The "Donation Gap" - how much of that gap is due to "loans" by Trump? About the only place someone voted "10 times" was in Wisconsin for Walker.
29
By the way, Newt Gingrich also told one of his wives that he was divorcing her -- while she was in the hospital suffering from debilitating cancer treatments. Just a footnote....
97
As a mother of a daughter with a disability, I'm outraged, Trump! You on the other hand, built ramps for your buildings because it is required by law.
109
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is emotionally imbalanced to lead this nation; he shows lack of “leadership”, self-control; ignorance in domestic and foreign critical matters. He was unaware President Putin had invaded Ukraine or of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria that are helping Isis and his Jihadist’s army of thugs. Nevertheless, he insists on establishing a friendly relationship with Putin. Maybe, he wants to build one of his empires in Russia?
Donald Trump expressed such lack of concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of veterans with disabilities when he said: I’ve helped spending millions on ramps at my buildings” when what they really need is financial assistance to improve their quality of life.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are just throwing “firecrackers” and political intervention is a “hoax” - the truth is President Trump is their “last train” to somewhat rescue what’s left of the Republican Party.
It gives me the “chills” imagining President Donald Trump having access to the black briefcase the “football,” that would provide him with incredible power; a menu of nuclear strike options. As “Commander in Chief” President Trump would decide to act within a few seconds what he might consider being America’s enemy.
Donald Trump expressed such lack of concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of veterans with disabilities when he said: I’ve helped spending millions on ramps at my buildings” when what they really need is financial assistance to improve their quality of life.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are just throwing “firecrackers” and political intervention is a “hoax” - the truth is President Trump is their “last train” to somewhat rescue what’s left of the Republican Party.
It gives me the “chills” imagining President Donald Trump having access to the black briefcase the “football,” that would provide him with incredible power; a menu of nuclear strike options. As “Commander in Chief” President Trump would decide to act within a few seconds what he might consider being America’s enemy.
28
Voters in solid Blue states, don't think because of the Electoral College your vote doesn't count!
Please turn out and give Hillary Clinton a strong mandate through a huge majority in the popular vote!
This will be of enormous importance in governing.
Please turn out and give Hillary Clinton a strong mandate through a huge majority in the popular vote!
This will be of enormous importance in governing.
124
Can't decide if the accompanying photo should be labelled "Help" or "Three crying babies."
75
Now Donald Trump is boasting about seeing a top-secret video that doesn't even exist? Of course his statements would be even more astounding if he were in fact broadcasting to the public information about top-secret material.
Vote!
Vote like our country depends on it. America and the world cannot afford a disaster of this magnitude.
Don't take any chances – – figure out how absentee mail-in voting works in your state, and get the application now. That way your vote will still matter even if you're hit by a car on the morning of election day.
Vote!
Vote like our country depends on it. America and the world cannot afford a disaster of this magnitude.
Don't take any chances – – figure out how absentee mail-in voting works in your state, and get the application now. That way your vote will still matter even if you're hit by a car on the morning of election day.
51
A picture is worth a thousand words, at least to me. Look at the seriously bawling baby in blue. Could it be that he has sensed and knows, the left arm holding him belongs to someone who hates babies? Or look at the baby in pink. Look at her outstretched arms and face turned away for someone, anyone to save her from the right arm holding her? And what about Don? His face is contorted with disgust. And certainly, this is not my imagination. This picture is all about babies in distress who are in surly, evil Gran'pa's arms. And babies don't lie!
37
His intervention should be done by psychiatric professionals to check for "Narcissistic Megalomania."
36
I can't wait for the debates. Usually kind of boring I believe Trump's will make the history books and not in a JFK way.
37
Trump eliminated 16 rivals and is in process of destroying HRC. Look at the Dem convention -- what a mess. Why should he change tactics now? You may not like it, but America will decide. I am fine with President Trump. He'll appoint skilled people, and things will get done. Will everything get done? No. If 10% gets done, that will be more than HRC would get done, and at least his 10% will be good for America.
5
Yes Gail, when walking through fire having a lot of faith is always a wonderful idea. Did get on the convention floor Thursday evening, due to having a really true friend. Everyone has got to have one of those. Maybe we will meet, don't know where, don't know when. God bless HRC, the wise electorate, you and America. Yes I do think blue will win in November.
12
Gail - your contempt for various contemptible people is perfectly appropriate. Someone should point out, though, that your obsession with Mr. Giuliani's marital history - what was that again? - makes you unique among journalists, and I think humans, in the entire world. Wasn't he mean to a dog once?
3
Imagine a secret meeting of the minds of the GOP establishment. This could be the script:
Ryan: this guy has the nerve to play with my endorsement - I'm pulling my support
McConnell: You can't do that, Paul - it would hand over the election to our arch enemy Hillary
Manafort: How do you think I feel, fellas. I have to be with him 24/7 and he won't listen to a word I say
GIngrich: This may be a golden opportunity for me to step in and save the GOP.
(In barges Trump) What's going on here?
Everyone: Nothing Donald - we were just saying how elated we are how things are going
Trump: Yes, isn't it incredible how far ahead I am?
Ryan: this guy has the nerve to play with my endorsement - I'm pulling my support
McConnell: You can't do that, Paul - it would hand over the election to our arch enemy Hillary
Manafort: How do you think I feel, fellas. I have to be with him 24/7 and he won't listen to a word I say
GIngrich: This may be a golden opportunity for me to step in and save the GOP.
(In barges Trump) What's going on here?
Everyone: Nothing Donald - we were just saying how elated we are how things are going
Trump: Yes, isn't it incredible how far ahead I am?
36
I have watched the behavior of Donald Trump for many years, especially from the perspective of his financial dealings. Well done column, Ms. Collins. There is simply no way to "intervene" Mr. Trump. The very thought of either Mr. Gingrich or Mr. Giuliani conducting an intervention is truly funny in itself. Watching the former New York mayor shrinking into his suit in a bad Richard Nixon imitation at the RNC was funny and sad in itself ( "we're coming to get you" R. Giuliani). I do believe that, in the final analysis, the American electorate, whether they be highly educated or perhaps not, will see beyond the narcissist con man which Mr. Trump has amply shown himself to be.
25
To the California voter:
Yes, we in Ohio do count. But there is a downside: we can't watch TV or listen to the radio without being bombarded with disgusting political ads. Soon the phones will be ringing with robocalls.
While I'll still take my Ohio situation, it's not as one sided a choice as you might think.
Yes, we in Ohio do count. But there is a downside: we can't watch TV or listen to the radio without being bombarded with disgusting political ads. Soon the phones will be ringing with robocalls.
While I'll still take my Ohio situation, it's not as one sided a choice as you might think.
6
Have faith in the electorate? The electorate made him the Republican nominee! I am scared to death that this same electorate will actually elect Donald Trump!
36
I agree with the squalling baby in Donald's left hand.
(Look at the expression on Donald's face; this guy does not "love" babies).
(Look at the expression on Donald's face; this guy does not "love" babies).
26
With all of the hubbub about intervention for the candidate Trump why hasn't anyone commented how scary it is that a President Trump might need the same intervention if elected? Hillary might not be a perfect candidate but you know that she is in control. Trump is totally out of control and has no idea how to govern.
51
Am I exhausted? Yes I am. Obama is bombing again! TPP continues to move forward while Administration and industry flaks take to the air waves including NPR to tell us how corporations are so hard done by under they terms of the TPP, a lie of course but no one dares oppose it. A brief follow up question was met with ...corporations didn't get everything they wanted! So sorry did they just want to abolish the vote and congress?
My point is there is too much coverage of Trump. He's always been a loud mouth. The media made him a candidate..constant coverage, dissing Bernie Sanders and now they are scared the monster will embarrass them and actually get elected.
Yes, I'm exhausted and furious.
My point is there is too much coverage of Trump. He's always been a loud mouth. The media made him a candidate..constant coverage, dissing Bernie Sanders and now they are scared the monster will embarrass them and actually get elected.
Yes, I'm exhausted and furious.
16
I'll say it again: none of this is funny any longer. The jokes have all been made, first by Trump himself, and then by the commentators who rehash hour-, day-, week-old news, like the admirable Ms. Collins.
It's somewhat like telling a movie-going audience what Charlie Chaplin did on screen: it was funny to watch, not hear about. (But that's unfair to Chaplin in this context.)
But even Trump's originals are no longer funny because they are so scary and he is a sad, pathetic, and dangerous figure running for a sad, pathetic, and dangerous party.
It's somewhat like telling a movie-going audience what Charlie Chaplin did on screen: it was funny to watch, not hear about. (But that's unfair to Chaplin in this context.)
But even Trump's originals are no longer funny because they are so scary and he is a sad, pathetic, and dangerous figure running for a sad, pathetic, and dangerous party.
22
It strikes me that the Republican nominee's prime election tactic is to dominate the news cycle each and every day. He's selling us to get used to seeing him and reading and hearing about him more than anyone else, like he's the most important person in the world, until our world revolves around him. Positive or negative attention, admiration, anger or fear, it's all serving his grand purpose. Gail Collins: When will the smart media get ahead of this?
10
Isn't the lesson, however, that Trump manages to lead the news daily (hourly?) and that the actual events, the behavior and revelations of character, don't matter as much as this constant exposure? While Clinton's quiet competence doesn't serve the media's appetite and coverage metrics. He's reaching his mob, our sad, angry white men.
9
Both of the infants in the photo sense the evil presence embracing them, apparently about to devour them. Their flight instincts are kicking in, they must find safety, must escape the darkness...
16
Now in the general election phase the GOP is in a bind, brought on its own.
With a culture of hostility, negativity, and hatred towards identified targets (e.g., Muslims, immigrants, liberals in general, etc.), the GOP's aspirant best in fanning the flames and exciting angry conservative types, won (primaries). More hate better. No experience, qualifications or skills needed.
But the above doesn't work now. Hate-based popularity, which worked in the GOP primaries, doesn't appeal to most in the general election, where competence matters. The diminishing poll ratings on Trump are telling.
What to do, GOP? I predict more Trumps in your future (unless you change your internal culture). You reap what you sow. And remember, you must "work hard for what you want in life."
With a culture of hostility, negativity, and hatred towards identified targets (e.g., Muslims, immigrants, liberals in general, etc.), the GOP's aspirant best in fanning the flames and exciting angry conservative types, won (primaries). More hate better. No experience, qualifications or skills needed.
But the above doesn't work now. Hate-based popularity, which worked in the GOP primaries, doesn't appeal to most in the general election, where competence matters. The diminishing poll ratings on Trump are telling.
What to do, GOP? I predict more Trumps in your future (unless you change your internal culture). You reap what you sow. And remember, you must "work hard for what you want in life."
7
Let's see. Who could be more effective in getting the unruly Mr. T under control: Guiliani who's stuck in a nine eleven time warp and whose performance at what passed for the republican convention was pretty nutzy - or - Newt whose over-long career has been filled with loathing for all things democratic, both big and little D's. Priebus? Well ...
Newt, architect of government shutdowns, holder of petty grievances, bringer of empty impeachments, cheater-divorcer of wives, leaver of the House under a cloud and loser candidate for president. That's our Newt. He knows what to do.
I almost feel sorry for the Trump. Frankly, it would make me run for the hills if Priebus, Gingrich and Guiliani were on their way to do intervention on me. Apparently, these are the three wisest guys the GOP has and who are willing to try to bring sanity to the Trump. I'd like to listen in on that.
It would be a loud-speed affair as to who can repeat himself more while talking about himself faster without having a stroke? Like verbal Nascar.
Poor guys. They can't help that fate has thrust them into this very important role with no tools or talent to save the Trump from himself and what's left of GOP Land. I wish they wouldn't bother.
Newt, architect of government shutdowns, holder of petty grievances, bringer of empty impeachments, cheater-divorcer of wives, leaver of the House under a cloud and loser candidate for president. That's our Newt. He knows what to do.
I almost feel sorry for the Trump. Frankly, it would make me run for the hills if Priebus, Gingrich and Guiliani were on their way to do intervention on me. Apparently, these are the three wisest guys the GOP has and who are willing to try to bring sanity to the Trump. I'd like to listen in on that.
It would be a loud-speed affair as to who can repeat himself more while talking about himself faster without having a stroke? Like verbal Nascar.
Poor guys. They can't help that fate has thrust them into this very important role with no tools or talent to save the Trump from himself and what's left of GOP Land. I wish they wouldn't bother.
7
Donald Trump - the real life Scut Farkus. I only hope that a Ralphie will come to our rescue and beat the snot out of him.
8
"He was outraged, for instance, that he could have been charged with being unsympathetic to people with disabilities when he’s spent millions of dollars on ramps for his buildings." ADA requirement.
Classic Trump. Daily Trump. His supporters don't care - they're in the bag for him. And yes, if he loses that means the election was rigged. If he wins...it will have been the will of the people - and, of course, because he's great.
If Trump does lose, Rush, FOX News, et al won't stop fanning the flames of the "disenfranchised" white males. So what will it be like with Trump in the Oval Office? This is getting too weird...
Classic Trump. Daily Trump. His supporters don't care - they're in the bag for him. And yes, if he loses that means the election was rigged. If he wins...it will have been the will of the people - and, of course, because he's great.
If Trump does lose, Rush, FOX News, et al won't stop fanning the flames of the "disenfranchised" white males. So what will it be like with Trump in the Oval Office? This is getting too weird...
11
The scariest one of all is the "rigged" election business. When he loses, some of his aides have already predicted "a bloodbath." (just Google it) Which tells this old time stage director he's setting the stage for a coup attempt. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and I'm beginning to wonder who exactly _is_ behind the curtain. No one pursuing public office on the national level could possibly be this ridiculous without getting his cues from somewhere.
I am about as far from a conspiracy theorist as you can get, but for the first time, I'm wondering why there _isn't_ more conspiracy theory here. It's just too ridiculous, too absurd, and definitely too would-be Machiavellian to be real.
And then a listen to a Trumpist.
Maybe it's a good thing we have lousy gun laws. We just might need to arm ourselves against the coming Trumpocalypse.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
I am about as far from a conspiracy theorist as you can get, but for the first time, I'm wondering why there _isn't_ more conspiracy theory here. It's just too ridiculous, too absurd, and definitely too would-be Machiavellian to be real.
And then a listen to a Trumpist.
Maybe it's a good thing we have lousy gun laws. We just might need to arm ourselves against the coming Trumpocalypse.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
25
The leading search on google yesterday was "will Trump drop out of the race?" or something like that. Holy moly. Please let it come to that.
5
Oh fer gosh sakes, enough of the clutched pearls and fainting over the "crying baby" meme. I sat near to one on a four-hour flight not long ago and believe me the guy next to them would have sent the creature and it's mother to the back of the plane if he could have. Most rational people would. Lighten up. Trump is bad enough without this.
4
That photo of Trump and the babies is priceless. A loving doting father? Nope, just another bold-faced lie told by the Trumpster. And it just keeps getting worse. There is so much more evil coming down the pike on Trump. We New Yorker's have witnessed for decades. This man-child is a joke and a jerk foisted upon the Republican petard, and that is where he will fall.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
8
Gail, I don't think the people voting for Trump are just going to accept his defeat. we are sitting on a powder keg and just waiting for it to blow up.
I am really scared of what is coming and how many people are going to be killed. This man is the most dangerous demagogue I have ever seen and the people supporting him are no better.
I am really scared of what is coming and how many people are going to be killed. This man is the most dangerous demagogue I have ever seen and the people supporting him are no better.
13
The columnist talking points weave a story about all the cliches about Donald Trump. While she can write in the English language well I haven't seen anything new or different in this article.
The point I am making is that Ms. Collins has a bully pulpit to use and express an opinion and she has wasted it by regurgitating what we already know without trying to give any deep insight or intellectual heft to this opinion piece.
At Least with Mr. Kristoff article he tried something new and succeeded in spades.
The point I am making is that Ms. Collins has a bully pulpit to use and express an opinion and she has wasted it by regurgitating what we already know without trying to give any deep insight or intellectual heft to this opinion piece.
At Least with Mr. Kristoff article he tried something new and succeeded in spades.
3
Whether Trump makes these wacky and offensive statements from his heart or for bullying and attention getting, I am worn out. It's time to apply the tactics we support in kindergarten classrooms: don't feed the tantrum by reacting,
In practice, I'm not sure if that means we should shout Namaste! at everything he and his followers say, or by giggling and making the crazy hand signal.
In practice, I'm not sure if that means we should shout Namaste! at everything he and his followers say, or by giggling and making the crazy hand signal.
2
In today's NYT there is a short video capturing 'Voices from Donald Trump's Rallies Uncensored'. It is a shocking document and caused the same stomach wrenching reaction I had so many years ago watching Bull Connor turn attack dogs and fire hoses against innocent blacks protesting segregation (this video and one of Bull Connor defending his actions are available on YouTube for those not gray-haired enough to remember the originals).
Those conflicts in Birmingham put a face on the civil rights movement and shocked decent white folks into action. Today's video should also help decent white folks to understand the forces Trump is unleashing. Mob hatred was the bedrock of Hitler's National Socialists and is the emotion carrying Trump.
All who believe that a phenomenon like Hitler couldn't happen in America should watch this video. It's the same Pandora's box which Trump is opening. We all know it took WW2 and enormous sacrifices and destruction before the forces of justice could stop Hitler's rampage and put the lid back on. Let's not give this bully Trump any more of a pulpit than he already has.
Those conflicts in Birmingham put a face on the civil rights movement and shocked decent white folks into action. Today's video should also help decent white folks to understand the forces Trump is unleashing. Mob hatred was the bedrock of Hitler's National Socialists and is the emotion carrying Trump.
All who believe that a phenomenon like Hitler couldn't happen in America should watch this video. It's the same Pandora's box which Trump is opening. We all know it took WW2 and enormous sacrifices and destruction before the forces of justice could stop Hitler's rampage and put the lid back on. Let's not give this bully Trump any more of a pulpit than he already has.
12
You had better believe that the people forming the base of his support - the 36% with guns in their basements - have absolutely no understanding of the Electoral College. They will be really, really mad on November 9.
5
I always look forward to reading Gail Collins, but especially want to read her retrospective about the Trump’s failed presidential campaign. I hope it will be published within the week.
2
Trump keeps saying the election is going to be rigged because after he looses he's going to sue. The election will be hung up in court, the Supreme's will have to intervene, they are deadlocked four four, so there isn't a clear winner. Hillary can't be sworn in until the suit is settled. So… who does that leave as President after January? Paul Ryan.
That is my nightmare.
Just thought I'd share.
That is my nightmare.
Just thought I'd share.
7
Trump is trying the BIg Lie about his campaign unity, but this is not going to fool anyone except his brain-dead core supporters, and the lying spin masters like Paul Manafort. Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and Reince Priebus must have bloody tongues from biting them so hard and so often.
Trump tried another ploy last night claiming to have met with Gold Star families (no documentation!) as if this claim would balance out his despicable and insulting behavior toward the Khan family and others in the military.
Trump is running a huge scam on voters. I am stunned at the continued support he gets from people who acknowledge his terrible, irrational behavior. I can only conclude that their support of him is in proportion to their hatred of Hillary Clinton, and given the background of many of these supporters I have a hard time not believing that their antipathy to Hillary is tinged with deep and pervasive misogyny, matched only by the racism that drives their unreasoning attacks on President Obama.
Trump tried another ploy last night claiming to have met with Gold Star families (no documentation!) as if this claim would balance out his despicable and insulting behavior toward the Khan family and others in the military.
Trump is running a huge scam on voters. I am stunned at the continued support he gets from people who acknowledge his terrible, irrational behavior. I can only conclude that their support of him is in proportion to their hatred of Hillary Clinton, and given the background of many of these supporters I have a hard time not believing that their antipathy to Hillary is tinged with deep and pervasive misogyny, matched only by the racism that drives their unreasoning attacks on President Obama.
11
I’d laugh along because with all honesty, Collins sometimes reminds me of Twain in her ability to make us laugh/groan while packing a serious political punch, which comes a bit more slowly but stays longer. But just last night, someone at a party asked me who I’d vote for, Hillary? They went on, after calling Hillary a crook, to discuss in a reasonably informed way, how they’re tired of Democrats, political correctness, and any unwillingness to call the spread of Islam a global problem. They think Democrats, who have all become liberals, give everything away, and right now, that includes the nation. Trump’s fan includes people like them, hard working, well-off, who feel Trump was scary but will still vote for him because they see the alternative as a revised and unrecognizable America. There was a pause, though; they’re really not Trump fans. So while the NYT family keeps slapping one another on the back about clever Trump takedowns, they’re actually not reaching a huge chunk of people who will be voting for him. Gail Collins is one of my favorite writers, but even she isn't reaching this audience.
3
What would really scare me is if he really does change. It isn't easy to change one's personality but if he does so consider what that implies about his state of mind.
If Mr. Trump didn't know that Russia invaded the Ukraine, he knows more than you do. No Russian military detachments e3ver entered that country nor have any ever been shown to be operating there. And Crimea? Firstly, the Russian detachments there ("friendly green men") were from the Sebastopol naval base, which has been Russian, and in the Ukraine, for centuries. And secondly, the great majority of the people in the Crimea are Russian, have always been Russian, have never wanted affiliation with Kiev, and voted overwhelmingly to rejoin formally the Russian republic. If anyone invaded anyone, it was the Ukraine that invaded Russia, with the purchased consent of a drunken usurper, when it ikmposed its sovereignty over Crimea against the will of most people living there.
2
I always thought it was unfair that Trump was accused during the Republican primary race of having tiny hands (which he does). How come he has not been accused of having a tiny brain? He does have a big head, but that's because he has a swollen ego. The thinking part of his brain must be the size of a lizard's.
6
Gail I wonder if this constant "reporting" by the "reporters" and "witty" harping by the "columnists" does not benefit the pathologically insatiable drive of the Donald to hear and see himself being complained about by people whom he considers to be way less than, well, certainly himself.
When the NYT and the videio media constantly tell us what a stupid, lame, lying heartless, obsessed ignoramus butt head.. (did I miss any of the printable ones?) this insane person is, I think it empowers him and his followers. It stokes their already white hot hate for the rest of us.
It also tends to frighten and discourage people who already do not like politics and does not, in my opinion do anything positive about encouraging them to vote.
I get the feeling that the media people are doing these numbers for their own sake....to show how clever and tuned in hey are etc.
My suggestion: Leave this kind of non-journalism to John Stewart and friends who do it so much better and so much more powerfully and with much greater results than your crowd.
Informing us of the positive,helpful,bridging, building, comforting, Encouraging things that the Sane people are planning and how important it is for them to be elected would be ever so much more fruitful.
When the NYT and the videio media constantly tell us what a stupid, lame, lying heartless, obsessed ignoramus butt head.. (did I miss any of the printable ones?) this insane person is, I think it empowers him and his followers. It stokes their already white hot hate for the rest of us.
It also tends to frighten and discourage people who already do not like politics and does not, in my opinion do anything positive about encouraging them to vote.
I get the feeling that the media people are doing these numbers for their own sake....to show how clever and tuned in hey are etc.
My suggestion: Leave this kind of non-journalism to John Stewart and friends who do it so much better and so much more powerfully and with much greater results than your crowd.
Informing us of the positive,helpful,bridging, building, comforting, Encouraging things that the Sane people are planning and how important it is for them to be elected would be ever so much more fruitful.
8
In a real intervention, the one who is being confronted is taken in for treatment. I would love to see Donald get some help.
4
The idea of an 'intervention' is that the person who is being 'intervened' then gets help and goes away for at least 30 days to get help and support for their issue. Is this going to happen if Trump is intervened by Giuliani and Gingrich? And more to the point, what exactly is this 'intervention' supposed to do? Do people really think Trump would take advice from anybody? Maybe a nicely folded piece of tin foil on top of that head would be a better solution.
3
If Trump had been able to control his id after the Republican convention, he would have had a good chance to win. But he couldn't and he will lose. Worse than Goldwater in '64.
In 4 years, there will be another version of Trump. A somewhat softer, more polished version of the same. Many of us can still remember the 'new' Nixon of 1968.
In 4 years, there will be another version of Trump. A somewhat softer, more polished version of the same. Many of us can still remember the 'new' Nixon of 1968.
2
If this intervention talk is true it paints Trump as someone who is mentally impaired or in need of detox in order to return him to functionality. A scary thought when you consider access to the nuclear codes.
3
Trump is setting the stage for his pullout from the election. His "advisors" have told him to start repeating that "this election is rigged" so he can drop out and claim he did NOT lose the election (remember, he is not " a loser!) but he had no fair chance since "they" rigged the election against him.
His supporters will repeat anything that he says enough times. After a while, he will start telling his supporters to dust off their ammo and oil their barrels because they will need to take back their country which was stolen in an illegal election.
There is no way Trump's ego could cope with losing this election. He would be branded the world's biggest loser, so he will pull out amid a mountain of excuses beginning with the rigging of the election.
His supporters will repeat anything that he says enough times. After a while, he will start telling his supporters to dust off their ammo and oil their barrels because they will need to take back their country which was stolen in an illegal election.
There is no way Trump's ego could cope with losing this election. He would be branded the world's biggest loser, so he will pull out amid a mountain of excuses beginning with the rigging of the election.
3
Things are indeed getting exhausting, I agree. When I read the (probably) hopeful plans about what the Repubs will do if Trump resigns, I was relieved, but just for a minute. The man is unfit to lead a large and heterogeneous population into the next era of crises, national or international. I wish I had a real forum in which to repeat that if we attack one group, we are on a treacherous path. One group attacked makes it easy to attack another one. And soon it will be you, because you, too, are losers. We're so fixated on Donald Trump because watching him is like watching a horror movie that you simply cannot switch off.
3
Nuclear annihilation, or close to it, will impact virtually everyone. It won't matter whether one has only a high school education, or a Ph.D., whether one is male or female, young or old, gay or straight, and on and on. This should be the main talking point, period.
