
Trump, like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, only work because they have an audience.
How do we fix the audience?
7
Khrushchev was prescient. We are buried.
4
Trump may be victim of some internal software that forces his nose down when his angle of attack indicator tells him the crowd is losing interest. Trump is his own stick-shaker as the ground rises to meet him in November 2020.
6
WE have "unleashed the beast" as one Trump supporter said.Yes, they have. The beast is insulting and threatening their perceived enemies, attacking the immigrants and muslims, demeaning the scientists and intellectuals. However they will soon realize he is giving the wealthy billions and causing them to accept a debt for their children, taking away health care. allowing education to be more restricted to the rich and those jobs? Why they are still disappearing and no living wage in sight. They will get tired of losing.
5
I spared my hearing and eyesight from watching any news coverage of the madman in charge, difficult to watch his orange face distorting his face.
Criminals like the first family are counting their days of freedom It must be difficult knowing that the world views you as comic book characters who just happen to be corrupt.
Despite Trumps hate for democracy -America is not in ruins . Russia is still a dictatorship with all the hate and murder being inflicted on their citizens. American justice may take awhile but justice will prevail despite the pardoning history of old man Barr and the corrupt zealots for Trump.
Richard Nixon can be viewed as the second worst president the honor now belongs to the Trump dynasty .
3
Donald Trump is an unhappy man. The last time we really heard him laugh was in the Billy Bush bus. Why would Grand Rapids be any different?
4
Deceased President Gerald Ford: trustworthy; team player?
Go along to get along Jerry didn't exactly acquit himself with glory serving on the Warren Commission.
Or pardoning President Nixon scot free, who elevated him to the office 30 days before which allowed Ford to pardon him.
When you wear rose collared glasses Maureen, you see the red flags only as flags.
5
Sadly, it appears that many of his followers, like the man who was excited to see “the beast unleashed,” approach democracy the same way they would a demolition derby or monster truck rally. They don’t seem interested in the truth or capable of critical analysis. They love the spectacle and the “in your face” vulgarity of the circus sideshow which Trump provides. Hopefully, they will be outvoted in 2020 or we will be lost as a democratic republic.
11
Let's face it; Putin helped elect Trump to destroy America from within, which he has done.
9
From the president to the vice president to the cabinet members surely this must be the most incompetent group that ever controlled our government. The few competent officials bail out early and other individuals with any talent decline to get involved in the administration in the first place. The elected members of this motley crowd, including Trump, are nothing more than a reflection of the incompetence of the uninformed electorate.
6
Lost in all this is Mueller's actual findings. His report specifically states, "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." So, when Trump claims, “total exoneration, complete vindication” it is just more of the bombastic lying we've come to expect from him. Nothing new here folks.
7
Thank you for this content-free commentary.
2
While the president’s foes wait with unbated breath for the immediate release of the full Mueller report in the hope that it will provide them embarrassing fodder his supporters have been patiently waiting to finally find out just when Mueller concluded that there was no “collusion”. More importantly, once his conclusion was reached, why it wasn’t announced immediately to spare the country further “poisoning of the national debate that has left us hurt and divided”.
The presidents supporters are also waiting for DOJ inspector general Horowitz to submit findings of his ongoing investigation into possible abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the DOJ and FBI in their investigation of president Trump and associates of his 2016 campaign. Unlike the narrative peddled 24/7 by politicians and parroted by an accommodating press opposed to the president the seditious actions perpetrated by James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, John Brennan and James Clapper against president Trump have largely been ignored. Once they are documented and released, the identity of the corrupt people who perpetrated “a sinister effort to undermine” the election and a poisoning of the national debate” will finally be known.
2
There is no rule of law in this country for the white collar criminals and the con man. Father time will be the only thing to stop Trump.
6
Just imagine JFK or Reagan giving an impassioned speech, ringing with poetry, inspiring us as a nation to greater things. Then try to assimilate what we see at one of Trump’s rallies: an insecure thug who has managed to lie and bamboozle his way to being President. Getting absolved of the technicality of not committing criminal collusion is about like OJ getting off; you know it stinks.
And this whole Presidency casts a pall on us all at this moment in history. We need an inspirational leader again, big time.
15
He's just resting up for a chance to destroy something else beautiful and fragile.
Like maybe the First Amendment
7
There can be no Guilt present in "President" Trump, because he is unable to Apologize for Anything. His Sociopathic Personality Disorder does not
allow any admission of such weakness or vulnerability. His Sociopathic
condition also gives him his free-floating movement of Lies, which also
allows Individual #1 the capacity to Redefine "Truth" to fit, at Will,
His Will. We, the People, are indeed under the Direction of One "Elected"
to Serve the People.....but who "serves" Purely Himself. He is bordered,
N/E/S/W....by Himself. At 82, I hope to live to see Trump return to
his peaceful extravagance, having occupied our White House as the first
Sociopathic President in this great Land. I do not wish to see the younger
members of my Family living under his Dominance. I lament my Lament.
7
We don't really know what is in the Special Prosecutors report, we only know what Barr has told us. We do know that by listening to parts of Donald Trumps Grand Rapid performance, we can safely say he is mentally ill.
8
Thanks Ms. Dowd.
Very entertaining article. (Sumgness Maximus. Nice!)
You somehow managed to wring something clever out of a very tired script that always follow the same plot line:
- orchestrate yet another campaign rally in a state that is struggling with job numbers and quality of schools (a poorly educated electorate can be useful);
- have only low-information whites in attendance (the same demographic that disproportionately use all the "socialist" govt programs that trump would deconstruct);
- disparage "others" (take your pick- "elites", brown people from Central American; HRC; one of your direct reports (who hasn't yet been fired by tweet (so brave!) . ( But leave Vlad alone!) ;
- smear the Rule of Law, and smear it again, And again.
- lie like a rug (easy now, it's been normalized);
- never ever, ever bring up the subject of TAX RETURNS.
And this time he added a new twist, by claiming that the 400 page investigative report THAT HE HAS NOT READ - somehow makes him look like Mother Teresa.
Sure
Most of America has zero interest in his pathetic whites-only ego trip rallies, and most will read the full report before coming to the same self-serving, fact-challenged conclusion that trump did.
4
How did we get in here ?
Having this insane lunatic as the President?
This is the President of US os A and no curse word is off limits to trump when speaking publicly.
Loyalty does not mean a thing to him for personal gain, he just threw Betty DuVos under the bus just as he did to Michael Cohen .
This is the same President when embarking on his plane with a toilet paper stuck on his shoes.
And just like that his antics are getting stale, the way this 73 year old behaving looks like he is on his way losing his steam when he was supposed to be ready for reelection.
Wouldn’t it be grand if trump will be too exhausted to campaign ?
7
Trump is indeed an emboldened wannabe dictator.
Americans need to viscerally understand, truly comprehend that at some point it changes from a “bold face finger in your eye” political style to a clear and present danger to anyone not in favour ...
With the definition of who is „in favour“ firmly resting upon the momentary whim of the Great Leader.
America ... if what we saw in Trump’s recent Michigan Pep rally is a sign of what’s to come, the only things missing from the scene are armbands, torches and party flags.
The chants of treason and a seething crowd baying „lock them up“ are blood curdling, and people of all stripes need to wake up !
In January 2017 Trump he himself, called those who did not vote for him, „my enemies“
Rest assured this man means to bring home his revenge ...
8
That smug grin will vanish after the public gets access to the full Mueller report.
6
Too bad Ms. Dowd couldn't arrange a meeting between the tavern owner from Beal City (the hometown of the former Michigan governor, John Engler) and Betsy DeVos. Perhaps the cabinet member would've told the cocktail slinger to be wary of running a political tab with The Donald. DeVos and her family threw piles of money at Trump to secure her current (and to date, only) job, and seems likely now to be jettisoned for her latest inane assertion regarding the damage being done to America by the funding of Special Olympics. Then again, her brother is a former Navy Seal...so maybe her job IS actually safe.
2
I am just tired of Trump. Tired of his meanness and bullying and threats and hatred.
11
I understand partisanship, but I'm baffled by blind loyalty where one's preferred party and candidate can do absolutely nothing wrong regardless of the evidence. As much as I thought it was ridiculous to impeach a president for lying about a dalliance, something men and women do every day, I certainly wasn't sparing in my criticism of Clinton's behavior and even some of his policies. The idea of an infallible leader is an anathema to me and I find it extremely disheartening to see it happening en masse.
Even worse, however, is watching the infrastructure of an entire party volunteer to contaminate themselves by supporting every boundary breaking excess even if it means shrinking their own roles as legislators. Maybe they feel it's too late to pull out now even though it is patently obvious that they have already gotten as much as they will ever get out of the notoriously disloyal, destructive and mendacious conman. They correctly divined that they had found the perfect empty if blustering and braying vessel to enact their moribund policies, so the fact that he is now free lancing like a wild boar is appropriate. That way they can fight it out over who to blame after the whole house of cards collapses.
362
@pixilated. There is only one party which created fake information to get FISA warrants to spy on political opponents, and every member of that party kept the false collusion narrative alive for more than 2 years.
1
@pixilated. America needs to study up on tyrants and despots in history. The psychology is the same: hitch your wagon to the one who sounds like the strongest, the vanquisher of all that appears in your way, the slayer of your demons! Never mind that you must abandon your integrity to do it.
Thus, our mini-man is aided and abetted by a party that has been aggrieved since the Great Depression, wounded by the push for equal rights, but held together by the great corporate goal of killing government oversight, rules and regulations through the assiduous use of money to undermine all democratic organization. Trump is the perfect bluster man front and, as usual, only about a third of the population has the wisdom to discern just how destructive he is for everything they actually hold dear. With his Tweets he spits in the eye of most things decent and elevates what is not. He should make everyone’s skin crawl with revulsion, but he does not. Stay way from those who haven’t the wisdom to recognize the ignorance of evil. And if you believe in God, you better pray that people vote in record numbers for all the Democrats in November 2020 because there won’t be enough to salvage of our democracy if they don’t. I just hope we can get to 2020 with enough of our system still intact for our kids.
71
When do Republican Senators stand up for the good of the country and speak up?
Even if it costs them re-election.
They all know that Trump is hurting the country.
18
Neither the Mueller report nor the Attorney General's four-page summary of it offers much more than an ounce of vindication. Persuasive evidence has repeatedly presented itself pointing to campaign collusion with Russia.
Trump's bizarre behavior in the debates against Hillary Clinton offer one example. His behavior on the podium in Helsinki with President Putin provide another. His minions have lied through their teeth about contacts with Russia.
The change in the GOP platform regarding Ukraine leading up to the election is a fourth. The blatant lies about negotiations with Russia regarding the construction of Trump Tower Moscow adds to the evidence in plain sight.
Then there was Roger Stone's prediction about the imminent release of John Podesta's stolen DNC emails, his known contact with Gucifer 2.0, and Don Junior's prevarication about the nature of the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016.
Let's not forget Paul Manafort's hand-off of GOP polling data to Russian intelligence, nor Trump's brazanly public shout-out to Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s "hidden" email.
For good measure, Jared asked to establish a back-channel of communication using Russian facilities to Russian officialdom behind the back of the legitimate US government.
Any one of these incidents alone might be written off as concidence, but all of them in-tandem? No collusion? Who is kidding whom? As Adam Schiff recently mused, "You might think that's all right."
25
To me, the only way the story of someone now widely known as “President Donald J. Trump” can possibly cohere is if that story comes to life as an entirely made up fiction. That such a someone turns out to be a real, non-fictional human being who exists, in our actual world, as the president of the United States continues to be nauseatingly disorienting.
After Barr has finished massaging Mueller’s non-fictional account of the events of the last 3 years into a fiction that comports with Trump’s own account, I believe the only way for me personally to survive what is left of this disgusting man’s presidency is to commit to reading everything Trump-related as a literal fiction. For me, Trump is and will continue only a figment of some distopian writer’s vivid and florid imagination. I feel this to be the only way to remain connected with anything that, BT (Before Trump), has been historically acknowleged as good and decent.
13
I think if we listen carefully to Trump now, we can see he is starting to replay his tape... what Maureen Dowd is referring to as his "...golden oldies..." The description of Trump's style as "Circus Maximus" is on the money. America has seen this before, but we're living these historic and ugly moments again in a way that portends significant risk. I believe Trump is making show for an increasingly small, and cult-like base in such a way as his only way to a 2020 win would be another fluke down an Electoral College fault line, rolling snake eyes twice in a row.
11
"It’s not clear why, on a night when his aides promised high energy, he seemed to lose altitude. "
Maybe the adrenaline high of his apparent 'victory' wore off and left him craving another fix. Or maybe, just maybe, his conscience managed to break through the wall that his fragile ego has built, and he realized for a second what a sham he is.
Naw, I doubt it.
7
Okay. Trump is now unleashed. Let's see him govern. Let's see his great healthcare plan and his infrastructure plan. And we are all eager to see his Mideast peace plan.
10
Not being indicted is a victory? We should expect more from a president.
12
@TomL, no where in his life he was ever held accountable. He and his family hired fixers accountants lawyers to exploit loopholes to evade taxes. They inflated their worth when they needed deflated when convenient. No one ever questioned. Now he is a public servant serving American democracy, the spotlight is on him. Where will he hide?
1
@Elizabeth Bennett. Ignorance has always been a powerful tool for autocrats. This is where an affordable, accessible to all and possibly free college education can generate the necessary level of education to sustain a healthy democracy. Remember the Arab Spring failed everywhere but in Tunisia where oligarchs had allowed for a decent level of public education contrary to everywhere else. The dumbing down of American education lets propaganda get through and do its insidious work, witness Fox TV and Alex Jones.
15
34% of the attendees at the event were Democrats and probably some of the R's were former D's.
It just goes to show that mocking and name calling isn't an effective strategy.
Try listening. Without preconceived notions.
Trump is a disaster but one created, in part, by the left's ignorance of the middle of the country. Or maybe indifference.
5
@Tim
Your assertion that the Democratic Party has ignored the middle of the country is just patently untrue. Democrats have put forth real, honest policy time and time again that addresses strengthening the social safety net, meeting the needs of those in agricultural states, attempting to stabilize health care costs (albeit fixes need to be made, but primarily because Republicans stymied the ACA at every possible turn), and more. It may be HRC's fault for running a lousy campaign and not tending to grass-roots politics of these Midwestern states during her campaign, BUT the party as a whole has attempted honest policy pertaining to issues for the middle class and those struggling economically for many years. If people prefer to wallow in grievance politics and saturate themselves in a media atmosphere of toxicity, it isn't the Democrats' fault.
12
I have to admire Maureen for sitting through a Trumpian séance and coming out the other side, apparently unbroken. A 10-second clip on TV is too much for me to bear. November 2020 is just so far away.
12
It has always been incomprehensible how the dictators of the 1930's were able to build movements which killed millions, destroyed Europe and nearly the world. After the rise of Trump in a stolen election and the massive Big Lie propaganda that he skillfully uses to stir up his fanatic base, we can begin to understand the brutal history of the forces that brought on World War II.
Let us not repeat history. Get out the vote against Trump and his GOP sycophants while it is still possible.
17
Vile as a full ‘water closet’, yes
But, we all still slow down, transfixed,
And gander at the wreckage he brings.
We are all culpable
Unless we band together and vote
Him out of office when next we can.
7
As I see it, the problem is one of broad assumptions on both sides of these arguments. On one side is the left's dismay about Trump voters. What is going on in the heads of his supporters? The other side is the fact that the left voters - like the people reading the NYT - assume everyone is tuned into national affairs, international issues, and politics in DC. Well, that's a fantasy. If that were true, I imagine America would be very different than it really is. Sadly, and unfortunately, most of the voting citizens of this country don't care one way or the other about details. Half of them don't even bother to vote. One third of the voters just go with the right wing no matter what, and another third of the voters just go with the left wing no matter what. That leaves the final third - or one sixth of the total voting population somewhere in an Electoral Twilight Zone, and those are the people who actually swing elections one way or another. In 2016, they were taken for granted by the Democrats through their own hubris. On the other hand, the Republicans sang a simple tune called "MAGA" which resonated with the public. It worked. Keep it simple because, in the end it doesn't matter that the current president is a total jerk. Like it or not it's not unconstitutional to be a creep. So, Democrats, get over it. Stop shaking your heads. Find a message that says something. Make it clear, make it honest, and go everywhere with it. Dig in and work hard. It's your only chance.
5
Shouldn't we be attacking Putin instead of Trump as Putin got Trump elected?
3
Maureen, in Ben Hur (1959 MGM), Jack Hawkins' Quintus Arrius in his triumphal chariot stands with Charlton Heston holding a wreath of triumph, so indeed, 'all glory is fleeting...', but I assert our President is entitled to his victory laps as well. I hope Corey and the others whisper the cautionary words, but the difference is that unlike Roman days of old, what is 'epic' was not the celebration but the unending cable & other media assaults before the Michigan event. So, there is no 'smugness,' or 'wallowing', but a call to arms. For those of us who believe God sent Donald Trump to us in 2016 to choose or reject, he has acted manfully and with restraint as President. I cannot imagine how this President has withstood the attacks against him over the last period. In 2020, the voters will choose again, so stay tuned.
2
Name calling is manly?
Paying off pornstars is manly?
Filing for bankruptcy as a business model is manly?
Online bullying is manly?
Insulting the parents of soldiers who died in battle is manly?
I could go on
5
In a TV interview the other day, a pollster of swing voters in Wisconsin said they were not interested in the Mueller report, nor Trump's behavior, nor his foreign or domestic policies except those that affected the economy. If their economic well-being improved they would to support Trump. If the economy tanked they would dump Trump. Simple as that. Otherwise, they seemed as far removed from the Circus Maximus in D.C. as the astronauts on the space station.
191
@Christy Why am I not surprised? This is what we have become. Money speaks!
47
@Christy
The problem with trump supporters is that they are only concerned with their own pocketbook and/or their own religion. A sad lot of people indeed.
97
@Christy
That's not surprising. It is always about the economy. Remember Clinton's campaign slogan? "It's the economy, stupid." I can understand that the Russia interference thing is not the first on the list for most people.
It's healthcare, jobs, gun control, climate change.
But for the people who cheer him on at his rallies, for the 35% of the country who still believe in this man, his policies and programs and edicts directly hurt their pocketbooks (think the soy farmers). Yet they still cheer him on. Amazing.
80
I understand that the left feels some level of indignation about Trump’s gloating. Humility has never been Donald’s virtue. Perhaps though there would be less gloating if the left had not blown more than two years & millions of dollars vigorously & bitterly advancing the Russian Collusion myth. Perhaps Trump would be a bit more humble if the left just admitted they’re wrong. You reap what you sow.
35
Trump humble? You are joking, right?
108
@Once From Rome
Bengazi!
100
@Once From Rome
Tell that to his advisors who are preparing to report to prison.
181
Since Trump took office I have had to come to terms with two realities: 1) There is an authoritarian strain that runs through every culture and 2) democratic institutions and the rule of law act as a firewall from allowing authoritarian bents to get out of hand. There is no changing the beliefs of those men, women, and children waving their red hats and chanting lock her up or even worse, but so far at least, federal authorities, the courts, and the media are keeping the barbarians at the gate.
439
@Amanda Jones. Thank you for your comments; I have also had to do my best to come to terms with that truth. The authoritarianism is in plain view, has been since the campaign, but Trump is emboldened now. This commentary references the ‘bend-the-knee’ mood of the crowd. Bend-the-knee or give the salute — precisely the same.
33
I like to think that the US military and our police can be counted among those democratic institutions to support the rule of law, despite Trump’s attempt to bring them under his authoritarian tent.
20
@Amanda Jones
I’m proud of our Constitution and how it protects us also. I hope that our rule of Law and God’s will, will prevent the Democratic Party from their desperate and insane behavior and actions to destroy our freedoms and turn us into a third world country just so they can stay in power.
4
"It was strange, though, to have the victorious Vulgarian spewing bile right across the Grand River from the resting place of Gerald Ford, whose museum here offers words associated with Ford that seem quaint by Trump standards: Trustworthy, Respectful, Team Player, Compassion, Steady Leader."
Yup, Ford was all of those things. He also lost his the 1976 election campaign against a terminally weak Democrat named Jimmy Carter. It's always interesting to watch how "standards" are always something Democrats loudly expect and demand Republicans to display while exempting themselves from having those same standards.
4
@plaasjaapie
Excuse me for not getting your point. Are you saying that Ford and/or Carter did not have those qualities? Given the context, are you saying that Trump does? Human/group psychology is interesting indeed, as is your transition from those qualities to electability (what exactly is the connection in Trump's world of "alternative facts"?). I'd love to hear your comparison of Trump with Obama (examples, please).
6
Ford lost because he pardoned nixon. He made a bad choice if his goal was to be elected, but Ford always stood by that choice.
1
My hope is Trump is defeated and the House is reclaimed by the GOP.
4
@John You have got to be kidding.
2
Trump is constantly throwing mud against the wall, not hoping that some of it will stick, but knowing that the wall will be so completely covered that no one can even remember what it looked like.
33
This election has exposed something so horrible in us - perhaps something so horrible in the human race. But in America the land of the almighty dollar, hate has been entwined with greed - an even more toxic combination.
But never again will I accept any notion that using one's intellect is elite and therefore merits destruction or scorn.
I see now how people sent each other to chambers. At a campaign rally (pre-election) in VT, a Trump protester spoke up and Trump implored his slavish mindless acolytes to toss this person out into the winter night without their coat.
His audience loved it. Naturally.
20
Another promise he didn’t fulfill: Flint, Michigan is still using bottled water.
25
I find it a challenge listening to him speak due to his inability to put together a coherent thought. His base may find him amusing and exhilarating but as he has no new material he is really boring. The circus is now some sort of nightmare where the audience is unaware of their own participation and boorishness. Maybe his base will wilt from the burden of holding up this sham of a president.
25
I’ve read the Roman quote as “all glory is fleeting,”
Alas the ego is the culprit.
And Trump’s barrel has no bottom.
13
Mitch McConnell is the only power in Washington that matters. If he doesn't want it it doesn't happen. He has achieved his goal to halt the Imperial Presidency and to make the Senate the prime power in Washington. He serves a 6 year term with no limits on re-election. Donald Trump is a loud empty suit. A three card monte shill. He has not signed a law McConnell didn't want and his executive orders can't pass legal hurdles.
