I hope NYTimes writers like Mr. Blow will write more frankly about what Donald Trump is: a racist Right Wing Supremacist populist. That bucket of descriptive phrases doesn't contain many presidential candidates from the past thirty years, fortunately. But they describe Donald Trump, if any thing, somewhat timidly.
Unfortunately, America media, especially the most reverred media in the nation including the Washington Post and the New York Times - and CNN and MSNBC on TV and the internet, have failed to call Mr. Trump out for the monstrous demogogue that he is. You refer to him almost entirely with euphemisms.
Why is that? Why can't you describe Trump frankly?
Many Americans don't really know what he is. You need to do a better job of telling them without mincing your words to be "proper" for a major newspaper:
RACIST, FAR RIGHT-WING WHITE SUPREMACIST who wants to turn his Presidency into a lifetime appointment.
21
Charles, it is hard to believe that with all the investigative journalism skills and resources that the NYT has that it could not ‘expose’ the fact that the “Merchants of Death” (who hide behind the cover term ‘Defense Contractors’) are actually the largest funding source and real political power behind the NRA.
This seemingly under-investigated and ‘conspiracy-theory sounding’ factor blocking any serious understanding of how the thousands of times larger and incalculably more profitable ‘Defense Contractors’ (one of whom poses as just a friendly jet airliner maker, despite walking a questionable line on its dangerously mis-engineered new plane, which somehow escaped any FAA safety review) are, or are not, secretly funding the nearly bankrupted NRA — simply because the NRA had produced the deceitful and ‘fear inducing’ marketing message “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a (bigger) gun” — which happens to serve both the tiny small-arms companies and the ”Huuuuuge” (as Bernie would say) global corporations that produce 70% of the “really Big Money” (as Senator Bulworth said) ‘Merchants of Death’ (as Bertrand Russell said).
3
Charles, us down in the gutter certainly was not helped by your initial enormous push towards it nearly three years ago after he won election and when you became a vigilante and vowed that Trump would never escape your vengeful glare and judgement for one second, after which you described him and everything he did as “stupid” or “ignorant” sentence after sentence from then on. Whatever emotional duress he’s brought you, you have yourself to thank for. You’ll forgive me if I don’t appreciate it like you do.
Yup, and this gutter really stinks. It's filled with Trump's "good men"; all thieves and grifters who couldn't govern a Bloy Scout Troop let alone a country.
We are capable of climbing out of this rat-infested swamp but the damage that Trump & Co. has done will take a decade or more to correct, if we can. Our allies will no longer trust us, our geopolitical rivals are chomping away at what spheres of influence we used to have, our country is divided by Trump-promoted racism and hatred at every level and The Cabal is richer than ever, having stolen Trillions from our Treasury with their "tax cut" for the rich. THEY are happy now but these old white men and corrupt women will be dead soon enough and our children will be left with the un-payable debt they have left them.
That is the consequence of casually misusing one's freedom; freedom for which few have fought and most just take for granted. Do this again and YOU will have no freedom, or retirement, or education, or medical care or anything but angry white criminals robbing you blind.
7
Fight back. We're with you. All decent people are.
13
Yes, and the democrats better get in the gutter with trump's targets and slug it out! They better open their eyes and get ready to get down and dirty. And then do it!
3
More Identity Politics from the left huh? That worked so well for you in 2016 so please do go all in in 2020 for the same wonderful results.
1
Other countries have it worse: they had ethnic cleansing in Somalia, Sudan, Myanmar, and others. We are still doing pretty good here in the USA!
1
This country has been separating black and brown people from their children for centuries. We must put a stop to this awful practice once and for all. Enough!
6
So slanted. African American support for Trump, as all support, is growing. You yourselves have an article about it. Yet you act like everyone feels what you're describing. Those that met with him loved it. I personally despise the man, but that's been since the 80s. He was always trash, but a huge swath of this country loves him. Don't they get a voice? Why aren't there daily articles examining his appeal? Talk to his supporters, new ones, old ones, really do some journalism on this. Or does that not fit your pre-determined narrative? People may still not like him, but they're on to your bias. You're losing public trust by leaps and bounds. That's a much bigger threat than a temporary figurehead. IMHO.
2
America needs to understand that there is a growing white power terrorist movement with a goal of destroying US society in order to replace it with a white ethnostate without Jews. Trump's rhetoric on immigration aligns closely with views of these white power terrorists on immigration. We need a president to lead the federal government against these white power terrorists who seem determined to increase the level of violence until the United States collapses.
7
Probably the least surprised people by any of these behaviors are the many people who are either NYC residents or people who spent a lot of time there when Trump was beginning to make his mark in real estate. Most could foresee how irresponsible he would be and what would happen if he ever ended up in any high public office. After flirting with running for office for decades, when he finally did run they voted overwhelming against him. To the original Trump skeptics amazement and disgust, the rest of the country was undiscerning enough that they bought the concocted image he spun right up to the time of his reality show. Many of his supporters still can't admit that regardless of what sort of pliable convictions they bought into, that Trump hasn't done anything for them and has pandered to the worst elements in our society. To sum up, people from NYC knew a enough to not be taken in by the three card monte game that Trump was running and are the least surprised that things turned out as they thought.
8
Has Trump not targeted more than half of American voters?
4
Yes Charles, you are completely right. I like to add only one note to what you wrote: the worst of all are those institutions that support/ed him, that help/ed him become the president of racial hate and discrimination, and on top of those institutions are those churches that hypocritically preach for Jesus and still go to Africa and other country to convert other people to their religion of hate. Very few people have the courage to denounce these churches for what they are, a money chasing organizations with political ambitions, probably for fear of being judged as anti-religious.
6
Every picture of the stage-hogging "President" proclaiming victory at the sites of slaughtered Americans shows blood on his hands. Every sentence spoken in praise of himself over their bodies is obscenely sickening. If the worst thing that can happen to him is many more people will vote against him than for him again, let's make sure that comes true. Never let a day go with evil standing unopposed.
8
I just read an editorial cartoon today featuring actual words used by the "sainted" Reagan today in a conversation with Nixon. I would rather know the perpetrator by his words than be blindsided by his actions. Fight on.
1
"Dear America: You are waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that 1/3 of your people would kill another 1/3, while 1/3 watches," as Werner Twertzog put it.
Trump is an abomination, and he needs to go, the sooner the better. But even after he's gone, can we ever live together in peace?
I've lost several friends as a result of this presidency. I simply cannot see how you can support Trump and his policies and still be a good person. But the bottom line is: if you support racism, you're a racist, and I don't want to spend time with you.
(Mind you, this never happened during the Reagan years, or either of the Bush administrations. I disagreed with most of those presidents' positions and policies, but never doubted that they and their followers were decent human beings who cared about the country and wanted to do the right thing. Trump is different. This isn't conservatism or Republicanism, it's just racism and white nationalism.)
As disturbing as Trump's statements and behavior has been, it's at least equally troubling that somewhere around two in five Americans approve. We can and must oust Trump. But his supporters will still be there.
7
America has regressed to a Lord of the Flies, barbaric sensibility. The daily tolerance of cruelty disguised as toughness, & white supremacy mind set disguised as privleged strength is way beyond shocking. The children whose parents were rounded up by ICE to be abandoned at school or to come home alone to an empty house is unconceivable. The anti - intellectualism being treated as pure grit and genuine spirit is wretched. The excesses are now apocalyptic. The political wrong doings are symbolized by the burning up earth & contaminated environment .It is more than times for our citizenry to take to the streets like Puerto Rico.
10
Trump has national support and the support of the Republican Party, which cleared and plowed the political field for him beginning with the racist tinged presidential campaigns of Nixon (“Southern Strategy”), Reagan ("I believe in states' rights", welfare queens driving Cadillacs) and Bush I (Willie Horton). Since 1968 the underlying principal of national Republican politics has been race baiting.
Trump is the just the latest, and most viral, extension and expression of the Republican Party’s modus operandi of the last 50+ years.
8
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me." Pastor Martin Niemoller
A very powerful and timely reminder that, whether we are a member of a "targeted" group or not. we must ALL speak out. History CAN repeat itself!
8
Charles, I recognize and sympathize with your anxiety. I hope you know that a whole lot of us who have a choice are not taking Trump's racist tactics lightly. Those of us who value freedoms, equal rights, rule of law, people of all color and persuasions see very well what is going on and will stand with you through thick and thin. No decent people hope for regression and the vile open ended hatred that comes with it. Together we will force this destabilizing enigma back into the dark empty void where it belongs.
4
Thank you, Charles. You have said it all and said it best.
6
Thank you Mr. Blow. Your narrative underscores the unbelievable pain that this man has brought upon our country.
4
The signals that trump is and has been sending to the entire Latino community is "Go away, you are not welcome here." And to his followers "These people are the cause of all of your problems, fear them, they are out to replace you, they are rapists, monsters".
Trumps strategy reminds me of the episode on the Twilight Zone called "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". Neighbors turn on neighbors in a rush to brand the other the source of a neighborhood power blackout. They feed on their own irrational fears and finally in true American style get a gun and shoot an innocent neighbor imagining him to be a "monster" and the cause of all of their problems. All the while it was a scenario set by some space aliens manipulating the power grid to see how we would react in crisis. Would be pull together to address the problems and protect each other? They left knowing that they would hardly have to lift a finger in an invasion. They only needed to create fear, Americans would self destruct..
5
It happens I am a white female American. For perhaps the first time in my life, I am ashamed of my skin color. Can we please get past all of this hateful rhetoric? My ancestors came here because they were starving from a famine. We are human beings above all. This has got to stop. A very few powerful and greedy individuals are holding this country hostage. We need to get back to our values and speak out against this hateful bigotry which is like a cancer in our great nation. Lately I feel actually sickened by what is going on. Please, please, please, please stop, stop, stop the violence and racism.
5
I nominate Trump as hate monger in chief. In government I served under four presidents (two Republicans and two Democrats). For me their political party didn't matter--they were the American president. During the false 'communist' accusations of Joseph McCarthy, I fought back and, after Stalin's death, organized a student group to visit the Soviet Union, under close FBI scrutiny. I later learned that Republican leaders, aware that McCarthy was a brazen liar, supported him as their best chance to get a Republican elected president.
Trump has far surpassed McCarthy and George Wallace in his
attacks against Americans and 'foreigners.' African Americans, Latinos, women, some Jews, Africans, non-whites, persons with disabilities, people with sexual differences, and urban communities--Trump's staccato attacks spare virtually no one who isn't white, and even there he favored a certain class of whites.
I was a history professor for 22 years. There is no American president (Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt were among presidents who said and did some hateful things) that comes within a country mile of Trump's hate mongering. Thus, I select Trump as America's historic #1 hate monger, whose full throated divisiveness is the opposite of the credo of our first Republican president--Abraham Lincoln.
Some prominent Republicans spoke out against McCarthy's
despicable tactics. No prominent Republicans seem willing to
call out Trump's disgusting bleats. For me that makes them complicit..
9
Speak for yourself, Charlie. Did the Mets win today?
1
No, he didn’t drag anyone into the gutter. If you are in the gutter it’s your own doing and your own fault. There are a lot more decent, objective people that you can possibly imagine.
There is one inaccuracy in this report. Trump has not only targeted Mexican, but all Hispanics, and none feel safe.
3
I don't even live there but every day that this crippled inside leader of your country emits his poison is a day less worthwhile for humanity at large. How America could have come to this I do not know. You have to get rid of him in 15 months time. Life without him as your leader can only be an improvement for all of wherever we live in the world.
5
Why are journalists (and especially ICE) ignoring the complicity of the owners of those processing plants who are employing these "illegal criminals"? That is the dilemma. We need immigrants to work in agriculture, construction, medical care,and other jobs because employers do not want to pay a living wage. This latest roundup in MS apprehended people who have been working in the vice grip of American companies for decades.
3
2020 will not only be a battle for the soul of America, but also a war to take back our democracy from Russian and other foreign influence. Rarely has this country faced such a defining moment as this next election will prove to be. Vote like your life depended on it; for it just might.
25
@Bob It does, its being made very clear in read between the lines fashion that the GOP should they get a unified government again in DC will abolish the social safety net in its entirety including SS & Medicare. Sen. Graham comes out today saying if the GOP takes the government again he guarantees the ACA will be wiped away......
5
Thank you to Charles Blow for columns that tell the truth, even when the truth hurts, and inspire us to demand a better America. Keep those columns coming. I email my elected members of Congress more than ever, and now I'm emailing Mitch McConnell because he enables the nightmare that is Trump. He probably won't read my messages, but his aides will tell him if a flood of emails enter his contact mailbox. So, email McConnell and all Republican members of Congress and express your anger and indignation. Make your demands known. And of course, vote vote vote.
20
Trump hasn't dragged the country down, through his rhetoric, actions, and his support, he has exposed the underbelly of the America that always existed but that we tried to ignore or whitewash over.
1619-1865 Slavery
1865-1964 Segregation
1964-2019 Incarceration
The naming and methods have changed but the inequality, prejudice, and hatred still remain.
19
In reading some of the comments of today's column Mr. Blow I especially relate to the 75 year old white woman, Tara from Albuquerque. I am a 76 year old white woman and your column today brings tears to my eyes also. Many of us are so tired and sad at what we have lost and how diminished we are by Donald Trump. However we can only imagine how disheartened you must be as a black person. No No No he does not represent me but here I sit with only one vote. I have found your words so sincere and hope you can keep up the good fight as you have a voice and so many of us do not. Thank you for your eloquent writing.
36
I feel like I live in a different country from most of those commenting on this thread. I live in a small town in Virginia. Everyone treats each other with respect. When someone takes a hard knock, everyone rallies to help. I know of no one who treats another person differently b/c of their skin color or their religious beliefs. I guess it's hard for me to imagine that our country is as bad as you all make it out to be. Katherine Franklin from Butler, Md. says she is surrounded by hatred, racism and distrust (really?) and that she wakes every morning worrying about what new indecencies will be inflicted on people of color. That's really sad. People give Trump way, way too much power over their thoughts and emotions. And they let the msm whip them in to a frenzy of negative thoughts. We are LUCKY to live in this great country. Yes, we have problems but solving them starts with each of us. If you are surrounded by "hatred, racism and distrust" maybe you should look within. I can't believe you can't find some kindness somewhere around you. And seriously - if you are ashamed of your country, you really should do some extensive reading and research on what life is like around the world. The problem is that people who live in the US have nothing to compare their lives with bc they have always lived with prosperity and human rights. If you want to defeat Trump, reach out to others with acceptance and love. I'll bet you get some in return.
31
@Sunny I am glad that you live in a lovely, caring town, but I think you should do some of the extensive reading and research that you have recommended to others. Doing such research myself, I have learned that the American history I was taught in school was almost entirely wrong. I have learned for instance, that Native American women disappear in horrific numbers, and no government body has yet to take the problem seriously. I daresay I love my country as much as you do, but no problems have yet been solved by pretending they don't exist.
113
@Sunny
I am fortunate to live in a nice neighborhood where very little crime exist and most people are kind and respectful toward others. But so what, I know there are many who have a different experience and understand their desires to be treated with respect.
83
@Sunny
The U.S.A. Is wonderful and we are lucky to live here, yes. That does not mean we should be content with our failings or close our minds to those who speak of them.
Speaking as a middle age, middle class white woman, I know minorities are often treated poorly. I feel comfortable saying I “know” this because after roughly 20 years working in cities, I took a job in my small midwestern town. It is a town filled with very nice, good people. To my surprise many of those same nice, good people express hated, racism, and distrust of the relatively few non-white, non-Christian residents. I was/am amazed that these mindsets still exist. And I am still working on understanding how otherwise wonderful people can harbor - and increasingly act on - those feelings.
And I absolutely agree that we should all reach out to acceptance and love! That would solve so many problems.
70
"Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out."
Wasn't it Andrew Gillum, mayor of Talahassee and gubenatorial candidate, who mentioned wrestling with a pig? "You both get dirty, and the pig likes it." Gotta love that Southern humor.
But the larger point: Mr. Blow's comment about racism's targets being impacted much more directly than others, for whom the fight is voluntary. Yes, "others'" empathy is a student exercise compared to the daily toll on yourselves. But we the privileged must be grateful for that empathy, because the society we want depends on it. Poverty, homelessness, illness, and ignorance are other conditions that won't be ameliorated unless the greater part of people who care are solvent, healthy, and decently educated. "I've got mine; you get yours" is no responsible society's motto. Most European countries have figured that out. We know it too, even if 40% of us have been distracted by fear and caricature. The culture we want is everyone's fight, and that fight is pretty much mandatory.
8
Trumps World is not my World, and I believe is not yours either. He’s incapable to be a leader, he’s incapable to bring the country together in difficult times, He’s incapable to learn or concentrate in important issues , He’s disrespectful to everyone , and everything he does , obviously he needs to be the first one. Republicans are doing everything to please him, and all important policies are being ignored. Everything Obama did for the public commonwealth, this administration destroyed it, or changed . Many good policies is immediately blocked by Mitch McConnell . Since last week, the domestic terrorism tragically left so many civilians dead, and the news is all day , obviously Trump doesn’t like and his mental illness shows very well his dirt mouth against the media and democrats . He never stop the insults. I believe we have a gift in our hands about Guns control and NRA also against republicans that get money from them. Democrats can create a smart strategy to use against Trump . Also d
we need to convince voters to come out and Vote blue. Trump, Mitch McConnell and all republicans need to go.
7
By remaining silent, the rest of the GOP has clearly hitched itself to Trump’s star. But stars implode, and that is certainly where Trump finds himself, as do his GOP enablers.
15
1. Impeachment must go forward. Potential consequences should not matter.
2. Can we get Dems to move to battleground states? I did it in 2004. I was so disgusted with Bush's invasion of Iraq and I thought I could help Kerry get elected so I "moved" from NJ to my cousin's house in PA three months prior to the election and I voted in PA. I did it legally. I moved enough stuff to an empty bedroom in my cousin's house and lived there the majority of the time before the election. Fortunately I could easily commute to my job in NJ from my cousin's house. In the end, it didn't matter of course, but I tried. I am seriously thinking of moving to a battleground state if I can swing it and if I think it will make a difference. We all need to start thinking about this.
10
@Sirlar: The fact that it matters where we live in presidential elections is one of the most unfair and divisive features of the US political system.
2
While nothing compares to innocents being gunned down in cold blood, what Trump, the Republicans, and their followers are doing is vastly worse. They are destroying the respect and value placed on learning and culture. And, incidentally, people of learning and culture are much more likely to value immigrants and minorities. Untold millions of people in this country worked hard and studied hard to advance their positions and the well-being of their families. I would argue that all of them (us) are being disrespected and devalued...with likely horrific consequences. The corruption, inefficiency, high-turnover rate, and lack of knowledge in this administration reveals such consequences in a microcosm. Trump's appointees are not intellectuals, or even very accomplished at much of anything...many were born into wealth. Will we see this soon everywhere...are we already seeing it? It's not just that accomplishment and intellect are devalued, but lack of these traits are actually being elevated in the public discourse.
12
I agree the country has been dragged somewhere, but feel the gutter is what is becoming of the country. The country isn't what I expected, back when I was a child of the 1960s.
I visualized gleaming cities, happy educated people, amazing science, flying cars, truly everything the most optimistic could expect for fifty years hence in a country which could land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth.
Instead I find us in turmoil. A degenerate leads the nation and his followers proudly cheer him on. It's like that ugly chapter in the early 20th century where we were lead into some Eugenics exercise, which sterilized 60,000 American citizens against their will. Oh, yes we most certainly did. Where was the horror and outrage then? A man made up and cherry-picked information to depict what a grand future the country would have if it could rid itself of undesirable genetics. Adolf Hitler was an avid follower and wished to pin a medal on this man's chest. The man would eventually brutally rape a girl from from a supporter's family and gradually everyone who supported this despicable school of thought quietly walked back, "not me, it wasn't me, I didn't enable it," yet millions would be slaughtered around the world and tens of thousands of Americans would remain sterilized. Ironically the most visible surviving remainders of this era are beauty pageants - to highlight good genes, comely looks, shallow words of goodwill.
What will this era leave us?
11
Trump is, to a large extent, who his supporters wish they could be. They applaud his irresponsible selfish behavior and cheer his disgusting tantrums and foul mouth. Trump does everything their authoritarian parents would not let them do growing up. His supporters cannot separate their own internal rebellion from the behavior of their childlike hero man and that is why they fiercely defend him.
14
Trump says he has been attacked unfairly by political opponents, but does he remember that 22 in El Paso and 9 are dead in Ohio as well as those dead in Virginia, Florida, Connecticut and so many other places? These are real attacks not words and if he cared he would have done something about these real attacks through legislative and executive action. Instead he waits for the beginning of his reelection bid to claim how sorry we should feel about his being 'attacked'. I am sick and tired of this man who has not an ounce of compassion for those who are actually suffering.
17
Trump is the long awaited sibling of racism. He has given the absolution to all those souls – at last they can be free to speak and do as they please.
The shootings are the inevitable results of that long confined, repressed sentiment.
15
Which possibility is worse? That Trump knows exactly what he is saying, and what the consequences are? Or that Trump actually has no idea what he is saying, and thus has no idea of what the consequences are?
The nightmare answer: It doesn't matter which possibility identifies the actual Trump. Both are equally horrifying and catastrophic.
21
I live in Germany, a country once lost to a dehumanizing, fascist dictatorship that led to the horrors of WWII and its dreadful atrocities. Are Republican voters and their representatives oblivious to this history? Do they not realize where discrimination, scapegoating and sowing hatred towards minorities can lead? Has Pence or McConnell ever visited a concentration camp memorial site, something mandatory for secondary school pupils here? Trump surely must have, as his grandfather is originally from Kallstadt and it is unlikely that someone with his roots and genius would not. Thanks in large part to the US intervention and leadership, Germany today is a bastion for human rights and equality amongst all who live, visit or flee here. For the sake of the world, get it together America and rid yourselves of these White House scoundrels.
257
@Mhawk
Political Leaders are supposed to represent their own citizens first. No one elected to Office here, or in Germany, was elected to be a President or Chancellor for citizens of other nations, no matter how destitute or poor they might be. Nothing Trump, Pence or McConnell has done is discrimination, scapegoating or sowing hatred. It is merely trying to put the interests and welfare of the American citizen above the interest and welfare of The Other. One political party has turned their backs on the blue collar workers and as a result has lost their vote, so now they are desperate to replace their lost voters with brand new shiny voters from other places. Doing anything, or even doing everything within the limits of the law to put a stop is Moral because it protects the welfare and interests of the people who these officials were elected to serve.
3
@Mhawk
There are those who are oblivious, and then there are those for whom this is part of the plan. I won't presume to say who is in which category, but one can draw one's own inferences. Milton Mayer's "They Thought They Were Free - The Germans, 1933-1945" is an instructive book on exactly this subject. The parallels with current events are too stunning to ignore: the scapegoating, the yearning for an "anti-politician", the denigration of knowledge, and the inexorable, incremental creep of evil. As you imply, we ignore history at our peril.
29
@GregP, the Democratic Party is the only party who has done anything for blue collars workers over the last 50 years as the GOP has eroded labor protections and sought to make sure they have no health care. Meanwhile. Trump tells women of color who are citizens (3 of whom were born here) to "go back to their countries". Trump has hurt the people of this country by ignoring climate change, raising the annual deficits to channel more money to the wealthy and to mess up the immigration system. Under Obama we reached a 40-year low in illegal crossings. It will take decades to recover from the Trump presidency and, by the way, manufacturing job creation has slowed this last quarter.
30
If our reality is anything like the Twilight Zone, Trump will be reborn as una hija de un campesino, the daughter of a peasant, a young girl traveling with her father in hopes of crossing the Rio Grande and finding work. Once she sets foot in Texas, the young girl 4 or 5 years of age, will be separated from her weeping father and mother and isolated in a cage where she will remain, underfed and unwashed with no visitors, left in limbo as a raving lunatic in Washington calls her parents "rapists," "murderers," and "invaders." Will she ever see her parents again? Only if the voters decide she will by removing the White Tyrant in the White House.
15
Sure, and Elizabeth Warren's calling the president a "white supremacist" is an act of great courage and morality?
4
You described it perfectly
4
She answered a question, actually.
Without, one might add, ducking the question, attacking the reporter, or whining about how picked-on she was.
2
@AACNY Warren is disgusting. She is an extreme leftist wacko. I think that most Americans are sick and tired of identity politics and the terms white supremacy, white nationalism, white privilege. And also racism, racism, racism ad nauseum. The name-calling and the attacks on our president every day of the week by the MSM will result in a landslide for Trump in 2020.
2
It's like the old saying about mudwrestling with a pig: you get dirty and the pig likes it.
7
We were already in the gutter. that is the only place from which tramp could be elected.
The advent of a black president drove the deeply racist GOP and their serfs crazy.
What you see is the result of 40 years of racism in the GOP starting with Reagans first campaign stop In Philadelphia MS talking states right - what he meant was - we would have fought for the slavers not against them
10
Just when it looked as though the United States was getting beyond the Era of the Ugly American, we turn around and elect him President. Have we no shame.
16
Yes, a large portion of the country approves of his job performance.
If the poll numbers are to be believed, roughly 150 million Americans.
Let that distressing fact sink in a moment.
15
While you are at it you should mention Bush's needless foreign wars. Compared to Bush (so far), Trump is an Angel. There was hardly any talk of impeaching Bush (Kucinich). While Trump is no good, we have had far worse. Evidently for the Press words are far more important than deeds.
1
Unfortunately, Mr. Blow, too many Americans don't have to be dragged into the gutter. Those Americans all too willingly join Trump there by their own volition.
