Shame on every single Trump supporter who identifies as a Christian and shrugs whenever Trump's misogyny rears its ugly head (I suppose that those fetuses- especially the male ones- are just too important to spend any time worrying about the women who carry them). I do, however, wish that Mr. Darroch, who no longer needs to stress over what this "president" thinks of him, would just come out and say what he was really thinking- i.e., that Donald Trump is a racist, a fool, a bully, a boor and a threat to the free world like none that's existed since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Brits already seem aware of this but Darroch might just as well go public with the range and depth of his concerns.
comment submitted on 7/12 at 9:55 PM
3
Just like Trump, being Emperor increased Caligula’s conceitedness, but at least Caligula initiated two aqueducts.
I will never understand how so many of my fellow Americans and members of my own family who are regular church goers, continue to support such a depraved administration.
I pray Trump’s hold on our civilization does not last more than four years. Caligula’s exit is not a solution here.
13
Deplorables. She had it right...
25
“Republican Men Have Needs, Deal With It!” This should be a Democratic ad campaign with clips of all of the women who have been raped, abused and harassed by men in this administration! Please Democrats, go on offense!
Signed, a former Republican frustrated by Democrats
14
Funny that Acosta followed the law which is far more than I’m willing to say about Kim Foxx and the Democratic gladiators defending justice in Chicago.
It's awfully easy to point a finger, from a safe distance and when no one is looking at you and say, "what a horrible person".
I suggest that everyone pause, and take a good hard and honest look at themselves. Do you see the perfect and pure person that you expect everyone else to be?
2
Quote of the week in the Washington Post, from the marketing director of the Miami strip club that planned to auction off strippers as "caddy girls" at Trump's Doral golf club: The participating golfers, Emanuele Mancuso said, "deserve a VIP environment." Such, I guess, are today's VIP's.
6
Thank you for the headline! I couldn’t find the correct metaphorical parallel for the Trump administration these last two years and finally there it is “Caligula”! The madman horror of Ancient Rome! Nero comes close, but he actually knew what he was doing. Trump is just crazy and cruel and has daddy and woman issues like Caligula. Perfect!
12
I am thinking that In Christian theology, what exactly the anti-christ concept stands for?
Who can full fill those concepts criteria?
hold on what?????????
2
The real question: who will be the Claudius to Triump's Caligula?
3
Fabulous article! Caligula indeed!
As much as I dislike our Caligula, he is just the expression of the angry 45% who support him. If not for Caligula, it would be someone nearly as bad. And when he's gone, there will be someone else in his image to carry on for the angry base.
Capitalism prepared the way. Then, the Republican Party, in order to win elections and stir up their base, stoked resentment in that base for decades. In the end the Party created a monster which it was then utterly unable to control. It's a rabid collection, and "yes" it's a basket of deplorables. Hillary was absolutely correct in calling them "a basket of deplorables" but she (and we all) had little idea of just how huge a basket it was. Now we know. It's nearly half of America.
So we must ask, "why?" Are Americans so genetically inferior, as to have become avid, cult-like supporters of a corrupt, unqualified, immoral, liar?! No, I think it's not genetic.
So why have so many American become this way? My answer is that it's vicious capitalism, which is America's religion (and money is America's god.) There are few if any Christians in America, because if money is your god (and for so many Americans, including Caligula, it is) and if your religion is cowboy capitalism/cronyism, then you most certainly are not Christian.
Vicious cowboy capitalism has made nearly half of Americans into angry monsters.
11
Let's be clear, we are talking about pedophilia here - the sexual exploitation of children - conducted by, encouraged by or enabled by some of the most powerful people in the country. Are Caligula's evangelical supporters OK with this? It's a yes or no question. Even if they evade the question now, it's one they will be certain to be asked at the pearly gates.
14
Ms. Goldberg writing is why I read the Times. She is on target even though trump worshipers will perhaps start an insurrection if he ever goes to trial. And he more than hinted his hateful followers would.
5
I we allow for adjustments due to the evolution of society in the last couple of thousand years, I would say that Caligula by comparison was a Boy Scout.
3
I hope that some of your colleagues start using the name of Donald "Caligula" when talking about the guy in the white house. Aliases are powerful and stick to people if used often, give him a taste of his skill by calling his actions of debauchery and carnage for what they are, without using softer terms that 93 year old aunts in Alabama cannot understand.
Donald "Caligula" should not be given a second chance to win.
8
Yes Caligula is a better fit than Nero, after playing a violin takes some skill. BTW Utube used to have the hollywood version of Caligula.
There is nothing worse, in Trump's brain, than "you're making me look bad".
Well here it is Donald.
5
Find it very troubling the wealthy/political elite accept such morally sick & ugly persons into group. Clinton hung out with this guy & 45 knew about the "younger girls". Somehow the corrosive effects of extreme economic inequality seem to promote this depravity. Believe these girls were vulnerable in part because of poverty & the excessive wealth of these predators. Oh, but waiit, aren't these fellas the great "job creators" the reactionaries/Repubs are always talking about?!
8
I take the fact that the "sexual offense of female minors" by, in particular, older males, is no longer regarded as a "minor offense" as a positive step. The Trump Administration has been a continuously unravelling ball of twine from day one.
I agree, the Epstein/Acosta episode signals not merely a highpoint, to date, in the disgusting revelations but, additionally, an undoubted acceleration of the process. I am sure that there is much remaining to be learned about how the "vaunted financial non-genius" made his money and kept it (or more accurately - laundered and hid it).
Ah, the questions. How soon will Epstein himself, prosecuting attorneys, and/or enterprising journalists reveal the myriad distasteful threads tying the man and his money to other people of his ilk (including further Trump revelations)?
Was the disinterest in prosecuting Epstein (and his protection by those in positions of power) just a matter of class solidarity or did he have the reciprocal goods on others? Did they love him or fear him, not just for his reputed financial clout, but even more for the stories he could tell? Undoubtedly it was both.
Trump's dumping of the "gracious" Acosta is, I believe, just the beginning. What's coming for Trump is "a-really-go'in-to-a-costa". The price? In round numbers - 2020 and the future of the GOP.
Philanderers and misogynists are bad. Predators and pedophiles? At some point the American electorate will begin retching - en masse. It may have begun.
7
One needs to go back to the Roman Emperor Commodus to find someone who has sullied his office so flagrantly and in such a tawdry manner.
Kings and presidents and prime ministers have been corrupt before in our human history, but past corruptions seemed to be about real power, not this petty corruption we see on a daily basis from this so called man. (I don't mean to suggest that abuse is a pettty crime to the women being abused.)
I wonder if he will lose the support of the so called christian fundamentalists when it comes out that he has forced some under age girls to get abortions.
The corruption that exists in our Nation, from the so called religious establishment to the political and industrial establishments, is just unbelievable.
It makes a person constantly want to shower off.
7
Aren’t you glad you weren’t a child learning Civics in Jr. High School when Trump was President? Kids today are likely to believe his cretinism is appropriate behavior because it is so prevalent and there are no “adults” around to stop him. Especially the children of parents who openly support Trump. Jeez.
13
If this is a Caligula administration can we impeach him before he appoints a horse as consul or whatever its modern day equivalent is?
8
I have absolutely no problem with people of faith. I respect all the great religions of the world, which each embrace the golden rule, helping our fellow neighbors, and the humility of mankind to a greater power. And I respect those who live their lives through these faiths. There are a great many good Americans who follow the teachings of Christ.
That said, I do have a problem with some evangelical churches. These particular churches do not represent the teachings of Jesus. Rather, they subscribe to the Gospel of Prosperity. That is what G.O.P. stands for now. There is nothing wrong with success or wealth. But, as good people, that should bring humility. To whom much is given, much is expected. Joel Osteen refused to let hurricane victims in Houston into his mega-church, because they might soil his new carpets. What Would Jesus Do?
Jesus believed in the Golden Rule. Jesus believed in helping the poor. Jesus was humble, and thankful for what he had. Jesus loved his neighbor.
Some of today's hypocritical Christians are not really followers of the teachings of Christ. Rather, they are cult members. They worship money and power. They are instead Satan worshipers.
They think they can impose their chosen morality upon their neighbors, as a form of Christian Sharia Law. Our Vice President is one of those people. It is beyond me how any self-described Christian can support our current president, and accept the person they see in the mirror. Mr. Trump is an unrepentant sinner.
15
This description is spot-on. I've long thought Trump and his administration are comparable to Caligula and the worst excesses of the Roman Empire.
Caligula appointed his horse to the senate, and had human senators and others so scared that the agreed with him to placate him. With Trump, far from draining the swamp, he's re-stocked it with snakes, alligators, and other slimy, amoral creatures. The GOP placates him, obeys him. His supporters love him and will do whatever it takes to re-elect him. They don't care what he does, whether he breaks the law. If Trump appointed a horse to the cabinet, his base would love it, and the GOP would approve it.
7
If Trump had run on a Hedonist Party Ticket -- his base, evangelicals included, appear to be Hidden Hedonists -- or like Roy Moore, not so well hidden -- there would have been a touch of honesty to his Presidency.
Similarly, if the well to do people who socialized with Epstein had walked out on the dinner for Prince Andrew when they recognized that Epstein was their host, it would have sent a warning shot, perhaps forcing him out of the "denial" which apparently led him expand his predations after he finished his light sentence. But they didn't.
Elsewhere in the Times, Alan Dershowitz is quoted as saying "nothing like that happened", referring Alex Acosta's reported claim that Epstein's defense hired fancy goons to intimidate officials involved in the prosecution and their families. But how does Dershowitz, a trophy lawyer and a good one, know what Epstein's day to day legal team was doing? Not unless they tell him -- not likely when what the legal team has been accused, if proved, might lead to disbarment.
These tales of misconduct in high places, the refusal of New York's high and mighty to shun the perpetrators and the legion of evangelicals who support Trump, suggest a society ripe for dismemberment.
Caligula deified his horse. What or who will Trump deify, besides himself?
5
We need help from Olympus. The president and all the president's elite buddies are doing all they can to welcome it.
1
What I can't comprehend is, that at the time of this most ugliest administration, supported and let's be honest by ugly base with no moral values whatsoever Robert Mueller, a reluctant witness playing footsie with the country.
Taking aside his ambiguous conclusion in a very lengthy report, that not even public officials took time to read, the report that was successfully misinterpreted by his loyal AG, the report that has to be read to the public in a school teacher manner, so everyone will understand who is sitting in a WH, at the time that he orders raids around the country to deport law-abiding brown skin people, his cabinet cruelty at the border, terrorizing children, women and men, dehumanizing and dismissing like trash people who are coming in a most extreme conditions, trying to stay alive and save their kids...
Mike Pence, goes on a tour of the border and lying to all of us, right in our faces...he is gross to put it mildly, they all are.
So for Robert Mueller to be so nonchalant at the time when our country literally goes in flames, just incomprehensible!
10
Great column, Ms. Goldberg. What amazes me is how evangelical Christians remain quiet and don't speak out against Trump and such blatantly sinful, corrupt behavior. To them, abortion and same-sex marriage are much more important than character. And they wonder why young people are abandoning religion in droves. The problem is simple: America has lost its moral core, and evangelicals such as Jerry Falwell Jr. and Franklin Graham are a huge part of the darkness because they value temporal power over character. I'm a Christian who's very disappointed by how my brothers and sisters in Christ bury their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge reality. Your continued support of Trump is not making America strong again but making it much more decadent, uncivil and sinful.
9
I feel sorry for the British ambassador, Kim Darroch. His career was shot down because he spoke the truth and trump didn’t like it.
I want to reach out to him, to Britain, to the entire world, and say that trump is NOT the US. Trump does NOT represent us as a nation. But sadly, it seems more and more that it is so.
10
A solid 35 to 40 per cent of Americans continue to support this depraved sociopath. This fact alone is enough for the rest of us to give up hope for the future of this country. High schools need to teach Civics again and teach our children about the gift of democracy. We need to teach U.S. history through WW2 and on into the civil rights movement as well as teaching them about the clear catastrophic distasters of Vietnam, Iraq, and Reagan's "trickle down" economic fiasco. When I was in school my teachers were not shy about teaching the realities of Hoover vs. Roosevelt, as well as the Jim Crow South and the stupidity of the "America First" movement prior to WW2. There is a difference between political opinion and actual history. Too few people under the age of 50 seem to have any idea of what this nation as lived through. They are empty vessels, ready to be filled with the rank lies of any autocratic demagogue that comes along. Democracy cannot survive this kind of leadership or the ignorance that fertilizes it. History should be ready now to condemm Trump to its dustbin. Decent people need to rise up and call out his lies, thievery and treason for what it is. We need to clean up the Senate and the Supreme Court as well as the White House. They will try to call it socialism. What it is however is patriotism.
12
The plot is obvious: All the accusers of these rich, powerful business and political leaders are being paid to lie by the George Soros/Tom Steyer Deep State Enterprise in a nefarious ad desparate attempt to keep the swamp from being drained.
Remember when we used to have real presidents?
5
Please do not allow the words of writers like Michelle Goldberg to just die on the vine. Caligula is an apt comparison, but the MSM, including the NY Times, treats Trump like a Bob Guiccione celebrity actor, rather than a real person, hold a real important job, where he can and does do real damage.
Please follow Ms. Goldberg's lead. Cover the man, do not protect his position. Thank you, Michelle for your profile in courage by writing what is real.
6
Caligula was Little Boots.
Trump is Little Hands.
Both are depraved and scared to death to admit their fraud.
4
Thank you for bringing this aspect to the forefront. I find myself wondering about two things: what kind of a society are we living in and for how long. Sex has always been partly hidden as though it should be wrong for the pleasure it gives but there are depths still to plumb.
The other thing I find troubling is the idea that there are rich men who can have teen girls for the asking and they protect each other. I myself was openly recruited by a wannabe entrepreneur when I was young. I was older than a teen but still very young.
The promises were my own apartment, a wardrobe of my liking and grand restaurants. The clientele, married businessmen with money. All I had to do was be 'welcoming'.
I feel there is some cabal that protects and rewards each other for the secrets they keep while they enjoy things below the radar. When they get caught, they have help getting away with it.
I hope I'm wrong.
19
With the age of consent as low as 13 in Japan and 14 in Austria when will the Democratic progressives get on board with lowering it in blue states.
Teenagers have rights too...
6
@Charlie
Should 13- or 14-year-olds then have the right to vote?
Should they be required to serve in the military at that age?
Should they be allowed to drink? (Oh wait, that is 21 now.)
17
@Charlie
I have yet to meet a 13 year old who is mature enough to make those sorts of decisions. In fact, the immature behavior of much older teens is commonplace and is the reason they are not even tried as adults in criminal cases.
We do not need to encourage pedophilia. If you are an adult male and want to have sex with a 13 year old you are nothing more than a pedophile.
This is a question of perversion, not a question of civil rights.
9
@Charlie--It's Democrats that are speaking out and trying to get some justice for victims. It's Democrats that are fed up and disgusted by Trump and his toadies. It's Democrats that would see an investigation into the allegations against Trump, would like to know more about the parties he held at Mar-a-Lago with Epstein and possibly underage women, and who want to allow Trump's victims to be heard. It is Republicans who prevent any of this from taking place and are protectors and enablers of Trump. Teenagers do have rights--the right to be safe from predators chief among them. It's Republicans who are content to let an alleged predator and sexual abuser remain in the White House.
9
What do you mean...we can't do anything about it? Aren't there victims? Aren't there attorneys?
Aren't there courts? Aren't there judges? Isn't there a press willing to keep drumming away at the vile behavior of Trump so these cases get into court whether he shows up or not.
28
What I’m thinking is, people like me, who are inclined to read your columns, don’t need convincing, or, for that matter, the recitation if facts, which we’ve registered, day after day. So this time, I think you’re not really offering a new insight, and I’m left rubbing my chin about things like the use of the word “depraved”, not because it isn’t apt, but because morality has come to be our only weapon, and it’s a strange weapon to wield, considering who-all “depraved” has been used against. One other observation I’d make is that I think our moral arguments are best made when we include ourselves, or implicate ourselves in the predicament, somehow. How did I (we) contribute to this? Perhaps in one way by only finding a voice about, say, refugees, whenever own favorite president isn’t the one who happens to be doing the deportations. There’s a moral case, which is absolute. And then there’s power.
3
"Acosta Resigned. The Caligula Administration Lives On.".
And desperate "dems" keep posting idiotic "opinion" pieces ..
9
@Michel
Mr. Trump is the one who should be desperate.
He has yet to achieve a 50% or higher opinion rating since he took office. He is going to lose MI and WI and probably PA. He is unlikely to win any 2016 states that voted blue. He has not accomplished any of his campaign promises (build the wall, repeal Obamacare, do infrastructure, bring back factory jobs, etc.).
Mr. Trump is an unmitigated failure, He is a flailing incompetent tilting at windmills. And the world (and half of America) is laughing at him.
That said, I don't take a Democratic presidential victory in 2020 for granted. I am not complacent. But Mr. Trump has proven himself to be a world-class LOSER, and that is the record he has to run on.
9
Remember the "Moral Majority" in the 1980s?
That was the self-proclaimed label of the same voter block that helped elect Mr. Trump in 2016. It started with Jerry Falwell, then Ralph Reed came along, and today there are a bunch of conservative political organizations masquerading as evangelical churches (with tax-exempt status).
I remember the bumper stickers when this all began in the 1980s. As this opinion piece illustrates, the message is even more true today:
"The Moral Majority is Neither"
---
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
38
Try working in an administration that anyone who joins it is immediately chastised by and never-ending probe into their entire life. Lumped in with rhetoric about racist, misogynistic attacks and career destroying tsunami of guilt by association with no regard for attempted progress by a man elected by citizens to change Washington. Endless resistance to change by entrenched special interests of both parties are major hurdles to what many Americans demand of their elected officials. Only true patriots would accept such a duty, and many can’t take that pressure or fail to perform.
4
How much turnover was there in the Obama administration?
How many members of Obama’s cabinet resigned in shame?
How many convictions?
Even after the how many Benghazi investigations?
6
@Ray Ozyjowski
"Try working in an administration that anyone who joins it is immediately chastised by and never-ending probe into their entire life."
Ask Bill Clinton how that worked out from 1993-2001.
Somehow, Mr. Clinton still managed to do his job as president. (And I say this as someone who is not a fan of the Clintons.) Mr. Trump must be even more incompetent and ineffectual than my lowest expectations if he can't get anything done as president. What a LOSER!
3
That is one very broad brush! As left unchallenged, it coats just about anything the painter desires to connect. Ever share a coffee bar with a predator? Perhaps our tech overlords will police such nefarious connections. Future trials will be left to emotion, innuendo, and proximity sensors.
2
As both Maistre and de Tocqueville pointed out so very long ago ...."a country gets the government it deserves." In a democracy, this ends up in the laps of the electorate.
Rise up, people. Do something!
28
Sadly, one third of the voting population appears to believe that Trump was sent by God and can do no wrong.
26
@Kate S. and thank God for the other two thirds !!
9
My Fellow Americans,
Look in the mirror. Mr. Trump reflects us. Sadly, he represents a large part of who we are as a people.
Mr. Trump does not represent who I am as an American. I refuse to believe that he represents who the majority of us are as Americans.
If you don't like what you see in the mirror, you can help change this in 2020.
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
30
That's why low character is so hard to deal with, it's hard to stop. Bad behavior doesn't magically go away. It's work to make it stop, surely you know this, and tedious, and you are going to pay a price from stopping a pervert, or a cheater, or a rapist. They're not going to go down easily and meekly walk away . . .
If you're so outraged at bad behavior, speak up when it happens on your block, for example: from the high school boy sexually harassing the girl next door, the punk driving by and shooting at car windows, to the neighbor's dog pooping on the side walk. If it's not right, speak up. Be civil and calm, not silent, and make that call to 911, talk to that dog-owner, stand or watch the boy until he notices and straightens himself out.
Stop wringing your hands and hoping somebody does something, and take wise and respectful action whenever you see injustice.
30
Two thoughts:
How can we as a society simultaneously have amongst the leading issues of the day both the Me Too movement campaigning against male sexual abuse and an admitted abuser as President?
The second thought considers a longer view. The use of Caligula in the headline suggests a level of decadence that is extraordinary in a country founded by the Puritans 300 years ago. While I’m no fan of the excesses of the sort of extreme religion embodied in the name by which the Puritans are remembered, I still have to marvel at how far we’ve fallen to so blithely accept at least the appearance of depravity.
Granted, so far there hasn’t emerged much in the way of smoking gun proof that Trump engages in sexual debauchery in the White House, but perhaps that’s largely because he’s old. It seems likely that in his younger days he at least attempted to practice it, but since so much of what he says in public is bluster it is difficult to separate the sheep from the goats. Yet what is disturbing to me is that he openly courts the appearance of depravity as some sort of badge of honor.
History is not going to be kind to this era, nor to his presidency, nor to the Republican Party that enables him. The important question, though, is whether the American Experiment can survive him and once again attain some sense of credibility as a force for progress.
Let’s hope we can, and that the Caligula reference is merely metaphorical and not prescient.
24
One of the reasons is the myth of Puritan purity. That’s an invention of the late 18th century.
They didn’t come here for religious freedom—except theirs, because effectively, they got booted from England for being fanatics.
They didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, wear only sober brown and black, or welcome the Indians to the first Thanksgiving.
And they absolutely did not abstain from sex, or tolerate anybody uppity. Ask Roger Williams or Anne Hutchinson.
2
Does an indictment qualify as a resignation? Just asking ahead of time...
6
In the US today the unthinkable is now becoming the norm. Caligula's excesses lead to his most trusted allies forcing his imperial exit. In my opinion, this country is approaching the tipping point. Either we bring our Government to heel or we should move to another country.
17
Elephants (the real animals, not the GOP) have it right. They are matriarchal, young males are turned out of the herd when they become boorish, as young males of all types tend to do, and older males are not allowed to join the herd until they learn to behave and become the protector of the herd rather than the tormentor.
25
Love this writer. I always read her first.
14
Elfego I could not write it any better so I will not try. Right on!
2
I think that the 2020 election will settle America's fate one way or the other. The electorate can be forgiven for 2016 because you can never be sure how a candidate will behave once in office. But if Trump is reelected in 2020, then everyone will all know for certain that the majority of Americans lack the moral and intellectual backbone needed to sustain a democratic society. If that happens, I think our position as the world's leader in many areas will surely deteriorate. Historically, this would be normal. All empires rise and fall, and despite claims to the contrary, we are probably not "exceptional."
39
@nh
"The electorate can be forgiven for 2016 because you can never be sure how a candidate will behave once in office."
I accept that statement. Like many Americans, I was shocked on the night of Nov 8, 2016 when it became clear that Mr. Trump would carry the electoral college. (Mr. Trump was surprised as well. Recall that he excused himself from campaign headquarters and said, "I've got to go upstairs and talk to my wife.")
---
In the week after the election, I tried very hard to see the bright side of things. For example, my hope was that Mr. Trump would push a massive (and sorely needed) investment in infrastructure in his first 100 days, per his campaign promise. He was, after all, a builder by trade (or at least he played one on TV). That did not happen.
I also held out hope that all of his hateful and vile campaign rhetoric was just that. And that he would act at least somewhat presidential starting on Jan 20. And that he would at least try to be the president of all Americans. He does love to be loved by everyone, after all. That did not happen.
I really did give him a chance after Nov 8, 2016. Sadly, I quickly learned that was a fool's errand.
