Quite an unholy alliance - Trump and Farage. There indeed needs to be acknowledgement that we can not simply assume Hillary will win - that the discontent with the status quo runs far and deep in this country, as in Britain. I fear that the Democrats in fielding a candidate in Hillary Clinton, who's hugely unpopular with large swaths of the electorate, have made a critical mistake. Had we been smart, we would have nominated a true progressive. Bernie came close to fitting that bill, although his candidacy was misconstrued by many as being radical left. It is not radical to insist on major reform - which is what this country needs. Mr. Cohen speaks of British and American prosperity being "skewed"... What an understatement! Nothing wrong with prosperity per se, but when it's linked to massive financial corruption - a rigged economy - it strikes me as "radical" NOT to redress it. Hillary said "I hear you" to the Bernie supporters. She needs to quickly and emphatically reassure the disenfranchised in this country - i.e. the vast majority - that she will implement reform - that is, offer more than her adjustments to the democratic platform she made to appease Bernie Bros. She needs to make a promise to undo the healthcare / insurance co. rigging, the investment and bank rigging - with a major concrete campaign promise. Only a move like this will sway the rightly furious, cheated majority. The outcome of the election this November hinges on such a bold move.
5
Our country is on course to stagnation, which is always followed by degeneration or devolution, if you want a nicer word. 2.5% growth in a country with a growing and AGING population = stagnation, especially given a much higher growth of our geopolitical competitors/'partners.'
The fact that our democratic leadership trumps (pun intended) 2.5% growth as an achievement does make me want to vote for disruption at any cost and at any scale. Maybe then we'll start fixing our country not just patching over the multiplying potholes.
"Liberalism is the most intolerant religion using political correctness for cultural genocide."
The fact that our democratic leadership trumps (pun intended) 2.5% growth as an achievement does make me want to vote for disruption at any cost and at any scale. Maybe then we'll start fixing our country not just patching over the multiplying potholes.
"Liberalism is the most intolerant religion using political correctness for cultural genocide."
2
"There is too much smug Hillary-has-it sentiment swilling around."
The opinion pages and comments section of this newspaper have made this fact abundantly clear these past months.
The opinion pages and comments section of this newspaper have made this fact abundantly clear these past months.
4
Exactly why most people are voting against a candidate than for him/her.
The Brexit vote actually gives an example of how people get so caught up in the emotion (generated by the politicians) that they don't think through the ramifications. The day AFTER the vote- Google reported a huge surge in the UK of searches on "what is the European Union" and the impact of Brexit. And- a lot of people were unhappy with what they saw- hence the demand for another referendum.
8
Mr. Cohen, it is always important to have a sobering reminder of what could happen, thank you.
7
To swipe Rachel Maddow's comment a bit, yes, we should worry a bit when a secessionist stands up next to a loudmothed fool in Jackson, Mississippi, and starts ranting about our government and how picked-on white men are.
12
"the same disruptive movements aim to break the free-trade, pro-globalization neoliberal consensus that has held sway in the West for at least a quarter-century."
Confusing at best.
Is "neo-liberal" the same as "neo-con"? In Europe "liberal" tends to mean anti-government regulation--as in free (liberal) markets. In the US--that means "conservative" as in conserving traditions (of deregulation) favoring the 1%.
Deregulation at one time (1700's) meant abolition of bribes to royalty for business licenses--a good progressive idea associated with the original Tea Party. But when business grew from small entrepreneurs to robber baron mega corporate capitalism, deregulation became a bad thing. The mega corporations became polities seeking to regulate geo-bounded govenrnents--which effectively became neo-colonies.
Corporatism has "held sway in the West" limited by T and FDR Roosevelt. "Neo" means the post FDR resurgence of Corporatism --especially post Reagan.
Trump and Farage are certainly not disputing Corporatism.
They are merely trying a new cover-up--racism and xenophobia. The usual cover-ups--"freedom" (as an elixir panacea), sexism, homophobia and Evangelical (anti-abortion) Christianity--are wearing thin.
The "disruption" part is their championing rude-speak as free-speak and thus anti Politically Correct (PC) speak.
But PC speak is merely anti-discrimination speak; rude-speak--well, it is what it is. And well loved by the rude.
Confusing at best.
Is "neo-liberal" the same as "neo-con"? In Europe "liberal" tends to mean anti-government regulation--as in free (liberal) markets. In the US--that means "conservative" as in conserving traditions (of deregulation) favoring the 1%.
Deregulation at one time (1700's) meant abolition of bribes to royalty for business licenses--a good progressive idea associated with the original Tea Party. But when business grew from small entrepreneurs to robber baron mega corporate capitalism, deregulation became a bad thing. The mega corporations became polities seeking to regulate geo-bounded govenrnents--which effectively became neo-colonies.
Corporatism has "held sway in the West" limited by T and FDR Roosevelt. "Neo" means the post FDR resurgence of Corporatism --especially post Reagan.
Trump and Farage are certainly not disputing Corporatism.
They are merely trying a new cover-up--racism and xenophobia. The usual cover-ups--"freedom" (as an elixir panacea), sexism, homophobia and Evangelical (anti-abortion) Christianity--are wearing thin.
The "disruption" part is their championing rude-speak as free-speak and thus anti Politically Correct (PC) speak.
But PC speak is merely anti-discrimination speak; rude-speak--well, it is what it is. And well loved by the rude.
5
Where does the idea that Hillary Clinton is "a symbol of dynastic entitlement" come from? She is completely the opposite. She was raised in relatively humble circumstances. She has worked hard for and earned everything she has achieved. She is not a Bush, handed privilege and fortune by her ancestors.
29
It's about political inheritance, not economic -- the sense of there being a Clinton Dynasty, parallel to the Bush Dynasty.
1
it is incorrect to consider the messages of Farage and Trump as simply hate filled invective. They both give voice to a large part of each culture which has been left out, if ever considered, by the wealthy who control each nation.
The saving grace of Ms Clinton may be summed up in her womanhood which like most women throughout the world has been betrayed by the real lack of consideration we men have for anyone, but ourselves.
There are only two states, Vermont and Wyoming, in which men are equal in terms of poverty with women. In every other state women, aged 19 to 64, in poverty exceed those of men in the same fix. Hard to imagine a woman of 19, with her life ahead of her, impoverished in the wealthiest nation on earth.
While neither Ms Clinton nor Mr Trump have ever known a day in their lives when there is not enough money for food, where a place to sleep is on the street and warm clothing is a dream, the undeniable fact that only Ms Clinton has done anything to bring about any change to these conditions should make her choice over Mr Trump obvious to any, but the most frustrated among us.
The saving grace of Ms Clinton may be summed up in her womanhood which like most women throughout the world has been betrayed by the real lack of consideration we men have for anyone, but ourselves.
There are only two states, Vermont and Wyoming, in which men are equal in terms of poverty with women. In every other state women, aged 19 to 64, in poverty exceed those of men in the same fix. Hard to imagine a woman of 19, with her life ahead of her, impoverished in the wealthiest nation on earth.
While neither Ms Clinton nor Mr Trump have ever known a day in their lives when there is not enough money for food, where a place to sleep is on the street and warm clothing is a dream, the undeniable fact that only Ms Clinton has done anything to bring about any change to these conditions should make her choice over Mr Trump obvious to any, but the most frustrated among us.
18
On Trump, "You can fool some of the people
some of the time, but you can't fool all the
people all the time."
some of the time, but you can't fool all the
people all the time."
1
You can fool enough of the people enough of the time.
4
Ah yes, but his persona and message seem to be getting more traction every day...careful what you wish for AND he seems to have growing "appeal"
RE: Farage has already done great damage to Britain.
Really? More to the point that he has damaged the greedy elite dream of owning everything and everybody in sight. He has clearly stated his politico-economic arguments. Why is it that the pundits only seize on his racism? Is it perhaps that the corporate owners of NYT and other 'papers of record' see a threat in the real economic arguments? I have faith in the basic decency of the British to discard the racist portions of the arguments and focus on building a vibrant UK. Some time far into the future, Farage may be remembered as the man who helped keep UK independent of domination by a determined cabal in Brussels.
Really? More to the point that he has damaged the greedy elite dream of owning everything and everybody in sight. He has clearly stated his politico-economic arguments. Why is it that the pundits only seize on his racism? Is it perhaps that the corporate owners of NYT and other 'papers of record' see a threat in the real economic arguments? I have faith in the basic decency of the British to discard the racist portions of the arguments and focus on building a vibrant UK. Some time far into the future, Farage may be remembered as the man who helped keep UK independent of domination by a determined cabal in Brussels.
5
So the uneducated white voters follow Trump, who has many of his products made in other countries. They are mad because of lost jobs overseas. Got it.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."--Albert Einstein
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."--Albert Einstein
21
Of course, Donald Trump is a savvy bigot. When he’s approached by journalists in an attempt to clarify something he’s said that is unclear, without a defined purpose or planning , he purposely interrupts to squelch the news media saying it’s corrupted and bias to stop the interview. Like most bigots, his main tool is to establish communication with voters via the internet with his limited “tweeting” flashcards precisely tailored to unclearly criticize his opponents as well as his own views.