5
Please, please, please, stop giving this maniac more press. Attention is what he wants and a Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster.
8
There's a whole other fact world out there--entire movies, which when you fact-check the charges, seems to be base on an unbelievable string of made up facts. That's what swift boated John Kerry (making swift boating was a term, of course). It is hard to answer such charges. When did you stop beating your wife? But the fact-checking organizations seem to have done a good job.
Trump supporters say the media is taking his comments out of context. Of course, other candidates don't have those comments to take out of context. People believe what they want, I guess. Hopefully people will decide that the United States is more than a country--it's an idea worth preserving, including against contrary and intolerant ideas of the country, such as the vision of the U.S. projected by Mr. Trump.
Trump supporters say the media is taking his comments out of context. Of course, other candidates don't have those comments to take out of context. People believe what they want, I guess. Hopefully people will decide that the United States is more than a country--it's an idea worth preserving, including against contrary and intolerant ideas of the country, such as the vision of the U.S. projected by Mr. Trump.
5
The US president who happens to be a blackman asking Ryan and McConnell to renounce obviously “unfit" Trump really crystallizes what the essence of GOP obstructionism is all about. These guys have not ever and cannot now countenance a black man in the White House (racism straight up) and are the prime engineers of remarkably crass politics. Their contrived mealymouthed pleas for civility in politics rings hollow when they were both active members of a group of senior GOP leaders (Gingrich included) who in 2009 met during Obama's inauguration to plot to sabotage Obama’s presidency. These senior GOP members strategized to bring congress to a standstill regardless how much it would hurt the economy by pledging to obstruct and block Obama on all legislation. This skullduggery emerged into a GOP party of "NO" where the extreme acrimony of the current absurd political theatre took root. Ryan and McConnell are shameful and shameless hypocrites.
11
Great Gail, except I'm not sure Trump was fibbing when he said "“The campaign is doing really well. It’s never been so well united." Sure, its not true, but Trump seems to live in an alternate reality and probably believes what he said. Which would make it, technically, not a fib.
1
An itty-bitty point about California's itty-bitty ballot.... This time around it will be historically long, with an armload of propositions, each pages long. So my normal pre-election day of reading and study will probably be extended to a week. But yes, even at that, I grant you that Le Trompe presents problems way bigger than California's supersized-super ballot.
3
I too worry about the Trumpista revolution to come with his loss at the polls.
But only just a little.
If he keeps on this way then most (not all, it is never all) of the 22 million vets in this country will be against this clown.
I'll put my money on the side with the vets. And that won't be the Trump side if he sparks a revolution.
But only just a little.
If he keeps on this way then most (not all, it is never all) of the 22 million vets in this country will be against this clown.
I'll put my money on the side with the vets. And that won't be the Trump side if he sparks a revolution.
4
Poor Donald Trump. No, I'm serious. He appears to be unable to control himself. I won't try to diagnose his derangement, but I am not the only one who sees pathology in his behavior. We know it when we see it, as Justice Potter Stewart famously said about pornography.
Why is it taking so long for supposedly sane and responsible leaders of the GOP to admit Mr. Trump should be out of politics and in therapy? This is a real case of leading from behind. Waiting for his public approval to drop to zero before withdrawing support for him won't do if they have any regard for the health of democracy and the US national interest.
Anyone who has to be told three times why we can't go ahead a drop the big ones, shouldn't be one election away from the nuclear codes. And the one leader he seems to listen to - V. Putin - can't be expected to give him advice we'd want him to take.
Why is it taking so long for supposedly sane and responsible leaders of the GOP to admit Mr. Trump should be out of politics and in therapy? This is a real case of leading from behind. Waiting for his public approval to drop to zero before withdrawing support for him won't do if they have any regard for the health of democracy and the US national interest.
Anyone who has to be told three times why we can't go ahead a drop the big ones, shouldn't be one election away from the nuclear codes. And the one leader he seems to listen to - V. Putin - can't be expected to give him advice we'd want him to take.
6
It isn't difficult, Gail, for you to take a higher road and avoid "below the belt" shots at felons who have paid their dues to society, no pun intended. Everyone deserves a second chance.
Second, the reasons to abhor Trump are many. Mine, as a former Navy officer and decorated VN veteran, include his disparaging remarks regarding John McCain's military service (which alone cooked his goose with me), his draft dodging and lack of military service, his disrespectful comments regarding the Purple Heart, and his phony claims about his devotion to veterans and veterans' issues.
Other reasons include his mocking of a neurologically challenged journalist, his evident bigotry, his inability to control the next thing that exits his mouth, his demeaning treatment of women, his lack of consistent behavior and his bullying personality, which requires him to always have the last word. There are many more, but these are enough to ensure that I will not be voting for him.
At this point, Hillary has some work to do to capture my vote...lots of work. So, rather than continuing your attacks on Trump, please give us your most convincing reasons as to why we should overlook Clinton's obvious flaws. Don't worry about Trump. He's doing himself in.
Second, the reasons to abhor Trump are many. Mine, as a former Navy officer and decorated VN veteran, include his disparaging remarks regarding John McCain's military service (which alone cooked his goose with me), his draft dodging and lack of military service, his disrespectful comments regarding the Purple Heart, and his phony claims about his devotion to veterans and veterans' issues.
Other reasons include his mocking of a neurologically challenged journalist, his evident bigotry, his inability to control the next thing that exits his mouth, his demeaning treatment of women, his lack of consistent behavior and his bullying personality, which requires him to always have the last word. There are many more, but these are enough to ensure that I will not be voting for him.
At this point, Hillary has some work to do to capture my vote...lots of work. So, rather than continuing your attacks on Trump, please give us your most convincing reasons as to why we should overlook Clinton's obvious flaws. Don't worry about Trump. He's doing himself in.
3
I would suggest that it is long overdue for our media to stop providing even nominal cover for this infantile man. He did not "fib" - he is a pathological, perpetual liar. Let us not pretend that there is even a millimeter of redeeming qualities to the mendacious, ignorant vulgarian - there are none.
10
Hey Gail,
I spoke to one of the kids in the picture. Specifically he's mad about Trump's plans to demolish his mother's healthcare, and his future education and career prospects. He sees a selfish old man damaging his future and is ready to stand up soon and fight back. Meanwhile he is expressing his opinion as forcefully as possible.
I spoke to one of the kids in the picture. Specifically he's mad about Trump's plans to demolish his mother's healthcare, and his future education and career prospects. He sees a selfish old man damaging his future and is ready to stand up soon and fight back. Meanwhile he is expressing his opinion as forcefully as possible.
5
I believe one of the "interventions" being discussed involves trepanning. Frustration with the failure to influence him utilizing other pathways to his brain, specifically sight and sound, have left many with no other option than resort to the auger.
2
Obviously we must stop Trump, but electing Hillary Clinton without also cleaning house in Congress and the state houses would be a somewhat pyrrhic victory, since it would impose strong limitations on what she could hope to accomplish. I would hope that voters would avoid splitting their tickets, since our divided, do-nothing government is one of the primary causes of people being so angry all the time.
10
" — that he was robbed. In the Florida speech he did warn the audience to beware of “people voting 10 times.”
Indeed, we are in for a rough decade regardless the outcome in November.
Some 40 million Americans think Mini-Musso is just the thing.
The Trump bacillus will live on, weakening and demeaning our politics and national dialogue for years.
We can thank the GOP for this. They engendered this travesty of a man. Now we must suffer through this degrading and dangerous campaign.
He's planting seeds. They won't go away with his defeat.
Indeed, we are in for a rough decade regardless the outcome in November.
Some 40 million Americans think Mini-Musso is just the thing.
The Trump bacillus will live on, weakening and demeaning our politics and national dialogue for years.
We can thank the GOP for this. They engendered this travesty of a man. Now we must suffer through this degrading and dangerous campaign.
He's planting seeds. They won't go away with his defeat.
8
Narcissistic personalities don't respond well to boundaries and even run from them. They are aggressively avoidant of taking personal responsibility for any of their bad actions. Donald Trump seems to fit the description perfectly so the prospect of him changing course at this time without intensive inpatient treatment is very low. Ultimately, intervention involves changing the family system around the identified patient and breaking the grip of codependency. To prepare for a Trump presidency, we should all start attending AL Anon meetings regularly.
2
Yes, Trump is exhausted & exhausting. It has nothing to say and it keeps saying it. Watching it is like re-living Luis Bunuel's "The Exterminating Angel," a film in which dinner guests find for some mysterious reason they are trapped at a party and cannot escape. Their efforts to escape are random, and ultimately become nasty and violent.
The Dumpster is trapped and cannot escape itself. Every gesture, every word, turns to rubbish. It is the King Midas of rubbish, crushing itself to death with its own vast commodity. Watching it squirm and mint rubbish, we squirm, too. We are trapped with it, too: exhausting. While we consume it, it consumes us. It really has become our voice, as it promised--the voice of our sense of futility, our fear of being imprisoned in the banality and vacuousness of an utterly profane universe.
The Dumpster is trapped and cannot escape itself. Every gesture, every word, turns to rubbish. It is the King Midas of rubbish, crushing itself to death with its own vast commodity. Watching it squirm and mint rubbish, we squirm, too. We are trapped with it, too: exhausting. While we consume it, it consumes us. It really has become our voice, as it promised--the voice of our sense of futility, our fear of being imprisoned in the banality and vacuousness of an utterly profane universe.
2
This country, as with any other country, has suffered malcontents and uninformed dissatisfied citizens pretty much throughout its history. Now, those doing the most unintelligent and thoughtless screaming are allowed not just a very visible national platform for the first time, but exposure on an international scale, due to instant and global communications and social sites. Sadly, this has caused somewhat of a "snowball" effect, allowing those uninformed and, sadly, often not very educated individuals to see a possible connectedness to others that they haven't had; they are not just isolated crankpots or small groups of malcontents, but now in their own minds at least see themselves as a viable, legitimate force, even if their views and so-called "leadership" are composed of lies, misperceptions, racism and isolationism in the extreme. They feel as if they 'belong' and as if they are legitimate in that extremism, thus losing any validity some of their concerns rightly should have - there is no excuse for the stagnation of wages while corporations garner record profits, for instance. But valid concerns have become secondary to inflammatory nonsense, and are drowned out by the rantings of a true pathological liar...a very dangerous slope many are on.
4
Great column, but nothing that Gail writes will dissuade the Trump voters. The more that Trump is attacked -- and the more ignorant, vulgar, abusive, indecent and deranged he seems -- the happier they become. He is their way of spitting in the eye of everyone whom they feel has made their lives miserable. He empowers them. Yes, it's true: the worse his behavior, more frightening his statements and more frantic the efforts of his freaked out critics -- Can this man actually become president of the U.S.? Is this an election, or the sequel to a body-snatchers flick? -- the more empowered and happy his supporters feel. He's their boy! Take that, smart people!
So -- what to do? I'm making calls for Clinton, to Ohio and PA. All we can do now, friends, is get out that Hillary vote. That, and talk to those voting for Stein and Johnson. Explain that it's better to vote for a candidate who may flip on the TPP or was e-mail challenged (a bogus issue, IMHO; but then I'm in my sixties, as is Hillary, and had to ask my 27-year old son what IMHO means) -- better a candidate who is a politician, than one who is a sociopath, liar, ignoramus and, more to the point, a flaming lunatic.
In other words, forget the Trumpsters; they are gone. Let's try to get out, and win, the votes of Americans who are not racist, xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted, envious, oblivious to consequences, or otherwise incapable of knowing a loose cannon when it's pointing at them. And us. I am actually scared.
So -- what to do? I'm making calls for Clinton, to Ohio and PA. All we can do now, friends, is get out that Hillary vote. That, and talk to those voting for Stein and Johnson. Explain that it's better to vote for a candidate who may flip on the TPP or was e-mail challenged (a bogus issue, IMHO; but then I'm in my sixties, as is Hillary, and had to ask my 27-year old son what IMHO means) -- better a candidate who is a politician, than one who is a sociopath, liar, ignoramus and, more to the point, a flaming lunatic.
In other words, forget the Trumpsters; they are gone. Let's try to get out, and win, the votes of Americans who are not racist, xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted, envious, oblivious to consequences, or otherwise incapable of knowing a loose cannon when it's pointing at them. And us. I am actually scared.
6
Trump will stay with the race till the end he has invested to much money not to. Slim chance he will win, at least I hope so. Registered Republican I maybe, Trump supporter not a chance. If elected by some chance, Emperor Trump will in short order violate the U.S. Constitution, be impeached and gone within one term most likely leaving Mr. Pence President. That thought is the only way I can see Republican statesmen with bruised tongues managing the next few months. Not that I am voting that ticket as he should not have gotten on the ticket at all.
3
Gingrich has singularly cost the nation immeasurable damage. There is no clearer example of the GOP as an extremist force that is dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition than Gingrich. He is the author of modern obstructionism whose sole aim is to destroy to win. putting the GOP's political goals ahead of the good of the nation. That is borderline treason and certainly a violation of his oath of office. Every american with any decent sense of civics should be disgusted with this bloviating jerk.
6
It is very odd indeed that thinking about the possibilities of a Trump presidency, I find myself thinking that our professional military may be the most stable and trustworthy of our institutions. (I've never been a fan of that group, coming from the Old Left as I do.) I can envisage situations when a crazed President Trump wants to punish someone (or some country) that has offended him ---- something that will happen daily --- and use our armed forces as a tool of personal revenge. And said "tool" responds by refusing to follow what will be a clearly unlawful order, initiating a Constitutional crisis far more critical than Watergate. It is not inconceivable that in such a situation we could have fighting in the streets.
In order to sleep at night, I work hard to not imagine what Trump's access to our nuclear capability might entail.
In order to sleep at night, I work hard to not imagine what Trump's access to our nuclear capability might entail.
3
Trump proves everyday what a privileged, rich white male can get away with. He has moved from being politically incorrect to politically incompetent. The unfortunate byproduct of his rants is that they don’t augur well for the future of our country. He doesn’t need an intervention, he needs medication. His knowledge, or lack of it, is an embarrassment – believe me! If he were asked to take the U.S. Citizenship civics test, which is administered on all immigrants wanting to become U.S. citizens, he is quite likely to fail. This is a man, who is not qualified to keep immigrants out because he fails as a citizen on various levels.
Grumpy Trumpy wants to build a wall
Grumpy Trumpy is going to have a fall
All the Trump fans and all the Trump men
Will never be able to put Trump together again!
Grumpy Trumpy wants to build a wall
Grumpy Trumpy is going to have a fall
All the Trump fans and all the Trump men
Will never be able to put Trump together again!
2
Amusing as always, Ms. Collins, but the fact that we are talking about an "intervention"---a desperate and last-ditch psychotherapeutic technique---for the Republican candidate for President of the United States is as frightening as it is preposterous. We expect our Presidents to be sane and stable to begin with, don't we?
Yes, we do, it is kind of the primary requirement of the job. Ask any psychiatrist or psychologist, they'll tell you what Trump has--- and has had all of his life--- is a personality disorder that would take years of therapy to even barely minimize. And in the long run, it isn't even curable in the medical and psychological sense. It's who the man is, forever.
As many Times readers will recall, George McGovern's first V-P choice, the decent human being and senator from Missouri, Thomas Eagleton, was given the bum's rush in 1972 immediately after it was revealed the man had episodes of depression. The horror! Depression! Goodbye, Senator Eagleton. And depression is treatable and curable, unlike Trump's personality disorder. Now, in 2016, we've got a certifiable madman running for president and the Republican solution is some sort of touchy-feely group confab with---they hope--- hugs all around at the end and victory in November. Kumbaya and voila! Trump is now sane! Vote for the New Not-sociopathic-not-narcissistic Donald Trump!
The people who need the "intervention" are Priebus, Ryan, Giuliani, Gingrich, and anyone who supports Trump.
Yes, we do, it is kind of the primary requirement of the job. Ask any psychiatrist or psychologist, they'll tell you what Trump has--- and has had all of his life--- is a personality disorder that would take years of therapy to even barely minimize. And in the long run, it isn't even curable in the medical and psychological sense. It's who the man is, forever.
As many Times readers will recall, George McGovern's first V-P choice, the decent human being and senator from Missouri, Thomas Eagleton, was given the bum's rush in 1972 immediately after it was revealed the man had episodes of depression. The horror! Depression! Goodbye, Senator Eagleton. And depression is treatable and curable, unlike Trump's personality disorder. Now, in 2016, we've got a certifiable madman running for president and the Republican solution is some sort of touchy-feely group confab with---they hope--- hugs all around at the end and victory in November. Kumbaya and voila! Trump is now sane! Vote for the New Not-sociopathic-not-narcissistic Donald Trump!
The people who need the "intervention" are Priebus, Ryan, Giuliani, Gingrich, and anyone who supports Trump.
9
He’s an exhilarating thought. What if Trump wins and beforey his inauguration he resigns. Does Mike Pence get sworn in as would be the case after he resigns after took the oath, in which case Pence would be president? The 25th Amendment makes the VP president on the death or disability of the president and should he be impeached or resign the Speaker of the House is next in line.
If we windup with Pence most of us will be Googling the word “Dominionist.” Dominionists are followers of a political/religious doctrine as compatible with popular majoritarian democracy and the intent of the Founders as sodium chloride mixed with hydrochloric acid with explodes violently on contact. And Pence is neither an incompetent know nothing or a coward.
The best to be said is that he will roll back the clock to the Hayes-Tilden deal where the results of the Civil War were reversed and the, the Jim Crow era began and politics were about money but he will not blow up the world or become a Putin partner. Well that's something.
If we windup with Pence most of us will be Googling the word “Dominionist.” Dominionists are followers of a political/religious doctrine as compatible with popular majoritarian democracy and the intent of the Founders as sodium chloride mixed with hydrochloric acid with explodes violently on contact. And Pence is neither an incompetent know nothing or a coward.
The best to be said is that he will roll back the clock to the Hayes-Tilden deal where the results of the Civil War were reversed and the, the Jim Crow era began and politics were about money but he will not blow up the world or become a Putin partner. Well that's something.
2
Trump is and will be good for every story proving his instability and erratic behavior. I believe that he is even able renouncing the presidency after having won the election. For him personally, this would be the greatest reality ever existed on earth. Volks think about it.
2
It's become clear. Either Trump's antics and outrageous behavior has been thoughtfully and "brilliantly" designed to get him out a job he understands is way over his head--or he's totally and completely unhinged and in dire need of an intervention to encourage him to seek professional psychological help. But either way (or none of the above) the fact that this off the rail divisive man-child has gone so far in the direction of the presidency and the fact that he could "shoot someone and not lose voters" Is serious and confounding and what ever is at it's core driving it needs addressing after this embarrassing undignified circus is past. It will finally pass won't ir?
4
Donald Trump is a bad joke. Unfortunately, his supporters, perhaps because they've opted out of healthcare, don't recognize mental illness when it's standing at a podium musing on itself, it's greatness, it's testosterone. It's time for Americans to shake themselves off, stand up, and question how in a country as great as ours, this piece of walking pathology is what was offered to the voters.
4
The Donald Intervention: Civilization meet Discontent
It's only available in really huge print - I mean HUGE
It's only available in really huge print - I mean HUGE
4
I can see it now. Donald Trump enters his office at The Tower to find Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Reince Priebus and Paul Ryan waiting for him. Mike Pence is the Facilitator.
"Donald, please sit down. We're all here because it hurts too much to see you carry on like this. You know that we've supported you in every possible way. Newt taught you about the scorched-earth politics of personal destruction. Rudy went on that crazy rant at the convention. Paul sucked it up and gave you that glowing endorsement--well, he endorsed you. Reince did the Faustian bargain thing. I turned my back on principles that I've held dear throughout my entire life. And Chris. You know Chris is always there for you. Grabbing some Big Macs, picking up the dry cleaning, babysitting Barron. Whatever you need. But now we're worried. Very worried. About our careers."
"Donald, please sit down. We're all here because it hurts too much to see you carry on like this. You know that we've supported you in every possible way. Newt taught you about the scorched-earth politics of personal destruction. Rudy went on that crazy rant at the convention. Paul sucked it up and gave you that glowing endorsement--well, he endorsed you. Reince did the Faustian bargain thing. I turned my back on principles that I've held dear throughout my entire life. And Chris. You know Chris is always there for you. Grabbing some Big Macs, picking up the dry cleaning, babysitting Barron. Whatever you need. But now we're worried. Very worried. About our careers."
32
What's the old expression? You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Still holds true.
Still holds true.
25
Wasn't there a reality show called Intervention? They could bring that back.
3
There were 2 crying babies at that rally. They kicked out the wrong one.
61
This will be a rout -- obviously. However, I am almost pining for a bit of an uptick for DJT, because like a lopsided sports playoff, this rout may get boring. Could we at least have some sort of a fight from the other side? Otherwise, no fun at all. Boooring.
However, I predict his supporters will soon be dropping away like flies, with only the most stupid racist uneducated white folks left, including the illogical crazy Evangelicals. I also predict this race portends the end of the Tea Party and Evangelical movement as we knew it.
However, I predict his supporters will soon be dropping away like flies, with only the most stupid racist uneducated white folks left, including the illogical crazy Evangelicals. I also predict this race portends the end of the Tea Party and Evangelical movement as we knew it.
23
Take a look at yesterday's election in Kansas. The Tea Party is already eroding.
2
BTW the ramps he provided at his so called buildings are required by the Americans with disabilities act signed into law by the first President Bush. Maybe Trump has plans to send disabled people to camps so he won't have to spend his sacrificed money on accessibility.
26
He certainly sounded resentful that he had to spend those millions on all those ramps.
1
The Times video of Trump supporters at one of his rallies shows a powder keg with a short fuse. Trump's statement that this election is rigged is all that is needed to light the match. He tried something similar after he lost in Iowa--he wanted a do-over because he claimed the primary was unfair. Trump is unhinged from reality and his supporters believe what he says--the system is rigged, the press is against him, his campaign is unified and he's going to win blue states Republicans have never won. When he loses the election, a claim that it was "stolen" will cause far more harm to our electoral process and to our nation than the Supreme Court's handing the White House to George W. Bush.
27
he’s “spent millions of dollars on ramps? As required by law!
18
"I believe most Americans, when given the choice between explaining the outcome with election fraud or “kept making fun of mothers,” will know which way to go."
Gail, you have more faith than I do. Come see us in New Brunswick, Canada, when either he wins or he loses and his supporters go berserk. We just hope the Canadians don't build that wall...
Gail, you have more faith than I do. Come see us in New Brunswick, Canada, when either he wins or he loses and his supporters go berserk. We just hope the Canadians don't build that wall...
12
what is really troubling and amazing is that a pallet full of cash, $400 million in all is flown to Iran in an unmarked plane by our government and there is not one mention of it in the NY Times.
Whatever happened to "all the news that's fit to print" Or maybe the Obama administration didn't approve that story being in the paper??
Whatever happened to "all the news that's fit to print" Or maybe the Obama administration didn't approve that story being in the paper??
6
They wrote that story. They also wrote that it was back pay for arms that were never delivered after the 1979 revolution, only now being repaid because of Iran's agreeing to the nuclear deal. There is nothing at all sinister about that story.
7
This is disappointing. Usually Obama haters at least make a feint at connecting their comment to something relevant to the article before pivoting.
4
Brava, Gail! I think Trump is certifiably insane. A pathological liar for starters, but the desperate people with no jobs and little hope grasp at straws, sadly for America.
13
I implore voters - you know, those common decent folks supporting either party - to simply type into their favorite serach engine the words "Trump and Vince McMahon." Then, watch the shorter ot the two videos that pop up. During your viewing, think of the phrase, "Presidential conduct." That should close the deal: it's unbelievable.
6
Newt, Donald and Rudy, three guys that have nine wives between them. Family values. I heard yesterday, don't know if it's true, that the intervenors wanted the Trump boys present, but they have a hunting trip in the Yukon scheduled. Yeah, let's go kill some living things for fun.
12
The one thought that keeps me hopeful is that we elected Barack Obama twice.
30
He looks like he's going to eat those babies. The one on the right is reacting to him the same way I do.
12
I very much wish one of Gail's questions in the Q&A portion was: "But the Republicans have told us for almost 30 years that Hillary is a lying murderer, so how can I not vote for Trump instead?" I would love to hear Gail's response to that, because that's all the ammunition left to the party of Lincoln these days.
9
Im with you. Trump is imploding and it is actually entertaining. I too am obsessed with this election. Makes me ever more mindful that we are all the same but oh so different
5
Gail, one editing correction:
All that stuff about Trump whining that the election is rigged should have been under "What about the crying baby?"
All that stuff about Trump whining that the election is rigged should have been under "What about the crying baby?"
13
Enough about Trump, already. Yes, he and his supporters inside and outside the Republican Party are authoritarian (so, for that matter, is the GOP in general, otherwise he could not have risen to the nomination). That's obvious to everyone
But even with the primaries over and the campaign proper under way, Trump dominates the air-time and column inches in our media. It's a win-win for both sides - the media because of all those advertising dollars, and Trump because the only bad publicity is no publicity.
Has anyone heard about the Hillary campaign in the last few days?
But even with the primaries over and the campaign proper under way, Trump dominates the air-time and column inches in our media. It's a win-win for both sides - the media because of all those advertising dollars, and Trump because the only bad publicity is no publicity.
Has anyone heard about the Hillary campaign in the last few days?
19
"Russians had invaded Ukraine" - Trump is actually correct here. The Russians did not invade Ukraine. There is a Civil War there at present.