---
2020. Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
21
I voted for Hillary of course. But I really thought he’d get how to be a president like everyone else. No. Not even close.
12
If we are to avoid civil war, we have to stop compromising with those that keep demanding civil war and that we ignore Russians hacking our elections.
The Mantra of the Republican Party for five decades is that "the government is the enemy." Now the "alt-right" (90% of Republicans) still support Trump and help him commit High Crimes, like calling for violence against critics without due process. They are purposefully not calling for investigations into Hillary Clinton but to LOCK her up. That is kidnapping, not Justice.
Trump imitates the body slam of a politician who was convicted for that crime and says it got him re-elected in that state."Anyone that can do a body slam like that is my guy."
That is a High Crime. one of hundreds.
The Constitution says that the President of the Untied States is a Public Servant. Trump wants The People to be his servants and "sit in attention" with "fervor."
The reason that the United States Constitution works is that it gives all humans equal rights under the law. Not just in word, but in deed, because the people of the USA used the slick words of rich old white guys to create actual rights for actual people. Everyone born here is a citizen. The amendment process lets us move forward and use our approximation of democracy to further Equality.
That doesn't work so well for the mega-rich, so they have teams of people paid to attack that 24/7.
We outnumber them. We do not have to let them steal from us.
Use the Constitution correctly.
27
By most measurements I am familiar with Trump would be considered a failure. Why does his base still love him.
16
@Areader The same reason, perhaps, that questioners forget to use question marks.
Pardon me for ripping off a line from nh’s comment, further up. The reason 45’s base still adores him is because they, along with their GOP masters, lack the “moral and intellectual backbone to support democracy.”
In truth, 45 represents everything his base collectively wishes they could do and be. They are the most conflicted of all creatures, burdened by a thirst for blood and raging savagery that is kept in check only by the thinnest veneer of civilization.
27
Although Trump's cesspool appears to be quite full (Trump alone could fill to the top) it seems there is always room for one more.
22
Just remember through all this Ivanka, his sidekick and next presidential hopeful, is running on her "Women's empowerment."
26
@Janice But it's so hard to "remember" that when the story is about something else. And then there was that story about a dog chasing a tow truck in Moundsville. They forgot to mention Ivanka in that one, too.
5
@kenneth
Never forget the Bowling Green massacre.
2
And to think, without the “fake” media Epstein would be free and Acosta would remain in an important position.
And there may be more shoes hitting the boards.
Bravo media.
46
Bread and circuses. As long as your stock portfolio is doing well, leave Caligula alone.
13
And conservative Christians believe that God sent Trump to advance their agenda. Think about what this says about these Christians.
46
@DJK. Or maybe God sent Trump because He didn't want the guy "up there."
If my history is correct, Caligula lasted only six years as emperor during which time he bankrupted the empire then couldn't pay his Praetorian guards so they 'removed him' from office. We can only hope.
21
@Jimmy why would we hope for bankruptcy ?
@kenneth Bankruptcy for a large government entity is only a temporary thing. Tax revenues continue. In Rome, with the removal of Caligula, Claudius took over and quickly restored solvency. They then had twenty odd years of growth and prosperity. The empire went on to last another couple hundred years (and lives on today if you want to include the Catholic church).
5
@kenneth
Deficits do not matter when there’s a Republic in the White House. Everyone knows that.
This probably the only "ethical" moment Acosta has ever had. And ethical a' la Trump means merely "convenient". Heaven only knows what Acosta will be put in charge of next.
7
Welcome to the new America where the only thing that matters is money. Everything else, no matter how depraved, is irrelevant.
20
@YFJ Unfortunately, there's nothing "new" about that.
1
Sing it girlfriend, sing it loud. TBH, he choir here doesn't really need your preaching but we of course welcome it and revel in the tidbits of new information.
Now, if only those who need to hear it would but listen...
9
@Melanie I agree with much of what you say. But what is a "he choir" ?
Comparing Trump to Caligula is unfair. Trump is defended by an army of lawyers and supporters. Poor Caligula has been dead for 1978 years and cannot defend himself. No one knows who his descendants are—including those descendants themselves—therefore they cannot hire anyone to represent them. Shame on you for casting aspersions on a man who, whatever his faults, was legitimately a Roman Emperor.
6
Thank you, Michelle, for another brilliant opinion piece. Pulitzer, please!
12
The love of money leads you here.
6
@RCJCHC
@RCJCHC: In addition to "(the)love of money," I would add, having no idea of--nor respect for--the meaning of taking the oath of office of president.
2
Why so many woman still support him continues to blows my mind.
20
@mb Probably the same reason that so many men do. They cannot believe or admit that they made such a terrible mistake.
10
But the Evangelicals love him! Trump hires only the BEST people!
10
The obvious question, The Best at what exactly?
6
Why does no one raise the case of Katie Johnson and her claim of sexual assault against Trump and Epstein, filed and then withdrawn in 2016?
15
When someone explains the Caligula reference to him, he’ll like it.
18
Trump and his associates are clearly depraved. Caligula was depraved and believed he’d been sent by God to be emperor, and to be worshipped as a living god. Humm, sounds familiar. See “Caligula”, film from 1979. It’s a raunchy movie but so is what’s being revealed now about Epstein, Weinstein, Trump and countless other immoral men. Trump thinks he has been divinely chosen and long ago proclaimed only he can do the job. He believes he’s Midas. He’s delusional just like Caligula.
Trump’s supporters self describe as conservative, church going followers of Jesus. So clearly the extraordinary power of denial has consumed their minds as it did Caligula’s brainwashed. The Trumpites bow to their god Donald because they are too afraid of change in society. Meanwhile, he robs them blind.
14
If you are a one agenda person, then you will accept anything another person does as long as that one item is there.
6
Guilt by association is really tacky.
2
@Sharon5101, but it sticks.
I just read the 6-page and 9-page lawsuit filings, from June 2016, of one of Jeffery Epstein and Donald Trump's victims.
Such a detailed, horrific and ghastly recounting of multiple rapes, assaults and threats to future safety and indeed life itself ... it's beyond shocking.
(The mention of the suit can be found in Laurence Tribe's twitter account, with specific links to Randi Mayem Singer's twitter account, which has the actual court documents available. )
The sexual assaults and rapes occurred in 1994.
The girl was underage.
Why this lawsuit is not more commonly known by now is astonishing.
Or if it is, I am the ignorant one, and to this defendant (going by pseudonym for personal safety) and her witness (also using a pseudonym) for same reasons, I apologize.
It's America and everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Of course. This is only fair and IT is what makes America great.
However ... I say ... what's the delay? How about right to a speedy trial?
It's been 4+ years since filing. Let's get going already and Find The Truth ... which, I fear, is clearly 'hidden' in plain sight.
There is a pattern of behavior here, between Defendants Epstein and Trump (both named as such in suit) -- and it's criminal. repugnant -- and it is certainly disqualifying to be President.
Oh, VP Pence ... find your spine / courage. Rediscover your morals. You're not my ideal replacement by a long shot, but you have an opportunity to right a serious wrong here.
16
I didn't know who Caligula was, so I looked up the name. Other than the extravagance and sexual perversity, here's what I found:
"Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained personal power of the emperor. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and notoriously luxurious dwellings for himself."
8
We need to focus on getting Sen. McConnell out, donate to Amy McGrath.
33
I just wish people would stop with the men are evil nonsense. In most cases these men were raised by females who instilled some of their behavior or beliefs. Just like racism it starts in the home.
Often females are involved in facilitating and helping to lure victims into human trafficking rings. They do it for self gratification and money just like the men. Female teachers are molesting children too and yet get lighter sentences with comments about what a lucky kid. To this day nuns get less blame for their turning a blind eye to what was going on, their abuse of unwed pregnant women and peddling babies.
If we are truly going to address sexual abuse and human trafficking then it's time to let go of medieval gender views that women are always the morally better gender. It is also time for mothers, right along with fathers, to review how they raise their sons and daughters.
7
The only way this will end is for women to band together once and for all, select one of the six women to be the democratic nominee, and elect her President. Then, with the right team, begin the long, arduous process of cleaning up the mess we've been left with, and establishing new norms for America (and the planet) in the 21st century.
20
@Rob K. Well then, does that mean that in 2024 we will have to vote for Ivanka Trump because she is the woman candidate? Should I have been sending money to Sarah Palin? I vote for the best candidate, not the female candidate
3
Voting based on a demographic specification such as gender, race, age or preferences such as sexual association or even physical appearance is vile and wrong-thinking.
Your vote should be based on the expected ability of the candidate to support your interests and the countrys' interests.
Many historians agree that the Book of Revelation in the New Testament is about the corruption in Rome in the 1st century CE. Makes me wonder how the events of today will be interpreted two thousand years in the future.
7
This is about the American people and what we are willing to tolerate. It’s about the soul of the nation. If Trump is re-elected, we will have our answer. He reflects who we are as a people. He is us and if we don’t toss him out of office next year, the depravity of this nation will be exposed for all to see. Getting rid of Trump shouldn’t be a difficult choice, but what makes this so sad is that he has a better than even chance of being re-elected. I pray for our nation.
13
Each day is worse than the last and the slime gets thicker and thicker. Naively, I didn't believe he could be elected; it has been crushing to realize what so many in our country not only will put up with but will cheer.
But let's not forget that part of the reason that this person got elected is because so so so many voters simply stayed home. This is as much on us as it is on them. They showed up and they continue to show up to vote; they get what they want. They have been able to steal supreme court seats and pack the courts because they showed up and they get their people in office. Elections matter! Choosing not to vote is a vote for the other side. Women's rights eroded. Misogyny and bigotry made into law. Little babies in cages, separated from their mothers, because too many people stayed home. The fallout will last for generations.
Get over it, hold your nose, and get out there and vote!
10
Ms Goldberg thank you for reminding me of some of the let's say less than normal behavior of many of donnies administration employees and friends.
To think what you listed is just the tip of the iceberg.
I appreciate being nauseated all day.
3
I’m afraid women, young women, Republican women, just don’t understand that this outright hatred, belittling, disregard and exploitation of women will eventually filter down from the top to make their own personal lives more difficult. It’s already happening with the blatant takeover of women’s bodies by old white men. They don’t see it coming. And when it does, they probably won’t make the connection.
15
The reason for him getting away from his transgressions are his base allows him to.The Republican Party is generally spineless and the Democrats in Congress have forgotten the rule of law counts and haven’t started impeachment proceedings.Our Democracy is taking a beating and we have been exposed as fragile and significant number of mean spirited people..
2
Nearly half of the country supports this behavior because Trump has made greed, racism, rudeness and misogyny acceptable. Contrary to what we were taught in our history books, America was always like this. We were successful in keeping much of it under wraps because enough of us were able to maintain a civilized society. But no more.
We have seen a similar recent situation in my gated community, where a Trump-like resident has poisoned what once was a fairly civil and friendly environment. This person has so managed to bring out the worst behavior in our neighbors that there are now only a handful of households we can trust and respect. It is not only damaging to relationships, but also ultimately to our property values. Our normal neighbors are now talking about leaving and returning to the standard, single-family private residences where they can once again avoid contact with those who are not so normal.
The question is how the country can eradicate this poison. I have yet to see anyone with a good solution.
234
Your first sentence really strikes at the heart. A secret desire of the base?
27
@LIChef A good bit of this started with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. He turned good government into bad government, made government the enemy, and promoted excessive greed as a good thing.
73
@LIChef " Trump has made greed, racism, rudeness and misogyny acceptable. "
No, those things have always been acceptable to a certain group of people. The T-man simply glorified them.
14
I think it’s important to point out the Trump administration doesn’t just include people (mostly men) who are fellow grifters of low moral character. It also includes extreme conservatives who are true believers. Granted, most are third or fourth rate talents, but they do a lot of the work such as it is.
The administration also includes religious conservatives who clearly don’t have a moral core. How else to explain excusing rampant immorality at the top in exchange for anti-abortion judges and pro-Israeli policies designed to facilitate Armageddon and the second coming.
The whole thing is mess, but I remain convinced most Trump enablers will eventually be shunned and embarrassed for their association with the worst president in US history.
9
“Maybe someday justice will come and a new generation will wonder how we tolerated behavior that was always right out in the open”.
Sadly, I don’t think a new generation will be any better. We already went through this with Bill Clinton and we still did not learn.
2
Caligula would find Trump to be too vulgar for his tastes.
11
Oh to be a columnist these days. All you have to do is rattle off a few Trump blunders. No need to offend the billionaires telling him what to do by mentioning Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that gave them our government.
8
Absolutely right on discussion, Michelle. Thank goodness for journalists like you, who can put this all together. But what are we doing about it.
9
There is credible evidence that Trump and Epstein were the only two men at a "party" at Mar-A-Lago in 1992 at which the only other participants were more than 20 young women and girls. Not to mention the other allegations and rumors that have followed Trump for decades, but have never been property investigated. The rich truly are different than you and me. At another time --before the Republican Party and millions of Americans elevated Trump to the White House and overlook anything to keep him there--Trump may well have been a co-defendant of Epstein's.
6
Please tell me why the term "deplorable" is not a valid description of the people who support this administration despite all these sordid goings-on.
23
Because the sordid goings-on have been going on during Democratic administrations as well.
2
@Charlie There is absolutely nothing comparable to this, so stop and think.
3
I am appalled at the occupant of our WH, his words, his actions, the behavior of his cronies - I live in an almost constant state of outrage. But I also know that abusing women and turning a blind eye to the abuse of women is universal. Being blatant and blasé about it isn’t as common, but every administration, every sports team, every corporation is rife with abusers. Look at the statistics.
5
I read through enough of the very articulate arguments: we the people are complicated
and contradictory humans.
We want our political leaders to be exceptional
and sometimes they do seem to be such.
Yet they sometimes are puritanical and perhaps too repressed for being "adaptive."
This is the dilemma or paradox that we humans
are the absurdities we inherently are.
I try, and I hope everyone does, to be rational and "moderate."
I am implying to ye and me too that we are
... fools to believe otherwise.
But as the comments seem to prove, some
excellent minds here in MG's readership
are not being sensible, and if the "truth"
of our human behavior be fully, embarrassingly
acknowledged, then we rationally plough on.
What do I mean!
I mean we try to understand ourselves, and
not be "irrational" in our moralistic standards.
President Eisenhower's scandal re his private
secretary-assistant is what I am justifying as
the pragmatism that I frankly accept.
President FDR ditto.
Yes, I go back too far for most of ye to
get my "moderation preaching."
And to make matters as comic/absurd as I
can, I perversely glance through check out
lines scandal sheets too.
1
It may have something to do with the fact that none of your historical examples involve a rich guy’s renting out underage girls, in what looks a lot like collusion with the current President, and then getting the current Secretary of Labor (nice touch there, really) to cut him a sweetheart deal when he got busted.
8
Let us also not forget that they are profiting off of Trump undercover of the distraction he causes. We call them the “Trump Tax Cuts,” but Republican Congressmen (gender specificity intentional) increased their personal wealth overnight by at least 20 percent. Then there’s the profit they are making by uncontrolled lobbying and special interest groups, as well as their stock portfolios despite the STOCK Act. Corruption has always been present but, starting so grotesquely with Trump and extending far beyond (see the benefits McConnell is getting from Transportation Sec Chao, his wife), it is pervasive, engulfing and often unabashed. Add children in cages and cozy relationships with dictators, the picture becomes bleak and dystopian. If we can turn the corner in 2020, it will take decades to recover but the Earth will not hold out long enough. This is not hyperbole but the stark picture of where we are....and we have only ourselves to blame.
11
I recently re-read Caligula by Albert Camus. I'd thought about staging it as a commentary on Trump. The central problem with doing that is that Caligula is rather well spoken and has coherent thoughts and I wasn't sure the comparison to Trump would carry through.
19
When I saw that Trump was elected the first thing that went through my head was, America is not the place I thought it was.
Donald Trump is one of the most uninteresting, least prepossessing men on the planet.
I have no fear of Trump. What scares the daylights out of me is the 40+ percent of America that loves him, plus the 40+ percent of America who are too strung out on drugs or TV or work or sex or social media to notice.
Donald Trump, American Commodus.
28
The Republicans in the Senate can hem him in if they want to. But they won't for political reason and for that will have Trump tagged on their backs.
That tag will one day be their downfall.
19
This particular case is one more of class than party. The super wealthy people protect their own.
The names associated with this case are a who’s who of rich and powerful men. Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Clinton, Woody Allen, Mort Zuckerman, Ken Starr. Trump actually seems on the periphery of this one. The editor of Vanity Fair magazine even prevented news stores about predator.
The Miami Herald did a well investigated series about the case. This case is pure exploitation of low socioeconomic white girls in South Florida used and covered up by wealthy men of both sides of the political spectrum. Epstein was protected by rich men in the law, politics, and the media.
I am glad the Times finally jumped on this story after so long. But to put this at Donald Trump’s feet is to miss the big story about rich men exploiting young teens. This story is much larger than just Trump.
The women need justice. All men involved need to be held accountable.
17
The list of people Epstein invited to a “party,” that had two guys and 26 girls appears to have a grand total of one name on it.
Presumably the purpose of this op-ed is to convince us that Trump is a terrible human being. The author refuses to acknowledge that we, the American people, have already come to that conclusion. Yet week after week we are bombarded with Trump is bad and this week he is terrible because he knows someone terrible. Many politicians know terrible people. How about a new idea? The more Trump gets bashed, the more folks tune it out. But more importantly, pandering is only divisive.
3
@dudley thompson
The point is to try to combat this numbness of this overdose of not normal behavior. When the Romans woke up to the horrors of their Emperors the killed the Emperors by using the Emperors bodyguards.
Hopefully Americans can see (other than those of us who live in urban areas on the coasts) or maybe wake up to what is happening and a correction will will happen.
I have concerns about that but I also have hope.
It will not go away if we turn our backs.
5
Then how come Fox News is number one. You have to fight like a republican to beat them. They’re still fighting Hillary and threatening to lock her up, for only god knows what. It doesn’t stop them ever.
1
I don’t even know what to say any longer. The lurid behavior and criminal activity committed by Trump has preceded his winning the election for decades but absolutely nothing was ever done about it. No real investigations, no charges, no trials. Nobody cared until he was elected and now everyone continuously complains about him, myself included.
And at the risk of sounding as if I’m victimizing the victim, I have absolutely no sympathy for E. Jean Carroll. All I feel is anger towards her. I think to myself that had she just called the police, went to a hospital and had a rape kit performed, and pressed charges, instead of telling a couple of friends about it, perhaps history would have been written completely differently than what it is today. I wonder, was she thinking of herself and her career and the damage it may have caused her when she didn’t report it? I wonder how she could just not seem to have cared about all the other women who suffered prior to her and after her incident. I wonder just why she would wait until 2019 to say anything. And I know that her accusing him now only makes it look as if she’s lying and hoped the accusation would help to derail his re-election.
Since 2015 we have heard countless stories of of Trump’s sexual misconduct, his collusion with Russia at securing the election, his multiple attempts to obstruct justice, his countless history of financial criminal activity. And here we sit with a good possibility of another four years of TRUMP!
8
@David Parchert My daughter’s best friend was raped by an acquaintance last year. She did all the things you said E Jean Carroll should have done .. ER, rape kit, police report, testifying at trial. The guy got off. She will be in therapy for the foreseeable future.I will never again judge another victim who opts not to report.
4
“indicted on charges of abusing and trafficking underage girls”. More accurate would be “indicted on charges of sexually abusing and trafficking female CHILDREN”. These girls were not underage, they were girls. They had no ability to consent. Using terminology like underage, even as it modifies the word girls instead of the word women, perpetuates the misogynistic lie that these children are to be blamed.
14
I'm equally upset that this administration, their thoughtless behavior, and their lack of consideration of the nation as a whole will be the new normal for our children and their children.
This, and your examples that follow, horrified me once again:
"Even with Acosta gone, however, Epstein remains a living reminder of the depraved milieu from which the president sprang, and of the corruption and misogyny that continue to swirl around him. Trump has been only intermittently interested in distancing himself from that milieu. More often he has sought, whether through strategy or instinct, to normalize it."
9
Yesterday a Trump supporter asked me what I had "against" the president, suggesting at the time that my judgment was simply subjective, personal, and hopelessly emotional--not logical. I could not respond. I didn't know where to begin. Why does anyone have to explain that intentional (even clumsy and transparent) distortions of the truth, self-aggrandizement, the torment and dehumanization of immigrants, willful ignorance, misogyny, abuse of executive power, flagrant disregard for the rule of law, or any other perversion of values deserve disapprobation? What twisted logic accommodates such obvious evil because its purveyor expropriates the credit for a strong economy along with its limited positive effects? I couldn't argue with the MAGA fan any more than I could explain why evil exists.
14
Exactly. I cannot find common ground at this point with anyone who supports let alone defends him.
8
@Chicago bear
"Yesterday a Trump supporter asked me what I had against the president"
1. He cozies up with dictators and tyrants, while alienating our allies.
2. He has no respect for the Constitution or the Rule of Law, openly defies the courts and Congress, and thinks he is above the law.
3. He has never adequately separated his personal business interests from the office of the presidency, creating at least the appearance of a conflict of interest in violation of the Emoluments Clause.
4. He uses hateful and divisive rhetoric (Mexicans are rapists and murderers, Muslims are terrorists, there are good people on both sides).
5. He has failed to solve immigration issues, bring back American jobs, and deliver on his infrastructure promises, among many campaign promises, due to his incompetence.
6. He continuously divides our country, has never tried to be president for all Americans, and instead acts as president only of his base.
It helps to take a break from the daily media onslaught from time to time. That makes it easier to stay focused on the big picture and see the forest and not just the trees.
8
I believe two women have accused Trump of rape. Carroll and another woman who filed a lawsuit stating that Trump raped her when she was 13 or 14. This fact has flown under the radar and apparently Ms. Goldberg is unaware or chose not to mention it. The young woman's allegations are directly connected to Jeffery Epstein as well. Is she not credible? Or are we all that numb that a charge or rape of a minor by the president is not worthy of mention.
7
Underlying all of the horrible exposed acts of many, regardless of position or creed, is the abuse of power, plain and simple. And that is most easily directed at anyone “lesser “.
4
The reason many evangelicals support Mr. Trump is that, deep down in their hearts, they know they would act in the same depraved ways as Mr. Trump if they could. They have no internal moral compass. They need a preacher to tell them not to behave badly.
Think I'm wrong? Remember Mike Pence's comments about not allowing himself to be alone in a room with a woman other than his wife.
10
We can not passively hope for justice & accountability, we must commit to bringing accountability in 2020 by sweeping Mr. Emoluments & his grifters from office. An historic Blue Wave that retakes the WH & Congress is our civic & moral responsibility. We must awaken independents, & Dems across the spectrum to vote Blue.
8
We can expose the skeletons in every closet in American history, or we can face the issues confronting us now. Even if we don't address morals and ethics, lets talk common sense. A President's business has an event where men bid for a stripper???
Morals and ethics aside, this is STUPID. It shows an arrogance about norms not applying in special cases.
5
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
15
I couldn’t agree more with this Opinion while beimg flabbergasted that it yet again fails to mention that the Clinton‘s come from EXACTLY the same miliieu being possibly even more intertwined in it.
3
The more I think about it and the more detailed come to light about our president, his associates, and his accusers, it seems that DJT's ownership and management of Miss Universe was more about creepy than about business.
3
Thanks for the catalogue, Michelle. Everyone remembers to do one thing : keep the outrage. All these despicable people are not normal Americans. They shame us all.