I’m a Cuban/American white woman with green eyes but with a Hispanic appearance. I clearly remember the rental signs of the 60’s that read and I quote: “No children, No Cubans, No Pets.” We’re the Hispanic voters that have learned all about discrimination; that “racism” comes with different faces and has many colors. We know all about the Trumps that make us believe they’re watching over us when they are actually “beating the drum” into their own “white” crowd. What do we have to loose and just give you a chance? Everything we’ve worked so hard for to earn a decent, prosperous way of life in an attempt to be accepted in this country that was created by immigrants, including your own class. No chance Mr. Trump; we’re not going to let you and the Republican Party that supports you but is cowardly in hiding continued being the “Fox guarding the henhouse.” .
I’m a Cuban/American white woman with green eyes but with a Hispanic appearance. I clearly remember the rental signs of the 60’s that read and I quote: “No children, No Cubans, No Pets.” We’re the Hispanic voters that have learned all about discrimination; that “racism” comes with different faces and has many colors. We know all about the Trumps that make us believe they’re watching over us when they are actually “beating the drum” into their own “white” crowd. What do we have to loose and just give you a chance? Everything we’ve worked so hard for to earn a decent, prosperous way of life in an attempt to be accepted in this country that was created by immigrants, including your own class. No chance Mr. Trump; we’re not going to let you and the Republican Party that supports you but is cowardly in hiding continued being the “Fox guarding the henhouse.” .
25
Cognitive dissonance to the extreme!
"... we can overcome the big banks ..."
Just curious. How will repealing Dodd-Frank, enacting unprecedented tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy including elimination of inheritance tax and cutting corporate rates accomplish this? Obviously they won't.
Of course it's impossible to predict the result at this time.
Trump's extreme overt use of racist, xenophobic, protectionist, and misogynistic language is just the same old same old amped up given the current global, national, media, social media, reality TV moment.
We shall see how it goes.
"... we can overcome the big banks ..."
Just curious. How will repealing Dodd-Frank, enacting unprecedented tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy including elimination of inheritance tax and cutting corporate rates accomplish this? Obviously they won't.
Of course it's impossible to predict the result at this time.
Trump's extreme overt use of racist, xenophobic, protectionist, and misogynistic language is just the same old same old amped up given the current global, national, media, social media, reality TV moment.
We shall see how it goes.
20
I'm finding it interesting that the leader of the same organization that blasted President Obama for "interfering" in the Brexit vote has no problem interfering in the US presidential vote.
55
People in desperate situations do desperate things. Several decades of job loss and deterioration of the working class and increasingly, the middle class has lead us to this point. Bernie Sanders may have provided a healthy response but fell short. Trump and his ilk are an alternative, albeit less healthy, to this frustration. Things can get much worse in society as extreme inequality keeps increasing. Need creative responses, it appears very soon.
8
I think Mr. Cohen is saying to Democrats, "Don't count the chickens, yet." The Remain faction was absolutely sure Farage and Johnson were crazy and a majority would never follow them.
Then came the Brexit vote.
It could happen here. Trump could get elected, IF the Dems let it happen by relying on very unreliable polls.
Then came the Brexit vote.
It could happen here. Trump could get elected, IF the Dems let it happen by relying on very unreliable polls.
18
Racist politicians are brothers . Nigel knows that Brexit is bad for his country , so he is hiding under Trump's shadow. These are destructive politicians and their hearts are filled with hate and meanness. Nigel has no shame.
10
Right on Mr. Cohen.
Farage has lived a populist's dream, ride the wave of public opinion and get your will no matter how stupid it is.
Never mind that he had to lie, cheat and play foul.
Never mind that he had not only had to cut the branch he and his country men were sitting on, more like burning bridges.
He had his will and that ego trip was all he ever wanted - and he got it while the payments from the EU for his "job" at the EU parliament are still coming.
So Farage is the Trump that has made it.
I just wonder, from which union will the US has its "USXIT"?
Or will Trump lead his country to exit from itself?
Farage has lived a populist's dream, ride the wave of public opinion and get your will no matter how stupid it is.
Never mind that he had to lie, cheat and play foul.
Never mind that he had not only had to cut the branch he and his country men were sitting on, more like burning bridges.
He had his will and that ego trip was all he ever wanted - and he got it while the payments from the EU for his "job" at the EU parliament are still coming.
So Farage is the Trump that has made it.
I just wonder, from which union will the US has its "USXIT"?
Or will Trump lead his country to exit from itself?
14
"His bigotry is attuned to the times. . . . we live in an age where the candidate of disruption rides a powerful wave."
The bi-coastal elite are utterly tone-deaf to one of the great issues of our time. You can mock Trump, but Trump understands it.
The bi-coastal elite are utterly tone-deaf to one of the great issues of our time. You can mock Trump, but Trump understands it.
5
the writer is neither mocking trump or praising trump. you could say he's admitting trump has certain valid points, or that he knows how to take advantage of a situation (the end of neoliberalism). You could say he's saying it's a mistake to state that trump is only about racism, and that should be ignored a the peril of the neoliberral establishment. Try reading the piece without your partisan hats. the author is in fact being rather honest for an nytimes editorial writer. You are too used to things being partisian and in order to understand the editorial you can't use that method of analysis
The USA is governed by a single party (the neoliberal/ corproate party) it has two branches the republicans and the democrats. Trump being a non neoliberal challenges the dogma of both parties. Hence many of both parties dislike him and the establishment (the neoliberals) of both parties have a problem with him. Trump changes the dialog, changes the terms of the discourse. The vast majority of the time the discourse between the two parties revolves around their differences regarding "social/identiry" issues.
sanders did the same thing. I prefer a lefty non neoliberal myself. the neoliberal consensus governs both the democrats and the republicans in the usa. The non neoliberal is in fact the larger threat to the established order. Hence gets attacked by both sides.
If you see the usa governed by a single neoliberal party with two branches then pieces will fall into place.
The USA is governed by a single party (the neoliberal/ corproate party) it has two branches the republicans and the democrats. Trump being a non neoliberal challenges the dogma of both parties. Hence many of both parties dislike him and the establishment (the neoliberals) of both parties have a problem with him. Trump changes the dialog, changes the terms of the discourse. The vast majority of the time the discourse between the two parties revolves around their differences regarding "social/identiry" issues.
sanders did the same thing. I prefer a lefty non neoliberal myself. the neoliberal consensus governs both the democrats and the republicans in the usa. The non neoliberal is in fact the larger threat to the established order. Hence gets attacked by both sides.
If you see the usa governed by a single neoliberal party with two branches then pieces will fall into place.
5
Trump and Farage! Almost twins! What do you want to bet that a majority of Trump Supporters have never before heard about Farage and Brexit? After looking at a few minutes of footage of Trump fans at one of his "events", it seems likely these people don't/can't read!
8
Ha ha. That will show them!
Most Americans will vote for the candidate they dislike the least. Crazy times.
2
Farage is a loser and certainly not a leader. He is another Bigot like Trump. Obviously they teamed up. This is a dangerous proposition for the western democracy. These guys just play with people's emotions and moods and exploit them for their own goods. Farage quit politics citing mission accomplished. Well you get the mandate I thought mission starts. What does it tell you? he doesnt know how to govern or partake in future for people's good. All he has to offer is whining and complain with no solution. Why should Mr Trump team up with this guy? Right when UK needed a leader post BREXIT polls, this guy quit. Wow what a loser?? That tells you Trump's mindset. He just want to keep the crowd engaged, he has no vision for the country. He thinks rhetoric alone can win him the POTUS. Shameful partnership this between two Bigots!! Hillary please watch out and ensure you do your best to keep these folks away from WH.
9
I know it is tempting to jeer at Trump and his supporters...what with all the comedic material he supplies. But Mr. Cohen is right...This foreign con-man who now campaigns with Trump, who washed his hands of the mess he made in Great Britain the day after he made it, should serve as a warning against complacency. Trump can still win...just as Brexit won... It is not enough to just defeat him in this election...he must be utterly vanquished and repudiated.
And beginning the day after the election, our elected leaders...hopefully in both parties...must begin to address the source of the disaffection and nihilism that came very close to bringing this monstrous clown to power.
And beginning the day after the election, our elected leaders...hopefully in both parties...must begin to address the source of the disaffection and nihilism that came very close to bringing this monstrous clown to power.
10
Until you fix neoliberalism or move to a new paradigm there will always be the threat of a Trump. Because people like trump take advantage of the situation that arises when the end of an era happens. Trump is in fact a symptom/ product of the large issue of neoliberalism. I do not understand why so few get this
Sanders was another product of neoliberalism. this isn't rocket science.
Sanders was another product of neoliberalism. this isn't rocket science.
3
"As Brexit showed, this is an age whose winning political dictum is: Disruption at any cost."
When the status quo is no longer working to keep the people safe, fed, housed and happy then disruption of that status quo is mandatory. One candidate promises more status quo while the other clearly does not. If you are happy with your ..... you can keep ...... if not you know what you must do!