13
Literally on a daily basis, there are countless articles in the liberal press, i.e. NYT etc, and also from the Democratic presidential wanna be's accusing Trump of being a racist, white supremacist etc. This name calling and labeling of Trump by the left has been going on from day one of his presidency. He has denied these accusations, denounced white supremacy, etc, but there are many people who read these now daily accusations in the liberal press, and also see the sound bites on television, social media etc by the left's politicians. Of course these type of labels and accusations are strictly opinion-driven, as nobody can know what is in Trump's mind and heart, yes lefties, we all know in your anti-Trump hysteria minds your opinions are "fact" but opinions are just that, NOT necessarily facts! Hard to believe for you I know but the truth is the truth. I just wonder how many of the nut-case crazies who make up the profoundly minuscule "white supremacist" population read the white supremacist label of Trump by the press, and also listen to the countless sound bites by the left politicians calling Trump a white supremacist and then decide it must be "true" because it is all over the news on a daily basis, not to mention every left politician who can get in from of a camera says the same thing? Perhaps this (significantly) contributes to the nut-case supremacists believing they have a "friend" in Trump? With this in mind, maybe the left should TONE IT WAY DOWN--dangerous!
4
Trump’s denials aren’t worth the waste of oxygen he used to utter them or the bandwidth he used to tweet them. Truth IS truth - and Trump lacks any relationship to the truth whatsoever. He indicts himself with every “press conference” next to a helicopter, every ghastly rally & his tweets. The man is an unrepentant white supremacist no matter how he tries to spin it away. And the nation is an agony because of it.
4
@Chris W
We Americans condemn 45 because of his own words and actions.
4
Nailed it, as always.
This a time to fight back. That’s the only language bullies and racists understand. Fight back and hard!!!
8
Charles Blow writes that for some of us it is a choice to fight Trumps sickness on moral grounds. For me it’s not a choice, it’s an imperative. I understand that for some of Trump’s targets it may not feel like a choice for them as they are being attached. I don’t feel like it’s a choice for me either. My hope is that enough people in this country will wake up, take a long hard look and make sure Trump is roundly and decisively defeated.
12
Charles Blow's superb column and the heartfelt comments from readers are devastating. I am weeping as I write this. I am what we call in New Mexico an Anglo, a non-hispanic white. In my 75 years, I have never been more afraid for my country than I am now--and I have been very afraid in the past. But now we face the combination of a vile president, a supine Republican party, and the propaganda machine that is right-wing media. I hope those with an understanding of our nation's history and a clear message of hope and inclusiveness prevail in the 2020 elections. I will work to that end. E pluribus unum.
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@Tamara
I couldn't agree with u more. I'm the same age as u and I have never seen a more vile man then this supposed president of these United States. This is a disgrace to the world and we as a country will pay dearly if this cretin is elected again.
53
@Tamara
Thank you Tamara for your heartfelt thoughts and good wishes.
16
@Tamara: I agree with you. I'm horrified by what we've become, not the individuals but the collective "we" (I didn't vote for Trump) that elected such a creature and unleashed the hatred that has been seething and simmering underneath the surface.
I understand that people are scared, that the changes of the last 30+ years have left many people hurt. We've had a long history of taking out anger and frustration on those with less or little/no political or economic power. It is typical bully behavior. But beating up blacks or targeting women or Muslims or rounding up illegal aliens (the ones caught in today's roundup in Mississippi were hired because corporations love illegals--they're the cheapest of the cheap labor) isn't going to make their lives better.
I'm frightened, angry, and disgusted by the antics of the president and his minions in Congress. I have vowed not to vote for a single Republican candidate until order and sanity is restored. I hate to see what is happening to the country. We've sorted ourselves into two camps/tribes, and I fear the rift has become so great that it cannot be repaired. We've fought one civil war; will Trump's destruction of all norms and the GOP's compliance bring about a second civil war?
12
What happened Saturday is WORSE THAN 9/11. We knew Middle-Eastern terrorists hated us; they'd attacked us before. But Saturday a young, American man killed 22 of his own countrymen; AT HE BEHEST OF THE PRESIDENT. The man killed to further his political beliefs. We haven't been in this territory since at least the '60's. The blood on Trump's hands cannot be washed off. Indeed most countries have not been in this predicament before. OUR OWN PRESIDENT has incessantly incited violence; hoping to pit his own citizens against each other. The seriousness of this cannot be underestimated. IMPEACH Trump now. Not for all he has done; but for this incident alone.
17
Wow, such despair but not surprising given the fact that half the country is now aware that the great American myth is exactly that, a myth and it always has been. I expected this when Trump assumed power and I fully expect things to get far worse. Still, there’s no reason to give up. Though not naive I’m as depressed as anyone but I know that there are still millions of Americans who reject hate and the law of the jungle. And I’m also reminded of over 360 million Americans who lost their lives in the Civil war and that giving into despair does the gravest disservice to their supreme sacrifice.
31
@Michael
Correction - That would be 360 thousand Americans.
1
@Michael I think you must have made an accidental typo with your statement that "over 360 million Americans who lost their lives in the civil war". A quick Google search says 620,000 -750,000 dead (more than all other wars combined).
1
360 million Americans who lost their lives in the civil war? Are you sure about that? Please
check your statement.
1
A dangerous number of people and media outlets have swallowed the Orwellian concept that government should have ultimate control of not only peoples day to day lives but also their thought process. The Constitution is antiquated and should be ignored or circumvented while anyone who disagrees with the far left is demonized or silenced in the most vicious ways. This and four new freshman legislators are the new face and future of the democratic party. Donald Trump may not be most peoples choice to fight the far left but his is, nevertheless, the man leading the fight against an unthinkable America as visioned by the far left.
4
@JAC, I support the four new freshman legislators, as "the new face and future of the Democratic party." And I believe that this will not be an "unthinkable America as visioned by the far left." And the Constitution is an incredible document, of checks and balances.
6
Demonizing anyone who disagrees with their political philosophies, as they have said ? These four legislators would eventually come after you as well.
2
@JAC
No, JAC--demonizing a so-called 'leader' who pits Americans against Americans; who calls for his followers to commit acts of violence against others; who inhumanely brutalizes children; who portrays people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community as less than human. THIS is who is being demonized. If you agree with this philosophy, you are inhumane as well and will also be demonized.
1
"The Judiciary Committee is now determining whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the President based on the obstructive conduct described by the Special Counsel."
That statement, made in a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief filed yesterday in the case of Committee on the Judicial of the House of Representatives v. McGahn, means that a formal impeachment inquiry has commenced.
Finally. A glimmer of hope!
11
By sheer accident of birth, I am white, male, over 50, and straight. And I will stand with you and fight with you in opposition to Trump and all who follow him. Not because I can ever claim to share your exact experiences, but because I know that what is being done to far too many of my fellow human beings and children of God is absolutely evil. There are many others like me. I hope there are enough.
281
@John
I am one.
31
@John
I am another.
12
@John I am one
11
Thank you again, Charles M. Blow. I echo all my neighbours on this page, and what you yourself have written. The today's story of the teacher who, when faced with a four month old baby and its seven year old sister, just took them home with her. Their parents were taken away by ICE. Imagine, leaving children waiting in a school yard...Sickening, the cruelty of it all. The banality, as the writer Hannah Arendt described the Holocaust man, Eichmann.
No more words...
9
100% Agreed, Charles. He has dragged us into gutter. Hope Americans dump him soon.
10
The compassionate approach would be a forensic mental health center - time for his crimes and help for his (Trump's) mind. The mental health crisis of this nation starts in the oval office. I've met his type before - as a chaplain in just that setting. He cannot control his hate speech. It feeds his narcissism disorder. And his speech fuels fear and hatred, spilling into domestic terrorism. Without intervention, many more innocent lives of American citizens will be lost.
5
Trump is not directly responsible for the mass murder in El Paso but he is not innocent of the crimes either. A message of fear, hatred and debasement of the humanity of a group in our society turns into violence with gun shots ripping through brains, hearts and other vital organs. No accident.
In a very, tiny defense of Trump (well, not really) he doesn't know what he's doing. He's lost. He's playing a game in a place where he does not belong, the White House, using techniques of intimidation and slander that worked well for him long ago when he was a developer with, always, space for his name at the top.
The Trump Lovers Marching Band always reads a higher purpose into Trump's wandering, random attacks and they fill in the blanks imaging a grand strategy. There is none. Not beyond the central purpose, promoting Trump as a "very stable genius" and allowing him to survive in office and, perhaps, beyond.
We can't have a nation and have wide open borders. Virtually everyone understands that basic fact. Yet, are we a weak and frightened people? Do we nightmare dream at night of hordes coming over, camping in our living rooms, watching our cable TV without paying?
Trump the exploiter and divider will be remembered by history in the top five of the worst presidents. Most of those who support him do so because more than half the rest of the nation detests and fears him. This is raw, mindless tribalism and, post Trump, we will have to figure out how to deal with it.
4
I disagree with you contention that Trump doesn’t know what he is doing. He is being aided and abetted by a cadre of the like minded & given license by a complicit GOP with an obstructionist Senate Majority Leader, McConnell. It’s a perfect storm of disaster for this nation.
4
@CCN My contention is that he has no idea of the damage he is doing and that, at base, he doesn't even understand the purpose of the office he holds. He's learning on the job...very slowly. Yes, he is fully aware that he is causing a chaotic situation but that is his direct intention. Yes, he knows he is spreading racially inspired notions throughout the land but, again, he actually thinks he is speaking some version of the truth.
Trump is, more or less accidentally, very smart about some things, mainly that keeping his base in a fever brings him power. He is also a master of PR and of controlling the major national media to his ends.
1
I'm not a religious person, but I do remember Sunday School classes. Clearly, Trump is the anti-Christ, aka the Great Deceiver. Christians must look in their hearts and ask WWJD when poor, homeless travelers seek shelter and sustenance? Hint: the answer does not involve racist walls, invective and high-caliber weapons.
12
Face the truth, America. The United States underwent a right wing coup in 2016, a coup organized by the Republican leadership with the assistance of vast amounts of corporate fascist billionaire money and Russian interference. Trump lost the vote but was placed in power by a corrupted electoral system.
There is only one way back to our democracy: a massive voter turnout that overcomes Republican election scams. If such a massive voter backlash against Trumpian tyranny and racism does not materialize, or fails for any reason, then yes, the battle is over. Leave the USA after that point as soon as possible...but fight first unless your life is now clearly at risk under Trump-inspired terrorism.
182
@Jefflz, very, very sad indeed. I hope and pray God, if one believes will favor our human kind experiment and destroy the Republican forces of pure evil. Please vote Democratic for every office in the land in 2020, and in all future elections until a replacement for the truly corrupt and sinister Republicans, Trump and his cronies and the billionaire/millionaire puppet masters that fund the evil Republican Party not because one especially likes the Democrats but because our country is at stake. Please for Your Children and Grandchildren's futures and for our country and really our beautiful planet. Pray too if You can ! PLEASE !!!
20
@Jefflz
But what if the Russians mess with the voting machines and falsify the numbers? That's what I'm afraid of.
Any Congressperson who does not support election security should be thrown out of office ....
31
@Jefflz
Jiffy,
Hey did you get my river I cried for you? I was going to play a sad song but it would be a waste on a liberal.
As far as I know the only people he doesn't hate are white men. His misogyny, his attacks on female reproductive rights, Brett Kavanaugh, his rapes have all been a mental assault on the women of this country. Notice his rally chants - Lock "Her" Up, Send "Her Back. And of course the ultimate insult using Russia to steal the election from the most qualified candidate ever to run for President.
I wake up every morning and do my best to not start crying that I have a president that literally hates me, hates the state I live in and would be happiest if I and those like me would just shut up and make his bed.
12
Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out. ~ AMEN
6
Mr. Blow is wrong. It is not only minorities that are affected. It is everyone on the planet.
Trump is the number one threat to peace, prosperity and life itself. Just think of Iran, China, his trade war and the Paris agreement.
Your country will need a full-fledged de-nazification like Germany after he is gone to heal from the wounds inflicted by him and the GOP.
12
Who would have known that building a wall to stop the brown tide and deporting brown people would be the populist platform to win an election and to proclaim a president as the greatest of them all? Certainly not I. Yet, what else does Trump's platform have to offer? The economy was strong pre-Trump. Unemployment was low pre-Trump. Why does he have higher Republican approval than even, "The Gipper," enjoyed. Our collective enlightenment post 1964 is not nearly as heady as we would like to think. I give it another 25 to 50 years.
5
Impeachment in the House would certainly reflect the fact that Trump lost the popular vote; not following up in the Senate would reflect the Electoral College. But voter turnout is ultimately much more important. With such narrow losses in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin - states which SHOULD’ve gone Hillary’s way in 2016 - Democratic voters had better be more motivated in 2020.
8
The hardest part of all of this is trying to understand the Trump supporters who are women, POC, and recent immigrants. How can they support and even cheer on someone who constantly belittles and dehumanizes people just like them?
13
Terrific column again by a terrific columnist.
13
Regarding the raid on the food processing plants: Why are only the workers targeted? If their illegality is so obvious, why are the people who hired them not being punished?
Why is it illegal for the workers to take the jobs but not for the businesses to hire them?
13
@outraged reader
Because the food processing plants are owned by people like the Koch Brothers, who feed billions of dollars to the GOP monsters. (There was a banner on the fence of one of the plants--Koch Industries, now hiring.)
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the dots beg to be connected: 45 in a jam over hate-induced slaughter, needs a diversion; Koch Industries steps in, says, come in to our plants and make some arrests!; attention moves to hundreds of 'illegals' arrested; base is happy; opposition stops talking about guns. All problems solved!
2
Brown and black people in this country are being targeted. Why are the rest of us not running around with our hair on fire?? This is a nightmare. The 'president' is killing not only the idea of America, but literally our neighbors.
192
Charles Blow is a gift to the European Americans like me, who get to drift in and out of the struggle. No matter how much advocacy I do, at the end of the day, I go to sleep white. And I wake up white. So I get to live with fewer bruises, less scar tissue. I am grateful to know how to peer into the abyss, but I need a guide. Mr. Blow is that messenger.
203
We need to grapple with the fact that elections are unlikely to change this. Too many Americans support Trump. And even if the majority is against him, our system of elections and representation give disproportionate power to the large minority who support him.
Yes, I hope 2020 produces a defeat for Trump. But even if he goes, will the Democrats hold the House? Can they win the Senate? Even if they win, will their majority be large enough to get necessary legislation passed? Can they amend the Constitution where it is broken? Can they regain control of the Courts? And what about state governments? What did eight years of Obama produce, when for six of those McConnell was able to obstruct all progress?
No, our democracy doesn't work. I no longer have any faith at all that it can produce the needed change within its structures. But to go outside its structures is rebellion. Increasingly, though, I wonder if that is the path we will be forced to take.
I know we can't go on like this.
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@617to416 Your response makes me cry. I feel the same way--as if we are rent asunder. I'm so depressed.
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@617to416 It's true. Our democracy does not work. But we have to get Trump out of there. It would be too awful to have to endure another 4 years of this sorry excuse for a leader.
87
@617to416, Citizens United tipped the balance. We must reverse it. When the votes rather than the donors are what counts to our elected officials again, the basic structure of our democracy will again function.
60
Fighting an enemy on his own turf is never a good strategy, Charles......out-Trumping Trump feels like a pyrrhic victory, even if it's achievable.. .I plan stay out of the gutter, seek to serve as an example of the values and principles this great country embodies, and honor my 5 ancestors resting in Arlington National who fought to protect those values and principles...I'm not afraid of Trump, and you shouldn't be either...make him come out and fight on the level playing field of the democratic electoral process......
52
@Dennis Holland
but trump doesn't play or fight fair so we'd better be ready to get down in the mud and the gutter with him.
6
Thank you, Charles! Lately, I’ve noticed a bunch of my Republican friends have disappeared from Facebook! They do not want to see the posts about the traumatized children, nor see that white supremacy is being emboldened by their Republican president! They want to live in denial and not have to face the truth, that our nation is being dragged not only into the gutter but that hate, fear, and violence are now epidemics in America.
Please, folks, register to vote, help Democrats get the vote out, only a big Blue tsunami will oust the evil that resides in the White House!
10
Trump is the gutter but he did not drag us into the gutter. What he did was reveal just how far into the gutter our nation has always been. Yes, on one level we as a nation have made great strides, but on the other level we are and always have been a nation built on hate, ignorance, hypocrisy, and lies.
For those who may have thought that we had turned the corner on that past Trump has reminded us just how deep it really is. I despise everything about Trump, but what sickens me far worse is the millions of people who enthusiastically follow him, and the millions more who cowardly follow along.
9
"The president cannot be absolved of responsibility for inciting the hatreds that led to El Paso."
So is this loyal supporter...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/sports/football/kenny-stills-dolphins-trump-ross.html
Sure go to the Hamptons, Mr. Stephen Ross you will find a very fertile ground there among your entourage of billionaire friends.
It's just shameless, absolutely unbearable & shameless... tells you everything you need to know about these particular kind of supporters...
Their precious tax cuts takes a precedence over the country...
Really "patriotic" to say the least... oh yes, shower your millions to get more of what you already had enough to cover at least several generations of your offsprings.
Are you sure the younger brood will be grateful to live in the country of your undeveloped & one-dimensional warp vision.
It's fascinating to observe, how old age doesn't bring any foresight & wisdom, isn't about time to evolve to a higher ground at 79 sir, it could be your last possible chance, it's not too late...
Oops... sorry the date is set!
The lavish fund-raiser is all planned, all
your people already RSVP,
the billionaires charity is at full speed ahead.
With "friends like these" America is definitely First!
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/stephen-ross-soulcycle-equinox-trump
Next time, maybe you won't be so transparent, after all what is Citizens United for, all of you furiously fought to pass.
Payback time for great cover!
Your statement is a joke!
4
True!
3
The weight of my armor has cause me to hide at home after this last massacre weekend...I was scared about Gilroy, CA...and these last blasts scared me into a depressed silence.
What is happening here? This administration is leaving a stain that we may NEVER be able to scrub away, and the dastardly denizens of it's darkness seem to be encouraged to poke their heads out of their holes and do their work. My Country 'tis of Thee.......
6
OK everybody, enough of the pearl clutching and the holier than thou attitude. The middle class departure from the state of Demofornia has been speeding up in recent years as inequality (racial, income, gender in tech, you name it) grows in that state. Meanwhile, liberal leaders compete to see what new progressive policies will further exacerbate problems. In urban environments across the country (particularly SF, Oak, Chi), blacks are now leaving in large numbers due to democrat racial apathy. Nothing is done about residential zoning laws, occupational licensing, school district zoning/funding, school de-segregation, etc. Yes, deaths of hundreds at the hands of white nationalists are a tragedy, …but so are the 30K – 35K that die yearly of suicide, urban violence and domestic violence. Yes, immigrant kids at the border should be treated better,….but what about the millions of kids yearly within the borders that suffer emotional, physical, sexual, psychological abuse and other life enduring traumas that never have stories written about them (unless of course it is a priest or a boy scout. Nobody apparently is harmed in our school systems). We have created and maintained a lot of this despair. And we can fix it, with or without Trump. The choice is ours. For love of whomever you pray to, stop constantly blaming “the other.” Both parties are failing us.
1
@Ned, I hope Democrats read what you've written. Many Democrats (I'd estimate more than half) are running so scared of Trump that they'd nominate any white male square pants they think could beat him in 2020. If ever the time has come for a serious offensive--with genuine commitment--against income inequality, failing schools, de facto segregated housing, and of course climate change, that time is now.
Trump tells Beto O'Rourke to "be quiet," and Democrats tell Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, and Pressley---the same!
4
Charles - Look at the bright side. Dangerous Donald has not gotten us into a nuclear war. Yet.
I am 75 years old.
I can't remember a time (including the Nixon presidency) that I felt so ashamed of our country because of our leadership.
I hated the Vietnam war.
I felt badly for the ineptitude of Carter.
But I never felt the shame I do now for how Trump has divided us so badly over purely racial and origin issues.
He is the one who should be ashamed.
But he knows no shame
9
I felt anger watching Fox News this morning at the gym..as I do every morning when I tune in to hear how they are manipulating millions of Americans. Headlines today were about yesterday's successful ICE raid of "criminal aliens". But you, Charles, reminded me of something greater than my anger. As a black man, you are considered an "alien" just like the all immigrants...you don't know for certain what each day will bring. I'm so very sorry you live with armor and discomfort. I'm very grateful for your words of enlightenment...please continue to remind us who were born white how it feels to be an alien in one's own country.
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@Sandra Sandra. Make the gym turn off Fox and threaten to drop your membership if they don’t. I do this at any establishment that has Fox as the default station. So do most of my family members. I know, it is confrontational, but it is a tiny victory each time. And others at these establishments will suddenly realize that there is another message out there. Is that silly and naive, maybe, but baby steps.
7
@Sandra: If Fox News angers you, why watch it?
1
This is the most beautifully written and poignant article I’ve ever read in the Times. I weep still as I write this. Gratitude.
8
With gratitude and humility Thank You Mr. Blow
8
American governments being bad to children is not new. 1960s marching chant was “Hey hey, LBJ, How many kids Did you kill today”
4
Mr Blow everyday I feel like I’m living in the Twilight Zone - a daily nightmare that I can’t wake up from. We’ve all been dragged into Trump’s gutter. What’s worse are the denials of the obvious by Republicans. They’re no longer the party of Lincoln. I’m looking forward to the defeat of Trump & Senator Joni Ernst in 2020.
Submitted at 2:03 pm.
9
I am also grateful for Mr. Blow's article and for the civil discourse that it has generated.
8
The subtitle of this article is "targets of the president's rhetoric are experiencing a nightmare like no other in this country". These "targets" don't belong here. They either sneaked in or were brought here in the 1600 -1800's against their will. They really don't belong here, and they demonstrate that fact with their anti-social behavior. Look at the prisons. Full of Trump's targets.
So is it you now who gets to decide who "belongs here" and who doesn't?
9
What does it matter how one's ancestors came here? That does not diminish their humanity one iota, nor does it diminish their status as US citizens.
9
@Jim Tagley Wait a minute. There were folks that came here in the 1600's against their will, and those people are now in prison? Really??? And it's up to you to decide who "belongs here"? I'd be anti-social too if I were 400 years old.
5
I agree. I like very much hearing from Charles M. Blow.
The comments that follow are not meant to defend our President. He can be quite entertaining _until_ one considers the effect he has from his undeserved seat of power upon defenseless humans..
Remove POTUS from the picture. This nation rose from rubble left behind by colonial powers who beat themselves up badly. Our experiment has a very ugly history, misrepresented to my generation in schools with a "selective" version of history. We may never succeed in paying for past sins. I consider it a great tragedy that it took 150 yr to elect a person of color as President.
Prior to the current administration we sold both our kidneys to corporate lobbyists and found ourselves with a Congress that had an abysmal approval rating, unable to accomplish anything meaningful. I, and millions of others, became disgusted and the country descended(?) into populism. God save us from mere voters!
My anger as a straight white male became additive to the justifiable anger of those whom my ilk had systematically marginalized over centuries. Perhaps it's poetic justice that I find myself a minority in this locale with no voice. This might be a step along the path to what we all need.
Our sitting President will time out at some point. He's clearly riding a wave. If this period helps us crystallize the issues, we may well reach a point of collective realization that we can do far better. God knows we should.
2
This should be required reading for every voter
11
AND, 42% of the worlds' guns rest with 12% of the worlds' population living in the United States. Trumps' people. Getting him out is the next step, but I have no doubt there will be a civil war to follow. I am devastated.
6
Since the day trump was selected (not elected) he has been the most horrible example of a thinking, feeling human being. His channeling of resentment, and hatred against people of color; Hispanics, Blacks goes back decades. Who would want their children to speak or act like trump? What has he done for anyone but cause chaos. His cult members point to a great economy, which was handed to him by President Obama. Is money the only thing people worship in this country? How about decency and compassion and empathy?
11
But Trump said yesterday that his rhetoric brings people together. And he’s right. He has brought together white supremacists, racists and fascists from all over the country. How nice that they finally have a place they feel at home - the Republican Party.
19
Well done, Charles Blow! Many people can't grasp that this isn't just political for people Trump has targeted (and continues to target). It's threatening, demeaning, and painful on a deeply personal level.
10
Certainly Mr Trump has dragged himself into the gutter, but the constant media attention you and others give him only makes his megaphone louder and more distasteful. Have you considered turning your attention to something more consequential than an idiot blathering on social media? Hasn't this topic run its course? If you are looking for change, maybe you should stop the echo and do something worth talking about.
3
@Joel, there is an important distinction to be made between giving Trump the fawning adoration he craves and casting a harsh spotlight on the many ugly and urgent problems he causes.
FOX News does plenty of fawning. Thank God Charles Blow and the NYT are covering the rest. We can’t solve a problem we don’t acknowledge.
6
Yes. On every point. This is screaming evil madness, and 'moderate' democrats are mincing around worried about their property values and stock portfolios. This is a serious national emergency and must be stopped. Please AT LEAST impeach him.
15
Another way of looking at it is that Trump has brought the gutter into plain view, where we have to acknowledge and deal with it. That's actually a service to us--we have the beast before us. No denying its existence with patronizing, deceptive language. Its odiousness is apparent to all of those who despise corruption, hatred and violence. The fight is now perfectly clear.
11
@Paula James : I see your point, but Trump has not only "brought the gutter into plain view" but enlarged and reinforced it and roused its dangerous creatures to victimize innocent people.
6
@Paula James
Yep, that's about it. Thanks for putting it so succinctly.
5
My synagogue now has an armed guard at the door during services. In all these years our nation has been concerned about terrorism from the Middle East our congregation never resorted to this. Trump is a shark moving through life hunting his prey. Whatever the day’s argument is he has to win it, no matter how low he has to sink or who he needs to attack. He is just moving through the water going after anything that stands in his way to get what he wants. And he wants to win. That’s all that matters. It is convenient that he is also a racist, misogynistic man. That makes going after his target so much easier. But make no mistake. He has no conscience or moral compass. If we don’t stop him he will devour our country and all the goodness that still remains.
31
Hope you and your faith community are safe.
15
For over twenty years many synagogues have had guards at the doors. Some started locking the doors. The fear has only continued to grow.
6
Mr. Blow, have no fear Donald Trump will very soon get what he deserves. In history there have always been tipping points. Looking back it's some times easier to identify them. Looking forward not so much. There is a tipping point when water turns from a liquid to a gas. We know where this tipping point is. But there is also a tipping point when oppressed and exploited people will take it no longer. They will rise up. They have begun to do it already across our country. As the saying goes "a single spark can start a prairie". El Paso was the spark.