3
This sort of blanket denigration popular among news agencies who gave up long ago any pretense of objectivity concerning the two major political parties is one of the several blind spots liberals embrace that will assure Trump another term.
We conservatives read NY Times, too.
2
Rape, assault, denigrationof women, child abuse and so on. This administration has it all. But it seems as long as the perpetrator have money, many are willing to ignore the facts.
Keep digging that hole. Soon , we will hit bedrock. Then we will look up and notice, it's too late. There is no way out. We are trapped.
What a gift to our children.
4
From perusing these comments I find it sad to read that people think a woman couldn't get elected President.
I am really interested to see how a woman would govern. We woouldn't have to worry about sexual scandals and maybe our diplomacy would finally be free of the toxic testosterone of the past 20 years.
5
Its not only the plutocrats who are rotten,the whole power etablishment is as bad/evil,with a very few exceptions.As stated earlier - has anybody understood that there must be something wrong in society when it creates scoundrels like the ones ruling our lives?Wake upp America before it is to late!
2
Thank you Democratic Party for all you are doing to ignore this travesty of a president, I’m sure your big donors send their love.
3
The next time the right wing attacks a Democratic public figure for any type of sexual peccadillo, will we all remember Republicans' stunning hypocrisy as it applies to Trump and his slimy associates? I truly hope so. When I was coming up, Republicans were self-branded as "decent, God-fearing folk." Where is their decency now? They have permanently lost all credibility when it comes to commenting on moral matters.
12
Say it from the rooftops.
1
This is a bracing list of depravity. Themisogyny that runs through this administration, starting with Trump himself, is terrifying.
What is wrong with this country that, in case after case after case, women are dismissed as worthless and unequal in the eyes of the law. Trump is a criminal, plain and simple. He associates with criminals. These are facts. Why doesn't the legal system work?
11
Christian Hypocrisy: Religious, conservative GOP Donald-voters who look the other way when faced with his depravity, immoral behavior, earth-destructive actions, juvenile bully tactics, government resource-wasting (e.g. his Washington DC 4th of July debacle), inhumane immigrant treatment, and uncivil behavior.
I know a number of people who suffer from this hypocrisy. And I'll never respect them again because now I know how they think.
9
Yes. Nothing else needed. You nailed it.
6
''Only the best people.''
The list is stupefying.
13
Forgot to mention how Trump lines the pockets of the news networks: Fox, CNN, MSNBC and probably my favorite news site, the NYT. Watching and reading the news obsessively has become the preoccupation for all of us. Who do you believe or do you believe anyone. What's going to happen in the next hour, the next hour, the next hour, the next hour? It's a grand manipulation. Once again I refer you all to George Orwell's 1984. Big Brother is here. I'm so sorry to have to post this, to face this, to live this.
2
We don't grow numb but angrier. And one day Trump's castle walls will come crumbing down as they did for Croesus, once fabled king of Lydia and considered the wealthiest man on earth and by his own accounts the happiest.
2
1. Ms. Goldberg's point is not _legal_ guilt by association, but is made in association with the proverb "You shall know them by the company they keep."
2. Your well-written critique is not without merit. Clinton's excesses are indefensible.
3. The Wiener correlation is inapt and inept. Weiner's most serious offense is transferring obscene material to a minor, hardly in league with anything Epstein is legal trouble for, or anything that Trump _should_ be in trouble for. Moreover, you are in no position to judge why Huma Abedin is still married to Weiner. This is perhaps your weakest point. In fact, it is no point at all, subtracting from your overall argument.
4. Trump, and not Democrats, "must be destroyed" by the press? May one remind you that Clinton was impeached?
5. Clinton and Kennedy are more like Caligula than Trump? I giggle even as I type. (Could we not bring Nero to this comparison/contrast?) For all their many and serious faults, the former two at least tried to appear dignified. The tawdry Trump rubs it in our face. He means to rub out democracy. It's all an ego trip, one that has nothing whatever to do with governance and _everything_ to do with with a story line about his own triumph, the sleazier the better. He makes wrestling look virtuous.
6
The choice of "Caligula" was apt in some many ways. Centrally, the depravity, but also since the historical person referred to (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) is better known by that nickname, which literally means "little boots". Though the Caligula currently occupying the White House might be better known for his little hands, we can't discount the possibility that his notoriously painful heel spurs were caused by wearing shoes that were too small for him. That said, he falls well short of filling the shoes of his forty-four predecessors.
5
And Epstein was helped in his recruiting girls by the daughter of Robert Maxwell - a businessman even more shady in his dealings than Trump. Birds of a feather flock together.
6
Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.
8
Three different women, without communication with each other, in totally different locations and times, describe Trump's style of rape.
Push 'em up against a wall. Very strong. Drag off their clothes and penetrate before they can get it together.
No wonder he loves predators. His idea of sex in these circumstances is entirely about how to exert his power and force his will on a woman who has no voice and no choice.
Christian? Don't bet on it. Nauseating? Yes.
9
What if it was trump who set the SDNY on Epstein? Then he could have his own guys collect the evidence and make sure any pictures or videos of himself are never known.
3
Just don't vote for him please, people.
10
Do Trump and his cabal represent the elite of the nation? Is that the best the nation has to offer?
5
Nearly all the comments here - including the NY Times Picks - wonder how Trump was elected despite his depravity and how he is still President despite the worsening and coarsening of his depravity.
Is it Democrats who let him get away with it? America? the media? the electoral college? Russia?
IMO, the statistic that reflects the stunning change in America's voting populace which determined (and continues to determine) what has happened to our country is this:
"White evangelical Protestants voted for Trump in 2016 at a rate that eclipsed previous Republican standard-bearers despite the perceived moral failings that would seemingly repel self-described “values voters..”
"While white evangelical Protestants make up 15.3 percent of the population, white “born again” Christians comprised 26 percent of the 2016 electorate,"
According to the Pew Research Center analysis of the 2016 election, "fully eight-in-ten self-identified white, born-again/evangelical Christians voted for Trump." That's 80% of 26% of the electorate in 2016.
From a Morning Consult poll - "Fifty-five percent of white evangelical Protestants said they preferred to see Trump as the GOP’s nominee in the 2020 presidential election when given other options, such as Vice President Mike Pence or any other Republican figures."
Ignoring the depravity and corruption of the Trump administration will continue by evangelical Christians. THIS is what has changed in America.
11
Hello evangelical Christians, trump is the guy you claim was sent by god to save the nation. Makes me question the authenticity of that particular god, not to mention your sincerity as "Christians".
11
"...Epstein remains a living reminder of the depraved milieu from which the president sprang, and of the corruption and misogyny that continue to swirl around him."
Breathtakingly, elegantly stated - and oh so sad.
9
An inventive second sentence in the headline and in the following line. Creative. One hopes those who need to will look up Caligula and get a better handle on "milieu." Which one of those did she have in mind? Ours?
Whew! What a smell this brings to the reader! Best of show the phrase "the depraved milieu from which the president sprang..." This weekend was to be a golf event at one of his Florida golf clubs with men "bidding' on caddies from a gaggle of strippers. Trump wins hands down, but Kennedy was no angel, but he had some separation between the scenes where the Caligula-like behavior took place. And yes his daddy was no angel, either. Clinton another over-sexed fellow or whatever sex and the acting out take over all. Still, both had men and women in places of distinction sitting and staying during the administrations they served. Trump's revolving door of his cabinet and other places, his trashing of treaties and alliances, his inept manner do nothing to balance out or perform his duties in any sort of outstanding manner.
4
Is the media being fair to all the 2020 candidates ?
I do not think so.....and why ?....because whenever the
newest ...news of the day becomes very tabloid and
can capture immediate attention....the cable networks
capture the moment to capture the attention of the viewers..
And does Trump provide daily tabloid news to the meda
TV and print...he sure does....and he is getting away with it.
Trump is front and center every day of our lives...with the
lies he delivers...and his cronies in the GOP senate are
getting the tabloid press too..
Well...there will be change soon...soon after Jerry Nadler
gets his committee in order...and then the Tabloid news
will slink away...and the really decent news journalists will
once again...reset the stage....we must wait....Nancy Pelosi
is waiting and those frenetic freshman she is trying to advise
should grow up and be patient....and not act like the
tabloid grabbers they have become lately.
1
The question is why do grown men hang on to this creature's coat-tails? Why does a similar thing happen in Turkey, Egypt, Once-Germany, and so forth? Do these men simply carry out the same repulsive behavior at will? Do these men have the same fragile ego as DJT? Watch The Czar on Netflix, and see how a weak man with power is so easily bent, and yet how people simply obey. How on earth does this happen?
5
I realized that when my disgust for this president and his cohorts-in-revulsion had reached the limits of my tolerance, was when “thoughts of a dog” and “Larrythe Number10cat” make more sense on Twitter than the current resident of the White House and most of our congressional and senatorial representatives.
2
Trump has proven his skill as an able front man for Mitch McConnell and the Republican party. They, the Republicans can push through the President anything they want. Just name it. If it's outrageous like the recent census debacle the President put it out there and fought for it. Trump doesn't have an original or kind thought in his head. He was given a teleprompter. When it went out of whack, not knowing what he was reading in the first place, he ad libbed. He sort of knew it had something to do with a war so he conflated the Revolutionary war with World War 2. Airports in the Revolutionary War, indeed!
The whole asylum seeker crisis was originally dreamt up by the Republican hierarchy because they know they have just the right "performer" for the job. He has no soul. No feelings. He doesn't care. If he did care, he wouldn't lie to American people by insisting that abused starved thirsty deprived unwashed children from infancy on up, in our care, are well fed, clothed and nurtured. I cannot understand how Republican legislators can hold a poker face while this atrocity is happening here in America. Shame on them for finding at last that they have just the front man who has the inborn inbred ability to do their dirty deeds like filling the courts with incompetent judges, enabling pollution of our waters and skies and spreading hatred of the "other" throughout our nation. GOP, beware! Trump is making Fascism great again. He also wants us to love Dictators.
7
The Emperor has no clothes.
2
Trump is the Confederate President the South never had. It’s no coincidence that his election followed hard on the heels of our first Black President. Half this country is still fighting a 150 year old civil war. That’s how he gets away with his despicable behavior. His supporters elected him because of that behavior, not despite it.
I don’t know how we fix that, even if we get him out in 2020. Something seems irreparably broken in America.
7
It's impossible to discuss principles with Trump types. They do not recognize their inferiority.
5
Trump differs from Caligula in that he has not appointed his horse to an important government position. I assume this means that Trump does not own a horse.
7
Something is quite amiss here, there has been much abnormal sexual or assaultive behavior between too many elected officials and women. This is a story as old as the hills and as long as time itself. Women are always painted as wanton and the man is quite innocent, led astray by the siren.
So we have elected a "king" brutish misogynist and his many associates equally corrupt, and incompetent. Again, the public is non-persuaded of who should represent us as a Nation before the world.
Mr. Obama was a true scholar and gentlemen, but the Republicans would have none of it. They had their pants in a twist when he wore a tan suit. Now we stand silent, where there should be rage there is quiet. Welcome to twenty-first century America.
4
Donald Trump is one big lie after another, to cover up the last lie.
It all starts when you lie to your parents at home, then to your teachers at school. Later, it's only natural to lie to your business associates at work, and even to those close to you who come and go at your pleasure.
So, you start out young, learn fast, always keep ahead of the game, and never look back.
Some day it all comes crashing down when you discover that you have used up all your lies. There are no more lies left to tell, and everybody knows it. All that remains is the truth. And you will be left alone with it!
Let's face it, Trump has no empathy for victims because he himself is a serial victimizer. Better to deal the blow than receive it. Better to win at any cost even if that cost means harm to others. Losing is for losers. What he fails to comprehend is that some winners are total losers. For proof of that all he need do is take a look in the mirror.
6
My guess is that Trump had a falling out with Epstein because Epstein was too smart for Trump - something Trump can't tolerate.
They shared certain bonding preoccupations but Epstein was sharp if perversely interested in children and Trump was dull and narcissistic. Not the basis of a lasting friendship.
2
Epstein was far better looking and in good shape. Trump couldn’t stand that.
2
Eyes would glaze if you tried to list every Trump associate implicated in the beating or sexual coercion of women. Imagine the glaze if you listed every Trump associate implicated in the beating or sexual coercion of women. Imagine the glazes from two lists. This column is a third list. Eyes glaze. One has not to imagine. This column is a public service. But, what is the White House? An evangelical denomination? Major Republican donors give and give more. The beatings go on in the Party of Family Value Received.
The president has expressed no sympathy for victims in the Epstein case but has said he felt bad for Acosta. Truth will out.
2
Am I the only person in this country who remembers the 2016 Jane Doe" lawsuits against Trump for raping a 13 year old girl with Epstein? I know she was intimidated from continuing with the case, and the media ran away from it with their tails tucked between their legs to prevent being accused of "bias. It is still worth at least a mention when we review the accusations that include "one rape."
4
Every registered voter should be made to read this before November 2020. #reckoning
1
If I were Trump I would not worry in the least about Kompromat videotapes foreign intelligence services might have. We are totally inured and numb to such things now. He cannot be blackmailed.
Hi Michelle,
Your last few sentences are very depressing, but the world is turning. In broad terms, the major world religions have all treated women as chattels. I was brought up Catholic, and I see the fundamental error of Christianity right there in the beginning of the Bible. There the woman is blamed for succumbing to the temptations of Satan and motivating a vicious male God (a sensitive and totally narcissistic creature just like Trump: "I am the Lord your God . . . ") to bring all manner of evil upon humanity. The Catholic Church, a remnant of imperial Rome, still treats women as underpeople. The solution to this evil is clear, built into the theory of evolution, which is why male supremacists fear it. We are not the product of a Trumplike divinity, but of an enormous and majestic universe that works by one rule: entropy, that is creativity, tends to a maximum. Human entropy is maximised by equality, so the key to human progress is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that demands that we all treat each other as equals. This Declaration is violated by all forms of supremacy, sexism, racism, the obscene power arising from wealth and the long traditions of inequality fostered by evil imperial hangovers like the Cathoic Church. Trump and the old Republican Party are the last gasp of a dying tradition, to be terminated by the cardinal virtues of faith in the real world, hope that we can make things better and the love that makes the world turn.
4
Trump's behavior can be explained pretty simply: sleazeballs empathize with and seek the company of fellow sleazeballs.
3
He spent decades living a debauched life - casinos, ceo of Ms Universe, three wives, adult actresses, playboy models - - we’re just seeing his “sedate old man” chapter. Fortunately, the next chapter is less dangerous.
2
Guilty by association. I agree. Even casual acquaintance must count. Even if the contact is brief. Some smart Democrat or Republican should bring up AOC’s associations with undesirable persons during her employment as a bartender. Surely there must be many contacts with people with criminal backgrounds.
1
Correct on all counts.
But Caligula wasn't elected by an ignorant electorate. Trump is voluntary. Ancient Rome's version of Bread and Circuses cannot hold a candle to Americans' adolescent fascination with every distraction and form of entertainment that crosses their path. We are stupid. We are infantile. We elected the preferred candidate of the Deep South and Greater Appalachia.
We are far worse.
4
One tragic aspect of the reporting on Mr. Trump is that, of all the journalistic talent in the US, Julie K. Brown broke the story on Mr. Epstein in a modest paper & continued to report on what she discovered about what he & Mr. Acosta had done. Ms. Brown does not have the resources of the Times or the Washington Post, but displayed considerable talent in finding the information & composing it into a compelling story.
Where were the reporters at NYT & WaPo?
NYT seems busy with video games & painting fingernails as it ponders the gravity of whether it should name as lies all of Mr. Trump's, well, lies, surrendering in its repose to the all but automatic republication of press releases. Only a few of its reporters do the kind of work Ms. Brown reveals, but they do it with considerably more resources on a renowned platform. Ms. Brown would likely envy the NYT reporters' advantages, were she less professional.
NYT certainly does not have the discipline or professionalism to keep in the public eye, as Ms. Goldberg seems to pine for, what would amount to a persistent hammering of the Trump administration on the corruption that permeates & transfuses the US government.
1
Caligula, the Roman emperor mentioned in the headline for this column, legendarily planned to make his horse a consul - a very high office in the Roman empire. As I observe the Trump morass, it seems to me that replacing Donald and all his minions with horses would be an improvement.
2
Sadly, for so many voting americans, The Donald IS their type.
Misogyny is rampant, even with women. Makes no sense, but, there it is.
What will this country look like after 5 1/2 more years of this...?
1
As Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, Trump is on a race to the bottom.
1
The author and others like her make Trump look good. Not an easy feat but done with tremendous skill. This attempt to spin Epstein’s alleged crimes as Trump’s is disgusting and evidence of serious mental disease. You all need to get a hold of yourselves; you’re about to spin off the planet.
Trump is the producer and director of “An American Horror Show”. Trump is the real BLOB....portrayed in the 1958 movie The Blob...I do not recall the ending but I am sure that Blob was destroyed and defeated someway. The Nation must find a way to annihilate this BLOB if it is to survive.
1
Every time....the rationalizations are all loaded and ready to go: "Locker room talk", 'Bill Clinton did it" , "Kennedy did it" , "Trump denied it", "The women are lying"and on and on. I get that the right feels they are 'entitled' to settle the misogyny score. They are just putting up with the 'exact same thing' Democrats did. These people wouldn't blink an eye if Trump installed a pornographic movie theatre in the White House and staged the equivalent of the pornographic Oscars (if there is such a thing) there. I recall asking a prominent person in my community the following question: "What if Trump were your employee? Your pastor? Your daughter's teacher, coach, or boss? ". "What would you do?" And he said "You know, I never thought of it that way." Trump threw a party with Epstein and 'two dozen women for entertainment". What if your daughter was 'the entertainment'? What would you do? Cheer it on? One thing you need to remember.....every single one of these women who have been 'entertainment for Trump, Epstein, Clinton, etc. have been someone's daughter, wife, co worker, student, parishioner, or athlete. Try , just for a minute, to put yourself in that person's shoes. Then go look at yourself in the mirror and say "Fake News" to try and convince yourself it's OK. Then try on a bit of logic. If it's OK for these guys, it must be ok for the teacher, the coach, the boss, the pastor, the co-worker. After all, your daughter must be lying.
3
Information is coming out that Cyrus Vance tried to help Epstein. The plot thickens. So will HBO, Lifetime, Oprah or Gayle do a special on Epstein?
1
My expectations for Trump are pretty low but the New York Times' use of name calling is pretty sad. Is it really necessary to call it "The Caligula Administration Lives On". More interesting, Acosta was fairly friendly to the labor movement. He will surely be replace with a much less friendly successor. How about an article entitled, the end to Double Jeopardy.
1
You mean Nero Administration, don't you?
Caligula was bad, Nero was worse. Trump continues to play his fiddle; while Rome burns. According to ABC News over two dozen senior Trump appointees, in the White House, have resigned; a record. Almost all left because they could no longer serve at Trump's pleasure.
Yes, Rome is burning, be it Nero or Caligula, Trump, his party and his administration have done so much damage to the US internally, and externally, it will take years to rebuild this nation's reputation, as well as politician and trust reputation with the voter.
Senātus Populusque Rōmānus,
Seems appropriate. An out of touch president with an out of touch Senate, with the people divided against the middle. Latin may be a dead language, but at times, it comes alive.
3
Depravity and cruelty are the point of what Trump is doing.
The K-9 Corps of the Port Authority are treated better
than the migrants in the internment camps.
Watching Pence lie was particularly paintful
3
Conservative white women aren’t up in arms over the revelations of rampant sexual abuse in Trump’s male-dominated world. For them, it’s a non-issue. They believe women need to accept it, along with gender inequality in earned income and opportunities for career advancement. They choose to advance their personal status through intimate association with powerful white men. Melania is the prototype example.
3
And after Acosta I'm sure we'll see multiple articles on the FL democratic state attorney, on Cyrus Vance here in NY and of course everyone's favorite, Bill Clinton. Not likely.
And then again there is all the money Epstein donated to democratic candidates - like Harvey Weinstein, democrats pretended not to see what was going on and ignored the whispers.
1
Thank you, Michelle, for hitting all the salient points:
* Trump has long been known as a rich, spoiled, perverse playboy whose friends, immorality and lifestyle are the epitome of debauchery.
* Trump, Epstein and the other wealthy ghoulish elites see the rest of us as peasants, and they especially see women as objects, cattle, brood mares, toys.
* Law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges give these bad boys a break whenever possible. "The affluenza defense" works.
* If The Donald was a good man, dare I say it, a "Christian" man, he'd never have hired Acosta in the first place and would have fired him as soon as he heard how Acosta protected Epstein.
* Anyone who claims to be a "follower of Jesus Christ" but is a Trump supporter is totally deluded and hypocritical.
4
Even the movie wasn't very good.
First, Trump supporters need to learn who Caligula was. Also, what Rome was relative to its time. Have they heard of Rome?
Rome, Georgia. You’re wasting your time. Can’t educate those who only listen to what they want to hear. Anyone been watching the excellent Showtime series on trump’s good buddy, Roger Ailes and the birth of Fox News.
Remember when Obama wore a tan suit? Or when he saluted with the Starbucks cup? Those were the days.
3
The worst period in US history .
1
why do we tolerate this? why do we have to wait tamely for the election to boot this guy out?
when he shows up at rallies, you now, where they chant "lock her up!" with such abandon, women should gather, and chant, "not my type!" when he stalks whoever runs against him in debate, chant "not my type!" when he tries to tell us how great he is, "not my type!"
1
Thanks for your spot-on writing, Michelle. Though it left me once again unsettled as we further lose our democracy, this may be your best column so far. Thanks for trying to save us.
2
This is the 2nd national crisis created by Republicans in the last 10 years—the first being the financial crisis. It was hard to swallow the Democrats not going after the culprits, with the excuse they had to concentrate on getting the country, and the World, back on track. But, I accepted it, as did most others.
Now we have a criminal enterprise of several lawbreakers running our government. And yet, only a few of the 2nd tier players have been brought to justice. The endless Congressional committee hearings are anticipated as much as I look forward to a toothache. My question is why all the political waxing and waning? We are a country of laws, aren’t we? It’s a question our leaders need to answer decisively and fast.
2
Actually Ms. Goldberg we don't have to wait for a new generation to wonder why and how we've tolerated behavior that was right out in the open. There are plenty of us here right now who wonder about that every single day.
2
It is a point of particular note that presidents and other human beings commonly express sympathy for the victims of violence or other malfeasance.
This one reserves his sympathy for the perpetrators.
3
If Democrats keep talking about open borders, the horrifying mess known as the Trump Administration will be EASILY re-elected, even without Russian assistance.
It may play well in some parts of the coasts (although, this is debatable), but in the swing states where the next election will indeed by decided, such talk goes over like the proverbial lead balloon.
3
Yet a large percentage of people in this country support trump and his cronies. What does that say about this country.
9
Those drawn to money and power are more likely to abuse their power. There is some selection going on. Look at McConnell. It is a true dilemma when we try to choose those who will govern. Very often, those with true character and ethics, who have been attracted to serve, will leave when they discover the cesspool.
10
The Atlantic recently ran a wonderful piece by Anne Applebaum that zeroed in on the fact that what links all the neo-populist strongmen together across cultures isn't economic malaise or racism--it's the denigration and subjugation of women. This is the misogyny that Secretary Clinton was swamped by--from Bannon to Weiner to her online trolls. Right now it feels omnipresent. Can a woman candidate survive it?
521
@Saints Fan Its actually pretty firmly in the center, not left, and even if it was, that doesn't mean the piece mentioned was wrong.