When the status quo is no longer working to keep the people safe, fed, housed and happy then disruption of that status quo is mandatory. One candidate promises more status quo while the other clearly does not. If you are happy with your ..... you can keep ...... if not you know what you must do!
3
Why is it that the Party that falsely hates on Obama for being a foreigner, a Muslim, a Kenyan, and someone who brings dangerous foreign influences into America, is the Party that REALLY DOES JUST THAT?
1) They brought Israel's Prime Minister to the US to mock our President for not having fight a thankless war with Iran on their behalf...
2) Now their Presidential nominee campaigns beside one of the most boorish, hateful (and hated) men in all of the UK?
Read up on UK Politics a little bit. You will quickly learn that Farage is a man that many in the UK would cross the street to avoid. He is the Potty Mouth of UK Politics. Guess that is why he and Trump get along so well!
Shame on Trump for bringing this disgrace into our country to influence our election!
1) They brought Israel's Prime Minister to the US to mock our President for not having fight a thankless war with Iran on their behalf...
2) Now their Presidential nominee campaigns beside one of the most boorish, hateful (and hated) men in all of the UK?
Read up on UK Politics a little bit. You will quickly learn that Farage is a man that many in the UK would cross the street to avoid. He is the Potty Mouth of UK Politics. Guess that is why he and Trump get along so well!
Shame on Trump for bringing this disgrace into our country to influence our election!
19
As an east coaster, I am really over red state angst. My state contributes more than it gets back. You want less government/pork even though you support a candidate who thinks he is running for king of the USA not POTUS and will intrude on your life more than you ever imagined. I don't understand what you want Mississippi. No more ACA. Fine with me; I have employer-sponsored health care. No Medicaid or S-CHIP. OK - have at it. Not my gig. Repeal Dodd-Frank and Roe v Wade? OK - I wasn't one of the people under water on my mortgage. Move my cash to bonds and Large value stock. Done. Roe v Wade - from what I have read abortions are way down. West Virgina what do you want? Force me to use coal.
I know these states are hurting, but what do they want from a government they despise even though their state feeds at the trough more than the rest of us who are losing sleep over the thought of a Trump presidency while they are shouting "Build the Wall!" What do you think you will get from a president Trump to ease your pain?
I know these states are hurting, but what do they want from a government they despise even though their state feeds at the trough more than the rest of us who are losing sleep over the thought of a Trump presidency while they are shouting "Build the Wall!" What do you think you will get from a president Trump to ease your pain?
26
Farage was no more truthful with Trump's chumps...oops, supporters...than he was with his own countrymen...but, my, doesn't it make for some nice buzz, action and reaction to market advertising around...
5
Mr. Cohen you say, "we live in an age where the candidate of disruption rides a powerful wave." Yes, it's called the "wave" the media creates. Chaos and disruption sell news and words are cheap. It doesn't take any genius to stir up trouble - it takes genius to prevent it from taking over. Apparently most of the news jocks who were geniuses have left the field.
6
Chances are we will be gifted with the Clintons for 8 years. With that said, I often wondered what would the NYT print or push, if the Clintons didn't make it. Also learned from Pew Research information just how few folks trust the media or believe what they read.
You failed to point out that Farage works for the EU - he campaigned for Britain to leave and then resumed his post in Brussels! Trump can't get supporters at home so he imports them from Europe! His campaign is more and more bizarre.
5
Has anyone stopped to ponder what a massive influx of people exiled from the US would do to Mexico, and what, in turn, that would mean for the US? Trump and Farage have a history of failing to think even two steps ahead of themselves. Heaven help us.
1
It would mean nobody to cut grass and do landscaping work, no one to clean offices at night, fewer workers to be nannies, maids and short order cooks. All the invisible. People who. do this work who mah may or may not be here legally. They are hired by large corporations via temp agencies, that the corporation is not liable if they turn out to be in theUSA unlawfully. Some businesses hire illegals "off the books" and pay low wages and no benefits.
+
+
1
This is a very good read:
Let Them Eat Diversity
Walter Benn Michaels is no stranger to controversy. In the early 1980s he wrote a series of articles with Steven Knapp entitled “Against Theory,” in which it was argued that literary works meant only what their authors intended them to mean. He created a stir beyond the Ivory Tower with a 2006 book, The Trouble with Diversity, premised around the idea that a focus on cultural diversity at the expense of economic equality has stunted resistance to neoliberalism.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity/
Let Them Eat Diversity
Walter Benn Michaels is no stranger to controversy. In the early 1980s he wrote a series of articles with Steven Knapp entitled “Against Theory,” in which it was argued that literary works meant only what their authors intended them to mean. He created a stir beyond the Ivory Tower with a 2006 book, The Trouble with Diversity, premised around the idea that a focus on cultural diversity at the expense of economic equality has stunted resistance to neoliberalism.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity/
1
May Trump-Farage's "last hate-filled stand of the white man in societies'" campaigns find their respective little Big Horns; Trump on 8 November 2016 and Farage when article 50 is evoked and the British rue the day of their nativist Leave vote.
2
Trump can win, stop being overconfident.
1
So the way for the little, ordinary, decent people to fight for what they believe in is to vote for a bullying, petulant, egomaniac, ignorant, inconsistent, mendacious, racist, arrogant,disorganized,misogynist with a hair trigger? I have to ask, 'What's wrong with this picture?
5
Fox News and republican propaganda?
3
My God, someone finally called out Hillary!! Well done, Sir!!! I could not have said it better. Thank you finally saying what needed to be said about Hillary Clinton.
1
Farage is quintessential cherry picking by Trump. Brits by and large detest Trump as does most of the world outside, perhaps Russia which is a vested interest.
...and if this election is about inequality and leaving the poor and middle-class behind why are we talking about symptoms and not the prime causes of inequality and how to address them? What is it about America that we choose not to see and will not discuss that the wealthy have coopted politics and caused to be legislated policies that benefit only them at the expense of everyone else?
...and if this election is about inequality and leaving the poor and middle-class behind why are we talking about symptoms and not the prime causes of inequality and how to address them? What is it about America that we choose not to see and will not discuss that the wealthy have coopted politics and caused to be legislated policies that benefit only them at the expense of everyone else?
4
What's wrong with keeping people in the dark. The media believes if they make this all about Trump, race and hate, people will forget what this wake up is all about, and in that they couldn't be more wrong. The solution to our problems do not lie in just making it past the election.
Could it be that the establishment really does not understand the scope and magnitude of what they are up against and are in way over their heads.
Far out is how we used to say it.
Could it be that the establishment really does not understand the scope and magnitude of what they are up against and are in way over their heads.
Far out is how we used to say it.
3
No sir ...Donald Trump has made it all about race and hate ....and I propose to you that the anti establishment is in way over their heads in thinking this wholly ignorant man, devoid of any ideology ....is the answer.
5
No, the neoliberal corporate media (NYtimes included) has in general portrayed trump as being all about race and hate in order to maintain their control. Yes, it makes sense his message appeals to those groups, but if you listen to a speech of his (which I've done) it's not his biggest theme. it is the theme the media picks up on.
The same neoliberal media who portrayed sanders as all about hating women, or a threat to capitalism.
Sigh.
The same neoliberal media who portrayed sanders as all about hating women, or a threat to capitalism.
Sigh.
1
The last paragraph says it all. "Farage already has done great damage to Britain". Ever consider this is what he Brits chose. They may just work their way through whatever circumstance they prefer. With all the wisdom of trade deals, central bank wisdom's, and Brussels managing policy, is being seriously questioned. As example while Obama is on his way out he is raking water uphill promoting TPP. Immigration is not popular as it has many downsides, one is jobs, the other fear of terrorism.
1
Brexit happened because people like Farage were willing to distort and deceive and no one was able to challenge their assertions. It has been reported that many people voted "Leave" to protest something. It was apparent that, after the vote, no one had any idea of what to do next. Yes, there were divisions based on age and geography because that's how the PR campaign was organized. And don't forget that a lot of young people didn't bother to vote because they thought the outcome was certain.
I've heard people say that it was about self-determination or some other worthy goal. It's telling that they see what Trump is saying from the same perspective.
This is a dangerous time. We're being subjected to allegations that support the impression that Hillary Clinton is not trustworthy. That's a distraction and those who report and comment on the news are as subject to being distracted as ordinary voters.
I've heard people say that it was about self-determination or some other worthy goal. It's telling that they see what Trump is saying from the same perspective.
This is a dangerous time. We're being subjected to allegations that support the impression that Hillary Clinton is not trustworthy. That's a distraction and those who report and comment on the news are as subject to being distracted as ordinary voters.
5
Trump is just like this guy and his comrade, BoJo the clown. They're great pied pipers, leading the easily influenced down an unmarked road, but they don't have any idea where they're going and have no interest in doing any of the work that will be needed once they get there. Trump might not resign like Farage and Johnson both did, but he's already pretty vacant.
2
In America (and I speculate to a certain degree in Europe) the voters are actually ahead of the pols. (usually it is the other way around).