14
I pray you are right. We will not survive 4 more years of this.
9
Bravo, Mr. Blow! As a woman, this is not my first visit to the gutter but the pain is different this time, as you have articulated so well.
Yesterday, I couldn't help but compare the Trumpian invasion of El Paso with Barack Obama's journey to Sandy Hook: one brought hostility and ostentation, while the other arrived with love, which sprang from a broken heart.
This is not my America, nor is it yours. We are cast aside, along with so many others, while we watch everything crumble.
20
This seems to mean nothing to the Republican party leadership.
12
We have often not wanted to say it, but the separation of children from parents is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany. I'm not sure what conditions the children were placed in by the Nazis, the embodiment of evil in the western world, but I believe that at the beginning those conditions were better than those for our caged children without even food and sanitation we have been hearing about. [The persecution of the Jews began systematically, shortly after Hitler came to power. https://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/voices/testimonies/life/backgd/before.html]. As Charles says, "Even if this were only one child".
The horror for the parents is not imaginable. They were not given even a Sophie's choice by trump's evil amoral land of the free.
We must recover our land and make every effort, spend every cent necessary to reunite each parent and child.
18
The author is trying to combine unrelated events because folks happen to be Hispanic. The following are all different: Hispanic, immigrant, illegal immigrant, illegal immigrant convicted of a felony, illegal immigrant who has not shown up for a court date.
Trumps policies (of enforcing US law) are not anti-Hispanic or anti-immigrant, the are US laws against illegal immigration and even then it is being prioritized to those that have committed crimes. A number of those arrested the other day have been release outright and a number have been release with ankle monitoring.
As for the author tossing in African Americans, the most trump has done is, gasp, argue with a number of them. And since African Americans are largely Democratic, yes, they are not going to like many of his political decisions.
But guess what, those policies are not racist and arguing with African Americans is not racist.
Trump speaks like an controversial, adversarial idiot, has for decades, this is nothing new. But what I find comical is that those that criticize him often make worse generalizations and have worse behaviors than than Trump in the first place. This author included.
3
Trump is immoral and dishonorable. He is poison and a clear danger to democracy and decency, not only in the US but in the world at large.
He and the GOP need to be voted out in 2020. It is an existential necessity.
How long will it take for all men and women of good will to realize that this may be the most important fight if their lifetime?
12
To the list of groups targeted by this atrocious excuse of a president, let's not forget those in Jewish community, who had to listen to him describe Nazis as "very fine people."
12
We do not have a President. We have Donald Trump.
13
Trump has led a nation of millions into the gutter of overt and violent racism.
His targets would make a mistake in joining his followers there.
Marginalized groups never win a gutter fight. Even entering the gutter is self-defeating, since it turns a moral struggle into a battleground where might makes right. And marginalized groups by definition do not have the power to win such a fight.
Fighting with dignity from the moral high ground is not a naive choice. It is the only way for the powerless to stand a chance against the powerful. The good guys may lose in the end. But if you can’t afford to sustain a fight from the moral high ground, then you’re already lost.
7
ICE raids, immigrant detentions and family separations, incitements to hate and violate, all serve a dual purpose; first, to keep Trump's base worked up and happy, and second, to distract the rest of us from the incalculable damage Trump's other policies are doing to not only our country, but to the world.
10
Can someone please explain to me why the owners of the poultry plant and the individuals in human resources or wherever who hired these so-called " illegal " workers are not simply arrested and given long sentences and fines. End of problem. But no, once again innocent victims just trying to support poverty-stricken families in Mexico and Central America are further victimized by an even more vicious political system then the one they are running from. I say more vicious, because we should know better.
16
Charles, it is not often that I disagree with you, but here yes - but only in your introduction. I am not a person of color, but I am a person of integrity, morality and conscience. So, I am indeed, a target and an enemy of the occupant of the White House. Not my skin color, nor my faith, nor my language defines my personhood. We, all of us of integrity, are threatened by what is happening in America.
Nevertheless, I salute you and exhort you to keep up the fight...we will win!
8
White skin bestows a privilege people of color cannot imagine. I agree with Charles Blow. Completely. We are of course all affected by the disease currently masquerading as President, but none more than people of color.
8
"Trump Has Dragged Us Into the Gutter" Perhaps a not so small part of the country has always been there? Perhaps Trump has inadvertently done the rest of us a service by elevating that fact to a level where we can no longer, so to speak, whistle past the graveyard?
7
I share the feelings that many have expressed here. Remember that it is not just Trump but his Republican enablers in Congress and local governments. With a handful of exceptions (some of whom have left the Republican party), they are fully complicit. They all need to be held responsible for deliberately abandoning the best of America and caving into the worst of America. They do this every day through their silence, their refusal to do the jobs that we are paying them to do, and their support for the horrible man that now inhabits the White House.
12
I get virtually all of my news from CNN. NYT and Washington Post. Therefore, if I know all of Trump's racist comments, I know it because they are the ones broadcasting the comments Why should Facebook or Google control their content, but Newspaper Publishers and News Networks not censor theirs? Stop repeating the worthless things Trump says and maybe then it wouldn't spread.
3
Craig, the Republican president’s re-election campaign has bought millions of dollars of ads spreading the fear of “invasion” and hate throughout our country and beyond. Facebook should not allow any hate speak on their web site. None!
7
@Craig G : This is the president of the United States of America we're talking about. His statements are going to spread. Period. At least legitimate sources like the NYT and WP are providing some valid context to his lies and smears.
5
As we do every summer as retired ol' folks, we are going to escape the steaming humidity in the greater D.C. region and spend the rest of this summer in the high and much cooler mountains of our neighbouring state, West Virginia, aka Trump country.
It is ironic that in a state were open carry is allowed, but one that is 97% white, while a weekend hobby is to go shopping at Walmart, there won't be any mass shootings hunting so-called invaders.
Close to us in Arlington and in NoVa in general there are areas with a large Latino population, and I am terribly afraid that there will be copy-cat white supremacists causing yet another massacre against the supposed "invaders" - not only a few miles away from the White House but in other areas with a large percentage of immigrants from south of the US border who have a different skin tone.
8
Trump has for sure dragged us into the gutter but Republicans have been sitting on the sidelines cheering quieting amongst themselves. This mess didn't start with Trump. It has been going on for decades and this is the culmination of their hate for anyone not white.
11
True! I remember how Republicans hated the Obamas, I was not surprised.
5
Racist like Blow reinforce the relatively new mindset that people who have political perspectives that are different then our own are not our opponents but rather they are our enemy.
Whereas Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neil famously battled during the day but shared cocktails in the evening, those with extreme views (like Blow, Bouie, Krugman and others) have pushed us to treat our political opposites as mortal enemies. They encourage the use of derogatory terms like racist and Nazi and rapist and white supremacy. In doing so, they have helped polarize our Nation.
The spokesmen for the extreme left wing are the ones that have dragged us out of ‘political discourse’ and into the gutter.
6
Wow....you are very wrong.
6
@Mari Thank you for your words, of support!
Republicans including Trump have been dragging USA into the gutter for the past 50 years. They deserve being trashed mightily!
13
Mr. Blow ends with,
"Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out."
I think,
Though nearly as old as trump, and though out-of-shape and overweight ('if' not nearly either as he), I'd love the opportunity, literally ... even more so than figuratively as I do.
8
On Twitter, the novelist Joyce Carol Oates wondered whether it was time for Charles Blow to back off of “Trump” and all he represents. She feared that Trump and his nationalistic ways had become an obsession for Blow, sucking him into a drain pipe, so that an obsession with Trump’s depravity became the main theme of his opinions.
I’m not sure if Oates got it right about Blow (I admire Blow’s fiery passion to note, without embarrassment or fear of white backlash, Trump’s racism) but I do wonder, not only with Blow but with many other newspaper opinion writers, how many times must they tell their readers that Trump is a racist, a lout, a sexist, a poor executive, a man with fascistic tendencies, a liar, a cheat, a misogynist, a passive-aggressive nationalist, that he’s nuts, neurotic, and insane.
Has it not been pounded into us by dozens of smart newspaper and magazine writers just what Trump is and what he represents?
Is there, I wonder, another more provocative way to criticize Trump, or is an obsession to note again and again his massive flaws, a good way to help end his regime?
4
I hear you, but disagree. Mr. Blow and others must continue to broadcast the truth of the Republican president and his supporters. We must be informed and we must face the TRUTH no matter how disturbing or how disgusting it is!
5
"President" Petty strikes again. Strike three-throw the bum out
8
I was once in Austin attending a conference with my French husband and my 10 year old son. My husband left for a while and I was talking to my son in my mother tongue, Spanish.
A woman started to yell at me and told me that “this country was in a mess because of people like you, refusing to speak English to their kids”. I turned around and told her: my son is French. He doesn’t understand English. He either speaks French or Spanish and doesn’t need English. She apologized profusely, as my husband came back.
I was painfully aware that, had I been a Latino woman living in the States speaking to my son in Spanish because I wanted him to be bilingual, the abuse would not have ended the way it did for me.
It is sad what the U.S.A. has become!
20
There have always been grifters like Trump; sadly, there always will be. The problem is the millions of people degraded and debased by the shrewd and lavishly financed propaganda of the conservative movement.
You have to be ignorant to see this con-man as smart; you have to be morally corrupt to think him fit to hold office.
All that really motivates the Republican 'base' is hatred of their fellow Americans. All that put Trump in power was the indifference and complacency of the rest of the country.
We cannot afford to let that happen again in 2020.
15
I think of innocent people, happily going about their business, enjoying a beautiful day at a fair, or shopping, or being in a place of entertainment, and then suddenly, they are attacked by a madman with an assault weapon. Many are wounded, several others die. These are human beings. And all this death and suffering is because we have a racist, white supremacist sitting in OUR White House, who excoriates immigrants, blanketing all immigrants with his screed of "rapists and murderers," spewing filth at 4 American Congresswomen to "go back where they came from," and doing everything in his power to sow hatred, divisiveness, and violence. ANYONE who CAN is allowed to acquire assault-type weapons, that can murder many, many people in a matter of minutes. Does any ordinary citizen NEED such a weapon? But trump and the republicans don't care about human lives; they only care about their racist, gun-toting base, and their big donors. It is so obvious, criminal, devious, and inhumane that it reeks; the stench of these politicians who operate only in the interests of greed permeates everything with its stink. These murders have nothing to do with video games and mental illness, because THEY CAN BE STOPPED, FOR THE MOST PART, BY BANNING ASSAULT WEAPONS. trump, the republican party, and their supporters are enablers of these mass shootings, and of the racist, hatemongering rhetoric that inspires murderous monsters; these politicians and their supporters are also murderous monsters.
16
Sure, Big Money over the human life always takes precedence in this country.
No will of the people can match the financial reward...
This just sickening...Mr.Ross
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/sports/football/kenny-stills-dolphins-trump-ross.html
Couple of good quotes on Greed...
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
― Edward Abbey, The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West
For God's sake we all eventually die, and you can't take your billions with you but you can take all your moral failures...
The choice is yours.
5
The seeds, the ugly seeds he plants
Will grow another day.
He lures the longing masses on
But blind as to the way.
7
Could someone at the Times, & any other media outlet, PLEASE
Call out Trump on his previous statements: immigrants from Mexico and other Latin countries, are “ rapists, murderers, bringing drugs, etc into this country” !
It couldn’t be MORE clear that statements like this, please find the exact quote, are totally responsible for mass murders in El Passo in particular, as well as other of Trumps racist comments.
Please contact TV media outlets re: this and encourage them to play the tape with these quotes !
Thank you,
Mickey Riley, Seattle
8
So the long planned raids in Mississippi were intended as a message for El Paso? This is the kind of nonsense you get when you lose all objectivity and view every issue through the prism of your feelings. If Trump is so racist you shouldn't have to invent new "messages".
5
@Max Trump is definitely a racist and people can be wrong about the timing of the raids.
5
@Max
It would appear that Mr. Blow isn't the one who has lost all objectivity.
1
@Doug Lowenthal
Unless you're a mind reader, the only proof that he is a racist is people's interpretation of these supposed messages.
Like many, I'm dumbfounded by how many people still look at this cretin and see something to admire. Even beyond this president's arrogance, crudity, and repugnance, I'm saddened beyond belief at my fellow citizens. We truly are a divided nation.
16
@Laurie They are kindred spirits. They see themselves in Trump. They approve of his lashing out at his critics because that is what they would do. This is a personality defect which has no moral dimension. It is, in a word, deplorable.
7
Gutter? Why not. Drunks end up dead in the gutter and America is being forced to drink Trump's kool aid and people are dying.
Yes, Trump has created a bodycount and most of the dead were of Latin American descent, and he's adding to it.
3
Trump is a pathological narcissist. He is incapable of showing concern for anyone else. Everything must rotate around him, be an extension of him, be subservient to him. Narcissism, in the extreme form that Trump exhibits, is incurable and not treatable.
He is also a pathological liar. If he says it, or believes it, it "must be true." He also suffers from an almost complete lack of impulse control.
Trump is a sad psychiatric case! Unfortunately, he is POTUS. We must all do our part to vote him out of office. He is a menace to our democracy.
14
The Trumpies are the gutter, and they feel it, and they "feel" what they have to do is drag every one else down "to see what it's like." That's not hard to do - it's not like the Trumpies aren't good at picking "fighting" issues like, "When did you stop beating your wife?" Free health care for all? Great IDEA, who's going to pay for it and how? Reparations? Great IDEA, who's going to tell the African nations they exported 10 million of their own and owe the money to ALL the rest of us? (Why shouldn't the pusher pay ALL the consequences?) "Bring us your poor, your sick, your..."? That's a poem AND who's asking NOW? Being told NOT to come, thousands rush the border before "genius" builds the wall... Some of these issues have been debated for decades, some for hundreds of years, some for thousands. You do have a choice about where to slug it out - and the gutter wouldn't be on my list of choices. Take the high road, armor and all... The gutter is for other, em, stuff....
1
Substitute 'swamp' for 'gutter' and get the acronym.
2
We don’t have to let him and his cronies drag us there, you know! We could be rising up against this plague!
3
Wrong. The GOP, Fox News and mindless Republican base ARE the gutter! Trump is just shoving our noses in it.
6
Sorry...but Obama parked us squarely in the gutter with his back-handed racial digs. He started this mess...even if the liberals don't want to admit it. What did Comey's book say about Feguson...they knew within minutes the police officer was locked in a life/death struggle with the perp. So much for hands up and all that nonsense. Obama does on national TV the next day and says the perp could have been his son, as if he was some innocent victim of police brutality...all the while, according to Comey's book...they knew the perp wasn't innocent.
4
@Tom How many black panther rallies did Obama organize? Obama’s “racism” was his temerity to be a black President.
10
@Doug Lowenthal Considering Holder's nonsense...we may never know.
Unfortunately, Trump has also brought out the worst in his opponents and critics. Civility flies out the window in response to this Carnival Barker. There's plenty to say without getting ugly. Lay with pigs you get dirty too. Stay elevated and objective, or become haters.
1
His rats have no gag reflex, but they vote.
3
Every Saturday in synagogue, the Rabbi reads a prayer for our country, which includes a line about blessing "the constituted officers in this land." He reads it, we don't repeat it, but it's gotten to the point where I don't say "Amen" at the end. And to think, 40 years ago, I was one of those "constituted officers." I was an Army officer. I served under Carter & Reagan, but I couldn't serve under this man. He and his cabinet of grifters do not deserve my prayers or blessings. They only deserve my contempt.
12
Recently I drove into the deep south in my car with Democratic election bumper stickers (in VA we have major off-year elections).
My husband wanted me to take them off so I'd be safe. I refused, but every time I gassed up I looked around to make sure no one was near. This is what the GOP has allowed our country to become by giving silent support for the despicable words and actions of the president.
14
As Marc Maron said in one of his comedic routines, Trump has brought to us a new normal, and if Trump said that we could hunt in zoos and fill the Grand Canyon up with trash, nobody would be surprised.
All I can say is if the rational and sane people do not get out and vote in the 2020 election and remove ALL Republicans from office we deserve the government we get.
13
Thank you, Mr. Blow. Keep speaking up about the absolute inhumanity of this administration. They kidnapped children at the border, for God’s sake. How can we, as a nation, be ok with this??
11
I feel very disturbed that Trump voters (some that I know) have no problem with Trump's hate speech and do not seem to recognize how deeply wrong it is and how it inspires mass shooters such as the El Paso and New Zealand mass murders. My husband is Hispanic and from El Paso and he feels completely targeted by this hate speech leading to violence.
Why are Trump voters (especially the Christian ones) able to overlook this? Where is their morality?
11
ALL of Trump's divisive statements and antics are aimed at his base. he is desparate for their votes - the only ones he can expect - to remain in office and out of jail. the rest of us are roadkill run down by his limo. reminding me: why put the country through the paralyzing agony of impeachment in the House, when you and everyone else knows Trump would not be convicted in the Senate and we'd be stuck with him, possibly stronger than ever before? even if he were Impeached and removed, Pence would pardon him on any and all federal charges. it's a much better objective to work hard to make sure Trump loses the election, the one fate he richly deserves.
4
Trump, the Republican/Conservative/Evangelical Axis, and his other supporters are not patriots. It is time to say it out loud. These people are all still fighting the Civil War and hate the country created by our Founding Fathers. I say we should let them go. I wonder, what do all those rally goers and militia members work at? Do they work? What are they doing to build our country, anything other than yelling and spitting out insults? Let them go. The sad part is that their funders want to live in NY, California and other progressive states. They should be barred. They should take their money and go build their own country, mostly down South where the majority of their hordes live. Why do we keep insisting on unity with people who have only hate for us? Let them go. Yes, I know that Liberals and Progressives are SUPPOSED to act more maturely. Go high when they go low, as Senator McCarthy said yesterday, pretty much acknowledging that THEY always go low and own the bottom. That is not a patriot speaking. Let them go. All these people that don't care about the environment, our health, our wealth, our education, our families, are not patriots and never will be. They have just been hiding, waiting for their savior, personified by head of their true religion, Trump. LET THEM GO.
5
This should be a form letter published every week because every week of this mans Presidency has been the same message over and over again, hate, fear and hate.
3
I will not forget these words that touched me so today: "We live our lives with a spirit covered in scar tissue."
I am 77 and was active in the civil rights movement. Our resolve will be tested, so we must be ready with strength and action as well as words. It will take great resolve to rid this man from office, but it can be done. I will remain active in this fight to the end, for my children and grandchildren, and yours.
9
As a young white male who is relatively safe in a wonderfully diverse city that embraces Americans of all stripes, I am fearful. Yet, I cannot imagine the true fear my fellow non-white Americans are feeling right now. It’s an utterly shameful situation, but we’ve fought this fight before and the good side won. The good side will win again. Who knows how long the struggle will last, but I will stand by my brothers and sisters until it is so. Thank you, Charles for your clear and honest writing. I am with you.
8
I am not a minority or LGBT and I admit I’m in a better position than many. But as a woman and a progressive atheist I do feel targeted in some ways. It’s frightening.
As a teen I read about fascism and atrocities that occurred in other times or in other countries. I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime in my country.
9
With all due respect (and I have tremendous respect for Mr. Blow's writing), the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of 40% plus of this nation that still supports him no matter what. If he did not have their support, his words would be meaningless. Congress (especially the Senate) would be pressured into restraining his administration, bypassing him with legislation, and perhaps removing him from office. Alas, Trump is merely the conduit through which the steady impulses of hatred are passing. He is just an opportunist who capitalizes on these impulses. All decent people need to stop trying to understand red America or win them over. It's not happening.
8
Another superb column to bring me to tears. I agree the separation of children is the worst, but I'm sure we'll sink lower still.
You are right: Some of us chose this fight. Others have it imposed on them every day.
But we are in this fight together. -- thegamesmenplay.com
10
Something to contemplate before writing your next column.
"There’s no coming back from this for the media. There will never be a time when a majority of the country trusts them again. They will always now be looked on with scorn by far more people than those who approve of their actions. No amount of rehabilitation post-Trump is going to save this current generation of journalists and cable news pundits from the credibility death spiral they chose to enter.
These people have lost it. They are so caught up in their bubbles that they can’t even function with any sense of rationality. As the press as an institution finally burns to the ground, they have no one to blame but themselves and things are only going to get worse."
2
I am convince that it is imperative, if we are to have any hope of voting Trump out in 2020, that we separate racism and immigration. If we don’t Trump is going to win votes, maybe enough, from reasonable people who believe illegal immigration is a real problem.
Of course immigration isn’t a big enough problem to justify mistreating people and committing human rights abuses. Still, it is important that we get this right.
First, we have to face the reality that employers in this country find it advantageous to hire illegal immigrants at low wages. Seasonal migrant labor used to be used primarily in agriculture, but now it increasingly is permanent labor in factories.
Second, we have to accept that, while we aren’t “out of room” as Trump lied, we also can’t solve the problems of under-developed countries around the world by taking their refugees without limit. We need to find ways to improve the situation in those struggling countries without resorting to regime change. That’s a difficult task, but it is the only realistic choice. The world is a big place with too many suffering populations. The answer cannot be to simply move populations from 3rd world countries to 1st world countries.
Of course that requires a more nuanced view than Trump, or even most Republican politicians, are comfortable with. They prefer simple solutions like, “Wall.” Simple seems good but suffers because it is, well, simple. The world is complex, and requires complex solutions.
3
Another powerful, courageous column. Thank you, Mr. Blow.
10
The absolute worst aspect of all this is that by the time we get new leadership, and clear out all the remnants of this regime, it may take decades to even begin to heal from it. If we even have a livable environment left.
12
Now he’s a rock star?
5
@Julie Hi Julie from Middletown...you mean, you didn't actually welcome Trump to Dayton with a rock star reception? Imagine that--falsehoods from the President and his handlers...shocking!
5
I keep going back to the song from South Pacific - "you have to be carefully taught". Instead of George HW Bush's points of light Trump has started a million time bombs ticking. How will our white, brown, yellow, black children ever relate to each other? With fear and hatred? When will the explosion come? Who can stop it?
11
The raid on the Mississippi Food Processing plants to arrest, detain and deport undocumented workers was timed exactly for those Trump supporters who agree with his vile, racist words. It said "I may have to go and act presidential and pretend I care about the lives lost in El Paso, but you know how I really feel. Let me show you with the actions I ordered in Mississippi." One message to provide plausible deniability to the general public, one to show his true colors to his most extreme supporters.
13
@Ellen Brennan
You can thank Stephen Miller for that.
And the WH said the raids had been planned for months.
5
We have been in the gutter before but now it is amplified by the right wing in the media, TV, print and online. The NRA of course is not concerned with the slaughter; only with sales and support.
I am a long-time NYC resident who has lived close by to his residence for over 3 decades and who has been exposed to his behavior for decades. He is - as has been said so often - a con and a sleaze.
I keep hearing/reading that's not who we are. Yes! A significant part of us is who we are!
I am white; however, I still bear the scars of my name being changed in grammar school because this is America and this is how you should spell your name. They could not change what I looked like but they could try to change my identity. My parents were too intimidated to object for fear they would be asked to take me out of the school. I still remember the discrimination in housing and in jobs because of my ethnic background and religion. My group was targeted in the immigration laws of the 1920s. I understand targeting and discrimination.
I am not sure if I agree with you on impeachment as I am afraid that it will take the focus off winning. That should be our number one focus! I thought Biden's speech yesterday was impressive. More of that from everyone!
10
Everyone who is defending trump is trump should go visit Autzchwitz. Maybe the reality of what this man is trying to do to turn this country into will wake them up.
8
Mr. Blow, if you had a nick name, as certain. athletes are given to describe succinctly their extraordinary abilities, yours would most be, without a doubt, “The Truth”!
5
I count the days when this troll, this blight, this utter failure, deep embarrassment and sick human being is out of office and hope and pray that America comes to its senses and never elects another deeply reckless and morally bankrupt individual as chief executive of this nation. I trust the Republic, supported by people of reason and moderation, will hold the country together until the day when we are rid of him.
8
there were a lot of social dynamics and also election interference that allowed Trump an Electoral College victory. there's also a sizeable segment of voters who were mainly angry (or hysterical) that our previous President identified as black. Trump will eventually be gone. will they?
5
Democrat candidates are attempting to use a national tragedy to boost themselves in the polls.
They are also (once again) using white supremacy to distract black Americans from their policies which are ruining the lives of millions.
2
"In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate." -Toni Morrison
7
Worse than the gutter: Trump is leading the country towards full-blown fascism. ICE is his praetorian guard. Immigrants as well as blacks, Latinos, women, LBGTQ people are the official “others.” He has already created concentration camps for children as well as adults. He calls for an end to any form of journalism that does not celebrate him. Everything else is “fake news.” Big Brother? Dear Leader? Duce? He’s already here. If he wins, or uses force remain in power in 2020 he’ll consolidate his power. That may involve an “emergency”—a war with Iran, escalation of tensions with China, etc.
7
Charles....always on point. keep it up.
8
when a country's leader dominates the media and every day lives of the population - there is a very good chance you are living in a totalitarian regime or fascist state.
45 is not a NORMAL president
.
VOTE VOTE VOTE 2020
7
Thank you, Mr. Blow.
6
I stand resolutely taller now, ready to defend myself as a person of color and to stand up for others. As my mother would say, "I don't play." Like many people of color who are also Americans with a long history on this soil, I can enumerate the aggressions, disrespect, and ignorance aimed at me over the years, from being called the N-word to being blamed for the "black behavior" of others. As Mr. Blow has reminded us, Trump is a manifestation of white supremacy and systemic racism, not the root cause. All those nice liberals, who wouldn't be caught dead driving through a black neighborhood to get to the new vegan cafe or who look at you sideways when you talk about your 40-year marriage and successful adult children, are a big part of the problem, too.
7
Oh Charles M., are you STILL Blowing harder than ever before...