1
Lets call a spade a spade here. Trump is mentally unhinged. Its truly frighting to see that a part of the American public would support someone with a dangerous mental illness in his run for President. On the other hand its always fun to sit back and watch what comes out of his mouth or what he tweets, No one is going to tell this 12 year old boy to shut up. He will go crying to mama when he loses and stamp his feet about how unfair the big bad Hillary is. What even more amazes me is how the News organizations like CNN and of course Fox make him sound legitimate. I guess we will have to wait for his next outburst to finally get onboard and say what a nut case he really is.
13
It's an addiction, check the news every day to see the latest outrageous comment by DT, shake the head and think it can't get any worse. But look at the news coverage, read the comments...lotsa underestimation going on. Trump is the Father who is going to protect us and make us secure in our homes, kiss our boo boos and punch the meanies. The father who winks while making vulgar remarks about women; he;'ll show us kids he's a stud! He is the Dad who knows everything while berating those rich guys that know nothing. It's not complicated, it simple. There is no truth except what he says is truth.
Wilhelm Reich figured out this Father and the yearning for authority that many people want, long ago. It's scary, but there are ways to talk about Trump that do not vilify his supporters.
Wilhelm Reich figured out this Father and the yearning for authority that many people want, long ago. It's scary, but there are ways to talk about Trump that do not vilify his supporters.
4
I implore you! Please stop writing/editorializing about Trump. Everything that can possibly be said has already been said/written, and most good people have already made up their minds about him. It is what he wants. Free publicity. Just like a child throwing a tantrum to get his tired mothers attention.
19
Am I the only one who thinks we're all having way too much fun hating Donald Trump?
Not that there's anything lovable about him, god knows. But these comment strings remind me of the Two Minutes' Hate in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, when everyone got their ya-yas out by shrieking at a screen of Emmanuel Goldstein. He has become a shibboleth, a bonding, a password; we all gather here to exchange shopworn juvenile nicknames like 'Trumpelstiltkin' and secondhand wit, and heap likes on each other. We're getting off on it. It's exhilarating.
I suspect when he's finally gone, some social justice warriors will feel like a Macy's balloon on Black Friday, slowly deflating, irrelevant, robbed of purpose. We've put so much energy into hating him. 'Whatever shall we do without the barbarians?' asked Cafavy. 'Those people were a kind of solution'. (Well, you can always go back to denouncing slavery; since the issue's been moot for 150 years, it takes zero moral courage to oppose it now; the dead won't argue, and it will be the cheapest medal you will ever earn.)
He really does bring out the worst in everyone. It's his special gift.
Not that there's anything lovable about him, god knows. But these comment strings remind me of the Two Minutes' Hate in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, when everyone got their ya-yas out by shrieking at a screen of Emmanuel Goldstein. He has become a shibboleth, a bonding, a password; we all gather here to exchange shopworn juvenile nicknames like 'Trumpelstiltkin' and secondhand wit, and heap likes on each other. We're getting off on it. It's exhilarating.
I suspect when he's finally gone, some social justice warriors will feel like a Macy's balloon on Black Friday, slowly deflating, irrelevant, robbed of purpose. We've put so much energy into hating him. 'Whatever shall we do without the barbarians?' asked Cafavy. 'Those people were a kind of solution'. (Well, you can always go back to denouncing slavery; since the issue's been moot for 150 years, it takes zero moral courage to oppose it now; the dead won't argue, and it will be the cheapest medal you will ever earn.)
He really does bring out the worst in everyone. It's his special gift.
17
My advice to democrats is to be very careful; this election cycle is a long way from over. Julian Assange clearly has an axe to grind and has made it clear he intends to release more damaging emails in the coming weeks and months. HRC and the DNC need to review every email that's been potentially hacked and get in front of every piece of bad news ASAP. If the hacked emails explode in the coming months or if we have a major terrorist event here in the US or if the republicans pull off a miracle and replace DJT this election could turn around for them in a heartbeat.
33
What a beautiful photo accompanying Gail's article! Trump embracing two future Democrats. The facial expressions of all three are absolutely priceless. It's hard to tell who is more afraid of whom.
16
I feel so sorry for the poor babies. I hope the parent who thought this was a photographic moment takes a clue from the reaction of the poor babies. I also feel like crying every time I force myself to listen to what the Party of Lincoln has become. It used to be that we Democrats could at least respect republican politicians, but no more. Even some republican voters are crying.
2
Apparently one of the books which neither Trump nor his supporters have read is Death of a Salesman. If they had picked up the resemblance to Willy Loman in his endless monologues on how well-liked he is, they might have thought twice. Now they are starting to worry that he will wrap the Republican family car around a tree once he notices that his shtick is wearing thin, but as in the play, the tragedy is already in motion.
189
So everything is rigged. All the elections. The whole debate schedule. Everything from the party leaders (both parties) to the poll watches who will, obviously, happily collude with the ten time voter. (Didn't we see you six minutes ago, Ms. Leventhal? Oh, that must have been some other Margo Leventhal who signed the page next to your name. Right this way.)
It's exhausting just keeping up with all of the claims.
It's exhausting just keeping up with all of the claims.
9
Yesterday Trump attacked the press for being "dishonest" and gave the Megan Kelly incident as one example. He claimed when he said "blood was coming out of her . . elsewhere," he meant "her ears, nose or mouth." He accused "perverts" in the press for insinuating something else. In addition, he revisited his visit to Scotland to open the Turnberry golf course. He spent ten minutes shouting about American tv stations showing a picture of him swinging a gold club."Dishonest! I never picked up a golf club," he raved.
7
That picture is priceless - the new generation wants nothing to do with Trump, and with their tiny baby arssenal of tricks, are desperately attempting to get out of his arms!
11
I guess the "October Surprise" will be Donald Trump dropping out to be replaced by Speaker Ryan who if elected would face a Democratic House and Senate. Now that could be the source of so many columns...
The Trumpsters will believe the 2016 election is rigged since they believe in birtherism and that Mr. Obama is responsible for both 9/11 and the Iraq Invasion and all the other things that took place before his election.
The Trumpsters will believe the 2016 election is rigged since they believe in birtherism and that Mr. Obama is responsible for both 9/11 and the Iraq Invasion and all the other things that took place before his election.
12
Why, and the Clintons keep company with Mr. Trump! I think there is a moth in your computer.
Donald J. Trump cannot lose. He cannot. Therefore, when he does, the game must have been rigged, fixed, because Donald Trump cannot lose, never loses, ever.
And anyone who believes that has drunk the Kool-Aid.
And anyone who believes that has drunk the Kool-Aid.
12
Ms. Collins - a suggested title for your next OpEd piece on Trump... "Donald Trump: No Cure For The Common Clod"
8
Voters voting 10 times? Wow. Those voters deserve acknowledgement for being such responsible citizens! Give them an award! And, how do they put up with waiting in those long presidential election lines? Ten times, no less? Is there an in-line catering service we don't know about?
9
When That Man said that Brian French supported him, for a second I misread that and thought it was the French leader. Who is Brian French?
As to the baby, the video I watched had That Man speaking but I never heard the baby crying, so apparently it wasn't so loud that it kept That Man from making his snarky comments.
More has been written about This Man than there has been written about any presidential candidate since Nixon. And everyone knows how Nixon ended his career. Disgraced, dismissed, despised.
As to the baby, the video I watched had That Man speaking but I never heard the baby crying, so apparently it wasn't so loud that it kept That Man from making his snarky comments.
More has been written about This Man than there has been written about any presidential candidate since Nixon. And everyone knows how Nixon ended his career. Disgraced, dismissed, despised.
6
Let's hope we end trump's chances at a political career, before it begins. Otherwise, the Watergate scandal will look like child's play, if reason and baby tears don't sway the crazies supporting him.
2
No surprise that Trump wanted Don King to speak at the RNC. Both men are kindred spirits: masters of the long con.
12
Oh Gail -- let's hope the people of this great country can figure it out. I almost want to move to Pennsylvania just to vote! But I'm not crazy.
4
We have numerous guns in the basement and nobody in this household is about to vote for an idiot who would have control over military and the nukes. Don't conflate gun ownership with idiocy or irresponsibility, it is NOT true and it cheapens your argument.
11
Word.
4
Stephen Colbert and Timmy Jenkins, Trump Bully Kid, knocked it out of the park last night.
Skip to minute 3:30 and be sure to watch to the end, have fun! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtFAi84ehTSYSE9XoHefig
Skip to minute 3:30 and be sure to watch to the end, have fun! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtFAi84ehTSYSE9XoHefig
7
"Let’s have some faith in the electorate." Gail, you are usually not this naive. The electorate is who put Trump where he is. Now you have faith?
10
Does anyone not see that we are allowing the terrorists to win here? This chaotic FEAR is exactly what they have been sowing. And they are reaping the benefits...America is becoming unhinged, and is willing to forget about democracy and elect a power hungry, mentally ill "leader". The whole point of terrorism is to destroy by fear and we are lining up and falling into the trap.
We need to focus on what matters, and stop dickering on about eMails (why is it not made more clear by everyone that the DNC & RNC are private clubs, NOT the government).
We need to focus on what matters, and stop dickering on about eMails (why is it not made more clear by everyone that the DNC & RNC are private clubs, NOT the government).
11
The idea of Rudy Giuliani doing an intervention with Donald Trump calls to mind Dr. Hannibal Lecter in ''Silence of the Lambs'' doing an intervention with ''Buffalo Bob'' the charmer who liked to flay his victims for his makeover.
*They both require 'bite restraint masks,' if one contemplates discussing race or their personal marital histories, or politics, and especially anything that changes the subject from them.
Sincerely,
Clarice Starling
*John Barron please do not respond on behalf Mr. Trump
*They both require 'bite restraint masks,' if one contemplates discussing race or their personal marital histories, or politics, and especially anything that changes the subject from them.
Sincerely,
Clarice Starling
*John Barron please do not respond on behalf Mr. Trump
7
Are you actually suggesting that sunrise isn't staged in an airplane hangar in the remote New Mexico desert?
9
I love you Gail. You make my anxiety melt away with your humor. And truths.
Will "kept making fun of mothers" be the new "Romney family dog on the roof"?
I hope so!
Will "kept making fun of mothers" be the new "Romney family dog on the roof"?
I hope so!
7
Hope you are right about the voters. But who is giving him money? Or is that just another lie?
5
My cousins in Florida, for example - blue collar voters, high school graduates or HS equivalency only. Not dumb, but not well-read or well-informed. Live in rural, suburban areas which are strongly Republican/Fox - the right wing echo chamber.
Also some big contributors hedging their bets.
Also some big contributors hedging their bets.
2
Unfortunately, there was a TV picture of a group of angry white men who look like the clan ready to lynch anyone who wasn't like them and supporting trump. It might have been what made the babies cry. Heaven help us.
1
Elections always seem to have their fair share of sideshows. This one seems to ONLY revolve around issues of personality. There is little discussion of policy. We have devolved to the WWF, or is it WWE?
5
Trump is a one-tool AAA ballplayer who, to everyone's amazement including his own, has been called up to the Major Leagues. The Show. In AAA ball, his one tool of hitting the fastball right back at you, faster than you threw it, took him a long way. Gave him a lot of confidence. But he didn't get good coaching along the way.
Now he's in the Majors. Everyone knows his one-tool, and is now tossing him curves, sliders, change-ups, folly floaters, you name it. He's looking mighty silly....and that's just at the plate. He has no arm to reach beyond his inner circle, no speed on the basepaths to learn what he doesn't know, and he's even terrible in the clubhouse with the rest of the players. Any coach in the game would send him back down.
It's time for Coach Uncle Sam to say, "Son, this is the toughest part of my job...."
Now he's in the Majors. Everyone knows his one-tool, and is now tossing him curves, sliders, change-ups, folly floaters, you name it. He's looking mighty silly....and that's just at the plate. He has no arm to reach beyond his inner circle, no speed on the basepaths to learn what he doesn't know, and he's even terrible in the clubhouse with the rest of the players. Any coach in the game would send him back down.
It's time for Coach Uncle Sam to say, "Son, this is the toughest part of my job...."
21
Gail, pithy as usual.
You know how he could have gotten himself elected, but he blew his chance?
All the had to do was ask the mother of the crying baby to bring it up, cradled it in his arms and tried to quiet it while continuing his speech. He is so dumb that he missed the great opportunity all politicians know about: kiss babies. Had he shown a modicum of humanity he might have had the key to the White House right there. You know how our electorate loves mush? And this ignoramus missed his great chance. His obtuseness is breathtaking. He just can't be as rich as he says he is, he's ultimately sooo dumb.
You know how he could have gotten himself elected, but he blew his chance?
All the had to do was ask the mother of the crying baby to bring it up, cradled it in his arms and tried to quiet it while continuing his speech. He is so dumb that he missed the great opportunity all politicians know about: kiss babies. Had he shown a modicum of humanity he might have had the key to the White House right there. You know how our electorate loves mush? And this ignoramus missed his great chance. His obtuseness is breathtaking. He just can't be as rich as he says he is, he's ultimately sooo dumb.
12
Didn't you see the picture of how babies react to him???
5
Really Gail? You still have faith in the American electorate?
11
Forget about it! Rudy and Newt would end up a couple of Trump's TRUE BELIEVERS. Trump is contagious.
4
Rudy Giulani and New Gingrich need an intervention themselves. They need a long-term IV treatment of compassion.
In addition to his narcissism, Trump gets off on cruelty. In my opinion, this sadistic streak is shared by those two (also Christie and other top people).
It just dawned on me last night that this basic sadism, punishing victims when they're down, is part of the DNA of this adolescent movement.
In addition to his narcissism, Trump gets off on cruelty. In my opinion, this sadistic streak is shared by those two (also Christie and other top people).
It just dawned on me last night that this basic sadism, punishing victims when they're down, is part of the DNA of this adolescent movement.
18
The Hillary campaign better get their act together.
She has been described as the least liked candidate ever and would lose to anyone bu Trump.
She does not give press conferences, and he campaign people do not answer emails and inquiries. All they want is to get your name on a list so they can dunn you for donations. They do not seem to want to hear from the public, it makes her and them appear aloof and unconcerned.
It could cost her the election. Trump connects with somebody. He is vile and abusive, and so are the majority of his supporters, but he does connect with them.
We never see anyone from the Clinton campaign even in the editorial pages of the Times. What is the problem with them? Do they think we do not care and will vote anyway? The Bernie people will vote for the Green Party, it oould cost her the election.
She has been described as the least liked candidate ever and would lose to anyone bu Trump.
She does not give press conferences, and he campaign people do not answer emails and inquiries. All they want is to get your name on a list so they can dunn you for donations. They do not seem to want to hear from the public, it makes her and them appear aloof and unconcerned.
It could cost her the election. Trump connects with somebody. He is vile and abusive, and so are the majority of his supporters, but he does connect with them.
We never see anyone from the Clinton campaign even in the editorial pages of the Times. What is the problem with them? Do they think we do not care and will vote anyway? The Bernie people will vote for the Green Party, it oould cost her the election.
7
Really? Hilary connects with nobody? And at least the Donald connects with his fellow vile and abusive human beings?
There are plenty of people she connects with. She connected with huge voting blocs that Bernie Sanders did not. She connected with specific human beings (this is routinely documented. Town halls are her glory.
You just don't count the people she connects with as important as Donald Trump's people obviously. Luckily, voting machines do.
There are plenty of people she connects with. She connected with huge voting blocs that Bernie Sanders did not. She connected with specific human beings (this is routinely documented. Town halls are her glory.
You just don't count the people she connects with as important as Donald Trump's people obviously. Luckily, voting machines do.
20
Indeed, the Convention was a nice break from the communication blackout, and people are already forgetting she has a history that illustrates her real story, not the bought and paid for oppo version.
Jill Stein is not quite the ideal "pure" green candidate they think she is. She's not exactly an anti-vaxxer (it's all in the hints and encouragement and dissing good doctors, but not quite encouraging this menace to society) but she is an opportunist.
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/green-party-candidate-jill-stein-prai...
"ideologues get blinded by their agenda to such an extent that they’re often unable to see the bigger picture. While some within the Brexit movement seized on economic frustrations to lie to and manipulate people, what these folks were really doing was using the legitimate issues of income inequality to mask the truth that Brexit was being driven by the same racism, bigotry and ignorance that’s supported by Donald Trump.
"So, when someone like Green Party icon Jill Stein comes out praising the vote, all she’s really doing is finding herself on the same side of ignorant racists like Donald Trump and those in Britain who used this vote, and blatantly lied to the people, as a tool to help them facilitate their anti-immigrant, racist policies throughout the country.
"Supporting bigotry, racism and borderline fascism is never worth it just because you like their thoughts on trade agreements and banks."
Jill Stein is not quite the ideal "pure" green candidate they think she is. She's not exactly an anti-vaxxer (it's all in the hints and encouragement and dissing good doctors, but not quite encouraging this menace to society) but she is an opportunist.
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/green-party-candidate-jill-stein-prai...
"ideologues get blinded by their agenda to such an extent that they’re often unable to see the bigger picture. While some within the Brexit movement seized on economic frustrations to lie to and manipulate people, what these folks were really doing was using the legitimate issues of income inequality to mask the truth that Brexit was being driven by the same racism, bigotry and ignorance that’s supported by Donald Trump.
"So, when someone like Green Party icon Jill Stein comes out praising the vote, all she’s really doing is finding herself on the same side of ignorant racists like Donald Trump and those in Britain who used this vote, and blatantly lied to the people, as a tool to help them facilitate their anti-immigrant, racist policies throughout the country.
"Supporting bigotry, racism and borderline fascism is never worth it just because you like their thoughts on trade agreements and banks."
9
For years the GOP and their legions of shrill extreme right wing pundits have been waging a veritable war of attrition on the Clintons ... their legacy and their character. It is one of the most ugly persistent prolonged smear campaigns in US political history. They have used every propaganda trick and legislative gimmick deliberately designed to literally destroy them ... code-words, dog whistles. endless congressional investigations and widely publicized kangaroo-court-style hearings, and even pointless impeachment proceedings ... all based on contrived lies and obfuscations ... ultimately going no where. The charges made and the evidence offered up invariably through prolonged 'due process' slowly dissolved into nothing but unfounded scurrilous gossip and innuendos as both the GOP concocted Benghazi and email server episodes so poignantly demonstrate. Yet the GOP drumbeat persists (as evidenced in this comment here) with the never ending spewing of exaggerated notion's of Hillary Clinton's being "untrustable" (sic) and baseless unfair one sided attacks on her record.
4
The throngs of supporters at Trump rallies prove that human evolution is highly uneven when it comes to white males with minimal education. These are angry, ignorant individuals who have difficulty finding women dumb enough to marry them. Statistically, college-educated women are staying single because the choices for male mates are so mediocre.
The candidate of choice for these males is Trump, who exemplifies all the worst aspects of his rabid supporters. The singular difference is they have low self-esteem while Trump has nothing but vast amounts of self-love. They deserve each other.
So let's elect Hillary and make Donald an ugly footnote in history. She will be a sensible, competent leader, which is quite the opposite of her opponent.
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
The candidate of choice for these males is Trump, who exemplifies all the worst aspects of his rabid supporters. The singular difference is they have low self-esteem while Trump has nothing but vast amounts of self-love. They deserve each other.
So let's elect Hillary and make Donald an ugly footnote in history. She will be a sensible, competent leader, which is quite the opposite of her opponent.
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
24
Trump has closed the donation gap and liberals continue to snigger. I suppose it is because the Democratic Party has historically had a lock the the states with the necessary votes in the Electoral College. The anger among the working classes continues to surprise you - think Brexit. Whatever the results of the election the social and economic discontent wont go away.
10
"The liberals continue to snigger."
No, the sane people continue to express panic that this unstable head case could actually become president.
Such a nightmare scenario is no laughing matter.
No, the sane people continue to express panic that this unstable head case could actually become president.
Such a nightmare scenario is no laughing matter.
4
As one wealthy donor said, "Why would any one give money to Trump. He has 10 billion dollars".
22
Almost invariably, on CNN, or MSNBC or CBS, or ABC, or PBS, every pundit addressing this election repeats the following lie: Both candidates are equally disliked and this election depends on which one becomes least objectionable, or words to that effect. It's almost as if this is a reflexive, involuntary mouthing of some immutable law of the universe, and sets up the whole tone of the interview or story: Both candidates are hated and you have to choose from two failed candidates forced on you by the establishment.
Why is that?
Why is that?
45
That has irritated me for a long time. It's as if it's a basic principle that drives everything else.
Things are the way they are because they got to be that way.
When people don't like someone, the way that person chews his food is annoying. Everything the person does contributes to justifying the dislike.
The problem with politicians and other celebrities is that we don't really know them. We are viewing them through the prism of what their public relations people and the press present as reality.
When Hillary married Bill and they began their political odyssey, a lot of people in that Silent Majority didn't like the image they saw when they looked at Hillary. She used her maiden name. She went to work. She advocated for liberal causes.
Eventually, the meme developed that Hillary was a liar. Bill Saffire of the NY Times is sometimes credited with starting it. It resonated with a lot of the people who already didn't like her. Some of them were reporters or pundits.
Add in social media and the effect is magnified. There are now people in the business of protecting the reputations of normal people. My crazy, wingnut cousin posts horrible things about the Obamas and the Clintons all the time. The like-minded chime in to "like" his posts.
Donald Trump seems to benefit from the opposite effect. People who want to support him are willing to ignore a lot of what he says.
Things are the way they are because they got to be that way.
When people don't like someone, the way that person chews his food is annoying. Everything the person does contributes to justifying the dislike.
The problem with politicians and other celebrities is that we don't really know them. We are viewing them through the prism of what their public relations people and the press present as reality.
When Hillary married Bill and they began their political odyssey, a lot of people in that Silent Majority didn't like the image they saw when they looked at Hillary. She used her maiden name. She went to work. She advocated for liberal causes.
Eventually, the meme developed that Hillary was a liar. Bill Saffire of the NY Times is sometimes credited with starting it. It resonated with a lot of the people who already didn't like her. Some of them were reporters or pundits.
Add in social media and the effect is magnified. There are now people in the business of protecting the reputations of normal people. My crazy, wingnut cousin posts horrible things about the Obamas and the Clintons all the time. The like-minded chime in to "like" his posts.
Donald Trump seems to benefit from the opposite effect. People who want to support him are willing to ignore a lot of what he says.
2
Trump has not been forced upon us by the "establishment"
In fact I kinda want someone who knows what they are doing
In fact I kinda want someone who knows what they are doing
What a hoot, Gail.
When Gingrich and Giuliani are presented as the voices of reason, those calming influences who can intervene to soothe the savage beast Trump, you got an outright laugh from me.
G and G, the soothsayers. Priceless.
DD
Manhattan
When Gingrich and Giuliani are presented as the voices of reason, those calming influences who can intervene to soothe the savage beast Trump, you got an outright laugh from me.
G and G, the soothsayers. Priceless.
DD
Manhattan
221
I live in Chicago. You mean you can't vote 10 times? Since when?
24
I'm having a Groundhog Day moment. Are we going to defeat this clown only to wake up the morning after election day and find him still ranting on TV....and again the next day....and again the next day....
43
I've been forced to turn the TV off because of Trump. The mute button helped for a while, but the visuals of his contorted orange face and wildly gesticulating hands proved to be as unbearable as hearing his words.
It's hard enough to read about Trump's new low of the day each evening in the print media (but I view that as my minimal responsibility as a citizen).
God help us if this creature becomes president.
It's hard enough to read about Trump's new low of the day each evening in the print media (but I view that as my minimal responsibility as a citizen).
God help us if this creature becomes president.
1
I guess no one told him that as a politician, you KISS the baby, not DIS the baby.
359
He is a germ freak.
1
Deb,
Missed opportunity to call the mom down onstage and hold the baby and complement the baby and kiss the baby, and thank the mom for doing such a great job producing a beautiful baby, but no; Caligula took over nearly immediately.
Missed opportunity to call the mom down onstage and hold the baby and complement the baby and kiss the baby, and thank the mom for doing such a great job producing a beautiful baby, but no; Caligula took over nearly immediately.
2
What this country does not need is a loose cannon on the gunship of state. I'll leave it to the readers to decide which of the two candidates that observation possibly refers to.
15
It can only be Hillary.
It's confounding to me that a man who has zero experience in government and even less knowledge of how it works can get away all these months with everyone being fine that he has shown no concrete plans on how he is going to govern. No policy information at all. How is this ok with the public, the press, anyone?!?
73
Because his supporters believe that government is bad. They LIKE that he's "not a politician." Every time he says something stupid, they like him more.
8
My concern is that Trump is getting so much attention for his lunacy that Hilliary Clinton has become an after-thought, if she gets any coverage at all. This attention creates an illusion of legitimacy which is why he believes that any press is good press. Couldn't the Times restrict his coverage to one article - just one - on the Trump nonsense du jour? If he makes any real policy statement, maybe a paragraph on that.
66
I have a hobby: each day I look at the NYT home page, and do a simple CTRL (or CMD) - F (i.e. find) on it for 'Trump' and 'Clinton'. As of this writing the score stands at Trump 19, Clinton 8. During the Republican convention it was closer to Trump in the high 20s or more, and Clinton somewhere between 0 and 3. During the Democratic convention they were more or less tied in the teens.
Even as he craters, Trump is still managing to manipulate the Gray Lady into subsidizing him with untold millions of dollars in free advertising.
On the other hand, this was still a very entertaining column :-)
Even as he craters, Trump is still managing to manipulate the Gray Lady into subsidizing him with untold millions of dollars in free advertising.
On the other hand, this was still a very entertaining column :-)
3
Funny, if it weren't showing the awful state of affairs with crooked lying Trump at the helm. Certain people seem to enjoy his dumb fantasies trumping reality, his vulgarity, and indecency, and stupid comments belittling people, perhaps reflecting a mean spirit within themselves, finally allowed to be spoken, by a racist bully undeterred by a bad press (as long as it gives him exposure, gratis too). I guess some folks love his spontaneity in uttering nonsense, as long as it is 'funny' and 'lively'. Ugh!!!