Putting aside hot button issues like gay marriage, abortion, etc., the two main issues for the voters are farming out in a suicidal, genocidal way good paying American manny jobs to slave labor countries where we can't compete.
The second issue is avoiding wars like the Bush 2 debacle in Iraq.
While dealing with this, the voters are faced between a bigoted, demagogue like Trump, the old line rep. establishment (which they rejected), an untrustworthy person like Hillary (who has flipped on both issues) and somebody like Bernie who although is right on the issues is viewed too far to the left by many people.
Hillary will most likely win and if she doesn't do what the public wants, a wave of congress people will be sweep into power in 2+ yrs to force her to do it.
Putting aside hot button issues like gay marriage, abortion, etc., the two main issues for the voters are farming out in a suicidal, genocidal way good paying American manny jobs to slave labor countries where we can't compete.
The second issue is avoiding wars like the Bush 2 debacle in Iraq.
While dealing with this, the voters are faced between a bigoted, demagogue like Trump, the old line rep. establishment (which they rejected), an untrustworthy person like Hillary (who has flipped on both issues) and somebody like Bernie who although is right on the issues is viewed too far to the left by many people.
Hillary will most likely win and if she doesn't do what the public wants, a wave of congress people will be sweep into power in 2+ yrs to force her to do it.
3
Why don't our political classes see the pendulum moving? In the case of democrats, they should have been much more alert to the growing discontent with economic policies that leaned towards the well-off and in the case of the Republicans more alert to changing demographics. Not sure how both of these missed social and economic changes will play out in November, but, they have been present in the "data" for a long while.
1
Why don't our political classes see the pendulum moving?
Upton Sinclair — 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding ...
You are asking the robber barons to tear apart the very thing that made them robber barons and asking those who get heavily rewarded by them to tear it down. take a look at the clinton bank account!!
it easy to see and understand, it's hard to get people to act against the very thing that both made them and the belief system they have devoted their lives to.
Upton Sinclair — 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding ...
You are asking the robber barons to tear apart the very thing that made them robber barons and asking those who get heavily rewarded by them to tear it down. take a look at the clinton bank account!!
it easy to see and understand, it's hard to get people to act against the very thing that both made them and the belief system they have devoted their lives to.
1
This is a sad variant replay of the early 1920s and again in the 1950s when economic anxiety and fear drove political policy into the arms of hate and resentment. It's always the outsider and the other guy who get the blame and never the nation's own politicians who are at fault. No matter how many times this is pointed out by people who know their history human beings seem incapable of acting together to solve the underlying economic challenge. For many of us Trump's entire demeanor and campaign is like watching a car with a drunk driver: you know the end is going to be ugly and painful. You just don't don't know how much damage will be done or where.
4
"Because Hillary Clinton, as a symbol of dynastic entitlement (albeit a female one), is such an easy target for an anti-establishment movement...."
And Donald Trump is what? The poster boy for the upwards mobile?
And Donald Trump is what? The poster boy for the upwards mobile?
4
Mississippi, like many states has a history of racial persecution, KKK influence, murdering equal rights proponents and resistance to change. This year the state has the opportunity to embrace the constitution and equal rights for all by repudiating Trump and his brand of racial bias. I live in the great lakes region and I see racial bias everyday, in the supermarket, on the street, by the police force, and in the news. This is a cancer on the moral fiber of America. Recently the State of North Dakota in conjunction with the core of engineers is pushing a pipeline through the Indian Nation's land after it rejected a plan that would send it past the Governors’ home town because he complained it would poison the water near his home. It's difficult to change this country when we still grind Native Americans rights into the dust.
Trump openly promotes racial discrimination by sending Don Jr. to Philadelphia Ms, and campaigning with Nigel Farage. Mississippi is a toss up in the presidential election but I am hopeful that the people will step forward and do the right thing and end Trumps ambition and put America back on track for equal rights.
Trump openly promotes racial discrimination by sending Don Jr. to Philadelphia Ms, and campaigning with Nigel Farage. Mississippi is a toss up in the presidential election but I am hopeful that the people will step forward and do the right thing and end Trumps ambition and put America back on track for equal rights.
6
Globalization is not a policy position of the left, it is the social and economic environment resulting from third world populaces upgrading their lives from sleeping on dirt floors without the luxury of indoor plumbing. US citizens in the 21st century are fortunate to be immersed in the mightiest economic engine in history, but don't grasp that the largesse is hoarded by a minuscule bunch of financial manipulators who sit on piles of money while 99% of folks struggle paycheck to paycheck. The obvious solution is to shift a great portion of purchasing power to working people who will spend money and fuel economic activity.
3
Yes but how? Most remedies are "socialist " not an easy sell. Easier to throw a Trump to the the rabble. Having a lot of $ apparently doesn't equate to intelligence and wisdom.
2
There two sad things here:
1) the republicans are so desperate they had to have an Englishman stump for them who lied to his countrymen and then walked away laughing when they voted the way he wanted, because, as he admitted, everything he promised during that campaign was politically and economically impossible to provide. But too bad, it's done now!
2) the democrats have no answer to anything. Hillary has the potential to be a great president, but the dems can't get out of their own way and get backsliding, obstructionist republicans out of office. Where are the next wave of even "good" democratic hopefuls?
The Orange One will lose this election, but if the dems don't get some leverage in the House and Senate, Hillary will be in for the same treatment Obama received. Of course, since she's a woman and her last name is Clinton, the troglodytes may treat her worse than they did the black man they feared so much.
1) the republicans are so desperate they had to have an Englishman stump for them who lied to his countrymen and then walked away laughing when they voted the way he wanted, because, as he admitted, everything he promised during that campaign was politically and economically impossible to provide. But too bad, it's done now!
2) the democrats have no answer to anything. Hillary has the potential to be a great president, but the dems can't get out of their own way and get backsliding, obstructionist republicans out of office. Where are the next wave of even "good" democratic hopefuls?
The Orange One will lose this election, but if the dems don't get some leverage in the House and Senate, Hillary will be in for the same treatment Obama received. Of course, since she's a woman and her last name is Clinton, the troglodytes may treat her worse than they did the black man they feared so much.
4
There's a big big difference between a disruptor and a government leader, and Farage knows it. That's why he quickly said "I quit" after he won the Brexit vote. And if Trump won he too would be clueless at how to govern. You can see that in his campaign organization, or really lack of an organization. It's good at booking rallies, but nothing beyond that.
Anyone that considers voting for Trump needs to think about the day after the vote. Disruption without any followup governance is just chaos. That may please the anarchists that make of Trump's base, but it won't do anything good for the people looking to improve their lives.
Anyone that considers voting for Trump needs to think about the day after the vote. Disruption without any followup governance is just chaos. That may please the anarchists that make of Trump's base, but it won't do anything good for the people looking to improve their lives.
9
There is the 'ring of truth' to some of the arguments of the Trump and Brexit people. One even hears versions of these arguments from Democrats and from people elsewhere in Europe.
But these campaigns are only about tearing things down. I don't see how one moves from these campaigns to a coherent path forward. Indeed, if Britain wants to move beyond corporatism, 'neoliberalism', and surveillance statism (all of which Britain gave to the world), then it would be easier to overcome these forces as part of a larger group. And Trump won't be able to rebuild the US economy and infrastructure, and improve the human capital of its residents, by tearing down the US government.
What is missing is someone who can articulate a vision for the World's future, along with a plan to get us there. Someone besides ISIS, that is.
But these campaigns are only about tearing things down. I don't see how one moves from these campaigns to a coherent path forward. Indeed, if Britain wants to move beyond corporatism, 'neoliberalism', and surveillance statism (all of which Britain gave to the world), then it would be easier to overcome these forces as part of a larger group. And Trump won't be able to rebuild the US economy and infrastructure, and improve the human capital of its residents, by tearing down the US government.
What is missing is someone who can articulate a vision for the World's future, along with a plan to get us there. Someone besides ISIS, that is.
3
Trump took Farage on board hoping to capitalise on the populist wave of nationalist enthusiasm comparable to the movement that took Britain out of the EU. He even branded himself "Mr. Brexit" and hired Steven Bannon, an avid American supporter of Brexit to run his campaign. Again Trump's judgement in people and situations is poor.
The problem is that Farage never sought Britain's premiership, while Trump wants to become president. Farage didn't win a seat in the 2015 parliamentary election. But weeks ahead of the June referendum he was determined to prove pundits wrong by throwing his weight behind the UKIP grassroots crusade against the political establishment and the EU. But he wasn't alone to lead the Brexit camp. There were Boris Johnson, Michael Gove et al. Indeed, one could ask whether Britain would have voted to leave without either Johnson or Farage.
The problem is that Farage never sought Britain's premiership, while Trump wants to become president. Farage didn't win a seat in the 2015 parliamentary election. But weeks ahead of the June referendum he was determined to prove pundits wrong by throwing his weight behind the UKIP grassroots crusade against the political establishment and the EU. But he wasn't alone to lead the Brexit camp. There were Boris Johnson, Michael Gove et al. Indeed, one could ask whether Britain would have voted to leave without either Johnson or Farage.