24
@Jamie Keenan
So true .Democracy to republicans like McConnel and Graham, just to name a few, is nothing more than a tool to be used when convenient. Fact is they have been pursuing unfettered authoritarian one party rule for a few decades now. Trump and his couldn't give a care attitude is the icing on the cake for the party of deception. He is doing their dirty work and they and their rich donors absolutely love it. If given their way democracy will be a thing of the past.
4
Three Op-Ed columns today (this one, Bouie and Douthat) speak to the lack of thought and coherence in Trump's policy positions. The central theme here is that Trump has no political philosophy by which to govern. He is that toddler who is attracted to the latest shiny object, he has no concept of object permanence, and only does what makes him feel good. His sexism, racism and ignorance aside, he is governed by his narcissistic urges. He will say anything and do anything that produces adulation from those in his base, even if the position du jour is different from yesterday's. While this creates an opportunity for Democrats, let them be forewarned that the path to defeating Trump is not thru emotions but through policy discussions pointing out emotional needs of voters. While this may seem cynical, it is not meant to be - candidates who wish to defeat Trump and his Congressional minions (?enablers) must address the inconsistency and fallacies of his fluctuating policy positions.
14
@Bob Parker
HRC had 4 policies for every problem, and made sure to tell you. She lost. This '20 election is NOT about problems and solutions, and rationality will NOT persuade his voters. All that will is anti-government rhetoric.
3
@AG
Trump's true base voters will vote for him irrespective of facts and often irrespective of what is in their self interest (e.g., healthcare?). The target in 2020 is the voter who chose Trump out of dislike for HRC and for the sole reason to have conservative judges appointed to the Federal bench. These voters will be influenced by rational policy discussions. Trump likely has no credibility among the center-right voter as he does not exhibit "core" conservative values such as fiscal responsibility, free trade and multilateral/multinational cooperation.
However, you are correct that these discussions alone are not sufficient. The Democrat's candidate must also exhibit passion (i.e., emotion) for something other than "defeat Trump".
There is only one issue that will united right and left and that is the environmental catastrophe which is rolling out before our eyes. New Orleans (flood)...Houston (rain)...New Jersey (storm)....North Carolina (storm)...
Midwest (flood), Florida (storm), California (everything) ...at some point the lightbulb will go off that we need policy action instead of campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. The political leader who articulates this will capture the golden center....and guess who that would never be. Orange Julius never saw a badly behaving corporation he didn't like.
11
The generals who rated Roman triumphs painted their faces red for the parade. Trump stays orange.
8
"Maybe Trump is just tired of winning."
Ms Dowd, Trump needs to look like a loser, like a large number of people are picking on him. This is one of the ways he keeps his base energized, fighting for the perceived loser, their hero.
11
I am quite sure that DJT has no such late night insecurities. Generally, healthy people would, but he is apparently wired differently.
4
How about a T-shirt that says, "Hillary Was Right"? Among other things she said which were true and some prescient, these people really are deplorable. What else would you call them?
18
@Virginia
As I said above, she was right, but it's only 'really right' by now.. Of course we'd rather have her than this pig, but she was definitely showing all her social climbing with the Goldman speeches and, although 'deplorables' is very appropriate now, she was stupid to say it then, so in love was she with her own snobbism. She knows that now, and wouldn't be so parvenu. i think she could win for sure this time.
1
What, he didn't enlighten the crowd with more Great Lakes hydrology? "Record deepness, right?"
4
To me it's obvious that The Don is showing off to his "Rubes" who want to be told what to think and who to hate. I wish they were more selective, shouldn't the smell test apply?
4
@Denis E Coughlin
Yes, she was right, but that doesn't make it a stupid thing to say, just because we can use it now righteously. She was a terrible candidate and knows it by now. It wasn't just her famous 'baggage', of course, it was Comey too, and by now anyone knows Trump is light-years worse. Bannon did say a couple of days ago he thought she might run, and she'd surely beat him this time if she has the energy. I don't like her, but Maureen did NOT elect Trump, and it could be time for Hillary finally--she's stronger than the other candidates if she's physically strong enough. I hope she does run.
1
I keep hearing our problem is looking down our noses at Trump supporters and thinking they are ignorant. When you listen to them speak how can you reach any other conclusion?
28
@William Whitaker
Not so. I know plenty of Trump supporters who are not racist or dumb, they just do not like government control or it telling people every step to take. Tired of being the white whipping boy for every other group. Tired economically.
So come up w a real economic plan instead of cutting taxes of the 1%. Stop harping on diversity and do it but quietly and it will happen- stop virtue signaling.
But lots are racist, pro-authoritarian, anti-women, anti-minority and those are unreachable.
2
This pathetic spectacle of Trump using this pregnant pause that Barr gave him, (the irrelevant 4 page summary of the summary, which merely gives Trump a few days to gloat, while the world awaits the review of the full Mueller report by Congress, the only authoritative body for which the report is intended), ranting to his base, so shrill, his excretory oratory, reminds me of the final scene in El Cid, when the defeated leader’s dying body (played by Charleston Heston), is mounted on his horse to ride down the beach to rally his warriors.
But the arrow of Trumps guilt was broken off, it cannot be removed — in his insistence on innocence, and retaliation, he can never be forgiven. But Melania is a fair stand-in for Sophia Loern’s character. Such pathos.
6
Mueller, "not my job, congress will determine his fate".
4
Republicans take offense at Democrats saying many Trump supporters are deplorable (because Trump supporters are Republicans).
Some pundits say it's not helpful to call Trump supporters deplorable. They say how will you change their minds if you offend them?
And Trump supporters take offense at being called deplorable.
But then we have Trump rallies where the audience cheers on an emotionally disturbed man-child, proving beyond any doubt, they are very deplorable.
20
Well we know what happened to the Roman Empire, don't we.
7
You’ve got to give Trump his due. The man has a lot of crass.
4
Is this a lull? There are still several fronts that provide our energizer bunny with material: the wall, NATO, North Korea, human rights . . . the list is long. Also, Mueller is gone but far from forgotten.
Give him a few weeks to get his energy back. He won't disappoint.
2
The Trumpy the Clown Show provides cover while the real crooks plunder ever last resource they can get hands on in this country and the third world including your life through insurmountable debt and taxes.
9
Dowd writes:
When Trump describes what he sees as the plot against him, it is a mirror image of what his foes see: a fraud perpetrated by corrupt people, “a sinister effort to undermine” the election and a poisoning of the national debate that has left us hurt and divided and “on artificial respirators,” tearing “the fabric of our great democracy.”
On first read, I thought the words "and a poisoning of the national debate that has left us hurt and divided" was a quote from his eminence. I thought he could not have written such words, those kinds of expressions don't come to his thinking. Then I reread the words and I saw they were not quotes from his eminence, but they were Dowd's. But I couldn't help wondering what he said to get from "a sinister effort to undermine" through "on artificial respirators" to end on "the fabric of our great democracy" which again, are not words that come to his thinking readily. I didn't hear the rally because I turn off the sound whenever his eminence appears on my TV. He has nothing good to utter for any real Americans, in my opinion.
1
Treason 18 U.S. Code § 2381. Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
9
Ignorance is bliss (and expensive). Those who cheer the pompous POTUS are those who think freedom exists only in the context of their own self interests. Discretionary spending accounts for only 12% of the federal budget. I wonder how they’re going to feel when the cuts to Medicaid/Medicare and “Socialists” security are imposed? Their job is almost done. Paul Ryan skates off the K street is the first clue. The only way to get the government small enough to drown in a bathtub is to blow a hole in the budget so catastrophically huge that the only way to address the resulting turmoil would be draconian cuts to the social safety net ie Medicare/Medicaid and social security. Those decisions will be farmed out to the Democratic Party to address. Meanwhile we spend 38 million a day in the Middle East trying to give those poor saps our version of “freedom.”
5
I suppose most of you already know that much of the rest of the world looks at these spectacles and concludes that he is simply a mad man with a lunatic following. What scares us so much is that there are so many of them and that he really doesn't care what happens to anyone but himself--least of all what happens to the planet we share with him and those in his thrall. We used to simply be disgusted; now we are truly afraid.
12
I regularly visit my dementia-afflicted relative in a nursing care facility. The rambling, irrational verbalizations and nonsensical behaviors I observe in my relative and some of his fellow residents aren't all that different from some of those that Trump displays at his campaign rallies and interactions with the press. WHERE IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?????
11
Age is a thing. People run out of team. Trump relishes being on stage, whipping up the crowds, but he has no one whipping him up. His aides might whisper you are immortal in his ears, but with the kind of low vegetable food that he eats, blood ain't flowing as well in his arteries. He probably does realize how it must feel to be constantly cried birther to (in fact Michelle Obama wrote in her book that she was scared of her family's safety), at least one would imagine he is capable of other emotions besides vengeance and victimhood. Trump needs to know he is not a victim, its karma pure and simple. The only reason the media has not given him a moment's peace, is because he incessantly harassed a decent family just because they were not white, to him they were not deserving of the presidency. And you, Maureen, did not help matters one bit, by constantly being critical of Obama. Only the universe knows how hard Obama tried to be: decent kind thoughtful focused scandal free...despite all the hounding he got from unappreciative folks.
16
@petey tonei
Maureen is a Democrat, but she tries, with some mistakes (just like all of us make) to get to the truth in at least somewhat non-partisan way. She was disgusted at the White House on Lewinsky (and Hillary war part of that smear), and you could tell that she liked Obama even if she busted jellies sometimes. Hillary deserved the criticisms, and Trump deserved the credit for calling out Bush and Condi for their idiocy on the Bin Laden Intelligence of Aug., 2011. All the things she said about Hillary's ridiculous Goldman Sachs parvenu act were true.
That said, she has been merciless to Trump once she, like most of us, saw how imcompetent and disgusting and mean and destructive he is. It's not easy to balance out politicians, most of them have a measure of corruption. Pelosi is about the only one who has very little, and she's too old to run--makes the whole crop of Dem candidates look pathetic.
She's a fine writer and thinker, and there's that one at WaPo, the Republican, who always tries to imitate her, but she lost it with 2 articles praising Lindsay Graham. She's not 'even' with everything, but she usually gets it right, and is so often brilliantly witty.
3
"Maybe trump, like America, is just tired of winning." I have to be hopeful that Americans tire of an administration that champions anger, corruption, incompetence and dishonesty. How sad the lives of grown people still attending maga rallies shouting "lock her up". The era of ignorance can't continue; I used to think Americans were too talented to tolerate it for long.
7
Your whole column shows just how unproud we should be to have a president like trump. Your column shows how wrong his supporters are and how necessary it is for us to “throw the bum out”. We need a full reading of the Mueller Report, we need the SDNY to finally reveal trump’s true nature. We need to feel clean again.
11
His voters assuredly do come from the river. The river of spite, ignorance and incoherent rage. That's the secret to his " election " and iron-fisted grip on the GOP Base. They will never, ever admit they've been conned, used and abused to satisfy a megalomania of legendary proportions and historic catastrophe. Enjoy the Circus, Trump Fans. When the Tent folds up, the Freaks pack up, and the show leaves town, you'll be left with the detritus. The damage, the despair and all the unpaid Bills.
Would could have guessed ??? Denial, it's not just a river in Egypt.
7
"Maybe Trump, like America, is just tired of winning." I should think that the majority of Americans are suffering from Trump Exhaustion Syndrome. Yesterday's oratorical litany of Trump and Company's deplorable behavior knitted together so effectively by Senator Adam Schiff should and would, in "normal times," have had the intellectual and emotional octane to shut up any politician or, in this case, the entire Republican party, but America is politically exhausted, worn out by this megalomaniac MAGA mad hatter phony president, and his gang of opportunists and dwindling crowds of wacko admirers. Perhaps, someday soon, the tide of public opinion will sweep the very mention of this president off of the front page and into the entertainment section under "Crime and Horror Fiction."
8
Until Trump's base feels the personal affects of his actions, they'll continue to glorify his humiliation, arrogance and ignorance. It won't matter if they still support him or not; it will just be too late for all of us.
6
Trump never fails his most ardent critics with his self-mutilation act after what might be seen as a victory. With the pathetic Barr letter in hand waving it over the heads of his detractors he declares, we are going to kick 21 million Americans of health insurance, to the great applause of no one. At his rally in Grand Rapids Michigan standing there, at the podium, with his blood red tie running down his white shirt. He takes a right hook in his eye by picking a fight with Michell Obama. "A man of constant sorrows".
4
That Trump didn’t compliment Mueller’s thoroughness, intelligence, and patriotism at reaching his summary conclusion tells it all: Trump is a divider, a warlord, if you will. His “red hats” rally around a common enemy, be it non-whites, immigrants, or Democrats. Rather than uniting the Republic in common cause, such has affordable health care, modernized infrastructure, conservation, smaller public school class size, better pay for teachers, solar energy (to name only a few), Trump’s hate mongering MAGA’s want to point a finger or a gun at concocted enemies.
8
Or, maybe we are all tiring of this effluvium....
3
There are two things Dear Leader is too vain and too foolish to see. One, is he is an old man not in very good physical shape and it's showing. Two, he's been conned---or has conned himself---into a kind of "rope-a-dope." He's not a man to pick his fights. He's not in control of himself and has to start throwing punches at anyone, everyone who seems a threat, says "No" to him, arouses even mild irritation, wounds his vanity, or just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a debilitating character flaw in a president. And, there's no shortage of threats. Even though the Mueller/Barr report seemed initially to offer a temporary reprieve, they now seem likely to increase.
3
Sounds like a Special Olympics for one.
Without drug testing.
3
Although called a "Special Counsel", it was not an investigation, it was an inquisition.
Made up with too many Hillary supporters.
That this modern day Laud or Torquemada did not come up with the goods needed to depose a sitting president is a massive failure.
But the Left will not quit.
2
His is a sick circus, alright. But, Ms. Dowd, “distain him” cannot come close to the utter horror experienced by sentient beings since Trump lumbered onto the scene to be taken seriously by you and other influencers. Whether or not you intended to usher in this hellish excuse for governance, we’re stuck with it on technicalities.
As to your “Hillary forgot” Michigan: The state’s few voters who forgot democracy are not her odious baggage to schlepp. You can cart that. For every column that moves you to wax satirical into 2020, there are preposterous words from the past that stung Hillary for no good reason. I hope the damage done so far compels you to get serious. Words matter.
9
I posted a perfectly fine comment on Maureen's piece last Friday, but Censorship did not allow it to be published, and my time is valuable, so I will be brief here:
No matter how correct Maureen is in her criticisms, as long as this economy continues to be stellar, despite Trump's Democratic Protectionist attempts to mess with it, and especially as his numerous opponents are as utterly pathetic as they seem to be now, he will not only be reelected, but he will be reelected in a LANDSLIDE.
Republican colleagues of mine plan to vote in the Dem primaries in my state, and told me they will vote for that octagenarian socialist Sanders, as they forecast that even if he is in ok health by Nov 2020, he will be trounced in the general election.
4
@Thor I'm with Beto in the primary. It will be fun to watch "White male privilege" be cured.
Well, we'll soon find out who is losing more altitude: Donald Trump or Rachel Maddow's viewership?
As far as smugness, Maureen: if much of the mainstream media, the so-called Coastal Elites, Left cognoscenti, academia and the talking head experts filling your cable TV screen day after day night after night who are supposed to be so much more intelligent than the "Deplorables" spent two years telling the country they knew for a fact you were a Russian puppet and spy, and the investigation they were so sure would prove them correct ended up debunking them all, you'd be just a bit smug, too. Yes? Be honest, now.
One other side note: If any Trump-hater bothered to read the summary submitted by William Barr AND Rod Rosenstein (a convenient but continual omission by those who prefer living in denial), the wording actually shows that Bob Mueller had no reason to charge Trump with obstruction and so had no ruling. And in legal terms, you cannot obstruct justice if there was no crime.
Got it? Now if the Dems want to win in 2020, they need to move on and give the country a real reason why anyone should vote for any of their candidates. That they are selling real policy proposals rather than sulking and clinging to a delusion or papering over some anti-semitic dog whistles coming from certain elements now within the Democratic Party as it struggles to find itself. So far, they've gotten off on an inauspicious start as far as this Independent voter is concerned.
5
@JW
Read the summary?
You mean the 4-page summary of a 400+ page report, which only contained FOUR, zero-context partial sentences from the actual report (54 words in total), and which AG Barr has already had to issue TWO walk-back letters which claimed that the first letter really wasn't a true summary of the complete report? That summary?
Every other presidential investigation report (Nixon, Clinton) was released to congress within DAYS of its completion. AG Barr has delayed releasing the true Muller report for over a week now, with a promise to keep delaying it for several weeks more while he tries to redact as much from it as he can.
As a lifelong Democrat I will be happy to "move on" if you can explain to me why your side is so utterly terrified of this report becoming public that it really looks like congress will have to subpoena Barr to get it released.
Why are you praising the whitewash that Barr is trying to pull?
2
Maureen, neither Trump nor America will ever tire of winning. The bizarre liberal view that “America was never that great” and the liberal fantasy of a “post-American world order” or a “post-American 21st century” will never come to fruition. Trump represents American winning, and that’s why he’s the perfect American president today. The dreary anti-America depression of liberals is puzzling.
2
What a disgraceful man! There isn't in him an ounce of prudence, honesty, modesty, generosity, understanding of human nature, compassion. His perspective on life is made up of winners and losers. He doesn't understand honorableness of the defeated, the dignity of poverty or empathy for the needy.
He can only think of wealth and the power of money: "I went to the best schools. I have the greatest apartment." He is not a leader because he doesn't understand that a leader lifts his people and not himself. He would be a dictator if he led a country where the circumstances allow such a turn. The kind of dictator who would put up statues to himself (He already does that with his Trump signs all over). When this nightmare is over, I can only hope that people will stop and reflect on what the country really needs.
7
Jesus come quickly!
We need another Great Depression soon.
2
Trump's followers are enamored with his vulgar and obscene comments. It's their way of getting back at the stuffed-shirts in the GOP. It's childish and embarrassing, not to mention Trump has become a laughing stock on the world stage. They don't care. It's a "Me Now" attitude, one that becomes more and more bizarre. All we can do, is vote out the Vulgarian-In-Chief in 2020. Let's do it!
6
Trump's a good bully, but isn't good at much else. As you say, he needs a foe to attack, as that seems to draw the masses to unleash their misguided fury through him, vicariously. We keep wondering when their fury is going to be turned on him, as his policies are doing them no favors, but maybe it will take them losing their healthcare to realize they elected a man incapable of selfless ambitions. So, unless there is something in it for him,as in power, wealth or status, he has no time to consider it and would rather spend his executive time watching Fox and golfing at his courses on the taxpayer's dime. Maybe the 'collusion delusion' wasn't able to really delude him and the reality is starting to seep into his conscious, that the jig is up and soon he will have to pay the piper (He may prefer the American Legal System to the Russian Mafia). Justice will be served. The day of reckoning will come. As to the crowds at the Circus Maximus, how can you cheer on this fool? He has less decency than any man I've even known? Have you no shame?
4
Even if the report concluded that Trump actively, personally conspired with Russian intelligence at rhe direction of Putin himself to affect the election results—Trump would simply continue to double down on “deepstate” conspiracies . He’d continue to call the Press “sick enemies of the people”and gin up his base, maintaining his stranglehold on the unchanging 45% of the voteres he has. The GOP would decline to act and continue to accommodate themselves to this President in the hope of re-election, more SCOTUS apointees and their agenda of satisfying the Koch brothers, Sheledon Adelson
Nothing has changed here: no one is changing their minds about him oneway or another. The summary of conclusions delivered by Barr, begs for the full report,and the redacted version which in turn begs for the unredacted version.
The gaslighter-in-cheif continues to spew the tweeting gibberish intended to wear down opposition. Delay,delay, delay until the election forces the issue. And hope the voters aren’t finally fed up him by November and that the economy is o.k. Thats his plan. It has a chance.
3
It’s long past time these “Let’s Make A Deal” MAGA rallies fall into mainstream news obscurity. Nothing happens but enthused robots cheering the fractured grammar and totally bizarre constructions of one mighty embarrassment of a U.S. President.
6
It took Ms Dowd a thousand words to tell us she doesn't like Trump? But we already knew that.
Here's a, if not "the," problem: the Democrats are so blinded by hatred of Trump-the-man that they can't--or won't--see that the policies of Trump-the-president are actually very effective. It's like my wife--she's normally kinda Rightish in a just-barely-interested kind of way, but she loudly loathes Trump so much that if I even mildly counter that unemployment is way down, the GDP is way up, or anything else even remotely positive, things get louder in an instant.
This hatred, from my wife and from the Democrats, just isn't rational. Yes, Trump is a crumb, a jerk, a boor, an "-ist" of several sorts, but so what? He wasn't elected Paragon-in-Chief. As long as his policies work, what does it matter that he's following the long tradition of Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton?
I'm not sure why my wife hates Trump so much--his collection of sins isn't terribly unusual these days (or, actually, historically...)--but for the Democrats I guess it's mostly due to feeling cheated--though they themselves, through the campaign and since, have been doing most of the cheating.
You can't win on hate, Democrats--we'll just hate you right back and by November 2020 we'll have had years of booming economy and no foreign policy disasters while you'll have to run on ban-the-beef, magical coast-to-coast bullet trains, and "free" everything paid for by imaginary legions of nasty "rich" people.
3
"Children, weep ye not for me, although I'm dead and gone. Children, you'll soon follow me. Find your God and come along." {From early nineteenth century gravestone in Baptistown, N.J.}.
Now imagine Trump's final wishes for his people when his final hour arrives. It's impossible to assign the man thoughts beyond that of a common grifter whose professed closeness to God was a lie to get votes.
A life bereft of meaning beyond self aggrandizement and defense of the ego is about as sad as can be imagined.
Pray for President Trump with all your heart. Otherwise, the ship of State is rudderless and, worse, captained by a madnman.
5
@dove
I think the ship of State is already rudderless, captained by a madman, and headed for the shoals, three sheets to the wind and all sails up and set.
2
I don’t even know what to say anymore. He just disgusts me so much. He is the vilest of creatures. I could not dream up a fictional character as loathesome. And if I had, critics would say it’s unbelievable.
Trump is horrifying, but what horrifies me more, are the millions of people who not only accept him, but who adore him. Where do these people get their hatered? Economic hardship? Feeling cast aside? Feeling belittled? Cry me a river and get over yourselves. Minorities have always had it worse and still do. I don’t hate them back, but I certainly have contempt for them.