21
This election is dealing "with an out-of-control Donald Trump." Out-of-control is a chronic pathology with The Donald; always has been, is now and always will be, whatever moderation the Giuliani-Gingrich-Christie axis of evil can bring to the man-child's disordered behavior. Trump is 70 years old. Does anybody seriously believe that his comportment will change if or when he should ascend to the Oval Office?
In the meantime, mothers of little babies and fallen heroes beware: for your own dignity, stay away from Trump rallies.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
In the meantime, mothers of little babies and fallen heroes beware: for your own dignity, stay away from Trump rallies.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
21
Donald Trump must not quit. We must not be deprived of whatever passes for his concession speech on November 8th. We've earned it!
And may I comment on removing whining children from his events? (Oh, never mind. That's just too easy.)
And may I comment on removing whining children from his events? (Oh, never mind. That's just too easy.)
9
'Exhausting' doesn't come close to describing how this election season feels. I'm going to the doctor today to request being put into a medically-induced coma until the first Monday in November - or until Trump finds a way to quit, whichever comes first.
22
You are not alone. I do not recall ever suffering to this degree from exposure to an election season. Even the process leading up to the theft of the 2000 election did not engender such intense anxiety. It's no wonder that shrinks are reporting that sessions increasingly center on Trump-related panic.
2
Not a big deal, to be fair. I am quite sure that if you are making a speech in front of a crowd inside a closed space you may not like a baby crying all the time. At the end, Trump just asked the woman to do what she was quietly supposed to do by herself (that is, leaving) and he did it with his customary sense of humor.
Something similar may be said about the "controversy" with Khan family: Trump just asked why the Muslim wife was standing silent on stage - it was just a legitimate question like any other; you may not agree with the political meaning embedded in such a question, but he was perfectly entitled to ask this as much as Mr. Khan was entitled to ask if Trump had read the US Constitution. Moreover, it wasn't Trump to start all this, but it was Mr. Khan at Democratic convention who hit him first. And over the long term, Mr Khan might risk to give the impression of using his dead son as a kind of political prop for Democrats. Not sure if most of us would like doing the same.
However, as we have always seen in this heavily polarized campaign, if you want your opponent to look bad, he/she will look bad in any case, irrespective of what they are going to say or not to say (and how).
Something similar may be said about the "controversy" with Khan family: Trump just asked why the Muslim wife was standing silent on stage - it was just a legitimate question like any other; you may not agree with the political meaning embedded in such a question, but he was perfectly entitled to ask this as much as Mr. Khan was entitled to ask if Trump had read the US Constitution. Moreover, it wasn't Trump to start all this, but it was Mr. Khan at Democratic convention who hit him first. And over the long term, Mr Khan might risk to give the impression of using his dead son as a kind of political prop for Democrats. Not sure if most of us would like doing the same.
However, as we have always seen in this heavily polarized campaign, if you want your opponent to look bad, he/she will look bad in any case, irrespective of what they are going to say or not to say (and how).
28
Sorry, Renby, this IS a big deal. Sarcasm and twisted humor from a presidential candidate is just not acceptable behavior. The man is sick and totally incapable of being controlled by anyone. You're in London but we and the rest of the World will have to live with his maniacal egomania for 4 years IF HE WINS!
9
What then do we make of Patricia Smith at the RNC, who "blames Hillary Clinton personally" for her son's death in Libya? Hillary took the high road and did not respond.
15
Mr and Mrs Kahn accept that their son sacrificed his life to same some of his fellow soldiers, but also in the interest of perpetuating the ideal of American democracy and freedom. They feel Trump threatens the future of the Country they now call home and for which their son gave his life. They are not being stooges for the Democrats, and their motivations are pure and understandable. Trump should have said nothing and let that moment pass with the typical comments any other politician would have used about sacrifice, etc. But no, he made a big mistake to take these people on, and if it is not hurting him with the flag waving\VFW crowd, I don't know what would.
15
Why should we have faith in the electorate? They have allowed this mentally ill man to get this far, and continue to egg him on. No, I fear the electorate. At this point, blind fear is driving me to the voting booth on November 8. I don't care if I am sick, have a broken leg, have a family problem -- I will get there and vote. Because the idea of Trump getting anywhere near the Oval Office scares the bejeebers out of me.
57
Don't take any chances – – send in an absentee ballot early! That way your vote will still count even if you are hit by a car on the morning of election day.
It would be criminal to miss an opportunity to help avert this potential epic disaster.
It would be criminal to miss an opportunity to help avert this potential epic disaster.
2
In a normal Presidential election cycle you cast your vote
for a candidate and his or her political platform but sometime
extraordinary circumstances put an average citizen on the spot
to preserve the values and the soul of your country. Back in 2002
in France the choice was between incumbent President Jacques
Chirac and the leader of the National Front Jean Marie Le Pen.
A rather mediocre President with questionable ethics who redeemed
himself in refusing to invade Irak versus a blatantly racist, xenophobic
and anti-semitic candidate highly unprepared to be the next President.
At the end Chirac wan with more than 80 % of the vote.
Indeed he didn't win on his own merits or achievements
but because an overwhelming majority of French citizen said
NO to a candidate fliting constantly with fascism.
Sometime saying NO can be the most positive weapon to protect
your country.
for a candidate and his or her political platform but sometime
extraordinary circumstances put an average citizen on the spot
to preserve the values and the soul of your country. Back in 2002
in France the choice was between incumbent President Jacques
Chirac and the leader of the National Front Jean Marie Le Pen.
A rather mediocre President with questionable ethics who redeemed
himself in refusing to invade Irak versus a blatantly racist, xenophobic
and anti-semitic candidate highly unprepared to be the next President.
At the end Chirac wan with more than 80 % of the vote.
Indeed he didn't win on his own merits or achievements
but because an overwhelming majority of French citizen said
NO to a candidate fliting constantly with fascism.
Sometime saying NO can be the most positive weapon to protect
your country.
23
Dateline August 4 2017: Donald Trump still declines to concede to President Hillary Rodham Clinton. He now contends that the election was stolen by Bill Clinton blackmailing each of his former mistresses to come out and vote for Hillary. When informed that blackmail usually works the other way, Mr. Trump thereupon reversed himself and claimed that each of the former mistresses contacted Bill and insisted that he vote for them. Anyway, he's not conceding unless the latest recount is at least revised to show that he did NOT lose by the biggest margin in the history of U.S. elections.
17
"As usual, Trump spent a good chunk of his speech explaining how unjust his critics are. He was outraged, for instance, that he could have been charged with being unsympathetic to people with disabilities when he’s “spent millions of dollars on ramps” for his buildings."
Hilarious observation. Thanks, Gail.
The tone-deafness of this ignoramus - or maybe this ignoramus, period - never ceases to amaze me.
Hilarious observation. Thanks, Gail.
The tone-deafness of this ignoramus - or maybe this ignoramus, period - never ceases to amaze me.
24
Ever since he announced last August, I've been trying to reassure my Chicken Little friends that Trump would never be able to shift from the primary, when he was throwing red meat to a small coterie of primary voters, to the general, when he would have to demonstrate he actually had the temperament, intelligence and personality of a president.
I must say, things have worked out just as I thought they would. You can call me over confident, but I just don't see his base of support expanding in the handful of states that will decide this election. In fact, in those key states (and I wish people would keep in mind, as you point out, that those are the ONLY states that matter), he has been consistently losing support since Cleveland.
I must say, things have worked out just as I thought they would. You can call me over confident, but I just don't see his base of support expanding in the handful of states that will decide this election. In fact, in those key states (and I wish people would keep in mind, as you point out, that those are the ONLY states that matter), he has been consistently losing support since Cleveland.
6
Donald J Trump doesn't need an intervention, I don't know, perhaps no other presidential candidate in history has needed an intervention less, that's what very influential people are saying, not me. Very influential. I don't know why the non Trump types are saying Donald J Trump needs an intervention, maybe they are mentally deficient or racist and some I assume are good people.
12
Good snark!
5
People are saying very good things about my snark - great things - and I'm reading that very important people approve. VERY important people.
4
Trump once again managed to monopolize the news cycle. A week after Hillary Clinton's nomination, 10 articles on trump, 0 on Clinton. The press needs to wake up and realize that Trump's inflammatory statements do not deserve so much coverage and that covering them so extensively plays right into Trump's hand.
34
I agree. I also think more attention should be given to the article that appeared in the Huffington Post regarding trump and underage girls. I found it extremely shocking that the major newspapers have not addressed this.
2
I kinda hope Giuliani and Gingrich are unsuccessful in their quest to rein in the out of control bloviator. Friends of my Mother's who have been life long Republicans told my Mother they did not think their minds could ever have been changed about voting for the Republican ticket, but they told her last night Trump has now changed all that, and they will not be voting for him, and will be voting for Clinton. That is one small victory, but if there are enough minds and hearts changed, Clinton will win in November, and a clear and present danger will have been averted.
Yes, I think we are all weary of the whole election overload. I am marking the days off my calendar until November 8th, when this circus will finally fold its tent, just as I am sure the Obamas are marking the days off their calendar when they see the White House in their rear view mirror.
Yes, I think we are all weary of the whole election overload. I am marking the days off my calendar until November 8th, when this circus will finally fold its tent, just as I am sure the Obamas are marking the days off their calendar when they see the White House in their rear view mirror.
19
I too am marking off the days and praying that we have some peace and quiet after the election. I'm doubtful though, about the peace and quiet. "Bloviator" is the perfect word. I've never seen it used as much as it has been over the last year!
1
The "intervention" that Donald Trump needs is therapeutic not political. The media and the public must realize that he has a very serious personality disorder that disqualifies him from elective office. This has now moved beyond the realm of humor and sarcasm to the very security of our nation and the world. It is no longer "a joking matter" to have a obviously unstable person who lacks empathy and, like Nixon, operates from a sense of resentment and revenge. Donald Trump is mental ill and must not be allowed to be in charge of the world's most powerful military.
37
I never thought I'd say this, but you're besmirching Nixon by comparing Trump to him.
1
Good reason for Gail to be concerned. In 1932 Hitler lost the election for President of Germany. Nevertheless within two years he had total control of the German government. With Putin backing Trump and possible forgiveness on hundreds of millions in loans to Trump entities, if he wins, Trump and Putin may be setting the stage to challenge the results of an election in which Hillary wins. A little FSB (formerly KGB) hacking of election computers could give Trump the chaos he thrives on.It will take more than Newt and Rudy doing an intervention at that point.
18
All of us appreciate updates and recaps on the Trump campaign – well, maybe not all of us.
I’m interested in the Intervention, which probably will take place only when the two intervenors decide whether it ought to be the Rudy-Newt Intervention or the Newt-Rudy Intervention.
Trump is likely to refuse to participate, unless it is televised and he retains production control. It is hard to imagine a full-contact intervention with multiple TV cameras and plush bleachers to give Republican Party leaders an up-close-and-personal vantage point.
All of the television networks and cable news channels now have “Election Central” segments with red-white-and-blue sets. I suppose “Intervention Central” segments are coming soon.
We’ll have to wait for someone (Paul Ryan?) to disclose whether the Intervention is expected to occur before or after Trump releases his tax returns.
I’m interested in the Intervention, which probably will take place only when the two intervenors decide whether it ought to be the Rudy-Newt Intervention or the Newt-Rudy Intervention.
Trump is likely to refuse to participate, unless it is televised and he retains production control. It is hard to imagine a full-contact intervention with multiple TV cameras and plush bleachers to give Republican Party leaders an up-close-and-personal vantage point.
All of the television networks and cable news channels now have “Election Central” segments with red-white-and-blue sets. I suppose “Intervention Central” segments are coming soon.
We’ll have to wait for someone (Paul Ryan?) to disclose whether the Intervention is expected to occur before or after Trump releases his tax returns.
5
I am all too familiar with individuals who appear to fall in narcissistic and anti-social definitions. What I know as a result: it isn't possible to have a rational, logical conversation with someone who isn't them-self a rational, logical person. They could declare the sun now rises in the west, and sets in the east, and they'd manage to convince a few folks who were easily persuaded that it was true. Trump shares this gift. This is why none of the other republican candidates could out talk Trump during the primary season. Bullying tendencies were present in the situation I experienced, and are definitely part of Trump's behavior as well. It was also my experience that person's with these behavior traits, cannot keep up positive appearances for too long. Eventually, they do self-destruct. To the point in the column about Trump starting a voting fraud conspiracy - this is what individuals with these types of personality issues always do. When things don't go their way, they are always the victim, and someone else (or many other someones) - are always at fault. Trump and individuals like him are dangerous to the extent that other people who do not have the benefit of behavior training are not able to detect the underlying reasons behind a persons erratic or unusual behavior. Although - this just reinforces the discussion about the gaps we have in the US with mental health treatment, and the need to discuss it more openly (as well as fund treatment).
14
After watching our Congress for the last 8 years I can understand why Allen Drury's books could continue to be relevant to today. The only question is which character is Donald Trump or is he an entirely new character?
It still frightens me that registered Republicans voted in their primaries for a candidate like Trump. This is a man with no off switch on his mouth. He hasn't found an indiscreet remark he doesn't want to say. He is definitely part of the ME generation. I say this because every speech is about him, his life, his buildings, his sacrifices, and how everyone loves him. I don't see any signs of intelligent thought, any real interest in what will happen once he takes office apart from building a wall to keep out those undesirable Mexicans and banning all Muslims from coming here. If that's all it takes to entrance the GOP members they could have gone to the KKK for a candidate.
In case the Grabby Overrated Plunderers haven't noticed there is a country that needs governing. It needs to spend money on its infrastructure, on basic research, on education, on housing, and on jobs and retraining. If we're the richest country in the world why does the GOP continue to act like it's only the richest in the country that deserve government handouts? Why is corporate welfare okay while citizen based welfare is not? And how do they justify the nomination of Trump to themselves? Loyalty, when it's blind isn't loyalty: it's stupidity.
It still frightens me that registered Republicans voted in their primaries for a candidate like Trump. This is a man with no off switch on his mouth. He hasn't found an indiscreet remark he doesn't want to say. He is definitely part of the ME generation. I say this because every speech is about him, his life, his buildings, his sacrifices, and how everyone loves him. I don't see any signs of intelligent thought, any real interest in what will happen once he takes office apart from building a wall to keep out those undesirable Mexicans and banning all Muslims from coming here. If that's all it takes to entrance the GOP members they could have gone to the KKK for a candidate.
In case the Grabby Overrated Plunderers haven't noticed there is a country that needs governing. It needs to spend money on its infrastructure, on basic research, on education, on housing, and on jobs and retraining. If we're the richest country in the world why does the GOP continue to act like it's only the richest in the country that deserve government handouts? Why is corporate welfare okay while citizen based welfare is not? And how do they justify the nomination of Trump to themselves? Loyalty, when it's blind isn't loyalty: it's stupidity.
77
My faith in the electorate is a little shaky these days.
243
Mine too. There's a significant crowd out there where emotion and insecurity trumps logic and facts. That ain't going to change.
2
After the Republican primary Winston Churchill's observation may have never been more appropriate:
“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”
“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”
5
the photo is perfect, on so many levels
86
Yes! A picture, indeed, is worth a thousand words.
A shame Lindsey Graham couldn't have won the nomination – he's infinitely more qualified. Though he's too far right for me, he's much more intelligent than DT (granted, a low bar), and he has a wonderful sense of humor!
21
Graham was great on the Daily Show but I don't want him anywhere near public policy.
He should consider a career as a commentator.
He should consider a career as a commentator.
4
Sad sad state of affairs . We have two lousy choices come election day. My guess is, you can vote for the Clintons, or stay home that day. We then can get back to business as usual. Sanders and Trump supporters, many who were simply gifted with him can go back to their affairs. Trump and Bernie will go back to their day jobs, both having made history as ," I told you so."
6
Stay home on election day...????You have the right, obligation and neccessity to vote that is denied all too many persons in the World. Use it or lose it. Vote for sanity , self-discipline, experience and safety...whichever candidate provides the highest percentage of plusses!
7
A third possibility is to do think beyond the Republican (and sadly Sanders) smear campaign against Hillary Clinton, do some of your own homework about her, and vote for her. She may not be fun and exciting, but she's as qualified as anyone out there -- and no, not crooked and not under the sway of Wall Street.
11
Says you. I agree with the president when he called Clinton the most qualified person ever to run for the office.
11
Gingrich would have done this long ago, but no Trump hotel suite has enough bathrooms.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2011/12/gingrich-requires-hotel-roo...
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2011/12/gingrich-requires-hotel-roo...
5
Theses days everything is sounding like the Onion!
1
A shrewd, soulless Buffoon has invaded American life for the past 13 months. He's everywhere we turn. We can't believe what we're hearing or seeing, yet there he is, laughing at us and ridiculing us with grunts because he can't form words into a sentence.
He owns the media's total attention , they and we can't seem to get enough. I've had enough. Please stop before we're all as crazy as him and his supporters.
He owns the media's total attention , they and we can't seem to get enough. I've had enough. Please stop before we're all as crazy as him and his supporters.
112
I am weary of learning each morning what outrage or stumble Trump has done. Every single day there is something that blatantly demonstrates why this man is unfit to be the President.
However, he has played the game of whether or not he WILL take office. Then there's the offer he made Kasich for VP to be in charge of Foreign & Domestic issues, while he (Trump) makes America "great" again. What's the chance that he made Pence the same exact offer? I'm sure he did and likely Pence grabbed at the chance to become another VP equal in power to Cheney.
So should we be focusing so much on the horrible gaffes of the Donald and ignore Pence? No. I don't believe so. The background of Pence needs to be scrutinized by reputable investigative reporters and presented just as overtly as an actual Presidential candidate. Those outside of Indiana are only aware of a few facts unless we dig. So make it easier --- Focus & Report about Pence. Pay some attention to the man behind the curtain.
I suspect it will be worthwhile.
Other than that, there is nothing to be done about Trump until the November election. By then, I believe only his fanatical subjects will want to hear his name. Fatigue will have long set in. Hopefully, it won't stop voter turnout to resist him. It is not futile. We will not comply!
However, he has played the game of whether or not he WILL take office. Then there's the offer he made Kasich for VP to be in charge of Foreign & Domestic issues, while he (Trump) makes America "great" again. What's the chance that he made Pence the same exact offer? I'm sure he did and likely Pence grabbed at the chance to become another VP equal in power to Cheney.
So should we be focusing so much on the horrible gaffes of the Donald and ignore Pence? No. I don't believe so. The background of Pence needs to be scrutinized by reputable investigative reporters and presented just as overtly as an actual Presidential candidate. Those outside of Indiana are only aware of a few facts unless we dig. So make it easier --- Focus & Report about Pence. Pay some attention to the man behind the curtain.
I suspect it will be worthwhile.
Other than that, there is nothing to be done about Trump until the November election. By then, I believe only his fanatical subjects will want to hear his name. Fatigue will have long set in. Hopefully, it won't stop voter turnout to resist him. It is not futile. We will not comply!
13
If the Republicans had been smart, which they are not, they would have addressed some of the issues the President was attempting to remedy: jobs, wages, and job training. But no, they stuck to Mitch McConnell's say no to everything and here we are with Donald Trump. Sadly, these same folks are giving money and their vote to a man who could care less about failing middle class.
134
The Republicans have Congress under their thumb and control the majority of state legislatures. They have half the Supreme Court. They have Pence in place to take over when Trump is impeached either on a pretext or for cause.
So just how dumb are they???
So just how dumb are they???
2
The only revelation of this campaign has been the support he's garnered from working class white men. With the demographics of our country changing this is their last hurrah. How sad that the legacy of the white working class will be an obnoxious developer with orange bronzer and a hair piece.
57
I'm sorry, Gail. But, I don't know that I have that much faith in the electorate. He's made it this far and has now raised a lot of money from his supporters. And, yes, this is scaring me. A lot. That fear keeps growing on a daily basis. I hope, actually pray, that you are right. But, these days in politics, it's hard to know anymore. Terrifying.
94
What scares me most is that for the first time in US Presidential election history we have two candidates totally unqualified to be president.
Incredibly however, the Republican candidate is so wacky that he has somehow found a way to make an inept Democratic candidate look like a better choice.
Folks, with all due respect, Clinton is NOT a a better choice. She is not qualified to be president, the current president's incredible endorsement notwithstanding..
The saving grace our Founders gave us is that you don't need to vote for either one of them. You don't need to support a major party that keeps endorsing indentured, incapable candidates. You can vote for someone else.
Vote your conscience this fall by all means. But consider voting for another party or a write-in candidate. Why waste your purchased franchise as a voter for someone we can ill afford to have as president?
Incredibly however, the Republican candidate is so wacky that he has somehow found a way to make an inept Democratic candidate look like a better choice.
Folks, with all due respect, Clinton is NOT a a better choice. She is not qualified to be president, the current president's incredible endorsement notwithstanding..
The saving grace our Founders gave us is that you don't need to vote for either one of them. You don't need to support a major party that keeps endorsing indentured, incapable candidates. You can vote for someone else.
Vote your conscience this fall by all means. But consider voting for another party or a write-in candidate. Why waste your purchased franchise as a voter for someone we can ill afford to have as president?
7
Many, a large percentage of us, do not agree HRC is not qualified. She is imminently qualified, especially as I have been learning more and more about her past and early work.
what is wasted is throwing away a vote that is not realistic on any level. I've heard the various "moral" third party candidates on stage and they will get eaten alive in office.
what is wasted is throwing away a vote that is not realistic on any level. I've heard the various "moral" third party candidates on stage and they will get eaten alive in office.
20
Senator and Sec. of State aren't qualifications...?
6
Do you not understand that to throw away your vote to another party or write-in candidate is actually to vote FOR Trump. Is that what you intend? Think about it, I beg of you.
Do you really believe we need man in the White House who has asked several times why it is not suitable for him to use nuclear weapons?
Good grief I'm scared.
Do you really believe we need man in the White House who has asked several times why it is not suitable for him to use nuclear weapons?
Good grief I'm scared.
11
In all seriousness, could Gail please not make jokes about how the Trump supporters "appear to have a minimum of 20 guns in the basement"?
It might seem a cutesy joke for those of us who would belittle Trump and his supporters, but let's not lose sight of the violence we HAVE seen recently in this country. Much of that violence was perpetrated by mentally unstable people, who in some cases, where prompted into action by what they saw in the media.
In plain language, can we not joke like that, lest we given someone ideas?
It might seem a cutesy joke for those of us who would belittle Trump and his supporters, but let's not lose sight of the violence we HAVE seen recently in this country. Much of that violence was perpetrated by mentally unstable people, who in some cases, where prompted into action by what they saw in the media.
In plain language, can we not joke like that, lest we given someone ideas?
18
What makes you think she was joking?
6
Wrong
"you know, building … buildings....Only the first of which is entirely true."
It would have been true only if he paid fair wages and overtime that he did not. He even stiffed hundreds of contractors of last payments pretending the work was not up to par, the oldest dirty trick in the books. Hundreds and maybe thousands were defrauded this way because what could they do? Sue the billionaire to collect? It would cost more much more and it was not worth the trouble.
Cheating workers from their salary is NOT service to the nation. Donald Trump is a monster and a mega crook.
"you know, building … buildings....Only the first of which is entirely true."
It would have been true only if he paid fair wages and overtime that he did not. He even stiffed hundreds of contractors of last payments pretending the work was not up to par, the oldest dirty trick in the books. Hundreds and maybe thousands were defrauded this way because what could they do? Sue the billionaire to collect? It would cost more much more and it was not worth the trouble.
Cheating workers from their salary is NOT service to the nation. Donald Trump is a monster and a mega crook.
99
The primary election results in Kansas could be the beginning of the Trump effect down ballot.
42
If Newt and Rudy think they can successfully intervene with Trump, they better take reinforcements. I suggest they call in Putin.
39
Drumpf is a sociopath who adds a ton of Narcissism(Only I) to the already toxic mix. I lost my ability to walk serving our country in Vietnam so his callous "my buildings have ramps" commentary just remind me of his disrespect to the disabled community which is mere icing on a cake made of Bigotry, Isolationism, Disrespect to the American voters who deserve way better than someone hiding the truth about his business acumen in his Mine Tax Returns I won't share them. Petulant man child the Donald is and that's on his good days.
93
Keep raising your voice. Loud and clear? Proud and strong.
4
Please don't take this as just a statement, but with all my old heart I thank you sir for serving our country during a difficult time. May God bless you!!!
4
Trump is 70 years old, to expect him to alter his temperament and logic is extremely naive.
Unfortunately, many Americans see hope that their lost or nonexistent greatest will occur under his"leadership". Maybe many people thought the same feelings about Hitler or Mussolini, that didn't work out so well.
We are electing a President of the largest Democracy not a carnival charlatan.
Unfortunately, many Americans see hope that their lost or nonexistent greatest will occur under his"leadership". Maybe many people thought the same feelings about Hitler or Mussolini, that didn't work out so well.
We are electing a President of the largest Democracy not a carnival charlatan.
50
1000% Correct!
3
What a collusal waste of time that we have to suffer through Trumps daily drivel. This is the end result of mixing entertainment and politics. We can't avert our eyes and ears to his clownish act. Angela Merkle a real leader wouldn't have a chance here because she is boring the same charge leveled against Tim Caine. Isn't there enough entertainment here that we don't have to expect our leaders to keep us amused?
36
While I'm worried about Donald Trump being elected President, I'm more worried about how that will happen. Simply, I'm worried about the apparent millions of voters who cheer whenever Mr. Trump says something - anything. It can be inane and banal (most of it is) and they cheer. It can be an outright lie. They cheer. It can be (and usually is) demeaning to some-one or some group. They cheer. He's the engineer of a speeding train that is about to tip over at the next curve and they say, "Faster, faster!"
61
Something tells me that Positive Trump Control won't be switched on in time.