5
Always nice to know that British political rejects/ poor planners can find a home for their views here with the Greasy Obstructionists of Prevarication party. After all, ranting is so much easier than being part of the solution.
13
Reject? No, his referendum won the vote. That is the opposite of reject.
You're correct but he wasn't able to make a real go of it after the vote to leave the EU. So he is a reject.
We are lucky Trump is such a flawed messenger - if his message was championed by an affable and politically skilled American version of Boris Johnson then the Republican Party could have taken the anti-Washington Consensus argument all the way. What is Hillary's message for globalization's losers...an earned income tax credit?
6
Good point. If any Republican other than Trump were running, HRC would be in big trouble.
1
Now that the Manchurian Candidate has relegated Manafort to the shadows of his campaign (from where he does his best work), now that Trump has hired Barbie to be the focal front of his campaign (you know, she is the one who spouts endless Republican jargon and Hillary slurs, apparently, without stopping to breathe), the Trump campaign should win in a landslide. All they need, in order create a perfect late-run election team, is a mean-spirited attack-dog speech writer who is unfettered by the truth. If only they could find such a person.
11
Nigel was never in a position to do anything after Brexit and thus was safe to say anything, he will now blame the problems resulting from Brexit on parliament (something he never managed to join). But if DJT is successful he will have to govern!!! By the way Roger, thanks for letting me know that I come from "flyover" country, my home town in the fens voted overwhelming for Brexit, too many eastern Europeans taking all those agricultural laboring jobs (which the natives really don't want to do).
3
That is funny. You have people over there lamenting open boarder policies?, doing jobs the citizens "don't want to do"? I wonder, how about France and Germany? Is it the same?
Do these people complain of "Neo-Globalism"?
Do these people complain of "Neo-Globalism"?
Mr Farage roundly lambasted President Obama for traveling to the UK in advance of the Brexit vote and suggesting to people that leaving the EU was a very bad idea. Keep yourself out of our politics, bleated Farage. Your intrusion is not appreciated and our referendum is not your business, he bloviated.
Now Farage actively stumps for one of the Presidential candidates on the campaign trial.
I guess hypocrisy is part of the rightist genome on both sides of the Atlantic.
Now Farage actively stumps for one of the Presidential candidates on the campaign trial.
I guess hypocrisy is part of the rightist genome on both sides of the Atlantic.
27
Turnabout is fair play. Obama started it.
Except he didn't actually endorse Trump. He told voters who not to vote for.
Right. Appearing at a Trump rally and telling the crowd NOT to vote for the Trump's opponent is totally not endorsing Trump.
Sure, stick with that story if you want.
Sure, stick with that story if you want.
2
The rich people take all the money and pay you nothing, so who do you blame? The brown people. With 5% unemployment it would seem that we do not have a shortage of jobs; the problem is that the jobs don't pay. "Good" manufacturing jobs don't pay well either, so this talk of bringing back those jobs will change nothing. People don't get paid enough for what they do, and the guys on top get paid way more than they're worth. The only way to fix that is to force them to pay you more.
Instead, blame the brown people, who are even more underpaid than you are. White males, especially white male southerners, are suckers, they've been that way ever since their ancestors agreed to get slaughtered defending the right of the rich people of their day to pay their workers no wages at all.
Sincerely,
a white male southerner.
Instead, blame the brown people, who are even more underpaid than you are. White males, especially white male southerners, are suckers, they've been that way ever since their ancestors agreed to get slaughtered defending the right of the rich people of their day to pay their workers no wages at all.
Sincerely,
a white male southerner.
183
This should be THE top comment!
2
We took the Africans lives and freedom and gave them religion. We took the Southerners economy and gave them Jim Crow. Who are the We? We are the rich.
1
What Cohen does, and what the other commentators of the NYtimes (who are stuck with a dem Vs republican viewpoint) is point out simply that populists have risen in europe and hence the traditional republican Vs dem blame game can't be valid. Now I fully subscribe to the view of this Op ed, and for those reading outside of most mainstream media outlets Cohen's view is just about the only one that best describes current events, and in fact I have used this view (a neoliberal establishment) in order to predict furure events with great accuracy. I've eve written on thse very web pages that it's much easier to understand things if one adopts cohen's view.
I've pushed this view for years, and like many posters here and on the social media I use they can't step outside of the Left Vs right view.
If you could only guess how long I've attempted to make Krugman get it. He can't. But I welcome cohen's perspective and it's a perspective that should appear on these pages in addition to the old, tired, and outdated republican Vs democrat view
I've pushed this view for years, and like many posters here and on the social media I use they can't step outside of the Left Vs right view.
If you could only guess how long I've attempted to make Krugman get it. He can't. But I welcome cohen's perspective and it's a perspective that should appear on these pages in addition to the old, tired, and outdated republican Vs democrat view
1
What can we do when so much of the population thinks that they want chaos? If they were to get chaos, they would not like it so much.
8
Chaos, as you define it, is "always" a chapter in history. In the late 1960's, if you were being forced to go to South Viet Nam, to a war you didn't believe in, a war in which your nation was not threatened, and, an unwinnable war, that, to you, was Chaos. The United States has, in differing variations. continued this type of conduct since the early 20th Century. Now, as identified in this excellent article by Cohen, a large segment of our nation's populace appears to be determined to take a different course. Historically, this group has been the foundation of the country. Advocates of nationalism, as opposed to those in our nation that subscribe to globalism, seem to be in a "political death grip". But take heed, the international community doesn't want your assistance, they want to take your place. As you disembark to assist in "nation-building", they want to embark to take your place in your nation.
what the world needs now is fundamental change and the longer it takes to get it, the more chaos will result. Just ask Marie Antoinette how that worked out in France.
People who feel they have little or nothing to lose don't mind taking the risk of chaos. Of course the longer you keep unsustainable system the larger the risk of chaos when it breaks. Plus if you understand psychology you know how people view fairness. they will take the loss if they think something is too unfair.
the natural outcome of our neoliberal system is the oligarchy gilens proved exists in the USA
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/is-america-an-oligarchy
Knowing such means you have to know the system is unstable. The real question is how the change from neoliberalism is managed. But sadly the neoliberal establishment has a lot to lose and hence is likely to drive the chaos you describe attempting to preserve the current system
the natural outcome of our neoliberal system is the oligarchy gilens proved exists in the USA
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/is-america-an-oligarchy
Knowing such means you have to know the system is unstable. The real question is how the change from neoliberalism is managed. But sadly the neoliberal establishment has a lot to lose and hence is likely to drive the chaos you describe attempting to preserve the current system
The dynastic ambitions of the Clintons did not allow the Democratic Party to groom a proper successor to Obama. That will reflect on the party for decades. On the other hand the GOP got caught up in the dynastic ambitions of the Bush family and see what happened. The party was gripped in a downward spiral. Whatever the causes American democracy's vibrancy depends upon the emergence of dynamic new faces that have the country's best interest at heart and not their party's base narrow focus.
6
Obama is a neoliberal, when folks voted for hope and change they in fact thought they were voting for someone who isn't neoliberal even if they did not know the terminology.
I've watched Farage and UKIP for years and wondered when we would get a franchise in ending the poisonous ruination of the USA by the Globalist Bankers and those who enrich themselves at the expense of the working class.
A true third party would hire Mr. Farage to be a consultant and organize it along UKIP's line. Never mind the phony Libertarians and Green parties which only suck away votes and spin their wheels but one that will put a true fear into the twin dinosaurs with their faked fight every four years. It is long time past to kick out the Globalists and their one way diversity campaign.
A true third party would hire Mr. Farage to be a consultant and organize it along UKIP's line. Never mind the phony Libertarians and Green parties which only suck away votes and spin their wheels but one that will put a true fear into the twin dinosaurs with their faked fight every four years. It is long time past to kick out the Globalists and their one way diversity campaign.
2
Farage lied through his teeth, claiming that UK paid the EU 350,000 pounds a week to belong, and that if they left, that money would go to the National Health Service. As soon as the election was over, he quit the party, and said sure, he lied - the UK doesn't send that much to the EU, and yeah, they get a lot back, like farm subsidies. So what? He also said he didn't expect Brexit to pass. He took an immediate powder so he wouldn't have to deal with the fallout, which will be plenty, if the UK goes through with it. And then he dares come here and lie to us as well. Great place to do so - I doubt many people in Mississippi have even heard of Brexit. I noticed the people standing behind Farage as he was speaking were looking at cell phones and paying no attention to him.
2
Cohen: "against seemingly uncontrolled immigration"
No uncontrolled immigration. Obama is so blatant with his bread and circus politics and attempt to get large numbers of poor people (who he believes will vote Democratic) that his administration has told illegal entrants how to elude what little immigration enforcement there is. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/02/border-patrols-website-offers-advic... Also, Obama lies about deportations, calling border apprehensions deportations and then trumpeting false numbers about how he has increased deportations. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/02/border-patrols-website-offers-advic...