28
@Kurt and Maureen,
I wonder is you have heard Leonard Cohen's "Democracy".
Cohen sang "Democracy is coming... to the USA". (1992)
Perhaps, perhaps, if Democrats sang this song, over and over, again, right now, it would help to wake people up.
Perhaps, perhaps, if Maureen Dowd and the NY Times discussed Cohen's prophetic song it would help, too.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is one recent, animated version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ythb4PSWBIA&t=100s
Maybe Democrats can make the case that Trump insanity is inviting a wave of democratic resistance, a new democracy.
"Democracy is coming...to the USA"
Democracy is coming...to the USA???
-----------------------------------------------
Trump the extreme narcissist told more than 8500 documented lies since being in office. Trump is a self-confessed molester of women. Trump has proven his racism again and again with his anti-Obama birther ritual and his selfish perpetual rants for his Wall. Trump has demonstrated his ignorance of the law, of US history and of international events. Trump, the eternal TV Clown, insults the United States before the world with every move he makes, with every breath he takes.
Despite this blatant proof of Trump's incompetence and the harm he brings to our country, his millions of adoring fans think he is their god who can do no wrong.
Trump is who he is and always has been. The most disturbing revelation to date has been the number of people who support this human disgrace and the willingness of the Republican leadership to maintain Trump as the symbol of their Party. Is it low education? White Nationalism? Hypocritical religious fundamentalism? Fox News 24/7 right wing propaganda? More likely it is a combination of all of these factors that place our nation to the edge of a dark Trumpian abyss from which there is no return.
The majority of Americans mist wake up, rise up and throw egomaniac Trump and his Republican stooges out of office...or else!!
19
"Trump’s simplistic mind." All of that to be sure but add: vindictive, arrogant, racist, misogynist, crook, liar, bully and ignorant. I wonder how all the MAGA hat folks would have reacted had he strolled tp the podium and talked about - immigration reform, jobs and retraining, foreign policy, equitable tax reform, health care... fairness, integrity, compassion. If these were to be his topics, he wouldn't even know where to begin ... and I would guess he wouldn't get too many people to come to his lovefests.
14
Why can you do with a huge portion of the electorate who listened to a presidential candidate admitting to serial sexual assault and who, during the campaign, was ordered to pay $25 million for having defrauded Americans via a scam university, who ran a scam "charitable foundation", etc., but who ignore than in order to call the other candidate "crooked" with no evidence of anything crooked? That kind of stupid has its own special place but that it actually got a man elected to the US Presidency is just plain scary.
30
@Virginia~
Excellent summary Virginia. It continues to baffle me.
1
@Jose Pieste ~
Since you are a stickler for accuracy, trump groped women without their consent.
"At least 22 women have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct since the October 2016 release of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape where Trump is heard bragging about grabbing women’s genitals and kissing them without consent." http://fortune.com/2019/02/25/trump-campaign-staffer-lawsuit-against-sexual-assault/
2
Bill Maher had it dead on: this is a con man who lives for vengeance. The only hope lies in decent people of all political parties whom don't want our nation becoming hateful, violent and poor. Russia is a joke. Our vitriol is not.
13
Think about trump's term Fake News...if the media would stop reporting "Fake News" how refreshing it would quickly become as this awful person named trump would disappear from the news overnight. Take a stand and quit reporting his meaningless rants.
11
@Jean
Just remember...
If you quote Donald Trump verbatim, in complete context, then you are by definition reporting falsehoods.
4
This column comes close, very close, to befitting the expression,
"There is no there there."
Go ahead. Read it and then try to tell someone what you read.
You'll struggle.
2
MoDo, MoDo, MoDo. You are better than this. You and 60 million other people have been bad mouthing DJT since the escalator. It's time to admit you have a problem.
Starting in June 2015 until November 8th, 2016, "Trump can't win". And, then he wins. Before the inauguration, there was a full on assault to prevent him from assuming the office. That failed. Then, the Russia collusion, obstructing justice fantasy started it's 18 month run. Much like Michael Meyers and Freddy Kruger's never ending death fest, this nightmare continues.
Just like "Hillary is going to win", the mantra, "Mueller must be allowed to finish his work", has carried us this far. Hillary lost and Mueller finished. President Trump is still winning.
There are 12 or 16 or 378 Democrats running to challenge Trump, Mano A Mano. I wonder how that will end. Not much wondering required, if history is a guide.
MoDo, you brought up President Ford. He was a class act. And he was beaten by the undisputed worst US President. Ever.
I think there must be more than a few anti-Trumpers out there that think, "Maybe we are wrong. Maybe the MSM has been lying to us for 2 years."
It is time to accept DJT is the POTUS. It's time to admit you have a problem.
2
@Mike: It's time for you to accept that Trump only wants to be POTUS of his supporters, not of every American. And only in sofar as his supporters are useful to him. Once he has their votes in 2020, he'll ignore them because if (big IF) he gets elected again, he can't for a third time so his suporters aren't useful for him anymore. If he gets re-elected, he'll just relax in Mar-a-Lago or on his NJ golf course, and sign anything his billionnaire supporters and Putin's oligarchs want him to sign in return for a hefty "donation" to his bank account...
2
@Mike We do have a problem, and it is named Donald J. Trump.
1
We will always have those who cheer the dictator, who say "we need a STRONG leader!", who claim every bit of factual evidence of his wrong doing is "fake news" and "treason!".
Democracy isn't easy, and, sad to say, it isn't the way of Nature. "King of the Hill" is what's natural. Dog and wolf packs have alphas. Tom cats of every cat species from Whiskers to lions in the veldt will kill the kittens of another male to bring the female back into heat. Even among wild horses a stallion will have a harem and kill any colt not his own.
And humans have played that same bloody game since long before we had history. Democracy is a fragile flame, a dynamic equilibrium that is easily shattered. And Trump, with help from Republicans and avid followers is shattering it here. His attacks on the 4 pillars of the 1st Amendment, on separation of powers, on election integrity, on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th(yes even that one!), the 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th (You know, IRS), 22nd (term limit), 24th (poll tax), 25th (claiming implementing it is a crime), and Habeas Corpus are out there to see.
Years ago, 2 friends visited the man's aunt in Chile, during the Pinochet terrors. The woman, not a Latina, was shocked that his aunt LOVED what Pinochet was doing "We need a strong leader!" she declared! The woman was shocked and disgusted. The nephew sadly resigned to her.
Is that really what people want? A 1-party nation with an unaccountable leader? I don't!
4
Trump world has the gleeful nihilism of a Fellini movie, but mostly I see Trump as Slim Pickens riding the A bomb in Dr. Strangelove.
Trump makes the guy in Idiocracy look like a Philosopher King.
5
Did anyone over the age of 8 really expect this arch-vulgarian to react any differently? The spectacle of this clod marching around like a demented peacock is almost unbearable. I thought I was developing a thick crocodile-skin to Trump's utter stupidity but his gift just keeps on giving.
8
Hes fat and eats like he talks- maybe he just wasnt feelin' it and is wondering how the -you-know-what he is going to muscle through another campaign
1
Trump is the greatest loser of all time.
5
But Trump did not seem to be savoring his triumph so much as wallowing in his victimhood...
Stormy Daniels writes Trump enjoys a good spanking. It could be Trump now wants to be spanked by the woman he calls 'Nancy', and that's the real reason he's once again demeaning and threatening to destroy her signature achievement, The Affordable Care Act. But Pelosi won't give him the satisfaction of a spanking - he's just not worth the trouble.
8
Nice investigating, writing and structuring, MD/NYT.
Excellent capture of 50% big boss and 50% little boy.
The first half can lose energy like that with such crowds because they are too easy to control for the first half’s modicum of intellect.
To paraphrase John Dean, Trump is the "cancer" of his own presidency and to the rule of law.
Marmion: "Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive"
Sir Walter Scott
5
Any irony on Trump's imbecile stand will, most certainly, be lost to him. He is a simpleton with a malevolent attitude, a vulgar bully (a coward in disguise) who chose ignorance over knowledge, thinking that what he doesn't know can't hurt him (hence, unwilling to read even the reports he depends on to function as a responsible president). But you must give it to him, for being consistent, his ability as a demagogic rabble-rouser to control his thoughtless 'base' from revolting. Or getting tired from his outworn nonsense. Or his repeated, at nauseum, lies and insults, to satisfy his ravenous hunger for applause. But then again, don't you think foolish to expect edible fruit from a poisonous tree?
6
“The president had wrested the “No Collusion” headline he dearly craved, and Thursday he would claim his laurels. It was a moment to strut and gloat and curse and insult.”
Let’s be clear minded about what has happened: Mueller obtained numerous convictions of Trump associates, implicated others, and exposed Trump and his family to widening investigation.
An investigator’s inability to gather enough direct, material, corroborated evidence to prove guilt isn’t proof of innocence.
Trump publicly encouraged the Russians.
Trump’s son met with Russians.
Trump lied about the date of his son’s meeting with Russians.
Trump met, alone, with Russians in the White House, and bragged about firing the head of the FBI.
Trump prefers Putin to any Western leader of a democratic government.
Our intelligence agencies tell us Russia did, is, and will continue to interfere in Democratic processes.
Trump’s opponents were foolish to believe there would be evidence sufficient to clearly implicate him in conspiracy.
But Mueller has been able to further show Trump to be the coward, liar, cheat, bully, fraud and amoral man he daily, publicly demonstrates he is.
The only Americans who don’t care about that are either like Trump, stand to gain from Trump, and are unwilling to risk that, making them amoral, too, or they’re willing sheep, not unlike the Good Germans of WW II who celebrated Nazis until it became necessary to not know what had been going on.
12
Elect a clown, expect a Circus, the only question is when will this nightmare end....
11
Its not Mueller's job to exonerate. Its his job to investigate and prosecute. If he doesn't indict that's the end of it. Mueller obviously doesn't like Trump. But Trump is a very unlikeable person. His arrogance and hutzpah are galling. His grasp of his job is pathetic. He has succeeded royally in self aggrandizement. A 100 million in tax cuts and whatever other garish tacky misuses of power he has perpetrated . The plutocrat's populist. The anti Semitic buddy of Israel. Accused of being Putin's minion in fact Trump is just what the neo cons ordered. More hostility directed at Russia. Trump really doesn't stand for anything except for Trump always cashing in. If a rip off is big enough and spellbinds his enablers he always walks away with the loot.
4
There is also the question of whether three dozen indictments, including of the now-notorious Mike Flynn and Paul Manafort, along with the public hatchet jobs to James Comey and Jeff Sessions, even add up to exoneration...
3
The only way Kaptain Kaos is happy is when he is miserable as a victim. I know that is somewhat contradictory, but then K.K. is contradictory to all that is good and truly American.
2
What’s “won” by hating is simply the adulation of fools. That’s some prize. I think I will pass....
2
The slave actually said, "All fame is fleeting." Maureen, no need to dumb it down for us.
2
Interesting that this disturbing piece on Trump, Pompeo, and the Rapture is so hard to find now in the Times, and that comments were never enabled.
Anyone with a brain should be concerned.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/us/politics/pompeo-christian-policy.html
4
Emperor Trump should recall the story of Icarus. You can strap on a pair of wings but you are ill advised to fly too close to the sun.
2
He appeased the Russians and believes them over our CIA, Defense, FBI and Homeland security experts.
The same Russia that enslaved Eastern Europe for 50 years and kept both of his wives families stuck in rotting communist failed states.
Nothing can change that. He is the poodle of Putin and always will be. Eventually, the truth of his compromised financial dealings with Russia will come out. Hopefully, all the remaining WWII, Korean and Viet Nam war vets that bravely fought communism will remember they were forsaken by him and his phony bone spurs.
6
After 2 years of daily lies, betrayals, bullying and paranoia I still dont understand why his white base has not abandoned this lunatic. They say they love him because he's just like one of them: so they are admitting that they are crude, coarse, liars and paranoid? That's a pretty sad indictment on themselves.
9
“It was going to be epic, like those Roman triumph celebrations...”
Judging from our “would-be” emperor’s latest unhinged performance in Michigan, he and his followers had better enjoy their “toga party” rallies while they can, because “the decline” is clearly already here and in 2020, “the fall” is coming and the majority of Americans in will be in the Circus Maximus cheering “Sic semper tyrannis!”
4
#The Low Energy Don#
1
Don Trump started the terrible political climate of 2016 by having hate-fests of Hillary for his sharp fanged followers. He got what he deserved from the public. Watching him prowl like a predator around Hillary in the last debate on stage, I watched with horror anticipating the beast to attack her physically. During one of his national campaign appearances, he crowd sourced American gun radicals by saying how terrible it would be if someone shot Hillary. He's a Mad Man. "Sick, Sick".
What if Apes ruled the Planet? Or do they?
3
Hilarious, but better than "Beto" endeavoring to make America more like Central America. Heck, there's a reason why the "migrants" don't bother with Mexico or Canada, and it's not Beto's vision.
1
@David
Just as some Central Americans travel through Mexico to apply for asylum in the US, so do some continue their travels right through the US to apply for asylum in Canada. A man I met through work is one such person. He told me he was scared of Americans and the deeply ingrained gun culture. He also told me of the medical tests that he, his wife and children had to undergo in order to be proven not to be attempting to cheat the Canadian healthcare system.
Mexicans and Jamaicans also work seasonally in the fields and greenhouses of rural Southwestern Ontario. In one area of which I'm familiar, Jamaicans harvest tomatoes and peppers in greenhouses, and local youths get their first work experiences in broccoli patches labouring next to Mexicans.
Why do I not have a problem with this when it certainly sounds like many Americans do? I truly wonder. Is it because there appears to be a better social safety net for immigrants to the US than for US citizens? Or is there something flawed in my perspective?
Began my day with Dagens Nyheter (DN) reading how Recep Tayyip Erdogan is bringing his country down because, among other things, he does not understand economic policy. Next a fascinating article about Swedish “bedragare” impostors but better called, as the author reminded me, “con men”.
A link took me to an article addressing the distinction between two types who may become con men, the psychopath and the mythomaniac, this phrase catching my eye.
“A psychopath lies first and foremost for strategic reasons. A mythomaniac lies compulsively and cannot control his lying.”
Can an individual, specifically the President of the United States be both? He certainly is a mythomaniac, now documented beyond question.
But a question remains. A mythomaniac lies to one person at a time to defraud that person, and one-by-one to accomplish the seemingly impossible. My Swedish plumber was defrauded by a “mytoman” and wound up with 10 other plaintiffs putting that person in jail for 2 years - they thought.
Only took the jailee a few months to con the jailers into being released. Months later, back in jail again, 3 years! Conned even the plumber again!
Trump cannot lie face-to-face, one person at a time as did my plumber’s con-man. Trump brings his deception off one tweet at a time, converting Americans so totally that I fear he, an Erdogan in the making, will keep his adherents firmly glued, bringing us and them down for good.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
Michigan was the place to rub it in, because it will always be remembered as a place Hillary forgot.
===============================
NO. Hillary won MI and WI -----
IF the provisional ballots were counted. Most of those ballots were cast by Black and Hispanic men with common names. They did not return the postal reply card inside an envelope sent them in mid August purposefully designed to look like junk mail. That's why their names were removed from the voting rolls. When they showed at the polls, they were given provisional ballots. Republican majorities in the MI and WI statehouses voted against including those provisional ballots in the election tally.
Greg Palast reported all about this in 2017 -- in print, in text on the internet, on internet radio, and on youtube video. Dowd saw none of that.
Dowd does not bother with news favorable to Hillary and cannot countenance treating Hillary with kindness. That's why Dowd has NEVER mentioned that Hillary won MI and WI; if the provisional ballots had been counted.
9
Putin wanted Trump in office because he's malleable. All you have to do is wave a few dollars or fluff his ego.
Who in their right mind would collude with a dummy like that?
The Russians had to do it by themselves.
The Times has run several articles and columns (as has everyone else) in full breast-beating and partial mea culpa mode about the over-extensive coverage of the Mueller Report, about how it would blow the lid off this corrupt administration, until it apparently didn't. Until the report is released in full, it's hypocritical for columns like this to then appear on the same subject.
2
Ah but you have not focussed your bile on the Democrats yet. You were brilliant in taking down the Clintons for Trump. I hope he thanked you.
6
Maureen observes that Donald went flat at what should have been his moment of triumph. Moreover, he of course, managed, in his inimitable way, to do something colossally stupid on the heels of his pardon by Bill Barr, by allowing himself to be goaded back into the healthcare debate by the morons that work for him. No fool like an old fool.
A related and important point was made this week by Haberman and Karni. Donald is tired. Hallelujah. Two years into his first real job and the old boy is worn out. His punishing schedule of eating junk food, watching Fox, styling his lavish mane, tweeting, golfing, lashing out, calling friends on his unsecure cell phone, thinking up nicknames for his enemies and nursing his perpetual grievances has taken a toll.
Let’s keep an eye on that people. He was never up to the job intellectually or temperamentally. Perhaps his strategy is to try to be re elected, have Pence pardon him and exit the scene.
5
Donald Trump is as guilty as sin, he knows it, his sons know it, Ivanka and Jared know it, all of his WH lackeys like Kellyanne and Sarah Sanders know it, members of his cabinet know it and every republican member of congress knows it. The only ones who don't know it are unfortunately, his supporters. What a shame.
8
Ms. Dowd seems to like kicking dead horses, dealing with the past or the obvious present. Her article reads like a parlor piece, written by a home bound author, presented to the relatives for a reward of knowing smiles and nodding heads.
Musing on the vagaries of trump and attempting to normalize him as just your tired creepy old politician is not only tired, but also misses the big picture by a Michagan mile.
1
He asked for help.
He was offered help.
He got help.
They lied about the Trump tower meeting.
They lied about their Russian contacts.
They lied about the Trump tower Moscow project.
He refused to sit for an interview with Mueller.
He lied about being totally exonerated.
But he attacks the Clintons, he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he stacked the supreme court with judges that favour overturning Roe v. Wade, and he drives the "libtards" crazy, so...
I guess it all evens out?
3
Last weekend was a highly scripted event including the timing of when the report was 'delivered'. This is the kind of performance Trump specializes in in order to hoard attention. He is in no way in the clear, as the 75 words Barr let people see said, but the noise he generated having already decided how the weekend would go via Barr's questionable statements bought his lawyers time to further manipulate what actually goes to Congress.
11
@VH Why are Barr's statements questionable? He made them with assistance from Mueller. Give it up already and worry about your own corruption in Canada.
I perceive Trump as being like many businessman i have known in the business world. Like him or hate him for it, he is focused on delivering a product. If that requires being disliked at times or the bearer of bad news he'll accept that. Like a soldier in war. he has grown accustomed to the carnage.
I have also known some legislators, and many teachers. They move very slow, they are incredibly generous to one another with taxpayer money. They give each other rave reviews until the cutbacks come, when they take out the knives and go after one another.
How they react often has as much to do with their position and experience as with who they are as individuals.
Somewhere along the line those indolent civil servants will have to pick up on having to play the bad guy and confront unpleasant realities - and paint a vision based in reality.
At the same time the bad boys of industry can also learn to be nobler in their actions. Bill Gates for me will always be a business thug and a crook, yet now he is looked upon as a saint.
Dowd should keep the lines of communication between Trump and her open. She is correct that the ACA needs to be defended and so he needs to be open to hearing from people such as her.
I am for trump because he is blaring the siren over immigration, the biggest threat; the biggest cause of destruction to the environment. I'm glad he is disrupting the straight jacket and hypocrisy of political correctness.
A nation gets the leaders it deserves.
1
@Ben Ross
I believe we need to control immigration, but the U.S. has to stop interfering in the affairs of other countries.
Some would say that the U.S. has been the biggest threat. More than a century of damage has been done in Central America by U.S. intervention/invasion. Strange that we are now upset when the damaged result of this imperialism shows up at our door....
2
@Ben Ross
Trump is a failed businessman who is not focused on delivering a product but only selling a product that never will be made.
1
@Susan
I agree the US had no business meddling in s american affairs simply for traditional caricaturist capitalistic, imperialistic reasons. But it is not true that S. Americas problems arise primarily from those actions. The population explosions in s america have been there since people got there - human sacrifice, temples-pyramids built out of human skullls. Fpr all its shortcomings - of which there are many - western civilization has many virtues which is why so many people want to come here - lets not be enablers for these countries which are only to quick to blame us for all their problems - we all in our personal lives have to make do - one day at a time - time for central and south america to realize that with modern medicine also comes a responsibility for family size - unbelievable how good people can close their eyes and plug their ears when it comes to this issue ---- we are not the only living things on the planet
Trump only gets away with this garbage for two reasons, which, in the end, are one: His vaunted base and the cowards in congress terrified of them.
32
@Michael Judge: The cowards in the Senate have overseen the appointment of the most cavemen to the judiciary in living memory. The cowards have implemented budget-busting, self-enriching tax cuts.
1
Maureen, there is so much more important things to talk about these days than another inane rally. Did you learn nothing from the lead up to the 2016 election? Please, for the love of God, start writing about the issues instead of the personalities. The future of our country is at stake.
16
My first reaction was, "What? Maureen Dowd was actually there on the floor with this crowd?" Extraordinary. I mean she's so...elegant. It just doesn't seem right that she should have to hobnob with the hoi polloi. New respect!
1
@Auntie DJ
She's as 'trouper' and a fine journalist, and goes to things nobody wants to go to. NOt only mind-numbing spectacles likes this, but the Clinton Failures in Toronto recently where hardly anybody came. I think the world of her, she's always trying to get it right (usually does, but doesn't quite understand Catherine Deneuve, who was the best on the #MeToo movement, and most American women couldn't bear that there really are hierarchies of abuse, and a little 'kiss on the back of the neck' by Biden is NOT rape.
Maureen - I sat with you in the press box for Obama Harrisburg Pa. rally during 2012 campaign.
I faked a press pass and was welcomed in by Obama security.
Enjoy your writing, but it I hotter than ...
Caligula, Nero, Commodus, and now Trump.
14
ONLY if Trump is put behind bars like John Gotti will we ever rest.
14
He does look exhausted, big "raccoon" bags under his eyes. He will be known as "low energy Donald."
15
Dear Mo, oh dear, my dear, too late to complain now about King Trump after rabidly trampling all over Hillary. Told you so!