60
@Saints Fan Truth can come from any point in the political spectrum. Determining what is true is a matter of corroboration with other sources, not simply a predetermined viewpoint.
23
@Saints Fan Not sure how to square your characterization of The Atlantic as "leftist," when they include contributors and editors like David Frum and Peter Wehner, as well as others across the political spectrum.
It's a serious publication with high standards, whatever the politics of a particular writer or piece.
8
The author's mention of Caligula is dead-on accurate in many ways, considering the history of that emperor and the fact that he ruled badly for only four years. It is also known that during his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within the principate. He also oversaw a financial crisis due to his extravagant spending of other people's money.
All too familiar.
764
Your hyperbole will dull our senses.
Caligula burned people alive for fun. If Trumps behavior is seen as one and and the same to Caligula, then when we have a real Caligula, what will we call him?
4
@Ronn
He was also the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. The Roman public? Fat, happy, deluded, divided and apathetic.
100
@Ronn
If memory serves, Caligula also had his horse serve as a member of the Roman senate.
Jared, anyone?
NOT my president
83
The Editorial Board has written that sexual offenses are not partisan. The number of offenders is similar among both Democrats and Republicans. But the Board goes on to say that Democrats are much more likely to consider acts of harassment to be wrong. So you get one party of offenders crying out mea culpa and the other party of offenders claiming that boys will be boys. Choose your preference. I’d say six of one and a half dozen of the other.
You’re actually arguing that one side said this is wrong, cut it out, and the other side says I do what I want, tough beans if girls don’t like it, so they’re both the same.
Good grief.
I’m trying to figure out what moral code or religious belief says such a thing, but I’m not comin’ up with much.
7
Of course, Ms Goldberg sees nothing wrong with the racist and misogynist political administration in Virginia where her favoured Party runs the show. And the original Caligula, Bill Clinton, is still hanging out with the rich and the famous.
4
This article is about Trump, not Clinton. Trump is the current President. Nice try to divert.
4
Does that excuse the behavior of those in Trump’s orbit?
Trump owns the Republican party, Putin owns Trump, America sinks daily.
23
And the Christian Right led by Pence continue to follow their leader.
3
Trump wanted to bring us back to the good ole days of the 50's when America was King; A man's home was his castle; and women KNEW their place, Or Else. You write like this comes as a surprise. The only surprise will be is if this cretin gets more actual votes and serves four more years. Gag and vomit.
22
Trump: a sterling example for us all. moral: you can always wipe away the tarnish,
1
Michelle, where is your angst relative to Cyrus Vance and all of the Democrats who received millions from Epstein?
4
@Ross Burns Hmm, the President of the United States or the District Attorney for New York County? This really seems like a deflection.
3
If Epstein is being charged for rape why is not Trump being charged? Two pods same pea.
7
I don’t understand this either. Trump was named in a legal proceeding along with Epstein in the 1980’s for the rape of a 14 year old girl named Kate. The case went to court, there were legal documents issued. The girl backed down in the end, she was scared. This occurred in NYC. When will this be brought to light again? It’s easy to find, the court documents are on the internet. This girl should be found now.
5
Who says that we live with it and grow numb? Who says that we tolerate it? Speak for yourself.
10
Yes, Michele, I too fear that we are becoming immune to the horrors that surround Mr. Trump due to the mere number of them. And I fear that you are "preaching to the choir" so to speak. But please continue to do so. Please continue to speak truth to power. We depend on you.
14
The South District of Florida, unlike its counterpart in NY, is not a high profile office of the US attorneys. Acosta was largely unknown to the public, prior to the reporting on the Epstein case by the Miami Herald. One wonders how Acosta landed the nomination to be a member of the cabinet. This is a question that is worth examining, especially in light of the fact that Epstein and Trump both have attempted to use money to protect themselves from prosecution.
11
I disagree that we grow numb. As a woman who was raped in the USA as a young girl, and I'm surely one of thousands, it's not numbness but growing horror. The only good thing is that all this predatory sexual perversion is being aired, but how tragic that so few American men refuse to stand up to this president and his cronies.
376
@Jo Ann I'm sorry you were raped. The fact that you state that fact is important. I was a rape victim advocate in the 1980's. One of the first questions women were asked was "what did you do to let/make this happen" Victims are still bullied in their most vulnerable moments. It is way past time we all stand up to these predators. Particularly the Predator in Chief.
38
@Jo Ann
JoAnn, I am sorry for your experience.
But what was probably isolated incidences (rape) in the past, is something that Rich/Powerful men enjoy as a norm (the new Norm). I surmise this from reading the NYT.
At the start of Republican debates for candidacy of the final Republican choice, I was planning to vote Republican. I was appalled that Trump (who I've hated since the seventies) was even on the stage. There were so many other, better men than him to choose from. Then, somehow, the circuits failed open and he became the Republican candidate. I could only explain this to myself because he spoke forcibly against President Obama and all, died in the wool Republicans hated Obama. My very intelligent wife was going to vote for him and so were her parents. I argued with them to no avail. Then the Access Hollywood tapes came out and my wife changed her mind immediately. She disliked HRC as much as I did for standing by a man who was also a public disgrace but, at least, she was not a certified (by her own words) sex offender. My professed Christian in-laws were unswayed and voted for Trump anyway, just because he was on the Republican ticket. Mom now denies she voted at all but she went to the polls with Dad and did her Republican duty. Since both were repugnant to me, I voted for an Independent who had experience in the national intelligence world. I stand by my choice today. Wrong is always wrong and Trump has proven that in spades. HRC has done no better. The point I am making here is that we all have a choice to stand by our party no matter what or vote with a clean conscience for the better candidate. Hopefully, Democrats learned their lesson.
4
Thank you again Ms. Goldberg. The image of Trump sitting one seat away from Kraft is sickening.
I'm old enough to remember the absolute furor over the 1976 publication of a Playboy interview with presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, in which he stated he had "lusted in his heart" over females.
Amazing how far we have sunk.
15
It isn't just one woman who's accused Trump of rape -- it's two. "Katie Johnson," pseudonym for one of Epstein's victims, asserted in a lawsuit that both Trump and Epstein raped her. The suit, filed twice, was dismissed once because of filing errors and dropped the second time, only days before the 2016 election, after Johnson and her lawyer said they had received death threats.
Three circumstances here are arresting. The description of the alleged rape, which occurred when Johnson was 14, echoes the behavior Epstein engaged in as recounted in news reports. The timing of the alleged threats fits in with the damage control Trump was undertaking just before the election with payments to Stormy Daniels and his Playmate lover. And Michael Cohen, ex-Trump fixer and now jailbird, is known to have made violent threats against people whose knowledge of Trump's activities endangered him.
We can only hope that the woman behind "Katie Johnson" comes forward now, tells her story, and refiles her suit.
18
“Since Epstein’s arrest, many people have wondered how he was able to get away with his alleged crimes for so long, given all that’s publicly known about him”. Because powerful wealthy men like Trump and Epstein have pricy high profile legal talent to protect them and intimidate victims of their predation. The average joe goes to jail for what these men do (as well they should). Epstein gets among others Kenneth Starr and Alan Dershowitz and the best plea deal money can buy. Ain’t justice grand, rule of law? Yeah right, how about manipulation of law to avoid accountability.
The wealthy shall be protected by the labor of other hands while they sow confusion and chaos for personal gain and profit.
The Trump manifesto:
7
Those who continue to condone and support the Trump popularity cult and administration are truly accessory to these morally, legally and constitutionally dubious actions.
It would not require the might of the Persian empire to overthrow this tyrant-- merely the letter or tweet of disapproval from his followers.
9
As somebody does one thing, so they do many things. Somebody does not sexually assault women, but then live an upright life in every other area.
6
This disturbing recitation of serial sexual violence and crime puts the lie to any notion that such anti-social behavior is confined to the lower economic classes. The rich are just as bad, but they can buy their way out of it. Meritocracy, indeed.
4
As an independent, I am simply shocked at the glaring hypocrisy of Democrats efforts to link only Republicans to the list of sleazy politicians lurking in the D.C. swamp. This is an obvious attempt at deflection, but serves as an impetus for any sane voter to understand reasonably well, the motivation behind this drivel.
6
@john
Thank you. They act like Epstein never knew the Clintons or any democrats. This is going to get ugly when democrats fall into the hole they dug. This could have been a chance for democrats to take the higher road but again they failed.
2
@John I don’t think there is an effort to suggest only Republicans behave badly, just that this lot, from this generation and especially this social class, are so very much worse.
1
There are NO democrats in his Cabinet or WH. Are there sleazy lobbyists, certainly, but most of them work for whoever has more money. Most big lobbying firms represent both sides. Mr. Vance, in NYC does bear looking into.
1
He’s shown the world who he is with no seemingly adverse consequences. When, and if, the consequences come, let’s hope the division and destruction to our country can be mended.
4
We are told that 81% of women have been sexually harassed. The percent of men who harass is less, but is still astronomic. Comparing the Trump administration to the general population, two conclusions are possible. Either Trump’s associates are better than average or not all allegations are reliable. The second conclusion is highly unlikely, though, because women don’t lie.
1
Epstein just tapped into a system of privilege and protection for some that has existed for centuries. Anyone who is suddenly shocked and think we are suddenly living in an age of Caligula has obviously been living themselves in a very privileged bubble. That's why such people can't understand why some of us welcome Trump and what has been exposed. In the zeal to take down Trump he has fought back and a lot in America has been exposed.
It took decades for the Central Park to have their story told and Linda Fairstein, the darling of liberal organizations and a good friend of the Clintons, to face retribution. Fairstein also helped Weinstein stay out of jail.
It took the development of new technology to prove police brutality , false arrests and the malicious calls made to 911 on people engaged in everyday activities and nothing criminal.
Many pedophiles, including priests, have never and will never face prosecution because they died years ago or they are protected by statutes of limitations. For years they were protected by law enforcement and politicians while their victims were called liars.
Prior to Trump victims facing injustice and inequality were told to change THEIR behavior and pull themselves up because we lived in a post racial happy happy America. The hypocrisy of people claiming they care so much now when they clearly ignored suffering prior to Trump is really hypocritical. In many ways they are worse than Trump and that's why he may get reelected.
7
It has been clear from before the start of this "presidency" that the Stable Genius belongs in prison, together with many in his circle. And that his fortune (if it actually exists) should be distributed among his victims.
16
@Doetze
Clear? How?
What law did he break?
I hear that often - he’s a criminal that belongs in jail, but they never cite the law he supposedly broke.
2
What law did Hillary break. Didn’t stop all you trump lovers from chanting lock her up every time you get the opportunity up to today. Even if I technically might agree with you, it can’t be only one sided.
1
Is the voting public going to allow Trump to be President for Life?
Remember it's the Electoral College that elects a President not the Popular Vote.
18+ VOTERS don't stay at home on November 03, 2020 on November 04, 2020 it's too late to complain. Voty Blue.
11
It has been reported that a federal judge accused Accosta of breaking the law by not informing accusers of the NPA.
Now what? Will he be prosecuted, maybe fined or, at least, disbarred? Or will resignation be deemed sufficient for such an upstanding man as he?
Please advise.
14
@Bill I was wondering this myself, I haven't read anything about prosecutorial misconduct. Who is responsible for the all the girls being preyed upon by Epstein after 2008?
3
He’s gone, take victory and move on. There’s plenty more where he came from.
If in the end Trump leads to the collapse of the Republican Party then maybe this entire exercise in odiousness will have been worth it, though I doubt the Republican Party will dissolve since Dark America is fueled by uneducated and greedy people. But one can hope. Until then, shower daily and express small acts of kindness, so the obscene is balanced by the humane.
12
@Pietro Allar The Republicans are constantly probing, cheating, lying and gaming the system, seeking every possible unfair electoral advantage. Check at least a partial list: Voter suppression, closing polling places in Democratic areas, flooding state and local elections to take over state governments, absolute pandering to the rich, propagandistic media outlets, extreme partisan gerrymandering, perverting the census seeking a longer term advantage in redistricting and the electoral college. They will not go quietly into the night. The People will have to push them out.
11
The Republican Party, however, by its abject and willful silence, endorses this widespread misogyny in the Trump regime, as well as among its major -- secret -- fundraisers. It is a Party of moral corruption, masquerading as a Christian movement to save the nation from everyone else.
17
Yep, those evangelicals love behavior like this. As long as you show up at church on Sunday, you can do whatever you like the rest of the week.
17
@Joe You also have to appoint right-wing activist judges. Then you get an honored seat in the front row pew.
2
Why are some Americans so surprised that for Trump supporters, 43M of them at least, the behavior of Epstein, Porter, Moore, Trump, etc is perfectly fine? Trump supporters want to live in a world with this kind of abuse because this kind of abuse is the perfect illustration of the freedom to dominate.
When a Trump supporter brings up Bill Clinton it’s as another example of why the abuse Trump, Epstein, etc practice is okay. They’re not trying to learn from the stories around Clinton. They’re explaining that this is how they want the world to be. (They also get to use liberal’s past support for Clinton as a jab in the eye, which provides Trump supporters with a extra little thrill. )
Stop talking about Epstein, Porter, Moore, etc in surprised, even awed, tones and start defining them as the losers and creeps they are. (Stop focusing on Epstein’s islands, planes, and parties and look closer at the disgusting person that he is.) No Trump supporters’ mind will ever change, but when they’re associated with the creepy perv instead of the rich man who gets what he wants they’ll go back under their rocks.
Trump supporters want to be able to dominate all Americans. The rest of us give Trump supporters too much power when we treat them as we wish they were. We have to fight them as they are.
16
The successful Democratic candidate for president will campaign with the following message:
Let's keep it simple: (followed by a short list -- too many would cause the "numbness" of which Michelle Goldberg speaks --) of Trump's most egregious moments, i.e. children torn from their parents arms in front of an American flag blowing in the breeze, he denies even the most obvious effects of climate change, etc, etc. Followed by a simple question: is this the man you want to lead us for four more years?
8
Yes it is the worst administration in our collective memory. And we'll have another four years of it unless Congress not only compels every necessary witness to testify, but they hire an EXTREMELY competent prosecutor to ask the questions. I am reading the Mueller report and the corruption is plain as day, but the nuances of the laws, e.g., perjury, are so arcane that it appears obvious that they are written to let people in power get away with almost anything. Check out pages 180-186, “Conspiracy and Collusion “ and 187-188, “Willfulness “ and your head will spin.
Michele, spend all your days from now until testimonies writing about this. If Congress blows it, and based on past performances they will, we are done for. Mueller has turned out NOT to be a patriot (he should have broken PRECEDENT, not LAW, over the OLC OPINION, and indicted trump), and Barr is a diabolical criminal. The word “Honorable “ should be stricken from his title. This is extremely nefarious stuff.
How the witnesses are questioned is a make or break situation, and I’ve seen no one in Congress with the skill or guts to do what’s critically necessary. The survival of our democratic republic is literally at stake.
28
Though the 2016 election was fraught -- and somewhat fraudulent -- it was still an election. And by formal definition roughly half the country chose this man. By extension, if a loose one, that half "chose" the people he has chosen.
The other half of us continues to be numbly outraged and, almost daily, stunned by anger and amazement at Trump's degradation of the presidency and of America. Without successful impeachment or a scandal of some unimaginable dimension, however, it's hard to imagine what will vote Trump out in 2020.
And even if he is voted out, Trump has surfaced a cultural, political, and civil war in America. Justice, I fear, will not come with a Democrat in the White House.
Caligula was one of numerous emperors who contributed to Rome's fall. We can't blame all our ills on Trump, gross and bizarre as he is -- there's something more complex and unwell about America, I'm afraid. And while railing against Trump feels good, it's not going to heal what needs to be done to set us on a healthier path.
24
@SGK once again, nearly 3 million MORE people voted for Clinton than Trump. It was only the anachronistic Electoral College...and jerryrigging by Republicans and Russia..that handed the election to Trump.
9
All Trump had to do to gain ground was to let the Democrats make the case that America idealized image of itself was not quite up to reality. When there is a discrepancy between what is and the image people want to have of themselves, they invariably go with the more flattering image and hold onto it for dear life. Patriotism isn't about reality: it's about not letting reality talk one out of the fantasy of supremacy.
Now, the nation and the world is seeing that this president is at odds with both reality and the idealized self-image patriotic Americans want to have of themselves. He is doing to himself and to his supporters what he'd done with the Democrats: His image falls short of his reality and he's not going to be able to market his brand of patriotism for very much longer.
4
Never underestimate people’s ability and need to lie to themselves. That is why whenever there is nothing beyond outrageous that Trump is doing his approval rating goes up as it has recently done yet again. How after 2 1/2 years of the utter dysfunction and incompetence of his administration, can his approval rating be at its highest level?
How is that the Democratic candidates are not asking over and over why America would want to tolerate this level of dysfunction for another year much less another 5? That’s the “case” that needs to be prosecuted, but no one is doing it sadly.
More than half of his cabinet is not even confirmed by the Senate for crying out loud!!! The British Ambassador was spot on in his assessment - the dysfunction will NEVER end with Trump. Have we developed Stockholm syndrome? We need to put an end to this administration and it’s chief enablers like Mitch McConnell.
4
Please stop using the term “underage girls.” Girls are young. They are below the “age of consent.” But there are no “over-age girls.” It’s insulting and demeaning, as if all girls are waiting to become legal, and are only defined by that status.
11
It’s neither “insulting” nor “demeaning”: it’s simply a way to say that the girls were under the age of consent. They were the victims of a predator. And it’s a far better phrase than “young women,” which implies a maturity the girls didn’t have.
4
Also let’s drop the euphemism “abused” and call it what it actually is: rape.
1
There are no words left to describe the ongoing decadence, corruption, criminality and treasonous behavior of Trump, his family, Administration and so called Republicans in Congress who enable it. Now the question is, when it ends, and it will, what will be left of this torn apart nation?
15
I always assumed that that trafficking in child sexual activity would fall under the aegis of the Dept. of Education. Turns out, it's under the Dept of Labor. What a surprise! Maybe Melania should be appointed the next Secretary of Labor.
3
Great article by Michelle Goldberg. Grim and clear reminder of a amoral president with a peculiar contempt for women.
23
Don from D.C. is 73 years old, lives on cheeseburgers and diet soda, is clinically obese, gets no exercise to speak of, and has a high-stress job. A man given to explosive outbursts. Apparently he doesn't get a lot of quality sleep, either, guessing from the pre-dawn tweets he seems to favor. All in all, I'd say he has a high probability of exiting the world stage sooner rather than later.
9
@LW ahh..if only. And one would hope that all those henchmen (and women) of his would then be less fearful of any repercussions of "disloyalty" to him. More than likely, however, one of 45's foot soldiers would spin it as the Democrats/Liberals/Fake News/Media fault...
2
Is it odd or not that Acosta and Barr worked at the same firm, and that Epstein’s attorneys were from that firm. And, Barr refuses to recuse!
21
The article by Michelle Goldberg and the resignation of Acosta both remind me about a political scandal that played out in the mid 90th in Sweden. The female labor minister Mona Sahlin was accused of having used a credit card, issued by the Swedish government, to buy 2 pieces of Toblerone (a Swiss chocolate bar), an action that eventually forced her to resign. It should be mentioned in the context that Mrs Sahlin, who also was vice Prime Minister at the time, was the obvious candidate to replace the chairman of the Social Democratic party Ingvar Carlsson, also the Swedish Prime Minister, who had announced his plans to step down a while before the “Toblerone scandal” became headline news. It's amazing to think about how our political systems, designed and dominated by males, so efficiently bar female candidates and protect male-domination.
8
If one man says he is not guilty of rape or sexual assault, Trump believes him especially if he denies it "strongly." If 20 or so women come forward and claim to be sexually assaulted by that one man, Trump says he isn't guilty if puts on a good show and denies it strongly. Such is the warped world of Trump.
7
Recently I observed #45 proclaiming that his administration has done ‘great ‘vetting.’
How did the Epstein matter slip thru the process?
And Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, & Ryan Zimmerman.
Welcome Alex Acosta to this less than honorable roster.
The better Cabinet choices — Nikki Haley and Jim
Mattis — quickly found the escape hatch.
This adds up to a presidency that is ‘terrible,’ to invoke a favorite descriptor of # 45
History will remember. Sad!
But #45 will never know. He is reading adverse.
7
“But his first instinct is empathy, a sentiment he seems otherwise unfamiliar with.” Well, by definition a sociopathic narcissist is incapable of empathy. When trump* tries to express it it is always under duress and clearly an uncomfortable mimic of what he has seen/heard others do. He sounds like a cut-and-paste ransom note.
13
Thanks for the article and I hope you will continue to update it and publish again.
We need to be reminded of the sleaze associated with Trump because we are no longer shocked. Every day there is a new disgusting revelation of corruption which has become the norm.
Remember "drain the swamp"? It may be too deep to be drained.
6
Let me quote the esteemed president of the United States:
“You know what I know about Alex? He was a great student at Harvard. He’s Hispanic, which I so admire, because maybe it was a little tougher for him and maybe not. But he did an unbelievable job as the Secretary of Labor. That’s what I know about him. I know one thing, he did a great job. And until this came up, there was never an ounce of problem with this very good man.”
Reminds me of another historical chestnut: "Other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"
Trump and Co. would be hilarious if they weren't so vile ... and so dangerous.
12
The Borgias might be a more apt comparison. Fake religiosity. Family members installed in positions of wealth and self-aggrandizement for which they possess no qualifications. A continuous circus of distractions while actual murders are happening. Pious pretending people all standing around pretending everything is good and holy. All for the theocracy of a god none worships in deed. All for power.
15
If the truth is found to be, Epstein kept the most company with Democrats, will your list of "ne'er do wells" be as complete?
Mr. Epstein no doubt spread some happiness on the occasional Republican, maybe an Evangelical, now and then, so, please, don't skip a name. The dates of these "acts" would also be very informative. And, if it turns out President Trump had enough frequent flier miles on PedoAir to get multi-engine rated, I want to know.
Simply yelling "Trump and Epstein" isn't doing justice to the hundreds of Epstein's victims.
2
@Mike
Trump never got onto Epstein’s plane.
He had his own.
Clinton admitted he took Epstein’s plane 4 times. Then we find out later it was 6.
Nothing to see here from Michelle.
2
Not a fan of Michelle, but very nicely written.
Shades of the decline and fall....of the Roman Empire, that is. In that historical parallel it was the Roman Senate which abdicated its responsibility, its members choosing safety over defense of the Republic which began the slow descent into corruption and laziness and corruption which resulted in the loss of the Republic and the installation of emperors such as Caligula, mad as a hatter and cruel beyond belief. But this is today, not ancient Rome. Surely our brave Republican senators will not choose safety and luxury over a defense of our Republic????
11
@Harold Johnson. Hi Harold. I too have blamed the Republican Senate for allowing Trump to install corrupt and unqualified people to his administration and for failing to provide the oversight as the Constitution requires them to do. Wasn't sure if it was for reasons of safety or greed.
Now I am sorry to have to include the Democratic House in the blame for seeming to choose safety over defense of the laws. They allow people in the administration to ignore subpoenas or to otherwise refuse to cooperate with committees who are investigating possible wrongdoing. In my opinion this advances the decline of the rule of law and makes them look weak. Either prosecute the failures to comply or drop the hearings. An unwillingness by the House leadership, to even consider the investigation and possible impeachment of Acosta before he finally resigned does not look like a daring defense of law.