4
It is one thing to be a disrupter in the purist sense. There are times when change is called for, and a noble, informed and carefully considered clarion call to achieve it can be an appeal to both our better angels and an acknowledgement of the uncomfortable realities which are part of everyday life.
It is, therefore, not unheard of for a president to take a position with which a significant portion of the American electorate disagrees. That is not out of the ordinary and can be the result of moral clarity, leadership qualities and the need to establish directional markers born out of considered judgment and principled conviction. It can be the result of courage.
Donald Trump's propensity to position himself adversely to huge swaths of the population, however, is not the consequence of courage, but the consequence of cowering, corruption, carelessness and political calculation. It is taking the country and, to some extent the entire world, down a path not of moral certitude but of immorality.
We are faced with a president who has been gifted with so much and grifted from so many. The scars he is leaving on the nation's psyche will not heal overnight, if they ever do. There are those among us who are optimists, who believe that we will overcome and recover from the outrageous self-absorption and ruinous lack of decorum of an emotionally-stunted president.
I am no so sure. Donald Trump has unleashed evil, and it may not be possible to put it back in its bottle.
473
@Quoth The Raven
Disruption is good if you have something to replace what you have destroyed. I am getting very frustrated with our politicians. Especially so called conservatives. I feel like our country is rapidly deteriorating. Major changes need to be made to our government. It's too late to make small changes. Think of climate change.
51
@Quoth the Raven: I have said this same thing many times: the line has been crossed; there’s no going back. Something new - and not necessarily something better - will be born from this depredation.
But the depredations predate Donald Trump: the war crimes of G W Bush, and the Presidents predating him, have been left to fester, like suppurating sores filled with pus. That torture as a policy of this government was left unindicted is a blot larger than any offense of the current President. And that shameful lack of action falls squarely upon the shoulders of Obama and the Democrats.
19
@Dave: I still can’t figure out why Obama didn’t quite cross the finish line with the enormous support he received from the GOP. It’s mind boggling huh Dave?
39
Think Germany and Austria in the early 1930's. We now can understand first hand what they were going through.The majority of the people at that time thought it was a just passing phase. They were wrong.
Trump is the result of a severe distortion of our electoral system. Billionaires on the far right helped to finance the deconstruction of fair elections by supporting gerrymandering and voter suppression at the state level.
The Republican election strategy counts on Democratic voter apathy. There is only one solution to the racial divisiveness and violence that Trump and his GOP lackeys promote for the purpose of political power: A massive voter turnout. Vote and get out the vote against Trump and every Republican who stands by his side. Restore human decency to our nation.
13
Mr. Emoluments incites violence against women their health care providers people of color & any critics. Unfortunately his show can't be cancelled except by voters in 2020.
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.
What and who are Republicans supporting? How can one love America’s founding principles and vote for Trump? Do tax breaks justify keeping a president that inspires white terrorism?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/07/bidens-big-speech/
6
I am firmly convinced this senseless non-stop onslaught of hateful actions by this president is part of a well conceived plan to demoralize us and to grind us down. And guess what? It's working beautifully. And this is made all the more productive by the unforgivable fact that the republican party are doing absolutely NOTHING to contain this destructive, insensitive man.
The majority of us in this country are better than this. We have to rise above this evil and focus, focus, focus on electing responsible caring people to office. When we sink to the president and his enablers level they win. We cannot let that happen.
6
A screaming headline: Trump Has Dragged Us Into the Gutter
Maybe you should ask Pelosi what she will do about it?
3
We should all speak out against the political extremism that gave us the outbursts of domestic terrorism in Dayton and El Paso.
Hopefully Blow would agree, no?
1
With this President we are past narcissism. We have ventured into an area with no DSM-5 classification.
4
Trump should sue the El Paso shooter for plagiarism.
5
Now your getting into the gutter? Seems like we have been in there for sometime. The Democrats are choosing to take the low road now because of “need”? No, it’s a choice... a very bad choice. Trump makes outlandish statements and makes monsters out of opponents - Democrat’s do the exact same thing passing laws and investigations directed at “monsters” they have created...continuing a downward spiral. I see racism, ignorance, bias fact selection, dubious expert analysis, racial manipulation, and stupidity on all sides. If Trump has exposed anything it’s that too many so called enlightened liberals and progressive are just as vile, self serving, ignorant and hate driven as conservatives have been charged with in the past. The problem you will soon see is that getting into the gutter is easy and getting out is impossible.
The rhetoric ramped up when the rabid left blamed white Americans for the problems of blacks. The problems are caused by liberal policies that keep African Americans dependent on the government. Witness hard working black immigrants from Haiti and Nigeria and other countries advancing past African Americans whose families have been devastated by decades of public assistance. Who have had the work ethic drilled out of them. Whose culture glorifies gangs and drugs. You blame everyone but liberals and slander them with the R word. For that you deserve a response in kind and you have earned Trump.
2
Thank you.
Simply put, Clear words reveal the truth.
And the shame of living in this country.
Having to wear armor all the time, just to make it through the day.
As a 63-year-old gay man, I have some idea of what that is like.
2
I have to admit that I'm amazed at Mr. Blow's talent for feeling attacked. He is a "gay" "black" man, and today he is again feeling maligned and persecuted. But what did Mr. Trump say against gays or blacks? Why are there never any quotations from Mr. Trump saying insulting things about gays and blacks? How does Mr. Blow find the inspiration for his fulminations without any evidence to back them up? Honestly, it's impressive.
2
As an immigrant and a naturalized citizen who has lived here for 30 years, I am grateful to the current president for one big reason: he has keenly awakened my interest and curiosity in the History of the United States, and History in general, which I never much cared for. Although a person of color, my world (and I) was white for all practical reasons.
Reading Zinn , Lepore, and Coates I now realize why when I passed by african american fellow citizens, neither of us make much eye contact. Why there seemed to be an armor between us even when we interacted that at times seemed impenetrable.
Now I try to make it a point to acknowledge, smile, and get to know them as much as I can. Better late than never. Thank you President for getting rid of my apathy!
And thank you Mr. Blow for your wonderful writing. (Please also indulge in your data and graphics presentations, which is another special gift you have but we don't see as much of now.)
4
Trump actually represents the gutter. When millions of disoriented people voted him into power, we grew a sewer. We have a chance to clean up the sewer in 2020.
3
Powerful piece. Totally truthful. Thank you.
3
This is one of your best - “end our lives covered in scar tissue”. Explains it perfectly.
1
I fail to understand why those that feel targeted by Trump are also often against the second amendment. If Trump's government were the only ones with guns, how would you protect yourself if Trump did violate your rights and unlawfully came for you?
The truth of the matter is that Trump doesn't care one bit about the people of color. His sole concern is to play to his white base so as he says one thing he does another. It is all a apart of his magic show in which he is the chief snake oil salesman.
He is a moving target that dominates the news as he destroys our Federal Government. Since he has no moral or ethical sense can't lift anything up so he tears everything down to his level.
He is a very dangerous man. Alexander Hamilton warned us about a rogue man becoming president in 1788 saying it was a great danger to the constitution. Now we are confronted with such an individual. One can only hope that we will survive him in reasonable order.
2
"If you are one of the people in this country who feel personally targeted by Trump — immigrants, people of Mexican heritage, Muslims, people who are transgender, women, African-Americans — you know that we are experiencing this nightmare in a wholly different way, in a deeper way, than people who are not targeted.
When you are not the target of this man’s hate, you can object on moral grounds, as an exercise of principle. But you have chosen the fight.
For the targets, the fight chose us. It dragged us in. We have two choices: be pummeled or fight back."
Thank you Charles Blow for putting into words our daily experience in these trying times...
4
Every day I am heartbroken over the words and actions of the current occupant of the White House. The diversity which so gloriously makes the fabric of our nation is being tattered by a racist and his sycophants. Continue to Speak Truth to Power Charles Blow. If we turn our heads and do not lend our voices, today it will be the "other", tomorrow we will be the other. Combating this at the polls and then placing better guard rails onto the office of the President of the United States will help to ensure that we don't experience this again and protect us from an emerging dictatorship. We must remember that Article one of the Constitution creates the Legislative Branches not the presidency for a reason.
1
Why aren't the owners of companies that illegally employ workers being swept up first? If a larger crime has been committed it certainly is by those employing people illegally. Put them in jail first.
4
"When you are not the target of this man’s hate, you can object on moral grounds, as an exercise of principle. But you have chosen the fight."
If you are not yet the target of this man's hate, one day you will be. This fight chose all of us.
2
T’s only empathy is for men like Blagojevich. That should tell you all you need to know. Everyone else is to be ignored, neglected or outright punished, one way or the other, for not being just like himself.
3
The mass shootings this past weekend in two separate killing sprees had some important elements in common. Both were committed by heterosexual white men and both were committed by U.S. citizens. And though one of the shooters is a white nationalist while the other has a history of threatening women, these mass shootings have something else in common. If you extend the lines of thought from each of these men to their point of intersection - where white nationalism and misogyny converge - that point of convergence is to be found in the current occupant of the White House.
3
Anger is a justifiable human emotion. Hatred is the gateway drug to wrath.
Donald Trump went to Dayton to glad-hand his way down the aisles of the Miami Valley Hospital, then got on a plane for El Paso and started badmouthing Sherrod Brown and Mayor Whaley on Twitter. Trump's expressed reasons for this action don't matter. The real reason is that he was not greeted at the facility by cherubs throwing rose petals at his feet as he graced with his presence those now recovering from an attack, the impetus of which can be directly tied to his own rhetorical urgings.
It matters little the declamations of Tucker Carlson, he of the Fox Conformation Bias Network, that there are no more white nationalists than would fill a football stadium. In the current era, overwhelming force about technology, not numbers.
But in a different way, numbers are the bee in the bonnet of these history-deprived thugs, the lack of numbers sufficient to get a modicum of political control in our system of government.
Starting their own party would be an exercise in futility. So they take a page from the Generic Fundamentalist Handbook. They foment jihad by pushing propaganda out into cyberspace, throwing a platterful of hate against the wall to see what sticks.
Senator Brown and mayor Whaley never attended a kowtow pow-wow at the Oval Office. They didn't submit an oath of fealty.
But they did have the class to say that Trump did the POTUS dance in Dayton.
And then, once safely aloft, he attacked.
3
We've been in the gutter since trump took office. Tell us something new. Speak on the subject that will help get rid of this tyrant. Speak on agenda -- if you wish to do any good (except express hopeless anger) -- an agenda that will aid the people, that will attract votes away from trump.
Speak of government sponsored Health Care For All. (The people want it).
Speak of a minimum wage of $!5. (The people want it).
Speak of free tuition in state colleges. (The people want it).
Speak on control of the big banks that made the huge profits that brought about '08. (The people need it).
These few words, once spoken about widely , will do more to rid us of the tyrant than endless repeating of his obvious, atrocious behavior.
1
Trump, his family, friends, and sponsors, are in the gutter. They are Putin's gift to America, and America must be sure to pay Putin back in kind.
But we are not in the gutter.
"Old Town Road" is an inspirational piece of genius that shows us that the people of America don't need Russia's transient leaders of America to find common ground.
We can build on our diverse strengths like no other country on Earth.
A land of immigrants, the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law have made the US the most powerful, prosperous country on Earth.
The people are much stronger than their leaders, much stronger than the plutocrats, but our strength has yet to be tested.
It will soon be tested if Trump believes he will steal another election with the help of foreign despot(s) and a popular vote deficit. Ain't going to happen.
"Old Town Road" shows Americans are a great people that will find common ground based on shared humanity and ingenuity.
All the crazies, from the gutters of the White House hateful to the extremist gutters of hatred around the nation, are tiny in number and impotent in power relative to the 315 million Americans that hold the ultimate reigns of power to this nation.
Trump and Putin will not defeat us, but make us stronger to fight the next con man and despot to bumble along.
2
Mr. Blow,
Perhaps take some solace (as I have) in how all the Democratic presidential candidates, and the press as well, have stopped pretending Trump is anything but a white supremacist.
Corey Booker and Joe Biden both gave searing speeches condemning Trump. Booker, always a great orator, spoke movingly at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina denouncing Trump and evoking America’s brutal history of racism.
More surprising was Joe Biden's speech, if for no other reason than it seemed Biden could no longer make an impassioned statement, let alone such a speech.
However, Biden simply said what he believed, and it's what anyone claiming to be decent must believe; that there’s no real distance between Trump, his rhetoric, and his "toxic tongue", and "white supremacists and Neo-Nazis". Further, Biden stated there's no real distance between Trump and the white supremacist terrorists who have been murdering racial, ethnic, and religious minorities in America, as Trump "has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation…We have a president who has aligned himself with the darkest forces in this nation."
This in no way is an endorsement of Booker, Biden, or of Beto O'Rourke, who straight-out said Trump is a white supremacist, it's simply proof that not only pundits like you are saying what Trump is. Trump is finally being called a white supremacist by everyone but Americans beyond redemption.
So we aren't all in the gutter; not yet.
2
Charles - You're wrong about getting in the gutter. Joe Biden got it right yesterday by focusing on America's yet to be realized founding premise that all people are created equal. His wasn't gutter talk or gutter walk. He appealed to our fundamental decency. That's what's needed. It's more than enough when the alternative is so obscene.
1
Charles Blow thank you for your comments. For those of us who are not white, your words strengthen us to continue the daily struggle of putting on the armor and going outside to face these hard and dangerous times. With you in the struggle.
3
While Trump won the electoral college he lost the popular vote by a wide margin. It is this fact, knowing that the majority of true Americans voted against him and his ideologies, and that he does not have a true mandate, that keep me from being depressed thinking that the majority of my countrymen support his wicked and warped beliefs and ideologies. I hold out hope that the majority of true Americans will again vote down his racist government and vote him out of office; I do fear though that the electoral college system, a system invented by white racist slave owners in 1789, will again send him back to the White House for another four years. Imagine what an unbridled Trump will do with his last four years! Living abroad will never have looked so good.
3
Your columns constitute a series of performative outrage. Most people know that Trump is a stinker. Now what?
Gutter? No sewer; complete with his festered GOP dominated swamp. And, the sewage runoff s creating algae blooms.
At the rate Trump is going, by the time he leaves office, he will have destroyed the very fabric of this country by poisoning the well. In under three years, the damage done, will take years to undo. If he gets re-elected; it will take decades.
In the meantime, the fetid hate will expand to target other race, religious and ethic group. And, it could drive even more shootings, house of worship brunings, and maybe OKC like bombings.
Instead of draining a swamp, Trump is about to create quicksand of hate, that will be difficult to extricate itself from.
2
I am an older, retired white man. I have lost count of how many times since Jan. 20, 2016, I have gone to bed crying or screaming into my pillow at what has happened to our country, to children in our name, our
reputation as an ally or reliable partner who could be counted on in this world. Donald Trump and his crime family and his cronies and the Republicans have betrayed every virtue and honest value we ever had.
Sometimes, like tonight, I honestly become afraid of the depth of my own feelings. He and his dismal minions have a karmic debt they will pay. He won’t weasel out of this one.
350
@Mark Schlemmer
Jan. 20, 2016 - you had a year's head start...
4
@Mark Schlemmerm Correct. The word is karma. And his legions of fans might want to figure out what all of it actually means.
6
@Mark Schlemmer
Remember those heroic persons who persevered during the Civil War. Consider what they accomplished with death all around them. This is a political civil war that requires our cunning and intelligence. We will end this nightmare together.
25
It's possible that the biggest subset of the U.S. electorate contains individuals who know they won't vote for Mr. Trump next year.
Folks in this group have a wide variety of opinions about how he should leave office, and why, but the potential power of this consensus would be enormous. Just demonstrating that it exists would almost certainly make things move through the GOP intestines.
Several such non-Tump voters in the newly liberated state of Wisconistan have started to light the darkness--at least symbolically --by flashing their front door lights three times each night at nine.
Three dashes is 'o' in Morse code, and 'o' is short for out (which would be three longs, two shorts, two longs, or --- .. --).
It might seem insignificant but can grow to become a powerful visual message to both Mr. Trump and his GOP enablers.
The inspiration came from state-wide efforts in the 60s to turn lights on for Green Bay Packers' return flights passing overhead. (By now, accounts of the custom have the state clearly enough outlined to be seen from way out in space.)
The white power movement existed before Trump. Groups opposing non-whites include the Klu Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, skinheads, Christian Idenity, Aryan Nation, alt-right, etc. Trump is echoing much of the hateful rhetoric of these groups although with somewhat less vile language. All of these groups believe in the violent white power ideology. It is totally irresponsible for a president of the US to lend support to the aims of these groups. Any president should seek to marginalize them because they are dangerous as we have seen. While the shooters may not be members of these groups they share the white power ideology. This is a dangerous international revolutionary movement that is now threatening to get out control thanks in part to Trump.
2
No Democratic candidate has carried the white vote in a Presidential election since 1964. Trump is but the spearhead of a broader, deeper racist culture. His strength with the Republican voters is his overt racist rhetoric. Don't believe me watch his fascist rallies.
2
This is why I've developed a sort of agoraphobia: "And that’s the other part of the trauma: The targets have to constantly wrestle with the reality that a large portion of the American population is perfectly fine with what Trump is doing and many people will even show up at his rallies and cheer."
1
Yes , of course it can happen here . It already has . We were sure that our political institutions and norms were too perfect to allow what happened in Germany in the 1930`s to happen here . Many Americans feel today like the Jews did in Germany in the 1930`s . That includes blacks , latinos , Muslins and immigrant , legal and ilegal . It is true that we have no extermination camps or plans for a final solution , but we have concentration camps in the frontier with Mexico . History does not repeat itself but it often rhyme , as Mark Twain said . Not to see the similarities is proof of our hubris .
4
Amen, Charles Blow. Well said and so, so sad.
5
He dragged ? Perhaps.....
But so so many were so willing to go there.
The 'Social Contract' is broken.
1
Don’t blame Trump for these recent tragedies. If the inflow of migrants/illegals to the USA will not be blocked effectively these tragedies will pale compared to future civil backlash and unrest. The president is right in coupling more stringent gun control with tougher immigration laws.
Also, Trump is the president of the USA and is doing the right thing of visiting and providing condolences to family members of the victims and citizens of Dayton and El Paso. SHAME SHME SHAME on Beth O’Rourke and other Demos for their negative narrative and politicizing the tragedies.
If The president would not visit the mass shooting cities and provide condolences there would be millions criticizing him. The demos make sure that for Trump it is a no win no win situationDon’t blame Trump for these recent tragedies. If the inflow of migrants/illegals to the USA will not be blocked effectively these tragedies will pale compared to future civil backlash and unrest. The president is right in coupling more stringent gun control with tougher immigration laws. Also, Trump is the president of the USA and is doing the right thing of visiting and providing condolences to family members of the victims and citizens of Dayton and El Paso. SHAME SHME SHAME on Beth O’Rourke and other Demos for their negative narrative and politicizing the tragedies.
1
This week I am on vacation in Germany, the North Sea coast.
When I arrived at the apartment rental agency I explained to them that my English is very good because I am from the United States. And an instant after saying that, I regretted it.
So this morning At the bakery I lied when they asked, and I told them that I am French.
Not to say the Germans don’t have skeletons in their closet too, but even so... I didn’t vote for Trump. And I realize what a national disgrace the guy is.
2
Although immigration raids on food processing plants in Mississippi were reportedly planned months ago, I can’t help but wonder about their timing. Just another attempt at deflecting public outrage and nonstop press coverage over trump’s disastrous “performances” in El Paso and Dayton. Seems to be a recurring pattern with this administration.
1
So, how do we behave in this gutter? More people are starting to suggest meeting Trump in the sewer where he lives instead of taking the high road but what are we talking about doing down there exactly?
1
Consider this Mr. Blow.
All you write is correct. But what Trump may be really after is stoking violence to the point that he can declare martial law. He will then have his dictatorship. If the voting process is made sufficiently murky and confused, he may be able to have election results suspended, pending indefinite review.
This is a guy who has used the law and courts to pervert justice throughout his adult life.
The nation elected Trump because he promised to build a wall and deport illegal aliens. He is just keeping his promise.
He promised to keep the nation safe, he is building up the military and also screening prospective legal immigrants for our safety. He is just keeping his promise.
He is doing all this while acting in his legal capacity, following the law staying within its boundaries. O
Your allegations of calling his actions repressive, unsupported, racist are unfounded.
It would be beneficial,if in future writings, you would bring examples of misdeeds and lawless acts committed by Trump before accusing him of such.
2
@Marika
Wow
2
Many would argue that the gutter dragging began many years ago with William Jefferson Clinton, and that perhaps Trump is carrying on his legacy. I remember quite clearly the Times defense or looking away nature with respect to WJC’s many sordid activities. It’s ok to complain about Trump but he’s in office at least in part due to a prior Deplorable in Chief. The desensitization of voters to Bill’s awful behavior and dishonesty is being felt now in the form of Donald Trump. One of the funnier things I’ve seen is how the times has essentially been forced now to finally criticize Clinton’s horrible behavior as young people have woken up to the similarities of these two individuals.
I agree with every word. So why are we not storming our nation’s capital by the hundreds of thousands as Puerto Ricans did in San Juan and the citizens of Hong Kong continue to do so bravely? Where is our Martin Luther King?
Where are our nations youth? I am itching to march and I am sure there are thousands of others who feel the way I do. But we need an organizer. Where is Indivisible? Where is MoveOn.org? We must in every way call out the so-called president as illegitimate. Use every opportunity to disown him as a normal human being worthy of respect. To that end I recommend that after the first presidential debate the Democratic nominee refuse to engage the ever lying racist Trump in any future debates. It is impossible to engage the man as a rational competitor. Better not to dignify the occasion by treating him as a normal opponent.
4
I agree with you. I feel that way.
1
Thank you Mr. Blow for so starkly contrasting Trump’s behavior with accepted norms among non-bigots. I can’t help but think of how President Obama was criticized for empathizing with Trayvon Martin’s death (“He could have been my son”). Obama was criticized for showing warmth, and yet Trump spews racist bile that provides cover for the lowest among us to justify their hatred. And he gets away with it. It makes me worry for our very culture as a country that more people don’t reject Trump and his horrors.
3
Trump derives his power from those people who voted for him, and support his policies. It is they who gave rise to his voice. Trump is a reflection, not a cause. It is wrong to blame the mirror when you don't like what you see in it. Unelecting Trump is not going to diminish the power that elected him. The true cause of Trump's rise to power can be understood only by acknowledging that those who elected him have something to say. Instead of blaming Trump, we ought to be looking more deeply into the darkness we see reflected in the mirror. There is a disease growing in this country.
1
I’m glad he is causing an uprising. It is hard to believe that anyone could back this ‘man’ and say that he represents their way of thinking. How can an American be against helping the poor, the sick, the elderly and immigrants? We are greater when we respect all people.
4
Possibly one of the most incorrect analyses I have read on these pages. America was well into the gutter long before Trump.
Sandy Hook, Orlando, Ft. Hood, Charleston, Aurora, San Bernardino, Denver, and many more...all occurred under the Obama Administration. Nearly three dozen mass shootings and nobody said he had dragged us into the gutter.
The El Paso shooter blamed everybody & everything in his manifesto. Hispanics, Republicans, corporations, greed, and more were all listed among his grievances. One of his gravest complaints was his worry about climate change and the need to control population because of it. He said his views formed before the Trump presidency.
We know the Dayton shooter was a supporter of Elizabeth Warren. He agreed with Antifa. We know he had a target list of people to terminate years ago. "Red Flags" were all over this guy - nobody did anything. There was no white extremism with this fellow.
I pray for a solution to these problems. I for one however am painfully weary of our President being blamed for all of this. I'm tired of being among his supporters who are blindly labeled as 'racists' merely for being white and opposed to Democrat ideology.
The Democrats have real problems. They are fund raising off of this. They make inflammatory accusations of the right that sadly too often mirror their own behavior. Eventually I pray that voters stop rewarding hypocrisy.
3
ICE raided meat processing plants in Mississippi, owners must not be big Republican donors.
1
If it’s not Trump appointing judges explicitly committed to denying me fundamental rights, or establishing policies whereby I can be denied medical care, or burying hate crimes against me, it’s some opinion writer in the NY Times telling me that as a gay white man I don’t even have the right to "feel personally targeted by Trump”.
I’m so glad I left the USA.
In his own personal manner of saying the right things at the right time, President Obama was comforting even as this imposter to healing occupies the Oval Office.
Thank you President Obama for reminding us this week what a real president can do to assist in healing our country.
4
Today's ill-timed raids (is there ever a good time?) took place at food processing plants owned by Koch Industries.
As one TV pundit put it, those hiring the illegal immigrants were the ones who should have been dragged away--but how would Donald Trump or any politician dare bite the hand that feeds them?
As a white American, I never have experienced the fear and injustice people of color and non-Caucasian ethnicities have long endured.
But when I heard an El Paso resident exclaim, "they are hunting us down," I felt like vomiting.
How can I, in a "safe" state ever fully understand the fear of those demonized by the most powerful person on earth?
I can't. I used to think Trump was the only person America had to fear, but keep forgetting he gets to weaponize hate in every federal agency empowered to treat Hispanics, African Americans, Muslims, and LGBT people with maximum cruelty.
3
I have a guy living across the street from me in a quiet suburban neighborhood. His deck faces the road at a four way stop.
School children will be walking by his house soon to school up the street. Most of the kids are brown and black because they walk thru this guys neighborhood street to their low income condo apartment rentals.
He has a full size “ TRUMP 2020” flag hanging off that deck for these children to see every day until 2020 election.
I have my “ Amy for America “ sign pinned to my maple tree with a little clay sign that says “ HOPE” . Near my lamp post I placed a Meme sign stating my beliefs that “no human is illegal “ and “women’s rights “ are “Human Rights” and “ Black Lives” matter and “ Be Kind”.
These little children don’t deserve the pain we adults are causing them all. Passive and active measures to harass voters and minorities must be met with equal resistance. Time to review our manuals from our 1960’s race wars.
2
"...have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out."
Exactly right! Thank you Mr. Blow.