JD
No uncontrolled immigration. Obama is so blatant with his bread and circus politics and attempt to get large numbers of poor people (who he believes will vote Democratic) that his administration has told illegal entrants how to elude what little immigration enforcement there is. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/02/border-patrols-website-offers-advic... Also, Obama lies about deportations, calling border apprehensions deportations and then trumpeting false numbers about how he has increased deportations. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/02/border-patrols-website-offers-advic...
JD
1
Wow. As I read your "facts" I was certain of their source before I arrived at your citations. And that, my friend, says it all.
2
What was on display (thanks to the reporting of Rachel Maddow) was the international coming together of the white supremacy movement. A little scratching will likely reveal the hand of one Robert Mercer at play in bring Farage to Mississippi. These billionaires that have fattened on our turn to the cruelest form of capitalism are ageing and no longer content to die gout bloated in their counting rooms. They now what movements that bare their twisted views and king-like power before they have to relinquish their control to their undeserving progeny. Kelleyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Farage and now Trump are just members of some baron's company team, and he wants to win before he dies.
8
It might be noted that the media and their pollsters predicted a landslide for "stay". Didn't workout that way did it "City"(their Wall Street). Nor did the predictions the economy would collapse. Some of Londons real estate dropped a tad but that's a good thing, if it fell another ninety percent a working class native Brit might actually be able to afford a place to live. Sorry Roger but the "little people have spoken" across the pond, it remains to be see if their cries are heard here, they've been falling on deaf ears since the sixties.
2
The "little people" were lied to, and many were not happy to learn that after the vote. It will take years for the UK to actually leave the EU, and there will be many negotiations on trade and other issues before that happens. It's not over, and the effects will not be wholly felt until the deed is actually done. The pound remains at the lowest in 30 years - which means it's a good time for us to visit the UK. It also means that goods are going to cost Brits more.
If there's interest in the truth re: Brexit, here's a site that lays it all out. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
If there's interest in the truth re: Brexit, here's a site that lays it all out. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
1
That tired misconception again. The polls were deadlocked on the eve. Leave was ahead until Remain drew even over the last week or so. But, go on believing your stories...
1
No wonder Trump likes Farage. EU policies do not allow individual governments to subsidize multi-nationals by giving them "sweetheart deals" on taxes.
How long would Trump last without his dependence on tax breaks?
By the way, where are those tax records?
How long would Trump last without his dependence on tax breaks?
By the way, where are those tax records?
70
The problem is polarization.
We have let people demonize others for way too long.
The GOP needs to look deep into themselves to ask why they have demonized pres. Obama and the Clintons. This really is really bad.
Maybe the Democrats have does the same, but it seems to me that Pres. George W. has got away very lightly considering all the damage that his presidency had done to the country.
The Republicans have practiced the politics of negatively for a long time. To some extent the Democrats have had to re4spond fore their own protection.
T. have taken this to a new high. This must be repudiated right now. Hillary is not a pathological liar, T. is. Hilary does not put the security of the nation at rick. T does.
The Republican establishment needs to understand that they have put the nation at risk by encouraging this polarization, take its medicine by reversing its course.
We have let people demonize others for way too long.
The GOP needs to look deep into themselves to ask why they have demonized pres. Obama and the Clintons. This really is really bad.
Maybe the Democrats have does the same, but it seems to me that Pres. George W. has got away very lightly considering all the damage that his presidency had done to the country.
The Republicans have practiced the politics of negatively for a long time. To some extent the Democrats have had to re4spond fore their own protection.
T. have taken this to a new high. This must be repudiated right now. Hillary is not a pathological liar, T. is. Hilary does not put the security of the nation at rick. T does.
The Republican establishment needs to understand that they have put the nation at risk by encouraging this polarization, take its medicine by reversing its course.
8
"Of course, those political movements also produced great prosperity and optimism in their moment."
Prosperity to whom and at what cost? To the political power class and by growing national debts?
Federation only grows the Tragedy of the Commons; it obfuscates accountability to the benefit of the power class - layers upon layers of politics. Have we completely forgotten the wise words of Tip O'Neill, "All politics is local"?
The Americans, like the Brits, are sick and tired of bleeding economic value to other nations. Welcome to the backlash.
Prosperity to whom and at what cost? To the political power class and by growing national debts?
Federation only grows the Tragedy of the Commons; it obfuscates accountability to the benefit of the power class - layers upon layers of politics. Have we completely forgotten the wise words of Tip O'Neill, "All politics is local"?
The Americans, like the Brits, are sick and tired of bleeding economic value to other nations. Welcome to the backlash.
1
How to make a point and then refute it.
As done here by Mr. Cohen. He quotes Mr. Farage: “if the ordinary decent people are prepared to stand up and fight for what they believe in, we can overcome the big banks, we can overcome the multinationals.”
Mr. Cohen immediately follows this by saying: “They are politicians delivering ugly messages — explicit and implicit. Theirs is the last hate-filled stand of the white man in societies that globalization has irrevocably changed in composition and color.”
Really? Strange conclusion given that earlier in the article, Mr. Cohen refers to “the bankers who emerged with impunity from the 2008 financial meltdown”
I’m getting nervous that this is another article praising Trump’s supporters for expressing their displeasure at the way the economic dice has been rolled against them, praising them for having a voice but then belittling them because they are anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican drug cartels.
As done here by Mr. Cohen. He quotes Mr. Farage: “if the ordinary decent people are prepared to stand up and fight for what they believe in, we can overcome the big banks, we can overcome the multinationals.”
Mr. Cohen immediately follows this by saying: “They are politicians delivering ugly messages — explicit and implicit. Theirs is the last hate-filled stand of the white man in societies that globalization has irrevocably changed in composition and color.”
Really? Strange conclusion given that earlier in the article, Mr. Cohen refers to “the bankers who emerged with impunity from the 2008 financial meltdown”
I’m getting nervous that this is another article praising Trump’s supporters for expressing their displeasure at the way the economic dice has been rolled against them, praising them for having a voice but then belittling them because they are anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican drug cartels.
1
I read no praising trump supporters, you are just seeing something that isn't there. This happens so often. You're reacting with emotion and not actually reading what's written
The median income in the United States is about 50K-- for a putative four member household--if two adults, both working fulltime.
Of course if you are in a much higher percentile of personal income---say a senator, congressmen, tenured professor, hollywood mogul or actor, nyt pundit, nobel prize winner, one of the thirty percent of Americans that have college degree, or the more discrete percentage with post graduate degrees and professional status and security--- Urbane, sophisticated, prosperous in the Globalized Wondrous Billionaire Economy---yeah, why not elect another neo-liberal bought and paid for DINO---Democrat in Name only----
But for the eighty percent of Americans who are economically insecure, living paycheck to paycheck with the illusion of car leases, credit cards and equity loans, and the burden of onerous student loans and no job prospects---- a choice between the Donald and Bubba's wife?--- Might explain why Trump is only a few points behind despite all his gaffes and blustering blunders. This is an "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!" election. And Trump maybe they way the disgusted and frightened peeps flip the finger to the whole hideously rigged "system" that's not working for them.
Of course if you are in a much higher percentile of personal income---say a senator, congressmen, tenured professor, hollywood mogul or actor, nyt pundit, nobel prize winner, one of the thirty percent of Americans that have college degree, or the more discrete percentage with post graduate degrees and professional status and security--- Urbane, sophisticated, prosperous in the Globalized Wondrous Billionaire Economy---yeah, why not elect another neo-liberal bought and paid for DINO---Democrat in Name only----
But for the eighty percent of Americans who are economically insecure, living paycheck to paycheck with the illusion of car leases, credit cards and equity loans, and the burden of onerous student loans and no job prospects---- a choice between the Donald and Bubba's wife?--- Might explain why Trump is only a few points behind despite all his gaffes and blustering blunders. This is an "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!" election. And Trump maybe they way the disgusted and frightened peeps flip the finger to the whole hideously rigged "system" that's not working for them.
2
Sorry, I just don't buy it. All of us voters are responsible for our choices, and whether its Trump and the disaster he'd be, or Reagan, the champion of tax cuts (because cutting your income is the best way to pay your bills!), we've put these people into positions of authority over us. Stop looking for a savior, and be responsible enough to seriously think about what you're doing when you vote. Stop voting out of party loyalty or the con man who's trying to convince you that destroying everything will magically create something new and better.
1
I don't want to be too sanguine. Trump could win. A 20% chance isn't 0.
But, referenda are different from elections. First, in an election, most people have habits. One is a Democrat or a Republican and tends to vote that way. The demographics and the results of the last 2 elections say that all things being equal there are more habitual Democrats than Republicans right now. In a referendum there are no habitual Yes or No voters-each one is unique.
Second, the personalities count less in a referendum. Voting Leave didn't require that one want Farage as Prime Minister. In fact, the new PM, Theresa May, was on the Remain side. On the other hand, voting Trump means you have to listen to his nonsense for the next 4 years and put his finger on the nuclear button. And you can't really know what he would do if elected (I doubt he knows). Even some who might agree with him on some issues will be and should be leery.