Don’t know much ancient history but some old Greek or Roman said that there were only so many combinations of ways that governments can fail. They tend to repeat themselves. Maybe the Trump era is the repetition of the Caligula Combination of government failure.
1
Having failed to destroy the President in any other way, elements of the mainstream press have now circled back around to sex scandal. They desperately try to associate him with Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, dredge up old or unprovable accusations against him, use allegations of misdeeds by subordinates, political fixers or even military officers to paint him as morally corrupt, and attack Alexander Acosta for not being rigorous enough in trying to take Epstein out of circulation 12 years after the fact, as though that says something about his current presence in the Trump administration. The press is literally chasing its own tail on this subject, which might be amusing to watch, except for the fact that there is so much real news that they could be spending their time on, instead of yet another attempt to defame the President.
4
@David Godinez
There are none so blind..., Plenty of corrupt and criminal behavior has been exposed about Trump since he took office, and not only by the investigative reporting of the media. Some as been written up by law officials, some has come up in testimony. Remember that he has also been named as individual-1 in a State of New York investigation. He keeps playing whack-a-mole, ignoring subpoenas and telling others not to respond. The OLC position is the only thing keeping in office unless Congress decides to impeach. He stonewalls and loudly bleats denials for now, but his day of reckoning will come.
6
At the risk of being labeled a prude: How and why have our standards become so low that many accept and defend the type of behavior that has, until recently, been clearly unacceptable? Is this the new excuse: everyone is doing it so why can’t I? Corruption, graft and prostitution used to be unacceptable and I’m only in my 50’s, come from a liberal state and went to a highly regarded liberal university and served our country. Moral decay has become moral rot and is nothing to celebrate. Go live in the third world if one wants to fully experience a failed society. We can do better.
8
Let's not defame the third world, if anything the peoples there have more to lose from Trump's amorality than those of us in the first world.
2
Apparently we cannot do better.
You hear descriptions constantly of
"this is not who we are, or, this is not America".
Well, this is exactly who we are and this is America..... now.
1
@Dave R Right. Never before in American history has anything like this ever happened. Not in the 1880s or the 1910s and 1920s.
No Teapot Dome or Mink Coat scandals (followed by resignations) in our own lifetimes. It's all brand new. Never before "have our standards become so low."
1
It just seems wrong that Trump get so much support from the evangelicals are these people really Christians? By now everyone knows just exactly what Trump is there is just no excuse for the things he does.
14
The Epstein affair will bring down a lot mire than a Trump.
2
I wonder if part of Trump’s appeal is that he’s a familiar type. Greedy, perverted, immoral men of power have been around forever. However, strong & intelligent women of power is a relatively new phenomenon. In this time of uncertainty and great change, maybe some feel strangely comforted by the familiarity of Trump. He’s a known item in a world of unknowns. As society becomes increasingly familiar with the successes of strong women in all spheres of life - from the boardroom to the soccer field to the halls of government - hopefully people will lose interest in a dirty old security blanket like Trump.
9
I'm tired of all these big spending men of distinction and their over-inflated sense of entitlement and self worth.
7
If we don't care about this type of behaviour then we are lost.
9
Good article. I, as a history major, have compared Trump to Caligula for some time. On the humorous side Trump is known for his small hands and Caligula's guards quietly referred to him as "little boots" for his tiny feet.,
8
@Jan Crismara Er, because Caligula's mother dressed him in a child version of military boots when he was a little boy living as they were in a Roman military camp. It was not a reference to his feet when he was an adult.
3
Lkely a half of the politicians across the spectrum have dark secrets despite/ because of their elected positions.
Of late the ridiculous Menendez case and how about Pelosi"s husband insider trading case?
Masters of their craft of greed and corruption yet here they still march on. The net would never be big enough to hold them all.
2
Whataboutism is alive and well!
Ridiculing the disabled reporter would have been the end for any other candidate.
Criticism of John McCain or the Khan family would have been the end for any other candidate.
The Access Hollywood tape would have been the end for any other candidate.
There are dozens and dozens of other incidents since that would have been the end for any other candidate.
What makes Trump immune from any of the rules and customs of traditional American politics? For a large swath of his supporters it's the culture wars.
His stand against the cultural changes of our country is all that matters to millions of people who fear change, diversity and new progressive ideas. The last straw for these people was the election of Barack Obama by a majority of the country. They will accept absolutely any actions by Trump so long as he stands firm against diversity and cultural change, which is symbolized most graphically by this immigration issue and any policies connected to Obama. Sadly, this shortsighted anger now forces the country to live under the policies of the Republican Party which are harmful to the overwhelming majority of the American people and, maybe excepting immigration, are actually opposed by the overwhelming majority of the American people and deep down, even many of the Trump supporters themselves.
20
And yet, the southern states, and the evangelical crowd continue to support him. Their hypocrisies are on full display, for all to see. The “everything Trump touches, he ruins” meme doesn’t only apply to what he is attracted, but also to those who are attracted to him.
10
Many commentors have said "Trump nominates bad actors" which is certainly true.
But everyone misses the real point: Trump wants to run the country just as he runs the Trump Organization...totally on his own.
His need, and goal, is to decimate his own hand picked cabinet so he can keep the cabinet posts vacant. Then he can swoop in, and do what he wants to do, in order to accomplish his plan which is to dismantle the government.
Trump's style has always been total autonomy, with no checks and balances, and he wants to get there asap so he can be part of the Putin/Kim club.
Say what you want about Trump but he's acting just as everybody SHOULD HAVE expected him to act....deplorable.
16
Everything said here is true.
What I find so amazing is the utter lack of insight being displayed by the Democratic House. They sit and twiddle their thumbs instead of opening an impeachment investigation.
This lack courage and appreciation of the road blocks to discovery that such as inquiry would bulldoze is amazing. It is cowardice of the greatest degree.
5
@kirk
I agree with you. This is now the 2nd national crisis created by Republicans in the last 10 years. I didn’t understand why the Democrats didn’t go after those responsible for the financial crisis, too. It’s as if Democrats are afraid to go after others, because if they do, it will somehow expose their involvement, or similarities of the same actions in the issue being investigated.
1
The comparison with Caligula is good, but even better would be with Nero, who was also vain and dazzlingly immoral. His talent for entertaining the people gave him high popular approval, in spite of his well-known crimes and outrageous scandals. He reigned the Roman Empire for 13 years and 8 months...
4
Oh the list of lowlights, not at all surprising for us New Yorkers who know his history. He is consistent. I actually wonder if if is just another extreme, but blatant version of unchecked men in power, another reason for the numbness and normalization. The only way for me to test my hypothesis is to vote a ticket with a woman on it. She would hopefully restore some dignity to that Oval. Enough of the same old.
10
My great grandfather would say that you can judge a man by the company he keeps.
7
There will be no reversing Trump’s damage to the US. All things must come to an end.
6
The usual posters are here comparing Bill Clinton to Trump. Why can't people just go with this is happening right now at this time in our country -- a President surrounds himself with truly despicable people and often places them in his Cabinet. Is that ok with you or is it all about Bill Clinton from the last century?
8
Trump’s libidinous and louche propensities remind me of both Caligula and Nero.
As a rich playboy real estate mogul in New York, Trump was thrilled about his “Bon Vivant” reputation as various tales of his sybaritic superstar image were splayed in the tabloids to bolster his uber exhibitionistic narcissism.
As Nero reportedly played the fiddle while Rome was burning - Trump tweets all the time as our democracy is deconstructing into a dysfunctional dystopia as a result of his discursive, divisive and diatribe-ridden demagoguery.
7
It looks like every Trump nominee or appointment should carry the honorific, ‘Vice’, as it seems misogyny is an essential qualification to serve this man.
4
Who is exploiting the teenage girls now?
This isn't about their welfare, or Bill Clinton would get many times the attention from Goldberg (because of his very close relationship with Epstein) as Goldberg gives to Donald Trump (whose relationship seems to have been relatively superficial).
3
This article rings true. All I had to do was suspend the word "Donald" and replace it with "Bill". Thank you.
2
@Tony
Except that "Donald" is the current president and not "Bill." See how that works?
6
Depraved milieu from which our president sprang—
"Depraved milieu" is an apt description.
We need a complete investigation of the entire Jeffrey Epstein evil enterprise. The hundreds of underage victims need to be empowered. They can hold their heads high as they describe what Epstein and his enablers and co-conspirators did.
And finally, complete accountability for ALL involved. Nobody slips away, including famous attorneys and friends and politicians.
6
As we now know, Trump's "only the best people really means: cronies who can't pass a legitimate background check (family included)
7
This house of cards will end soon enough. The great deceiver will have his reckoning...absolute chaos is sometimes part of the great universal orderliness ....Keep the Faith
7
How did a man devoid of intelligence, honesty, morals, ethics, common sense and social skills become president? Better yet, why is he still there?
11
As David Crosby said: he is truly the first president in our nation's history who is consciously destroying our country for his own selfishness, insecurity and ego.
12
Brilliant column. Thank you for this.
6
The reason that EJ Carol's story disappeared so quickly from the news, is simply because the media completely dropped the ball on it. You enable Trump as you simultaneously shame him.
7
And supporters love him for it. So many of them had been evicted from theirs homes for beating women. Trump wins one for the guys.
6
Watch the world go mad if epstein is released on bail.
I cry for my beloved country...
2
I doubt if Trump said he felt "bad" for Acosta. I'm sure he said that he felt "badly" for him. He never constructs this sentence properly.
2
@mld
Something as simple as that is also a metaphor for why his supporters love him though.
1
It is no longer about Trump. It is no longer about a Mitch McConnell led Republican majority Senate. It is ultimately about "We the People." Sixteen months from now, in what may be the most important Presidential vote in the history of our Republic, will this country's electorate have the simple common sense to vote this polilitcal abberation out of office?
8
@R. Cortese
Many Republicans wanted Acosta out because he wasn't dismantling regulations fast enough. Now they got their wish and can blame the media and Democrats. What gets lost in all of the Trump noise is that people like Acosta are giving Republican special interests anything they want, even if they aren't always moving fast enough.
6
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.
1
The cleaning bills for all that high necked Victorian garb worn around the Opinion boardroom these days must run pretty high as well.
1
...meant to say two peas same pod.
“Limbic level,” I love it!
3
The Cringe Factor continues...as the analysis of the “President”
simply linger on. I, too, admit no solution to our American
Dilemma . At 82, a long-retired Licensed Family Therapist and
Lutheran Pastor, would rather acquiesce to a Diagnosis. I,
Reluctantly, choose to admit, painfully, that our “elected President” is a bonafide Sociopathic Personality Disorder.
It sickens me that a book, “ The Dangerous Case Of Donald
Trump” ...an Assessment Of a President exists, with 27
Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts.
While the work gives me some Peace, Our National State Of Being....Under Trump’s dictatorial non- Service, Peace is not
a National Presence.
5
For an astounding and depressing proportion of our citizens trump's misogyny and immorality hold no sway compared with their hatred of "lib'rals", especially the Clintons, for whom their hatred has been stoked for decades. Remember "Fifth Avenue"? And we thought him to be engaged in hyperbole. Turns out the joke was very much on us. We are wallowing in filth and corruption, and if we don't clean house in 2020 we deserve everything we get.
5
Trump is proof that while America cheers for Simba, it votes for Scar.
1
To be fair, a lot of people seem to be connected to Epstein somehow. Bill Clinton admits to multiple rides on Epstein's private plane. I think the corruption of powerful men of all parties and persuasions seems to run wide and deep, sadly.
3
Trump and friends, all sadists shown to relish abusing women in some form or another, don't give a hoot about children. The glaring evidence is on the Border. More evidence of that hatred is the unwanted involvement of men in legislation over womens' bodies. When the unwanted pregnancy prison that these men work tirelessly to enforce against women goes unreciprocated under the law by equal punishment for the man involved, there is no justice.
6
Why won't all major media outlets lead with the story that the U.S. has a mentally deranged, corrupt leader who controls the largest weapons arsenal in the world? It's not just his propensity to surround himself with criminals. Look at the comments he makes...bragging that he's "great looking and smart, a true Stable Genius."
No other individual would get a pass from the media for these kinds of comments or actions.The instability of the American president would be the lead story around the world. But for Trump it's okay.
The guy who always whines "fake news" is a media creation and that same media helps him stay in office.
7
Why all this fuss.
Just remember Trump's" Go easy on Flyn"
Justice and the American people shoud always go easy on Trump's pals.
In fact if Epstein had been elected President , as he might have with all his moneny, he would certainly have said " Go easy on Trump"
Billionairs of a feather flock together!
2
I want to see how the Evangelicals shape themselves into bizarre pretzels as these truths about their God-Chosen Leader come to light.
Hey - child-trafficking is cool as long as we get anti-labor and anti-choice judges!
10
Pictures paint a thousand words, or so the saying goes. This opinion piece is powerful... it would be a thousand times more powerful if a nice little photo of each individual described were to appear as they were mentioned. You don't even have to edit any of the words. Is it possible to reprint this piece with a gallery of faces to match?
What does it say about those voters who support trump and his administration regardless of all this?
4
I am fully on board with political opposition and personal dislike. Unfortunately this opinion piece attempts to weave a number of very loosely associated incidents into a cohesive narrative. Some are so stretched as to be disengenuous. Clinton had a much closer relationship with Epstein than Trump and General Hyten was cleared of the charges. Democrats as well as Republicans have been found responsible for domestic abuse etc. I am afraid this piece missed the mark.
1
Saying he "never met her" was his way of saying that she was not important enough to remember and thus her claims should be dismissed. This is, of course, the same attitude that enables mistreatment of others. Only certain people are important and have status. The rest are things to be used and forgotten and tossed aside.
6
This was an excellent essay-thank you. Living in a town that voted for Trump, I also found the comments illuminating on how people deal with or try to understand Trump supporters. I did not know that they were talking about Clinton as I never bring up politics with them. Excellent rejoinders are rejoinder that Clinton is not president and also that Clinton put reputable people in his administration.
Still, I sense that all the rejoinders in the world do not work with those who hate Roe vs Wade and want tax cuts and hate environmental and labor regulations. They seem brainwashed by Fox and reassured by the stick market. They are my neighbors and friends. I cannot hate so many around me.
My brain gives up trying to figure it out but , as a retiree, I work heart and soul for Democratic candidates and for Raisis and human rights groups and for climate change and environmental groups and for Not in Our Town group. I don’t know what else to do. Trump voters sometimes will agree with me on some issues if I don’t mention Trump.
22
Just one point: Let’s call them what they are. “Environmental Protections”is what Trump is dismantling. Getting rid of “regulations” is how Republicans want to frame this, but we’re giving up protections. Sad.
20
@BiffNYC
Good point-environmental protections-same probably for labor -labor protections, not regulations. We regulate to protect but when people bad mouth regulations, they seem to forget or leave out how they protect us all, really. The truck driver working too long hours could get in an accident involving others. Protections is a great way to think of regulations.
9
@Anne
The mercury levels in our local ponds just spiked. The Ohio smoke stacks blow toward the east coast endangering all in their wake. Those regulations save and a lack of them endanger.
Oh and the Trump gov just reauthorized the bee killing pesticide, sulfoxaflor. Hope you don't need to eat anything pollinated by bees.
1
I suspect that many Republicans really don’t like Trump. They’ve just been taught to hate liberals/Democrats, and Trump just serves as a handy tool of attack.
The two-party system in the US is toxic. It’s turned us against each other, allowing the MIC and the super wealthy to pillage our resources, exploit labor, and funnel tax dollars to cronies while the rest of us argue about issues that were decided decades ago.
27
@D Jones, I've heard, before this last run, its been decades since Republican were in power. Old rich, white, elitist, xenophobic, racist men. But the issue/problem is new generations without an appreciation of history, amd without memory as to why they were marginalized are not rooted and subject to the twisting of history. Also before they morphed/ switched places they were called Democrats...labels change but they do not.
2
Anyone else, ANYONE!, accused of even one of the sex-related activities from the Trump list of many would likely have his/her career ended in disgrace. Donald Trump and the swamp creatures he has chosen to "drain the swamp" surely represent a first in the politics of this country. That first is to completely disregard honesty, integrity and morality in building a government. Perhaps even more concerning is that about 40 percent of our citizens support this person and choose to ignore the amoral behavior of Trump and his appointees.
33
Women have been oppressed by the violence of male aggression since humans evolved.
I give credit to the women, long before me, who fought for their right to breathe the fresh air and take a walk by themselves, alone, without a male for protection.
The women's movement of the 70's and 80's gave me courage to try to be unafraid and to take a walk in the woods but not quite alone. Alone was not recommended. My big dog gave me the "permission" to be free from recrimination if anything were to happen - if I was assaulted. Imagine the mind that is compromised by fear when pursuing a human need - walking outside alone, maybe even at night, even with a big dog.
12
I would like to hear more about that "private party" that trump and Epstein had with all the girls, and I think the American people should be made to know all about it as well.
18
For the life of me I do noyt understand why ANY woman would support this so-called president.
That said, what is wrong with the female United States senators and representatives- Murkowski, Collins, Ernst, Cheney, to name a few- who turn a blind eye? This is unforgiveable.
34
I wonder how many of my fellow Americans realize that the sun is setting fast on our status as a superpower and moral arbiter in the world. It might have happened anyway in time but this squalid administration makes it inevitable. If we re-elect this monster we deserve what we get.
33
Just like the Obama voters who convinced themselves that our society is post-racist, women in safe cocoons had convinced themselves that equality is around the corner. Trump has shown all of us our own false and dashed hopes - what an illusion.
Only one detail brings a small vindictive pleasure: Epstein and Trump had a falling out over a business deal. this can only mean that Trump and as on the losing end of it.
10
What happened to the case with the woman who accused both Trump and Epstein of raping her at a party when she was 13 years old? She only went by the name Jane Doe. If I remember correctly, when the case was about to go before the judge, Jane Doe dropped out. She said she feared for her life. Has there been any effort by investigative reporters to look into this?
25
How can justice be done when Justice Kavanaugh also accused of sexual perversion and nominated by Trump and Clarence Thomas part of the GOP misogyny parade continue to sit on our highest court?
I will stop writing now and take a long shower, the whole Trump scene makes me as an American feel disgust that Trump should be sit in the highest position in the land. Will we reelect him despite these things being common Knowledge. Never mind. The economy according to Trump propaganda is doing fine. And perversion seems only to make his base cling to him more strongly.
This is not the deep state speaking only someone disgusted by the over whelming swamp with which Trump has fouled this once great country.
18
Well written article...concise, informative, and devastating!
10
And our dystopian nightmare continues.
13
Lots of men out there who view Trump as an embarrassment and lots who wish they were him. Lots of women out there who find Trump disgusting and more than a few who would jump on that jet to Florida to "provide the entertainment." Who's gonna vote in the next election? What kind of people do we want to be?
6
There was a time when I actually thought that the Republicans at the primary debate of 17 candidates would throw Trump off the stage because of his remarks about their respected colleague John McCain. There was a time when I thought that the Republicans would denounce Trump's "nasty" and offensive comments about Rosie O'Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Heidi Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton. There was a time when I thought the Republicans would be aghast at Trump's use of the word "rapists" to describe Mexicans. There was a time when I definitely thought the Republicans would finally speak out in condemnation and get rid of Trump as their candidate after the depraved and lewd Access Hollywood tape aired. There was never such time.
The deafening silence of the Republicans continued into his presidency. They turned a blind eye to his debauchery even after the accusations of his sexual impropriety by 12 females as well as accounts of his disgusting behavior by E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, and others.
Those shameful Republican enablers along with their hypocritical Evangelical counterparts have been complicit in the immorality and decadence of this presidency.
39
Trump won 53% of white women voters in 2016, and he did it running against a white woman. The pervasive misogyny that Goldberg details should be more than enough on its own to make Trump unelectable in 2020, but keep this in mind: Trump's latest approval rating of 44% is higher than it ever was when he was running in 2016.
9
Donald Trump's base of support is comprised largely of evangelical Christians, who bear significant responsibility for his normalization of sexual deviancy in this country. As he mocks traditional family values, his supporters cheer him on. Imagine what might happen if they were to say, "That's it. We can no longer support you." Trump just might decide that a change of ethos and behavior is in his best interests.
8
Out in California, they are looking for the BIG one following the recent seismic events of the recent past. The rest of us have to settle for Jeffrey Epstein and the BIG baggage he carries with him.
I am encouraged by the scientists who calm the public but maintain a sense of real vigilance. I am encouraged that SDNY has assigned to the team, not only attorneys who deal with sexual abuse but also those dealing with corruption.
While the Big one out West will come in the future, the Eastern one is really brewing right now - bigly, and he knows it.
4
Trump’s cabinet merry-go-round continues unabated. Trump hires badly and he gets the results of his own personal corruption back in spades. We, the electorate, get more and more of the President’s incompetence daily. Do you think we actually have a functioning government? A close look says no. We are operating on Trump’s yo-yo management style that he used to go bankrupt (6) times.
5
Another Goldberg gem... thank you for brave, informative writing. I was also thinking about our responses to the cavalcade of ick from D. Trump. We’re “aghast” and that word has to do with being terrified, as if we’d seen a ghost. Tonight, at a rally in San Francisco against the treatment of asylum seekers, various speakers, including Jewish, spoke of our history; the rallying cry by people from all backgrounds was “never again.” We’ve seen the ghost of fascist cruelty in these last few years, in the concentration camps on the borders, in the faces of abused women, in the growing silence of species, in the pristine national parks up for sale to drillers, and more, more.
10
“Trump will sometimes jettison men accused of abuse when they become a public relations liability. But his first instinct is empathy, a sentiment he seems otherwise unfamiliar with.”
If we understand “empathy” to mean the ability to understand what another person is feeling, Donald Trump will always come up short. As a certifiable psychopath, he is incapable of empathy. So when he appears to demonstrate empathy for men accused of abuse, he is merely displaying a reflexive response for others like himself.
8
Yes we can, yes we can, we must recover our dignity and this presidency to decency. Many in certain states are very misguided and blinded regarding the presidency and its occupant. Its now more important than ever for the dems and the truthful republicans to find superior candidates and make trump a one term president. Republicans who are the sycophants of trump must realize it is to their peril and doom. They will be consigned to history very quickly as soon as the tide turns. Better to abandon the trump ship asap because lies, and false nothings are not going to hold water for long.
4
"Maybe someday justice will come and a new generation will wonder how we tolerated behavior that was always right out in the open."
I'm not sure that justice will ever come given the tolerance towards Trump's actions. However, I do believe that future generations will not look kindly towards this generation for tolerating sexual misconduct on the part of Trump. Especially when Trump boasts about them.
Regardless of whether one is for or against Trump, this generation will go down in history as one that was impotent in holding accountable Trump's unacceptable behavior.
6
Allegations in the Epstein case are based mostly on the reporting of the Miami Herald. The paper alleged that there were about 80 victims. 3 were named in the indictment brought by the US Attorney's Office for the SDNY.
The LA Times won a Pulitzer this year for its investigation of an LA gynecologist who allegedly abused more than 150 women. The indictment of the gynecologist named 16 victims.
The 2018 Pulitzer for investigative reporting went to the Washington Post for its investigation of sexual misconduct by Roy Moore. The newspaper named 9 women. There have been no criminal charges.
There were two other Pulitzers in the last two years related to sexual misconduct. The Times reported countless victims of Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein has been charged with respect to three women and is out on bail. Finally, an investigation of Trump's payoff of Stormy Daniels won a Pulitzer in 2018. No charges have been brought.