14
Trump mesmerizes his followers with his speeches, creating an alternate America where he’s building the wall, the Democrats are crazy socialists who will take away your cows and turn off your TVs, and rural white Christians are great again. Trumpers, 38% of America, will stay with him as he ends Obamacare, even through a recession. Hitler was articulate and charismatic speaking about the German nation, culture, and soul, while Trump is America, a mix of P.T. Barnum and Larry the Cable Guy. Trumpers are injured, frightened, angry, and feel safe inside Trump-land. Democratic presidential candidates should forget about winning over Trumpers and uniting the country, and develop progressive politics that invest in jobs and fight institutional racism to mobilize young people, minorities, and women, and win over working-class white swing voters.
17
@Bruce ShigeuraMAGA people don't want a president they want a bully to act like them
Ms. Dowd conveniently forgets her role in getting Trump elected with her constant drumroll of calumny against Ms. Clinton. I attribute that to Ms. Dowd's envy of a woman who has actually achieved something in her life.
No amount of snark will make up for that.
16
@Jack be Quick i agree with you, jack. i don't know how she looks at herself in the mirrow, as two-faced as maureen is. she helped trump get elected, no doubt about that.
2
@buskat
She was just telling the truth. Just because Trump is truly unfathomably ghastly doesn't mean Hillary hasn't always been shameless. And just because Trump was a hideous candidate does not make Hillary a good one, and she wasns't (just not as bad--but a long shot; Maureen knows that, and she did NOT help get Trump elected.) Hillary is not Nancy Pelosi, and will never have that kind of integrity. However, there's been talk of her running again (I mean 'new again', with Bannom saying it ) and I think she's the only one who can beat him. She's chastened, and the other candidates don't have her strength.
If Leni Riefenstahl were alive to film that ridiculous rally, it would be called Triumph of the Shill.
16
Trump lies constantly. If he knows he's lying, and does it anyway, that means he's a seriously disturbed person. If, on the other hand, he actually believes his own lies and is not even aware that he is lying, that's also an indication of serious mental illness. Either way, he's crazy, incompetent and out of control.
14
"Up in the stands, Juli Arndt waved a “Women for Trump” sign. She had left her husband in charge of their business, Corky’s Beal City Tavern...."
Don't mean to be elitist - OK, I AM being elitist - but the new wines Juli and her hubby just introduced at their restaurant say everything you need to know.
https://www.facebook.com/bealcitytavern/?rf=111679722203291
3
@Tom Benghauser
That's one place we'll make a point to avoid in GR.
1
When do we get to see the lions eat the immigrants?
4
Speaking of Mueller and his Report...I'd like to make a suggestion...why not open 'subscriptions' to the American People...that for a charge they could get a copy of the report itself for themselves....perhaps it would give rise to wonderful things..groups that would mull over Mueller...sort of like the Chautauqua movement for today....and also the funds raised could be used to support the Special Olympics just in case the Trumpster changes his mind about funding...as is his wont...
1
Maureen - I saw the title and immediately thought, “But I’m willing to bet that the Circus Maximus (along with any relatively contemporary 3-ring circus) was(is) a *whole* lot more organized than Trump’s administration!”
2
Post-Mueller, we'll finally see the Madness of King Don.
Bannon has warned us.
4
How much longer, O Maureen, are we going to be exposed to Trump's from here to eternity rally lovefests? To His "Smugness Maximus" (fab coinage!)? Another 20 months? And the egregious lies "total exoneration, complete vindication!", fed like chum, clickbait, to his red meat base? Overriding Betsy DeVos, his ignorant Secretary of Education, re defunding the Special Olympics (Eunice Shriver's great gift to America 50 years ago)? We are tired beyond tired of looking at, listening to, witnessing America's Winner take all, Donald Trump. Hey, maybe he wasn't really born in Queens! Maybe he was born somewhere out in Midwest Land, like Jonathan Winters's Maude Frickert? Don't we wish Jonathan Winter was alive today to play Trump on "S and L" (Donald J. Trump, Jr.'s conflation of Saturday Night Live). So it goes.
1
The trump administration is like a three ring circus when the elephants have explosive diarrhea.
9
A big question is what is going to happen to the hard core Trump fans once their Idiot King goes away? It seems to me like we’ve been witnessing the genesis of a new fascist movement in this country of which I’m sure there are plenty of whackos willing to pick up the leadership mantle for once Trump waddles off to that “Great Gold Toilet In The Sky”...
Sometimes being an American feels like you are a cast member of the “Walking Dead”; there’s a new foe every couple of seasons but we’re all still essentially wandering around trying to survive. First it was the Russians then it was various the Islamic Terrorists...now we’re back to the Russians with a little China thrown in...but then there’s a new plot twist coming up; with our own fellow citizens perhaps becoming our next, worst enemy...
It’s looking like we’re going to need to let the FBI use some of that wall money in the years ahead...
3
Bread and circuses, without the bread. That's what it is. The deplorables want to do a thumbs down on the critics, and see heads roll.
1
Let it not be said that Trump cannot multi-task:
• He can hold “Show daddy some love rallies” while escaping from his job
• He can tweet nonsense while murdering the English language
• He can declare his sexual love for his daughter Ivanka while married to the
First Lady/Third Wife
MAGA!
6
The Modus Operandi, the Metaphor, and La Raison d Etre for Trumps life and his Presidency IS WWE...
ALL Fake, everybody knows, but pays money to attend and scream and throw things, and we laugh at THEM...
Wake Up World...Yup
3
With Trump, remember, everything is opposite. So...
When Trump says "No Collusion" - that means "I didn't get caught."
When Trump says "total exoneration, complete vindication" - that means "they couldn't prove it even though I did it..."
When Trump says "sick, sick" - he knows his own mind is demented, depraved, and deluded.
Trump is a textbook example of projection. Everything he accuses opponents of are the things Trump himself is doing, the things Trump himself is guilty of, the things Trump himself is thinking. He is so pathetically insecure that he needs these mindless incendiary rallies to pump up his ego, which promptly fades a soon as the rally ends, because Trump -knows- that it is all fraud, that he's a charlatan selling a lie to the people (and making a few bucks off each of those red hats, too). Trump is successful at one thing, one thing only: conning people out of their money, their votes, and their intelligence. Ultimately though, the person Trump fools the most completely is himself, because he thinks nobody sees how weak, foolish, and stupid he really is... when every word reveals it all to the world. Sad, and pathetic.
8
Move over Collusion Delusion, here comes the Corruption Eruption. Your turn, SDNY; Go get ‘im.
7
Things Trump know:
1—He lost the election by over 3 million popular votes and had it not been for the electoral college (whom he’d tweeted that it be abolished back in the day) he would not be in the White House.
2—Putin can summon him for a closed door meeting with a mere glance and he has no choice but to meekly follow. This happened in Helsinki and Buenos Aires. Both times, Putin took away the translators notes.
3—No one in his family cares that he is making a fool of himself with his 3 AM misspelled and nonsensical tweets. Covfefe. Hamberder. No one cares. Not his first love Ivanka. Not his third wife Melania.
4—He can never accomplish what he promised during the campaign period.
The wall is not built. Obamacare is not replaced. Hillary is still free to enjoy her glass of Chardonnay (contrast with Manafort, Cohen, Flynn).
5—In the international stage, no one cares. The French police can troll him on social media over a drizzle, the Germans can laugh at his lies (the Germans!!!), the Canadian president can beat him at his idiotic handshake routine while smiling at the cameras.
6—He is obese and that no amount of overcoat on weekdays and tight shorts on weekends can hide the rolls of fat coating his body. The fake hair and fake tan aren’t helping either. Same with the hamberders, the fried chicken, and the two scoops of ice cream.
7—Sooner or later his tax returns will out. And also his academic grades.
8—The SDNY will knock the moment he’s no longer president.
7
Let me know when he is tired of whining
2
We've never had a shameless president combined with a media thug like Fox News. Intellect won't matter. We simply need to out vote and boycott hate.
4
What is the point of this piece? How does it help anyone understand anything about anything? Old “news”, tired commentary, nothing novel or insightful.
Nothing constructive from the keyboard of Maureen Dowd in a very long time. But a strong history of destructive words. The Times’ favorite hypocrite.
2
Have you interviewed your brother, "Kevin"? What does he have to offer, if anything?
2
. . Trump is the worst, most corrupt and psychotic person ever to be president.. The fact is Trump has been given a free ride which has been a source of anxiety for me.
Trump`s supporters are truly deplorable and ignorant creatures
It is possible that not all supporters are racists, ,ableists, misogynists or white supremacist Nazi bigots.
But they could care less that Trump put hating people of color, disabilties , women, and into the mainstream. What a miserable country we have become since the presidency was stolen by Comey, Putin and Assange for Trump.
3
Pointless column, complete with the usual Hillary sneer.
It will be the last time I read her.
4
Ah, the festering bitterness, created by those who will not. cannot let go of a Lost Cause. Eh, Ms. Dowd?
1
Watching film reels of adoring crowds at Nazi rallies gives me pause. Certain human beings can be so easily manipulated by con men to act in utterly inhuman ways. Those pathetic people in Michigan who attended Trump’s rally and wallowed in the hatred, sarcasm and victimization spewing from our President
are dangerous. They are filled with rage and capable of violence against their fellow Americans once the order is given. Whether Trump is impeached or beaten at the ballot box is irrelevant. He will never accept the outcome of a legitimate democratic process. His insanity could unleash the haters.
4
Snarky Mo worked Hillary into the conversation, again! The grudge continues unabated, while the clown she cooed about prior to the 2016 election makes headlines every five minutes for his deranged comments and evilness. Catholic guilt is powerful.
3
The audience crowds the tent, but even Trump can’t keep his grotesque freak show going at full tilt.
3
Democrats don’t need the Mueller report and never did. They have a bottomless chest of indictments. Trade deficit has never been worse due to Trump trade wars. Just ask a farmer. We are spending 12 billion !!!! to bail out farmers due to his trade policies. Fiscal deficit and overall debt breaking records every quarter due to tax reform. Drug prices sky rocketing despite Trump saying he would lower them. Remember Infrastructure Week?! What happened to that? Corruption galore - Price, Pruitt, Zinke to name a few. Incompetent appointees like Miller, the UN ambassador designate. Then there’s North Korea still building nukes while Trump turns OFF sanctions! China is getting stronger and zero response from Trump. (Is Pompeo still alive?). We have turned over the Mideast to Syria, Russian and Iran. He says ISIS is defeated and Democrats should respond that the rout began under Obama. And as far as the economy...he inherited that from Obama and didn’t screw it up. Jobs have increased for 9 years. If I were a Democratic politician I wouldn’t mention collusion or obstruction or Barr or Mueller again and continue praying for the SDNY. There’s so much more for Democrats to hammer home about.
3
It has been refreshing to see recently a general lack of opinion articles regarding Trump. It must be due to a modicum of humility amongst the liberal scribes. The Mueller report should stand as a political moral policeman for anyone that thinks they are better than the object of their abuse. Apparently, the report has given a well-needed pause to the onslaught. Of course Trump is not absolved of all his misdeeds, but with a few exceptions, such as this article, the report has reduced the excesses of political pandering.
2
For starters
- Why didn’t he appear for questioning by the investigation
- Why did people associated with his campaign, including Trump, lie about meetings with Russia
- Why were there so many meetings with Russian officials
Too many unanswered questions- we have to see the FULL report.
26
@Maxie We need to see the full report indeed. Having a Trump toady tell us what is in the report is laughable.
1
@Maxie and we never will.
Trump's act was stale to me from the minute he took it on the (long and winding) road. What a gift it would be if Ms. Dowd were right and it's becoming stale to him as well. But what will his rally crowds use as a substitute...?
9
What will trump use as a substitute
It is perfectly pointless and in fact a total waste of time to keep rehashing stories of Donald the Magnificent's behavior.
Those who love him won't be swayed. Neither will those who despise him. There is however a largish group in the middle who crave a constructive approach to policy making and a positive, if not necessarily all-inclusive project, vision, idea, concept of whatever you want to call it.
Pieces like this don't help in any way. It may be gratifying to wallow in one's own sense of righteousness, but 2020 is upon us and rants, even when rather decorous, won't defeat Trump or his acolytes.
12
The people who disdain him. Maybe Trump hasn’t converted them but the media may be doing that for him. Pulitzer Prizes for connecting dots based on smarmy sources? Before the Mueller report was released, a bare majority of Americans agreed with the statement that the investigation was a “witch hunt”. Now less than half want Congress to continue the investigation. I disdain him. But before sharpening your teeth again to go after Barr some evidence of self-reflection here is in order.
2
Well first off, Trump couldn't find Grand Rapids on the map. He has no idea who Gerald Ford is, and likely doesn't know Betsy is from Michigan. Even if he had been found guilty, it would not have made a difference. For the base would support him, make excuses for him, and rationalize his behavior no matter what he says or does. But what he is doing by cutting all the programs he is targeting is cementing the opposition to his presidency. He needs money to close the deficit. He can "reverse" his people all he wants......but the primary focus of this administration and Republicans is to take away what they can get away with to give the wealthy more of what they do not need. And for that to be approved you will need more than 45%. He is not going to lose because he is a crook. he is going to lose because he is a cruel man. We don't need a special counsel to find him guilty of that.
28
I watched some parts of this rally and it was really a bazar thing. Trump might as well be a huckster selling snake oil than the president of the US. I have to reintegrate he does not and never will represent me. I believe his sadness is because he "MUST" have people like and admire him and deep inside his little brain he knows the majority of America and the world never will.
15
Maureen, when you mentioned the irony of Trump’s claim that Obama was an illegitimate president it brought to mind, once again, the question, “What, exactly, is the nature of Trump’s impenetrable base?” I can only see two possible answers. One is that they’re so stupid they can’t recognize that irony when it hits them in the face like a high-velocity shovel; or two, that it confirms the psychologist’s maxim that hatred is a stronger motivator than self-preservation.
Mayor Pete (Butiegeg) said recently that he knows people who voted for Trump wide-eyed and with the knowledge that his goal was to “burn the house down.” If that’s true, then it would confirm the second explanation above. But the jury’s still out in my mind.
On a bright note, maybe Trump’s presence on the international stage, and true purpose in life, is merely to serve as a warning to others? The sirens are going off all around us.
11
@David Walker
The exact nature of his base is that they are a reflection of him, only without the fame and money. They're aggrieved and entitled. They think immigrants are robbing them of their place in society even though they themselves lack the intelligence, education, imagination and industry to reinvent themselves and claim the next rung up the ladder.
They look at Trump -- born on third base, thinks he hit a home run -- and think, "Hey, maybe I can be part of that, too." -- thegamesmenplay.com
3
"... From the president’s point of view, which is the only point of view that matters to him, it looked like Watergate in reverse..."
And - undeniably - from the points of view of tens of millions of Americans. "Aye, there's the rub!"
Maybe those people he said "came from the rivers" were those swamp creatures that he pledged to clear out of Washington. If that's who he meant, then he failed to see the worse swamp creatures, like Pruitt, that took their places.
7
It doesn’t matter to Trump whether he or his associates are guilty or innocent. Only the public perception at the moment matters.
After all why was he so desperately trying to delegitimize Mueller if he knew there was nothing to find? Because the truth, to him, is irrelevant; it’s only the narrative that can be shouted the loudest that matters, so he shouts false ones daily despite the accumulating Pinocchios he is awarded. After all, no one he cares about is reading the fact checkers, so, again, facts don’t matter.
2
Astonishing how Trump has millions of people believing or pooh-poohing every falsehood (and there are thousands) he utters. Trump continues to lead a charmed life, evading the law, and snowing his admirers with empty platitudes. He may have dodged a bullet now, but he will face a firestorm of charges against him as a private citizen if he loses in 2020. There will never be a presidential election as consequential as the next one, and the vindication that has turned to vengeance will only reach explosive levels if Trump wins.
8
What kind of people cheer a vicious man as he ridicules another human being by calling him "pencil neck?" Why should the rest of us try to understand or empathize with a hateful mob? Why recommend we cultivate a non-partisan attitude?
Reproach is appropriate. It will not persuade haters to change their ways. But rejection should demonstrate such vile behaviour warrants reproach and is looked down upon by fellow Americans.
17
@JT. Deplorable people, that's who. Hillary was right.
@Virginia
She was right, but clumsy as usual to say it. Then Comey was a big help. But her social climbing turned even intelligent people off. She has NO grace. Which doesn't mean I didn't vote her, and I imagine Maureen surely held her nose and did too.
Someone wearing a red baseball cap should send Mr. Clean a copy (or audiotape) of "The Art of War." Stupid skirmishes like attacking healthcare on impulse without even a clue regarding replacement just weakens him even more. And, crawfishing away from the Special Olympics debacle still leaves the smell of meanness on those small hands.
Behold all the stonewalling sure to come designed to prevent the release of the FULL Mueller report with supporting documents. Time-worn dilatory phrases like executive privilege and matters of national security await the media and the public.
2
Be patient, it won't be long before he comes apart at the seams, babbling even more incoherently than he does now. He doesn't believe himself now.
The cracks in his mind are getting bigger by the day. It will likely happen at a rally. There'll be pandemonium and a riot. The press will be attacked by the MAGA mob. Stay away from the rallies
8
He can strut all he wants but remember it is not over until the fat lady sings! And I if I am correct no one has seen the Mueller Report. His strutting is based on the Barr synopsis. And as a real patriot might say what he does is “NOT OK”!
2
@Cecilia Cilli
Thanks for the reminder of a real patriot, Cecilia.
Was that little speech thrilling or what? And when a man knows he has power and doesn't want the peanut gallery to interrupt him, he can just tell the republicans that they won't get the floor to respond and he moved on. I just loved it. "Little" Adam Schiff" my backside.
Trump may be hurling abuse from his twitter throne, but the ground has shifted, and he's not Caesar--not that most of his voters would even know who that is. But many of us do know that Caesar was killed because of his hubris and greed for power. "Et tu, Brute?!" We watch now to see if it's possible for Trump to cross his own Rubicon, bringing out the long knives of D.C.
1
In Caesar’s long-awaited triumph, the slave was placed on his chariot, as the Senate always ordered in a triumph, to whisper “All glory is fleeting-you’re but a man.” For centuries, this kept the ego of the triumvir in check, toeing a very important line in the Roman Republic. Unfortunately for Caesar and for Rome, the slave’s admonition fell on a deaf ear, the one that had failed Caesar since a boy.
We have crossed the same Rubicon. Lewandrowski knew what he was doing.
Trump is our Tiberius: lawful holder of the fasces but a social usurper. Tiberius spent his imperium consumed by the need to ruin (or kill) those of the ruling classes out to mock him, challenge him, or even tell a joke about him in a tavern.
And when Tiberius ran out of real threats, he manufactured them, or they were manufactured for him. So he always had something to rant about for the audience at Capri (his Mar-a-Lago), who paid handsomely to be there (and not to be publicly mocked or executed),
There may not be a restoration of pre-Trump America. There was no way back from Empire for Rome.
But do they even care in Grand Rapids?
(Always enjoy a classical reference, Maureen. Thanks.)
7
I am a 79-year-old WASP, retired military, citizen. I never thought I would see the day that so-called Christians would worship a heathen break every commandment in their holy book and applaud him for it. Money, the root of all evil, now runs the country led by a president without morals, without ethics, without a soul. As this Republican administration takes away all semblance of goodness and common decency, replacing it with hatred, racism, misogyny, and lies Democracy dies a day at a time.
26
That he wallows in his victimhood is one of his biggest draws for people that do the same with their lives. They can relate.
It is always someone else fault that they suffer. Be it the government, be it their employers, be it immigrants--always someone else caused their plight.
They can also relate to the fact that he cheats and gets away with it--something they only wish they could do?
Trump cheats at golf according to a new book that interviewed celebrities and others that have played with him.
Trump cheats in business.
Trump cheats on his taxes.
Trump cheats in his charities.
Trump cheats on his wives.
Trump is cheating us out of a leader--because of these resentful folk.
8
The Mueller investigation: it's not over until the fat lady sings. While Robert Mueller was fighting in the trenches of Vietnam, our Prevaricator in Chief was trumping up fake "heel spurs" - how many times, three or four? - to evade his duty to serve our country in battle.
He rails on Mueller. Is this not as bit familiar to W. - dodging Vietnam with an arranged no-show tour of duty n the Air National Guard - vilifying John Kerry who served honorably in Vietnam?
Now we have another jingo-patriot Republican waving the flag and screaming for blood. His crowd chants: "Lock him up."
Let's just hope they lock the right "patriot" up...
2
I'm voting for "all of the above" early and often just to rile the presidential bile a little more.
He’s sad because he needs a cliffhanger to end the season. Mueller?Over. Immigration? Re-run. Little Rocket Man? Bad ratings.
Can Hillary run again?
6
@PeterC
Bannon was talking about it a couple of days ago. I've long thought she could easily win this time, the others aren't strong enough. I don't like her, but I think she's been chastened, and knows the mistake let the election slip through her fingers. The tragedy is that Pelosi is too old. Anybody can see how much the best choice she's be otherwise.
The beauty of this moment is that The Donald is unable to see past his nose. His urge to indulge every impulse will come back to bite him in his oversized hind quarters.
He cannot consider, and will certainly not read, that the report will become public and the seaminess of Trump Family Inc will be further exposed. He also cannot anticipate that Cy Vance is cranking up the actual justice system - soon the Sounther District of NY will be looking into the theft of public tax dollars, the fraud used to secure loans and to reduce debt. The day that The Donald, Little Donald and Jarvanka take the perp walk will be sweet.
5
So, after all Trump’s lies about a ‘deep state’ conspiracy against him, after all the claims of victim hood from the biggest ‘witch hunt’ ever, Trump wasn’t indicted. Want to bet whether he’ll take back his accusations now?!
1
Please, let’s get off of the Russia thing. Trump won the election because his opponent was a stunningly incompetent politician. Put aside Hillary’s inability to inspire, forget about her greed for Wall Street dollars, and look only at nuts and bolts political intelligence. In 2012, Barrack Obama as a sitting President lost Notth Carolina and eeked out a bare victory in Florida by 1%. Yet in 2016 Hillary and her Team decided she could do better and so poured enormous time and money into those two states. And all the while literally ignored the upper Midwest. Hillary’s incompetence was the key gift to Donald Trump, not Russian meddling. And please let’s not indulge ourselves with useless talk about winning the popular vote — that and ignoring Michigan gets you Dinald Trump.
2
Does this sound familiar?