1
The Republicans' dilemma, shared by our nation as a whole, is that Trump and his followers will be dangerous in untold ways whether he wins or loses.
No intervention by anyone will persuade Trump to change because he's incapable of change and because he's come this far, and could go further, by taking no one's counsel other than his own.
No intervention by anyone will persuade Trump to change because he's incapable of change and because he's come this far, and could go further, by taking no one's counsel other than his own.
27
Last time I looked, we had a disciplined and well trained national Armed Forces; National Guard in every state; and police at the local level.
If there are flare-ups in a few pockets of the country after he loses, I'm confident they will be dealt with accordingly.
If there are flare-ups in a few pockets of the country after he loses, I'm confident they will be dealt with accordingly.
4
Like the snakes on Medusa's head, every time logic and reason cut down a trumpism, two more appear in its place to be carried as a badge of courage to the disenfranchised who see a brave anti-hero in this narcissist. It will take more than Hillary as Perseus to defeat this wretch, we need more real people like Mr. Kahn to speak on behalf of the crying babies who see a bleak future when they know one. So let's line up some scientists, contractors, displaced casino workers, classmates and hair stylists to testify.
40
agree, those babies must know something.
1
Trump is at his worst when he pretends to have compassion. He's sympathetic to people with disabilities because his properties have disabled-access ramps? Please, he made fun of a disabled reporter! He's made tremendous sacrifices because he worked hard for an enterprise which enriched himself and left scores high and dry? Sacrifice is a personal loss, Donald. Trump is so oblivious of what it is to struggle and to suffer and he drives that home when he pretends otherwise.
27
I think those two babies in the accompanying photo reflect how a lot of us feel about Donald Trump, his Republican presidential candidacy, and what it must be like to be trapped at a Trump rally with a bunch of out-of-control, foul-mouthed, disrespectful adults (see Times video of Trump rallies).
I feel like both the babies--one struggling to get away from and out of that man's nasty grip, and the other one crying out in misery at the scary situation he has been placed in.
I can't wait for this horrible and embarrassing election to be over.
I feel like both the babies--one struggling to get away from and out of that man's nasty grip, and the other one crying out in misery at the scary situation he has been placed in.
I can't wait for this horrible and embarrassing election to be over.
39
The Republicans, at least since Reagan, have preached a doctrine of hatred and contempt for the very idea of government. Maybe a nightmare like Trump is the natural culmination of all that hatred.
33
I pray that it's the culmination.
2
Right on, Clark. The GOP agrees with the Donald, just sneakier about it. They have harmed our country this past 7+ years by blocking any positive legislation that the Black President may suggest.
4
Let's start with babies. Babies are tiny, adorable humans. That's how we all started. Babies are very tuned in to emotions. So just look at those babies! That tells us all we need to know. They're too young to vote. But already they know: the man clutching them tightly is someone they want to flee. Instinctively these babies get it! This man is bad news.
Now how did those babies get into the man's arms? People brought them to him. Oh, dear! Actual mothers seem not to realize, what the babies already know. (We also know those mothers and crying babies will soon be evicted. Which is a good thing for the babies. I feel a tiny bit better, just contemplating that.)
Except! Outside those rallies (see video the NYTimes has kindly placed on its digital front page) enraged, almost rabid people are out of control, shouting, growling, dancing. Looking almost ready to go on a lynching rampage.
They've been primed and aroused to a fever pitch of rage - seeking an outlet. From inside - where the babies became so alarmed.
As a retired clinical psychologist, I find this very alarming. So dangerous! Such a flashpoint, a potential for social unrest. I'm wishing for a law to prevent these rallies. I'm extremely concerned about the aftermath of an election, where rabid crowds have been told "they're going to steal the election from us."
As if anybody ever "owns" an election!
Something has got to be done. It's not enough to reject and denounce. Stop the rallies!
Now how did those babies get into the man's arms? People brought them to him. Oh, dear! Actual mothers seem not to realize, what the babies already know. (We also know those mothers and crying babies will soon be evicted. Which is a good thing for the babies. I feel a tiny bit better, just contemplating that.)
Except! Outside those rallies (see video the NYTimes has kindly placed on its digital front page) enraged, almost rabid people are out of control, shouting, growling, dancing. Looking almost ready to go on a lynching rampage.
They've been primed and aroused to a fever pitch of rage - seeking an outlet. From inside - where the babies became so alarmed.
As a retired clinical psychologist, I find this very alarming. So dangerous! Such a flashpoint, a potential for social unrest. I'm wishing for a law to prevent these rallies. I'm extremely concerned about the aftermath of an election, where rabid crowds have been told "they're going to steal the election from us."
As if anybody ever "owns" an election!
Something has got to be done. It's not enough to reject and denounce. Stop the rallies!
29
Agreed. I once saw a great photo montage of children with President Obama. The kids were obviously happy and comfortable and at ease. Kids are a good barometer.
5
Forgive me my ignorance. America is the most developed country on the planet. Source of cutting edge of virtually everything. Best Universities of the planet. Hollywood depicts the efficiency of the American system, where people just know what to do and the tools too are in place to carry it out. How did Americans put themselves in a position where Donald Trump is having a fair chance of being their next President? Something is not squaring up here.
28
Rather than an intervention from two morally-challenged has-beens to try to paper over this catastrophic monster of a candidate, what this election needs is an objective analysis of the very real economic frustrations of the Trump backers. Left behind by globalism, undereducated, disparaged by elites, staggering from the recession and without hope for their children's futures or a stake in the status quo, these people are howling with impotent rage as no one has addressed their very real issues. They've been ginned up on social issues, prodded to the polls by the fearmongering of the Tea Party, Limbaugh and Fox, trained to blame Those Others (women, minorities, immigrants, liberals) for their personal economic crises instead of being taken seriously by politicians and receiving desperately needed retraining, economic assistance and an educational system that will support their children's search for 21st century jobs.
So they support a candidate who will explode the system that is so contemptuous of them.
Clinton, and the rest of us, need to recognize and address this despair, or we will just end up with a less-buffoonish, and much more dangerous, iteration of Trump next time around.
So they support a candidate who will explode the system that is so contemptuous of them.
Clinton, and the rest of us, need to recognize and address this despair, or we will just end up with a less-buffoonish, and much more dangerous, iteration of Trump next time around.
11
Shar - you seem to be forgetting that President Obama has repeatedly proposed funding retraining programs, expanding the availability and affordability of community college training and has tried to create funding for infrastructure building and repair which would create decent middle-class paying jobs that need little or no further training. He's tried, over and over.
What's the hold-up? Could it be Republicans in Congress? They've refused to fund any of his proposals that would help improve the lives of those legitimately frustrated, worried people. If I were more paranoid or prone to conspiracy theories, I might think that Congressional Republicans want angry constituents - "howling with impotent rage" and "trained to blame Those Others."
What's the hold-up? Could it be Republicans in Congress? They've refused to fund any of his proposals that would help improve the lives of those legitimately frustrated, worried people. If I were more paranoid or prone to conspiracy theories, I might think that Congressional Republicans want angry constituents - "howling with impotent rage" and "trained to blame Those Others."
3
Trump's not the problem. Clinton is. She's a cauldron of boiling conflicts of interests. She has half of her own party turned against her with her Wikileaks unveiling corruption in the DNC. There's more to come too with plenty already to make big trouble for her. Read them. Won't find it here though in these pages. Like sheep, the readers of the NYTimes head to their own slaughter. Trump is a creep, no doubt..birds of a feather flock together…been playing golf and socializing with the Clintons for decades. Come on!
6
I looked up the definition of "deflection" in the dictionary, and this post was it.
38
Sorry but Trump is, in fact, the problem.
29
It's not deflection..this whole piece by Collins is just PART of the deflection away from the corruption in the DNC and the stealing of the nomination away from Bernie Sanders. The NYTimes may not be reporting on it, but believe you me, it is on the ground everywhere else. Trump and the Clintons and so many of our so called partisan leaders are actually part of corruption that has large corporations running our government. Now it is out in the open…except in the very places it should be like on the pages of the NYTimes. Follow the money. Read "No Debate", "Toxic Talk", "Manufactured Consent". "The Best Government Money Can Buy".
1
It's time for a lifeboat strategy among down-ticket Republicans—to get out of Trump's sinking ship and rescue the Party as a coalition of state-based parties at least temporarily independent of the national ticket.
9
If any intervention is needed at this point, I would say it should come from gentlemen and gentlewomen in white coats who can help Donald with his manifold mental issues. This is not a joke.
47
Absolutely!
Protective custody is the only solution. He is delusional, a decompensating Megalomaniac.
And a danger to society - with his rallies full of rabid, enraged supporters.
Protective custody is the only solution. He is delusional, a decompensating Megalomaniac.
And a danger to society - with his rallies full of rabid, enraged supporters.
10
That would take care of Trump, but what about this frightening supporters?
1
I know that people will not be "voting 10 times," but I am worried that orangutans will turn up at the polls trying to vote. They're ALL going to vote for Trump, who is one of them. We need to take steps now, to prevent this "voter fraud"!
17
Don't insult orangutans. Seriously, don't. They are intelligent, largely inoffensive creatures who are subject to habitat destruction and other persecutions of mankind. Don't add insult to injury.
Whenever I hear or read anyone using any animal as an insult - he's a pig, a dog, an ape, etc. - or complaining 'I was treated like an animal!' (response: 'I don't think animals should be treated "like an animal"; and H. sapiens, i.e, you, are a warm-blooded, viviparous, vertebrate mammal, i.e., an animal') my sympathy switch clicks immediately to the off position.
Whenever I hear or read anyone using any animal as an insult - he's a pig, a dog, an ape, etc. - or complaining 'I was treated like an animal!' (response: 'I don't think animals should be treated "like an animal"; and H. sapiens, i.e, you, are a warm-blooded, viviparous, vertebrate mammal, i.e., an animal') my sympathy switch clicks immediately to the off position.
19
I agree completely. Even the most violent of animal attacks can never compare to the evils perpetrated by humans on each other, on animals, and on the environment. We are smart enough to ruin the place, but not smart enough to save it.
4
Actually, Orangutans are very intelligent and mellow creatures, who have most of the best human qualities, and none of the worst.
5
T is the tool the R establishment sees as a way to drive their cultural conservative agenda - get the loon in public and send the country back to 1916 in private.
This is a representation of how difficult it is to purge or even mold 'true-believers' - they will eventually get their 'man', in this case, the T. So the R establishment decided to roll with it and see there is opportunity for their core agenda of white exceptionalism.
This is a representation of how difficult it is to purge or even mold 'true-believers' - they will eventually get their 'man', in this case, the T. So the R establishment decided to roll with it and see there is opportunity for their core agenda of white exceptionalism.
7
The fact is the majority of Trump's supporters don't care that he doesn't know Russia invaded Ukraine because they don't know or care about Ukraine and foreign policy.
If Trump is elected it will be because of the ignorance of a large part of the American populace and that is what is truly frightening.
If Trump is elected it will be because of the ignorance of a large part of the American populace and that is what is truly frightening.
63
I love this and each and every one of the other 647 editorials and cover stories and graphics and videos and other pieces about Trump in today's issue. But I forget, is anyone running against him?
24
Lock Him Up (in a rubber room)
17
Prediction: If Mr. Trump loses, he will continue his campaign as though his loss didn't happen. He will continue to stage rallies and attract as much media attention as possible (which won't be difficult). He's just having too much Trump-fun to quit.
11
That's what I think! he isn't going to go away, that's for sure, he's got too many demented followers.
1
The elite R's such as Paul Ryan seem to be terrified of Trump's power over the base. But....it's just the base. Yes, the base of blue collar uneducated white people are going to stick with Trump even if he does shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. What do they care? Somebody walking down fancy schmancy Fifth Avenue probably deserves to be shot walking down Fifth Avenue.
So they have decided to compromise their principles to try and remain in power. People like Paul Ryan who considers himself a moral person, I'm sure, are showing us who they really are. They will not denounce this terrible man. It just boggles the mind that they lack a backbone when they absolutely know what they should be doing, which is to get rid of this very flawed candidate.
We will remember.
So they have decided to compromise their principles to try and remain in power. People like Paul Ryan who considers himself a moral person, I'm sure, are showing us who they really are. They will not denounce this terrible man. It just boggles the mind that they lack a backbone when they absolutely know what they should be doing, which is to get rid of this very flawed candidate.
We will remember.
39
Intervention? By Newt and Rudy? Really? Had a boss once who was nuts like Trump, and such an intervention took three months to get a result (ultimately he was let go!). What is supposed to happen, he will change? Or be convinced to drop out? No matter, because the damage is done. See the NY TIMES VIDEO of how people behave and speak at his rallies and you'll see just how far he has gotten them to look more and more like the beginnings of the BROWNSHIRTS in Germany under Hitler...ready to pick fights and hurt this they don't agree with at the drop of a word from him. We are in trouble here, no matter how you slice it, and an intervention needs to get results. I wish I could laugh at this point about it, but my ability to do so is waning every day as it replaced by fear and concern for our country and the path Trump is leading us down.
39
I see by the picture you chose to illustrate the column that Trump brought his own lunch to the rally. Which one is dessert?
10
Oh, my. A Modest Proposal? Those poor babies....
3
The one with the pink bow, of course!
1
A NYT columnist with the trifecta wit intelligence, wit, and compassion. Gail will get me through this campaign season without driving me to drink.
42
As Winston Churchill said, "If you are going through hell, keep going." Trump is in a place occupied by few others. He is leading a mob that really doesn't like America, and he's doing a good job of it. Politics is the high art of positive compromise. Trump practices the low art of ridiculing differences when he's not scaring us to death with his outsized negativism. FDR's famous line of "you have nothing to fear, but fear itself," is being turned around by Trump's admonition that we have everyone and everything to fear. The simple fact that in an hour interview with national security experts he asked three times why we don't use our nuclear weapons ought to be enough for any remotely sane person to find among the more frightening things they can hear. When he was leading his casinos to bankruptcy, he managed to pull out $44,000,000 in salary for himself. The great job creator and leader of the working class stiffed the same people who are supporting him now. He seems to like making profit from others' pain.
32
'FDR's famous line of "you have nothing to fear, but fear itself," is being turned around by Trump's admonition that we have everyone and everything to fear.'
Can we please stop taking that line out of context? FDR was facing a bank run and financial crisis, in which panic itself did create or at least exacerbate the crisis. When the market crashed, stockholders panicked and sold, forcing it down further; when depositors mobbed banks to get their cash and stuff it under the mattress, they started bank runs, forcing the banks to close when they ran out of money. It's the logic of the stampede.
By contrast, we have real problems to fear. Maybe not the ones Trump is exploiting - at least not wholly; Trump's secret is that he has identified a lot of the problems correctly, even if his solutions range from the absurd to the repugnant. But we are not simply beset by bogeymen of the imagination, and they will not go away if we whistle a happy tune, take a deep breath and count to ten.
Can we please stop taking that line out of context? FDR was facing a bank run and financial crisis, in which panic itself did create or at least exacerbate the crisis. When the market crashed, stockholders panicked and sold, forcing it down further; when depositors mobbed banks to get their cash and stuff it under the mattress, they started bank runs, forcing the banks to close when they ran out of money. It's the logic of the stampede.
By contrast, we have real problems to fear. Maybe not the ones Trump is exploiting - at least not wholly; Trump's secret is that he has identified a lot of the problems correctly, even if his solutions range from the absurd to the repugnant. But we are not simply beset by bogeymen of the imagination, and they will not go away if we whistle a happy tune, take a deep breath and count to ten.
1
Nobody makes $44,000,000 doing honest work. Nobody.
1
When are Chelsea and Bill going to intervene with Hillary? Stop those lies, mommy dearest! Have at least one press conference this year. stop shrieking, guffawing..., keep your mouth closed when greeting the crowds, I can see your cavities! This election year is insane!
6
Yes, women should always speak in modulated tones and maintain a pleasant expression.
7
wow- Trump spews ignorance whenever he opens his mouth and you are offended by Clinton's laugh?
6
The Republicans must solve the Trump problem before he becomes president. That event probably won't change his behavior, and after his inauguration, the only answer may be impeachment.
9
Beyond exhausting, depressing and comprehension, what has happened to the GOP Tea Conservative uncompassionate Republican Party! The fight with the parents of the slain war hero, the Khans, showed exactly what Trump has done to and for his party, which is now done for in the worst possible way. Gingrich and Giuliani, evil twins separated at birth - and the crying baby at a rally - "get that baby out of here!". A picture is worth a thousand words, and the photo of the desperately unhappy squalling baby boy in Trump's arms said a mouthful. Oh how I hope you are right. Gail, that Trump is preparing to lose or drop out of this horrorshow campaign that has been running from here to eternity. And good for you, having some faith in the electorate. A hae me doots that Hillary can or will beat Donald, or that Donald will show his unfitness for the Presidency by exhibiting his bone spurs at one of his rallies.
This whole shebang will be over before we know it, and we the people will be left to pick up the pieces, as we have always been left to pick up the pieces after Revolution, Slavery, the Civil War and World Wars I and II and Vietnam and the Abolition of liquor. What Trump needs more than illegal workers imported for Mar-A-Lago is an intervention the likes of which the Sopranos did for Christophuh Moltisante in "The Sopranos".
This whole shebang will be over before we know it, and we the people will be left to pick up the pieces, as we have always been left to pick up the pieces after Revolution, Slavery, the Civil War and World Wars I and II and Vietnam and the Abolition of liquor. What Trump needs more than illegal workers imported for Mar-A-Lago is an intervention the likes of which the Sopranos did for Christophuh Moltisante in "The Sopranos".
11
The steady stream of thuggish, bigoted, racist, false and outright ignorant story-lines generated daily by Trump is exhausting. The media can hardly keep up with the out of control trash bin. Thus no single "killer" story has a lasting effect. Even if the Trump cultists were to accept any of those examples as anything other than a media lie, they are generally forgotten in a week or two.
On the other side a simple reference to Benghazi or emails has this same group foaming at the mouth even if they don't have a clue about what the facts are.
Exhausting and dispiriting to be living in alternate universes.
On the other side a simple reference to Benghazi or emails has this same group foaming at the mouth even if they don't have a clue about what the facts are.
Exhausting and dispiriting to be living in alternate universes.
28
Perhaps the country, for its own good, should pass an amendment prohibiting angry, white, uneducated males from voting.
14
Gail, you forgot to mention that Trump currently is trying to weasel out of the debates by claiming that they are rigged. This seems to be the only viable option for him given that he knows nothing about the issues.
680
Trump has been rigging everything his whole life. No wonder that is the only prism
he has to view the human experience.
he has to view the human experience.
12
Election rigging will be a great excuse for him upon losing. Hopefully, the absurdity of that claim will end that movement as well.
13
I keep hearing people, like Joe Scarborough, say that they know the real Donald Trump and that this horrible thing on the campaign trail is not the generous, nice guy they know.
Remember when Clayton Moore started to believe that he was really the Lone Ranger?
Remember when Clayton Moore started to believe that he was really the Lone Ranger?
12
Nightmare! Newt and Rudy as the intervention dream team! OY! New Zealand here I come!
18
Gail, please, it's no longer funny. That ignoramus is dangerous and the possibility of that idiot becoming our next president gives me sleepless nights. We are doomed if this man wins.
30
Maybe people should take the lead from the babies!
While being held in the arms of Donald Trump - one is screaming its head off and the other is reaching out as if to imply "get me out of here, away from him!"
Adults should have such sense.
While being held in the arms of Donald Trump - one is screaming its head off and the other is reaching out as if to imply "get me out of here, away from him!"
Adults should have such sense.
31
After the comments has made by Trump about his daughters, he probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children.
What kind of parent hands their kid to Trump knowing that he once mused about his infant daughter's potential for having large breasts?
What kind of parent hands their kid to Trump knowing that he once mused about his infant daughter's potential for having large breasts?
8
The American people need an intervention. Media outlets could give us all a much needed break and quite talking about or writing about Donald Trump unless it is about his policy positions.
13
"quit talking about or writing about Donald Trump unless it is about his policy positions."
Well, if that's the case, there goes all his "free" media exposure.
Well, if that's the case, there goes all his "free" media exposure.
1
It seems to be fact that the election could be rigged. A lot of people who supported Bernie Sanders thought that the primary was rigged. The narrative in the press doesn't challenge that belief with any vigor. It's one more exciting thing that might be true.
If Donald Trump loses, let's think about what the Republicans will do. Will they acknowledge President Hillary Clinton and vow to work with her to address the pressing problems of the world and nation? Or will they meet in backrooms to plan the best way to undermine her administration?
The disappearance of loyal opposition is a bigger problem than the fervor of Trump supporters. False equivalency suppresses belief in that problem.
Trump is a terrible candidate. He seems determined to prove that almost every day. The idea that he can "pivot" to something else and change everything is scary. It demonstrates with awesome clarity the depths to which our politics have sunk.
If Donald Trump loses, let's think about what the Republicans will do. Will they acknowledge President Hillary Clinton and vow to work with her to address the pressing problems of the world and nation? Or will they meet in backrooms to plan the best way to undermine her administration?
The disappearance of loyal opposition is a bigger problem than the fervor of Trump supporters. False equivalency suppresses belief in that problem.
Trump is a terrible candidate. He seems determined to prove that almost every day. The idea that he can "pivot" to something else and change everything is scary. It demonstrates with awesome clarity the depths to which our politics have sunk.
8
Rudy isn't the only one with questionable attitudes toward others. Wasn't there a report in the news several years ago where Newt told his second wife while she was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment that he wanted a divorce? They give a whole new meaning to empathy.
12
It is hard to know what the electorate is thinking. They are likely not thinking. Let's hope they let some reason in.
5
Trump popularized the birther theory to delegitimize the first African-American to seek the White House as a major party candidate. Now he is doing the same to the first female presidential candidate of a major political party. Anyone surprised?
20
"And it does tell you something that Giuliani and Gingrich are supposed to be the voices of moderation and self-control in the campaign."
As opposed to ??? Obama, whose lack-of-restraint "Trump is unfit" comment at the presser with another head of state boomeranged?
(And no Gail, the fact that being Donald is a caning offense in Singapore is not a mitigating factor.)
As opposed to ??? Obama, whose lack-of-restraint "Trump is unfit" comment at the presser with another head of state boomeranged?
(And no Gail, the fact that being Donald is a caning offense in Singapore is not a mitigating factor.)
2
The fact that Donald Trump even NEEDS an intervention is reason enough to disqualify him. We're not talking about someone here who has the mental capacity to change or even self-reflect enough to begin the PROCESS of change.
25
Funny but only in an oh so terrifying way. Naturally I am looking at Canadian real estate but I doubt I can get far enough from the nuclear fallout. And I never thought I'd add this but--literally, nuclear fallout.
28
Okay, those babies look miserable, trying to escape and trump looks no better- guess that's how we all feel.
21
Love you, Gail, but I'm afraid this campaign stopped being funny for me quite some time ago.
42
If Trump wins, Canada will have to build a wall to keep all the Americans out.
82
And the Canadians will pay for it!
3
No, if Trump wins, the Canadians -- nice folks that they are -- will welcome the good Americans who will not suffer life under such a ________ (supply whatever epithet you think fits) leader.
1
Only 97 days to go................
8
But who's counting?
2
The interventionists.
Newt Gingrich. Rudi Giuliani.
This is a joke, right?
Newt Gingrich. Rudi Giuliani.
This is a joke, right?
41
Yes, it clearly is. Although it was not intended to be one. When you are as far removed from reality as these people are, you have absolutely no method for judging the absurdity of your actions...and the confines of your confusion are apparently infectious. Everyone is mesmerized, watching you make a fool of yourself, and you are apparently the only one not in on the joke.
Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani doing an intervention with Donald Trump is like heroin dealers doing an intervention with an addict.
61
Why worry about anything Donald Trump's says after he loses the election? We already know Donald Trump does not admit to losing or making mistakes. I doubt he will call Hillary to concede. Yes, he will likely tell his supporters that he was robbed, but so what...if he were half-smart enough to win, the result would be much worse.
18
There is an old but true concept in politicking: "There is no such thing as bad ink." I notice that today's nytimes on the internet had at least four front-page stories about Trump and his campaign, and the editorial page had four more, not incuding letters. This is in contrast to none about Mrs. Clinton. Why is that? Trump has bamboozled the nation's media into talking only about him. I am sure that some citizens don't even know that he has opposition.
Mrs. Clinton is coming out regularly with policy papers and solutions to our nation's problems. No one, not even the Times, discusses those policies and contrasts them with Mr. Trump's. This is because Mr. Trump writes the stories for you; you don't have to work for them. That will change once Mr. Trump is elected President.
Mrs. Clinton is coming out regularly with policy papers and solutions to our nation's problems. No one, not even the Times, discusses those policies and contrasts them with Mr. Trump's. This is because Mr. Trump writes the stories for you; you don't have to work for them. That will change once Mr. Trump is elected President.
118
Yes, but once it goes it goes. When the slide begins there is no turning back. Whether or not Trump has reached this point is still an issue (it should not be by now but it is). However, since everyone agrees that he can not and will not change there will be ample opportunities in the future for him to push himself down the slippery slope of public disenchantment and ridicule.
1
Absolutely right.
"Look, normally I’d be sympathetic, what with living in New York and all. But we’ve got a presidential nominee here who apparently didn’t know the Russians had invaded Ukraine until George Stephanopoulos broke the news to him on national television. There are problems larger than the value of your itty-bitty ballot."
Ah but that was a good thing!
Ah but that was a good thing!
11
Mr Trump's campaign so far has been like watching the Hindenburg disaster on endless loop.
41
Next time Sean Hannity has Brit Hume on his Fox News show, let me know so I can shout, "Oh, the Hume/Hannity!"
3
He spent millions of dollars on ramps in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. (And to enable seniors to gamble away their meagre Social Security quarters in slot machines.)