But, referenda are different from elections. First, in an election, most people have habits. One is a Democrat or a Republican and tends to vote that way. The demographics and the results of the last 2 elections say that all things being equal there are more habitual Democrats than Republicans right now. In a referendum there are no habitual Yes or No voters-each one is unique.
Second, the personalities count less in a referendum. Voting Leave didn't require that one want Farage as Prime Minister. In fact, the new PM, Theresa May, was on the Remain side. On the other hand, voting Trump means you have to listen to his nonsense for the next 4 years and put his finger on the nuclear button. And you can't really know what he would do if elected (I doubt he knows). Even some who might agree with him on some issues will be and should be leery.
8
It was a testament to the wisdom and decency of the young people of Britain that they did not fall for the anti-immigrant nativism of Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson. We should trust in our young adults in America to see through the false populism of Donald Trump.
As far as the older, less educated Americans who form the core of Trump supporters, we can only hope that a number of them are beginning to sense that the disruption of Trump is more destructive than cleansing.
They need to be convinced that in many cases their jobs were lost to automation, not to immigrants and not even shipped overseas to be done in Asia. While that may be small comfort to someone who is now unemployed or underemployed, it can best be ameliorated by the party and candidates committed to education.
Immigrants coming to the United States tend to fall into two categories. There are those who begin by doing menial jobs which Americans are unwilling to do, and there are those with good technical educations, who fill jobs which insufficient numbers of Americans are qualified to do.
The xenophobic ranting of Trump and his new friend, Nigel Farage, offers no real solutions.
As far as the older, less educated Americans who form the core of Trump supporters, we can only hope that a number of them are beginning to sense that the disruption of Trump is more destructive than cleansing.
They need to be convinced that in many cases their jobs were lost to automation, not to immigrants and not even shipped overseas to be done in Asia. While that may be small comfort to someone who is now unemployed or underemployed, it can best be ameliorated by the party and candidates committed to education.
Immigrants coming to the United States tend to fall into two categories. There are those who begin by doing menial jobs which Americans are unwilling to do, and there are those with good technical educations, who fill jobs which insufficient numbers of Americans are qualified to do.
The xenophobic ranting of Trump and his new friend, Nigel Farage, offers no real solutions.
5
Joseph Stiglitz is far from right wing or xenophobic, and while I loath those traits in Trump stiglitz makes a point that the left should acknowledge
And yet, while many might deny it, an increase in the supply of low-skill labor leads – so long as there are normal downward-sloping demand curves – to lower equilibrium wages.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/brexit-future-of-advanced-e...
There is a reason the chamber of commerce want's an amnesty program, and it's not because of their humanitarian views. As a liberal I advise that when your views align with the chamber of commerce do more research and look more deeply.
As stiglitz says
On both sides of the English Channel, politics should now be directed at understanding how, in a democracy, the political establishment could have done so little to address the concerns of so many citizens. Every EU government must now regard improving ordinary citizens’ wellbeing as its primary goal. More neoliberal ideology won’t help
and angus deaton
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/globalization-hurts-poor-in...
And yet, while many might deny it, an increase in the supply of low-skill labor leads – so long as there are normal downward-sloping demand curves – to lower equilibrium wages.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/brexit-future-of-advanced-e...
There is a reason the chamber of commerce want's an amnesty program, and it's not because of their humanitarian views. As a liberal I advise that when your views align with the chamber of commerce do more research and look more deeply.
As stiglitz says
On both sides of the English Channel, politics should now be directed at understanding how, in a democracy, the political establishment could have done so little to address the concerns of so many citizens. Every EU government must now regard improving ordinary citizens’ wellbeing as its primary goal. More neoliberal ideology won’t help
and angus deaton
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/globalization-hurts-poor-in...
1
I think, dcb, that Joseph Stiglitz would be upset to learn that his views are being touted as supportive of Nigel Farage and, by extension, Donald Trump.
Stiglitz, to my knowledge, has never said that America should close its borders and expel recent immigrants. His specialty is the study of wealth inequality, and I doubt he would be opposed to raising income taxes on the top 2% or 4% in the United States, with the new revenues going straight to the poor or near-poor and to small businesses.
Stiglitz, to my knowledge, has never said that America should close its borders and expel recent immigrants. His specialty is the study of wealth inequality, and I doubt he would be opposed to raising income taxes on the top 2% or 4% in the United States, with the new revenues going straight to the poor or near-poor and to small businesses.
The second half of Cohen's article is basically a diatribe against Trump, which, unfortunately, basically misses the point. Whether you like Trump or not, he is the only one who is trying to reach out to and speak for the large number of people who feel they have been adversely impacted by globalization. They feel disenfranchised and without a voice and that no one cares about them and their plight and that nothing will change. Trump gives them hope. Whether these people are white males or not is essentially irrelevant. We cannot ignore them any more than we can ignore our black citizens or others. More important, this is probably a much larger group of people than anyone can imagine, because it includes people who may not be directly impacted by globalization but who feel they are accomplishing far less than they should because of it.
We are a representative democracy. When our elected representatives ignore our wishes, we have the right to change them regardless of whether our elected representatives like it or not. Too often these days in this ultraliberal society we now live in, our elected representatives believe they know more than the people they represent and are, thus, free to disregard their wishes. It is the other way around. Our elected representatives need to understand the wishes of those who elect them and follow those wishes. That is what happened with Brexit and it may also be what happens here in November.
We are a representative democracy. When our elected representatives ignore our wishes, we have the right to change them regardless of whether our elected representatives like it or not. Too often these days in this ultraliberal society we now live in, our elected representatives believe they know more than the people they represent and are, thus, free to disregard their wishes. It is the other way around. Our elected representatives need to understand the wishes of those who elect them and follow those wishes. That is what happened with Brexit and it may also be what happens here in November.
1
If you think we live in an ultra liberal society you don't understand what neoliberalism is. I suggest you do a lot of reading
this part you get correctly:
We are a representative democracy. When our elected representatives ignore our wishes, we have the right to change them regardless of whether our elected representatives like it or not.
There really isn't anything "liberal" about neoliberal, and it fits outside of what you'd call the social issues which both parties focus upon. You can be a social conservative or ultraliberal neoliberal. the neoliberal consensus has been adopted by the establishment of both parties
Wendy Brown: How Neoliberalism Threatens Democracy
https://www.ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/wendy-brown-...
please note she gets to the point towards the end
this part you get correctly:
We are a representative democracy. When our elected representatives ignore our wishes, we have the right to change them regardless of whether our elected representatives like it or not.
There really isn't anything "liberal" about neoliberal, and it fits outside of what you'd call the social issues which both parties focus upon. You can be a social conservative or ultraliberal neoliberal. the neoliberal consensus has been adopted by the establishment of both parties
Wendy Brown: How Neoliberalism Threatens Democracy
https://www.ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/wendy-brown-...
please note she gets to the point towards the end
1
The last time "average citizens" got together in outrage to demand change was the Tea Party movement in 2010 - and consider the results.
The problem is not outrage, it is uninformed outrage. Consider Brexit - first the vote, then, "Wait - what exactly IS the EU?" In both England and the US, the populace is uninformed to the extent that the mob is demanding the guillotine for everyone in government without making the faintest attempt to determine who is doing their jobs well and who is not. Rather than due diligence followed by informed decisions, we are demanding quick and simple solutions.
We're a nation of couch potatoes, reaching for the remote to change channels. We have concluded that government is just like television: easy, 2 second solutions are always available.
Probably not what our founding fathers envisioned.
The problem is not outrage, it is uninformed outrage. Consider Brexit - first the vote, then, "Wait - what exactly IS the EU?" In both England and the US, the populace is uninformed to the extent that the mob is demanding the guillotine for everyone in government without making the faintest attempt to determine who is doing their jobs well and who is not. Rather than due diligence followed by informed decisions, we are demanding quick and simple solutions.
We're a nation of couch potatoes, reaching for the remote to change channels. We have concluded that government is just like television: easy, 2 second solutions are always available.
Probably not what our founding fathers envisioned.
8
Trump showed his real colors when he invited Farage on stage. Birds of a feather, I suppose. But Roger doesn't have a real grasp of what’s happening. The Brexit vote was taken in the UK, and not just Britain. There were important differences in the results across the regions. (Referring to the UK as a "nation" is gauche. Ask the people of Glasgow or Strabane.) It wasn't just the people of London or large conurbations who voted Stay: Ask the people of Enniskillen.
Globalization began over a century ago, not in the 1990s. What happened then was outsourcing of jobs. Some of the outsourcing was internal. Southern governments (e.g., AL, KY, NC, TN, TX) in America’s regions of lowest incomes and lowest educational attainment lured car-makers and parts-makers with sweet tax and no-union deals. Caddie, Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Volvo, Chinese makers… cars and parts and tires… Trump is more likely to rail against the move of GM to Mexico than against the denuding of Detroit.
And the “mood of popular revolt?” Since the Brexit vote, the UK government has floundered and hasn’t been helped by Labour. There is no popular revolt. Farage had stoked racism and xenophobia for decades. Apart from the drop in sterling, the most remarkable aspect of England now is the increase in hate crimes against foreign-looking people, even if they were born in England.