“The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp.” - George Orwell, 1984
14
As someone who knows the majority of Americans desire and deserve better than this fraudulent President, his GOP toadies and witless fans, I'm reassured by these childish performances of his. He seems to know that this reactionary base is the only base he can get -- and the fact is, by all the numbers, it doesn't represent nearly enough voters to win an election. His blustery appeal is limited, his clumsy interventions (health care) winning him no new supporters. So let him have his pep rallies, let his silly fans have their fun while it lasts. He's singing to the choir, as always, and the choir isn't large enough.
3
Trump wallows in vindictiveness not "victimhood." He's still the little rich boy striking out at the father who over and over again had to rescue him from failure. Now that Mueller has disappeared, he needs new authority figures, new enemies, and new victims. As you noted, it may be time to bring on the Christians to replace red meat policies with the red blood of politicians in the Circus of Revenge and the Colosseum of Other Colluders. That's the real meaning of the blood red MAGA hats--Many Are Getting Axed.
I’m amazed at how Trump advisors allow him to throw them under the bus. Mike Pompeo is saying one thing, Trump contradicts him. Nikki Haley, Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos... what is the matter with all of you? It’s like playing in the band while the titanic sinks and your biggest worry is what song to play next.
Trump could win again. Unless the LBGT community, middle class taxpayers, true kind and loving Christians, women who could lose access to safe termination of pregnancy, veterans who object to his treatment of McCain, people of color, Muslims, anyone who has healthcare, union workers and dreamers come out in force to work to defeat him and turn out the vote because he is what he always has been. A liar, cheater and bully who takes pride in seeing people (even little innocent children) suffer.
4
"This was the night for Smugness Maximus."
Close, but no cigar. It was Gluteus, prodigal son of Smugness Maximus, recently returned from the dead. Think Ben Hur splayed across the hood of a monster truck with jeweled mudflaps. Forty-two coats of silver-flecked candy apple red shining under the stadium lights. Perfumed mayhem in XXL. It's all about the ratings, baby.
Good to see Ms Maureen get loosened up. It's the ninth inning and the bases are loaded. No leisure to watch Nero fiddle on the bullpen monitor. It's been a long time since the skewering of poor little W. It may take awhile to work back into shape.
I’m convinced that nothing will change the minds of those who adore Trump or those who abhor him. It’s like the color of that dress so many debated recently on social media....was it blue or gold? My wife could only see it as blue and I could only see it as gold. Nothing either said could change what the other saw with their own eyes. Fortunately we both see Trump for what he is, a fraud, a purveyor of hate and a divisive, malignant narcissist. He must go in 2020.
7
After learning of that ridiculous taxpayer funded rally in Grand Rapids, I'm embarrassed to say I'm from MI. But gratified to know that his approval ratings here are 31%. I guess all 31% were at the rally cheering on his hatred and vitriol, and that's all it is. Hatred towards anyone with different skin colors, different religions, less money. Seeing pictures of the crowd, I wonder how many will be cheering when they lose their health care, Social Security and Medicare. They'll be like that woman the NYT profiled a couple months back in an article about 45 voters (again!) who said "He wasn't hurting the right kind of people."
5
Born and raised in Grand Rapids and have never been more embarrassed by my fellow Michiganders. The white faces all at home cheering on the most racist President in my lifetime.
They’re all onboard the Trump train because he’s their pro-life savior. That’s how they rationalize the sheer selfishness of everything he stands for.
Fortunately, my state made a big move towards sanity in the last election with Dems winning all the major statewide offices.
One ugly display by the Republican Party means nothing. Michigan will not go for Trump in 2020.
5
Maureen, I ain't tired of winning. Have Trump come to Chicago. We will give him an appropriate reception, consistent, of course, with his demagogue musings, love affair with Putin, and poisoning of our civic discourse.
1
Come now Maureen, the in your face response to no collusion was a direct result of the absence of a media mea culpa. Without contrition in defeat there is only a rub it in your face glee. This is simple cause and effect, much like the Hilary defeat and the apoplectic over reach by the media. This endless spin cycle can be halted. But that takes adults and humility and obviously there are none in the room on either side of the divide.
For credibility, bring it on or stop the false news and indict the guilty Democrats. There are no longer any curtains to hide behind. Clapper, Brennan and other former Administration members should be decked out soon in horizontal stripes. The circus has to have a final act before the curtain closes.
1
He'll always be Treacherous Trumplestilzkin to me and the evidence was in full display on a podium in Helsinki.
5
This seems to be the attitude of Mr. Trump and company toward helping folks with outrageously expensive US health care:
“He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
1
His pivot to healthcare while seeming counter intuitive for the GOP, makes sense for HIM! Along with the boogieman of the immigrants at the boarder, his base loves nothing more than the of bashing the last president and Obamacare. Perfect way to distract them and the cable pundits who are besides themselves over it. When Barr releases his report, it's going to put facts into the mix that are not flattering to Trump, his family and his henchmen. This isn't over, or as Don's mob might say, "We're not done here". Cable has already written it off amazingly when no one has seen it, but the Don knows what he did and he's the master distracter.
4
@M. I think Trump feels pretty confident that Barr won't allow any negative or truly harmful info. from the Mueller report out. That is why he said he's fine with releasing it, which never made any sense. He said it because he knew Barr is there to protect him and would come through. I don't trust Barr one iota.
6
How could someone whisper anything and be heard over the roars of the crowd and the noise of the triumph by walking behind the victor? The standard descriptions of Roman triumphs say that the whispering man was in the chariot along with the general.
1
Is it unreasonable (or "elitist") to use a standard higher than "not enough evidence to indict" for the president of the United States?
4
I believe this has little to do with winning and everything to do with his diagnosis: Mr. Trump has a narcissistic personality disorder. An average person with this kind of disorder has the benefit of time and privacy to move from one crisis, of their own making, to another crisis. For obvious reasons Mr. Trump does not, so we are getting a brief view of his disordered thinking during "good times". He will repeat old saws and applause lines while desperately searching for a way to create new controversies, all the while splitting those around him in a way that brings more attention to himself. "Republicans will be the party of health care" as a tweet is a perfect example of this kind of behavior - he just could not help himself. Throwing Betsy Devos under the school bus - perhaps where she actually belongs - for proposing a funding cut to the Special Olympics, which was probably his idea, by "over riding" his people is yet another one. Viewing his actions through the lens of his diagnosis is no less terrifying, but it makes his erratic behavior more understandable.
32
@Chris Clark
The truth is much worse; Donald Trump’s physical brain development causes him to lack ordinary feelings for anyone but himself; he is not fully human. Look up the Hare Psychopath Test and rate him; he scores a 34, Extreme Psychopath.
Trump is indeed heartless, not because of any policy, but because that is very essence of psychopathy. The real Trump threat is not his lies, policies or actions, but his inborn lack of empathy or compassion. Beware the person who doesn’t care if he’s caught lying; he will sow chaos - in power he will kill millions.
2
It's difficult to comprehend the vastness of ignorance possessed by Trump supporters. We had to have a plumber come to fix our outside water feed, and he wanted to talk about what a great job Trump is doing. He talked about the narrow escape our country had when Trump won. He really, truly believes that, to quote him, "why it was so corrupt in Washington--that Hillary murdered 57 people and got away with it. And Obama--they got his possport by using the one of a Frenchman found dead in New York"?! I came into the house and wrote down what "Steve" said because it was so preposterous.
To think that people like him are responsible for electing the worst president we've had in our country's history is depressing.
Several questions arise: where on earth did he hear that Hillary murdered 57 people? Did these Trump voters have any education beyond 8th grade? Do they read at all, or do they just watch TV? We have a major problem of ignorance in our country--trying to fix it will be daunting. But we must try harder.
1192
@Elizabeth Bennett I could not agree with you more. As a nurse health educator working in the community, you are taught early on to use nothing more than a 6th grade reading level as your 'font size' of comprehension. I refer to this frequently whenever I try to unbaffle my mind and figure out how there could be such ignorance without coming off elitist. That, and the 140 character limit of History 101 seems to be the most folks can grasp at any one time. Most persons have long forgot their middle school US and World History lessons, which is also a contributing factor. I think it's more primal than any of us realize. Anger and Fear are our 2 primary emotions. Stoke them and you can get all kinds of irrational thoughts going over time. Throw in some outright lies when folks are feeling desperate and they will believe anything in order to make them feel better. With this, I dread 2020.
182
Betsy DeVos is doing her Betsy best to further destroy education.
136
@Elizabeth Bennett You are so right. One of the most important attributes needed today is to be a learner -- to gain expertise in something. Trump supporters want those old timey jobs where one need not think -- like an assembly line gig putting 4 bolts on 4 tires all day. They love Trump because his own performance shows them such jobs still exist.
105
I feel sorry for Trump’s supporters, who in the end are going to experience the brunt of the social program cutbacks that are and will be taking place across the government, and especially for their children. But not so bad that I wish them any speedy recovery from their present misfortunes and those that are about to overtake them. Whatever else can be said of him, Mr. Trump never made any secret about his character and intellectual flaws during his run for President and his performance since then in office has been a textbook case of mental instability and erratic behavior.
Americans who hungered for change and something different have now got it in spades. How long it will take for all of us to reach bottom with him as a country is difficult to say. Hopefully there will enough additional signs of this before the 2020 election to convince substantial numbers of his admirers and hard-core supporters to abandon ship. But regardless of the time it takes, it’s evident now that they will need to feel real pain before leaving him, and I for one am in favor of allowing them to feel it.
35
@A. Stanton I say "let them eat cake" and then die due lack of health care.
Two questions:
1. Why does the media continue to cover Trump's one-man shows? You can read his act every day on Twitter. It adds nothing to the public discourse. Which brings me to...
2. Who is paying for Trump's stand-up gigs, aka campaign rallies? Is the Trump re-election campaign covering the cost of travel and security for these events? If not, why should the U.S. taxpayers fund an ego-boosting session for the narcissist and his followers?
65
@Dario Bernardini You can't be serious. Obama ran a non-stop, eight year campaign. Oh, of course not on weekends, when he was partying with JayZ, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, etc. on the "taxpayer dime" at the White House. Give me a break.
@Dan Bertone
Hmmm, seems like the people you cite all have something in common with Obama. I wonder what that could be. That tells me something about your view. Anyway, I'm not sure he was "partying" every weekend, but even if he was, he was at the White House, not flying to Florida.
But here's the difference between progressives and conservatives. Progressives don't think any president, Democrat or Republican, should be allowed to charge the U.S. taxpayer for purely political events. They believe government should work for the citizens, not the special interests. Conservatives are fine with corruption when their politicians are doing it.
So, I am serious. I'm also afraid that you are, too.
5
It is entirely possible that Trump's schtick is wearing thin, even with his base. Even the densest of citizens eventually can begin to have doubts when the person they adore begins rambling like a street urchin consumed by fantasies and conspiracies.
No one wants to talk about it, but Trump is displaying symptoms of serious mental derangement. When he babbles about people coming "out of rivers," there is every reason to be concerned that he is losing his hold on reality. Perhaps I am not alone in thinking that Trump's fitness for office, never really clear, is now becoming increasingly a troubling, dangerous fact.
70
@PaulB67 - Maybe they don't really listen to what he says. Maybe to them, it's just a heavy metal rock concert. You don't listen to the lyrics, you might pick up a refrain or two, but mostly it's just about the animalian energy.
30
He has the best mind, the best houses, the best grades, went to the best schools. . .
And has difficulty forming a coherent sentence. Oh, the schools he attended are forbidden to release his grades under threat of a mega-lawsuit.
Or see his tax returns.
He plays golf most weekends, goes to Florida a lot, starts his "work" day at 11 am, Tweets to his heart's content to vent his rage at not being adored.
How did this man get to the White House? How can I look at the cheering masses at his rallies and not feel a disconnect with the 35% of the country who love this man?
When will I feel good about being an American again?
166
@Len
If you ever feel connected to the 35%'ers, you should look at yourself. Those people need reformation. I say their churchies should be forced to re-educate them in "humanity".
5
@Len
Well Len, I’m thinking that one reason he got elected was because so many voters found Democratic identity politics and PC fanaticism, which went hand-in-hand with Hillary, to be repellant. Now the Democratic candidates, mindful of extremist primary voters, are just doubling down - a great way to reelect President Caligula.
1
@Charlierf
I agree with your assessment completely. The Dems lost touch with middle America and the party platform has to be more substantive than "I can beat Trump."
The more I listen to Pete Buttigieg the more I think he has the stuff that can both beat Donald Trump and yet unite the middle of the country. I'll be sending him a check later this morning.
6
I view clips of the maga rally and I see clips of 1936 Germany playing alongside. Sometimes it's best to not deny what is right before our eyes.
120
@RobT
The Trump presidency is a horror, I agree. However, the comparisons of MAGA rallies to Germany 1936 ring hollow since any crowd of ardent supporters looks scary to the outsiders who do not share the crowd's fervent adoration. We need to be vigilant and we need to keep a check on this autocrat, but I'm not sure we need to make the Hitler analogy.
@RobT I see the same thing and it's frightening.
3
Mueller couldn’t prove collusion beyond a reasonable doubt, but apparently there is enough there to question whether there was obstruction of justice. Huh, it seems that if the obstruction was effective, there would be little evidence of collusion. Perfect!
31
"panem et circenses"
Juvenal's words echo in my head as I watch Mr. Trump strut on the stage of his rallies.
While there are plenty of "circenses" from Mr. Trump, his followers will find less "panem" in their hands after filing their yearly income taxes in just over two short weeks.
But even moldy bread can provide sustenance for a while until the Republican base can no longer tolerate it's off-putting flavor.
Bread and circuses.
28
Trump was low energy because he remembered that it wasn't 'No Collusion' but no evidence of collusion. He knows he panicked, he knows he compromised himself, he knows that, yes, he bowed the knee to Putin, and that Putin will always know it, and that Putin will always be able to prove it. So his joy will always be short lived because he knows that at the drop of a hat or the drop of a gavel, Putin may let that 'compromate' slip just for fun. As always, the greatest force operating in the United States today, is Trump's own knowledge of his guilt.
68
“I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.” Sophocles
Trump cheated. It appears his voters admire this, put perhaps the taste of victory and adulation from his masses is becoming tiresome to the emperor. Or perhaps the emperor has no new tricks.
40
@Edgar
Trump cheats at everything - always has. He cheats the contractors and vendors he hires, he cheats on his wives. Why his supporters trust anything he says is the question. There must be something very wrong with their lives.
1
“Does he know that his “No Collusion” headline will not change the minds of all those Americans who disdain him?” Mo, I think you’ve nailed it with this statement. Trump craves recognition and reverence from a public who mostly loathes and rejects him. That he’ll never achieve the admiration and respect that Obama did most certainly drives him insane, which is of some comfort. So he seeks out the adoration he needs amidst the throngs of like-minded, lost souls who feel vindicated by a man who could care less about them and their future. That he’s taking them all for fools, and trashing America’s value, is besides the point. That he’s a blight on the rest of this country most certainly is the point. Rest assured, the disdain is genuine.
648
When the insane show signs of dementia there’s no telling what Trump will do next.
21
@DG, its ironical that Maureen Dowd never felt the admiration and respect for Obama, either.
30
@DG I have seen many comments on various websites in which Trump fans say they are thrilled by how he causes distress and agitation among pointy headed coastal elites. How he is undermining health care, the economy, and the reputation of the US seem to be of much less interest to them
41
All the sleazy things President Trump and his minions did to "win" the election are not okay.
Watching these believers who attend his rallies is strange and disconcerting. You see these people cheering him on and you wonder why?
Trump's policies haven't helped them.
Trump's corruption hasn't helped them.
Trump's foreign policy hasn't made them safer.
I understand why some of them voted for him out of despair, people who had previously voted for Obama, but after 800 days of this Trump madness, why?
Really the only solution is to marginalize these believers and vote him out of office.
Benjamin Franklin was asked what form of government we had when he left the Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia and he replied, "A republic, if you can keep it.
We must fight to keep our republic.
55
@V Many of the people at Trump rallies are paid to be there. The others show up for the show. Trump is like a carnival barker, and that's who/what they go to see. His shtick.
@V
I feel the same way when I watch his rallies. How can these people support this man when his policies go directly against their own self-interests? I just don't understand that.
Another favorite quote from Ben Franklin that seems apropos here: "We are all born ignorant, but we must work hard to remain stupid."
1
"But Trump did not seem to be savoring his triumph so much as wallowing in his victimhood, in what he sees as the unfair attempt by 'major losers' to treat his presidency as illegitimate." Trump is treated as if his presidency is illegitimate because unlike President Obama, his presidency IS illegitimate. The Mueller Report could not prove beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. He needed Manafort's cooperation to do that. He didn't get it. That does not mean there was "no collusion". An undisputed fact is that the Russians did interfere in the election and because that is known, the outcome of the election itself should have been called into question. Why wasn't it? Why were the results of that election accepted once that was known?
The outcome of the Mueller Report was never going to matter to Trump's supporters. They love the whiner-in-chief. He is their warrior god who leaves scorched earth where he trods and whenever he opens his mouth. They are blind to his feet of clay hiding in plain sight. I truly do not believe there is anything Trump can do that is so cruel, so obviously lacking in morality that will make one iota of difference to his adoring fan club, and the cowed Republicans who tremble in fear at his displeasure and whatever hold he has over them.
28
@Diana
Glaring error "where he trod" should be "where he treads".
Using his snake-oil salesmen talents, trump spins jokes, makes funny noises, waves his arms around and entertains his rally audiences.
Then little by little he offers up fear. He offers up a sense that some groups are taking things that they don't deserve, things that belong to the people in the audience.
Then he'll point a finger at the media in the room and call them the enemy of the state followed by a litany of name calling, ridicule, and chanting.
As the feverish audience joins in with chants he will finally say that he alone can save them, he alone is smarter than everyone else, he alone will save America.
And sadly when the rally is over they will forget that this man is the cause of their pain and suffering. This man is the one trying to cancel their Medicare, Social Security, Healthcare. This man is enriching himself and his family at their expense. This man's policies are destroying the environment, the water, and the air. Yes, this man.
But it was a good rally.
66
History will show whether Trump's presidency results in the end of the causes of the Civil War, the start of a new one for many of the same reasons, or the triumph of a republic the Founding Fathers hoped for.
8
And let's be sure to take a victory lap for the news that his nominee for the Fed turns out to be a child-support chisler, who owed his ex $300K and was held in contempt of court, not to mention cheating the US IRS or $75k.
Great way to completely demolish the Fed's dignity and reputation.
about that swamp.....
54
@GCM
He didnt cheat the IRS out of anything. He owes them money. Huge difference.
It's about time. Maybe he's beginning to suspect that the walls are closing in on him with the endless investigations cropping up all over the place. It's not so much fun anymore, especially when the seething rage that drives him must always grow to sustain his cult.
He's so exceeded his low level of intellectual and emotional competency, maybe it's beginning to exhaust him. All of a sudden, he looks older and slower. If this keeps up, we'll all be calling him "low energy" Trump.
38
The millions of people who support Trump and who believe FOX are as much or more of a problem as the orange man himself and his evil cohort McConnell.
I lay the blame for his massive amounts of support mostly on FOX and Sinclair and on the churches that pump people to be "conservative" so that abortion will go away no matter what -- so women will be punished, minorities will be suppressed and that we will go back to the "good old days."
Two or three generations of public education were starved of music and art and of the humanities. Without them you cannot learn how to think critically. Too many people simply do not know how to read or digest anything. The news must be "analyzed" by the pundits because the average person can't manage to. An uneducated citizenry is dangerously easy to manipulate. My guess is that most of his base do not know what the Constitution says nor would they care to find out.
The Democrats will have a very hard job no matter who ends up being the candidate in 2020 because it is hard to counter 24/7 propaganda. That working class people think Trump is on their side is simply astounding. The billionaires who have benefitted under Trump don't mind spending millions to keep their deaf and dumb man in office.
Delusion isn't gone. It lives in Trump's mind. He hasn't yet declared himself a god, but he could still do that. As he is our first elected dictator things can only get worse. What if he loses and won't go?? Then what?
122
@Jeanie LoVetri I thought the deluded ones were those who watched CNN, MSNBC and read the Huff Post as well as the NYT and WAPO. After all, if the Russian-collusion hoax taught us anything, it's that liberals will believe anything about Trump and Republicans that reinforces their pre-existing biases about the intellect and motives of those they don't agree with. This was a case study that no lie was too big and no smear was out of bounds.
3
@Jeanie LoVetri
To Ms LoVetri
You are not fly-over country which comprises the majority of the US territory.
Trump has every reason to believe in a president-for-life gig, as long as 'his people' can benefit from a few crumbs and pathetic moments of rancid patriotism.
And they are far more numerous than you could ever believe. The Trump Effect is now an indelible stain on the US body politic, on society as a whole. Don't underestimate the strength of brutish ignorance !
1
@Jeanie LoVetri
If he refuses to vacate office after not being re-elected, offer him a new reality show and tell him the ratings will be hugely. He'll take it. There must be one network out there willing to run a show starring a delusional buffoon. Oh, wait, Fox will do it! Problem solved in advance.
2
Judge Jeanine got back on Fox tv today & her guest was Rudy Giuliani. According to those two, an attempt was made to overthrow the sitting president of the US, by an illegal investigation and other conspirators, mostly "angry democrats." They could not shout enough about how Mueller's investigation completely exonerated Trump; although maintaining that it was still illegal. Now the FBI, and the DOJ must be investigated, to rid them of .... what I could not really comprehend what they were ranting about. Plus Hillary, she must go to jail for her collusion with the Russians, much worse than Trump. And of course, her emails.
Plus, how badly Manafort has been treated, worse than a terrorist in their eyes. No mention of his crimes, except to say they were only white collar crimes. Committed way before the campaign, a very important fact. No big deal. I guess we all should cheat on our taxes, commit mortgage fraud, as it's really not that bad.
Watching them defend Trump, who is after all he's been through, still the greatest president ever, according to them, makes me feel that there really is no hope. We have always been divided, one way or another in the US. But now we have fractured into two camps. One that believes Trump & will be loyal to him no matter what, and the rest of us that cannot believe what is happening to our country.
46
@LovesGermanShepherds
The press, as embodied by Fox News, really is the enemy of the people.