Seriously. I, too, was deeply disturbed by Trump's beginning to lay the groundwork for a Citizen Kane. (When Kane runs for governor, his newspaper is ordered to prepare two front pages in advance. One reads 'Kane Elected!'; the other, 'Fraud at Polls!')
Though admittedly this is how we all 'reason' nowadays: take our desired conclusion and work backward. The same logic is at work when Black Lives Matter and its supporters assume a priori any jury that declines to indict or convict a white cop who shoots a black suspect must be rigged.
Perhaps 'most Americans' will know. But as we have seen all too clearly, it takes only a few or even one angry one-off, bristling with guns or at the wheel of a large vehicle, to cause havoc.
Seriously. I, too, was deeply disturbed by Trump's beginning to lay the groundwork for a Citizen Kane. (When Kane runs for governor, his newspaper is ordered to prepare two front pages in advance. One reads 'Kane Elected!'; the other, 'Fraud at Polls!')
Though admittedly this is how we all 'reason' nowadays: take our desired conclusion and work backward. The same logic is at work when Black Lives Matter and its supporters assume a priori any jury that declines to indict or convict a white cop who shoots a black suspect must be rigged.
Perhaps 'most Americans' will know. But as we have seen all too clearly, it takes only a few or even one angry one-off, bristling with guns or at the wheel of a large vehicle, to cause havoc.
28
Yesterday Trump orchestrated a meeting with six Gold Star families as a PR stunt. This was his take away: "One of the people at the meeting approached me and handed me a check and said it was more than his family could afford but they wanted to support my candidacy." So, Trump the self-professed billionaire who originally said he would self-fund his campaign, happily took the money from a family that can't afford the donation. And then he crowed about it. I know, not high on the list of Trump imbecility.
70
At the intervention, will he fire one of them or fire a nuke? Eliminating California would really change the electoral map, and the movies this summer have been bad, really bad, let me tell you.
8
Gail, thanks for your columns and fine wit, but I'm not sure I'll be able to laugh about any of this until after November 8.
The reporting about what Trump says is bad enough, but I took the trouble yesterday to read the transcript of his interview with the Washington Post, which is terrifying. http://wapo.st/2aWUCJK
Trump is a scatterbrain, self-trained to utter sound bites for reality TV that many contradict one another not just in a paragraph but in the same sentence. He has a very short attention span and, perhaps worse than Palin, seems to know nothing about policy.
That he could actually become President is a nightmare.
The reporting about what Trump says is bad enough, but I took the trouble yesterday to read the transcript of his interview with the Washington Post, which is terrifying. http://wapo.st/2aWUCJK
Trump is a scatterbrain, self-trained to utter sound bites for reality TV that many contradict one another not just in a paragraph but in the same sentence. He has a very short attention span and, perhaps worse than Palin, seems to know nothing about policy.
That he could actually become President is a nightmare.
49
The most delicious irony of this election contest so far is that the voice of moral authority calling out the odious Donald Trump is a Muslim immigrant! Perfect!
If only our political "leaders" had the same righteous indignation at Trump's behavior.
If only our political "leaders" had the same righteous indignation at Trump's behavior.
14
I think you have much more faith in the American voter than I have. It seems to me that emotions are dominating much more than logic. It's like a man realizes that someone broke into his house and the only weapon he has is a match so he sets his house on fire to get the perpetrator. Only later does he realize that his family was also in the house. A tragedy to be sure, but emotion trumps logic, and it has already happened once this year in the UK. The Donald's approach of implying that our democratic process is unevenly corrupt is setting the stage for setting the house on fire. In this case, there is no perpetrator but he is doing it for the insurance money.
4
Trump was tailor-made for HL Mencken. How can it be that their times in history are so close, yet so irrevocably separate?
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
People will vote for Trump - and they will have solid reasons. They will firmly believe that having an "outsider" or "everyman" (how is a self-proclaimed, yet unproven, billionaire an everyman?) will change how Congress works. They firmly believe he will get all those jobs back from immigrants and foreign shores. They believe he will make China pay for taking the jobs, Europe pay for NATO and Mexico pay for the wall. At leas they know some one will pay.
We are fabulists who believe we are down to earth. As the Newtster points out, Liberals can have fact, he will stick with feelings, because what people feel is fact. Truthiness lives.
So the babies, and the Khans, and the crass discussion of tiny hands in a televised debate, and not knowing that Russia invaded Ukraine, or that Obama was not President in 2004, sexist and icky remarks about his own daughter... those are facts for Liberals. As long as Trump feels like the right solution, for many that is fact.
Maybe it isn't just Mencken who mistimed his presence here. Let's Add Barnum. There's one born every day.
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
People will vote for Trump - and they will have solid reasons. They will firmly believe that having an "outsider" or "everyman" (how is a self-proclaimed, yet unproven, billionaire an everyman?) will change how Congress works. They firmly believe he will get all those jobs back from immigrants and foreign shores. They believe he will make China pay for taking the jobs, Europe pay for NATO and Mexico pay for the wall. At leas they know some one will pay.
We are fabulists who believe we are down to earth. As the Newtster points out, Liberals can have fact, he will stick with feelings, because what people feel is fact. Truthiness lives.
So the babies, and the Khans, and the crass discussion of tiny hands in a televised debate, and not knowing that Russia invaded Ukraine, or that Obama was not President in 2004, sexist and icky remarks about his own daughter... those are facts for Liberals. As long as Trump feels like the right solution, for many that is fact.
Maybe it isn't just Mencken who mistimed his presence here. Let's Add Barnum. There's one born every day.
24
Even if an intervention were held and Donald toned it down, would that somehow make things OK. To me that would only mean that Trump was trying another tact to obfuscate his true intentions. If the electorate falls for that they're even more gullible than I thought. The true Trump has been revealed and can't now be hidden by a little lipstick on the pig!!
9
Shame, Ms. Collins. Mr. Trump, again attacked by the Liberal press.
Mr. Trump has said he made sacrifices for America; do you really think filing for half a dozen bankruptcies was easy? No! He sacrificed the awe and admiration of his fleeced creditors. He sacrificed the fawning and veneration of his subcontractors who lost their businesses. In comparison to petty cash his creditors and subcontractors lost, Mr. Trump's losses were much more, well, bigly. Mr. Trump loves obsequiousness in others but he was willing to SACRIFICE it for his country.
Mr. Trump accused of humiliating a woman with a crying baby? Again Liberal press twisting the truth. Mr. Trump said he loves babies, it was the mom who was disruptive. He pointed out that she was "running around". That was very disrespectful to Mr. Trump; he was trying to speak. Would you appreciate a woman running around while you try to speak?
The Liberal press is unfairly attacking Mr. Trump. Hillary hasn't filed for bankruptcies...she hasn't willingly sacrificed the admiration, adoration of creditors and small businesses. Hillary is a woman, a grandmother, a woman who likely ran around herself with crying babies; so she is not easily distracted by other women running around while she talks. This is a double standard, so unfair!
When the electorate considers the facts, not the petty attacks of the biased Liberal press, most Americans will see that Mr. Trump must be respected for his willingness to sacrifice his self-respect.
Mr. Trump has said he made sacrifices for America; do you really think filing for half a dozen bankruptcies was easy? No! He sacrificed the awe and admiration of his fleeced creditors. He sacrificed the fawning and veneration of his subcontractors who lost their businesses. In comparison to petty cash his creditors and subcontractors lost, Mr. Trump's losses were much more, well, bigly. Mr. Trump loves obsequiousness in others but he was willing to SACRIFICE it for his country.
Mr. Trump accused of humiliating a woman with a crying baby? Again Liberal press twisting the truth. Mr. Trump said he loves babies, it was the mom who was disruptive. He pointed out that she was "running around". That was very disrespectful to Mr. Trump; he was trying to speak. Would you appreciate a woman running around while you try to speak?
The Liberal press is unfairly attacking Mr. Trump. Hillary hasn't filed for bankruptcies...she hasn't willingly sacrificed the admiration, adoration of creditors and small businesses. Hillary is a woman, a grandmother, a woman who likely ran around herself with crying babies; so she is not easily distracted by other women running around while she talks. This is a double standard, so unfair!
When the electorate considers the facts, not the petty attacks of the biased Liberal press, most Americans will see that Mr. Trump must be respected for his willingness to sacrifice his self-respect.
32
Ask not what your country can sacrifice for you. Ask the voters to let you sacrifice your country. Like a bankrupt casino with Trump's name on it.
170
I have a suggestion for our problem of Mr Trump. It's quite simple. All the media outlets would not cover his campaign. Wishful thinking on my part.
16
Trump’s real goal at this point, as you note in one of your imagined questions, is to gracefully lose the election without losing face and save his floundering business empire – that according other news sources. Being President of the United States terrifies him, as well it should. I commented on this yesterday “Donald Trump’s Pre-Packaged Political Suicide”
http://deyanbrashich.squarespace.com/home/2016/8/3/donald-trumps-pre-pac...
http://deyanbrashich.squarespace.com/home/2016/8/3/donald-trumps-pre-pac...
2
Problem is, the Republicants won't let him go through with it. If he did, they'd cart him around like a sequel to "Weekend at Bernie's."
5
And then what will happen to all those men with 20 or more guns in their homes if Trump loses and blames the system? Just wondering.
15
Potentially they could rise in armed insurrection. There could be a drastic uptick in domestic terrorism, further polarizing the country and destabilizing our government. We could wind up looking like Lebanon and Syria. That's a possibility if Trump cries fraud when he loses in November.
If he wins, this country starts to look like Russia or Nazi Germany. All those boys and girls with guns become the enforcers of the new order.
If he wins, this country starts to look like Russia or Nazi Germany. All those boys and girls with guns become the enforcers of the new order.
2
I think most of them are too lazy and cowardly to actually do anything but if even a percentage of them decides to do something violent and stupid it could be a very big problem.
Another casualty of this campaign is the narcissist. In the past the narcissist could count on weeks, months, maybe even years of people saying, "What the heck is wrong with you! You don't seem to care about anyone but yourself." Since Trump, I've seen a gazillion links to expert definitions of narcissistic disorder. The rare public interest in a mental health issue.
20
Newt, Rudy and the Donald are all obsessed with ruling the news cycle, cameras here, cameras there, cameras everywhere. Donald is of course the most dangerous of these Three Amigos but believing Newt and Rudy can intervene and give Donald a soul, a heart and a brain is doubtful.
I wish the GOP had a candidate with a sense of respect for the sacrifices of others, an understanding both of history and current invasons and sensibilities that did not include an over-stimulated revenge trigger.
But we have Donald Trump..the what's in it for me candidate.
I wish the GOP had a candidate with a sense of respect for the sacrifices of others, an understanding both of history and current invasons and sensibilities that did not include an over-stimulated revenge trigger.
But we have Donald Trump..the what's in it for me candidate.
14
Re: accompanying photograph of candidate with babies.
Even I know you don't hold a baby like a sack of groceries. I wonder if he ever held his infant children.
Even I know you don't hold a baby like a sack of groceries. I wonder if he ever held his infant children.
30
Maybe his pal Maureen Dowd could help out in whatever intervention may be organized.
OT, for a moment I thought he might drop out. But, having just raised $82 million, no way. He'll see practically infinite potential for that massive flow of cash to find its way into his own pocket.
OT, for a moment I thought he might drop out. But, having just raised $82 million, no way. He'll see practically infinite potential for that massive flow of cash to find its way into his own pocket.
18
Did he raise $82 million, or did he again lie and commit fraud by self-funding his campaign and making it appear that the money came from individual donors?
6
Maybe 82 million would pay his debt to Putin.
1
Yep. Good point. Where is the evidence that (I) they raised that amount of money and (ii) that it came from small donations.
Skepticism is needed here.
Skepticism is needed here.
1
And, not since the cowardly lion have I seen someone (or something) foolish enough to accept and take pride in a medal of valor that they (or it) did not earn.
32
Ah, but you do such a disservice to the Cowardly Lion and Burt Lahr in making this comparison. They both had hearts already.
2
The part about the guns in the basement is scary. A Trump presidency is a nightmare, as is this election season .
21
And now you've got me very worried about those guns in the basements. What will they be used for after Trump loses? Who will be targeted? What should we be prepared for?
I'm very, very worried now.
I'm very, very worried now.
1
Someone who votes 10 times is 10x more patriotic than some lazy laggard who only votes once! Believe me.
6
In this case you're right - in a Collinsesqe way
Trump is starting to decompensate. Most NPD do at some point, when reality becomes too intruding, and they can't turn it off or "switch the channel."
Narcissism and grifting go hand in hand. And the first rule of both is "keep running." Anything that pins you down will pop the bubble, hold you accountable, people will get wise to you.
Donnie's biggest mistake was running for president -- everybody's looking at him; there's no where to run except out of the country.
He's going to lose it pretty soon -- and it could get really ugly.
Narcissism and grifting go hand in hand. And the first rule of both is "keep running." Anything that pins you down will pop the bubble, hold you accountable, people will get wise to you.
Donnie's biggest mistake was running for president -- everybody's looking at him; there's no where to run except out of the country.
He's going to lose it pretty soon -- and it could get really ugly.
39
Things are already exhausting, yet I cannot wait each morning to check the latest faux pas by Trump. And that is the problem. I suspect that I'm not alone in this avidity for the most recent outrage. The problem here is that he is getting a huge amount of coverage for behavior that he has exhibited during the entire campaign. It worked well enough to get him the nomination, and it is just possible that he is now doing this on purpose. He is certainly keeping the focus of the nation on himself and not on Hillary, who is now 'Not Trump' in many people's eyes.
I wonder what he's going to say today.
I wonder what he's going to say today.
405
So true, Tenley. Last night, my neighbor said that she has never watched so much TV as now and it is all because of Trump's campaign. It's always moments until Trump puts his foot back in his mouth and she wants to be there when it happens. The morbid fascination of reality TV has consumed many.
6
I wonder what would happen if the media engaged in a 1-2 week blackout of news coverage of Trump.
1. That could provide some much-needed stress reduction and a week of respite care for those of us "exhausted" with and by Trump, as you describe so well.
2. Plus, it might just be the final push to drive the deranged, limelight-seeking insect Trumpster round the bend and over the cliff. Unable to grab media attention by any means necessary, He might just melt away like the witch in the Wizard of Oz.
3. AND, the media would need to find some other topics to cover for 1-2 weeks besides Trump, such as climate change this extreme-weather summer, the issues and party platforms for the election, the big insurance companies pulling out of the ACA and dropping customers on their heads, maybe some investigative reporting of corruption and major wrongdoing....
1. That could provide some much-needed stress reduction and a week of respite care for those of us "exhausted" with and by Trump, as you describe so well.
2. Plus, it might just be the final push to drive the deranged, limelight-seeking insect Trumpster round the bend and over the cliff. Unable to grab media attention by any means necessary, He might just melt away like the witch in the Wizard of Oz.
3. AND, the media would need to find some other topics to cover for 1-2 weeks besides Trump, such as climate change this extreme-weather summer, the issues and party platforms for the election, the big insurance companies pulling out of the ACA and dropping customers on their heads, maybe some investigative reporting of corruption and major wrongdoing....
7
Sometimes Trump shots himself in the foot, at others he puts foot into mouth. Why, oh why can't that occur simultaneously ;)
4
Make no mistake about it, if Hillary wins we will, for the next 4 years, hear from Trump supporters and Tea Party types (the overlap is not 100% as many of the latter are in the Cruz camp) that the elections was "stolen," that Hillary is a fraudulent president, and that she should be impeached and tried for treason ("tried, convicted and hanged" is their favorite phrase re Mr. Obama). What's more, they will claim that there was massive voter fraud and that they have eyewitnesses who personally saw vans filled with "illegals" brought to polling places and allowed to vote. Some things never change.
They will also continue to feel cheated, disrespected, and aggrieved because of the above, which may in turn give rise to another bigoted, fear-mongering Trump type candidate...
They will also continue to feel cheated, disrespected, and aggrieved because of the above, which may in turn give rise to another bigoted, fear-mongering Trump type candidate...
66
The whole voter fraud thing for me is the ultimate statement as to how ignorant these people are. It just never seems to occur to them the level of organization and the number of actual illegal voters(because this is what they claim, not technology glitches) it would take to swing a national election. They just take the absurdity of it at face value.
Any day now I expect Trump to say HRC is a space alien sent to begin the invasion. A comment with which she will be tarred and feathered for the remainder of her career while the Republicans in Congress use tax dollars to investigate her treason.
Any day now I expect Trump to say HRC is a space alien sent to begin the invasion. A comment with which she will be tarred and feathered for the remainder of her career while the Republicans in Congress use tax dollars to investigate her treason.
5
An intervention is needed, and whether it comes from Rudy and Newt or the shade of Mother Teresa, it needs to come from somewhere.
Karl Rove has a great op-ed in the WSJ today, in which he states the simple truth: Trump could still win; indeed, this election is his to win or lose, not Mrs. Clinton’s. When she and Bill so clearly put up a Khizr Khan, the father of a dead U.S. serviceman son, to publically lambaste Trump, secure in the knowledge that Trump would swallow the bait and go postal – INSTEAD of talking about how she’s going to get ANYTHING enacted with this Congress or save the economy from an economic death-spiral with MORE taxation and even MORE suffocating regulation – then it’s clear that all she has for America are placebos.
What Trump SHOULD have done was tweet a response that all of America thanks the family for the sacrifice made by their boy in our common defense, and that he was sorry that Mr. Khan misunderstood his position on national security. Then, he should have called a news conference and satirized the transparent put-up by the Clintons for the sole purpose of baiting him into a pugnacious reply to Mr. Khan.
Instead, he fell right into the Clintons’ trap.
I’m getting very tired of this. This man is 70.
But it remains that Mrs. Clinton offers us words with no ability to truly serve as the agent of change we so desperately need; and that Trump could save us. I hope Rudy and Newt can mount their intervention and that it’s successful.
Karl Rove has a great op-ed in the WSJ today, in which he states the simple truth: Trump could still win; indeed, this election is his to win or lose, not Mrs. Clinton’s. When she and Bill so clearly put up a Khizr Khan, the father of a dead U.S. serviceman son, to publically lambaste Trump, secure in the knowledge that Trump would swallow the bait and go postal – INSTEAD of talking about how she’s going to get ANYTHING enacted with this Congress or save the economy from an economic death-spiral with MORE taxation and even MORE suffocating regulation – then it’s clear that all she has for America are placebos.
What Trump SHOULD have done was tweet a response that all of America thanks the family for the sacrifice made by their boy in our common defense, and that he was sorry that Mr. Khan misunderstood his position on national security. Then, he should have called a news conference and satirized the transparent put-up by the Clintons for the sole purpose of baiting him into a pugnacious reply to Mr. Khan.
Instead, he fell right into the Clintons’ trap.
I’m getting very tired of this. This man is 70.
But it remains that Mrs. Clinton offers us words with no ability to truly serve as the agent of change we so desperately need; and that Trump could save us. I hope Rudy and Newt can mount their intervention and that it’s successful.
8
Wait, you're saying that Mr. Trump should have lied about his "position" on national security? And I suppose Mr Trump's trotting out of the mother of the man killed in Benghazi was informational? If you think Mr. Trump has talked about how he's going to get anything enacted with this Congress, or bring the economy back to life with trickle-down taxation and even less regulation than we have now, which brought on our present state, you've been listening to another Mr. Trump than I have.
152
How the next President gets anything done really depends on the hand that the voters deal her/him. There is no point in prognosticating right now.
Already Representative Tim Huelskamp of the Freedom Caucus is out, defeated in a primary. Will voters around the country show the good sense of the voters in that Kansas district? Stay tuned!
Already Representative Tim Huelskamp of the Freedom Caucus is out, defeated in a primary. Will voters around the country show the good sense of the voters in that Kansas district? Stay tuned!
86
@Luettgen. I marvel how he can depart from reasonableness all of a sudden.
He totally ignores, (I doubt that he has forgotten it) that Trump has hurled a series of invectives against Muslims and he considers the presence of a father who has lost a son in war merely a ploy to bait Trump. Never mind the profound implications of considering all Muslims potential terrorists and of prohibiting their entrance into the US, for the writer it is only a dirty political trick. What is sad
is that he thinks that Trump can save us and that such political losers as Rudy and Newt, as he affectionately calls them, are capable are putting him on the right track. Has he ever considered that an individual who needs so much prodding, so much help in staying on message, who insults everyone, who hasn't put out a single plan, who is denied by many party leaders, who is considered dangerous to the country by conservative leaders, who is condemned by all our allies, is not fit to lead the changes he wants?
He totally ignores, (I doubt that he has forgotten it) that Trump has hurled a series of invectives against Muslims and he considers the presence of a father who has lost a son in war merely a ploy to bait Trump. Never mind the profound implications of considering all Muslims potential terrorists and of prohibiting their entrance into the US, for the writer it is only a dirty political trick. What is sad
is that he thinks that Trump can save us and that such political losers as Rudy and Newt, as he affectionately calls them, are capable are putting him on the right track. Has he ever considered that an individual who needs so much prodding, so much help in staying on message, who insults everyone, who hasn't put out a single plan, who is denied by many party leaders, who is considered dangerous to the country by conservative leaders, who is condemned by all our allies, is not fit to lead the changes he wants?
104
What the Trump campaign tells us is that American ideals of freedom and equality before the law only applies to white people. This may be our future for four years. Breaks my heart.
29
Yet regardless of one's race, religion, cultural heritage or shoe size, all of us as Americans would suffer as one if Trump somehow wins this one.
I am heartened by the recent successful challenges to voting restriction laws in GOP-controlled states. Now I worry mostly about gerrymandering.
I am heartened by the recent successful challenges to voting restriction laws in GOP-controlled states. Now I worry mostly about gerrymandering.
4
Firstly, we need to award a pre-emptive Pulitzer prize to Evan Vucci of the AP for his award-winning photo 'Mein Drumpf' squeezing two unsuspecting milky white American infant together into a visible, fearful panic and yearning to flee the Republican Creature From The Black Lagoon.
Drumpf himself and his band of enthusiastic 'Mein Drumpf', Know-Nothing supporters all possess roughly the same mastery of public policy, nuance, international complexity, and sophisticated 'Weltanschauung' as the panicked 6-month-olds in the photo, albeit with a richer 5th-grade, profanity-laced vocabulary to regurgitate their infantile frustrations with the adult world.
Hey, America, if you vote for 'Mein Drumpf', you'll feel like fleeing Trump Nation much more than those two poor souls trapped in the claws of the 'Baby Lover'.
Fortunately for all of us, 'Mein Drumpf' will not be elected.
Donald is currently setting the stage for his 'graceful exit' in his own inimitable way, by setting himself on political fire before the entire nation, torching the Republican Party and doing his best to throw kerosene everywhere he goes, and by ultimately claiming the hundreds of millions of jackboot 'grass-roots' donations to his campaign to pay himself and his 'businesses' back for 'services rendered'.
Thank you for Making America Hate Again, Mein Drumpf.
You truly raised the bar of stupidity and hate while putting on the Greatest (and most profitable) Reality Presidential TV Show in American history.
Drumpf himself and his band of enthusiastic 'Mein Drumpf', Know-Nothing supporters all possess roughly the same mastery of public policy, nuance, international complexity, and sophisticated 'Weltanschauung' as the panicked 6-month-olds in the photo, albeit with a richer 5th-grade, profanity-laced vocabulary to regurgitate their infantile frustrations with the adult world.
Hey, America, if you vote for 'Mein Drumpf', you'll feel like fleeing Trump Nation much more than those two poor souls trapped in the claws of the 'Baby Lover'.
Fortunately for all of us, 'Mein Drumpf' will not be elected.
Donald is currently setting the stage for his 'graceful exit' in his own inimitable way, by setting himself on political fire before the entire nation, torching the Republican Party and doing his best to throw kerosene everywhere he goes, and by ultimately claiming the hundreds of millions of jackboot 'grass-roots' donations to his campaign to pay himself and his 'businesses' back for 'services rendered'.
Thank you for Making America Hate Again, Mein Drumpf.
You truly raised the bar of stupidity and hate while putting on the Greatest (and most profitable) Reality Presidential TV Show in American history.
487
Fortunately for all of us, 'Mein Drumpf' will not be elected.
thats what i thought about bush
thats what i thought about bush
4
You called it Socrates. Could be viewed by many as a win-win.
2
That's an interesting point I hadn't considered, that this new successful fund raising will be a way for him to pay himself back for the money he has "loaned" his campaign so he'll come out ahead making a profit once he declares his candidacy "bankrupt".
Hmmmmmmm, is it all just another Trump scam after all?
Hmmmmmmm, is it all just another Trump scam after all?
6
A small-minded, repugnant man, supported by other small-minded, repugnant men (and fewer women). I've met some of them - they are not swayed by reason, facts -or humor. They are 'aggrieved' and Donald Trump validates that aggreivement and tells him who to blame.
53
Someday, sometime let's hold the American press corps and news media accountable for a woeful failure of reporting on the ramp up to the GOP convention / nomination of Trump.
I see the horrified commentary, and the investigative articles, coming out after the nomination. Where was it all these months ... during the debates ... during the primaries and caucuses?
No, more fun I suppose to do articles questioning Hillary. Articles which scholarly parsing after scholarly parsing now classify as sexist, having treated a greedy, unqualified man with praise while heaping negative comments on a highly qualified woman because of her voice and what she wears and treating unfounded accusations and negative hyperbole from opponents and members of her opposition party as if they were serious stuff.
Maybe we should compare this period of time to the press pandering to McCarthy's anti-communist delusions.
It is difficult to read or watch any news coverage without a sense of outrage over the lack of responsibility and the exposure of the American press as juvenile and puerile and misogynistic ... and bemoaning the nomination to the Presidency of a person they supported by a knowing failure to investigate. (I'm not saying the other GOP candidates were much better, but a more through press might have encouraged the emergence of someone at least close to sensible.)