Four Pulitzers in two years related to a single issue is, I suspect, unprecedented. A cynic might suggest that the Miami Herald is hoping to be number five. More important, there is a clear pattern of newspapers making very broad accusations while the legal system treats each case much more narrowly.
For those who weigh facts and think critically, the pattern here surely calls for consideration of what exactly is the truth, who are the most reliable arbiters of the truth and how does our system measure up in dealing with high profile sex cases.
1
Complicit! Republicans and their donors are raking in the money with this administration. As long as regulations are stripped away the oligarchs are satisfied while the majority of Americans are rocked by yet another scandal.
5
ms goldberg,
even though i consider myself a person who reads and imbues what is happening at the moment, i was appalled at the cavalcade of "crime" you wrote about.
when one sees it all in an unfolding of terrible deeds perpetrated by men who this president has hired and who he feels "simpatico" with, i feel angry and ashamed ... as a man.
i don't know when this madness will end but i sure hope it happens in november 2020.
we need to eject caligula from the oval office.
6
The scary thing is that as true as this article is, Michelle is preaching to the choir. What will it take to get this ignorant world of Trump supporters to realize that they have made all this possible, and have brought this country down to a level of stupidity, danger,and depravity never imagined.
We have put a degenerate into the White House which doe not seem to bother this assemblage of misguided politicians and supporters who feel for a number of miscalculations he is what this country needs.
This next presidential election will surely define us.
6
You could hear the sense the desperation and fear in Trump’s voice as he stood there and tried to rationalize this whole sordid mess. He knows what is coming for him.
3
But why is the U.S. national government apparently helpless (actually feckless is the better word) in face of all such Trump’s and associates’ malfeasance and evil-doing? I have in mind things like misleading the Court and the willful endangerment of children. But the question is ‘Why?’
The Russians have answered the question. Trump, they say which I read somewhere, is a fool but a very useful fool. And that is what his powerful and purposeful allies realize. While he twittered or twitters in power, they were able to change or destroy legislation to suit their financial, economic and social aims. And of course someone is writing his executive orders.
7
Citizens United said money is the same as free speech. It also said I don't have to disclose where my free speech ($) came from or how I earned it. Everybody who is now surprised foreign money is pouring into our elections without restriction, raise your hand. No one?
3
Get rid of Mr. Trump -- and let's not address him as "president" until Congress PROVES his election was legitimate! How many days will this go on, and at what cost -- to our people and our endeavor to form a more perfect union? One more day? One more week? One more year? While MILLIONS of people are suffering around the world -- and we are TORTURING toddlers? Enough!
3
Let’s Make America Great Again! Back to an age where we held elected officials like presidents and cabinet appointees to a high moral standard. Where licentiousness and corruption was abhorrent behavior, something to be ashamed of not to be swept under the rug with false denial. The Trump base need to wake up and realize what their denial is enabling.
3
He is always thirsty, he is always hungry. He will drink it, eat it or inhale it. He will always find it and there is plenty to throw around. He salivates whether he exudes or absorbs it.
Fear is Trump’s soul and driving force. He thinks on how to use it every single moment of every single day. And it works – fear is in our most ancient DNA genes, it’s primeval. Fear gives life and promotes racism- hate – the universal solvenst that glue together Trump followers. That’s a very sad and disturbing statement… but it’s an unmistakable truth.
Democrats must set aside egos ( a la Tom Steyer and others) and unequivocally make the central theme of the campaign to dethrone Trump because if not , the cherished principles of democracy will be lost. ( fear – loss aversion)
Bring them hope through the inescapable impeachment inquiry- show everyone the culprit who will steal their freedom.
The clashes will be inevitable but you recently survived Vietnan, the civil movements confrontations, etc – another “big one” is due.
Please be wise, be courageous and vote for whoever wins the primaries. Plain and simple.
4
The Executive Branch of the US government under Trump proudly demonstrates all the moral rectitude of an infamous strip club operating with absolute impunity just outside town limits.
4
The constant turnover and the "acting" heads of departments is consistently taken as a sign of chaos around the mad king. But what if the mad king is simply consolidating power by eliminating dissenters and the positions they held?
Remember how we were supposed to be relieved to know there were adults in the room to prevent Trump from doing something disastrous? We might not love the likes of Gary Cohn, Jim Mattis, and Rex Tillerson, but they brought ideas to the table and an understanding of how to run a large organization. They are all gone, pushed out or rushing out. In their place are yes men and hacks who will do Trump's bidding. We give you William Barr.
It is often said Trump's staff perform for an audience of one. That one is the only decision-maker in this administration. This is what an autocratic state looks like.
And this: Trump is whittling down his administration to loyalists, the Repubiican Party serves him, the GOP has spent decades packing the courts, and the world greatest propaganda network is firmly in place. There are tens of millions of brainwashed Americans who believe Trump is a victim of the Deep State and can do no wrong.
Just yesterday Trump again mused about remaining in office 12, 16 years or more. How many times does he have to joke about this before we take him seriously. We dismiss Trump's jokes our own peril.
5
For those of us from the New York area, none of this or any of the other peccadilloes, sexual, financial or otherwise, is surprising or shocking. What is shocking and surprising that any person could have been taken in by him then and that knowing what we know now, that people would still continue to support him.
2
The trump supporters are willing to ignore corrupt behavior by trump and his associates because they think they are getting something they want. In many cases they are going to be shocked by what they actually get, especially in the financial sector. But they ought to also meditate on the fact that their children are watching, and even the very young recognize self serving hypocrisy.
3
The republicans, aided and abetted by the fox cable channel, have so demeaned and dumbed down the country, its standards and reputation, such that I do not think we will recover for a generation or two. Very sad.
4
Really, what kind of a person applauds Trump’s degrading of the presidency. Every time I think Trump can’t go lower he and his cronies seem to reach even lower. It really is just about the money. No shame only flagrantly defying morals because you can pay your way to sit at the table, pose, or find a job with Trump. How low can he go? For sure he hasn’t hit bottom but his party sure has.
2
I'll never understand why ANYONE thought the D Trump was remotely presidential material with zero government experience except in how he tried to skirt the law. It's unbelievable that people were so easily conned.
2
We must remember that Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians approve of this behavior, and demonstrate that approval by their widespread support of this tyrant.
We must remember that their religion is essentially apostate.
We must remember that our goal upon returning to power is to ensure that every single one of these criminals whom the Right put into power, is punished to the maximum extent possible under the law.
3
@Jason this week i heard Mme.
Pelosi say in conversation to the press her appeal to the religious to intercede with the Trump admin. 1st to Mitch McConnell she asked for intervention - Mitch gave her the back of his hand. The 2nd appeal for decency again rebuffed(?) Where are these christian leaders? Who are they? Im searching out whats being said in community churches. And so far there is little agreement with Trump.. God does not send someone who abuses children and babies. We did this to Ourselves thru apathy and ignorance.
1
I think Goldberg specifically, and the NY Times generally, are so focussed on chatting about the angry politics du jour that they have overlooked the monumental event that occurred earlier this week.
The President, in collusion with the Attorney General, attempted to overthrow Marbury v. Madison, replacing our form of government with a new one. Until this week, the SCOTUS's role as the final voice in settling conflicts between the Executive and Legislative branches was unquestioned.
This week, Trump and Barr did not mere say "the Court got it wrong", they announced their intention to defy the Court's decision.
This was an historic event that bodes ill for the future. The public has been disserved by the news media's failure to explain that what happened was in no way an ignorant president's gripe about a court case ... but an announced attempt to change our form of government.
3
The acting Secretary Patrick Pizzella who is standing in for Acosta has an even worse record to be in charge of Labor - seeing as how as a lobbyist, he turned one of our Pacific possessions, the Northern Marianas, into one big sweat shop.
"You've been nominated to a position where you'll be closely involved with enforcing minimum wage laws and other worker protections. Yet, as we discussed in my office, one of the key issues you lobbied on was to block bipartisan legislation for basic worker protections in the Northern Mariana Islands, where garment manufacturers could produce clothing labeled made in the U.S.A. without having to comply with U.S. minimum wage laws," former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told him at the time.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/acosta-replacement-pizzella-faces-scrutiny-for-work-with-jack-abramoff.html
2
As a woman, and an American, the man and his cronies sicken me. I was appalled when he was elected and it's (incredibly) only been worse than I expected. I can only hope that the essential decency of the American people and the strength of our civil institutions will survive and prevail over the Trump presidency.
6
Trump wants absolutely no scrutiny. No confirmation hearings, no vetting. So he runs his administration with "advisors" like the evil Stephen Miller, the dopey princeling Jared Kushner, the fashionista Ivana Trump and a phalanx of "acting" cabinet and sub-cabinet members.
The confirmed cabinet members--the few that are left--keep their heads down for fear of appearing on the front page of daily newspapers. Having a front-page story is like the Mafia kiss of death. It means that the person is soon to be scuttled in favor of yet another "acting" official
Of course this means that no one is in charge (except Trump, of course). This is no way to run a country. It isn't even a way to run a small business.
Trump's crimes, lies, insults, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and misogyny have long been overlooked by his zombie supporters, and enabled by Republican sycophants. But for heaven's sakes, folks, the man is an absolutely terrible manager. He is a completely incompetent executive. Shouldn't someone--even among his hard-core MAGA-head supporters--realize that this is dangerous for the nation? The chaos Trump has created in Washington will eventually engulf us all, even the Trumpsters. May they wake up at last!
7
I disagree with commenters who refer to adults being "brainwashed" into being Republicans and Trump supporters. Those adults who rely on Faux have deliberately chosen to remain ignorant. They will be left behind; our society doesn't have much use for non-thinkers.
3
Michelle, thank you, thank you for these columns, especially outlining some of the disgusting items in a long line of trump and friends examples of depravity that otherwise go unchecked. You cannot repeat these things enough because most people have too many other things to deal with and have become far too numb from the daily assault. But, it does need documentation and often. While I accept that it won’t change people who are cultists, their are still many independents and republicans who are not happy. You are relentless, marvelous, passionate and one of the few reasons I can keep reading about this awful administration day after sickening day. Go girl.
2
“Maybe someday justice will come and a new generation will wonder how we tolerated behavior that was always right out in the open.”
The time for justice is NOW!
That a miscreant like our so-called president exists does not bother me as they are a dime a dozen in this world. What bothers me far more is the outright acceptance of his behavior by his supporters and the absolute refusal of republicans to take even minimal steps to reign him in.
1
What we know because of these allegations and resignations of these men is that the GOP doesn’t have a war on women, but instead simply doesn’t see us them as fully realized humans. To them they’re still property to be used, abused, and cast aside when they no longer have use for them or, gasp(!) the women got too old. Any man who would continue to identify as a member of this party should be judged by the company he keeps.
3
Trump supporters hate liberals more than supportive of Trump. They want those conservatives judges to do away a woman's choice and the wealthy love those tax cuts. The gun lobby, too. Anyone with even a tiny bit of morality cannot support him but they can resent and vote against the other side they see as taking away their "God given rights as an American" which means, to them, gun owning, white privilege and the right to harm others deemed less worthy.
When all he's ruined comes due they'll of course blame the Dems. Because to Trump and his supporters it's always someone else's fault.
5
Trump is a very sick man.
And a large portion of the country supports him.
America may be lost.
4
It takes effort to keep one’s head straight.
I’m sure we can find a horse that would do the job just as well. On the other hand, that may be animal cruelty.
2
Please! Let us stop the partisan spin on this story! In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost the race to Trump, in part as a function of her handling of State Department emails on the the Clinton's private server. But one has to ask, why wipe the hard drive? Admitting technological naivete would have been much easier to peddle as an explanation that would have saved her election prospects. Perhaps Bill's involvement with Mr. Epstein was a contributing factor? State Department classified information is not something to keep at home. But what ELSE was on the server? I don't know, but as a moderate independent, I find the fact that both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are associated with Epstein, and that Acosta had no choice but to sign off on the NDA a little nauseating. How about the possibility that, at the highest levels, EVERYONE was behaving badly and that very fact kept all in utter agreement to remain silent and to silence victims and witnesses? Money, power, influence, and deviant sex. What combination could be more alluring to these men? The victims in this case, whose personal histories cannot be rewritten, are ill-served by attempts to malign one person or party while ignoring the bipartisan nature of evil.
"Forget it Jake; it's Chinatown."
That chilling end to the film Chinatown spoke of the power, lechery and corruption of the ultra-wealthy and politically powerful and well-connected.
But guess what, this ain't Chinatown, and it's no longer 1930, or even 1970. Or 1990 for that matter.
It's worth noting that Robert Towne's original screenplay ended with Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) shooting dead her rapist, pedofile father Noah Cross, and fleeing with her daughter/sister.
The director, Roman Polanski (yeah, that guy), changed the ending to its now infamous tragic, startling one, with its despair, resignation and hopelessness against a "system" of wealth, race and cronied power. No longer is that the case.
At last, in the face of huge obstacles and corruption so deep it entangles two presidents, and whole cast of their associates, the voices of countless women are being heard, in this article and many others.
The #metoo movement will not let this one pass, at least not without a fight. Not this time, hopefully not ever again. Maybe this time we get the ending right, and the ending that's deserved. The time has come. At last.
Oh, as for the swamp where all these perps are gathering, it bears noting the definition of the word miasma: A noxious atmosphere, influence or emanation once thought to originate from swamps and waste, and to cause disease.
1
Just a note to those who manage the Comment System. Since I live in Sweden, 6 h time difference from New York, I go in to Times Wire during the Swedish night in an effort to be able to submit comments before there are already 100s or even 1000s.
I could not do that with this column and all others I checked during the night just passed. I look at Times Wire in my Android tablet and there no comment box appears, the box showing me that in this case right now there are 1279 comments, now seen in my laptop. In my tablet, nothing.
I write this here because the Times does not offer us a means of reaching the comment system managers. Carl Zimmer, in a thoughtful reply to a comment on his most recent fine column - hidden under Matter listing
Here is his reply:
Carl Zimmer
ColumnistJuly 12
@Larry Lundgren I'll be happy to draw the attention of my editors to your comment. But I should add that they've already been making this kind of interaction a high priority (a decision I certainly am in favor of, as an inveterate blogger!)
We who commented on his column all praised and thanked him for replying to our comments.
I look forward to the Editors giving us, some day, a comment writer forum.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
1
Of course Kavanaugh was confirmed. He fits right in. One of the boys. He’s part of the culture.
2
Every day that passes makes the comparison of this Administration look more and more like dying imperial Rome. The sex scandals, the politicians and their cozy economic relationships for self enrichment, the egocentric and self congratulatory “Caesar.” The Senate that is totally rotten to the core and has abandoned the “People.” Even the weather conspires against it! The only thing more pathetic than our elected legislators are those Trump supporters whom he has abandoned, leaving only the boring empty rhetoric and FOX fake news to warm them.
1
Yes-it's great news that Acosta has resigned until we realize he will be replaced by someone with LESS moral and ethical character, someone with LESS experience and skill. It is always a downward spiral in this administration.
2
Does Trump have Down's Syndrome? He has that weird look in his eyes all the time--like the lights are on, but no one is home.
With the exception of Mattis, Coats (who is apparently living on borrowed time) and other national security officials who are sincerely concerned about the welfare of our country, no one with integrity would choose to work for a reprehensible man like Donald Trump.
This administration is infested with opportunists, men and women whose only concern is "what is happening today that could affect the career options available to me tomorrow?"
Yes, they are corrupt, unqualified, and unprincipled, but mostly they are stupid. It's long been obvious that Trump taints everyone around him, destroying reputations and making laughingstocks out of people who want nothing more than to be taken seriously.
Some of them are even in jail.
As Rick Wilson would say, everything Trump touches dies.
Everything and everyone.
Acosta is just the latest casualty. He won't be the last.
2
Yes, many of us, we are numb, angry, numb again. The Hollywood Access tape should had been the end of his candidacy. But it wasn’t because people actually thought it was funny and harmless and still voted for the “guy”. Just read the propublica story and the comments and you will see it is celebrated. I can only hope serious journalism investigates other stories around this period of time. Less about the one and more about the others, the enablers. It is time for reporters to dig in further, to see what is it about each member of Congress that has a blind eye for this president.
13
so what does the enlightened, women's champion Ms. Ivanka Trump have to say about all this? Silence. Remember the golden rule. The one with the gold makes the rules.
14
Every day I wonder how we allow this travesty of a presidency and a subversion of our democracy to take place, and why "we, the people" aren't in the streets putting an end to it as soon as possible. Sadly, it says volumes more about us than Trump...
25
The depravity of Donald Trump has been on display for many years, and the same twisted thinking on sexual matters reflects itself in the man's selfish view of the world around him.
What is very unsettling is how the Trump misconduct does not seem to faze some of the senior citizens in the United States.
Propaganda works. That is why so much time, effort and money are spent to spread the Big Lie.
It is sad when so many older Americans use Fox News as their sole source of information on national political issues and events. It is not surprising that those old folks reach exactly the conclusions which the propagandists want them to reach.
There are many of us who are past our mid-70s and who have friends and associates in their 90s.
Without exception, those among our older friends who stopped reading good books and a wide range of newspapers and began turning off television with diverse opinions are now firmly in the camp of Donald Trump.
Not only have friendships eroded. We have witnessed the personalities of these senescent Trump supporters deteriorate. It is upsetting to hear someone dismiss news of men victimizing girls who are the age of our friends' granddaughters.
37
Millions and millions of people cannot wait until Trump and his enablers are removed from the planet, not just the administration.
May entropy and other sympathetic forces accelerate this process.
47
Millions and millions of people cannot wait for him to be re-elected just as they could not wait for Obama’s 8 years to end.
The next great decline of the media will be when Trump exits the office as the big papers and cable news networks will have nothing of any interest to write about, report on or discuss.
1
Trump has always been a low life. His rise to the presidency is a fluke, a bizarre conjunction of circumstances so strange the chances of it being repeated is practically nil. As the host of the "Apprentice" TV show he made it into the homes of a certain demographic that found the grotesque character of Trump as a CEO entertainment. Those sad viewers turned out to be his voters. The thing to do now is get rid of him. Rehashing what's wrong with him ad nauseam won't accomplish this task. Let's concentrate on finding the candidate we need to beat the tar out of him in 2020.
48
Rape now is normalized by Republicans. Weinstein's trafficking probably occurred at a Lago; hope Jeffrey will talk
35
Trump’s words ring hollow, “Only the best people!” Trump has had quite a group of despots, creeps, abusers and predators! The NYT should make a list and publish their names and faces on their front page! The “swamp” under Trump has become a .....toxic cesspool!
49
#Caligula Administration
28
No body surrendered to evil.....
They all accepted willingly......…….
This was true during Nazi regime, it was true before, it is true since then.
54
This is a perverse administration who are hell bent on destroying and dividing our country. We know all their misdeeds to date; more are coming, Just what did we do to deserve this fake president who besides being inept has such a poor command of the English language. His lying reached new heights. Today during an interview where those poor souls are being "detained" turns out lying is catching and Pence does it very well.
28
As long is the Republican Party remains complicit and continues to enable Trump, how are we going to clean the situation up? My two state's Repubican Senators are enthusiastic Trump enablers.
26
His milieu doesn't just consist of really gross people who are easy to mock like Prince Andrew, Kraft, and Trump but influential public figures and academics like Larry Summers, (girls are suck at math), Dr. George Church (geneticist at Harvard and MIT), Bill Clinton, Joi Ito (Director of the MIT Media Lab), Martin Nowak, (Professor of Biology and Mathematics at Harvar). These are meant to be super smart people and who do they suck up to?
16
Give the man a break Michelle, you expect far too much from a self admitted crotch grabber with bone spurs.
22
I am really dumbfounded over the support Trump has. I cannot figure out why anyone would support him. I grew up poor and rural and Southern Baptist and I know very well the type of people who support him, but I still cannot understand, no matter how hard I try. Especially women and people who claim to be Christians.
And what's with the Republican sexual issues? So much deep-seeded dysfunction. Trump and his ilk versus Pence and the little Republican running for Governor in MS who can't be alone with a woman. Such dysfunction on a deep level.
Remember the WWJD movement from a few years ago? What would Jesus do? He wouldn't solicit or have sex with minors, abuse or be violent to women, grab their pussies, inter people in cages, give to the wealthy, give validity to evil and hatred. But the people who wore those WWJD bracelets then are his supporters now. Hypocrites of course, because you can't be a Christian and be a Trump supporter.
82
Fair warning: do NOT normalize these incompetent moronic psychopaths
Stop now
Treat them all as a very very disturbed group of mentally minimal and ill people
Because they are
41
Like so many others before him, Acosta humiliated himself and ruined further his reputation, all for nothing. Trump has cast him aside and now Acosta is damaged goods. Think of it. Even socially, who would want to have a beer with this guy who was hell bent on protecting a child predator? Ew.
36
Trump is an aging, disgusting degenerate. So are his voters.
41
And the so-called "Christian" right supports this criminal.
56
The Caligula Administration! We all know how that ends..
26
@Jgrauw With Incitatus at full gallop.
@Jgrauw
I thought Bill Clinton and his cronies are doing fairly well. And the Party he shaped not just gets a pass from Ms Goldberg and NYT but gets treated like royalty.
@Jgrauw
We can only hope.
1
trump, epstein, Boy Scout Leaders and catholic priests. Like em young.
36
No depravity is too great for the ROWMA (Rich Old White Males and Allies).
22
Depraved was the milieu from which they sprang, and depraved are the men (they're mostly men) who relished that depravity and fed it, and depraved are the opportunists who overlook such depravity at the expense of their souls.
14
There is no end in sight to the scandal parade and Grand Marshall Trump. This will be more like Tales from the Crypt than Swamp in the end. The nation's shameful tolerance for abject corruption, kidnap , child rape and racist social policy is the real news. Is Michelle's litany sufficient? When will the sheeple rise up and say "Baaad"?
12
@fdc tolerance for abject corruption? Those corrupt people are "abject"?
GQ reports (Laura Bassett) that Trump and Epstein raped a 13 year old in Epstein’s home and she sued them in 2016 but withdrew the suit after they threatened her. Why isn’t The NY Times reporting on this?
43
@Ski bum Well, maybe the charge is true. AND maybe the Times would like some evidence to back up the charge before they print it as true. Some people are just so darn finicky about evidence and/or corroboration before they make charges.
@kenneth
Yes, hopefully the woman behind the lawsuit will come forward, tell her story again, file another lawsuit and the truth will out. Now is the time.
We’ve got our own version of Camorra running our businesses and public institutions—FBI and the lance of justice don’t bend please.
4
Yeah, it's almost as if the president of the United States wears his depravity like a badge of honor. Maybe he think it makes him more formidable. Like if he can get away this stuff, it proves that, heck, he could be a dictator like Kim Jong Un! Except, since the golf tourney with the stripper auction was called off, maybe he has boundaries. Or one of his PR honkeys convinced him it would cost ratings?
7
@dave beemon No, he's been like this ever since he was "dating" young women in college. It's what he deems to be proof that he's a man.
Someone needs to stand up for poor Caligula here. Being accused of having sex with your sister and your horse declared a senator centuries after you're dead are more akin to getting a ticket for jumping a turnstile compared to the credibly documented misdeeds of the current members of the Executive Branch.
14
@Gines Pasamonte well he did once declare that "if she weren't my daughter....."
@Gines Pasamonte
Sigh! Unfortunately Caligula isn't a natural born American and is, unfortunately dead. Otherwise, he'd make a great Republican candidate for President in 2024.