2
Trump's supporters are genuinely fearful, of rich far-away elites making decisions, ignoring them, ignoring their plight, the plight of towns and factories that are declining and shuttered. They are fearful that far-away government has forgotten them, and no longer cares about them. They are fearful of the brown faces they see coming to live and work among them. It is all about fear, and Trump connects with their fear in so many ways, telling them they are or will be winning again, that he's standing up to all the corruption and unfairness in the world, and he's doing it for them.
9
@Andrew Hall
To Mr Hall
The problem with Americans is their incurable simple-mindedness. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, a British friend told me, 'well, these people are angry and we had better take the time to understand why !' This does NOT imply sleeping with the enemy, merely trying to understand the root causes for various geopolitical disasters.
Face it : outside of a handful of US academics, absolutely no one really understands why Hondurans and Salvadorans are seeking shelter in a de facto hostile and racist country. Maybe if someone in Washington started by reading the Wiki entries for Central American countries to get a grip on the endemic chaos and violence characterizing their societies since emancipation from Spanish rule !
1
I just want to see the Mueller Report. Trump has the GOP Cover Up Artist, Bobby Barr, who got out over his skis declaring Trump’s “No Collusion”. Now he appears a bit embarrassed. We will see what the Report says, whenever that is! We’re just getting started!
9
@Cat48
It is not "Bobby Barr," it's Bill Barr. "Bobby" Barr is the Georgia Republican Congressman in the Bill Clinton impeachment saga in the late 90s.
President Trump's histrionic, narcissistic tendencies are on full display in his triumphal, yet likely short-lived gloating on Twitter and at this rally. The 400-page report clearly does not "exonerate" him and very likely contains politically damaging information. Mueller's recommendations likely reflect his awareness that the Justice Department will not indict a sitting president. A normal president/human being with some empathy and concern for others beside himself, would use this opportunity to call for unity and cooperation. Not this one.
The response of president Trump and his GOP allies makes it all the more urgent that congress immediately receive the full report and the public have access with minimal redacting. If Trump is truly "exonerated," let the full report be released so we, the people, can make informed judgements which will go a long way towards determining whether Trump can be considered "fit" for office. This is far from over.
14
Rome eventually fell, I hope its only trump that falls now and that he doesn't drag the whole country down with him. PS: not holding my breath.
12
@Bailey
When you get scared, you'll stay scared. Pence and Pompeo are both adherents of irrational Armageddon-strewn thought systems which dictate their own political policies. I fear that the end of the world will come when a creepy monk or a polyester-clad preacher in the Midwest tells these politicians about their 'visions' of a 'sinful' world which must come to an end to please their Maker.
1
@AE
Agreed, christian religious fanatics will probably bring the end by oozing across the increasingly porous church/state barrier and convincing pliable politicians that their twisted worldview has merit. These cultists seek destruction to validate some goofy prophecy written down in their holy story book, truly beyond the pale.
Pride goeth before a fall...or something like that.
12
Maureen compares the Swindlers parade to ancient Romans, she could look closer to another Roman whose motto was Make Italy Great Again.
Watching talk with a look straight out of Il Duce's playbook, but Benito was actually far smarter, he did not have to be absolved of his perceived behavior for several years. However, when he was found guilty,the penalty was far more than we can give to this 21st century pseudo Roman, many of us compare him to Caligula, it is not unfair to do so.
What is disturbing is his supporters, people that came from miles around to her him and applaud him. We ask, what is it about a well known swindler, a pathological liar, a man who uses personal insults about decent people, a bankruptcy king, that they find attractive, are these people you would trust to do business with?
He was never charge with this collusion, but investigated, his behavior did not give any reason to not suspect him. An honest would have simply said they are mistaken and their investigation will prove it. Instead, he performed just like the guilty person he is, no direct collusion but many other suspicious behaviors.
He is not free and clear, he is still a crook among crooks, several of whom are now in the greybar hotel, with records. They are no longer welcome among decent people, but his supporters are not decent people, we are stuck with them for some time.
15
"But Trump did not seem to be savoring his triumph so much as wallowing in his victimhood, in what he sees as the unfair attempt by “major losers” to treat his presidency as illegitimate. He does not get the irony, that the way he first made his name in national politics was painting Barack Obama as illegitimate."
Touche Maureen Dowd, great observation!
Trump can't even revel in his "win" (in Trump's mind, winning equates to staying out of jail) without feeling sorry for himself and lashing out at those "who must be held accountable".
Which includes every single woman, man, child across the great land who ever spoke his name in vain.
I'm going to have a hard time focusing on all the winning once Trump tells toady Barr to investigate Clinton, Obama, and the entire FBI.
By that measure, nothing will get legislated or voted on because all the lawyers Congress might call on will be tied up for years.
3
Is it possible to just pay off this national wrecking ball to make him resign and go away? I wonder how much dangled in front of him would result in him packing up and heading to Moscow to start that dream project, along with his impossible family. At this point, it's worth exploring.
13
@John Grillo---
Asked how much $$ would it take to buy off Dumpf and send him away.
We think the entire military budget should be a down payment because there can be no better defense than getting rid of this evil fraud.
@John Grillo Think of how the Russian money launderers and political operatives will treat Trump when he is no longer president...”He’s a real Nowhere man”. What is our place in his Nowhere land?
Today's take-away: Enemies energize Trump, without them he fades, diminishes. He thrives on confrontation, competition, victim-hood and hate. But not to worry. Soon he will be back to normal. The show must go on.
8
Trump’s “normal” is as abnormal as his normal.
The Idiocracy continues unabated with yet another pesky rally, this one punctuated with a puerile , nasty zinger ('pencil-necked Adam Schiff') and the usual , by now tiring list of accomplishments described as "The Greatest in American History" or some such Trumpian Tripe. The MAGA-hatted crowd still look like zombified fan boys and girls , their pavlovian responses a dead giveaway that critical thinking is dead in much of flyover country. Brilliant observations such as The Great Lakes are really deep and other priceless gems are further proof that the office of the Presidency has seriously eroded in the past two plus years since this character took office. I guess one could call it a Clown Show, a Circus, whatever, but the only way to accurately describe it is" tragic".
19
I'm anxiously awaiting the full Barr summary or whatever he's calling it these days. It needs to pass the sniff test of most of the American public or I hope for a genuine and noticeable outrage by those same Americans. He's a schoolyard bully and I want to be around when someone on that other coast let's him know he's not all that.
1
Where in the law books is collusion listed as a crime?
How about cooperation, entreaties to make money while running for president (a corruption of the office he was seeking), trying to enlist and encourage more Russian involvement in American politics with the infamous Trump Tower meeting and going all kissy face with a dictator, Putin, who has everything but America's best interests at heart? Collusion was a chimera and, even if it existed, which it might have, it would be all but impossible to prove in a court of law.
Trump's most die-hard supporters have not yet awakened to the fact that he has followed through on almost nothing promised. A trillion dollar infrastructure plan? No. Health care for everyone at a lower cost? No. Protecting social programs like Social Security and Medicaid from cuts? No. Massive economic growth, greater than even the most optimistic economists believe possible? No. The two Trump years have managed to equal some of the best growth periods and low unemployment under Obama. Oh.
The people who gather for these silly campaign style rallies are simply thrilled to see someone they considered a television star, and now the president, in person. When you commit yourself to something and someone beyond all consideration of fact and logic, there is no turning back...at least until turning back becomes the only option. With the potential for a recession growing, that time gets closer and closer. Of course, Trump will then blame the Democrats.
12
The Trump cult epitomizes the line from Simon and Garfunkel's song The Boxer: "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."
14
When my toddlers had temper tantrums, the best way to put an end to it was to ignore them. One thing DJ is great at its getting free media time by acting unpresidential. Perhaps if he were ignored more, he would go away
7
Perhaps there was no "collusion", however, the report does quite clearly exposes Trump as someone who is surrounding himself by criminals and directing criminal acts.
Are the American people that easily duped by the Trump propaganda machine as to not even realize these facts? Can they not see or don't they not want to see how totally corrupt this man is?
8
Ha, well Maureen, like his august predecessor once said, "I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night. Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man, and therefore I am, ...a god." Sigh.
3
Trump has a habit of accusing others of what he is actually doing and/or is guilty of himself.
Yes, he has been boasting No Collusion, but he has also said:
“There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, some bad things, I would say some treasonous things against our country.”
I still believe that he acted in a treasonous manner towards the U.S., regardless if Mueller can find enough evidence to convict or not. It appears that Trump thinks so, too.
7
Trump does rallies to nourish his narcissism ... and to get away from realities, like his crazed healthcare promises and goonery.
The WaPo says the plain truth:
"Republicans have no intention of heeding President Trump’s urgent demands for a new health-care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, fearing the potential political damage that such a proposal could cause in 2020 and hoping he will soon drop the idea, according to interviews with numerous GOP lawmakers, legislative staffers and administration aides.
Not only is there no such health-care overhaul in the works on Capitol Hill — there are no plans to make such a plan."
What this means is that all of these Republicans are desperately hoping that the Supreme Court preserves the4 ACA as it is, because if not then the Republicans and Trump will be in the biggest trouble of their political careers ... by a lot.
9
Trump's psyche is not that interesting. We know what he is. I am much more interested in the psyche of Trump supporters, and in particular, politically knowledgeable supporters such as the ones in Maureen Dowd's family. Do they still support Trump, and how do they rationalize it? Do they not see that when he accuses others, it is often to deflect the same charges leveled at him? Did they see the attacks on Michael Cohen for the desperate attempts to kill the messenger that they were? This is about way more than Trump's crude behavior. He is a fraud who has frequently profited by funneling money from one Trump owned business to another - often to the detriment of the other business. He made millions while his casinos went bankrupt.
How do they continue to overlook the corruption and self-dealing? How do they ignore the fact that he is using the Presidency to generate revenue for his businesses - like all those meetings with leaders at Mar-a-lago. How is it that they don't even care?
12
Trump once relished the fight. It was a test of his ability to both shock and awe. His crowds loved it. They ate up his promises...healthcare, infrastructure, bring the jobs back, build the wall, and clamp down on immigration. But he hasn't produced real results save for a couple Supreme Court picks and a reckless and unfair tax cut. Now, all he has left to preach to is his choir. It's not enough and he knows it. There are no longer any lies to tell....that anyone will buy. He is adrift. Our version of a modern day Megalomaniacal Caligula may have run out of gas.
8
@Harley Leiber
"...reckless and unfair tax cut."
Amen to that. Because I live in a county where my property taxes on my home exceeds the $10,000 by $3500, I lost this amount being deductible and consequently had to pay more income tax, thanks to Trump and the GOP's tax "cut."
5
The horror show continues. The "deplorables" are empowered. How much damage can be done, and how much repaired when the dust settles? I,m beginning to think that Red State secession might not be such a bad thing. Let them have Trumpworld all to themselves in perpetuity. Kansas under the erstwhile Brownback regime would be the role model.
12
Maureen, as crazy is Trump still is, he still dominates the news.
I ask, when will the Democrats really move into the spotlight?
Let me suggest considering Leonard Cohen's "Democracy"song.
In 1992, Cohen sang, "Democracy is coming to the USA".
I wonder if Democrats imagine that a new democratic wave
may be coming, now, in resistance to Trump mania.
Would Maureen like to comment on the "Democracy" song.
and the prospect of an historic new democratic wave, now?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember when Obama was first elected. That song played on our radios all day here in Canada.
@Harry Pearle
Name, out of the 12 or 20 that are already running, one serious Dem candidate that can be the president of the USA, and tell me what his or hers executive experience is.
(PS this is a rhetorical Q)
The Trump Show has jumped the shark. Even he is getting tired of the rallies and has said he wants to do fewer. The Michigan rally was like a really bad re-run of a show you thought would be cancelled. The vitriol and victimhood, wrapped in a rambling incoherence, were all there. And of course the lies. Always the lies. But the "total exoneration" was a whopper even by Trump standards. The Romans circus maximus died with the decay of their empire. Will we one day look back at the Trump rallies as a marker of this country's decline and loss of decency?
14
Guts, real guts, Lady! I wouldn't have gone closer than Kalamazoo, and I know people at K-College (a kind of Davidson without the Basketball).
1
The 25th Amendment continues to offer a way out.
2
"Robert Mueller may not have exonerated the president on obstruction,"
True, but he did not find him guilty of it either. I thought that the American system was based on innocent until guilty?
2
@Joshua Schwartz That is the standard for conviction of a crime. There is, or ought to be, more expected of a US President.
I will never lose my astonishment at the number of trump’s base who vote against their own best self interests.
From trying to open up the waters on both sides of the country to offshore drilling, (and oddly enough, leaving Florida off of that list), to attempting to throw away the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, this president has nothing more in mind except to line his own pockets. A con man, like a zebra, never changes his stripes. Never mind the damage he has done to our standing in the world that will take decades to recover from.
And, by the way, do people know how hard it is to clean those sandy globs of oil that wash ashore off of your feet?
7
President Trump's week of gloating on Twitter and at this rally will be short-lived. His narcissistic personality craves his adoring rally crowds, which hardly reflect the views and mood of the country. A normal president would call for unity and moving forward--not this one. His immediate response: take away healthcare for millions of Americans to satisfy his unquenchable desire to diminish the accomplishments of president Obama. He has no empathy or concern for anyone but himself. The response of the president and his party make it ever-more urgent that the entire report be released to congress ASAP and be accessible to the public with minimal redaction. Any attempt to hide significant parts of the report will be viewed as a cover-up and continue this never-ending saga. Mueller did not request indictments because he knew the Justice Department will not indict a sitting president. This is about more than collusion. We the people need to see the report to make a collective judgment as to whether this man is fit for the highest office in the land. I find Trump's moral character deeply disturbing and his constant ridicule and lies demean the office and contribute to our increasingly bitter and divided political discourse.
9
Removing the Trump Crime Family and Team from power was always going to be a long game.
Most Americans are just too busy trying to make it to the next paycheck, let alone engaging their brains to sort through the propaganda.
Media has let us down in this regard, nearly always going for the cotton candy over fruits and vegetables.
We'll win, eventually, but it's going to be a long, hard-fought war. The orange jumpsuits are waiting.
5
Trump Derangement Syndrome: the inability to accept that the world does not revolve around Trump, that Trump is not interested in anyone or anything unless it concerns Trump, and that Trump and the GOP will betray Americans as long as they can remain in power.
Trump's most rabid supporters and Mitch McConnell are suffering from this. They accept uncritically whatever Trump says. He claims he was exonerated. The GOP wants Nadler to resign as chairman of the Judiciary committee. He wasn't chair when the investigation was started. Trump criticizes his detractors, claims some are guilty of treason, and threatens to do bad things to them. Gee, it was fine when they were investigating Hillary.
Trump is not fit to remain as president of anything. In fact his entire administration should be impeached and tossed out of office. There isn't an honest man or woman among them. Prior to his swearing in there were scandals. After he was sworn in the scandals continued. This administration seems to produce a scandal a day. In other words it is the scandal. I do not understand why any American would vote for this to continue for another 4 years. Trump is incompetent, untrustworthy, and worse. He makes W look great and that's saying something.
9
There's a strange parallel, in my mind, between Trump and O.J. Simpson: both "exonerated," but to the public, and perhaps somewhere in their own minds, both guilty.
4
You forgot to mention the obscenity that Trump was comfortable using in a presidential speech, further coarsening our political dialog. I have a relative (a Mormon) who is very proud of the fact that he has never seen an "R" rated movie, yet he loves this man and his politics. It all offends me, but this ability to compartmentalize one's religious beliefs, while backing a man who has so little moral or intellectual heft, that he feels free to curse at his rallies, boggles my mind. This wasn't a slip or a result of frustration or elation. He's just decided that his crowds are now sufficiently vetted that he can curse without fear of offending any of the good people of the heartland who have made of him a false idol. I will never again fall victim to his follower's concerns, sensitivities or religious rigmarole. They have proven to me that their principles are malleable, insincere and easily Trumped.
17
After a short episode of nausea over the Grand Rapids diatribe, my mood turned once again to abject pity for a human being so far over his head in a job for which he is, to say the least, unfit. Beyond the amateur diagnoses of what ails him there remain the multiple evidences of violating the spirit if not the letter of the rule of law, protestations of his minions to the contrary notwithstanding. Since he provably has no morals or ethics, criticism of his morals and ethics fall flat. The resistance needs instead needs to move on the potentially terrible consequences of policy initiatives --if they may credibly be called that--of this depraved administration.
6
Imagine if this were President Obama or a President Hillary Clinton.
They had spent two years trying to coopt the Justice Department, insulted our intelligence agencies, sided with Putin over our intelligence officers, fired the FBI Director and their first Attorney General.
They had ranted about conspiracies and witch hunts against them.
They made clear Mueller had a sword over his head.
Members of their inner circle had been convicted and locked up.
Their longtime lawyer showed them to be a pathological liar, to sneer at laws, and be all around sleazy.
Their second Attorney General consolidated a report hundreds of pages long into a sound bite within two days of its release.
They set out to seek vengeance on anyone who has crossed them and say it was a shame that they went through this.
Assuredly, Congressional Republicans would not be saying that now it’s time to move away from all the unpleasantness.
7
Well written and great that you attended the rally to take the temperature of the MAGA room and to hear the pompous Trump tooting his horn but then fall a bit flat with his victimhood on display. His audience I’m sure didn’t care or notice the flatness. They were in the presence of their deity. They could hoot and holler like they were at a WWF wrestling extravaganza. They would walk away feeling they touched excellence.
Do you plan to do more of these hands on experiences in the 2020 race perhaps attending democratic candidate rallies? Makes for good first hand observations.
2
Mr.Trump is not tired of winning because he has no winning to brag of except a Supreme Court choice and a tax giveaway to his rich friends.He does not just have Mueller to worry about anymore-Those were the halcyon days.He now has to worry about the Democratic House and the Court in the Southern District o New York.And truth to tell- he cannot be thrilled that young, energetic , and attractive young people are already running against him to replace him and his lazy, nasty administration which is the personification of the SWAMP.
11
Trump is the distraction designed into this debt slave system long planned to suppress reality across the board. Now as everything is out of control as the real meaning of truth is continually called into question and the environment is collapsing please don't forget; it's baseball season.
No comment that Trump is using government time and government money to campaign?
Let's get out crimes in a row here. Start with those in plain sight.
5
One of the reasons Trump won in 2016 was that his vulgar, surreal, amoral and — yes — entertaining campaign was unlike anything we have seen. It was like looking at a big male lion in the zoo. Everyone wants to see him. If Trump simply does a repeat of 2016 in 2020, there won’t be anything new and voters may get bored. “Oh yeah, Trump. He’s roar isn’t so loud. Let’s go to another cage.” Maybe someone could actually defeat him.
1
Grand Rapids is not Michigan. Grand Rapids and the surrounding area are Michigan's Bible Belt. He was preaching to the choir.
As for Betsy de Vos, he will kick her out the way he has kicked out the others. Too bad for Michigan; we did not miss her and now she may be back. A plague on both of them!
11
Has anyone else ever pondered the fact America currently has an "acting" president? Seriously.
4
I don't know if Trump is tired of winning, but he is never tired of whining.
14
That rally needs to be documented for the Smithsonian. My favorite part is when he went on a tear about how those who do not support him are basically just jealous because he is smarter than they are, he went to better schools than they did, he has a more beautiful house, a more beautiful apartment, "a more beautiful everything."
I have found it one of the more unflattering developments of our culture of recent decades is how some people, if you criticize them, they accuse you of being a "hater" -- kst jealous that you don't have what they have.
Is there any more puerile and ultimately pathetic response to being criticized?
And that is who a third of the country is wild about.
Cults of personalities are terrible enough. But we are dealing with a cult of a terrible personality. That is a whole other level of awful. His followers love him because, not despite, he is a racist, a bully, utterly heedless, amoral, shameless, cruel, and proud in his ignorance.
Plato warned us about this in the Republic, Book VI, where Plato argues to a) avoid shouting crowds and b) be very careful of he who calls wisdom merely the ability to manipulate them.
The Republic Book VI contains one of the earliest known discussions of what we are vexed by today. Highly recommended.
3
Meetings with Putin with no notes taken....
All sort of subordinates lying about meetings, etc....
Why would those things happen if there was nothing to hide...
Seems pretty simple to me.... Likely there was no "collusion" re the election, but there definitely was something else going on, something lots of people, and especially DJT, don't want anyone to know about.
6
Maybe he just ate too many Big Macs on the plane and should have been napping instead. But as for Mr. Trump not getting the irony, he doesn't seem to have irony in his emotional range.
5
Trump is, as usual, performing for his ever-shrinking base. He doesn't believe a word of it, but he knows they do, so on he goes with the lies and distortions and empty bluster. It's not believed by the rational majority - or by thinking Republicans, who notice that he's delivered nothing but a tax cut for billionaires - and I think he's finding it more and more difficult to pretend otherwise.
3
I must live on a different planet.
How any American citizen could even acknowledge having listened to or seen Trump perform and then call him "President"is a sign that not all of us are sane.
Politics aside, this man has truly polluted the planet.
Please vote to refresh and restore democracy.
26
"“I knew there was no collusion. I just had a feeling. I trust him. The only thing he hasn’t done that he promised to do is put Crooked Hillary in jail.”..I noted that Jared and Ivanka had also now landed in hot water for using private accounts for official business....“Not to that extent,” she said.
Ah, the logic of the base, of the die-hard, the mind made up.
I have news for her: "not to that extent" in actually means "even worse" given the golden couple's use of hot but porous smart phone apps to converse with Saudi Arabian murderers.
I don't think Trump is tired as much as he is simply unhealthy. He needs to eat a vegetable or two or three, and skip TV watching on the couch for say, about a year.
But on one point I agree, with Maureen here: I don't think there's a foil as big as Robert Mueller and the man has skipped out of town before Trump can gloat over his body.
Because you see, Mueller doesn't care what Trump thinks of him, while Trump cares too much. That's the source of his malaise if you can call it that--and it will really drive him nuts since there's no cure for it.
442
@ChristineMcM
Eat more vegetables? No. Eat more big macs.
22
@ChristineMcM I do think Trump's narcissistic personality disorder, his impulsivity, trouble with speaking, and combative view of the world all align fairlly well with signs suggesting some cognitive impairment. I am sure you have read comments of people who knew him years ago, and said he was much more coherent then. I certainly agree his love of "hamberders" is not helping.