You can't reason with the incessant blowhard at the end of the bar, so you make his life as uncomfortable as he's making everyone else's. And if that doesn't work, you quite literally step up and slug it out. Which, as it happens, is usually most effective, because all blowhards and bullies are innate cowards, as is Trump.
I'm at a loss as to why all those he's so far insulted don't keep at him and insult him back. There's no way he could possible keep up with such a torrent of insults and the high road approach ain't working. Neither is just ignoring him. And gawd! There's just so much to insult!
Use his own tactics against him: If he gives you a bad day, give him several bad days. You don't afford civility to a man who knows not what the word means.
1
"Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out."
More accurately, The Republican party has dragged this country into the gutter...
The entire party must be held accountable. Hyper-focusing on Trump is dangerous. We must focus our energy on holding the House, flipping the Senate and of course removing Trump. Groups like SwingLeft and Sister District Project can help ordinary people get organized and support Democratic candidates across the country.
1
Illegal immigrants need to be deported. Enforcing immigration law is not racist. They need to be sent back.
1
The "gutter" doesn't even begin to describe it.
2
We should be focusing on all the really bad policy decisions that are being passed under our noses instead of his stupid tweets, which he does just to distract from the really dangerous stuff.
5
Except in this opinion piece I see no mention in The Times about the nearly 700 people rounded up and arrested at a chicken processing facility in Mississippi, one of those red states supporting Republican terrorism. Hypocrisy much? Where are all those displaced white workers lining up for these jobs?? Just as I thought. What about the owners of this place who hired them? Off scott free?
3
Trump will not change he is a malignant narcissist who will only get worse as opposing politicians and the media critique him which he cannot handle. Trump will stir his rabid cult into a frenzy of hate as he fears losing in 2020 possibly to face criminal charges and financial ruin. If Trump loses his narcissistic mind will not accept the loss in 2020 and refuse to leave the office unless he is dragged out by federal marshals.
3
Charles Blow is absolutely right, and the list of Trump targets is long - start with anyone non-white, Muslims, women and Jews (remember Pittsburgh? Already a few massacres ago.)
And he is right we have to fight. Organize, volunteer, donate. Just voting is not enough. This guy must be removed in 2020, and failure is not an option.
3
My fear is that if the Democratic nominee is white there will be a repeat of decreased turnout by blacks.Do you think you could address that?
1
Where else should we expect to be led by a man like Donald Trump? Let us not be surprised that Donald Trump has turned the White House into a fetid swamp of corruption and malignant dysfunction.
5
It appears that Trump is one of those creatures that crawled from the "swamp" in a horror movie.
3
I am willing to go out on limb with this but I think this is the incident that broke the dam. There are two and a half unregistered Latinos in Texas who are eligible to vote.With almost 60 million Hispanics in our population it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to see Trump and his minions could be on the ropes.It is refreshing that people like Biden and Booker are putting some of the blame squarely on the shoulders of Trump.I had written off Beto O Rourke but his recent condemnation of Trump's racism was so on point I think he deserves another look.There can be no more dancing around the question of is Trump a racist or not.There also can't any question after The El Paso Massacre if Trump's racist rhetoric can cause harm.Trump for years has been pouring gasoline on White People fears of the others and it has ignited.Trump can't stop preaching his hate because he is a one trick pony because without hate what is Trump? The solution to get us out of the Gutter that Trump has us in is at the ballot box.A full court press should be immediately started to register voters for 2020.Trump won the presidency by 73000 votes across three states.There is no reason the White House and Senate can't be won in 2020.Isn't it time we call out the people who support a racist president? In what world can you support a racist and not be one? Trump's support does not come from his brilliance as a statesman his support comes from his hatred of the others.
4
Trump’s Presidency is the gutter and reflects the real nature of this very small and pathetic man. He is a racist, a demagogue whose only talent is inciting anger and hate. But in his administration’s policies he is doing the most harm; increasing social and income inequality, harming the environment, avoiding dealing with climate change, eviscerating
healthcare, and stirring up economic and political instability with his ill conceived chaotic trade wars and his dismantling of Iran and nuclear middle agreements. He is destroying our post WW2 alliances and supporting despots like Putin and Kim.
Trump is the gutter but his language is in some ways a demagogue’s distraction from horrific policy choices that he is inflicting on the world.
3
It's a very specific type of gutter. It's the front door to the sewer that Trump creates and inhabits. There are all sorts of nefarious creatures inhabiting this festering sewer, who once they get what they want by any means, scurry back into their dark corners and nibble on their take. Now there's this disgusting postering going on to make Trump look like a youthful president*. But lurking just under the surface is the same infested Trump sewer inhabited by a decaying soul (yeah...you got it right ... Trump).
3
One of the root causes of our growing dystopia is, that ever since the build up to the Iraq war our press has reported truth and lies as two sides of an argument and in effect has become simply the orator of the narratives that different political, philosophical and ideological groups want us to believe.
Yes, there are articles with empirical data. But than there are also articles that quote a Faux news anchor or a Murdoch systematic lie
Just now the Guardian for example reported at length that the biggest Faux news liar - TC - called 'white supremacy' a hoax similar to the Russia hoax - basically nullifying evidence.
The NYT did it when it just reported in a headline the words that Trump said after El Paso and Dayton, as if there was no context to the man at all - basically becoming a mouthpiece and nothing more.
Why are these lies repeated so widely even by those who know better?
Repeating is not reporting.
2
This will not end when he's gone. Too many among us champion this kind of vile, nasty cruelty. And as they continue ripping the country to shreds, Putin cheers.
3
Brilliant writing. As for the last line, let's not go into the gutter with him, but let's slug it out on our own moral plane.
2
I do believe that Trump has simply embolden the gutter dwellers, rather than dragged us into the gutter. These folks, his white power people, have always been there, but subdued. They are now out and proud of their hate and cruelty. They are still fighting the civil war.
I think they still are the minority overall, but they maintain majorities in the red states, enough to maintain their hold on the senate, which is the real problem. I suggest voting, boycotting red states products, and reducing your support for major corporations who use their lobbying influence to control the government. Since the corporations own the government, it is the corporations that can change things. The fact that they don't tells you just how evil they are.
2
Charles Blow exposes his own anti-immigrant bias when he says. "This action could have been delayed until the president’s visit was complete". Apparently, it is the timing of the deportations that Mr. Blow objects to, not the deportations itself. This, I would say, echoes the immigration policies of the Obama administration. The ignorant, racist and oligarchic policies of the Trump administration will never be challenged, let alone defeated, by liberals who (like Trump) are more concerned with the optics of deportations than they are with the actual deportations. It is time for a radical change in how we approach the immigration policies that are responsible for shattering the lives of so many.
1
Trump Has Dragged Us Into the Gutter - many times over! Yet his electoral college advantage seems to be only getting better. What does this tell you about the state of this Union?
Mr. Blow, with your contention that trump is causing you a "deeper" pain than me, a white male, you are dividing us. Note that in the oppressed/oppressor dichotomy there is no place for anything in between. When a child is wronged does the parent suffer less? What about a brother or sister? When they suffer injustice are their siblings left off easier? No. We are one and we are against him and we are against his world view.
Let's see how many Mississippians line up for jobs at that meat processing plant. Yes America Trump is making America great again. You can manicure his greens, rake his sand traps, wash dishes, pick vegetables and fruits, bus tables, wash dishes, cook, and spend endless hours in the sun landscaping. You know all the jobs that Americans that can't find work are lining up to do. With all this insanity when is someone going to start calling out Stephen Miller?
3
Nothing says 'I am here to be with the victims and their families'
than a video production crew who films and edits a video campaign ad starring Trump, Trump, Trump!!!! and has it circulating within 3 hours.
It has never been about the victims or their families. Trump like the GOP NRA Gun Club are 100% supportive of mass shootings in America as they are acceptable by products of the right to guns.
And Trump has outlined the targets.
Every day (like yesterday in Dayton) Trump dives head first lower, lower and lower. And there is little we can do.
And the raid yesterday in Mississippi was too much to take. 680 families now in crisis as a loved one has been put on a bus to where? Not home. What happened to their children if they had them? Who got them from school/day care?
I do not want to get in the gutter with Orange Slime but I will fight for my fellow citizens with all I've got. And the Democrats had better gear up to fight versus standing around going 'what are we going to do now?'
1
He was elected by the gutter. Trump is their President attempting to actualize their agenda and a symptom of the failing culture and economics in vast swaths of whit rural and post industrial America. He is the living breathing screaming embodiment of their inability to accept the consequences of their decisions.
1
As a New Yorker who has lived in NYC all my life I'm all too familiar with Trump and his never-ending quest for publicity.
When he was just a tiresome playboy playing at being a man about town businessman he fooled nobody as to his business prowess.
Nobody with any intelligence cared or paid attention. He was there but who cared?
Only the foolhardy took him seriously or got involved so they alone got burned financially.
But, culture changed and reality tv blossomed in popularity and the wwwrestling crowd watched him and the apprentice watchers did too.
Why? I've never understood it but I don't understand the attraction of the National Enquirer either.
But now the boorish, crass dolt managed to become potus.
God help us all.
Vote him out. Vote on November 3 2020. Work hard America. Get him and the rest of the greedy, immoral thugs OUT.
4
Have any mayors of Florida panhandle cities denounced Trump's open invitation to the murder of immigrants in that area at his rally there last May? If not, they too are complicit in Trump's unending campaign of terror.
Share all sentiments expressed except the final one. The gutter for those who did not vote for him, were victimized by his hateful rants, a thousand paper cuts will not rid us of him. Wrestling with a pig analogy applies.
A man void of principle easily lies, twists facts until what is true relies on scrutinizes ever word.
Trump is a failure as President. Only legislative victory the unpopular tax bill aggravating the exploding deficits, 12 years of repealing health care benefits with not a single replacement bill criminal. Climate denial official policy. Immigrant bashing is not policy reform. Withdrawing from commitments not a sign of progress. Protecting innocents a flop of tragic proportion.
I propose a toast to Trump with a vintage glass or two of water from the tap in Flint circa 2016. A fitting tribute.
2
Trump is in full deflection mode. The democrats or democratic supporters kill people. Just look at Dayton. Democrats lie and cheat. Democrats use language that inflames. Whatever Trump has done and will continue to do, Democrats allegedly do more of it and to greater effect. If the people buy this, then we will get what we deserve: four more years of Trump and possibly the installation of Ivanka after that. The only way to deal with this is to stop doing what we're doing. Trump needs to be called out every time he lies. The media need to stop covering his "rallies" and statements of self-absolution. Let Fox news carry Trump's water. The rest of us don't need to hear any more.
It is not just hate that Trump generates with almost every word he utters; he deliberately misleads the population (US and others) and he also tells his entourage and anyone else who cares to listen lies upon lies. His followers (Farage and Johnson and others) are emulating him, spreading the Trump "gospel". It is a very sad state of affairs and one wonders where it all leading to.
4
I am proud to never have mouthed the words to the pledge of allegiance, nor to the bloody anthem. And I never shall. Why? Because half the citizens of this country are truly deplorable, worthy only of my scorn.
2
I fear that their will be more
killings because his hate, his rhetoric will build to a fevered pitch and I am truly frightened by a president who does not care about any of us, only himself.
2
El Paso, Tx. Not Tex.
1
It is just unbelievable that the country's Prez himself is seen as against some of his country's own citizens, you feel stuck and you are helpless. Are we still to think it is great democracy, based on equality?
1
Why. Oh why. Are we at home reading and not in the streets?
1
Response to article’s title; we’ve hardly gone kicking and screaming
1
I had a Trump supporter tell me yesterday on a bench in the park that these are the end-times and that Trump is the Angel of Death sent here by G-d to lead the American people on a 40 year
hike through the wilderness before He calls the U.S. a day.
Sounded plausible to me and a perfect complement to what Charles is saying here.
1
Today I was at my local IGA grocery standing in line. I was wearing my t-shirt with the words “MAKE RACISM WRONG AGAIN” written across the front. I knew the man in front of me and that he was a fervent Trump supporter. He turned to me and said, “I wish I could vote for Reagan again”. Since the tapes of Reagan and Nixon spouting clearly racist beliefs were made public just days ago, his meaning was also clear. I responded, “Well, thank God Reagan is dead.” The man then said something along the lines of how he loves to trigger people like me. “People like you just love to hate, don’t you?”, I said. He responded again with, “Yes, we do”.
This man is the deacon at the local Catholic Church.
And there you have it.
5
These are right in questioning whether a visit by this president is appropriate given his recent history with caustic rhetoric. But as we know, these visits are not about Americans, they're about him. Giving him attention a feeding his narcissicism. Can we all at least agree not to use his name? Even he refers to himself with his own name in the third person. Use terms such as the president, the administration, the white house, etc. just don't use his name. Stop giving him the attention he feeds on. Starve his ego and his true self will be revealed to all.
I fall in to the morality column Mr. Blow, only imaging the depth of despair felt by people of colour, knowing there is no escaping the ever-growing target on their backs. A target endorsed and enlarged by the president.
Yesterday, Trump took his total lack of morality to the front doors of those in pain to show us he is “least racist person on earth”, this is the depth of his imagining, a photo op, nothing more, and they treated him like a “rock star”. As hospital staff clamoured to get their selfies with Trump (as he smiled, thumbs up), my heart fell to new depths. In hospital beds victims languished, in homes families grieved the loss of a loved one while Trump happily posed. Where is his sense of decency, dignity, respect for those in such pain, his inappropriateness knows no bounds. To reduce this horrific loss to a sideshow is both inexcusable and shameful.
Those of us who do not live in America still feel your despair each day because morality is universal and held deep within us. To see people suffering so deeply in a democracy, once revered, shakes us all down to the core.
6
Trump has dragged the gutter into the gutter.
4
Stop complaining. We let ourselves be dragged in with the outsized, over-the-top, 24/7, over-reactive, sky-is-falling coverage of every single thing he says.
The US media, hungry for clickbaits, eyeballs and ad dollars, is entirely complicit. The media has been Trump’s biggest enabler.
2
Boy what a mistake it was electing this guy.
4
It is a bad psychological condition when you always need a bad guy. It is so much easier to point the finger of blame than look in the mirror. Is there anything you write now that is not hyperbole?
2
The TV and Internet Media need to replay and replay again Trumps words about white supremacy, infestation, etc., but particularly his hated word about El Paso last February.
https://crooksandliars.com/2019/08/el-paso-shooters-manifesto-uses-trump-and
These media clips need to be played several times but particularly close to the 2020 election.
Trump has blood on his hands.
2
So illegal immigration should be supported by the government?
1
"some blame Trump for causing it, and believe his presence will compound the pain."
So, I get it!
Trump caused the British descendants in the American colonies to import African and Caribbean slaves, and whip and beat them to death so they would work in horrible conditions and then trained their children to hate those same people and whip them until, well, roughly 25 years ago when it finally became somewhat illegal to whip a black man to death?
However, it is still not illegal for British descendants to hate whomever they want.
And Trump taught those same British descendants to hate Mexicans, Jews, Italians, and pretty much anyone who was not like the British?
Wow. Trump is the real deal when it comes to making history.
I get it!
Great article.
2
I often think about what it must be like to be the target of Trump's vitriol. I can't imagine dealing with that every day. And I always have to wonder - how can so many people still support this president? Surely they must know some people of color, some immigrants, some LGBTQ people? Surely a personal experience would have helped to appease their anger and fear?
We all have to constantly wrestle with the reality that a large portion of the American population is perfectly fine with what Trump is doing and many people will even show up at his rallies and cheer.
4
I used to feel only outrage. Now I feel outrage but I also feel very tired. I feel the need to keep up with his filth and lies because I believe it's very important to stay informed but it's harder and harder not to disappear into my own little world and shell. Thank you for staying the course and saying what needs to be said.
6
I am terrified.
For my gay son. For my daughter who married into a strict evangelical family. For my oldest son with a disability.
I am terrified.
For our friends preparing to move back to Indiana. They are gay and transgender.
I am terrified.
Each and everyday. One neighbor hangs the Betsy Ross flag from the outdoor wall of his home facing our back porch. A confederate flag from his pickup. Another neighbor speaks openly of beating up minorities and queers.
I am terrified.
I am a white male in my late fifties. Married to a wonderful women for the last 35 years. We work, pay taxes, try to be good people.
We are terrified.
7
I begged the democrats to impeach, their response was [insert cowards-faced babbling]. And now the bill comes due. The far right will never stop escalating the violence. From their perspective, they are winning.
3
Voting is the only thing that matters. All the rest is a total waste.
4
Perhaps your best column yet, Mr. Blow. Your subject: The horrors of Trump's reign. Your prose: Beautiful. Just beautiful.
5
Too bad America doesn't have a parliamentary system wherein a legislative " vote of no confidence" could remove him from power.
The nation wouldn't have to be stuck with an obvious incompetent for four nightmare years.
1
Before Trump was elected I thought he was the worst America had to offer.
After 2 years as president I now see he is the worst that the human race has to offer.
5
A sentence from a 1960s song: "Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace," …
1
As a South African, born in Zimbabwe I have experienced the tribulations of despicable leadership. As we witnessed Mugabe and Zuma are products of their time and circumstance. Trump is also a product of 21st century America. Just like Zimbabwe and South Africa the US has a leader that they deserve. The time has come for you Americans to stop the hand wringing and Do Something about it. Vote him in once shame on the Republicans. Vote him in twice shame on you all.
2
This president has tragically uncovered the worst in some of us but the best in some of us is speaking loud and clear!
3
I wonder what happened to the Christian belief : Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Trump supporters have no concept, nor do they care, as to what it is like to be an immigrant or an African American or a single mother or an LGBTQ person or a Syrian person or a person living in sub Saharan Africa or ....... No Trump supporters only care about, well people like them. So if you are a Trump supporter and you are trying to argue that not all of you behave like Trump and his behavior should not define you, then you are begininning to get some taste of what it's like to be African American, an immigrant from south of the border, and so on. And be viewed as 'other' or 'rapist' or 'drug dealer' or .... Most of these mass murderers are young white men. What if we started calling you all ' mass murderers' and democratic candidates started saying white folks need to be stopped before they murder everyone. After all Trump supporters are a minority. We are just doing unto you what you do unto others. Here's another biblical tenet you might want to consider: You reap what you sow. Time to reopen that Bible of yours and start reading all the words. Not just the ones you think will rationalize what Trump is saying and doing. And follow those words instead of focusing on the words of Trump. His bible is one he likely stole from a hotel room somewhere to use as a prop. Likely looks like the day it came out of the package. Never even opened.
3
Than you for writing this column. In the craziness that is Trump’s USA, it’s a beacon of humanity.
Our government has become a monster. After The murder of 5 year old children at Sandy Hook, elected representatives did not legislate for gun control. Years and many murders later, we are still hearing nonsense about mental health and video games.
The visit of the racist monster in chief to Dayton and EL Paso is an insult. I despair.
3
While I despise Trump, he didn't drag America down this is who we are as a Nation.
3
As Trump makes it clearer and clearer to everyone (except people whose sole source of news is Fox News) that he is a raving racist, voters in 2020 will have a very stark choice. If you vote for Trump, you are condoning his racism and confirming that you are a racist. You cannot escape by saying you are voting for him because you like the tax cuts, the judges, etc. I'm hoping that such people are not a voting majority, but no one can be certain.
4
Yes, and sadly we have let him drag us into the gutter.
1
Bravo Mr. Blow. Do not forget those children. Remind every Republican what it is that they support with their vote for Trump or for any Republican senator effectively allowing McConnell to promote their racist agenda.
Tell Republicans they are standing by, silent, like Germans did in 1933 as their leader dehumanized fellow citizens.
Let them know their vote supports a man and a party that forces a 7th generation American of Mexican descent to carry her passport at all times because she may be arrested for being brown.
That their vote supports a man and party that instills fear in an American child of Mexican descent cowering from gunfire fired in response to the Republican endorsed claim of a Mexican invasion. How willing to look away must one be to not see that a stupid and irresponsible claim by the American President would inspire a "patriotic" American to go to El Paso in defense of his country?
Support for this party is direct support of the racism and fear it promotes. It cannot be ignored in support of other policies.
Nothing extenuates racism.
4
Now that the Russian collusion hoax panned out badly, the left needs a new boogeyman to rag on. The public is not buying it.
2
“If you are one of the people in this country who feel personally targeted by Trump — immigrants, people of Mexican heritage, Muslims, people who are transgender, women, African-Americans — you know that we are experiencing this nightmare in a wholly different way, in a deeper way, than people who are not targeted.”
Well as I live and breathe it was all about you. Not like you haven’t told me before.
Evil comes in many forms.
1
Thank you Mr. Blow. I cried during “Come From Away “ yesterday, when the cast brought to life the diversity, and acceptance of the plane passengers and the town of Gander in Newfoundland. I cried because we are so far from that acceptance.
Charles you are right - the point I keep coming back to is the children being taken from their parents in our name. We - all americans - are responsible for what is happening at our border. How can so many Americans be ok with this? We are helpless to stop it. I am now looking into how to become a sponsor for a child at the Office for Refugee Settlement where there is a way for americans who care to apply to care for 'unaccompanied alien children' .. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/unaccompanied-childrens-services
We are better than this.. our children are watching.
Right on! Trump has dragged us into the gutter and we have to fight it out with him. My mind reals every morning from his very lethal and noxious presence. I want some peace, sanity, stability, possibility of solving our problems. He's a chaos-maker. Organize, VOTE!!!
2
When the Trump team announced that he was going to Dayton and El Paso, I told my wife that whoever came up with that idea should be fired. And then Trump went to both cities and was the hateful, soulless man I had expected. At least Melania had enough sense not to wear her "I really don't care" jacket", but then again maybe it was just too hot.
2
How do we let the people who support Trump off the hook? So Called Christians can't have it both ways. People who claim to not be bigots can't support a Bigot.Is the answer for The Aggrieved Forgotten Middle American White Man to support a Racist? If unemployment went to zero would that be enough to vote for a dealer in Hate? We will never be a colorblind society but we can't make the world think that only one race matters in America.
2
I know many professional psychologists who tell me their practices are overwhelmed with people who are suffering from anxiety specifically triggered by what Trump and his enablers are doing to this country. Anyone who isn't a white male (or a woman or person of color in denial) is a real or potential target of the poison being injected into American society by this ugly, ugly man and his supporters. I regularly take breaks from the news for a week or so to return myself to sanity. In the meanwhile we all need to do what we can to end this nightmare, including donating to the people and causes that will help bring change.
1
If I had been one of the surviving victims in a hospital and Trump came into my room I would have thrown my bedpan at him. I respect the Office, but I detest that person.
2
@Bob in NM
Throwing the bedpan! What an image! Thanks for the laugh.
This is a pattern history well knows. Inflammatory speech. Focus on a group. Call them dirty criminals and rapists. This isn’t new. When will the line be crossed when a decision of National importance is made by the people. Democracy or dictator.
1
Charles, you are of course right that there is a new outrage every day. But getting down into the gutter with this vile, mentally ill, evil psychopathic, monstrous despot is not the answer. As Refuse Fascism rightly claims, we need sustained, massive protests to drive this regime from office. If Puerto Rico and Hong Kong can do it, why can't we?
1
Yes, a large segment of the American population is fine with what Trump is doing with illegals. In fact, as much as I find Trump personally despicable, I will vote for him specifically because of his actions to rid our country of illegals, and maybe, with his rhetoric, drive out other undesirables as well.
As far as the food plant, arrest and deport the workers, and jail the owners/operators.
2
You know Mr. Blow your untiring negative Trump reporting is getting the results you don't want. More people like Trump. Your rhetoric will get him re-elected in 2020.
5
Mr. Blow has astutely defined the nature of our oppression in this era.
"For the targets, the fight chose us. It dragged us in. We have two choices: be pummeled or fight back."
One point: I do not need to be a member of his current target group to experience Trump's racism at a visceral level, like a gut punch. There is no escaping it for any of us.
Yes, the House must impeach. A single article of impeachment will satisfy me and should be sufficient: he has continuously oppressed the people with lies and bigoted assaults on our national character and integrity.
1
Thank you for this, Charles. This IS what Trump has done.
Trump's supporters need a daily reminder of all the children he took from their parents at the southern border..
Another thought, there were some substantial protests against this president yesterday...in RED states. That gave me hope.
1
@Sarah A, there is that other Red State, it’s capital is Moscow. Trump is 100% over there. That is our biggest problem.
1
The man lives in the gutter. He has always lived in the gutter even when the door knobs may have been made of gold.
He knows nothing of love, compassion, feeling, empathy, remorse or any of the gamut of human feelings, but for the exception of fear, greed, hate, envy, lust and all of the other "sins" against humanity and his own soul.
He is a very small man. He dare never leave the gutter lest he be caught and exposed in the light of truth.
3
It is not surprising that the American city with the largest majority Hispanic population was targeted for massacre by a white supremacist determined to spread the fear among all of Hispanic descent that their families and their friends could face death anytime, anywhere in Trump's America, even in El Paso.
Trump's relentless attacks on citizens and immigrants of color, his depictions of them in the most dreadfully dehumanizing and thoroughly false manner puts them in danger along a line stretching from discrimination to death, itself and that danger is growing.
Why would Trump incite others to inflame such fear in the heart of anyone, especially our children? For political gain - to excite his deplorable base and get them out to vote in 2020.
Don't let that happen. We must vote him out of office in 2020 and every Congressional Republican who gives him cover, even as just about everyone not a white Christian male has become a target.
2
Traveling through Europe this summer, mostly Germany and Italy, I understand better, how a civilized countries transform into cultural killing machines.
1
To the list of Trump's racist policies should be added voter suppression. And Sessions' push backward to the days of "law and order" crackdowns on drug users. Both of which disproportionately target and attempt to disenfranchise African American communities.
2
Thank you again, Mr. Blow, for your insight and courage. You are one of the “bits of joy” I cling to in these awful times.
4
I share Mr. Blow’s shock that even now Trump was so insensitive as to literally sanction the rounding up An day arresting hundreds of Latino’s at the same time he was flying to El Paso because of two dozen deaths.
The man who thinks he is so great at being a reality tv star couldn’t even recognize he bad optics of his timing, let alone the added pain it would cause to Latinos.