Most definitely the allegations of the 13-year-old linked with Epstein who claims she was raped by Trump in 1994—
Needs to be further investigated, along with any other possible cases involving Trump and his buddy Epstein and underage girls.
22
Strippers on the golf course, trophy wife, military parades, porn stars, sexual harassment, Russian interference, incompetence, cheeseburgers, tax cuts fir billionaires...
And now Trump's started another trade war with France over Facebook, Google, and all the fly-by-night-for-free tech companies that exploit the system to rack up more billions.
Maybe start with trying to make some really good bread in America. Then, go from there...
12
Republicans can never again claim to be the party of “family values.” Nor can the holier-than-thou Evangelicals claim to be “Christians”! They are all as corrupt and depraved as Donald J Trump is!
32
Caligula Administration Indeed . . . In Ancient Rome while Caligula ruled, the notions of “Justice” much less “Democracy” and “Republic” and “Equality” and “Citizenship” hardly applied . . . it was all about SPQR (Senātus Populusque Rōmānus; "The Roman Senate and The People”) just as Mitch McConnell would have it today: “Senate Rules, People Lose”
11
Donald Trump only does "he best" vetting of his employees.
Garbage in, garbage out.
6
Yep. The White House is basically a rubbish bin installed in a revolving door.
Wasn't Bill Clinton also Epstein's buddy? I never remember Epstein flying Trump around Globe. Did you forget about Bill?
3
@Jim Barnes
I agree, get Bill too if and as warranted. No quarter.
This is NOT a political / partisan issue.
That said, Trump is a clearly and absolutely serial predator, there's just no question at this point-- and he needs to get called on it, via the courts.
16
@jazz one: Get real. Read the comments here. About 90% indicate readers who are gleefully licking their chops in the hopes that Epstein's scandals will somehow take down Trump, despite there being no evidence that Trump even socialized with him in any capacity over the last 17 years (unlike Bill Clinton and numerous other Democratic Party luminaries). Epstein was a major donor almost exclusively to Democrat candidates. Reading the comments here you'd think that Trump was his best and only friend. This is most certainly a political issue. Democrats just love waxing righteous about how crimes are not "political" when numerous of their own are likely involved.
Articles like this one, in simpler language, should be rained in leaflets all over the USA. In the NYT, they have no effect.
22
This is literal madness
Who of the NYTimes readers is good friends with multiple pedophiles? Or ANY?
Who is close acquaintances with myriad underworld crime figures?
Who has been sued more than 4,095 times in 3 decades for everything from cheating workers to racial discrimination to sex assault?
Who has been accused by dozens of women of rape?
Any of you?
If you have even one of those - you are a dirt-bag criminal
If those are just a highlight reel of your crimes and ethical lapses you belong locked up for life as a menace to society - not living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
27
Very typical N.Y. Times Opinion piece. You never miss a day bashing Trump! I think he has done a great job. You will be able to keep your opinion hacks busy for another 5 years trashing Trump. When the history books are written he will go down as one of our most significant, and best Presidents.
5
@lgh: significant, yes. Best, no.
Would that Acosta and all his former cabinet member brethren have accomplished as much of value as did Incitatus.
2
"The Caligula Administration Lives On."
I love you, Michelle!
6
urgh. now people are going to google caligula and watch clips of that awful pornographic movie.
They should try to find the series I, Claudius that ran decades ago on PBS. Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as Caligula. I used to get it on YouTube. If they want a more historical look at it. Or read the books by Robert Graves. As far as we know Trump didn’t rape his sister, and he hates animals but Mitch McConnell can stand in for the horse in the Senate.
"He never allows the public to cool off, never admits fault or wrongdoing, never concedes that there may be some good in his enemies, never leaves room for alternatives, never accepts blame, concentrates on one enemy at a time and blames them for everything that goes wrong, and if you repeat a lie frequently enough eventually people will believe it.". - Statement from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of the CIA, Report on the Psychological Profile of Adolf Hitler that was written in 1943.
27
Actually, Caligula is an apt comparison in a number of ways. For example, making Roy Moore a senator isn't that different from making a horse one. Well, a part of one, at least.
15
The President is a self-confessed sexual offender. How low the GOP and Christian right have sunk.
31
It’s really hard to overstate what a pig the president is.
37
And I believe that he will be elected again and this from a person who gets can't even look at him on TV.
His followers worship him, they will vote in mass. The Democrats are already forming the circular firing squad and I do not believe they will get off the couch to vote.
I hope I'm wrong but just look at the in fighting at the Democrat meeting is sad.
GET THE BUM OUT OF THE WIHITE HOUSE STUPID!
That should be #1,#2,#3 etc etc. BATTLE CRY!!
14
Gaius Caesar Germanicus Caligula
Was a brat from the royal famiglia
Who survived a family feud
Briefly to see his number called;
Caligula Caligula the Little Boot
We the Praetorian Guard have dirt;
Enjoy the ride until you're out.
3
This is Lauren Greenfield's Generation Wealth, and it is enough to make you sick enough to simply give up and just die.
1
Please do not confuse trying to survive under a cruel and despicable regime with growing numb. To keep a clear head and fight back one must focus on a key issue of concern to them - cruelty towards children and immigrants, misogyny as policy, embracing of environmental destruction, kicking people off health care roles and cheering as they die slow deaths, embracing Nazis - that's the GOP modus operandi and has been for years and you can't fight it all at once alone.
One must choose, focus, and drown out all else.
As for "Caligula" - as a professional Classicist and ancient historian, you do a disservice. The destruction and cruelty of which a modern president is capable - including destruction of the planet at a moment's notice at the hands of an unfocused unhinged tub of pig laetamen (a Latinism - look it up!) - is far greater than that of a Roman emperor. Even a Caligula, Nero, Commodus, or Elagabalus.
But in fairness, under Trump, the whiff of Neroism ever hoovers in the air like a miasma as he incessantly rubs the salt of his twitter feeds into an open wound on the republic inflicted by decades of GOP derangement and bad faith.
12
I have great idea! When this women groper, pathological liar, self proclaimed adulterer, bully, narcissist, and tax cheat should open his own charter school for children. I'm sure all Congress Republicans that support him will be happy to send their kids to the trump devoss charter schools coming soon in 2020. Or maybe trump will teach theology at Liberty University?
He can introduce your kids to all kinds of interesting white rich males that are in jail or soon will be. Including the head master.
9
"Acosta Resigned. The Caligula Administration Lives On.
The Epstein case is a reminder of the depraved milieu from which our president sprang."
I believe Acosta's story. I think was actually a distinguished public servant. The anti-Hispanic smear by the MSM is appalling.
3
The solution is for every decent person in American to shame and shun every Trump supporter they meet. Don't use their businesses, don't belong to the same organizations,don't go the same church, tell them to their face they are immoral, unethical and supportive of a criminal and a serial sexual abuser and rapist.
Time for people of character to take a stand.
23
The Caligula Administration? Really?
I did not vote for Trump. But the NYT's hyperbole is nudging me toward him in 2020.
3
#Liberty hound, When you with malice sign off on destroying the soul of babies and children it is an evil comparable to willful murder in my opinion.
1
If you can judge a man by the company he keeps, then Trump is a xenophobic, misogynistic, sexually deviant grifter. And it doesn’t say much for the 40 percent or so of the population who continue to support him. We have devolved from expecting our leaders to be the best and the brightest to accepting them being the worst and the dumbest. I have absolutely no faith that we can right this ship in the future. This is just not my country anymore.
9
You've got to wonder what dirt Epstein has and on whom. Will he talk?
9
Potus stood next to a man who protected and let go free an actual child rapist, and said the New York Times is the enemy of the people for reporting on it.
Also, thanks for the laughs when I saw the title. I think they are like the abusers in the movie Salo.
5
Since Caligula translates as "little boots", perhaps this can be the paulo caestus (little gloves) reign.
13
Under all that fake facial makeup, Donald J. Trump is a sick, amoral, human being, who happens to be our current President of the United States, and brings shame and disgrace to our country on a daily basis. But the excuse of his gullible red state base supporters, is that they already knew who he was, and voted him in anyway. Thus, they are equally to blame for the mess America currently finds itself in. Throw in Putin for good measure. He’s having a great laugh at our expense.
20
Lurking in the heartland, in the small towns in my neck of the woods, everywhere, in fact, are men like him. And now they are out openly carrying flags, wearing red hats, and slobbering over their king.
38
@Marilyn
Trump recognized their alienation and their rage over lost jobs and dreams. They want a return to financial future that used to follow them with only a high school diploma. Trump lies to them but his lies at least offer them hope. Racism, xenophobia and misogyny for White America are as American as apple pie. Trump unashamedly voices it and they enjoy the smackdowns of the liberal press and the meritocracy they see as holding them in contempt.
3
By not impeaching trump just reinforces that he is above the law. So don’t be surprised that he also gets away with sexual assault.
This has also set a standard that all the GOP have adopted lie!lie!lie!
10
As Acosta points out, child rape was quite fashionable in 2008, so how on earth could he have obtained a conviction, even if he had not worked out a plea deal to never prosecute Epstein or his myriad co-conspirators? I'm sure the plea deal included a commitment from the National Enquirer to never expose the sex trafficking of children, especially any connection to Trump, his "modeling agency" or his Mar A Lago. And, besides, there's a rich tradition of federal agencies running protection rackets for the world's worst criminals. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover denied the existence of organized crime, whose dons entertained him and his lover/assistant at their racetracks and resorts. Wasn't it the FBI that protected the murderer crime boss Whitey Bulger from any legal interference? Heck, the mafia and our law enforcement agencies and CIA go way back. I'm sure Epstein had some kind of "intelligence" role, as Acosta averred, that enabled his crimes against humanity.
4
Trump hires "only the best" as in only the best-smelling degenerate slobs who stink worse than a dumpster fire.
I think Trump insists on having a can of Diet Coke at the ready just so he can wash back down the bile that comes up during his meetings as a matter of routine.
5
Michele, I love ya girl, but get it right. It's the Combover Caligula.
6
My friends in Europe are beginning to detest America and Americans. Not Trump, because he’s just one person, but the almost half of them who clearly admire a lying, immoral, serial adulterer, including, absurdly the so called Christian Right and the evangelicals who ignore God’s teachings apparently - “thou shall not commit adultery” and think nothing is wrong with a pervert who grabs women by the crotch or commits rape. All supported by the equally low life senators and representatives in congress who twist themselves into pretzels to justify the venality. He’s reduced unemployment so it’s OK to be a lying pervert? Really? He cavorts with dictators but the stock market is up so it’s all OK? Really? I just booked a tour guide in Holland and the first question he asked me was if I was American. He said “Thank God”, and so did I. When I was younger living I’m my home country, England, we shuddered at the “ugly American” who loudly and arrogantly barged his way around with little regard for the country he was visiting or the people who lived there. Now he’s back in the form of Trump and his supporters. Loud mouthed, uneducated, belligerent, racist punks. That’s why Americans are disliked, and once again the sobriquet of the “Ugly American” has returned. I just ask he stays out of my country. We are all “socialists” here anyway so you wouldn’t be interested.
23
So not true about all of us. We detest those enabling him as much as anyone, probably more. We keep fighting back and need Michelle and the many other American writers and citizens to keep up this great work until we are rid of him. Apologies to the English Ambassador. Wish more of that would get leaked.
2
"The Caligula Administration." How cute of you, Michelle!
But just wait until more comes out about the Democrats who accepted donations from Epstein, a longtime, top donor to Democrats and the Clinton Foundation. Or, Democrats who flew with Epstein or visited his private island. Bill Clinton has already misled the public about his involvement with Epstein. Are you going to be as forthright in writing about that?
3
Maybe the writer is focusing on Trump rather than Clinton because Trump is the current president and Clinton is not.
2
But he is a baby Christian! Or Cyrus the Great.
4
Or Nebuchadnezzar with Pence playing the role of Daniel.
So Epstein, an old pedophile, will go down and nothing will touch Trump. Nothing will change. You just keep railing and nothing happens. Why can't you do anything more than repeat yourself? Why can you not harness the power of the 4th estate and make a difference?
1
Ouch! What a headline.
1
Until it's in the national conversation, I will repeatedly point attention to this 2016 rape lawsuit whose co-defendants were Jeffrey Epstein and... DONALD J. TRUMP! Suit "dismissed" 9/30/2016 (yes you read that well, just before the election), probably with juicy payments, gag orders and NDAs.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/316341058/Donald-Trump-Jeffrey-Epstein-Rape-Lawsuit-and-Affidavits
Read it for yourself, share it to your friends. And remember the the man whose behavior is described in detail there is the POTUS.
Hopefully Democrats will have the nerve to bring this up in debates, and force Trump's hand to address the issue on national television.
12
I really miss Barack and Michelle Obama.
35
Caligula? A little over the top maybe?
Nope. Not at all.
Caligula (you may recall) opened an immense brothel in his own palace. A den of ill repute in which he compelled his own sisters (and other eminent Roman women) to--um--"service the clients."
May I insert a quick digression?
"Service" people. To "service" the clients. The guy--the "john" comes in "to be serviced."
DETESTABLE PHRASE!
No mention of "intimacy" or "sharing" or "giving" or "love" or anything remotely connected with those glowing concepts.
I the guy TAKE. You the woman GIVE. End of story.
Oh gosh, Ms. Goldberg. Your piece is so depressing. But thanks. We had to hear this--and with much of it I was totally unfamiliar.
There's a painting by Rembrandt I saw somewhere years ago. (A reproduction, of course--not the original). It shows some horrific feast in the Old Testament--was it the Philistines rejoicing over Samson, now a captive and blind? Was it something else?
Scenes of mad revelry. People eating. People drinking. Watching dancing girls. Cymbals and tambourines. The works.
An old man (in the front row) half turning away, lifting both hands in an expression of horror--disgust--rejection. Said to be (perhaps) a self-portrait of the artist.
Let's ALL be that shocked old man in the front row--
--as we contempt Mr. Trump's ongoing bacchanal.
I pray God, come January, 2021--
--we be DONE with our own latter-day Caligula.
Permanently.
4
This is good, Michelle, but Trump doesn't know history so he may believe Caligula (or a caligula, whatever) is a good thing. Further, we know he doesn't read, so he won't even scan your article. Perhaps you could spell it out for him in the title stating something like: "Caligula - insane, sadistic, cruel, sexually perverted Roman Emperor, 37 to 41 AD, who came to a bad end."
5
What about Clinton's ties to Epstein. For that matter, Clinton's personal life has its unflattering moments, shall we say. Are you implying, Michelle, that only Republicans are such beasts.
If you need a place to dump some of the finest, including R. Kelly, who has long gotten away with his sordid behavior, try the Humboldt Park lagoon in Chicago. Join the as yet dumped and uncaught alligator swimming around. A few prized men will really liven things up.
1
Donald J. Trump is a shameless sexual predator; always was; this misogynous objectivization of women is a pattern Trump seems to take pleasure in, just another sign of his deep insecurities and being convinced his corrupted way is above the law; and that any credible witness against him can, and has been, 'bought' with money and/or threats of lawsuits. And yet, he was elected president! This may be his base's undoing, oblivious to his 'crimes', trying to balance Trump's abuses with some 'favor' he may be doing them, by insulting the News Media, immigrants, and certain elites his base may feel intolerant about, resentful even. Could it be that Trump is jealous of Playboy's founder, Hugh Heffner, a lascivious, possibly obscene guy, held in high esteem by some circles, and trying to emulate him, however vulgar and immoral? Given that Trump is a lost case, irredeemable at best, aside from his assault of the presidency with Putin's assistance, he must be ousted ASAP, and let him rot without the constant attention his ego demands.
3
The woman who told her story of being raped by Trump at 13, then withdrew after threats... Reinvestigate that.
Also if Clinton goes down, take him. Don't care.
Diff between Ds and Rs - if you find dirty on "our side" let them burn too. It's not about scoring political points, it's about justice for victims and removing rotten people from power.
10
Why is everyone always so hard on Caligula? Most of what we think we know about him was written 100 years after his death by authors whose motivations were similar to check-out line tabloid authors today--or those of big-city newspaper opinionists.
The stain this loathsome grifter is leaving on the country will take a long time to expunge.
6
How/WHY does the GOP continue their support of this disgraceful and horrible human being???
5
Apt headline.
1
What an incredibly ignorant headline. Caligula routinely tortured and executed people on a whim. To her credit, Goldberg doesn't mention the Roman dictator. Maybe Goldberg should complain about the clickbait headline she is being slimed with.
Suetonius describes the REAL Caligula:
"The Twelve Caesars" by Suetonius; translated by Robert Graves (Penguin, 2007).
.....and then there’s Melania......
5
Got me at the title! Lol
2
When these men aren't raping us, they're formulating laws to make dealing with the result of those rapes illegal. Face it: women are chattel in this country. Reparations for the present and future can be made right now with impeachment and arrests.
3
Thank (the inexistent) God for Michelle Goldberg !
1
Cortez, Omar and Tlaib are shockingly far worse than the worst president ever.
1
Love it, Ms. Goldberg. "The Caligula administration."
All one needs to do is listen to Trump's interviews (call-ins) on the Howard Stern show that reveal what a misogynist and sleazebag Trump is when it comes to women. He and Stern were two peas in a pod. I wouldn't even call Trump a pig. That's degrading to pigs.
9
Trump has openly bragged about grabbing women by their vaginas, otherwise known as sexual assault. Dozens of women have come forward and described in full detail allegations of sexual assault by Trump. In addition, Trump has a history of cheating during his three marriages, including having a sexual encounter with a porn actress, as his wife gave birth to their son. Let’s not forget the hush money payments Trump’s jailed lawyer has admitted to making on Trump’s behalf.
We won’t even touch on the the Trump Zero Tolerance, child abuse and family destruction policy at the border. I think Caligula would be shocked and amused by all the similarities with Trump.
5
One of Michelle Goldberg's best columns.
4
Let’s see...red hot economy, stock markets at all time highs, lowest unemployment rate for every demographic in decades, actual wage growth across all demographics, low interest rates, huge job creation, finally a reversal of the previous administration’s anti Israel ( and anti Semitic by definition) policies, taking on China over unfair trade practices and putting the hurt financially on China, actually engaging North Korea, breaking NAFTA and creating a meaningful and relevant new trade pact with Mexico and Canada, breaking the Iran nuclear deal, getting NATO countries to pay their proper share, knocking the heck out of ISIS, finally dealing with the border after decades of inaction, oh, and no corruption and no collusion. All with the anchor weight of the Democrats fighting him and blocking him at every turn.
You can call his administration Caligula-like but that just shows your ignorance of that reign. Just as bad and as ignorant as democratic candidates referring to border facilities as concentration camps.
1
54 RESIGNATIONS! 54 top administration have been filled and vacated. Another NYT column notes it at 75%. How hypocritical (what's new) of his cronies who sit on corporate boards and would never tolerate a CEO with this track record? ..... sickly, the man is teflon. He is surrounded by crooks, liars, sex offenders, thieves that HE SELECTED. He fixates "no collusion - no obstruction" because he is a master of the "wink and nod" Al Capone method of corruption. They know what he wants - he'll just never be on tape saying it. And, in this case and dozens of others - either the press is making it up or he blows it off with a chuckle and a lie. Yes. Inept. Incompetent. but insulated because the good old white boys (and a few women) are so afraid of a tweet.
6
The New (out of the closet) Republican Party: Misogynists and proud of it!
5
Most Republicans will not know to what Caligula refers. Sigh.
6
Over the years, polls have been taken of American views on various issues regarding the Constitution. In all those polls researchers were surprised that a large percentage of respondents opposed the concepts enumerated in the bill of rights.
With the support that Trump receives it confirms the fears of those researchers that many Americans prefer the rule of authoritarians if they impose their brand of cruelty not thinking at all of the possibility of that cruelty being turned against them.
13
As Americans, we have to come to grips with the fact that the kind of people that voted for trump... 4 out of 10 voters (approximately)...make up a very meaningful segment of the public.
Once we acknowledge that, where we go with it is anybody's guess. The future is very much up in the air.
6
Just more 'Trumporn' -- that is, news that inflames us to heights of rage and/or repugnance, leading to a savage, satisfying repudiation of that one guy in the White House, overwhelming the critical faculties. Repeat, several times a day, until retiring in exhaustion.
But just don't ask what it is that makes many millions of Americans think this is okay. No, it's not anything regrettable but rational, such as the appointment of Federalist Society-approved judges.
It's something far deeper and more frightening. Perhaps a subconscious wish to protect one's own loved ones from these guys by sacrificing other women to them. Maybe some men enjoy by proxy the power to simply subdue women instead of, say, making supplications to online dating services. Maybe its women who have invested on traditional gender roles, and want to blame others.
Whatever it is, we don't want to know. Trumporn will continue to take the heat.
8
Tragically, if it can be said without drawing a snicker, this is but the tip of the iceberg. A bipartisan iceberg, if you will, when one recalls that a former president walked the links with his golfing buddy, gabbing not about policy, but rather about that part of the female anatomy Mr. Trump boasted he could grab without consequences, in the infamous Access Hollywood tape. Meanwhile policy that exposes people to sexual exploitation and abuse goes on, in migrant detention facilities, in the military, in prisons, both public and private. So, cluck clucking about the depredations of people at the top of the heap both numbs and diverts us. And it doesn't help that alleged groping incidents from 35 years ago, or photos where a sleeping woman's torso may have been fondled, or not, or a nose too close to the back of a person's head, are trumpeted as virtual felonious assaults, to destroy reputations and careers.
5
Trump unrelenting assault is purposed to wear down, divide, desensitize and induce mind-numbing cynicism...... I am a big fan of Dr. Who. I remember Martha of Dr. Who, went around the globe to cities and hamlets to spread the stories of how people and civilizations were protected and saved by the Doctor. And on a certain day and at a set time the people of the world, rose with one voice to free the caged Doctor from his imprisonment by his arch nemesis, The Master....Its corny but the Dr.'s adventures always make me feel better. Our VOICES are pushing back the darkness. United we stand. 2020 - House, Senate and White House! Clean and rebuild so We can give have a future to give to all.
7
One should never expect Republicans to put our democracy and decency in front of partisan politics that benefit the very rich and powerful. Forget all the noise you hear about morals and religion, it is nothing but an afterthought.
18
"Trump has been only intermittently interested in distancing himself from that milieu. More often he has sought, whether through strategy or instinct, to normalize it."
As disturbing as his blatant friendliness with dictators. What a person has normalized tells a lot about them.
12
A rather hollow victory for the left as Trump will just replace him with someone more in tune with his deregulation agenda. Anyone from the business world who understands that Acosta is a 'sunk cost' and views the idea of replacing him with someone more in tune with Trump as being an opportunity rather than a penalty will do.
6
There in lies the problem. We are talking about the government, not business. Trump was under the radar as a businessman in NYC including doing things like inviting two dozen girls to a party at Mar a largo with just him and his pal Jeff Epstein.
This is not going away soon as Acosta is the tip of iceberg. The press loves a political sex scandal, it sells like no other.
1
It sells because the American people love it. Don’t blame the papers for trying to pay their bills.
1
Ms. Goldberg declares that we can't do anything about the spiraling, humanity-deadening outrage that projects daily from this endlessly execrable White House. Maybe the Democratic Party can't, but we can.
It might take until 2020 to happen. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle seems to be that same Democratic Party, so skilled and experienced at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
6
A comparison to Caligula? For sure. And one could be made to Nero, as well.
What we have is a rampaging demagogue whose malignant narcissism and authoritarian assault on truth won't come anywhere near being satisfied until, presumably at a giant MAGA rally along the way, he dons the mantle of dictator. Or, if the title suits his fancy, emperor.