31
@ChristineMcM Odd that you should say that about being "tired". Having my own opinion, I've recently had several conversations with medical-doctor friends about "what will happen?". All of them just stare wide-eyed, begin citing the various and historically bad health habits Trumps has, his obviously increasing obesity, his volatile and uncontrollable temper, his age, his sleep habit (those are obvious from the tweets), etcetera. Without evincing the slightest political affiliation, all of them have basically said they're surprised he's still going at this furious rate and that he's just a walking aneurysm or devastating heart attack waiting to happen. They all agreed with my suspicion that, the moment he exits through any door, he's getting fed and pumped up with as many drugs as a teenaged Judy Garland. Not that I necessarily wish the man any illness of that sort; even if he were my own father, I would be EXTREMELY concerned about his health.
28
There is more to come from the report. Mueller may not have found enough evidence of a conspiracy to meet the prosecution’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. But there is likely evidence of collusion to meet a lesser burden of proof in the court of public opinion. Stay tuned.
10
@John Smith
I think the fact that no one reported to the FBI that Russia attempted to contact them during the campaign is enough conspiracy for me. Why, as a good and concerned American did they not call upon our Intelligence Agencies? Trump Tower meeting and the emails coordinating it have been proven true.
5
Now, with no great conspiracy in evidence against him, he has returned to being the DJT who campaigned in 2016. Namely, a purveyor of hatred, anger and resentment that is sold through vulgarity, inanity, and hubris.
What we are all tired of, especially those in the GOP who have come to realize that their pact with darkness and bigotry was a not morally tolerable, is having a man as our president who embarrasses our nation every day. That is to say nothing of the actual harm he daily does to our alliances, business interests, culture, and educational norms.
Without the ability to imagine DJT losing his job because there is a cut and dry commitment of a crime in evidence, we must now confront the ongoing fact of his employment. that should be reason enough to vote him out of office.
24
For Trump, winning is largely a matter of conning his base of not-too-smart people by enabling their delusional sense of self images. He's very good at that; it comes easy to him and it has certainly paid off for him. Still, for a guy whose own self image might be that of a very clever guy, able to do much more than con the easy marks, doing little but that 24/7 might grate a bit. Perhaps, at his age, he is beginning to tire of it, become bored, perhaps to question if that's what he wants to do with his remaining time. But I doubt he is.
5
If I remember correctly, when Romney ran against Obama, Obama’s team had a better investment success record handling the stimulus than Romney had at Bain. In other words, giving rich people money does not even mean greater return on investment for them, it just means they get to invest it.
For some reason, people bought the idea that a rich man that hires rich people to run the government will be good for the economy. Turns out, it was good for their wallets; ours, not so much.
It wasn’t a big mystery, not even in 2016. Even though Trump said the economy grew more with him than it had in decades, it grew as much, maybe more, with Obama. Deficit & economy-wise, Clinton was better than both Bushes.
So why do we keep giving good economies to Republicans that burn the money? Bush invaded Iraq and set the stage for ISIS. Clinton deregulated wall street when Republicans took Congress. Obama has to agree to a weak stimulus and cuts when Republicans took Congress, and Trump joined a Republican Congress in burning 2 trillion so rich people could keep more of their earnings. Rest assured, if Dems fail to take Congress and the Presidency, we will hear that we can’t afford to invest public money for stimulus. It will be time for cuts.
Maybe, rich people and Republicans care more about elections when the economy looks strong and growing. Maybe they smell the money tax cuts can deliver. Maybe Dems care most once Republicans have wrecked it and we need fixers. Let’s break this cycle.
21
At some point we need to ask ourselves whether Trump is the problem, or whether this man actually reflects the true character and values of about 35-40% of the country.
Perhaps Trump's truest talent is his ability to see past the chipping veneer of civility and decency of his base and understand their true core of fear, anger, meanness and hatred that lie beneath.
If a man wanted to be king, what better skill could he ask for than the ability to discern a person's true self so it could be manipulated and harnessed? Sheep are predisposed to being herded and a skilled shepherd knows this and takes full advantage of it. Trump has shown himself to be a masterful shepherd of the scared and the angry.
77
What prevents many people from acting upon their fear of people who appear different from themselves?
Civility.
When the largest pulpit in the world is blasting insults without repercussions it undermines civility, dehumanizes people and encourages others to act upon their fears.
This is the cause and effect connection associated with the rise of hate crimes worldwide.
There is culpability.
58
@Jeff Caspari
Dehumanize is a scary word to me. I know that is what Trump has done to his flock of sheep. Civility is what humanizes us. Jesus taught civility toward our fellow man. I will never understand how a person who calls themselves a Christian could approve the incivility Trump brings us in ever word he utters and every tweet.
I never understood why anyone thought that Mueller would make a conspiracy case against
Trump. If there were a conspiracy, it would have been based on private and secret conversations between Trump and the Russians, which neither Trump nor the Russians would ever had admitted. Ms. Dowd says that Trump’s exoneration was a surprise. Not if you were paying attention
21
Exactly.
Why are we surprised that a guy who never uses a computer, never puts anything in writing, only meets with a couple people at a time, and refuses to surrender his personal cell phone never got caught?
21
@michjas She didn't use the word "exonerate" because even Barr pointedly noted that the report does not exonerate him. "Not guilty" in a courtroom means just that: not that a defendant is innocent, only that he's not guilty. Words matter.
4
@Brian Zimmerman...Let's not forget that he undermined the investigation and "down talked" it the entire time like he had something to hide. He does. It will be redacted by Caveman Barr.
1
Funny how no one talks anymore about how weird it is to have a President who never stopped having rallies after he was elected, with people yelling slogans in unison and the speaker rambling on with more emotion than reason.
There is a historical precedent, but it wasn’t in this country.
Never forget? More like how soon they forget.
139
@Chickpea Obama held rallies before the two midterm elections and to support Obamacare. That said, the tone and civility of his were far different from Trump's.
@HKGuy "Obama rallies...to support Obamacare"? Yes, Obama took to the streets to get support from the people who needed to know what the Republicans were doing to prevent healthcare. And as imperfect as the ACA law is, it is a start, crafted for the benefit of every citizen in every State. There simply is no comparison to what President Obama did and what #45 is up to. 45's rallies are part of the deal he holds with the most powerful man in Washington, Mitch McConnell. I can only imagine that spindly finger pointed at 45 as MM explains the real deal: shut up and let me do my business and I'll let you be president.
It's an awful time in America.
16
I cannot pass over the opportunity to ask the question :Why was this night different from all other nights? Because Trump is best when he portrays himself as a victim of the elites who are out to get him. On this occasion he came before his adoring fans as a winner. No Collusion! Exonerated by the elitist Mueller. Not a victim therefor not his best night.
22
I'm as concerned as the next guy about Trump's pathological behavior and the many ways it is eroding our governmental foundations. I am also increasingly concerned about the people who keep showing up at his campaign rallies.
Like Ms. Dowd's reminder of the ancient admonishments to retain one's sense of mortality (morality would be a bridge too far, I regret to say), I have to occasionally pinch myself lest I fail to take them seriously.
Something else that may be a bit of old news from this February is, to my thinking, also very serious. According to CNN and other outlets, a gentleman name Tyler McGaughey left his job at Justice and has acquired a post in the White House counsel's office. And as luck would have it, this young fellow is also Attorney General William Barr's son-in-law.
Maybe there's nothing at all untoward about it, but all this familial coziness just makes me a bit uneasy.
I don't know . . . am I spotting a trend?
124
"I don't know . . . am I spotting a trend?"
Patronage and nepotism are common practices in 3rd world countries, give him 4 more years and we'll get there.
8
@Skeexix Nepotism is as old as the Republic.
@HKGuy
And as with so many other things, its appearance does not improve with age.
1
I am really looking forward to Trump' reelection. Because I believe that he will lead to the peace of Korea peninsula. I don't care whether he builds a barrier in somewhere.
2
@kim, why do you depend on America to bring peace in the Korean peninsula over there? Cannot Koreans resolve their own differences peacefully? Why do they need to outsource their peace? They look alike they speak the same language eat the same food wear the same clothes, but they want an American to come from across oceans to help broker peace! Just does not makes sense. If siblings cannot resolve their own problems, no psychotherapist can help, on the other hand just knowing that they carry the same genes, same traits, born on the same peninsular soil, might help the siblings feel some love for each other. Trump is incapable of love empathy sympathy positive emotions kindness. He is a conman who ran for President on falsehood that he is self made wealthy. He lied to everyone including his own wives, while having extra marital affairs. Don't depend on him, please. Find your own God within.
3
The Declaration of Independence:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Are we there yet?
61
@Clinton Palmer
I guess that's us. Mueller didn't save us and neither will congress.
We've been there for two long years.
It's no mystery why he lost steam the last hour of the rally. He's old, fat, out of shape, has a horrid diet, doesn't exercise, doesn't get enough sleep, and appears to have a dementia like condition that hinders what's left of his thinking process.
He has no stamina for the rigors of the job, and it will begin to really show as the election campaign gets into full swing. I'll be surprised if he doesn't collapse early on.
337
@emsique
"No stamina for the rigors of the job" has been evident since Trump's inauguration: his yuge amounts of "executive time " (off presidential tasks); not reading critical documents; his Twittering; his time watching news channels,; his frequent golf excursions.....and more: show that He's Absolutely Not POTUS Material. Aside from stamina, what about honesty, intelligence, compassion, leadership.......etc.??
In Trump's famous words: Sad! (but, no surprise).
22
@emsique On stage I hope.
Never thought I'd come to look forward to a "Breaking News" announcement of the spectacle of this vicious creature expiring at one of his rallies, in full view. That expectation has given me pause, and reminds me of the damage he has done to us all.
I pray that some good will come of this nightmare.
18
@emsique
let us pray that you are correct.
3
More words associated with President Ford:
"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule."
Our long national nightmare was in full bloom Thursday night in Grand Rapids. It's truly amazing how many Republican presidents cause one long national nightmare after another.
172
@Howard Levine-- he left out that great act by way of the Constitution where he then pardoned Nixon.
4
I doubt that P.T. Barnum would lose any money betting that fewer than five people at a Trump rally would understand the term, "Pyrrhic Victory." Trump included.
Nor would the giddy MAGA audience comprehend how that term relates to Attorney General Barr's whitewash summary, that carries no weight, except with his master.
123
@judgeroybean
Spot-on Judge. But at least we might hope that a majority of them is learning the proper spelling of « looser ».
2
As the godfather of the alt-right Steve Bannon told a reporter last week "Trump is ready to go animal for the 2020 campaign".
Trump's so called victory lap is almost certain to pluck defeat from the jaws of his Pyrrhic victory. His extreme lack of impulse control coupled with Nixon like personal insecurity and paranoia will likely bring about his downfall. Trump may appear to be the teflon Don but he is not emotionally resilient.
107
You could have said that 3y ago and yet...
1
Trump is taking a victory lap, but he'll collapse before finishing. The charges against him were not trumped up ones. Barr's four page biased summary of 300 hundred pages will prove that the fix was in as soon as Trumped hired him. Barr caved and as a result tried to exonerate him. It worked for a few days, but now Barr is stalling. The Mueller report has not been read by Congress. So it is not over. It could show that Barr, Trump and his lawyers were involved in a cover-up. If need be Congress should ask Mueller to see what he thinks of Barr's summary of his report.
91
Somewhere in his dark soul Mr. Trump knows that he did not win the presidency fairly or squarely. He must know that the Russians gave him the election n matter his role in the theft. It makes no difference whether he actively courted the assistance and worked with Russians which by the way has not been completely ruled out, or sat back and accepted their largess. It rankles in the middle of the night alone in the White House that he can not undo President Obama's legacy with a wave of a hand and that he lost the popular vote by 3 million. No matter his outward rage and ranting he can not deny these things. Its really become very tiresome to listen to his old out of key song and we must defeat him soundly and let him sink into the darkness from where he came. His base must learn that hope and trust in lies will not pay the bills.
563
@just Robert The sad truth is that he did win, and only because HC did not appear in the rust belt. And, worse, had Obama not told Biden not to run, since it was HC's turn, Biden would have run and won and we would not have DT now. It gets worse. Now Biden is ready to run and a Bernie supporter says "Biden smelled her hair!" So the far left will undermine Biden in supporting Bernie and the majority of Americans with no where else to go, will vote for Trump on 2020.
3
@just Robert
"Somewhere in his dark soul Mr. Trump knows ..."
Trump is so bereft of conscience, I wouldn't be so sure.
10
@sarah
Neither of your points are supported by facts as of yet. Without the release of the fully Mueller report we cannot ascertain the validity of either.
So the president may not have been indicted while in office but he certainly has not been vindicated.
8
Having not seen the Mueller report, it's risky to say, but absence of solid direct evidence of conspiracy does not mean a conspiracy did not exist. There's strong circumstantial evidence that one did. Too many lower level Trump staffers have been indicted for a conspiracy not to have occurred. The existence of plausible deniability by Trump and his family doesn't mean a crime was not committed. As John Ferrell recently reminded us, without the smoking gun tape evidence, Nixon would probably survived Watergate despite all the circumstantial evidence suggesting his involvement in Watergate.
205
@tencato--The old saw is still true: Where there's smoke, there's fire.
53
the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. take heart. Trump will choke.
9
No matter what the report says, he is and will always be a lyin' pile of .....
4
I don't know which is more disappointing. Having a chief executive with the intellect and curiosity of the average middle school student; a following that blindly follows him or a political party that doesn't have the courage to challenge his behavior and statements.
January 20, 2021 is 662 days away (according to my Trump Out of Office calendar). Perhaps that will be the first day we will have a President who will Make America Decent and Respectable Again.
351
Unless Democrats choose Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates that strongly appeal to the critical electoral college states lost by Clinton — Trump will be back again.
37
@Randy Arnold the average middle school student has a better intellect and more curiosity than Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell or any number of other politicians who are too lazy to bother checking out their preconceived notions about life.
As a former middle school student I remember being immensely curious about science in general, genetics, cancer, chemistry, and physics as topics. I remember reading up on mythology, and a couple of other topics. I had some friends who did the same.
Trump's motto seems to be Make America Greedy and Grungy Again.
86
@Randy Arnold
"... the intellect and curiosity of the average middle school student ..."
Below average actually, but a very rich father.
4
It was Trump who kept using the term, “No collusion!”
But the real crime being investigated was Conspiracy, i.e., Treason.
“No collusion” is a euphemism.
But Trump never said “I have been exonerated of Treason.”
That does not quite sound right, not even to the MAGA and QAnon mob.
But when it is time to turn the tables, that’s the first word Trump uses:”Treason!”
Really? For pursuing, as Adam Schiff’’s eloquent litany of already well-documented wrongdoings already summarized, to what extent the conspiracy and coordination expanded to include thePresident himself.
The only real reason why not enough evidence could directly impugn Trump to the level that the Special Counsel would indict him was because Trump, using the very power he had usurped, had been obstructing justice, every step of the way.
Besides, the essential principle in the Department of Justice’s policy that a sitting President cannot, (or would not), be indicted is that such matters must be conducted by Congress.
In other words, for the exact same reason why Mueller would not indict Trump, it is Congress who must make that determination on Trumps guilt, not the Department of Justice, and this is exactly why Congress must see the full unredacted Mueller report. That is the whole point.
Trumps victory dance in the end zone will stop short when the official refs, Congress, not Barr, review the tape, and find several face-mask penalties by the offensive line, including Barr’s, who has been obstructing Justice too.
226
NO ONE gets tired of winning. President Trump is just taking a breather from the long forced march of the Mueller Investigation.
President Trump will catch his breath, rejuvenate himself, restore his energy level and go on to campaign heartily in the 202 Presidential Campaign. He will win re-election. President Trump has the swell of the majority of the American people at his back and the wind in his sails. We want OUR country back and we are going to TAKE IT BACK for ourselves led by President Trump. Anyone who gets in our way will be crushed. Thank God that Presidnt Trump is President of the United States of America!
9
@Reggie Donald Trump may have the majority of Republican voters supporting him, but he does not have the majority of American voters backing him. That, as he all too well knows re: the popular vote, didn’t even happen in the 2016 election.
And you’re right in that we want our country back, but you’re painting too broad a brush, apparently speaking for everyone. Pas moi! In my vision of that happening, it does not involve President Trump. Narcissism; sleaziness in both personal & business relationships; lack of interest in learning - both about one’s job and in general; lack of being prepared & interest in listening to experts in various fields; lack of empathy; having virtually no true sense of humor - incl. about one’s self; making many disparaging remarks about numerous individuals, groups of people, and countries; consistently lying; etc,. etc. aren’t high on my list of attributes that I want in my president. In fact, they’re the exact opposite of what I prefer.
184
@Reggie
I wonder how that will happen, when Trump has a 45% approval rating. And 57% of Americans want to see a different president in 2021.
50
@Reggie... I don't think God had much to do with trump becoming POTUS. Sad to say, it had MUCH more to do with a large MINORITY of misguided voters in the 2016 election.
We the People are going to fix that next year.
God Bless America!
29
When my children were growing up, I would reprimand them if they used a naughty word. Little did I know that I should instead have praised them for being presidential.
143
I thought it was Wisconsin where Hillary did not campaign. She skipped Michigan, too?
And I'm not convinced Trump is exonerated of impeachable collusion, which is a lower bar than criminal collusion.
Unfortunately, 84% of conservatives believe if Trump is removed from office then Hillary becomes the president because she got the second most electoral votes. Maybe if they knew Mike Pence would elevate to the presidency with a Trump removal they would stop thinking all of the Democrats' attempts to remove Trump were to merely put Pence in the Oval Office.
OK, I was being sarcastic. The actual number is 78%.
56
The more important investigation should be Trump's collusion with the fossil fuel industry to prevent us from taking any meaningful action on climate change. Ultimately, this will have a much bigger catastrophic impact on our children and all of humanity. Although, so much damage has been done in such a short time that it's already too late.
144
What we know about Trump is that he is mean. As he goes down, and he will, he will create increased devastation out of pure spite such as an international incident that will rally his base and other naive individuals. Sadly, the Trump era isn't over by a long shot. There will be more pain for everyone.
338
@Marty
He has already created more than one international incident, and cutting aid to Central America is going to intensify the growing humanitarian crisis that he has manufactured at the border. Like climate change disasters, it is happening NOW.
15
Unless two-scoops has a stroke.
6
As dementia takes hold one tends to become angrier and angrier about nothing.
3
Two thoughts - I'm forever grateful he didn't wear a toga. Also, where were the monster trucks?
209
@Spucky50 - lol re: the toga. That made me smile - thanks.
6
@Spucky50
Ahhh .... thank you for that. My mind’s eye cannot unimagine that vision.
5
@Spucky50
Are you talking about Canada's boy-prime minister?
1
We used to have a no-drama presidency but now we have a drama queen. We used to hate WoW, a.k.a. War on Women, but now I am worried the Dems have going all out on WoM, a.k.a. War on Men. Call it pendulum, call it karma, but the extreme mood swings are wearing me down. I might have to swear off politics to the point of sitting out 2020, even though I used to preach "every vote counts!" Why, when the Dems keep helping Trump and the Repubs to stay in power, what is the point!
11
@Bos, the point is that every vote counts.
45
@Bos
O, one more thing. Remember other countries used to envy the U.S.of having President Obama, now I envy NZ of having Jacinda Ardern.
To be clear, everything Ms Dowd said of Trump is true and then some. But also remember, tearing him down without finding a better angel is hopeless. So, do not overlook Ms Dowd ending statement, "Maybe Trump, like America, is just tired of winning." The finger point to Trump as much as to America. File it under why people can't have good things
10
@Good Lawyer: Yeah, but some votes count more than others.
Any chance he's lost his ability to self-delude?
62
I don't know whether trump is tired of his rallies, but I certainly am.
429
@freepress, I cannot even listen to him for a few seconds before diving for the remote!
18
@freepress
Try to stop attending, if you can. And if you go, try to be more restrained.
1
@freepress-And for we taxpayers to pay for them. Sigh.
6
Grand Rapids, Michigan -- the town that Amway built and the home of Betsy 'Amway' DeVos and her brother, Erik 'Blackwater' Prince -- is not representative of Michigan.
In last November's midterms, Michigan reverted to Democratic blue. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Attorney-General and Secretary of State are now all Democrats -- and female.
Two previously 'safe' Republican U.S. House seats also were taken by Democratic candidates -- also both female.
And the Trump-endorsed candidate for a Michigan seat in the U.S. Senate lost, by 6.5 points, to the Democratic female incumbent.
Only 31% of Michigan voters want to see Trump re-elected.
In other words, the crowd at Trump's rally in Grand Rapids were far from representative of the feelings of the majority of Michigan voters.
In spite of the error of 2016 -- the first time Michigan voters had given a plurality of their votes to a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 -- Michigan is not a red State.
627
Nice stats — but only outcome that counts is at the polls. If they all vote, he will lose. If they don’t, he wins.
41
@justamoment thank you for those facts, it gives me some hope that in 2020 we will get our sanity back. Most of the time, I am very depressed about what has happened to our great nation. Trump has torn to shreds our national pride, that the US is a beacon for democracy, honesty, truth, and "the American Way." Maybe we can start rebuilding it in 2020. And make real headway getting more jobs for people that have had a really hard time making a living, getting good healthcare, putting food on he table and raising kids that will be proud of the country they live in, and how the president of the US represents all of us, not just the ones that love to hate everyone else.
53
@Garry
The record turnout in the 2018 midterms provides a clue as to just how sick America is of Trump.
Ten million more votes for Democrats, nationally, than for Republicans.
30
The "Trump problem" is that playing by the rules (laws) does not unseat a despot who doesn't.
97
At the age of 21, I cast my first vote for president in 1968. Back then and since then I have never voted for a Republican for any office, high or low. Republicans are not my kind of people. Like Trump, the members of the Republican Party and the members of the Republican base are artless, narrow, crass and vindictive and their sense of humor is based totally on belittling others. However, I have to give Trump credit. His tabloid style has turned us all into political science majors, with a minor in psychology. I have been in a lot of classrooms in my 72 years, but this version of Trump University is by far the most stimulating and edifying.
137
The Republican Party is the Party for the 1%.
It also appears to be the party of those delusional souls who, for some unfathomable reason, think they therefore might become part of the 1%.
144
@poodlefree - I can’t agree that all Republicans fall under this description. I have Republican friends who are decent, caring people. My parents were both registered Republicans, and I can say the same for them. IMO, the Republican party, as we had known it decades ago, has shifted waaay too far to the right. (And IMO, the Dems are in the process of shifting too far to the left, leaving moderates of either party out of the picture, altogether.) However, not all Repub. voters, even if they did vote for Trump, are necessarily obnoxious people. (One explanation I’ve heard from them is that they like his policies, if not his personality. Shrug...)