And he still has not addressed the damage of all those hundreds of children still separated from relatives.
1
Thank you for your astute commentary, honesty, and candor. Trump must be called out at every turn in unequivocal language.
4
How has this country fallen so far in 50 years? In the late 50s and early 60s the country was experiencing a civil rights crisis and then JFK was assassinated ( a crisis upon a crisis ) and the presidency was thrust upon LBJ. He had no transition team, no time for planning, but a week after JFK's death he addressed a joint session of Congress and told the US that the way to honor President Kennedy was to pass the civil rights bill which he had been supporting since 1957 when he was Senate majority leader. Shortly thereafter the civil rights act became law. Imagine where the country would be today had Trump become president instead. LBJ wasn't done. He signed the voting rights act and the fair housing act. He put Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court, the first black justice. He passed Medicare, Medicaid, Headstart, Foodstamps, etc. He aslo passed Trump's least favorite law, the immigration act of 1965, which proscribed discrimination based on race, religion or country of origin in legal immigration (to Trump the s-ithole country law). The law permitted immigration from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and the middle east. Beneficiaries of the law include the founders of Google and Melania Trump.
Yes, LBJ had a great failure in Vietnam, but that failure does not detract one iota from his prodigious domestic successes.
I might be in the gutter now, but the muck will wash off and I'm looking at the beautiful sky.
2
Yes. Get in the gutter and slug it out. I am with you.
At some point, the "when they go low, we go higher," is futile.
As to the timing of the ICE raids and the fact that these raids were planned some time ago, ...... One call by this president would have stopped or delayed them.
2
Mr. Blow, your words never fail to move me. "We end our lives with a spirit covered in scar tissue. We endeavor every day to not let our weariness drift into despair." In tears.
2
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
2
Trump has also destroyed the peace of mind of millions of Americans, disrupting and damaging their sense of what is real and what is possible. Even if he did not use race, he would still be dragging the country down with his disdain for law, justice, principles, logic, and even the facts.
1
Tensions can be cut like a knife. There surely must be a George (or Georgina) Washington somewhere in the ranks of victims, bystanders or upstanders to effect change.
"you have chosen the fight."? Well, I guess you could say that. Like you "choose" to rescue a child from oncoming danger. I guess you could choose to let the kid run in front of the car. My entire life I've seen/read interviews of people who did heroic actions and and acts of kindness. Their most common statement is "what else could I do"? Was a choice actually made at the time of rescue? Or was it made sometime in the past, when the person chose to be a decent human bean?
2
We are faced with the stark choice, impeach trump or take down the Statue of Liberty.
1
When Obama was elected I naively thought that America was on the road to a recovery. Generations of racism were on the way out as Obama ably steered the country forward. Van Jones correctly called Trump's victory a 'whitelash' - how prescient this made-up word has proven to be.
But these outrages have helped pull the fence-sitters off their perches. For too long, so many white people have stood by as their neighbors and fellow Americans were victimized. Many of them duped themselves into believing that Trump was a 'baby' Christian. 'Let's wait and see,' they said. Even Van Jones claimed to see 'presidential' behavior from our con-artist turned President.
2020 will tell us who we have become as a nation. We either choose good or evil. This may sound like a melodramatic thing to write but I don't believe it is. Nations are built on decisions like this. I hope we choose good, because I will not remain an American citizen if we do not. I swear it.
2
It's hard to witness what's happening. This column is so important. It's the truth. Someone on here commented that they think an uprising may happen if Trump loses the next election. Another spoke about moving out of the country to avoid essentially another holocaust. Over 500 people were just arrested by ICE in Mississippi. We're facing down a grim future. I keep Timothy Snyder's book "On Tyranny" on my nightstand. Do not obey in advance. Defend institutions. Remember professional ethics. Believe in truth. Make eye contact and small talk. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Be as courageous as you can.
3
One thing positive has come from Trump’s unceasing lies and the explosion of racial hatred.
They’ve caused this old white guy to take a hard look within and admit to myself that, in spite of my professed left leanings, I have biases. But, I’ve resolved to try to reduce , if not eliminate, those prejudices. I’m trying to be more accepting and way less judgmental.
I can’t change trump or these white supremacists , but, I can make a dent in myself.
3
Apparently, Mississippians will now get to choose between their MAGA hats and having fried chicken dinners with regularity. I sincerely doubt those who decry "illegal immigrants" will queue up to seek employment in these chicken abattoirs.
-- or work harvesting crops
-- or clean houses
-- or work constuction
-- or do any of the jobs these workers would do without complaint.
Actions have consequences, not all of which are good ones.
4
A little over 40% of Americans have consistently approved of this most indecent of Presidents. Tens of millions of Americans willing join Trump in what Roger Cohen once called "the abyss of the hateful".
"We are not racists" many of Trump's supporters will shout. "I know many people of color, I don't hate them or discriminate". "Supporting Trump doesn't make me a racist."
Yes it does. Outsourcing racism and hate to elected officials with an openly White Nationalist agenda does not let you off the hook because you are kind to a neighbor.
More Republicans supported Trump's child separation than opposed it. You are not off the hook because you never personally put a brown child in a cage, but still plan to vote for the person and party that did.
Shout all you want. Deny all you want. Just don't expect the rest of us to forget, even the ones, like me, not directly targeted for hate by Trump.
Trump and the GOP have embraced White Nationalism as a core belief. It's up to the rest of us to vote ALL of them out of power and start again.
Perhaps political defeat will be enough. But will we ever be the same? Feel the same? Will we ever be what we once thought we were or could become?
I don't know. Maybe someday. But right now I'm focused on just one thing: There is no room for a White Nationalist party in MY country.
4
Everything you say hit home. My kids are biracial. They look nothing like me. But hopefully they'll always remember their mama's word's. I've always told them "if you can do and be black, you'll be strong enough to do and be anything you want". Being black is definitely not for the weak. It takes a strong back to walk up hill everyday carrying a bag of rocks. Proud to say my kids decided to carry the rocks.
2
The title of this piece is way too tame. "Trump Incites Mass Murders" would be much more appropriate and accurate. We need more outrage and people in the streets. Foreign terrorism on our soil is down. Domestic terrorism, inflamed by Trump and the Republicans, is up.
2
Border between the U.S. and Canada is OK. But why is the border between the U.S. and Mexico not OK?
These immigrants come to the U.S. primarily to escape problems in their native countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) which includes a stagnant economy, high levels of crime, political corruption and widespread drug use. There is a legal way to request a green card to enter the U.S., however unlawful mobs entry is not allowed. Shame and disgrace of all these central American countries and their governments who fail to feed their people, to give them medical care, good housing, and jobs. These central American countries and their governments are the ones at fault.
Sorry that your country does not love you anymore. To find true love you need to find and walk on God’s Holy road which will one day open the gate to His Kingdom in Heaven. The road you are currently walking is man made and will only bring you tears and despair, darkness and regrets.
@manoflamanchaNo Canadians seeking refugee status. Some of us up north are lightheartedly saying that if Trump wins the 2020 election, we might see an "Overground Railroad" taking place - especially with refugees coming in from the Great Lakes states to Ontario. We saw lots of American draft-dodgers up here during the Vietnam War. So, given the USA's current political turmoil, who knows what's gonna happen next?
Unlike Latin-Americans, Canadians aren't desperate to reach the USA - except for warm, winter-time vacations. *Florida's economy would stagger without Canadians tourists.
I can’t quite breathe, reading about these raids. (Imagine if I actually had to live this experience. Or if you did.) I was raised on stories of the Gestapo rounding up parents and transporting them away. Oh, that was the evil Germans, or Poles, or Hungarians, thought the naive young Susan with faith in the moral US. Well, I’m naive no more. And this is the same evil, even if there are technical laws that make it enforceable. Flawed humans make the laws. But these are truly dark days and we need new laws, new enforcement, new principles, not fear-mongering and scapegoating and dehumanizing.
2
What absolutely floors me as an observer outside the US is the way the Republican machine has figured out that all they need do is play the patriotism card by having Trump have photo-ops with the heroic first responders and police then claim he was being presidential. They know he can't go out in public and mourn with the people, visit the mass-shooting sites, the churches etc. because he is not welcome. Yet they spin this scripted normalcy that everyone can see is a complete sham. It's like they just push a mass-shooting response button over and over and go take a nap.
2
Sorry but people already in the gutter - in this country and elsewhere - elected the current POTUS. They are the ones still supporting his despicable policies and behavior.
He is not the cause of the violence in this country but rather the result.
1
Or are your fellow Americans dragging you in the gutter? Face it, Trump couldn’t do this by himself. He needs lots of help and he’s getting it.
4
You are entirely correct. An authoritarian, a dictator, a tyrant, can’t be any of those things all by himself; he has to have help and *45 has had plenty of help to support his rabid racism and cruelty, which he employs in plain sight. This man is fully loaded with hate.
No one knows where this is going to end. God save the United States of America, he may well be re-elected due to gerrymandering, the number of Electoral College votes, and of course, the Russian hacking of our election system, which has not been fully addressed.
The Democratic nominee getting the popular vote will not matter in 2020 any more than it did in 2016. Human nature is a mystery, that there exist people who will support a thoroughly bad human being who debases and dishonors the office that an aberration caused him to hold.
1
When I read that people are cancelling their subscriptions to the NY Times, because of bad headlines or seemingly slanted stories, I always think, "But how could I manage without Charles Blow, Paul Krugman or Michelle Goldberg?" and I can't come up with a suitable answer.
I am grateful to you, Charles Blow, for your passion and your clear presentation of your, and our, reality. Your column gives me a bit of hope in these dark times. Please keep describing your pain and your determination to fight for what is good and right in this country. Hopefully, you and we will prevail.
393
@Linda N. Meyer this column may be your reality but certainly not mine.
4
@mptpab Then you're not paying attention.
39
@Meagan so frightening, isn't it...these people who cannot see? I do not understand.
20
As a member of the LGBTQ community, I wept the day that Trump was elected. He represents the last generation of white heterosexual men for whom women are subservient sex objects, black people are “the help,” queer individuals should go back into the closet, and all other minority groups are inferior beings who should “stay with their own kind.” The stain that Trump has made on the moral fabric of our multicultural nation will take years and years to remove...
8
Charles - I once saw a quote that was aimed at the management of a large company I worked for, and it seems appropriate now.
" those who see the problems, have no power; those that have the power see no problems" strange how appropriate now.
4
You speak for all our pain. Thank you Mr. Blow.
6
Trump must be prosecuted for his words and actions that have led to deprivations and deaths. Our history of justice and librerty demands it.
3
Mr Blow. This is America. She's had worse in the White House. I'm African American. None of this should suprise us. Knowing the history of African Americans in this country, the man who launched a blatant racist attack on the first black president of the country was rewarded with the Presidency of this great nation. The Republican party was dead to African Americans prior to Trump. With Trumps nomination the Republican party nailed its coffin with African Americans. She nailed it Tight too I might add.
6
#45's hatred is fully indiscriminate, targeting everyone who is not with him in his foul, immoral joke of a presidency. With the full complicity of the GOP congress and the packed courts, he will be coming after all of us who loathe his evil presence and actions in the White House, make no mistake. So Charles, you're going to need and appreciate having many blue-eyed brothers and sisters in this battle. "I got your back," as we used to say in the 'Nam.
4
Trump's ideas are in the gutter but he is playing golf at one of his luxery clubs at our expense. The fact that our country kidnaps children from anybody, and gets away with it is beyond me.
3
Charles, you’re my vehicle. To the wider world. I’ve been depending on you to voice my concerns and you’ve come through. Please take care of yourself because we need you in these troubling times.
I wake up daily hoping to read of Trump’’s demise. First, stop at the ATM and then head down to the line at the champagne store.
Hope i’m not doing something illegal...but, hey, i’m The 76 year old vet (drafted in 1968 in Trump’s (Mr. Bone Spurs) place so I just don’t care anymore, do you?
Thanks Charles!!!
5
Many white people of America will destroy America before they will allow it to change. They will fight against other people receiving the same freedoms and benefits they demand. The intoxication of several hundred years of white dominance and supremacy is a powerful drug and aphrodisiac.
When will white people be able to let go of their socially constructed white privilege and join the rest of the struggling human race in trying to protect the planet and each other?
3
It's all calculated as his strategy to win and that's all that matters to his needy ego. He needs to keep the white supremacists pumped and stoked to vote. When added with the voters who don't want to pay taxes, he gets his electors. If he really wanted to curb undocumented immigration, he would go after the employers here who hire them (oh wait, that's him!) and work to alleviate the conditions that create the need to move.
2
Donald Trump is, in short, the personification of evil built upon moral and intellectual bankruptcy. Vote Democrat in 2020 to pick up the pieces of a nation on life support.
4
No, I'm not in any gutter and I'm not going to slug it out. That would mean talking to him and responding to his idiocies. Rather all prezident turnip merits is cold silence, and a mocking indifference.
This means steady, diligent work towards his removal. Likewise, a disassociation with all republikanz who aren't writing your paycheck or turning on your utilities.
In other words, any form of unnecessary speech legitimizes those peeple as discursively legit. Likewise. the courtesy of reference in correct English.
Charles, thank you for speaking the truth.
3
We will have to come bail you out from Europe a second time.
This time from the tyranny within yourselves .
I fear we've already been in the gutter. 45 is the class bully with his foot on our neck trying to suffocate us there.
1
No exit, Charles Blow! We are all stuck in the violent disabling of our democracy under Donald Trump. We Americans -- to whom World War II isn't ancient history -- are living in the unexpected and unforeseen times of unmitigated race-hate and bigotry stoked by our very president.
Can we change our trajectory into the democracy envisioned by our founders and away from white supremacy? What are our weapons against the power of Trump and his loyalists? We are all "El Paso Strong" today and grieve for innocent people mowed down in mass shootings.
The bottom line: Isn't Trump really an accomplice to murder?
Hate based on race has been in this country since its founding. We had made progress, but now the progress has not just stopped, but has been reversed with the election of one of the modern time symbols, Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump could not have been elected by himself, even with the assistance of Vladimir Putin. They stoked the flames that were already burning. A very large part of this hate results from 50 years of failed attempts to correct the problem. Many whites are saying "enough is enough".
A big chunk of the world has recovered from World War II. Chairman Mao's 50 year plan to make China "Great Again" has been successful. The world is putting up with a nostalgic leader, Vladimir Putin, who, with the help of Trump, has weakened the United States without firing a bullet. He found his lackey named Trump to do his dirty work here in the United States. He found his lackey named Trump who agrees with Gordon Gekko "Greed is Good!" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVxYOQS6ggk
1
Toni Morrison would be nodding in agreement and relief with your words . Thank you Mr. Blow. Carry on. We need you.
2
I don’t quite know what effect 2 1/2 years of Trump and his chaotic administration have had on me. Best guess — I’m coping with feelings of unreality.
In every grade-B horror movie, there always seems to be a character who reaction is denial, over and oner.
“This isn’t happening!”
“This CAN’T be happening.”
“None of this is real. It can’t be real.”
I’ve been watching presidents, being President, since Dwight Eisenhower. Watched as they were presidential, dignified, competent, reassuring, intelligent, consistent and reliable.
Trump exhibits NONE of these traits.
From the first time I heard him speak as a political hopeful in 2015, two undeniable thoughts occurred to me:
- This rude buffoon has NONE of the skills, knowledge or demeanor required to be the POTUS.
- The American people will never elect this ignorant, rude, immature fool.
From that point on, things for me have been going downhill.
The “this can’t possibly be happening” feelings only grow stronger.
Over time, Trump’s extemporaneous utterences have revealed incredible ignorance, a lack of native intelligence, no inate moral guidance system, severe personality disorders, racism, irrational prejudices, a pathological need for adoration, inability to accept advice or criticism, a pathetic need to throw himself self-aggrandizing rallies, bragging, deep vicious hatred, a total lack of warmth and love
How can millions see in this man, something invisible to me? I see only an obnoxious political train wreck.
5
@Tom W He ran as a Republican; he is not one of the "others." He is/was their great "White Hope" in the White House.
I am a long-time native NYC resident and have lived close by to his residence for over 30 years. He has always been a con and a sleaze.
3
The raids in Mississippi left hundreds of children without parents. The children may be taken care of by other members of the Latino community but it is still a heartless and inhumane way to treat these people.
2
This Op-Ed is almost too painful to read. The US is in the middle of the second round of the Civil War. I believe real violence is coming. However, this also brings up something that has struck me recently. As someone who considers himself born Jewish, but not Jewish now (it's a religion, please with your cultural nonsense, the Torah is a non-stop book of hate and revenge from beginning to end, no thank you), I have grown up on a diet of "never again" ad nauseam. Yet all these horrible people who are supporting Trump because of his position on Israel should really be forced to move there. "Never again" means everyone and unfortunately the US has just found a different set of victims to torture and destroy that are acceptable to pro-Israel Trump supporters.
I don't live in the US anymore. Hopefully, if we are lucky, it won't last another 5 years and can divide into a more manageable set of countries where half the people don't despise the other half.
1
When someone is doing their best to tell you who they are you should listen.
2
Mr Blow I don’t understand your comment about Trump marginalizing or being racist towards African Americans. I feel
He has done much in his power to Include African Americans.
2
Well said.
1
Donald Trump's mendacious attacks on Ohio senator Sherrod Brown,and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, are typical of his pathological solipsism. His "self" compulsion reached a new level of banality Wednesday, when he couldn't even restrain himself on a " unity" day that was supposed to be about the victims of the horrific massacres in Dayton and El Paso. Donald Trump leaves a toxic residue every day he inhabits the Oval Office. His pestilential rhetoric was certainly a factor in the El Paso slaughter, and now he has the indelible blood of innocents on his tainted white hands.
1
How much more can this nation bare? How much damage to this country and the world will be wrought? Not only is Trump a traitor and criminal but those who cower under him deserve to go. There is no single head to this snake. Do not vote Republican. Vote for any all Democrats.
3
And then some.
The only people targeted have been those here illegally. The reason you don’t see massive protests in the streets or at the Capital Mr Blow is that many agree with Trump. What is dragging us towards the gutter is the liberal media’s. Yellow Journalism is alive and well!!!
5
@George If "many agree with Trump" in his racist rants, his lying, his insulting tweets, his rabble-rousing rallies, his verbal abuse of women, his lack of compassion for the bereaved etc. then the country is in an even worse state than I thought it was! God help America if this is the state of the nation in 2019.
2
The words in the El Paso terrorist's screed are the same as Mr. Trump's own words. The terrorist's invocations of white supremacist ideals, the same as Trump's. El Paso and Dayton did not want Trump to come, but Trump hate and all came anyway. "I hate it when white people ask me where I'm from," said my mixed-race daughter the other day who was born here just as her parents were. Imagine if you were a non-white American. Now take this in, if you can bring yourself to. These slurs are directly referring to you. You are not a real American. You are not patriotic. You are lazy, dumb, a low IQ individual, a criminal. What choice has anybody who is possessed of a moral soul and a moral imagination but to fight this horrible junk with everything we have? Trump's racism and his white supremacist words are made manifest in the world, in policy and law and rule, in the silent acquiescence, i.e., normalization, of Senate Republicans, in the midnight black-armor ICE raids, in ICE officers mocking infants and children as they rip them from their families, in actual mass murder by white supremacist terrorists who are only carrying out what Trump has said he would do if he could. "Shoot them," said somebody at his rally this week, referring to immigrants. And Trump smiled.
4
Frankly, the Liberal icons in Hollywood are much better at dragging us into the gutter than is Trump.
5
When you have to worry if you’re going to come out alive after taking your family to Walmart - something is wrong. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
2
Dragged? No. Many eagerly followed him into the sewer. Most of the rest of us we’re pulled down by inertia. Now we’re seeing what can happen when we take our country, the blessing of freedom, and the democratic system for granted. We, all of us, put ourselves in this place. Whether you voted for him, or not, he is OUR president. He has desecrated our good country in the eyes of the world in OUR names. And, if we don’t get it together, and then come together to overwhelmingly and decisively vote this worthless excuse for a human and his cast of fake Americans out, we deserve everything we both do and don’t get.
3
Trump has dragged us through the gutter and into the sewer. We have learned nothing from history: when a society allows the rise of a hereditary oligarchy, it makes institutionalized inequality inevitable, and class war inescapable. The hereditary oligarchy has not won a class war since the German Bauernkrieg of 1525. Are you listening, ALEC? Hereditary oligarchy and democracy are mortally incompatible.
1
Lets give fantasy some flight, like Trump voters have done. Let us imagine, that whites stick with other whites, and rest of us, people of color stick with other people of color. Not too bad, I guess? Who wants hate filled people anyway? However this assumes there are no hate filled PoC, which is not true. Thus the point is clear - this is a fight between good and evil. Each person must choose their fight.
Very powerful. I'm white, and to me what James Comey compares to pulling the control rods out of the radioactive soup of racism that is at the center of American life is as tragic and bitter as it is to Charles Blow, but I forget how much more immediate the impact of this is to Trump's targets.
2
Yes, I agree, Trump has indeed dragged this country into the gutter, but the other ugly fact is that he is not alone. He is surrounded by cohorts who push him on, who do not restrain or stop him, and who support his endless, hateful tirades. We may think he is an outlier, but in many ways, he represents the military empire that is America...a heartless bully, that kills and destroys innocent people around the world. Maybe all of that bad karma is now bouncing back on us, for not resisting the endless hateful push of militarism all along?
1
During the 2016 campaign, many of us assumed that the total unfitness of Donald Trump for the presidency would emerge and bring voters who were lukewarm about Hillary Clinton to their senses.
When Donald Trump won, we wondered how bad could it be, given the checks and balances in our political system. We soon learned that it was going to be much worse than our worst nightmare.
We have watched and listened to the daily lies of President Trump, to his bromance with Vladimir Putin, to his mishandling of a strong economy he inherited, and to his fixation with erasing Barack Obama from the national memory by ending accessible health care for many citizens.
It has been tough to watch Donald Trump – with the cheers of every Republican – grant extraordinary tax cuts to the rich and to corporations, showing no concern for the poor.
Most of all, we have been shocked at the casual cruelty of Donald Trump towards Latino families rounded up and caged along our southern border. We are outraged by what Trump did to the children.
During all of this, Donald Trump has been relentless in wooing the white supremacists, and they have reciprocated by killing people of color, as he implicitly encouraged them to do.
Charles M. Blow is correct that it is easier for those of us who are white. He writes: “When you are not the target of this man’s hate, you can object on moral grounds, as an exercise of principle. But you have chosen the fight.”
It has been a very easy choice to make.
2
I refuse to believe that Trump supporters constitute a "large portion" of the American population. For my own sanity I want to believe that it's a vicious but vocal minority.
2
I fear not Trump, but instead his followers, supporters and enablers. Our fellow Americans who
Are weaponized by religion to believe God sent Trump and the 2nd amendment.
Who is their God?
1
Lincoln said “our forefather brought forth a land conceived in liberty”. Well - yes and no. Unlike Great Britain, for example, where the Africa slave trade was an historical transient, the United States had the abomination of African slavery built into its foundations. It’s a nation with a birth defect. One tries to see past it, but there is no cure. One dreams of a better world, but I no longer believe that it can be crafted from the crooked timber of a nation that endorses a creature like Trump - who actually celebrates this foundational bigotry.
2
And why I ask weren’t the employers of the accused non documented workers arrested right along with those workers? Oh that’s right they are rich white guys like Trump. The true Republican base. Not the people who show up at his rallies screaming non sense.
3
I fear not Trump, but instead his followers, supporters and enablers. Our fellow Americans who
Are weaponized by religion to believe God sent Trump and the 2nd amendment.
Who is their God?
1
As a toddler my daughter verbally expressed her angst or discomfort in ways that small children oft times do...”Mama, I feel like I’m coming apart at the scenes.”
Me, too.
2
This is as clear an indictment of trump as I've read, but in these columns it is far from rare and is preaching to the converted. The real watershed today came from Joe Biden. I've been lukewarm about his candidacy but his speech in Iowa was a real barn burner. This was inspired Biden, aroused from the earlier lethargy of his campaign. I couldn't tell if he used a teleprompter but even if he did, he obviously delivered the words from his heart. (And even Fox carried it in its entirety). Such a contrast with trump's passionless monotone about the shootings and white supremacy, that could not have fooled anyone.
Speeches like Biden's and columns like Blow's are by themselves insufficient to beat trump, but they are an essential component, along with describing the harms his administration is doing to the nuts and bolts of this nation by its actions and inactions.
21:45 EDT, 8/07
2
Don’t blame Trump for these recent tragedies. If the inflow of migrants/illegals to the USA will not be blocked effectively these tragedies will pale compared to future civil backlash and unrest. The president is right in coupling more stringent gun control with tougher immigration laws. Also, Trump is the president of the USA and is doing the right thing of visiting and providing condolences to family members of the victims and citizens of Dayton and El Paso. SHAME SHME SHAME on Beth O’Rourke and other Demos for their negative narrative and politicizing the tragedies. If The president would not visit the mass shooting cities and provide condolences there would be millions criticizing him. The demos make sure that for Trump it is a no win no win situation
4
@lieberma I love Beth O’Rourke!
1
In the midst of our mourning the deaths caused by the hatred and rage enveloping our nation, Donald Trump Jr. saw fit to post on Instagram the following:
"Know why you feel safe going to the Zoo?
Because there are walls."
The implication that immigrants are dangerous animals could not have been lost on anyone.
There is no reason to expect the ugly rhetoric coming from the Trumps or their followers will ever be toned down, no matter the carnage it causes, but to reply to it in kind, to get into the gutter, will damage us more than them.
By all means, we must confront the racism, the corrupt mentality, and evil wherever we find it and loudly. But we have to choose our words and actions wisely, lest we invoke the same demons that possess these others. Once we let them in, we may not be able to get them out and we will become exactly what we despise.