I see the horrified commentary, and the investigative articles, coming out after the nomination. Where was it all these months ... during the debates ... during the primaries and caucuses?
No, more fun I suppose to do articles questioning Hillary. Articles which scholarly parsing after scholarly parsing now classify as sexist, having treated a greedy, unqualified man with praise while heaping negative comments on a highly qualified woman because of her voice and what she wears and treating unfounded accusations and negative hyperbole from opponents and members of her opposition party as if they were serious stuff.
Maybe we should compare this period of time to the press pandering to McCarthy's anti-communist delusions.
It is difficult to read or watch any news coverage without a sense of outrage over the lack of responsibility and the exposure of the American press as juvenile and puerile and misogynistic ... and bemoaning the nomination to the Presidency of a person they supported by a knowing failure to investigate. (I'm not saying the other GOP candidates were much better, but a more through press might have encouraged the emergence of someone at least close to sensible.)
68
Unfortunately, I don't think you can blame this just on the media. I understand that they gave him a lot of coverage with little push back. However, that meant that Americans heard him say that the Mexicans coming here were rapists and murderers with only a few being good people; they heard the comments about Megan Kelly; they heard him say that John McCain was a loser because his plane got shot down and he was a POW (knowing that Trump was never in the military); they heard him insult his opponents (what does it even mean that Jeb Bush has low energy?); they heard him insult the military, etc. etc. Yet, his supporter love him precisely for these comments. What could journalists have written that would have countered such vile statements. Besides, articles looking into the effects of the few proposals he has and his business dealings were written during the primaries--it's just that they were ignored.
4
"I believe most Americans, when given the choice between explaining the outcome with election fraud or “kept making fun of mothers,” will know which way to go"
I do too Gail. I also fear the reaction of the rest. There are some extremely angry people at his rallies, as evidenced by the video posted today highlighting their comments. That anger is not going to just go away when Trump loses. And I suspect that they own an awful lot of guns.
I do too Gail. I also fear the reaction of the rest. There are some extremely angry people at his rallies, as evidenced by the video posted today highlighting their comments. That anger is not going to just go away when Trump loses. And I suspect that they own an awful lot of guns.
45
The recurring nightmare I have is of President Trump saying, after someone in Maine seriously dissed him, "Don't we have some little nukes?"
20
Is it true he makes Christie ride in a crate tied to the top of the Trump campaign bus?
275
'No more oreos' for Christie from Trump, causing a friend to laugh, while adding how 'rude'. Rude it may be, but this is a bit mild coming from a man who is capable of making some of us want to toss our cookies.
3
Actually, no.
That will make the bus top-heavy, and tip over right away. We all want the bus tipping over sometime in November...
!
That will make the bus top-heavy, and tip over right away. We all want the bus tipping over sometime in November...
!
I saw an interview with Ivanka the other day who said her father was running for President because he hated incompetence. Thank goodness I wasn't drinking something at the moment she said that.
99
Anyone else getting Trump fatigue? Can we please have equal front page coverage for Hillary Clinton.
78
Blow, Edsall, Collins, and Kristof today all focus on Trump. Douthat, Friedman, and Bruni's most recent columns likewise are Trump. I think Brooks on Tuesday did buck the tidal wave - but did at least mention Trump. Trump dominates the letters column. He's yuuuge. Aristophanes observed of another of history's notable sociopaths, Alcibiades: The people of Athens 'love and hate and cannot do without him'. So the NYT - and media in general - vis-a-vis Trump. If he didn't exist, you the media would have had to invent him (and an argument could be made that you did).
With regard to coverage for Hillary Clinton, be careful what you wish for. Despite the NYT's endorsement, the NYT is hardly a Hillary booster. Of all the op-ed columnists, the only two even to tear their eyes off Trump long enough to acknowledge her existence are David Brooks - who seems to have developed a lukewarm admiration, as in 'she looks good next to Trump' - and Maureen Dowd, whose entire fading career has been 'get the Clintons'.
With regard to coverage for Hillary Clinton, be careful what you wish for. Despite the NYT's endorsement, the NYT is hardly a Hillary booster. Of all the op-ed columnists, the only two even to tear their eyes off Trump long enough to acknowledge her existence are David Brooks - who seems to have developed a lukewarm admiration, as in 'she looks good next to Trump' - and Maureen Dowd, whose entire fading career has been 'get the Clintons'.
7
>>>>>
The GOP has begun its move against Trump, and it is not intervening but removing Trump.
Read the below article by Jay Michelson of the Daily Beast article.....Rule No 9.
There is no way the GOP is going down this easy, with the SCOTUS in the balance, and maybe the House should things continue on their present course.
There is a legal way for the GOP to remove Trump, ref. Michelson.
Trump is the only person Hillary can beat. The GOP will find a way to move Ryan or someone else in.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/03/the-rnc-can-legally-dum...
Note" I'm a Hillary donor.
The GOP has begun its move against Trump, and it is not intervening but removing Trump.
Read the below article by Jay Michelson of the Daily Beast article.....Rule No 9.
There is no way the GOP is going down this easy, with the SCOTUS in the balance, and maybe the House should things continue on their present course.
There is a legal way for the GOP to remove Trump, ref. Michelson.
Trump is the only person Hillary can beat. The GOP will find a way to move Ryan or someone else in.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/03/the-rnc-can-legally-dum...
Note" I'm a Hillary donor.
13
“Wigged” and “Rigged”—two major talking points of the Trump campaign. The first benign (is his hair real?), morphing into the malignant second (“Punch them in the face”).
He takes a village and creates a mob with torches and pitchforks (burning crosses and automatic weapons). What happens to these people who—far beyond getting drawn into Trump University—
get sucked into the blackhole of Trump universe?
He takes a village and creates a mob with torches and pitchforks (burning crosses and automatic weapons). What happens to these people who—far beyond getting drawn into Trump University—
get sucked into the blackhole of Trump universe?
26
Imagine, when those same angry villagers, 1 to 2 years into Trump's presidency, discover that his promises turned out to be lies and the monster really IS Trump. Then they'll be marching on the White House screaming for HIS blood.
1
Self-destructive and self-destroying, it feels at time like we are on a ship of fools. When attempting to intervene with someone suffering like Trump, let us tread carefully and keep malignant well-meaning people out of the political scenario.
Mr. Trump is not going to listen to Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. This would drive many stable of politicians into a state of anxiety. Ms. Collins, you are making me laugh and feel chipper, and I am trying to be serious for once.
His immediate family and the ones he trust the most. His daughter Ivanka. His former wife Ivana. Donald Trump is not evil, but misguided and if Americans let him take down the Country, we are abettors.
As a child growing up in Spain, those summers of youth where some of us were aware of bullfights and felt sorry for the noble beast, let us remember that Trump is all too-human and not leap into a shark tank. The Media will be in a frenzy.
'Socks' came home last night, a stray, he sees me in his tuxedo as a walking super-market. This made a friend laugh, having given a speech in America on Climate Change and Water shortage. It is probably the first time we did not mention Trump and this is a relief and beginning.
Wishing all of us a safe passage while we come to our senses. Speaking of babies, have you noticed how they take to the President? You are always the epitome of sense, laced with wit, and 'C' at early dawn is for Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump is not going to listen to Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. This would drive many stable of politicians into a state of anxiety. Ms. Collins, you are making me laugh and feel chipper, and I am trying to be serious for once.
His immediate family and the ones he trust the most. His daughter Ivanka. His former wife Ivana. Donald Trump is not evil, but misguided and if Americans let him take down the Country, we are abettors.
As a child growing up in Spain, those summers of youth where some of us were aware of bullfights and felt sorry for the noble beast, let us remember that Trump is all too-human and not leap into a shark tank. The Media will be in a frenzy.
'Socks' came home last night, a stray, he sees me in his tuxedo as a walking super-market. This made a friend laugh, having given a speech in America on Climate Change and Water shortage. It is probably the first time we did not mention Trump and this is a relief and beginning.
Wishing all of us a safe passage while we come to our senses. Speaking of babies, have you noticed how they take to the President? You are always the epitome of sense, laced with wit, and 'C' at early dawn is for Mrs. Clinton.
13
President Obama is the baby whisperer.
4
Love the baby picture!
30
Especially the one in the middle, though I assume the bucket of tar was cropped out.
In the meantime, this Times headline says, "Trump Edges Close to Clinton With Flood of Donations."
There are people in this country who are willing to fund the campaign of someone who fights with a Gold Star family, who can't seem to tolerate crying babies at his rallies, who doesn't seem to know what Russia is up to, who wants Russia to find Clinton's missing emails and on and on
That is a "yuge" problem. Let's hope your "faith in the electorate" will be justified in November, Gail.
There are people in this country who are willing to fund the campaign of someone who fights with a Gold Star family, who can't seem to tolerate crying babies at his rallies, who doesn't seem to know what Russia is up to, who wants Russia to find Clinton's missing emails and on and on
That is a "yuge" problem. Let's hope your "faith in the electorate" will be justified in November, Gail.
1032
Let us hope that Ms. Collins takes a well-deserved holiday this month of August. She may enjoy a short story by the late Mavis Gallant 'A Day Like Any Other', a neat, tidy and ironic summing-up of what is happening today.
3
And how many of those people sending their small donations to this billionaire are out of work, afraid of immigrants who get all the jobs, and worried about their social security or 401(k)s? They really believe he's the one who'll solve all their problems.
Gail, how is an intervention with a hyena supposed to proceed ?
62
In other banana republics, it's called a "coup".
5
The kerfuffle about the crying baby has gone on too long but the photograph illustrating your article is priceless.
We do need an episode of "The Presidential Apprentice" showing Rudy and Newt in Trump's boardroom, private jet or gold plated apartment trying to do an intervention. That would be priceless.
Yet his supporters don't care about any of this. In their mind, Trump is going to make America white again. They are not going to give up the chance to vote for him. That's the scary part.
We do need an episode of "The Presidential Apprentice" showing Rudy and Newt in Trump's boardroom, private jet or gold plated apartment trying to do an intervention. That would be priceless.
Yet his supporters don't care about any of this. In their mind, Trump is going to make America white again. They are not going to give up the chance to vote for him. That's the scary part.
82
Dear Ms. Collins,
I understand that if successful, the two interventionists (Giuliani and Gingrich) will form a corporation and call themselves "Gee Gee, LLCee" with the motto; "If a nuclear war is the problem, WE have the solution".
Their brochure also promises fair treatment to "people of color" showing all sorts of tanned supermodels who have used their services. Hey, it works; when's the last time supermodels had a nuclear war?
It worked so well with the supermodels that they assumed their patented technique would work with "superpowers". Putin has shown some interest in their services with the proviso that he needn't wear a shirt and, somehow, the supermodels would be involved with the superpowers in a sort of weird, I'm not certain what it's called, menage a power party for four. It does include vodka I'm told.
In "Gee Gee, LLCee"s viewpoint, the "Hair That Spoke Like a Man" Trump will come around to the understanding that, really, most of the world wouldn't like a nuclear war. It's messy, noisy and bad for business, the last part being of the greatest concern to the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE.
Just in case, however, if Benito the Second does becomes president, they DO have a Plan B; they'll just give Mr. Trump one of those big, red "buttons" that Staples sells and let him pound THAT while they look for adults to solve any real crisis.
Somehow, I'm not comforted in the least by this entire crew of idiots. Let's just not vote for them, that being the REAL solution.
I understand that if successful, the two interventionists (Giuliani and Gingrich) will form a corporation and call themselves "Gee Gee, LLCee" with the motto; "If a nuclear war is the problem, WE have the solution".
Their brochure also promises fair treatment to "people of color" showing all sorts of tanned supermodels who have used their services. Hey, it works; when's the last time supermodels had a nuclear war?
It worked so well with the supermodels that they assumed their patented technique would work with "superpowers". Putin has shown some interest in their services with the proviso that he needn't wear a shirt and, somehow, the supermodels would be involved with the superpowers in a sort of weird, I'm not certain what it's called, menage a power party for four. It does include vodka I'm told.
In "Gee Gee, LLCee"s viewpoint, the "Hair That Spoke Like a Man" Trump will come around to the understanding that, really, most of the world wouldn't like a nuclear war. It's messy, noisy and bad for business, the last part being of the greatest concern to the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE.
Just in case, however, if Benito the Second does becomes president, they DO have a Plan B; they'll just give Mr. Trump one of those big, red "buttons" that Staples sells and let him pound THAT while they look for adults to solve any real crisis.
Somehow, I'm not comforted in the least by this entire crew of idiots. Let's just not vote for them, that being the REAL solution.
28
Oh, Gail, thank you for holding on to your puckish self, and your ability to make us laugh, if only for a moment.
None of this is really funny of course, given that Donald Trump could very well end up annihilating the human race with his access to nuclear weapons.
There's an article in the Post today detailing Paul Ryan's self-induced torture while he hangs on to the notion that his House seats and Senate majority are more important that Principle. That's what it says. More important than principle.
I'm trying to envision best-case outcomes here. Given what they are going through right now, if the GOP hangs on to their majorities in Congress, they will probably be more open to increasing funding for mental health care. Now they must be able to see how much we need it; more than we ever thought.
None of this is really funny of course, given that Donald Trump could very well end up annihilating the human race with his access to nuclear weapons.
There's an article in the Post today detailing Paul Ryan's self-induced torture while he hangs on to the notion that his House seats and Senate majority are more important that Principle. That's what it says. More important than principle.
I'm trying to envision best-case outcomes here. Given what they are going through right now, if the GOP hangs on to their majorities in Congress, they will probably be more open to increasing funding for mental health care. Now they must be able to see how much we need it; more than we ever thought.
31
Delegitimizing the opposition is one of the biggest problems with this country right now.
That being said, Trump is pretty clearly unqualified to do pretty much anything not directly related to self-promotion. I feel bad for the people who wasted their money on him. They will be let down one way or another.
That being said, Trump is pretty clearly unqualified to do pretty much anything not directly related to self-promotion. I feel bad for the people who wasted their money on him. They will be let down one way or another.
23
'One way or another'... Let's hope it happens during the election, not after.
2
Republicans lose whether the Donald wins, or loses. (Of course if he wins, we all lose. Big.)
1
It never occurs to sociopaths that they could be wrong about anything.
Their first notions are locked in, programed according to the severity of sickness.
To expect otherwise is naive.
Their first notions are locked in, programed according to the severity of sickness.
To expect otherwise is naive.
46
And they don't care who they take down as they go on their merry way, including their own (see GOP). And if they themselves are going down, they will cause as much damage as possible for everyone else.
2
Do you think Mr Trump has actually thought through what it means to be President? There are few comparably tighter prisons in the world and you work for others gain and purpose, not your own. You are seldom if ever alone, almost nothing is private, your schedule is made by others, and you cannot just take a stroll, ever again. You must always be protected primarily from your fellow Americans with guns in their hands and fury in their heads. For how long would he stay within the physical and political constraints when he realizes Congress holds the keys to the money and the laws, the SCOTUS decides Constitutional issues, and the military personnel are bound by laws, oathes, and the Constitution? Not to mention that you really must be nice even to people you don't like, agree with, or who call you bad names. And let's not forget the military person carrying the football, he/she never leave your presence and may not be attractive!
136
I can't decide whether he'll quit in frustration before the election or, as you imply, go bonkers and quit if he's elected. Either way I can't imagine his attention span lasting much longer.
7
He's thought of this. He has already suggested that he may not serve IDs elected. His son suggested it may be an executive type presidency (read monarchy). He initially said he wouldn't accept a salary. That's another"promise" that will disappear. There are no real conflict of interest
1
Q: How many lbs of fish guts would need to be poured into a gunny sack, with the latter "R" stamped on it, to get 45% of the electorate to vote for it? A: About 220 lbs, apparently.
44
Great column, Gail, as usual. I am surprised you have not done more investigative research into the baby incident. After all Donald has said in 2005,
“I mean, I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park,”
Maybe he tied a crying kid on the roof of the car?
“I mean, I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park,”
Maybe he tied a crying kid on the roof of the car?
83
George W Bush famously said that he didn't read a newspaper and we know how that turned out, apparently the only newspaper the little man reads is the National Inquirer. Lets not find out how that turns out.
74
Gail strikes again. Too bad the rubes in Talladega will never see nor read this. Just keep reminding them, black helicopters are being readied by the Obama Admin for a surprise raid on all gun owners election day. So stay home and protect your guns. Check that, just to be sure, stay home from now through election day. Wear your tin foil hat. You can order out from a fast food joint. Order extra fatty oil and grease. Protect your guns.
240
brilliant strategy!
11
OK, enough about Trump, that's all just too easy, Gail. I believe it's time that we discussed the Trumpists who are turning Trump into a fund raising juggernaut, the likes of which we haven't seen since... Bernie's reluctant withdrawal.
Obviously, for a significant number of Americans, Trump's mono-syllabic, anger infused and fabulistic descriptions of the world resonate mightily.
We can dismiss this "Revenge of the Non-nerds" movement with mockery and probably make it pretty humorous- not much harder than ridiculing Trump himself. Obviously, part of the reason Trump's ramblings make them feel good is because he doesn't make them feel stupid, or like failures.
I think this support reveals that these working class whites aren't actually angry at the plutocracy so much as they are angry at the professional class- those people among us who have risen by way of academic excellence- fancy talkers and fancy thinkers that have the good paying jobs and aren't constantly under the stress of insufficient funds to meet the family budget.
Self esteem is based more on how one feels they stack up compared to their neighbors and the presidential candidates are really symbols of this comparison.
Hillary is the brainy, highly disciplined super achiever who left average students in the dust in her youth. Time for the revenge of the non-nerds.
Obviously, for a significant number of Americans, Trump's mono-syllabic, anger infused and fabulistic descriptions of the world resonate mightily.
We can dismiss this "Revenge of the Non-nerds" movement with mockery and probably make it pretty humorous- not much harder than ridiculing Trump himself. Obviously, part of the reason Trump's ramblings make them feel good is because he doesn't make them feel stupid, or like failures.
I think this support reveals that these working class whites aren't actually angry at the plutocracy so much as they are angry at the professional class- those people among us who have risen by way of academic excellence- fancy talkers and fancy thinkers that have the good paying jobs and aren't constantly under the stress of insufficient funds to meet the family budget.
Self esteem is based more on how one feels they stack up compared to their neighbors and the presidential candidates are really symbols of this comparison.
Hillary is the brainy, highly disciplined super achiever who left average students in the dust in her youth. Time for the revenge of the non-nerds.
92
We need investigation about where the money is really coming from. Putin??
4
My spouse is a white, “working class" male without college. He used to watch The Apprentice (causing heated arguments between us). Don’t confuse job status with intelligence. My mate is firmly for Hillary and no longer turns of Fox News, which he used to do for “entertainment". He says enough is enough.
7
This is what happens when social mobility is destroyed. Instead of knowing that they can get ahead with tuition support for education, build skills while relying on a reasonable safety net, and then count on better jobs being available — instead of all that, they know that it's essentially hopeless, that the cards are all stacked against them, and that there is no light at the end of the dark tunnel. At that point, who wouldn't want to break into the chateau, tear down the chandeliers, kick a few bewigged heads, and grab some of the champagne and caviar? Even if in the end it doesn't change a thing?
4
The GOP/Fox News has created this monster, and now they deserve what is happening to them.
Donald Trump/his supporters represent what is wrong with the GOP.
Donald Trump, RELEASE your tax returns!
Donald Trump/his supporters represent what is wrong with the GOP.
Donald Trump, RELEASE your tax returns!
208
Gene McCarthy said of the Vietnam War, 'A mess like that takes teamwork'. Likewise, there's plenty of blame to go around as to who created Trump.
The media as a whole, including the NYT, treated him as a Mardi Gras float, a flashy one-day entertainment that would trundle down the street tossing cheap trinkets to the crowd, then get broken down and put away in the morning when it was time to sober up. The entire campaign has been treated as a horse race or a sideshow, as entertainment. Very little analysis or intellectual content; the media have largely skipped out on their duty to educate consumers on complex issues, perhaps because the reporters don't understand them themselves, find them boring, and figure their audience will too. (Talk shows like the McLaughlin Group, which should be think tanks, degenerate into self-important Chattering Class members shouting at each other and cutting off each other's sentences - cage-fighting with words.) That's how Trump got a foothold and how Sanders lasted as long as he did.
The media as a whole, including the NYT, treated him as a Mardi Gras float, a flashy one-day entertainment that would trundle down the street tossing cheap trinkets to the crowd, then get broken down and put away in the morning when it was time to sober up. The entire campaign has been treated as a horse race or a sideshow, as entertainment. Very little analysis or intellectual content; the media have largely skipped out on their duty to educate consumers on complex issues, perhaps because the reporters don't understand them themselves, find them boring, and figure their audience will too. (Talk shows like the McLaughlin Group, which should be think tanks, degenerate into self-important Chattering Class members shouting at each other and cutting off each other's sentences - cage-fighting with words.) That's how Trump got a foothold and how Sanders lasted as long as he did.
2
This definition from the Mayo Clinic website seems frighteningly relevant:
"Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism."
Here's the complete link:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-d...
"Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism."
Here's the complete link:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-d...
419
Eventually they have major meltdown when they do not get the attention they crave. So decrease the media coverage of Mr Trump.
12
It is important to clarify exactly what is meant by "lack of empathy", I don't think people understand what that can mean.
It is much, much more than that the narcissist doesn't "care about someone else's feelings". The narcissist literally does not get the concept that other people have thoughts that are different than his or hers.
I was in a long relationship with one of these people, I think an example would help explain: One overcast day, my partner said how she didn't like the clouds. I casually responded "Yeah, but I sure appreciate the cool breeze that comes with them". She started screaming at me, almost to the point of physical attack.
Why? Because she had no ability to comprehend that I could have a thought that was not the same as hers. Therefore, in her mind, I was calling her a liar, or telling her she was stupid, or whatever.
The point is, these types of narcissists perceive ANY disagreement, about even the smallest matter, as a personal attack, and they respond accordingly.
This is exactly what I see Trump doing.
It is much, much more than that the narcissist doesn't "care about someone else's feelings". The narcissist literally does not get the concept that other people have thoughts that are different than his or hers.
I was in a long relationship with one of these people, I think an example would help explain: One overcast day, my partner said how she didn't like the clouds. I casually responded "Yeah, but I sure appreciate the cool breeze that comes with them". She started screaming at me, almost to the point of physical attack.
Why? Because she had no ability to comprehend that I could have a thought that was not the same as hers. Therefore, in her mind, I was calling her a liar, or telling her she was stupid, or whatever.
The point is, these types of narcissists perceive ANY disagreement, about even the smallest matter, as a personal attack, and they respond accordingly.
This is exactly what I see Trump doing.
10
It was pointed out on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell that he had EVERY SINGLE TRAIT of this disorder. It is truly chilling that if elected, he will have executive authority over, and access to, our nuclear codes.
1
Most Republican politicians are distancing themselves from Donald Trump to save their own seats in Congress. An analogy would be: as they see the flagship carrying Trump taking on water, they are looking for the lifeboats. There are a few die-hards who think they can talk Trump into changing course to sail in calmer waters and thus save all of them, but it is doubtful that he will listen to them.
265
The Republicans who think they can intervene are merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic that they've steered into the iceberg.
6
Yes, 95%+ of politicians would never be able to secure an equivalent job in the private sector in terms of similiar benefits+pay to what they receive in public office. Most are simply not skilled or smart enough to earn equivalent amounts in the private sector, not to mention the perks and self-promotional opportunities. As you say, most all Republican officeholders are nervously edging towards the exits from the Trumpian catastrophe awaiting the last best possible moment to edge out.
It seems that the unsullied young can detect evil. Babies cry in its presence. Young girls wince and pull away as it approaches, even if you're Ted Cruz and you're trying to plant a meaningless campaign kiss on your own daughter.
Maybe this is why politicians are always kissing babies at rallies. If the child doesn't throw up or scream, you know you're electing someone who is pure of heart, or at the very least is smart enough to hide his malevolence until after the election.
It turns out that Donald Trump is the Babadook. He's not about hiding his evil, his ignorance or his narcissism. These qualities are listed on his resume, under "qualifications."
Pundits and news outlets incubated this incubus. Like proud parents everywhere they shoved his picture in our faces, reported on his every childish antic and all but dandled him on their knees. Now they're saying we need to talk about Donnie. Things aren't working out as we planned. We need an intervention. But it's too late for that.
He can still fool middle-aged white guys. They think he's precocious, But the young know something's wrong. That's why Bernie Sanders attracted a young crowd. It's also why parents reported that their five-year-old daughters were staring blank-eyed at the TV after the Republican Convention, eerily keening, "They're heeeere."
We need to listen to what the young are trying to tell us.
Maybe this is why politicians are always kissing babies at rallies. If the child doesn't throw up or scream, you know you're electing someone who is pure of heart, or at the very least is smart enough to hide his malevolence until after the election.
It turns out that Donald Trump is the Babadook. He's not about hiding his evil, his ignorance or his narcissism. These qualities are listed on his resume, under "qualifications."
Pundits and news outlets incubated this incubus. Like proud parents everywhere they shoved his picture in our faces, reported on his every childish antic and all but dandled him on their knees. Now they're saying we need to talk about Donnie. Things aren't working out as we planned. We need an intervention. But it's too late for that.
He can still fool middle-aged white guys. They think he's precocious, But the young know something's wrong. That's why Bernie Sanders attracted a young crowd. It's also why parents reported that their five-year-old daughters were staring blank-eyed at the TV after the Republican Convention, eerily keening, "They're heeeere."
We need to listen to what the young are trying to tell us.
334
Superb...as always, Gemli.