As for the present Republican politicians, I disagree with virtually all of them policy-wise, and sometimes personality wise. Yet would (and have) willingly vote(d) for a moderate Republican, albeit in a down-ticket position, if a Democrat in the race didn’t impress me. Yes, I am definitely to the left of center & voted for Hillary, but...
I believe one needs to separate out the wheat from the chaff - the moderates from the far right in the Republican party. If, for example, John Kasich had won the Republican nomination & presidential election, I’d likely be able to have respect for him. (I have no respect for Trump. Have tried & tried to dredge up *something* I admire/like about him, but have failed.)
However, I do agree with you in one respect: Politics certainly hasn’t been boring these last few years!
4
Millennials either didn’t vote or split the vote. Hope your generation has learned something. Otherwise....
1
Trump is tired of winning? Not to worry, voters will fix that for him in 2020.
134
Stronger than ever is the feeling of frustration that we have to waste time dealing with our Child-in-Chief and not our pressing problems.
It's hard to focus on remodeling the kitchen while the house is on fire.
238
I can only imagine that Ms Mo felt free to toss out this takedown because she has finall figured out, despite her non-stop shilling for Trump in the last campaign, that she not only will never be press secretary, but is unlikely to even get an invitation to a state dinner.
Doubtless she has a 3x3 FOOT platinum edged frame on the fireplace mantle, now standing not just empty, but mocking her every single day.
52
Mo, I came across these lines from the rally just today and I thought they said everything that needs to be said about how utterly devoid of character, psychological insight and self-awareness Trump is.
"Well, I have a better education than them. I'm smarter than them. I went to the best schools, they didn't. Much more beautiful house, much more beautiful apartment, much more beautiful everything and I'm president and they're not."
Can you imagine any previous President saying such a thing?
What an emotional loser - and for the record, I want to thank Trump for never mentioning that he spent his first two years of college at my future alma mater. If this is the best accounting for himself that he's capable of, then we don't want to be associated with him either. Let Wharton bear the shame.
1097
@Matthew Carnicelli, I don't believe it. Make Trump produce his academic transcripts and grades. otherwise, he just might be lying about that too.
127
@John the point of the Mueller report is that Trump told the truth. The others lied.
@Matthew Carnicelli "One tweet was from Trump himself: "President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States!"
"At least I'll go down as a president," Obama quipped."
"Can you imagine any previous President saying such a thing?" Yes.
https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-burns-trump-jimmy-kimmel-live-2016-10
15
Trump could shout “total exoneration, complete vindication” all he wants, but when the full Mueller report is released, he is likely to look foolish.
Robert Mueller did not exonerate Trump. If he had, Bill Barr would have released Mueller's report, instead of providing us with a few words from the report here and there.
If the Mueller report weren't so troubling to Trump, why would Barr want to redact various categories of information from the report?
Maybe Trump has an inkling of what is to come. That's why he's going on the offensive against Democrats who want the full report released.
The sad thing that happened to Trump was the midterm election and Democratic take over of the House. House Democrats will get their hands on the full Mueller report and point out that Trump wasn't exonerated after all and release the troubling tidbits that most likely is part of the report.
By 2020, there is plenty of time for people to forget Trump's gloating about "total exoneration" and Bill Barr's convenient summary of the Mueller report.
130
"When Trump describes what he sees as the plot against him, it is a mirror image of what his foes see..."
No, it isn't a mirror image, it is a projection meant to cloud the issues and afford Corrupt Donnie, or others in the Republican party, the opportunity to claim "both sides do it." If everyone does it, it might get excused.
Corrupt Donnie see a plot, because plotting is what he does.
69
"Did he know in his heart that he was guilty of some of those sins?" - What heart are you writing about, Maureen? Trump may have a physical heart, but I do not believe that he possesses a spiritual or emotional one; certainly, he has no conscience.
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I don’t think Trump has any concept of truth or facts. “Truth” or “facts” make absolutely no sense to him. Truth/facts are only what makes him look good; otherwise, it’s all just “fake news.” Tragically, for him and us — It’s that simple.
12
@Paul
The only sin trump can commit is failing to be the "killer" that his father loved instead of little Donny.
1
Thank you for the clarification, Maureen. When I heard that Trump ranted that they came from the mountains, the valleys, the rivers, I thought he was referring to those victims of violence from south of our borders. Seriously, referring to his voters? I will not argue his self-proclaimed exoneration and "innocence." What is the point? And Adam Schiff, my new hero, took care of that for anyone who listened to this fine man with an open mind. Instead, what I will focus on is Don's mental state.
This is the time in which we need more than ever our many reputable psychologists to step forward and make people aware that Trump has gone beyond neurotic. He's lost it. Period. Delusions of Grandeur - really there. Projections - really, really, there. Paranoia - wow, really, really, really there. Need I go on? But here is the deal. This is serious. Trump's victory lap was to complete his insane attempt at demolishing the ACA. His delusional "win" was to become even more hateful and vengeful. So where do we turn now, Congressional Republicans, his Cabinet, or HIS Supreme Court? We may seem alone, but we are not. We have the glorious House; we have good Democratic presidential candidates. We voters at large must now complete this portrait of hope with our involvement, all of us of different hues and colors.
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@Kathy Lollock "When I heard that Trump ranted that they came from the mountains, the valleys, the rivers, ... referring to his voters?"
Sure. The next phrase would have been "coming out from under rocks".
18
@Kathy Lollock
AMEN X 1000!
5
@Kathy Lollock. Agree. Since 2015 or so when he really came out, he has been plain crazy in plain sight. He is borderline psychotic making him unfit for office, as if he’s had a stroke or terminal cancer. That said, we are not at war, or at least new wars, stock market is up, unemployment low, and seemingly hesitant to actually do damaging stuff , such as invading Venezuela
. All short term, but...at least we’re not invading Iraq.
So maybe this is only the crazy mouse that roars.
1
These are the same people who believe that professional wrestling is real and would drive two hours to watch a match. Maybe that's why Linda McMahon had to leave this week; Trump's been siphoning off too much of her clientele.
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@stan continople
These rally crowds are masterfully recruited, with some purposely left outside the venue begging to get in.
But he berates his marketing team for not filling a HUGE stadium of 100,000 of the faithful, who will PAY MONEY to get into the rally, and buy merch.. He won't be happy until that happens. He won't be happy, though, because he is an unhappy cynical being. How is it that no women have stepped forward who have had a CONSENSUAL relationship with this person. Isn't that odd?
He aspires to the adulation of a rock star, and at his rallies invariably morphs into his sing song self-praise and school-yard mocking of his critics.
But, wait and see, that sing song talk is headed to a Sing Sing walk. Imagine the ratings.
P.S: Get your apartment on the 58th Floor of Trump Tower while they're still available. Demand is HUGE!!
4
The Trump presidency is strikingly similar to the college entrance scandal. Participants in both are devoid of basic human decency, dismissive of “others” in pursuing advancement, certain in their ability to game established norms and institutions, and can only exist with the compliance of corrupt insiders.
The Republican Party, where honor no longer exists, is the corrupt track coach.
500
@Gimme Shelter
Trump paid the schools directly to enroll his offspring, as did his father to enroll him. No doubt he feels contempt for people who don't have enough money to do this, and must resort to paying someone else to backdoor their kids.
Kids who actually have to work hard themselves to get in - aren't even worth thinking about.
2
@Lori Wilson That degree from a fancy college may get you hired, but you still have to do the work you were hired for, otherwise there will be a loud thud when your butt hits the sidewalk outside.
Change the focus of the nation. We have lots and lots of really serious issues to address while the Tweeter-In-Chief has daily tantrums. While it is hard to ignore the screaming two-year-old and even harder to ignore Trump have all the news organizations relegate him to one 5 minutes spot on the news regardless of what he says or does.
Yes, it is going to be ugly, and he's going to scream bloody murder but he will exhaust and politically harm himself without any help from the media.
Cover the nation and focus on what We-the-People and the legislators are or are not doing to fix the most important problems of the nation (FWIW: Trump is only an annoying symptom)
You say it won't work? Why not without the press focused on his every minute he will shrivel up like a fish out of water. Ok, Fox won't participate but he needs more than fox considering that nobody will be covering Fox either. Oh, the ratings!
Time Out Mr. President, go to your room and be quiet for a few months.
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@George N. Wells
No, it has to be focussed on without a single breath. Of course you're right about the other things, but even though theoretially he 'has to have attention', it's also true that he must be surveilled with greater and more intense scrutiny. Anytime he's not watched, you know, he might commit suicide.
1
I certainly will do whatever I can to help Mr. Trump retire next election, but I’m not sure how I will feel about half of my fellow Americans who really are rather deplorable.
1288
@K. Corbin That's a strong statement - even Hillary only claimed that HALF of Trump supporters were deplorables. So maybe not half of all Americans, but the ~ 40% who say that he is doing a good job?
5
@Larry Figdill. I’ve arrived at a point where I’m more upset with ALL enablers— Republicans in Congress, his reluctant voters and even those who do not vote. I truly believe we are at the edge of something very bad happening, and I would love to be wrong.
60
@K. Corbin rather?
1
It’s unsettling to watch the president behave like an insecure spoiled child. But it’s downright disturbing to see the adulation from the crowd as he bobs and weaves, punch drunk on his own ineptitude and imagining that the cheers of his supporters validate his incoherent speech.
He throws Betsy DeVos under the bus, although she was one of his clearly inept picks who, like most of his other appointees, was ironically unsuited for the job. It’s possible to imagine that picking such clueless people for high positions was strategic. It would give critics so many people to complain about that he might attract less attention.
No one could witness that speech and come away feeling the country was in the very best of hands. Rambling spite and smug chin-jutting is not something we’re used to seeing in a leader—not in this country, anyway.
We can hope that the full, unedited Mueller report will be wrested from William Barr by Adam Schiff, who, despite his pencil neck, held his head high as he was attacked by the president’s lackeys in Congress.
I hope we’re witnessing the beginning of the end. Mueller can tell us nothing that we don’t already see in the odd demeanor and childish behavior of a president who must, at the very least, serve as a warning to future generations.
Don't make the mistake that we made.
1445
@gemli
"one of his clearly inept picks": by picking inept people, he makes sure that he will have reasons to fire them. Firing people is "his thing".
40
...if there ARE future generations.
23
@gemli - if nothing else it would be great if the Mueller report would show the incompetence and unethical behaviour we all see but I think this is just wishful thinking.
21
The Trump presidency is beyond a three ring circus. The past few weeks alone, Trump has revived his vendetta against the late John McCain; threatened to shut down the border with Mexico; renewed his pledge to overturn the ACA, despite the continuing lack of a viable alternative; lifted sanctions on North Korea because he thinks Kim Jong Un is swell...all independent from the Mueller report and Trump’s corollary blood lust.
This is no way to run an entertainment venue, let alone a country. We may have no proof of collusion, but there is every evidence that Trump has no place in our highest office.
695
Entertainment venue is the be all, end all of the MAGA stick. Trump is their ungrammatical Rodney Dangerfield who lied his way into the White House.
11
@NM -- "The Trump presidency is beyond a three ring circus."
From a comic strip, the name of which escapes me: Imagine, if you can, a zoo in an asylum.
3
Trump is still packing them in at his rallies. Not sure if it will last, but insulting his fans will not bode any better than it did last time. Best to focus on someone who will amass his or her own crowds.
Beto? Watched his event in El Paso. He was manic and out of breath as he yelled gauzy cliches. And. Then there's Joe. Just say no! Pete Buttigieg was tested by Bill Maher last night and needs a little work. Plus a catchy self-proclaimed nickname before anybody else finds one for him. Harris. Warren. Klobuchar. Meh.
In any event. Trump will get his energy back. Dems better be ready when he does.
35
@Carol Colitti Levine
"Trump is still packing them in at his rallies. Not sure if it will last, but insulting his fans will not bode any better than it did last time."
Why is it that it's OK for the Republicans (not to mention T--because he does not deserve to have his name pronounced [hat off to New Zealand]) to insult the Democrats but it is an unforgivable sin if the low information voters so much as FEEL insulted or aggrieved (as they habitually do)? Meh?
21
@Carol Colitti Levine,
Not to worry, Carol,
The Democrats will be taking Trump down and far more of the electorate than the 31%-40% with Trump will make sure of it.
1
@Carol Colitti Levine
I saw the Town Hall Forum Tuesday with Chris Hayes and AOC. A heckler yelled "moron!" to a conservative commenter, and AOC said forcefully, energetically but respectfully to the heckler, "that's inappropriate." I realized that she was somebody who could handle a debate with Trump stalking and hulking behind her, or interrupting and talking over her. She wouldn't let it happen. Too bad she's so freaking young. It would be the debate of a lifetime.
Maybe “the beast unleashed” is just, well, boring. His putdowns and catch phrases have never been particularly clever. If the best he can do is “collusion delusion,” I feel sorry for the people who drove an hour and a half to listen to his low-energy, unfunny insults in person.
No, I don’t. And I hope they hit gridlock on the way home.
176
The end of the beginning. And new we get into the pesky details, teasing and puling at the numerous threads in congress and DOJ offices from sea to shining sea.
16
Trump doesn't know how or when to take yes for an answer.
He is always conflicted by his own take and how it will make him look to a minority of voters, his base. If important policy decisions were prom dresses, he would never make it out of the dressing room, on his own.
39
This has to be one of Maureen Dowd's best, most biting and eloquent columns. I had to read it twice to savor it. She always gets Trump right and this time with indelible images painted in snappy, unforgettable prose. Thank you for this. I will save it for when I need to remember just how it is on his rallies. My only regret is that Maureen had to be there to breathe it in so that she could write this column.
73
@Barbara, she certainly did not get TRump before the election.
4
@Barbara
Dowd assisted Trump and Co. in demonizing Hillary relentlessly. I'm here for the comments, but I will never read her again. Her bitterness and hatred of the Clintons helped Emperor Tang ascend to the presidency.
5
@Barbara My only regret is that she didn't offer this kind of bite during the 2016 campaign. Instead, she spent thousands of column inches slagging HRC.
4
Maureen, we are the same age and have seen much of the same history. I love your columns in general, but the best was when you allowed your brother, a member of your own personal basket of deplorables, to guest.
Like you, I was a liberal in the 60s and 70s. Unlike you, I switched sides in time to support Reagan. You see, I had my own business and saw what a lot of the policies I promoted were really doing.
You article about the Trump rally was well done, but oh so off the mark. We middle-American Trump supporters have had years of people on the coasts looking down at fly-over people. We have seen disastrous program after disastrous program cause much more harm than good. The problem is that just like the report from Robert Muller, liberals establish a narrative and then when the facts don't match their reality, they never, ever, say, "We messed up."
I don't think you, and I know I, could not have lived through this past two years with the constant attacks Trump has had to abide. People literally called him a Russian agent!
He has a right to celebrate his vindication. We who support him who have felt just as attacked, celebrate with him.
Tell your Bro' I said Hi, and in a totally off the record conversation with him, admit that you were wrong. No one else will ever have to know.
6
@OhioRon34
''He has a right to celebrate his vindication. We who support him who have felt just as attacked...'' It is not the personal that is being attacked, but merely against the policies that attack the individual (except a very select few at the top)
I will say right here and now that it is condescending to talk down to ANY voter that voted for this administration and president. I have ALWAYS said that we (as Progressives) need only implement ONCE policies that will show a clear majority (even more so than there already is ) of the country that the policies are for all. (and not just all of one kind)
We are going to get there. It is all but inevitable as simple demographics march on. Having said that, when the policies are initiated, then realize that we were working for you all along.
Regards.
53
@OhioRon34
Speaking of facts not matching reality:
Trump brought the "attacks" on himself. He and is associates lied about connections to Russia throughout the campaign and beyond. He went to Helsinki and in an appalling display for an American president publicly sided with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies. His former campaign manager shared polling data with a business associate tied to Russian intelligence. Trump drafted a false story about the reason his son met with a Russian lawyer who had close ties to the Kremlin-and he lied about it. Despite what Trump said publicly, there were more than 100 contacts between Trump and his campaign and Russian operatives throughout the campaign and transition.
The mistreatment-of Donald-Trump narrative is ridiculous. The investigation was launched because Trump and his people lied repeatedly. If Robert Muller was unable to find evidence of collusion, it does not follow that the investigation had no merit. And Trump was not exonerated when it comes to obstruction of justice.
You, OhioRon34, are trying to establish a narrative that doesn't line up with the facts. You're certainly not alone. And I doubt the lot of you will ever say, "We messed up."
767
@OhioRon34, I don't know why you refer to Ohio as "flyover country." I've been to your state several times, and it's beautiful, especially the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I also enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cedar Point Amusement Park, just for starters.
The only people I've ever seen use the term "flyover country" are Trump supporters who want to imagine they're judged by where they live. Nonsense. There are no coastal elites and real Americans. There are only Americans.
One of the things I dislike most about Trump is his efforts to divide us. You're only judged by your efforts to sow division.
703
While it's always easy to criticize, make fun of, be angry at and fulminate against Trump, this punditry has also become somewhat passé and ineffective as his numbers and his base attest to.
Thus far, he's still a juggernaut surrounded by the complacent, the complicit and the corrupt while being aided and abetted by our sworn enemies. Moving forward, the only thing we must focus on is determining who can defeat him. Thus far, no one seems to be up to that most formidable task of saving our democracy.
A Democratic defeat is no longer an option.
78
By contrast to Trump’s rally that I forced myself to see on Fox News, today I saw Beto O’Rouke doing his formal opening in his hometown El Paso.
Trump summons our worst instincts while O’Rourke and other candidates search for our aspirational instincts.
On display in Grand Rapids, I saw a president without capacity to figure out America’s problems with solutions to gain support from a majority of the people.
We can do better.
105
@JT
Indeed we can, and we shall. I will give you the example on this side of the pond, where a country is pleading to do a do over as well. Every single excuse is being brought out and dusted off as to why a slim majority would want to hurt themselves to such an extent.
IF any Democratic candidates were smart (and I think they all are in a different set of ways) they would not even bother with this President. He is irrelevant. The republican party is irrelevant.
In any given election, there are 100,000,000 potential voters that sit out due to a myriad of factors. They want to be inspired and they continuously are let down. Speak to them AND to the majority (3+ million more) of the country that already want change.
BE positive, be inspiring and demand from our better angels to look to one another and come together - instead of looking at one another and trying to divide.
Just a thought.
183
@FunkyIrishman: We have better angels on both sides of the pond and you are right, we have to unite .
In the speech I saw today by Beto O’Rourke, he is attempting to summon the better angels. I hope that the same will occur over there with Brexit.
40
@JT
The government and the Prime Minister have fallen as was forecast long ago- we are but waiting on a general mind you, but at the same time Corbyn has not been all that positive.
EVERY speech by BETO is a positive one, and I predict he will be a VP nom. (for sure) I will also predict that the current President will NOT even be on the ballot. Take that for what you will.
All in all, next year cannot come soon enough.
38
Is Trump having Trump fatigue?
It has to be very tiring to live his kind of life. Just reading about it is wearying.
My guess is that both Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell will read the pols next November and December and decide to declare victory and retire.
51
@Paul A Myers
First Mitch as to push through a bunch of judges.
@Paul A Myers they will never ever never ever give up power.
“It’s not clear why, on a night when his aides promised high energy, he seemed to lose altitude. Did he miss having Mueller as a foil? Did he know in his heart that he was guilty of some of those sins? Is he tired of rallies even before the 2020 race gets well underway?“
Or maybe his unbridled hatred and need for vengeance has drained whatever energy isn’t sapped already by indulging in one too many cheeseburgers.
As I looked at the faces of his devotees at the rally (not by choice) appearing in the newspaper and newscasts I watch, I felt a sadness for them for the futility of placing their faith in someone who is profoundly unable and unwilling to work in their behalf.
Why in the world would they cheer madly when he proposes to crush healthcare? Don’t any of them need it like my family does?
Then it dawns on me. The unifying factor is hatred. Hate for people of different races and ethnicity, hate for people whose liberal views make them tolerant, hate for people with different religious and political affiliations. It’s a powerful unifying thing. It also is a destructive thing, that destroys one from the inside out.
1803
@MG
Trump would never invite anyone in these crowds to Mar-A-Lago. He uses them all, and has submitted a winning budget to reduce their Medicare, Social Security and, now Health Care. His circus act is duller on the road than on Fox. He will not be on the trail much longer. He no longer needs them or the Republican candidates he is supposed to endorse. His shows are full of the same vile. His act needs trick ponies and a clown, at the very least, for the price of his tickets.
83
@MG I'm glad you realized this from watching reports of his rally, but hatred has been the key from the very beginning of his campaign.
93
@MG well said
I cannot help but compare the Trump and the current GOP phenomena to the phenomena that occurred circa 1930 in civilized Europe. The similarities being all too chillingly there.
Such comparisons are sometimes dismissed as hyperbolic/hysterical , or that the systems/environments involved too different to justify the analogy, or just "liberal smearing of a great man".
Frankly I think those that counter so are either ignorant/naive/in-denial, or they are propagandists gas lighting, etc..
No, what is before us plain - the essence of the Trump/GOP phenomena is shades of the horror in the making circa 1930.
That's a clinically honest assessment and we ought to think about it seriously and existentially when we vote.
We are not in normal political times when theoretically the best person for the "job" should win.
Nor do the normal and proper debates Conservatives/Progressives/in between have real importance.
Nor should shiny objects/islands of goodness - autobahns/common language/etc. come to mind - obscure the rot before our eyes.
No - we are in an existential war for the heart and soul of our Nation - for what we really want to be now and most importantly for generations to come. At stake our real place in history.
The ESSENCE- what do we want:
to form an authoritarian theocratic plutocracy - people marginalized, leaders devious, mean, selfish, objectives regressive/hurtful,
or to strive to perfect sane modern honest egalitarian liberal democracy?
88
'' If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.'' - Julius Caesar
We are far from settling for sure the first part (there are a myriad of state and federal investigations ongoing ), and as for the second part, history will be the judge.
Having said that, we all knew the republican controlled Senate were NEVER going to convict/impeach. (even if there was clear cut proof) So, it was always going to be up to the electorate to reverse course.
For now the man can strut around all he wishes, but the rest of us will feast on bread and roses soon enough.
223