1
There is another way. Boycott and civil disobedience, peaceful silent demonstrations. That enough is enough. People of all stripes ages colors have to demonstrate, standing together respectfully, silently speaking against racial targeting, gun shootings, and political dysfunction. Our lawmakers have clearly showed us they cannot do anything for us. Mass shootings after shootings after shootings. No place is safe, schools college campuses movie theaters concert halls places of worship parks baseball fields..The entire world is in shock. The entire world ought to boycott American President and lawmakers and send them a clear message, if you don’t fix your gun problem, your violence, your racism, we are not going to engage with you.
1
Although my ethnicity is not yet officially on Trump’s hit list, I’d have to be willfully ignorant and stupid to think I couldn’t be a target and to think I’m so different from the people already suffering this administration’s cruelty.
1
And your own job is to miss no opportunity to drag him into the gutter, relentlessly, systematically..
Simply reread all your headlines.
The target of your rhetoric is experiencing his own nightmare of persecution and vilipending unlike any other in the country.
"...he won’t be removed from office by the Senate."
That's not the point. The House has the duty to impeach. And all the members of Congress must be on record so voters know where they stand.
The secret ballot does not mean the candidates keep their positions secret.
Similarly, McConnell refuses to bring a bill to a vote because it may be vetoed. The vote is important for voters to make a decision.
How does Congress avoid a constitutional duty?
1
Please don’t omit Jews. While Trump has not engaged in anti-Semitic rhetoric, white supremacists don’t care. There have been murders at 2 synagogues by ideologues.
2
"When you are not the target of this man’s hate, you can object on moral grounds, as an exercise of principle. But you have chosen the fight." Today it's hispanics and blacks, but tomorrow it will be jews, and the next day anyone who criticizes him. This fight chooses everyone who does not want the Red Hats to come bashing down their door one day. This has happened before.
2
I don’t intend to get into the gutter to fight him- but I do intend to not remain silent. This man is a scourge on not just our nation but on the safety of our whole world. He is a moron, for sure. But he has that type of instinct that truly evil and hatefully angry individuals have. In the end he must appear as the “ Emperor with no clothes” that he is to a vast majority of voters so that he is removed from office with utter certainty and we can move on and begin to repair the damage in so many areas both domestic and world wide.
1
I think that many people who support Trump aren't fooled by him, they like his hatred, racism, misogyny, xenophobia and socio pathology.
We didn't get dragged into a cesspool, Trump has just underlined the fact we were already there.
3
I understand and appreciate your meaning, Mr. Blow, and I realize that some Americans experience the hateful politics of Trump and his GOP more personally and directly than others, but I would counsel against adopting Trump's divisive categories as markers of his targets. All of us who oppose this immoral and cynical President are his targets. We did not chose this fight either, but fight we must, together.
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." Martin Niemoller
Americans have always lived in the gutter. Under the better leaders we have managed to keep our heads up and breathe fresh air. Trump has dragged us back under and is bent on making our graves in the muck he thrives in.
2
As Trump strives daily to make his mental illness our own and the world's it is of some solace to realize that there is personal and social value in being a witness to evil. Not that this can do much to take the edge off the immediacy of the actual experience of evil.
1
Stephanie Grisham refered to Trump's hospital visit by calling him a "superstar"
that is what I always thought when he held his rallies- he wants to be Mick Jagger, not president
he would have caused a lot less misery if that were the case.
we are all doomed by this talentless, vindictive narcissist.
1
Mr. Blow, the election of Donald Trump proved that racism in America could not be eradicated or cured only by espousing a set of noble ideals that called for brotherly love. Racism in America will be cured when people of every race in America experience racism for themselves. What Donald Trump doesn't realize is that he is ushering in a time when the whites are going to experience racism.
Trump's base are mostly credulous people who are getting told what they want to hear. While they claim to be religious, at heart they only tolerate those like themselves and have nothing but intense dislike for anyone they perceive to be different from them. This makes them easily manipulated by Trump and Republican politicians and nothing Trump says or does will change their support for him and his Party. Only a strong Democratic turnout in the next election will spare us from four more years of this shame and disgrace.
1
The mental and emotional injuries that this president inflicts on us daily has left more scar tissue than some of us will be able to survive. How long can a people be beaten down by a man who has no shame or pride in self, and whose insatiable need for validation causes him to turn on us to fill his bottomless pit. While he may be a tortured soul, it is the American people who are in the crosshairs of his AK-47. Our children are terrified because they think he may also put them in cages after ripping them from their parents arms. The unsettling quality of life may have long-term consequences for my grandson and millions of others. How long will we allow him to challenge our well-being and theirs as well?
1
When Donald Trump revealed his support for white supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting, "Jews will not replace us," I, the son of Jewish immigrants who fled pogroms in Europe and a member of a Holocaust family, felt I had a target on my back. When he stoked the racist rhetoric of an "invasion" by a "caravan" of Hispanic immigrant before the November, 2018 mid-term election and one of his fanatic followers stormed into a Pittsburgh synagogue not far from where I once lived and massacred eleven Jewish worshipers because they provided aid to immigrants, I knew I had a target on my back. It's not just brown Americans, not just black Americans, not just Muslim Americans, but Jewish Americans, and all women who have targets on their back. If all Americans who value our democracy and its diversity do not at this moment in our history realize the immense danger we are all in after Trump unleashed a recent barrage of hate speech that clearly contributed to the El Paso massacre, then God help us all for the real "nightmare" has yet to come.
1
I disagree. It is the gutless GOP, people who elected him and the Electoral College that did this. Not Trump.
2
I strongly agree with Mr. Blow's commentary. We have to stand up & firmly state "no more!" But let's follow this up by organizing for 2020, supporting our candidates & by all means not sitting on the sidelines.
3
"Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out."
what happened to the high road?
taken together (you fail to mention that the dayton shooter was an elizabth warran guy, bernie's "rhetoric" was behind the guy sho shot up the republican baseball workout and of course, rep omer's anti-semitism which, talk about "dragging" takes us back to the sewer of this era's master monster) none of this embarrassing bicker helps us progress toward meeting our shared responsibility for promotion "the general Welfare."
guaranteed mr blow: when trump is gone, the vacancy left by our lack of appetite for serious debate, the easy opinionism of the slogan and the slander, will remain, an addiction not to be easily overcome.
thanks for your contributon.
@ecco Perhaps you should read Mr. Stephens column today which states in part as follows:
"What happened in Ohio was a mass shooting in the mold of the Las Vegas massacre: victims at random, motives unknown. What happened in Texas was racist terrorism in the mold of Oslo, Charleston, Pittsburgh, Christchurch and Poway."
If you had followed Mr. Trump for about 40 years - I had no choice as he loved the tabloids in NYC - you would know that he was always in the gutter and took that with him to The White House.
2
@doe74
what you cite is mr stephens' onion, to which he is entitled...that you seems to take it as writ is your choice, to which you are entitled.
actually, this new yorker, "followed trump for 40 years" plus...now and then buying my lunchtime hot dog from the same cart at GM plaza that he used from time to time...but still, baffled by the uncritical acceptance of your tabloid scholarship as evidence that trump was "always in the gutter."
so chill some, buy a hot dog and take a walk to wolman rink, maybe skate a little.
@ecco
Awww! The "the little lady pat-on-the-head" response. At least I was not sent back to the kitchen!
Well being able to see one of his mistresses - yes! I knew her name! - in one of his buildings from our home almost 30 years ago while he was living with his wife and 3 children just a few blocks south did not result in a positive impression of the man.
He was and still is a con man and a sleaze.
Yes indeed .
My goodness trump could not even for one day keep his mouth shut spewing hatred toward others instead of offering healing touch.
This man needs to be ousted so we could try to crawl out of the gutter.
5
Blow, blow blow hyperbole every day.
"targeting" those groups?
How has he "targeted African Americans"?
if folks blame Trump its because of media spin.
wackos and sickos and terrorists existed long before the current President.
Please don't use these tragedies to tar and feather your political enemies, Mr.Blow. I expect more from you.
6
@Joe Yo
Here's one link to get you started....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/05/trump-and-race-presidents-critics-say-he-has-stoked-racial-tensions/1921410001/
1
@Joe Yo
Yes but this president single handidly resurrected the kind of hate filled white supremacy we haven't seen or heard in awhile, he makes it ok for his followeers to act out their hate. A president can set a tone.
1
Trump: "The enthusiasm was there for all to see."
What enthusiasm?
Enthusiasm that so many so-called verminous invaders and Mexican rapists got brutally shot dead to successfully protect America from infestation? Enthusiasm over making America great by vigilante justice and upping the ante of the body slam again? Enthusiasm for (first) body and cage (then bullet) slamming so-called invaders (of bigot's safe spaces with challenging questions or outer appearances), because those who can and will volunteer to do so are "my kind of guy?"
Seriously, what enthusiasm in these days of Mourning in America?
This can only be the enthusiasm for the henchmen and for the guy who whispered the instructions in the henchmen's ears and pats them on the back after the public execution, or, please explain, what enthusiasm?
Bullets may split a skull, but first and foremost words will split skulls in presenting ideas that send us bullets.
They say humor alleviates even the worst of our pains.
What do Caucasian Over Pigment Sentiments beget America?
Cops.
1
Preach.
"[A] large portion of the American population is perfectly fine with what Trump is doing."
He's their folk hero, whatever excuse they have, it's still disgusting. And, yes, painful for the rest of us.
Where are we supposed to go from here? How do we reconcile the reality that these Trump supporters are animated by a low grade meanness, a selfishness, a callous disregard for human decency--and patriotism.
Trump groveled before Putin in Helsinki and these people still support him. Where is their patriotism--if nothing else, why are they happy to see America look so lame on the world stage?
It's a nightmare. And the Trump supporters are to blame.
5
Trump is awful, but it is your fellow citizens who are the ones targeting you. They voted for trump. They support him still. I understand that Mr. Blow doesn’t want to lash out at the 63 million people who voted for him, but that’s really where he should direct his anger.
1
Charles, I hope you have a way to decompress. Each one of your columns is like something you pulled out, bloody, from my soul, and I just have no idea when you did it. Reviewing Toni Morrison's life and work has been a welcome respite from this "descent into barbarism," as it was so aptly put by the WAPO art and architecture critic. Please don't let your outrage burn out.
3
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” -- Oscar Wilde
Thanks, and keep pointing to the stars, Mr. Blow,
1
You got the gutter part right, except that we were already there, it's how we ran into Trump.
3
How do you explain the mass shootings when Obama was President?
Put the blame where it belongs; on the shooter and not the President
3
@NYC Dweller
I recommend you read Mr. Stephens column online in today's Times. Keep in mind that Mr. Stephens is a Conservative.
2
@NYC Dweller President Obama never stirred up anti-immigrant violence from angry young White men as Trump does. Trump encourages that violence with a wink and a nod along with his vile rhetoric. There is a world of difference.
1
Trump is the physical manifestation of everything whiteness has always been.
2
The really sad thing about this is we have so many Americans who are as foul as this president.
4
Putin rubs his hands with glee over the increasingly stunning success of his operations to destroy the US and UK, by election and referendum manipulation.
4
Is getting in to the gutter with Trump (and his wife and family also) the only way to fight back? We know that is where they already exist, but lowering ourselves to their ignorant, self-centered, reality television mode would make us just like him and them. Fighting dirty does not work.
We are better. We always have been and always will be. He is perpetually debasing himself in front of the country and the world and this will be the cause of his final collapse in 2020.
1
No, Trump has taken our country out of the gutter where Obama placed us. He will be re-elected and I will vote for him.
1
Charles, how about starting a fund raising effort to support ex-felons in Florida, so that they have the money to pay their "poll tax" and can vote on Election Day.
It's clear that you'd like a Democrat to be elected. My bet is that more ex-felons would vote democratic.
AND, Charles, into the gutter we must go to meet him and fight him. AND, most importantly, at the same time, we need to mobilize against Trumpism both inside and outside Trump's proverbial swamp / gutter, because everywhere is where really matters this time.
1
How many more lives must be destroyed before the Republicans make the occupier of the Oval Office stop his hate mongering?
Perhaps one way we can get in the gutter with them is for the families of the murdered victims to go after the Republicans in the courts for dereliction of duty. DT and the others took an oath when they were sworn into office. Certainly the care and protection of the American people is part of their responsibility. They are sorely failing to do this and need to be held accountable. Voting them out is one way but they need to be hurt in their pocketbooks as well.
By the way, if you are like me and don't comprehend why the religious right supports DT and others like him, I think that “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” a book by Jeff Sharlet may help understand this phenomenon. It is much more than hypocrisy and every president since Eisenhower has been attending the Family’s annual National Prayer Breakfast.
I learned about this tonight on PBS’ Amanpour & Co. when Sharlet appeared to promote a Netflix documentary that is based on the book. If what was said on the program tonight is 100% correct, this is scary stuff.
For the trailer see: netflix.com/title/80063867.
1
The president has become a pariah in his own land.
1
I believe in the common person. But it certainly shakes one's faith to see the lemmings following their dear leader wherever he takes him. I think for too long, we've engaged in hagiography of our leaders and failed to see the dents in their armor. And the gullibility has led to where we are today, with American admirers of a fascist president, of America.
3
Trump is a horrible person. We need to vote him out of office.
But illegal workers have been driving down wages for US citizens with low skills. Actual wages in meat processing plants have been cut in half in the past 30 years. Why? Because companies hire illegal workers and drive down wages.
Clearly Mississippi and Alabama have plenty of legal workers who need to be paid higher wages. Trump is a cretin, but that does not mean he's wrong about everything.
And I certainly hope they arrested the bosses at those processing plants. But I bet they didn't. And both Dem. and Rep. 'leaders' are happy with that.
1
Imprisoning people for working is such an interesting approach. Apparently, since these are hard working folks in our communities, it sends the wrong message and these folks must be punished. Immigrants are supposed to be lazy criminals, and if they are not, we must arrest them for working at jobs that no one else will fill. So much for respecting the work ethic!
3
Praise the Lord Charles, you finally got it!
While Trump is calling out folks we should follow his example, in a peaceful way.
Perhaps start by boycotting his corporate supporters like the owner of Soulcycle and Equinox who is throwing a a $100,00 to $250,000 for Trump. Let's find out who has that kind of money to spend supporting racism and mass shootings. Do we really want to support their business?
Let's call out the Republicans. Not just the enablers in Washington, but state by state, voter by voter.
At this point in time if you vote Republican you are voting for Mass Shootings to Continue. You are voting to fan the flames of racism. That is a fact that we have for too long let you squirm out of.
There are no acceptable excuses about the economy or wanting conservative judges.
A vote for Republicans means you believe the right of anyone to own an assault rifle outweighs my child's right to life.
It is time to stop pretending that there are good people on both sides.
Good people don't vote for Racists.
Good people don't allow mass killings to continue.
3
We are all capable of racism, sexism, homophobia, and tribalism. Even the most careful of us, the most woke, allow fear and ignorance to get the better of us at times. Our inherent natures change only slowly; cultural transformation takes generations. There are not good and evil people in America; there is good and evil in each of us.
Trump is an abnormally bad president not because of his policies (nothing original there), but because he has encouraged the American people to foster their fears and ignorance, rather than encouraging them to greater enlightenment. GOP leaders have regularly allowed their campaigns to foster racist memes since Nixon began the southern strategy, but in governing it was rare for any of them to actively promote hatred and fear. The American people have gradually become less sexist, racist, and homophobic, and all presidents have made an effort at leadership in that direction while governing.
Not Trump; that is what makes him different. Trump hurts us not because he leads the evil half of America; the potential for evil and good is within each of us. He hurts us by encouraging all of us towards greater evil. We need a leader who will make America Good again.
1
Trump doesn't care about the people who were killed and injured last weekend. He doesn't care about the children and the parents who were separated by force. He doesn't care about the people victimized by hate crimes. Trump only cares about himself. He is only happy when he is the center of a lot of positive attention. There is probably a psychological name for his disorder but it means that, as long as he is president, our country is in grave danger.
4
Moving forward, Democrats should speak entirely in terms of morality: the difference between right and wrong, of common human decency, decrying corruption and cynicism, racism and cruelty.
The Republican Party has clearly turned a corner, as has their evangelical base. Worshipping a shabby, transparent tyrant like Donald Trump, they have no moral core, and no claim to moral standing with American voters. The Trumpian creed is pure self-interest and grasping for power, nothing more, and it is this empty soullessness that Mitch McConnell and his entire party have embraced.
When was the last time you heard a conservative moralize about anything? Seriously? When? Using "socialism" as a schoolyard taunt, or pretending to care about the very same Constitution they trample is not the same thing as a claim to morality: these are weak smokescreens, just more spin.
The Republican Party is lost and spiritually empty. It has become a disgusting, depleted shell, a violent, dishonest, un-American movement based on brutality towards the weak and disregard for human life, a blind, hateful monster.
Democrats should seize this advantage, and call for a return to decency. They should speak in moral terms, because this is the greatest contrast between the two parties: one still has values and dreams, the other does not.
4
'Trump has dragged this country into the gutter', apparently a large proportion don't need any dragging or coercion, their inner racism has been given a legitimate (taking into account 3 million votes) voice, once Trump has gone his 'base' will still be there, and that is your problem, not Trump.
1
The issues here are many.
Trump calling people "murderers" and "drug dealers" and "invaders" does not seem to him or his followers as either racist speech or incendiary. Many people do not understand what racism is. Bill Maher, an educated person who seems to be liberal, insisted on blaming all Muslims for terrorist attacks on this country, sometimes from within the country. He simply did not see his words as racist. If he doesn't get it, why would Trump or anyone of his mostly undereducated enthusiasts? They don't see anything wrong with "locker room talk" or with sexual predation, or with lying. One supposes that many of these people are equally guilty with such and see it just as "how life is." They do not see talking about "the blacks" or "the latinos" or "the muslims" as racist, and may even work with people in each group and get along with them in a friendly manner. Trump is a low class person. He has no culture, no sophistication, no sense of decorum, no ability to be compassionate. Those thoughts do not enter his mind because they are not in his consciousness. Some people have no concept of humility or graciousness because they were not raised to appreciate either. Words, in general, are more or less meaningless to such individuals no matter how eloquent or astute. When we killed public education decades ago by starving the arts and humanities so we could have sports, we killed higher thinking.
FOX is the culprit. Make FOX go away and his 'power' goes with it.
5
One of my definitions of tragedy is that situation in which, in order to address the oppressor, or to seek redress from him, one is forced to pick up HIS weapons and enter HIS war; not a war of choice, but the war that he has begun and continues to prosecute. The last paragraph of Mr. Blow's op-ed speaks directly to this. The gutter! How I resist this gutter! And how it is the only place to defeat the invasion and infestation of racist, misogynist, xenophobic toxicity brought into our midst by the current occupant of the White House. I hate this. I grieve this.
1
Trump has enjoyed a modicum of insulation from criticism from officials out of respect for the office he holds. His behavior has descended so far down into the sewer of hate and disdain, that modicum has been erased. After Joe Biden's speech today, it's open season on Trump's racists rants. No longer should we hear harsh criticism only from extremists or clickbait websites. We must hear it from all media, all politicians and it's about time!
In this crisis, this is not the time for journalistic restraint in order to appear professional. There is a time for extreme language and this is that time because Trump is that awful. Trump's people love him because they say he tells it like it is. Well, the rest of us can tell it like it is too and call out Trump for what he is.
This is a fight where the opponent does not follow any of the rules. Trump will say anything and he will do anything he thinks he can get away with, legal, proper or not.
I am appalled at the way he uses Jews as shields by claiming total support for Israel while his followers would be perfectly happy to ship every Jew in this nation back to Europe. We have armed cops at my Temple for a reason and it isn't to shoot Iranians. It's to protect us from white supremacists.
I am also appalled at the high levels of support Trump gets. What does this say about us, our collective character. Trump supporters, why did we fight WWII?
6
Trump has enjoyed a modicum of insulation from criticism from officials out of respect for the office he holds. His behavior has descended so far down into the sewer of hate and disdain, that modicum has been erased. After Joe Biden's speech today, it's open season on Trump's racists rants. No longer should we hear harsh criticism only from extremists or clickbait websites. We must hear it from all media, all politicians and it's about time!
In this crisis, this is not the time for journalistic restraint in order to appear professional. There is a time for extreme language and this is that time because Trump is that awful. Trump's people love him because they say he tells it like it is. Well, the rest of us can tell it like it is too and call out Trump for what he is.
This is a fight where the opponent does not follow any of the rules. Trump will say anything and he will do anything he thinks he can get away with, legal, proper or not.
I am appalled at the way he uses Jews as shields by claiming total support for Israel while his followers would be perfectly happy to ship every Jew in this nation back to Europe. We have armed cops at my Temple for a reason and it isn't to shoot Iranians. It's to protect us from white supremacists.
I am also appalled at the high levels of support Trump gets. What does this say about us, our collective character. Trump supporters, why did we fight WWII?
2
The bigger concern is that the majority of white Americans continue to support Trump's behavior and actions. The fringe elements that commit these atrocities are similar to the brown shirts. They are used to do the dirty work and will continue to be subtly encouraged.
3
On the opposite side of the page of NYT, there is a heading: "Trump Comes to Console. El Paso Says No Thanks"
--Has Trump mentioned the Hispanic community since the El Paso shooting?
--Has he once comforted the Hispanic community?
--Has he reached out to its leaders or community organizations to discuss the fear in light of this attack?
--Has he declared Hispanic Americans full-blooded Americans?
--Has he apologized for portraying El Paso as a crime-ridden city and inferring that Hispanic immigrants was the source of the crimes?
--Has he even paid the city the funds expended when he held a rally in that city?
If the answer is no to all those questions, then he didn't come to El Paso to console.
Hence, El Paso has no obligation to participate in a photo-op when they are still grieving and trying to grapple with this tragedy.
That headline is extremely inaccurate. And we (Americans and the press) should no longer cover or make excuses for him.
This is the first step for getting out of the proverbial gutter................
2
Even if we dump Trump, we must survive his aftermath. There are millions of disenfranchised people with guns in this country. How to heal them? Is it even possible?
Trump is the lowest of the low, but the next demagogue could be worse. An army of white nationalists "invading" our big cities? Mad hackers who destroy the power grid?
As the richest of the rich relocate to their bunkers, food shortages could wipe out most of the population. Is that where we're headed?
Trump: "The enthusiasm was there for all to see."
What enthusiasm?
Enthusiasm that so many so-called verminous invaders and Mexican rapists got brutally shot dead to successfully protect us from infestation? Enthusiasm that anyone who can body-slam an invader is "my kind of guy?"
Bullets may split a skull but first and foremost words do in presenting ideas that bring us bullets.
2
Like a toxic relationship that takes you from your friends, Trump has done this to America’s relationship with the world.
3
If the founders and inspirations of all religions, MLK, Jr., and the Pres. of the United Federation of Planets all appeared on the White House lawn and proclaimed Trump the greatest and most fair-minded president in history, most of the media would still press their non-relenting narrative. Why not? We know that if the media repeats something over and over, some people start to believe it. We know that there's an effect that if all you hear is one side, we all tend to believe it. And, they don't really care if we have racial tension and hatred. Trump must be destroyed!
Of course, Trump is none of those things. I didn't vote for him. But, he's just a lot better than the "resistance." One of my favorite "resistance" themes about Trump is that he is destroying our institutions. That comes from the same people who advocated ending our 230 year old form of government by getting rid of the electoral college (so they can win), by ending free speech they find "offensive" or "hateful" (so they can win), doing away with enforcement of the border (so they can win) and packing the Supreme Court (so they can win, fair or foul).
Personally, I don't think Trump is the least racist person, as he claims. I think he's bigoted. But, in the way I thought my elderly relatives were. Maybe we all have some bigotry in us. But, no, I don't believe he hates blacks and somehow has fooled his black supporters.
What we have here is the continuation of the hysteria that arose the day he won.
2
The Trump administration created a policy of separating the children of illegal aliens from their parents with the intent being to intimidate the illegals from trying to enter the United States. That was an evil act. Further, they did not even bother to collect enough information to ever reunite the children with their parents. That was incompetent. This is certainly not the United States we all grew up in.
The current president and his obsequious sycophants are way below the gutter and the swamp that is swirling around in the nations Capitol. They are in the sewer and a very low point in American history. Since Congress obviously doesn't have the political will, the votes or guts to remove him, the voters in the 2020 election will have to clean up the horrible mess Trump has made of this great country.
1
Yes. Trump has dragged America down to all time historical low point. By lights years, he is the worst president of all time.
So why is the press going full out to give this colossal disaster of a president massive front page publicity, 7 days week, 52 weeks a year?
Going into the gutter with him is tremendous blunder.
Any member of Congress who does not support immediate impeachment has failed the country unforgiveably.
2
Well, if Trump did actually drag us — and I prefer a different word, less drastic (it implies resistance) — he didn’t have to pull most of us very hard, or far.
I know a woman who repeatedly sent me disgustingly scurrilous emails disparaging President Obama during both his terms. Basically nothing written in them was true. One day I happened to encounter her in my building and admonished her, told her how disappointed I was. How could she do such a thing? Also, how annoying I found them (very).
Water off a duck’s back.
Then, I told her that most of the alternative facts in her emails were dead wrong. I even mentioned that I’d met Obama at Harvard Law in late 1989, trying to answer one slur that Trump (no stranger to baseless slurs) repeated ad nauseam for nearly five years — that nobody knew him at any of the schools he attended. Obama, the Invisible Man. Flat out told her I’d met him.
She just waved it off and danced away.
She knew her emails were lies. Some longstanding inner needs pushed her in that direction, into such behavior.
Trump invented nothing. He simply rode an already flowing river of hate into the White House. And, he’s about to try it again.
1
Then that's where we'll fight him.
1
We had an incident in Hawaii on July 17 that well-illustrates what Hispanic Americans are up against. According to a story in Wednesday's Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Air Force Senior Airman Xiara Mercado, from Puerto Rico, was on the phone speaking Spanish at a Starbucks, when a white woman tapped her on the shoulder and told her: "You shouldn't be speaking Spanish. That's not what that uniform represents...it's distasteful."
Mercado responded: "I'm sorry, ma'am, what's distasteful?"
"You speaking another language that does not represent America and that uniform you are wearing. That's distasteful."