6
I think we always need to listen to what the young are trying to tell us. Bernie provided something desperately needed among the Democratic Party: he helped shift us back to our progressive values. We had been losing touch with those as we tried for decades to compromise with an intransigent right. At this point, that seed will begin to grow and the Party will gain strength. Like all change, it takes time, there will be backlash, and we can't completely predict how things will turn out ten years from now.
Thanks for a great comment. We do need to remember: out of the mouths of babes....
Thanks for a great comment. We do need to remember: out of the mouths of babes....
4
OK, Trump editorial #2. I've already ranted on Charles Blow's article about the "parity" of Trump vs. Clinton press, which is running at a ratio of 10 to 1.
Gail, I think you should make a vow to stop injecting humor in campaign that at this point, is anything but laughable. The only line that grabbed me here is this: "And it does tell you something that Giuliani and Gingrich are supposed to be the voices of moderation and self-control in the campaign."
Elections used to be about ideology. Today's electorate has an extremely high proportion of those who wouldn't know a policy from a pogram (spelling intentional). If you listen to a Trump rally (I haven't been able to since March, the last thing this guy is telling his unruly crowds is what his policies will be.
They're code words, plain and simple. It's incendiary language that almost belongs to another era. And yet, it's today's reality. We are faced with several outcomes come November: Trump is elected, with every consequence that ushers in; or Trump loses big, blaming the "system" and inciting riots and gun violence across the country, from supporters "many of whom appear to have a minimum of 20 guns each in the basement."
Either way America loses.
Gail, I think you should make a vow to stop injecting humor in campaign that at this point, is anything but laughable. The only line that grabbed me here is this: "And it does tell you something that Giuliani and Gingrich are supposed to be the voices of moderation and self-control in the campaign."
Elections used to be about ideology. Today's electorate has an extremely high proportion of those who wouldn't know a policy from a pogram (spelling intentional). If you listen to a Trump rally (I haven't been able to since March, the last thing this guy is telling his unruly crowds is what his policies will be.
They're code words, plain and simple. It's incendiary language that almost belongs to another era. And yet, it's today's reality. We are faced with several outcomes come November: Trump is elected, with every consequence that ushers in; or Trump loses big, blaming the "system" and inciting riots and gun violence across the country, from supporters "many of whom appear to have a minimum of 20 guns each in the basement."
Either way America loses.
533
The first thing you might try Christine is treating others with a little respect --- when you find there are things that they don't know, take them by the hand and explain it ("policies and pograms") to them.
rebbecca1048 points out that respectful conversation will have an impact on voters.
I am not so sure about that. Studies have found that for many people politics are a lot like religion: people hold a belief and stick to it. There is a large portion of political viewpoint that becomes ingrained, and not really open to fact based argument.
Another study, this one looking at the rise in the anti-vax movement, demonstrated that for whatever reason, giving people more facts that counter belief actually causes them to entrench more.
All of this would suggest that for those already committed, a rant is as good as a conversation. Neither will work.
I am not so sure about that. Studies have found that for many people politics are a lot like religion: people hold a belief and stick to it. There is a large portion of political viewpoint that becomes ingrained, and not really open to fact based argument.
Another study, this one looking at the rise in the anti-vax movement, demonstrated that for whatever reason, giving people more facts that counter belief actually causes them to entrench more.
All of this would suggest that for those already committed, a rant is as good as a conversation. Neither will work.
14
@rebecca1048: I appreciate your suggestion, but don't find it realistic in today's incendiary political climate. If you want me to attend a Trump rally to "take supporters by the hand and explain policies and programs to them", you really are an optimist. Given what I heard on the NYT video of Trump supporters, I would be hounded out of the room: by my looks, my speech, my attempts to "explain" policies. If they can call Hillary the names I heard on that video, I can only begin to imagine what they would call me if they discovered I was a well-meaning liberal who wants to explain things. I, like Hillary, are the enemy plain and simple. I wouldn't be able to "take their hand"--not the people I saw--and I think I'd really fear for my safety.
You cannot educate those who don't wish to be educated. Even public school teachers know this. You ask me to give people the respect they deserve.
In my book, people who deserve respect are respectful of others. The entire concept of "agree to disagree" has gone missing, with the country drawn up in armed camps. How to fix this is way beyond me--if there were some movement I could join to help make things better on that score, I would join it in a heartbeat. Lacking that opportunity, I always try to express my views with the least amount of rancor possible--unless something is so outrageous that it demands being called for what it is.
You cannot educate those who don't wish to be educated. Even public school teachers know this. You ask me to give people the respect they deserve.
In my book, people who deserve respect are respectful of others. The entire concept of "agree to disagree" has gone missing, with the country drawn up in armed camps. How to fix this is way beyond me--if there were some movement I could join to help make things better on that score, I would join it in a heartbeat. Lacking that opportunity, I always try to express my views with the least amount of rancor possible--unless something is so outrageous that it demands being called for what it is.
9
When the Republican Party did not shut down the Birthers, they prepared their supporters for Trump. Whatever justifies your feelings must be true, so dont check it out to see if it makes sense.
205
Trump saw the polls results on Obama's birth place. He noticed that a sizable % of Republicans didn't believe Obama was born in the U.S. He deftly calculated that these same Republicans would vote in large numbers in a future Republican Presidential primary. So he took advantage of his party's intentionally misinformed members and started his birth certificate campaign against Obama.
2
Who knew election is so much fun, Gail! Now I understand why the media are so fascinated. It is a low cost reality show. Sure, it is 3rd rated but it produces tons of viral hits and memes, like Donnie and the two babies inserted in this column. There is only one catch, this alternate reality can become very real when people are not careful there are genuine nuts out there who live on reality and Faux News diet.
So say for instance, that woman whose baby dares to cry at Trump's rally might still be voting for him even after being thoroughly humiliated. If people were always rational and responded to proper information, there wouldn't be racists and sexists and myopic. And the world would be peaceable and harmonious.
People thought Donnie had impulse control and a classical OCD misanthropist but you just wonder. The way he has managed to stiff so many people, including his partners, subcontractors and workers, so he is also be calculating. So saying the election rigged is not just an excuse for future reference. Remember one mafia don who acted crazy to avoid indictment? What is better than to claim future problems with a simple vendetta by the political machine?
So say for instance, that woman whose baby dares to cry at Trump's rally might still be voting for him even after being thoroughly humiliated. If people were always rational and responded to proper information, there wouldn't be racists and sexists and myopic. And the world would be peaceable and harmonious.
People thought Donnie had impulse control and a classical OCD misanthropist but you just wonder. The way he has managed to stiff so many people, including his partners, subcontractors and workers, so he is also be calculating. So saying the election rigged is not just an excuse for future reference. Remember one mafia don who acted crazy to avoid indictment? What is better than to claim future problems with a simple vendetta by the political machine?
7
Oh, with so much news, one may forget about the following gems
Katrina Pierson's "it's Obama's fault that Captain Humayun Khan got killed in 2004" and Ben Carlson saying the Khan family should apologize to Trump
Trump's everything-is-fine and the chorus from Manafort, Giuliani and Gingrich are like 1) some silent movie slow motion train wreck; 2) dumpster fire and 3) the famous internet meme of some hapless dog-man (just google it!) claiming everything is fine in a burning house. They are hilarious.
One thing you have to give it to Trump and his brown nosing sidekicks certainly give endless material to comedian hosts. Only in America! It is great!
Katrina Pierson's "it's Obama's fault that Captain Humayun Khan got killed in 2004" and Ben Carlson saying the Khan family should apologize to Trump
Trump's everything-is-fine and the chorus from Manafort, Giuliani and Gingrich are like 1) some silent movie slow motion train wreck; 2) dumpster fire and 3) the famous internet meme of some hapless dog-man (just google it!) claiming everything is fine in a burning house. They are hilarious.
One thing you have to give it to Trump and his brown nosing sidekicks certainly give endless material to comedian hosts. Only in America! It is great!
4
Unless the press stops picking on him, he'll go negative!
4
Thought provoking photo. Why not let mini-Hill (reaching out to the 51%) and mini-Don (well, being mini-Don) settle this the old fashioned American way. Let them duke it out in the play pen.
2
Many of await the forthcoming exhaustive coverage of Trump's dogs...where they ride on the airplane and the helicopter. where they stay at Mar-a-Lago. You know, something really interesting about the candidate.
4
It's sad to think, but while the dog story made Mitt Romney look bad, a similar story would actually humanize Trump. I doubt he has dogs. Dogs probably react to him much as babies do.
26
The surreality,absurdity, and sheer stupidity, of Donald Trump's campaign is reaching iconic status. Rudi Giuliani and Newt Gingrich doing an " intervention"!!!. That's like having a power point presentation by General Custer on "Strategies When Outnumbered", or your local butcher on, "Meat Cleavers and Neurosurgery, An Option". Does anyone in the Republican Party still think that the American people are going to elect a pathological narcissist, who has a dual major in "Compulsive Tweeting and Foreign Policy Ignorance",as president. ? The political pollution spread by Donald Trump will make any prominent Republican who supports him, too toxic for national office.
126
Headline heaven, thanks for Meat Cleavers and Neurosurgery: An Option, best analogy.
7
"Does anyone in the Republican Party still think that the American people are going to elect a pathological narcissist, who has a dual major in "Compulsive Tweeting and Foreign Policy Ignorance",as president. ?"
That very sentiment has been alive in this campaign since the beginning. The prognosticators said he won't last. Flash in the pan. No legs. America is smarter than to let someone like Trump succeed.
90 some days left in the campaign and guess what?
That very sentiment has been alive in this campaign since the beginning. The prognosticators said he won't last. Flash in the pan. No legs. America is smarter than to let someone like Trump succeed.
90 some days left in the campaign and guess what?
6
You mean he is being honest no matter the consequences? Refreshing!
4
Refreshing to you, sick to others. A president must consider consequences for the greater good, but this idea eludes you.
48
You're right Doc, insulting people is so refreshing!! and fun too, just like in the sixth grade.
78
Donald Trump, Newton Leroy Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani, a steadfast, stellar trio of red blooded, manly republican patriotism.
All three have run for Commander in Chief after all three dodged the Viet Nam draft.
Student deferments, bone spurs and the old other interests.
All three muscular proponents of republican family values.
Until it came time to cheat on wife number one with future wife number two or to cheat on wife number two with future wife number three.
Steadfast. Courageous. Loyal patriots.
The republican version.
All three have run for Commander in Chief after all three dodged the Viet Nam draft.
Student deferments, bone spurs and the old other interests.
All three muscular proponents of republican family values.
Until it came time to cheat on wife number one with future wife number two or to cheat on wife number two with future wife number three.
Steadfast. Courageous. Loyal patriots.
The republican version.
1241
Well, take heart Craig--the presidential aspirations of Gingrich and Giuliani mercifully went no where. As for Trump, we won't know how this melodrama will play out until the morning of November 9th 2016. The Vietnam era draft was an incomprehensible hodgepodge of lottery numbers and deferments (which were perfectly legal, like it or not). There were too many loopholes that enabled Trump et al to avoid military service. Donald Trump looks like a choir boy in comparison to draft dodger Bill Clinton's Oval Office shenanigans with Monica Lewinsky. That's why Hillary is really running for president--he owes her big time.
The party of family values indeed.
2
It is otherworldly to watch and read commentary and Facebook entries of Trump supporters and Hillary haters literally baring their teeth in animal rage at her and anyone who supports her. The utter ignorance frightens me, truly, even though we gamely joke tongue in cheek in many commentaries. They cite zero reference for their rationale, but their belief is unshakable and not amenable to reason. It's really feral, and highly dangerous. Ryan, McConnell, Trump and even McCain have a lot of responsibility to bear for allowing this to continue and fanning the flames for their own quest for power. They are selling America and all that it truly means for their own aggrandizement.
974
It's not only the Republican politicians who bear responsibility but the media and not just FOX and Rush Limbaugh although they deserve special mention. For years the mainstream media has insisted that both sides of any issue deserve to be heard.
This "false equivalency" has brought us Trump. His supporters are truly ignorant as they haven't had the opportunity to hear the truth. If one person says 2 + 2 = 5 and the press covers it like it's a possibility, you get Trump.
This "false equivalency" has brought us Trump. His supporters are truly ignorant as they haven't had the opportunity to hear the truth. If one person says 2 + 2 = 5 and the press covers it like it's a possibility, you get Trump.
24
It is much easier to bamboozle a man than the get him to admit to being bamboozled. Mark Twain
3
I know people who think Obama won Florida through massive voting fraud.
I'm impressed at Trump's sudden flood of small donations. Perhaps his followers will be fervent enough to actually vote. I suppose Clinton will attract high turnout from older women, but could this become the lowest-turnout presidential election in history? I suspect Clinton could have a healthy lead in the polls, then fall to low turnout. But the much-vaunted Republican turnout apparatus in Florida might break down. Who knows?
I'm impressed at Trump's sudden flood of small donations. Perhaps his followers will be fervent enough to actually vote. I suppose Clinton will attract high turnout from older women, but could this become the lowest-turnout presidential election in history? I suspect Clinton could have a healthy lead in the polls, then fall to low turnout. But the much-vaunted Republican turnout apparatus in Florida might break down. Who knows?
5
Do you actually believe the number Trump's campaign is spouting?
He's never told the truth about anything else having to do with money. And as far as I understand we won't know what he raised last month until the accounting is done.
He's never told the truth about anything else having to do with money. And as far as I understand we won't know what he raised last month until the accounting is done.
9
Trump may have made his "yewj" sacrifices building those buildings, but it's us poor expatriates overseas who are learning sacrifice through the ruination of our social lives.
I've been seriously considering building a safe room and stocking up the larder so I don't have to go out in public until the election is over. Because I can't have a conversation with any of my French acquaintances until I've been asked to explain how it's possible that Trump and Clinton are so close in the polls.
When they exclaim their genuine befuddlement and point out that Trump makes Marine Le Pen look like Mother Teresa, and George W. Bush look like an eminence grise, I can only mutter that I have no explanation and hang my head in shame.
While Trump and his supporters tout the tall buildings he builds, the rest of the world sees him as a one-man world-order wrecking ball. The prospect of a destabilized America is truly terrifying to everyone but those who would vote for Trump. If only they could see the fear they strike in the eyes of the people I encounter daily.
I've been seriously considering building a safe room and stocking up the larder so I don't have to go out in public until the election is over. Because I can't have a conversation with any of my French acquaintances until I've been asked to explain how it's possible that Trump and Clinton are so close in the polls.
When they exclaim their genuine befuddlement and point out that Trump makes Marine Le Pen look like Mother Teresa, and George W. Bush look like an eminence grise, I can only mutter that I have no explanation and hang my head in shame.
While Trump and his supporters tout the tall buildings he builds, the rest of the world sees him as a one-man world-order wrecking ball. The prospect of a destabilized America is truly terrifying to everyone but those who would vote for Trump. If only they could see the fear they strike in the eyes of the people I encounter daily.
853
Same here. I feel like I must personally explain the Trump phenomenon to my European relatives. And even with many forwarded NY Times articles that seek to analyze the appeal of Trump plus many Skype sessions trying to make sense of this, they are still as puzzled as am I. Scary times for sane people.
15
I remember being in Paris several times since 2008 and having similar talks with French citizens asking me in wonder why President Obama wasn't more popular in the USA. It is hard trying to explain the influence of right-wing radio, Fox News, Republican obstruction and racism in my no better than high school French, but I tried. I always felt as though I was a representative of the sane part of my country. President Holland said he felt nauseous imaging Trump as President. I can only say that there are many millions of Americans feeling "La meme".
23
Why don't you tell your friends it all kind of fell apart once mom left the home -- the wages tanked, the neighborhoods declined, and before you knew it, each home had three, four, and six sets of grandparents. Education failed, as there was no one home to enforce anything the kids learned. The mental health industry needs a mirror, along with the entire health industry. The economists believe we have reached the point of "destructive self-indulgences", yet they've been driving. Don't duck your head --- tell it like it is!
3
Either one can claim that Mr. Trump is out of control and that his campaign will soon explode, that he has managed to alienate even supporters and therefore he needs "help" from Mr. Giuliani or Gingrich or that his supporters are eating it up.
"Fragile white men", to use Mr. Blow's phrase, don't care if he lost it re a crying baby. So do they. It is not nice to disparage a Muslim US war hero, but these same people respond: who was it who killed him in the first place? Was it not other Muslims.
For my money, and from afar, I think that many of the NYT columnists and subsequently their columns are letting their hatred, disdain and antipathy for Mr. Trump cloud their objectivity in analyzing what is actually happening in American society today.
Even if Mrs. Clinton wins, that same primal fear (to use once again Mr. Blow's apt terminology) will still be there. Will it return to the bottle to be capped? I am not so sure. That might be a bigger problem than Mr. Trump.
"Fragile white men", to use Mr. Blow's phrase, don't care if he lost it re a crying baby. So do they. It is not nice to disparage a Muslim US war hero, but these same people respond: who was it who killed him in the first place? Was it not other Muslims.
For my money, and from afar, I think that many of the NYT columnists and subsequently their columns are letting their hatred, disdain and antipathy for Mr. Trump cloud their objectivity in analyzing what is actually happening in American society today.
Even if Mrs. Clinton wins, that same primal fear (to use once again Mr. Blow's apt terminology) will still be there. Will it return to the bottle to be capped? I am not so sure. That might be a bigger problem than Mr. Trump.
160
I fear Joshua is correct.
Ms. Dowd states "I believe most Americans, when given the choice ...will know which way to go." I hope so, but millions of our citizens have pulled the lever for The Donald. It reveals an ugly side of the electorate that tarnishes the vision of America that we try to portray to the rest of the world.
Ms. Dowd states "I believe most Americans, when given the choice ...will know which way to go." I hope so, but millions of our citizens have pulled the lever for The Donald. It reveals an ugly side of the electorate that tarnishes the vision of America that we try to portray to the rest of the world.
10
Fractions of factions here on display. The NYT recently did the maths to tell us that only 9% of America's adult population had voted for anyone up to this point. The General Election can be expected to do much better. The problem is that he has polled so well, but it appears that the fever has broken. Donald has not needed to shoot some stranger on 5th Avenue. Those who supported Bernie, until they didn't, are less crucial. The Electoral College will soldier on. Can anyone imagine an election with two numbers slowly climbing on the screen, meaning nothing until the last ballot was counted and disputed? Can anyone imagine a campaign where candidates had to go to every state?
1
Trump does not want to be President. He does not intend to govern.
As President Obama's past 8 years have demonstrated, the 21st-century commander-in-chief faces a host of practical and ethical dilemmas. These issues are not black and white: setting precedent for drone warfare, weighing military intervention, responding to refugee crises, bringing the entire international community on board to combat climate change, not to mention fighting the fire of terrorism that seems impossible to snuff out. These issues require a President with a coherent vision, who welcomes nuance and who the world can trust.
The times demand an exceptional President, not one who fails to meet standards of basic respect for fallen servicemembers and their families. Not one who cannot grasp the implications of backing away from NATO or threatening to use nuclear weapons. Not one who advocates for torture, for breaking the Geneva Convention.
Trump does not possess the experience, temperament, nor desire to be President of the United States. Only after his self-implosion is complete - dragging his party with him - can America breathe a sigh of relief.
As President Obama's past 8 years have demonstrated, the 21st-century commander-in-chief faces a host of practical and ethical dilemmas. These issues are not black and white: setting precedent for drone warfare, weighing military intervention, responding to refugee crises, bringing the entire international community on board to combat climate change, not to mention fighting the fire of terrorism that seems impossible to snuff out. These issues require a President with a coherent vision, who welcomes nuance and who the world can trust.
The times demand an exceptional President, not one who fails to meet standards of basic respect for fallen servicemembers and their families. Not one who cannot grasp the implications of backing away from NATO or threatening to use nuclear weapons. Not one who advocates for torture, for breaking the Geneva Convention.
Trump does not possess the experience, temperament, nor desire to be President of the United States. Only after his self-implosion is complete - dragging his party with him - can America breathe a sigh of relief.
611
Unfortunately, no sighs of relief are due, even after his "self-implosion".
The Republican party collected all these angry people and Trump got them organized and gave them a whole new set of targets to aim their bile at.
Worst Case Scenario: Trump wins
2nd WCS: Trump loses; massive insurrection ensues; new leader emerges from mob.
3rd WCS: Same thing, but no new leader
Probably best hope: Trump loses; only scattered insurrection.
No, relief sighing is also wishful thinking.
The Republican party collected all these angry people and Trump got them organized and gave them a whole new set of targets to aim their bile at.
Worst Case Scenario: Trump wins
2nd WCS: Trump loses; massive insurrection ensues; new leader emerges from mob.
3rd WCS: Same thing, but no new leader
Probably best hope: Trump loses; only scattered insurrection.
No, relief sighing is also wishful thinking.
42
France's president just recently said the Donald's gross declarations made him nearly vomit. I'm worried for his digestion . Would it be too much to ask my American friends to vote for the other candidate?
356
As a fervent Francohphile I can say that I feel "la meme" as President Holland.
13
Oui! I will vote for the other candidate. I do not want to see wonderful French food and wine wasted
4
I agree with Hollande. No other politician has given me so much gastrointestinal discomfort!
7
The Summer Olympics couldn't come at a better time as an antidote for Donald Trumpitis. If nothing else maybe the Rio games will finally get Donald Trump off Page One for at least 2 1/2 weeks. We could use a break from the media's obsession over everything Donald Trump says or does.
81
I'm sure that Donald will say that he always wanted an Olympic gold medal. That he was a great athlete before he came down with bone spurs to get his medical draft deferment.
39
Yes, and they are a fitting metaphor, with swimmers having to swim in bodies of water flooded with raw sewage.
12
Re: David's comment. I don't think I could put one toe in those waters. I fear for those poor athletes.
6
The Trump candidacy has revealed a wide assortment of discontents, malcontents, bigots, pseudo-patriots, skinheads, the ignorant, the undereducated, and Republicans. Throughout the primaries and even now he finds unique ways to satisfy each segment of his constituency. It would be the greatest satire of USA culture ever created if it were not for the fact that it is reality , not fiction.
166
Agreed. One of the saddest things was watching McCain act so indignant over Trump's behavior towards the Muslim family at the convention, but fail to un -endorse him. It was an impotent response and so unworthy of him, but frankly, he is done, after letting Sarah Palin in, how can he look anyone in the eye. He sold out. McCain sold out.
62
The Bully is out of control
A Golem devoid of a soul,,
Provoking and poking
Ill manners invoking
A havoc-wreaker on the whole.
He even unsettled Chris Christie
Who when behind Trump does get misty,
Can Rudy and Newt
Neither one astute
Make Donald someone less sadisty?
His poll ratings plummeting fast
His chances of winning spin past,
Rebellion is lurking
A call to berserking
To all the hotheads he's amassed.
A Golem devoid of a soul,,
Provoking and poking
Ill manners invoking
A havoc-wreaker on the whole.
He even unsettled Chris Christie
Who when behind Trump does get misty,
Can Rudy and Newt
Neither one astute
Make Donald someone less sadisty?
His poll ratings plummeting fast
His chances of winning spin past,
Rebellion is lurking
A call to berserking
To all the hotheads he's amassed.
391
Sadisty? LOL. Love it!
12
Unforgettable image of Donald as golem. Brilliant as ever. Thanks, Larry.
4
So what the heck are we to do?
With someone whose head lacks a screw
We can't lie in bed
With covers on head
And dream of a candidate new
With someone whose head lacks a screw
We can't lie in bed
With covers on head
And dream of a candidate new
9
That's a great pic of The Donald and the crying baby. Both obviously have gas pains and need to be burped! And since Trump trumpets that he can do everything on his own, he should be able to handle the both of them. This small action is "huuuuge" and shall make America great again.
21
The modern day literary fictional masterpiece, a cross between "It Can't Happen Here" and "The Plot Against America" is playing out for us as a frightening fact. And like the surprising plurality that Obama won by from a coalition of voters in 2012, many of whom don't generally vote, the latter day Mussolini, the orange-faced menacing and indistinct moon is slowly rising into an incredibly magnified size across our darkening autumnal landscape, attracting the angry lunatics from all corners of this nation.
242
Actually Obama is one of only four Presidents--the others being FDR, Eisenhower, and Reagan--to be elected and re-elected with majorities of 51% or higher.
12
Trump is crashing and burning the GOP barn down. *picks up popcorn
19
I am tired of the popcorn comments. This isn't funny, anymore. A very dangerous, mentally ill, vindictive man could become the most powerful person on earth. Trump wold have the ability to not only destroy America but the world and I am not being overly dramatic.
9
Totally agree he is laying the ground work for losing by claiming that nefarious forces exist which will "rig" the election and steal his and by extension his supporters' victory. In some ways I think this is where he is most dangerous. While terrified he could win, I suspect he will lose - and then what will these tens of thousands of "good ol' boys" - probably most of them owners of all kinds of guns - do when they think this female/minority/Jewish conspiracy snatched their victory. He has whipped up these masses into a fury - if the clips featured on these very pages today are any indication - I fear for the safety of anyone who gets in their way.
705
You are being a bit dramatic with your assessment of what his supporters might do. Yes, a lot of them probably own guns but there is no reason to believe they will take up arms in defense of Donald if he loses. If he in any way encourages violence, it would be considered an insurrection against our federal government. He would be committing a felony and subject to prison time.
4
Dana,
Hmmm...
One wonders what gave those "good ol' boys" the idea that "nefarious forces exist which rig elections?"
Will need further wiki research to discover from whence this dubious plot comes from.
Hmmm...
One wonders what gave those "good ol' boys" the idea that "nefarious forces exist which rig elections?"
Will need further wiki research to discover from whence this dubious plot comes from.
3
He encourages violence at every rally--take a look at the video featured on the front page. His “speeches” are like feeding time at the carnivore wing at a zoo that missed the last two feedings. Even if his words aren’t specific, the totality of what he gabbles on about only feeds the mob.
33