Next year, there's a national election scheduled, but given the toxically divisive and increasingly deranged behavior of this president, it's not unrealistic to consider the prospect that, regardless of the official results that he would have no compunction about declaring illegitimate, he'll refuse to relinquish power.
And as commander in chief, with control of the military and surrounded by the likes of Javanka, right-wing ideologues, "unitary executive" extremists, second-rate "acting" officials and all manner of other sycophants, who's to stop him?
As the Trumpian lust for ever-increasing power continues to metastasize, it's a possibility that ought to be worrying us more than it apparently is. Time and again, he already has made his utter disrespect for the Constitution emphatically clear.
If we've learned nothing else so far, it's this: No matter how unconscionable it might be, Donald Trump is capable of anything.
13
The military swears to protect and defend the the Constitution of the United States, not the President. Adolph Hitler got the Wehrmacht, even those members not fully Nazi oriented, to swear allegiance to him personally, not the German republic. If a President decided to try and keep the office after losing an election, he would be in violation of the Constitution and would be incapable of issuing a legal order. The military is honor bound not to obey an illegal order. If any should follow his orders after that, civil war would probably the result.
3
He might try something like that but we the people will never allow it, plus he doesn’t have the capacity to pull it off, you give him too much credit.
Thank you for such a well written piece. Every day, this administration reaches a new low. I suspect that this Epstein/Acosta scandal has only just begun. Republicans need to wake up and Democrats need to move forward with impeachment proceedings.
8
A number of those two dozen women that were at the party with Trump and Epstein will be found and interviewed. It will be interesting to see how old they were.
10
This list must include Brett Kavanaugh. It is unbelievable the Supreme Court contains, not one, but two deprave and immoral men.
21
100% of those who voted Trump (at least all those that I met and asked) do not know that coal is not pure carbon. They think burning coal only results in CO2 which is a global greenhouse heating gas but they do not believe it is global heating is a threat.
None of them had ever heard of lead, mercury, nickel, cadmium, antimony, and arsenic, as well as radio isotopes of thorium and strontium resulting from burning coal. Coal burning damages fetuses and causes retardation and autism in children not vaxines.
No one who loves their children can ever vote for a degenerate coal lover is line that has made Trump voters very uncomfortable. Love for one's own children has proven greater than adulation for any pseudo-strongman out there.
11
It's an important point, that the effects of these atrocities are not cumulative, but rather numbing. It is awfully, awfully hard to maintain the appropriate level of outrage, though. It's exhausting and horrifying. We just want it all to not be true.
Please - can it not be true.
18
The old and the wealthy, Trump, Pelosi, and their ilk, need to be swept away. They stand in the way of progressivism and necessary change. The world is evolving so rapidly they have become obstacles to the advancement of mankind. Their way of thinking, their brand of politics, is the impediment to everything new.
The obstacle is the way, they both stand in opposition to change, and must both be overcome.
7
@Boethius
Please demonstrate your convictions by supporting BERNIE SANDERS and TULSI GABBARD the 2 most likely to lead our country forward
With due respect for all the decent Americans, I must say that, in general, my view of Americans has tanked since the election of Trump.
It is heartening to read these comments deploring Trump, but for each person wanting to see the back of him, there is another who wants his re-election.
If there aren't enough decent Americans to vote him out at the next election, then God help America and all nations that fall foul of her bullying and untrustworthiness.
68
I read your post with some sadness. I have many dear friends since boyhood who support Trump. We don't talk much anymore. When we grew up, politics was the furthest thing from our minds, now we can't transcend it.
7
I didn’t vote for him, but share your sentiment. Wish I could move to Australia because if Trump wins another term our country is doomed.
1
Australia is coming into the same picture. Murdoch and his lying papers are the precursor to Fox News. Try New Zealand, much better.
I must hand it to Trump -- and I am loath to hand anything to thugs: I never until this very minute imagined that it was possible to be astounding yet not surprising.
22
Trump has another marker (probably several) in the Epstein mess. That “Jane Doe” whose civil suit alleging that Trump raped her 13-year old self in Epstein’s apartment, and had a sworn eyewitness to the event? The suit was withdrawn after (her lawyer says) “Jane Doe” and her family were threatened. Right before the 2016 election. The NYTimes did not cover all this because (they said at the time) the accuser chose to remain anonymous. She fits the profile of other of Epstein’s young, poor, often homeless victims, and her affidavit sounds both horrible and credible.
63
@ Sheils Leavitt
I hadn’t noticed that the Times doesn’t cover stories when the accusers are anonymous. Four of the accusers of Al Franken were anonymous and they were covered extensively.
1
What is even more depressing than Trump’s revolting behavior against women is Pelosi’s refusal to begin impeaching him. She has become a craven moral coward, a Neville Chamberlain who will not do her duty.
27
@FilmMD - Amen.
9
Neville Chamberlain was right. Had WWII started at the time Chamberlain was prime minister Britain would have been defeated by the Nazis. The British military was overextended and overexposed all over the world. They weren't ready to start a war. They were lucky the Americans joined the war just in time. Pelosi is waiting for Trump to fall in a trap of his own making. This week he almost did by defying the supreme court's decision on the census citizenship question.
15
@FilmMD
Our dear multi-millionaire Nancy is at war with AOC, Ilhan Omar, and other progressives much more than she's at war with Trump and Mitch.
Kabuki theater, professional wrestling.
Nancy is the same kind of Democrat as those who crucified Henry Wallace, the progressive who should have taken over after FDR.
4
The passivity afforded Trump, an absolute horror of a human being, by my fellow Americans is beyond comprehension.
Factor in the embrace of him by evangelicals and one can only conclude that ours is a dysfunctional society that stands for nothing beyond self.
47
There have been ralies across the natikn today in protest of Trump and Trumpsters. Hope is alive.
Dis inviting the British ambassador after he was already invited because someone leaked secret documents issued by the ambassador that were unfavorable evaluations of Donald Trump is, of course, a very big blinking neon sign that shows just how insecure and incompetent MrTrump really is. This action by Trump simply underscored the Ambassador's evaluation of Trump as insecure and incompetent.
37
This will never end. we have to stand up to it, but we will only be witnesses to the end of the United States. there is too much ill will hatred and fear, and too little social cohesion. we are not coming back from this. i can say i saw it happen, and can declare from the top of my soap box that it is wrong, but it will do no good. the world as we knew it is ending, in the most depraved, evil, lurid, idiotic fashion possible. its been a great ride, loved the battles fought for truth and the Enlightenment, but the war is over, and we have lost. A long darkness is at hand. consider BRIC, brazil, russia, india, china. all ruled by autocrats. consider the islamic states. consider the philippines, much of africa, hungary, the right in europe. consider the rise of corporatism, the elimination of labor unions, the rise of data mining and the end of privacy. the world is becoming a giant prison, a PanOpticon of misery, where even those seeking their little corner of freedom will be further boxed in by their choices, like the Savage in Brave New World. the Kali Yuga must descend to the utmost depths. au revoir, bon voyage, bon chance, see you on the other side of eternity
22
Nothing’s really changed, I think you are paraphrasing W.B. Yeats from his poem The Second Coming published 100 years ago....
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Meh. We’ll survive the present, we always do.
There are life-threatening issues in this country that desperately need our attention without having to first mop up the slop that spills from the mind of our President. His behavior gives example to young males in their relationships with women, including license for assault. What a sick commentary on what should be regarded as leadership in our highest office. To all voting women, and the men who truly care about them – VOTE Donald Trump and his cadre of sycophants and abusers into oblivion – if not from outrage, then at least from fear for the safety of our children trying to grow up.
36
You forgot to mention the hyper-indignant Justice Kavanaugh who has joined Clarence Thomas (of Anita Hill fame) on the Supreme Court.
47
I would bet that 90% of the people who voted for trump have no idea who Caligula was.
79
@paplo
Cali what????
Those people don't know who Ronald Regan is?
are you serious?
I think the percentage is much higher that don’t know.
Fellow Romans got rid of him after four years at 28. He was quite the unfit and depraved man, I guess there’s no age limit for that.
"Maybe someday justice will come and a new generation will wonder how we tolerated behavior that was always right out in the open."
Ms. Goldberg, I they will all know the answer to when - "Someday" will be one minute after a Democratic president is elected. And we won't need a new generation, just today's supine Republicans who will suddenly discover puritanical backbones.
Proof? They are already railing against fiscal irresponsibility that they themselves caused with the 2017 tax law. Consistency is the hobgoblin of mediocre minds.
14
@John
"Some day" will not be "one minute after a Democratic president is elected" if that new president happens to be Joe Biden.
2
I hope that the Times and other news organizations are digging into all of Caligula's cabinet, we don't see enough about the "work" they are doing in our names.
13
“Maybe someday justice will come and a new generation will wonder how we tolerated behavior that was always right out in the open.”
Michelle Goldberg, you -are- the generation, you and others X,Y, Z? are taking the mantle from us Boomers.
Justice will come when you make it happen.
(Of course, getting someone to beat Mitch in Kentucky is a good first step :) )
25
There is a ready solution for all of Trump's misconduct and his tolerance of that of his underlings: It's called impeachment. Jail is too good for this bum but instead he leads a charmed life of crime. You can't make up this stuff.
12
I see Trump more as Nero than Caligula. Nero placed a huge, gold statue of himself in the forum. He blamed others (notably Christians) for his mistakes.
20
Michelle,
Sorry, but I disagree with the notion than Trump will lose out.
The worse Trump is, the more heroic he seems to his supporters!
No, I think we need a different way to move the nation forward.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you know the "Democracy" song of Leonard Cohen?
He sang: "Democracy is coming to the USA" (1992)
I hope that Democrats will focus on a new democracy wave, now.
The dangers of Trump may be pushing a new democratic wave.
(I hope the NYTimes will do a story on the "Democracy" song.)
9
A lot of time could be saved by listing Trumpistas who have NOT yet been identified as crooks or predators, especially since the list gets shorter and shorter.
57
"Instead, each one eclipses the last, creating a sense of weary cynicism that makes shock impossible to sustain." YES, that's it. I find myself just shrugging, even when my stomach churns. The alternative is to live in a near constant state of explosive frustration and anger. There seems to be NOTHING that will motivate the GOP to censure the repulsive and downright criminal behavior of this president. My own Republican representative continually grovels. Ugh!!
26
Trump and his gang are morals and intelligence tests for all who have supported and enabled Trump in his campaign to damage the United States as much as he can. Trump's behavior ceased being a political issue long ago, having clearly risen to the basic issues of common sense and human decency.
22
The group most responsible for Trump staying in power, the 53 Republican senators, should henceforth be known as the Yellow Fringe. Without them our national nightmare of fear hate and shame would be over
35
Consider that "the depraved milieu from which the president sprang" begins in Colonial history which enabled, and fostered, types of foreign-"victims"-migrants, from THERE to come HERE. Seed and sustain a WE-THEY culture of violating created, selected and targeted "the other." Over time and expanding places. Massacring the indigenous who had been HERE for at least 10,000 years. Puritans hanging Quakers as another example. Slaves from...
A milieu which also created types of democratic governments while coexisting with racism expressed in ranges of harms to life, limb, soul, and psyche of diverse peoples. Discrimination. Dehumanization. Exclusion. Carried out- complicity- as well as enabled- complacency- by ordinary people.
People who prayed to...
People who preyed on...
WE-THEY didn't begin with Trump the lying bully. Nor will it end when he and HIS are gone, unless many of US choose to begin to make a difference, which can make a sustainable difference for the equitable wellbeing of all of US.
A learning process which results in a lifetime MFA (Menschlichkeit for ALL).
Enabling the willfully blind to look and to SEE again.
The willfully deaf to pay attention, listen and hear again.
The willfully ignorant to engage with facts; not fiction and fantasies. To be open to necessary, critical, stimulating questions and not to settle for too-early closure-answers. Underpinned by alt-myths! To discern the difference between mantra-like knowing and created-understanding.
4
Now it is time for trump to resign.
17
He won't. We must force him out as well as Mitch
2
My 93 year-old aunt, a former northerner, school teacher, valedictorian of her high school graduating class, memory still a steel trap, living in Alabama and Fox World now for 40+ years, just told me a few weeks ago, "Trump was sent by God to save this country."
We are talking here about serious, insidious, malicious, unrelenting propaganda, perpetuating falsities for decades. It's working very well.
The worst thing that ever happened to mass media in this country was revocation of the Fairness Doctrine.
And in one of those incredible ironies of life, my aunt was dear friends with the amazing and wonderful Louise Slaughter (D-NY) when they were both young wives and mothers in Rochester, NY. Slaughter died last year before she could see her valiant efforts to revive the Fairness Doctrine bear fruit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
1485
@Jan
This is the worst horror story I've read in a long time. But I saw it happen to my own older family members as they aged and became dependet on Fox News.
They heard/read nothing every day except Fox. Local newspapers were bought up by oligarchs to kill them and/or make the papers right wing propaganda arms.
So older women like my sister and mother became brain washed Republicans. That's part of the vast right wing conspiracy against women's rights.
The biggest horror story I've read in memory is that white women over 50 voted by a big majority for Donald Trump in all the critical purple states. White women have been brainwashed to vote against their own interests.
384
@Jan
I couldn't agree more about the Fairness Doctrine. I've been saying it for years. Ever since it's demise and the rise of the cable industry, information in this country is a mess. In addition, I think the broadcast and cable networks should be required to give a certain level of free advertising space to the campaigns during election season so all voices get heard.
171
Ironically, Obama signed it away after Reagan in 2011!
Trump gave Evangelicals Jerusalem; now we know it was a pact with the Devil. And to think Mark Burnett, the inventor of Trump and “The Apprentice,” is a “Born Again Christian.”
58
That is a mind blowing list.
But what is even more mind blowing is that if you are a White Republican woman living in a rural area you absolutely adore the man. His approval numbers are off the charts with this group of voters.
So the next time you briefly tune in a Trump rally fix your eyes on the ecstasy these women display as the brute takes the stage.
Oh and don't even get me started on the Evangelicals.
49
Maybe it was better in the "good old days" when powerful men had some sense of shame or at least fear of exposure when they preyed on their victims. Now it's as if they pride themselves on what they get away with, and remarkable numbers of people (who probably think of themselves as respectable, even when they claim the appellation "Deplorable") admire and encourage them. Nobody wants to see our society become strict and Victorian, but the current situation is a swamp of permissiveness (for the rich, mostly). I've been wondering for a couple of years now why there's so much anxiety about fetuses in the "conservative" party, and so little self-restraint or sense of morality.
10
Every minute, when a Christian who originally voted for Trump doesn't "shake the dust off his or her sandals" by renouncing a their patently immoral original endorsement of this man's policies, an angel in heaven frowns.
Or in less spiritual language, Trump's presidency is a stain on the decency of a majority of Americans. Goodness will yet prevail!
16
Donald showed the world what he is on the Access Hollywood tape and the Republican party fell in line anyway. It's been downhill ever since.
25
We are not numb.
We are nauseated that the amoral, sexual predator Mr. Trump garnered enough supporters to become President.
Worse than Trump are his enablers. How nauseatingly easy it is for them to throw away their “values” because they think he can deliver what they want.
19
This is rich. The Caligula Administration was alive and well in the Clinton White House. Clinton redefined sex for millions of young Americans. And not in a good way. Acosta was determined to get Epstein on anything he could. He did his best. Keep slamming Trump. He'll be back in 2020.
6
Beliefs are not necessarily truths
and
Truths are not necessarily believed.
6
How has Epstein suddenly become a Trump associate? He was always Bill Clinton’s bff, donor to the Clinton Foundation and DNC. C’mon, folks...
8
@Skippy
Bill Clinton did not say, “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Apparently you’re confusing consensual sex between adults with child molesting. Welcome to Fox America.
2
Because he was also Trump's friend, Trump praised him publicly and referred jokingly to his penchant for "young" women and hosted him at his resort?
Clinton left office almost 20 years ago, Trump is the current President. Clinton was scuzzy, but he didn't make large payoffs to prostitutes, he wasn't accused of assault by over a dozen women, he wasn't quoted referring to how his order let him grab women by the p---y and he didn't routinely insult female leaders by attacking their appearance or making misogynistic remarks about them. I'm happy to condemn Clinton's behavior in the 90s and LBJ and JFK's in the 60s but we are concerned with now, when we no longer (most of us) are willing to turn a blind eye to sexual aggression and assault by the powerful.
4
@Skippy
Really? Suddenly?? Back to the late 90s, they’ve been buddies. Only ended when Epstein outsmarted Trump on a land deal. You really should do better research.
There’s enough connections to many powerful men. Let’s let the chips fall where they may as the prosecution presents their case.
1
My wife is an avid Times reader. I'm a conservative so, of course, I'm not. As I am a Caligula disciple it pains me to read what has happened to the dialogue. The defaming Trump supporters will go on (anything you can call Trump I stand with), but the only relief I can see is the total crushing of the left at the polls. Good luck with the primaries. Good luck keeping the citizen count from taking place and incorporating trillions of dollars in medical, academics and housing expenses by the middle class to pay for them.
7
Wonderful to hear a reasoned voice among all the extremists. Look forward to reading more of your insightful comments.
7
@Charles Segal
"I'm a conservative so, of course, I'm not."
And there it is - the most glaring problem with the American right - the utter desire to live their lives in their own echo-chambers. It is of little wonder that those that rely on mostly conservative news are the least informed Americans.
15
Sleeping with the enemy is a grave sin. My deepest sympathies for your wife to have to put up with you.
1
I subscribed to the NYT digital edition about the time Trump was elected. I like the mini crossword, the food section and the general news section. The Op-Ed is my favorite section. I know which side the NYT, its' writers and most subscribers are on.
I like MG's articles, because she is consistent. Today's premise is Acosta is connected Trump. Trump is connected to Epstein, by Acosta. Acosta was the US Attorney, when Epstein went to trial in 2008. Epstein is bad, Acosta gave him a sweetheart deal and Trump hired Acosta. (put 2008 facts here) Today's story also has the name of every "ne're do well" hired by the Trump campaign and administration.
And Epstein? This not about Epstein. This is how Trump is like Epstein and all of the people Trump hires are like Epstein. Great. We got it. The NYT and every other MSM outlet has been trying to take down Trump for the last 4 years. So far, he appears to be above your pay grade. Maybe next time we can get a story on Epstein and his escapades.
Earlier this week, Rush said, "They(MSM) don't care about Epstein. They want to get Trump. Epstein is just a tool." Now that Epstein is in the cooler, the victims will come forward. I think it could be in the hundreds. I hope Epstein spends the rest of his life in jail. And, I do not wish him a long life.1302
6
To clarify, Trump has been credibly accused of rape twice; most recently by E. Jean Carroll and by a 13 year old Jane Doe during the election. I haven’t found any reporting about why this case was dropped, but the timing raises questions, as does the alleged accomplice, Jeffrey Epstein. Just because the case was dropped, it doesn’t mean the accusation wasn’t credible. We just don’t know.
From the SDNY court documents:
“Defendant Trump initiated sexual contact with Plaintiff at four different parties. On the fourth and final sexual encounter with Defendant Trump, Defendant Trump tied Plaintiff to a bed, exposed himself to Plaintiff, and then proceeded to forcibly rape Plaintiff. During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but with no effect. Defendant Trump responded to Plaintiff’s pleas by violently striking Plaintiff in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted.”
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000158-26b6-dda3-afd8-b6fe46f40000
I’m hoping the times is re-examining this case right now, in the mean time I remain baffled that this guy continues to have the support of half the country.
12
Powerful, rich men protect each other. That’s the way it’s always been and still is.
8
It seems that a history of sexual predation is almost one of the necessary qualifications for men to be in this administration.
5
No, the President didn't say he felt "bad" for Acosta. He said he felt "very BADLY" for him. I am constantly amazed at the grammatical errors of this "smart" "stable genius".
2
Epstein reportedly had hundreds of pornographic photos of underage girls in his possession. The fact that some of the rape allegations are years old should not be a factor in nailing for kiddy porn. 30 years would be a good number for a sentence.
4
The stench surrounding Trump increases on a daily basis.
Nothing happens .
WHY ?
His behavior might represent and be acceptable to many millions of American citizens .
They put him in office to represent them.
What a shameful and deeply troubling situation.
14
Acosta's resignation will not improve Labor Dept. policy, particularly on trafficking, nor clarify what the public needs to know about how Epstein's case was handled in Florida.
The best evidence Acosta was not intimidated by Epstein's "too formidable" defense team, as Acosta claims? Acosta's own successful record as US Attorney in South Florida against formidable defendants:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Acosta#U.S._Attorney_for_Southern_District_of_Florida
What about Epstein could have been more challenging, even dangerous, for Acosta, than taking on the Cali Cartel? Who could have been better "lawyered" than Swiss Bank UBS, who Acosta convicted and fined $780 million?
The Epstein prosecution couldn't present any challenge that Acosta had not successfully pursued as US Attorney.
On the Epstein case, someone made Acosta an offer he wouldn't refuse. Acosta's decision to not prosecute Epstein had nothing to do with how difficult it would have been to prosecute and convict Epstein. Acosta could only have declined to prosecute Epstein in return for something.
We need to know what Acosta got, and who gave it to Acosta. We further need to push to protect real victims, to protect children.
4
I am a selfish Canadian who is tired of an America that gave ample reason to discard American leadership 40 years ago.
America does not work. We may already be in the end times of our civilization and America does not work.
America governance is simply disgusting and nobody can tell me what victory looks like but that is understandable because Red and Blue hate each other and believe in two complete countries.
There is only one country that believes in winning and losing when the entire planet will be destroyed in the search for a Pyrrhic victory.
4
And let’s NOT forget that one of Trump’s ex wives, Ivanna, to be specific, accused Trump of raping her during their divorce..,
4
I don't know about the rests of you but I have zero faith in this government. ZERO.
9
@NewsReaper
Faith is not a word, you can put near to this white house.
Information regarding an allegation is made far more likely if the print media assigns reporters to the story. I would be interested in comparing the number of reporters that the Times assigned to the Lewinsky case, or for that matter to the issue of Hilary Clinton's emails, to the cases that you have sited above. Or let us just narrow down the question to the E. Jean Carroll case that you mentioned. This is a sound allegation, concerning the president himself rather than one of his associates or the member of his administration, regarding not a conscensual affair but a serious crime of violence. How many reporters did the Times assign to the case? You note that it dropped from the headlines in a few days, why the passive voice? What you should really say is this paper dropped it from the headlines in a few days. Imagine if Michelle and every other woman at the Times were to go on strike until an appropriate number of reporters were to be assigned to this case.
2
Here's hoping the next secretary of labor works to abolish the NLRA.
1
@DavidLibraryFan
You can’t abolish a law. You have to repeal it. Functionally illiterate, are we?
Future generations will look back upon on us in this age of “Make America Hate and Then...” as the “The Age of the Grifters”- known for corruption, swindling, and Kakistocracy.
All involved should be held accountable.
3
Michelle,
I always write to correct you. But not this time. You are so right.
3
But can someone explain to me how such blatantly illegal and immoral behavior isn’t prosecuted at all and generates no widespread call for resignation or empeachment. He is literally above the law. Shocking.
4
@Bruno time is out for shock and awe. Put it on auto pilot and lets repeat together to friends and casual observers, "Trump has got to go!"
1
In this administration, misogyny is not a bug; it is a feature.
Shame on any woman who supports this. And shame on any man who does as well.
7