Mercado was shocked, then said: "I'm sorry, ma'am, the only distasteful thing here is that you are clueless to your discrimination. Please educate yourself. Have a nice day," and then walked away.
Mercado then posted: "Something really gross and disgusting happened to me...It's about race, black, brown ethnicity...discrimination, period. And respect. That's what I fight for. That's what I'm in the United States for: to fight for freedom and other people."
5
Trump is dragging the country ever more into his psychosis.
6
Totally agree that we need to fight back. That means each one of us has to actually do work, not just words.
Join a political action group, send postcards, do calling.
Canvas to register voters. Speak up at meetings.
Tell your friends and family to vote, especially the 18 to 35 year old voters that historically have a lower percentage that vote.
Yes, give donations, each of us what we can.
But this is war; not only for our country, our children, but for our planet.
3
Your list of targets isn't complete. Add the disabled. Add the elderly.
8
Baloney! Trump has done no such thing. We, with our faces glued to screens and our relentless pursuit of ignorance have allowed a game show host to hijack our political system. We are fully responsible for this outcome. Take a hard look at the Days of Rage in Hong Kong, Paris, or Puerto Rico and be ashamed at our passivity. In lieu of a million-person march on NRA headquarters, we will offer "thoughts and prayers", place some flowers, and light a candle. Then we will plan the Saturday picnic and enjoy the remaining weekends of summer.
4
It seems incredible that this is the same country that, just 10 years ago, elected Obama. How could this happen?
3
Undoing whiteness is difficult because the very air we breath is white. Since T was elected, I have been working deliberately to see my own racism and it has not been fun. It is complex, goes deep and makes me feel very uncomfortable, especially as a so-called well-meaning white person. Still I know that my discomfort is nothing compared to the experience of negotiating in the world with black or brown skin.
I wonder how people who support T could ever have the capacity, let alone the motivation, to do this work. I don't know many T supporters but ALL of them insist strongly that they are not racist. Sorry, no. To say that is to reveal your ignorance. Look harder....I know you will find it in there somewhere.
Even under Obama, we wanted to declare racism over and done without actually doing anything about it. Clearly that didn't work out. The American way is to take the short cut but there are no short cuts in this particular endeavor.
Like a few others in the comments, I left the US (by coincidence) in 2016. I don't find much solace in watching from north of the border because all of my family and most of the people I love are still there. I keep telling them - when you need to get out, you have a place to go... but bring your winter coat.
3
Well written, Mr. Blow. You're one of the few writers who calls it like it is these days. Most others still use mamby-pamby language when writing about the state of our country vis a vis Trump.
Very early on we all heard what was to come but stuck our heads in the sand when vast numbers of his followers declared, "He just says what we're all thinking". We're seeing now how what he said and what they think gained momentum, and is being perpetrated onto their targets today. It's terrifying.
Democrats, vote your conscience in the primary but vote for the Democrat in the general. Our first priority is to vote out tyranny and fascism and restore our Democratic Republic.
5
It is time to tell this racist president that enough is enough. It is hard to understand why the people are allowing this to happen with hardly a murmur, in most free countries there would be major demonstrations on the streets in the capital and other cities. Yes, the Ballot Box awaits and all right thinking people need to get out and vote, but the Democrats need to quickly get their act together, to stop squabbling amongst themselves, to get behind a viable candidate and to begin to lead the country out of the mess that racist Trump has got it into.
2
You give trump too much credit. He is supported by much of the Republican Party and apparently still has a strong supportive base that will vote for him again. He alone did not bring this nation into the gutter.
3
I'm struck by how Trump, Mitch McConnell & apparently Wayne LaPierre all responded w/fury, threats & disbelief the public views them as villains complicit in these massacres, believing they deserve a respect & decorum that belies their behavior.
Shocking reports LaPierre appears to have threatened Trump if he helps pass background checks.
All 3 of these men are drunk w/power & incapable of feeling human empathy.
Millions of us were heartbroken by reports of the young El Paso couple shot as they bent over their newborn baby to shield him from gunfire. Both died, leaving their baby an orphan. There were reports the gunman chased & shouted threats at children who were raising money for their soccer team.
The corruption of LaPierre trying to secure a huge mansion to live in for reasons of "security" is revolting.
Trump & McConnell seem to lack any sense of human connection to those they were elected to serve. They live in a self-absorbed bubble where they're shocked people are angry w/ Trump & exhausted by his hate speech. McConnell is outraged people demonstrated near his home, considering that 'over the line.'
They don't realize we believe innocent people murdered w/ an assault weapon while shopping is 'over the line.'
What world do these monsters live in where they're convinced they deserve insulation from our fury as we absorb reports of terrifying crimes their policies continually enable?
Are they mad?
Blow is right. This is the gutter.
We want out.
7
I continue to wonder what the president has said to each individual family member he has spoken to in El Paso and Dayton in his hospital visits. What could he possibly say that would help them?
And deep down, what I really wonder, is how individual members of the entire extended family of each individual killed in El Paso and Dayton feel and think about the president of the United States.
I tried last night to imagine what they might be going through and even what they might have felt on meeting the president. Impossible to imagine, that is my conclusion.
We cannot ask them but I wonder if any will decide after suffcient time has elapsed for them to become functional - they will never return to their pre-killing state - to express themselves about the exceptionally American background that led the killers to kill.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
No Charles, Trump hasn't dragged us decent people into the gutter. The pro-Trump white nationalist fringe element has always been in the gutter and they have been emboldened by Trump's hate mongering to unleash their rage. We are witnessing Donald Trump unchained and it is unspeakably frightening. Only the most optimistically gullible believed Trump's visits to Dayton and El Paso would allay the horrors there, and the rest of us witnessed what we expected: Donald Trump expressing his outrage at those who protested against his arrival. With each passing day, I wonder if this nation can survive the scourge of Donald Trump.
3
Twitter blocks the accounts of a Republican that uploaded protester threatening him at his home. This is why the news is bought by the Democrats there are the ones to blame for these extremist beliefs. Since the Trump presidency, they deployed propaganda so sick that divided us. The truth has haunted the Democrats so bad that they have to divert the attention towards confrontation so that their incompetence doesn't be paid attention to. They never talk of strategy to make a better future they just attack and attack and spread gossip, incite divisions, disinformation, I bet the ones behind all of this are getting paid by a foreign power. Democrats become an asset for a foreign adversary that wants to bring down the country, using our own freedoms and politicians as an Achilles heel to deal constantly blows to our system. They have the electronic heard on their side they stampede whichever direction the media tells them to. But the truth is that they are just a heard, with no conscious brain they may be big in numbers but there just that brainless heard. In addition, also there are Double agents in the political affairs, the FBI should crackdown this coup in progress. Also, Trump has attacked the media for their disinformation and strategic lies, this is the consequence, all media are performing as beehives against him I am impressed by how he's holding on.
In 25 years, little has been done to enforce legal immigration. Trump's heavy handed promotion of "the wall" and mass deportation has turned our country upside down, but the Senate always had the power to create a worker visa plan for temporary workers. This clip shows where we were 25 years ago. Compare to where we are now. 25 years of doing nothing and stonewalling of the bipartisan plans to solve the problem. Why do we allow Mitch McConnell to block every attempt at a peaceful solution? He has to go.
https://www.c-spanorg/video/? c4351026/c
1
In New Zealand, after a single massacre, they bravely banned assault rifles in three days. Three days. How many killings have there been since Sandy Hook? Too many to count. Th number of Trump's atrocities is too great to hold in the mind at one time. I an a 71 year old white Southerner. I am ashamed to show my face in the street. The people on Trump's hit list, let's be honest, are our neighbors, our friends, our artists, our statesmen, the people our children choose to marry. They are America. I am not. I never will be again in my lifetime. Blessings on the real America that Trump wants to extinguish. And damnation on me and my kind,
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@Robert Goolrick
Oh, but Mr. Goolrick, you are exactly the type of person we need showing their faces in our streets. People of conscience, decency and courage, who aren’t afraid to accept change, and who can show warmth and solidarity to the marginalized and persecuted. It’s going to take every one of us having the courage to speak up whenever and wherever we can if we’re to have any hope of ending this crisis. It’s human to fear change, but individual strength and kindness is have the power of the divine.
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@Robert Goolrick I too am 71, descended from Confederate veterans and slaveowners, but also from parents who fled the South as soon as they could because of its abhorrent white racism. I share your sentiments. I could not live in the South. And since the election of the Orange Excrescence, every July 4th I have flown our state flag, bearing the legend “California Republic.” We too have a checkered history, but I am still proud to call myself a Californian.
I can no longer identify with a huge swath of white America, or anyone else who supports the Abomination on Pennsylvania Avenue. I do pity the latter, though. If they are non-white, real Christians or any other religion, women, or in the LGBTQ%+ communities, they have a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome.
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@Robert Goolrick You are America, because America, with all its imperfections, is always seeking to be better. Trump and his supporters would kill our republic and its inhabitants, the constant striving to be better and possibly America itself.
Putin knows this. He's wanted to destroy America since he was a young KGB agent. He has since realized the best way to win is to make us destroy ourselves.
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“I am the least racist person you’ll ever meet” said Donald Trump. More than once.
All one can say is heaven help us all if that statement contains even a tiny grain of truth.
2
Its not just the obvious targets, as you mention, "immigrants, people of Mexican heritage, Muslims, people who are transgender, women, African-Americans." I lost a dear cousin in the Tree of Life massacre of Jewish people in Pittsburgh. Though Jews are not Trump's target and he claims great love for them, once the hate gets ginned up, armed with Republican-granted assault rifles and high capacity magazines, Jewish folks are almost inevitably caught in the shark-toothed jaws of violence, mayhem, and death.
And then there's all the white victims of these mass murders and the police officers whose lives become collateral damage statistics. No, when Trump spews his noxious racist sexist hate, all to appeal the the Republican base(the low, the foul, the ignorant, the hateful) all Americans are the victims.
5
Our “president” is more damaging to this nation than the grand wizard of the kkk, and victimizes minorities, their children, and women on a grand scale, whilst claiming that he is the sole victim in this country. He will be seen in the future as America’s first dictator if he wins this next election, fraudulently or otherwise. For the first time in my life, I’m embarrassed by the so called president of the United States, and appalled by any American who votes for him. Anybody who supports this man now, or in the future is a racist, a xenophobe, and a misogynist who invites violence every day he remains in office. If you support this man, you take on these titles, his titles.
There are no more excuses for his supporters, as they know what this so called president is, and what he does. You are who you vote for. Some day they’ll regret their choice, as the Germans did in 1945.
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I agree with Charles about impeachment; the Mueller investigation dealt with one narrow issue and Trump’s obstruction is but one count. His bigoted, divisive rhetoric has motivated the worst manifestations of hate and fear culminating in more than one act of lethal violence. It is Trump’s rhetoric which has violated his oath of office ...his highest crime is appeal to the lowest hatreds; his speech falsely targeting of certain ethnic and racial groups is contrary to the requirements of our Constitution. (And of course, there is the blatant conflicts of interest, nepotism threatening national security and corruption).
5
Although I understand the sentiment, I disagree with the following:
"you know that we are experiencing this nightmare in a wholly different way, in a deeper way, than people who are not targeted."
I posit that all Americans who actually love the Republic and strive towards the ideals to which it used to aspire are targets of Trump and his sycophants. Those of us who strive for justice for all and an arc of history that bends towards equality are targets of the maladroits that make up this administration and its enablers. Yes immigrants and people of color do have a special target on their backs because of this "president" but so do the rest of us who are fighting back daily against this monster and his hatred.
4
Wow Charles! I am heartbroken. Thank you for letting me see myself in you, immigrants and children torn away from their parents.
1
Of the raids on the processing plants, what of the employers?
Are they being called out and hauled to jail for illegally employing people who may not have proper documentation?
What about all the people Trump employed for years who everyone knew were undocumented but they cost him less and he had the power of their status over them so he kept them on?
Lower cost is always the incentive, isn't it?
They were all rounded up and fired pretty recently.
Does his base give him a total pass on this?
Can he just blame his staff who hired them and say he didn't know?
Why is this vulgar man forgiven all his trespasses?
Civility has imploded in this society.
3
Re:
Trump has dragged this country into the gutter, and his targets have no choice but to get in the gutter with him and slug it out.
Before they go down that sewage hole they need to verify their voter registration status, and commit themselves to voting for the democratic party candidate, who may not have been their first or second choice, but who will lift the pressure imposed by having a hate promoter with full executive power, especially that of the bully pulpit. They also need to make sure that all their friends, relatives, and acquaintances of all races and ethnic origins share alike in such a commitment.
This is not a game being played out with trivial stakes.
It will do no good at all for there to be any hesitancy or
backsliding in registering and voting in Nov. 2020. Nor
will it serve any useful purpose to pay any attention to the
many little disinformation and cynical tricks being played on social media, which are designed to whitewash and make one forget his vicious history with discrimination and race baiting that is a consistent feature of his lamentable biography.
This cannot be emphasized enough.
2
How did the US turn into this shame? Loser trump. Fire him already.
1
“Trump Has Dragged Us Into the Gutter”
One man has dragged the nation of 330 million people into the gutter?
What is he? The Superman with the extraterrestrial abilities?!
No, we willingly and voluntarily jumped into the gutter, have no doubts about it.
Ask yourself why you did it.
Yes, YOU did it!
Why are you hating a half of the country? Why are you disparaging your first neighbors? Are you incapable of understanding their concerns, problems and worries? Are you unable to compromise? Don’t you have sympathy for the other human beings?
Please, answer those questions frankly for your own sake, for the sake of your family and the entire country!
1
Your description of getting up and adjusting your armor everyday made me realize you never take your armor off.
You live in your armor.
I'm an artist and very visual. That picture lit up my mind.
I have studied ancient Greek military history and instantly I thought of what a terrible burden that would be.
Even in siege warfare, soldiers took their armor off during times of rest.
A hoplite soldier often carried 60 pounds of armor into combat but Charles, there is no way to calculate what you and other Americans carry everyday as targets of Trump's bigotry.
Thank you for your consummate writing skills. Another article by you has touched me deeply.
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@American2019...word.
3
Dear Mr. Blow,
If an asteroid hit NYC, you, the MSM, and like minded would blame President Trump!
1
@Dennis And yet Trump would relish being blamed, as he always must be the most tragic and undeserved victim.
Trump likes people who don't get shot.
2
"Now just imagine how much higher the level of offense and betrayal is when one has to grapple daily with the reality that the chief executive of the country is the source of the targeting and the source of the pain." No, Trump isn't Hitler and Republicans aren't Nazis, even if they are white supremacists. But as the descendant of German Jews who just barely escaped the Third Reich in time, I fully appreciate what Mr. Blow is saying.
1
75 years after WWII, the Germans are still mocked as Nazis.
How many years will it take for white working class men to wipe off the stain of their bigotry—especially those who aren’t bigots, but are now assumed to be?
1
@Toronto Carp Nobody "mocks" the Germans as Nazi's in this day and age. Germany more than any other nation acts to prevent the evils of racism and the mob psychology of white supremacy. They know history, and are aware of the dire consequences that result from that warped ideology.
Trump and his supporters need to be called out on their ugly racist attacks on people of color. What is especially sad about these gatherings is the harm it is doing to the nation and to the world. The United States of America is no longer seen as the world's hope. Instead, Trump and his supporters rail not only against America's minorities but seek to inflict harm on the poor and destitute throughout the world. This ugly man and his racist followers, who revel in their hate, may win in the short term, but the world continues to shift and nothing they do will change that fact, the world will not return to 1950, for the nation and the world will resist. The tide of history eventually will wash over them and they will drown in their own hate and inhumanity. As we saw in Nazi Germany their victories eventually turned to disaster for all who reveled in the false credo of white supremacy.
2
Trump is a psychological black hole who is only content when the entire universe is sucked into his narcissistic vortex.
He is a human mutant whose primary talent is malignant narcissism that he infects others with by arousing their tribal anger, spite and negativity by serving verbal vanilla milkshakes of hate to America's lost white souls who drink it like manna from heaven.
It's a pretty bad scene.
The upside is that he's awful on public policy...and his Republican Party is even worse on public policy.
At some point in time, his trickle-down fraud and record-income-inequality policies, deregulatory nihilism, gun anarchy, forced pregnancy policy, ally alienation, Tariff Man Act, general incompetence, and complete lack of human dignity will conspire to sink his Presidency into his own black hole.
Until then...and yes, it's taking way too long, but until then, decent Americans need to continue to speak out against and protest this black hole of a President whose raison d'être is self-congratulation for his shameful and lawless Presidency.
Trump is not normal.
Those who support him have lost their way in his black hole.
November 3 2020 is the opportunity of a lifetime for Americans save their country from being swallowed by a black hole.
Use your vote wisely, citizens.
We must rise up together and defeat this dark force of nature.
9
@Socrates And we must all support Amy McGrath who is running against Mitch McConnell, Trump's enabler, and the vicious evil force that pulls all the strings.
1
Perfectly said
1
So we're all safer now that illegal brown people have been pulled off their chicken processing jobs in Mississippi?
How is that ?
5
With all due respect to Mr. Blow's commentary, America is not in the "gutter" but in a political and social downward spiral into ever lower circles of "hell" not experienced in the United States since the Civil War.
Has anyone seriously considered the serious import of Mr. Trump's blatant and unrepentant rejection of Constitutional norms or the rule of law? If Mr. Trump is willing to convert and weaponize the executive branches of federal governance like the Departments of Treasury, Justice, Housing, Homeland Security just to name a few.
If Mr. Trump contemptuously rejects any oversight of his administration by the Article I branch and publicly assails and denigrates members of the Article III branch when they check his autocratic impulses, why does anyone blithely presume Mr. Trump will accept the outcome of an electoral process he will assert was rigged if he loses?
4
"And that’s the other part of the trauma: The targets have to constantly wrestle with the reality that a large portion of the American population is perfectly fine with what Trump is doing and many people will even show up at his rallies and cheer."
And let us not forget the targets are the employees, NOT the businesses that hired them, which is also illegal.
Maybe we should take the companies/officers/managers to criminal court just like the employees and when found guilty confiscate their business. Maybe that way they would only hire all those Americans waiting in line for those meat packing jobs.
6
"The targets have to constantly wrestle with the reality that a large portion of the American population is perfectly fine with what Trump is doing and many people will even show up at his rallies and cheer." And this image is the part that sickens me and so many others. How can anyone in their right mind celebrate racism, the separation of children from their families, and bullying? We must do everything we can to get people registered to vote and make sure they use their vote to restore the integrity, honor, and unity of our nation!
2
The silent, willing partners in all of this are the other Republicans. They are complicit as they sit mute while the leader of their Party and this country spews venomous words of hatred in his campaigns and in his Tweets. They have sold their souls to stack the court with conservative judges and Justices and they have put Party over the good of this nation. The injustice of the inhumane treatment of immigrants would have been unthinkable under any other Republican President in my memory and I am 73 years old. We are becoming inured to Trump rallies in which stark words of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny are interlaced with profanity. Our souls have been beaten down by outrage. We watch in disbelief as Trump blithely delivers a repugnantly hypocritical speech to grieving souls who only wanted to be left in peace. However, remembering Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise", we have to persevere and we have to be persistent against the darkness which has overtaken our country. Our country is better than what it has become under Trump and his co-conspiring fellow Republicans. We have to continue to fight against hatred and injustice just as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did even in the face of impossible odds. He never gave up, and neither should we. This coming election will be the most important one of our lives. We still have the power of the vote. It is our voice. Do not let that voice be silenced by discouragement. It is what "they" want.
6
@Diana And it helps to remember that the majority of eligible voters never wanted Trump and his Republican ilk in the first place. Survey studies show that even more people favor policies that would be the opposite of what Trump/Republicans would want. All of us just have to get out and vote! As shown in 2018, it would show a turnaround of having "winners" basically by default of non-majority voters. And I emphasize "voters" here and not just supporters. Like the stopped clock being right twice a day, Trump was right and pointedly accurate about that shooting on 5th Avenue where he would not "lose voters." That's what he said, not just referring to supporters.
1
@Diana
Speak out, write congressional reps, comment in NYTimes, protest!
Silence is not an option.
1
Yes and no Charles. Ultimately Trump is just a manifestation of a deeper problem. In truth he is a 'minority' President. He will never garner support from more than 45% of our population. Yet he will likely win reelection in 2020. You could say that that a white minority has dragged our country into the gutter.
As a society we are in great transition. The alternative to Trump is unclear because of this transition. As we strive to reach a healthy concensious we watch as a unfit man codifies the strength of a flagging ideology.
We have dragged ourselves into the gutter.
4
@Bob The majority, yes, and this majority must get out and vote! As in 2018, it would turn around the trend of having "winners" of elections because of a non-majority of voters.
Mr. Blow, you are exactly on point. Trump has painted a bullseye on all our backs, and the Republican patriarchy is ensuring that the weapons are readily available to be pointed at us to continue their hold on power.
I am a brown immigrant and I did not come here to be second-class to anyone. No one can tell me or mine to go anywhere. We will defend our rights and will not go through this nightmare lying down.
9
The fear and anguish you so eloquently describe is heart wrenching. We know from history that there is a dark and ugly facet to human nature that can’t always be kept locked in a box. Once out it can spread unchecked like a disease. While there is a much larger burden for all who are in the direct line of fire, there is immense psychological anguish suffered by all who have eyes to see the ugly truth of Trump’s perversely dark contagion.
When societal norms break down, civility is lost and autocrats hold the reins of power, who knows what further horrors can be unleashed…
1
Success has many parents. So does failure. Those complacent and complicit in allowing one deranged man to so quickly destroy our democracy instead of strengthening it are hell-bent on helping him achieve his goals.
Vote.
10
Well said Mr. Blow. I have always been of the opinion that we need to defend ourselves against this bully by taking bold actions. By that I mean, stand up to him, protest in droves all across America and boot him out the door. Then I am told by all my American friends that we need to wait till the 2020 election because that is one one does in America when one does not like whoever is in charge. You wait to vote, you vote and you have a new president and administration. Bullocks! Haven't we had enough of this charade, are we going to let this bully drag us into the gutter one more day. I am an immigrant from Europe and I cringe every time I hear stories about how South American immigrants are treated in this country. I feel powerless and I don't understand why Congress is so powerless in front of this president who is not just a bully but an aberration. I hope that one day, my grand children and great grand children will learn that he was just a parenthesis in American history.
4
After following the US news vis a vis DJT and the Republicans since the start of President Obama's first term I'd say there's almost zero chance that you will actually HAVE an election in 2020.
There's no way this guy is going to step down peacefully and no way his cult followers will accept even a landslide Democratic win.
Your country is in deep,deep trouble.
3
@XRAY
It's pretty obvious.
Trump's revving up his gun toting base with increasingly inflammatory rhetoric and warnings.
And our so-called leader, Nancy Pelosi, is
too petrified to stop him with impeachment regardless of the overwhelming evidence against him.
And so the pillaging and plundering of America by this insane wannabe dictator escalates each day.
We are doomed.
Approximately 600 Latinos poultry workers captured by ICE raids at numerous plants in Mississippi. Removing 600 wage earners from the Mississippi economy must certainly have a negative impact on the local economy in addition to the fear and discord that it creates within the local Hispanic population. I suspect that replacing these lost jobs will not be an easy matter in our strong economy, but that doesn't deter Donald from his mission to purge America from all people of color. The price we all pay for Donald's racism is increased fear and social unrest in our communities, and a few less dollars in our pockets. Thanks Donald for nothing.
19
The Democrats and all Americans who oppose Trump must vote and encourage all of their friends and family to vote. I believe that if everyone in America voted even Trump's advantage in the Electoral College would not be enough to allow him to win the presidency again. Everyone, especially people who oppose Trump, must vote, and must organize and help all other Americans to register to vote and to arrive at the poles on election day. I can not allow myself to believe that the majority of Americans would vote for Trump. Please organize, energize and VOTE!
24
@Seth Riebman: The Electoral College algorithm arguably discards a majority of the votes cast. The US presidential election is biggest travesty of fake democracy on Earth, and it has produced some of the lowest turnouts in presidential elections anywhere.
@Seth Riebman
Vote against all Republicans...local and national.
@Seth Riebman
Why haven’t the employers been sanctioned?
Thank you so much, Charles Blow, for putting my feelings into words, and making it clear to me why it is so hard to get up and out of the house these days.
You speak to my condition, as I'm sure you do for so many others.
"Each morning, we rise, adjust our armor and set our minds, so that we can continue the battle, but also celebrate our victories and not forget to wring bits of joy out of life."
May we rise: for ourselves, for the children, for others--all who are blanketed in the miasma of insult and assault. Every morning may we rise together.
40
@Rachel
and you are not alone in this...all decent Americans
are at your side.
Thank you. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am exhausted from this man and his followers. I especially blame the republicans because they actually hold.the key to stopping this national nightmare. We fight on. Courage!
34
Alas, Trump's job approval ratings have been going up. He could get re-elected. A large portion of the population is very happy in the gutter we have been dragged into. Is it possible to have a democracy where almost half of the people loath the other half? Even if Trump were not re-elected, those reactionary capitalistic powers are not going to give up. They will be back, again and again. I wonder how long before we give up and states harden their borders. California already has a problem with shooters coming from Nevada. It may be time to break up the United States.
12
I am glad that Charles mentioned women as his targets too. We have been living his crusade against our lives and dignity along with all of his other victims.
All of the groups he targets are actually the majority in this country and we need to combine together to get rid of the threat the GOP, as well as Trump, poses to our living decent, free, and worthwhile lives.
This column reminds me of the gothic nightmare I, a white woman, had after it was announced that Trump was elected:
I was in the standard old dark house frantically packing to leave, knowing I was under threat, when Trump loomed up out of the darkness, and said "What do you think you are doing?"
"I am just getting my things so I can leave" I said.
"You have no things" Trump replied. "They all belong to me."
26
@Christine I, too, was glad to see women mentioned in Charles's essay, because, let us not forget: Trump has attacked women not only verbally, but, based on very credible allegations, by physical assaults with his own BODY! You don't get much more personal than that. A vile and despicable specimen, through and through.
1