Globalization began over a century ago, not in the 1990s. What happened then was outsourcing of jobs. Some of the outsourcing was internal. Southern governments (e.g., AL, KY, NC, TN, TX) in America’s regions of lowest incomes and lowest educational attainment lured car-makers and parts-makers with sweet tax and no-union deals. Caddie, Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Volvo, Chinese makers… cars and parts and tires… Trump is more likely to rail against the move of GM to Mexico than against the denuding of Detroit.
And the “mood of popular revolt?” Since the Brexit vote, the UK government has floundered and hasn’t been helped by Labour. There is no popular revolt. Farage had stoked racism and xenophobia for decades. Apart from the drop in sterling, the most remarkable aspect of England now is the increase in hate crimes against foreign-looking people, even if they were born in England.
9
One thing we seem to have learned from the rise of Trump is the importance of education: his appeal is low among college graduates, and extremely low among college educated women. In Britain, after Brexit, where I happened to be for a week, there were scores of interviews with people who had voted to leave, who did not know what the EU was, or what EU funding had contributed to their communities: roads, schools, hospitals, and so on. Universities have been quite good at recruiting students from the inner cities (often students of color who have turned the spotlight on racism particularly at elite colleges) but have not as heavily recruited students from rural America, whose families are part of the demographic to whom Trump appeals: white Americans without college degrees who feel they have been marginalized. Perhaps as we go forward, with lessons learned from this election, colleges and universities can turn their attention to the generation of children whose parents feel that they have been left behind.
5
What nobody ever mentions is that so many of our factories and the products made in them became obsolete and that the management did not have the knowhow or capital to convert to new products and methods.
We managed to do this with automobiles but Detroit and its neighboring manufacturing cities and state were left with many empty buildings as plants were built by foreign companies across the mid-Atlantic and south that then employed a whole new set of workers and techniques.
The daisy wheel printer and word processor are gone as are the old purely mechanical/electrical washing machine.
All of this was the second industrial revolution but no one calls it that.
That's the problem. We now need a third industrial revolution and people running the show are stuck in the inertia and management style and know how of the second one.
Our government needs to seed the R&D for new kinds of air transportation moonshots, Interstate systems, Internet transmission, health delivery systems, housing, food production, energy conservation, and countermeasures to climate change.
Let's ask these kinds of questions in the debates.
We managed to do this with automobiles but Detroit and its neighboring manufacturing cities and state were left with many empty buildings as plants were built by foreign companies across the mid-Atlantic and south that then employed a whole new set of workers and techniques.
The daisy wheel printer and word processor are gone as are the old purely mechanical/electrical washing machine.
All of this was the second industrial revolution but no one calls it that.
That's the problem. We now need a third industrial revolution and people running the show are stuck in the inertia and management style and know how of the second one.
Our government needs to seed the R&D for new kinds of air transportation moonshots, Interstate systems, Internet transmission, health delivery systems, housing, food production, energy conservation, and countermeasures to climate change.
Let's ask these kinds of questions in the debates.
8
It's infuriating that there seems to be a "mood of popular revolt" among middle class conservatives. against the very things conservatives have always fostered.
Bankers? Wall Street? Higher profits (from using workers overseas who will work for a pittance)? A mechanized, globalized economy, with all the growth potential and tax shelter you could ask for? Freedom from government interference? These are the pillars of conservative, capitalist thought. Jobs are inevitably lost as pro-growth, profit-first innovations are pursued, and new ones are created.
So what's the reaction really against? On one level conservatives are just co-opting the anger among liberals and moderates over government dysfunction as Congressional Republicans fight to block all things Obama. And there has to be a lot of deep, anxious humiliation that W, a President they loved, committed the atrocity of the Iraq war and shattered the Middle East. And steps taken against global warming and to advance tolerance under Obama have pained this huge anti-science, bigoted voting block.
So immigrants to the U.S. are equated to the refugees flooding into Europe, and all the hate and shame frustration are directed to the "other". Freedom from control, but not for women, gays, and ethnic minorities.
Incoherence based on ignorance, greed and anger.
Bankers? Wall Street? Higher profits (from using workers overseas who will work for a pittance)? A mechanized, globalized economy, with all the growth potential and tax shelter you could ask for? Freedom from government interference? These are the pillars of conservative, capitalist thought. Jobs are inevitably lost as pro-growth, profit-first innovations are pursued, and new ones are created.
So what's the reaction really against? On one level conservatives are just co-opting the anger among liberals and moderates over government dysfunction as Congressional Republicans fight to block all things Obama. And there has to be a lot of deep, anxious humiliation that W, a President they loved, committed the atrocity of the Iraq war and shattered the Middle East. And steps taken against global warming and to advance tolerance under Obama have pained this huge anti-science, bigoted voting block.
So immigrants to the U.S. are equated to the refugees flooding into Europe, and all the hate and shame frustration are directed to the "other". Freedom from control, but not for women, gays, and ethnic minorities.
Incoherence based on ignorance, greed and anger.
6
CONGRATULATIONS, it's taken long enough but someone at the nytimes starts to understand what's going on. God knows how many years of writing to the editor it took for the op ed writers to get there.
The question has to be if clinton wins does she understand that and will help in the transition, or will she fight it and hence the rupture will be worse later on.
I think based upon all available evidence she will resist the end of neoliberalism and ultimately make things worse. If you worry about Trump, then start to worry even more at what's after trump if clinton refuses to push for the needed reforms.
it's not a time for incrementalism.
But Clinon being a bought and paid for creature of the establishment I am deeply worried about the prospect of civil unrest if the establishment refuses to move past neoliberalism
The question has to be if clinton wins does she understand that and will help in the transition, or will she fight it and hence the rupture will be worse later on.
I think based upon all available evidence she will resist the end of neoliberalism and ultimately make things worse. If you worry about Trump, then start to worry even more at what's after trump if clinton refuses to push for the needed reforms.
it's not a time for incrementalism.
But Clinon being a bought and paid for creature of the establishment I am deeply worried about the prospect of civil unrest if the establishment refuses to move past neoliberalism
2
In fact when frank rich was at the NYtimes I wrote him (knowing we needed to change our paradigm) you could reasonably predict the rise of trump like people.
1
Let's get real here, ladies and gentlemen. Donald Trump is not going to win the election in November. As much as the media would like a close race and as much as there are people who always believe the sky is falling and that anything could happen, one thing that will not happen is a Trump victory. The problem is Trump himself. The longer he's in the spotlight the more evidence we see that the man is unstable and completely unfit to hold any office. It's simply a question of how decisive his landslide loss will be. His whole campaign is a joke, and the butt of the joke is the Republican Party.
44
Don't be so self-confident about this, because you may be unpleasantly surprised. Nate Silver's 538 data shows that Clinton's probability of winning has slipped by 10 percentage points within the last few days. While still very large in her favour, the results are fickle because the voters are fickle and the sizes of the marginal shifts needed to swing blocs of Electorial College votes are small, giving the fickleness amongst a small percentage of voters a lot of leverage. I would watch the dynamics and get very nervous when I see such large changes over such a short period of time - there remains more than two months to go and shoes to drop over the contents of Clinton's emails, not to speak of how many people with very short memories and wishful thinking will forget the real Trump we have seen and adopt the fake Trump his handlers are desperately trying to refashion. Time-tested maxim holds true in politics: "It ain't over till it's over".
Sounds a lot like what the Remain faction was saying just before Brexit.
1
Ever hear the old saying, "You cut off your nose to spite your face"? Its been around for a long time for a reason.
This piece, sadly, buys into a situation that media created. Then it
goes on to legitimize it by adding conjured detail and analysis.
Voter ignorance is what these things are about, not actual
policy thought.
goes on to legitimize it by adding conjured detail and analysis.
Voter ignorance is what these things are about, not actual
policy thought.
29
Indeed, this is our reality now. Thank you for articulating it so plainly. It makes me sad, once again, that Benrie Sanders is not our candidate, for he certainly challenged the neo liberal establshment with a much needed progressive agenda that addressed the disenfranchisement that so many Americans feel.
My hope is that Hillary will concentrate on what she brings to the Presidency that will truly address this phenonmena and leave the Trump trashing/bashing to others. Take the high road, Hillary, and tell us, show us, with passion and eloquence, why we should vote for you and aoivd our own version of Brexit.
My hope is that Hillary will concentrate on what she brings to the Presidency that will truly address this phenonmena and leave the Trump trashing/bashing to others. Take the high road, Hillary, and tell us, show us, with passion and eloquence, why we should vote for you and aoivd our own version of Brexit.
15
Farage did not alienated more than half of the population of England.Did not make the campaign a pile up of slurs but lied to the Englishman and as soon got the Brexit pulled himself from the political scene as delivering was and is not in his plans.
Trump using the same feelings in the working class is mixing it with all kind of slurs lies and exclusion.The same people like the circus but he has nothing to deliver.He is unable to put together a plan.He has not mental discipline.
He is what can be called a charlatan.
Trump using the same feelings in the working class is mixing it with all kind of slurs lies and exclusion.The same people like the circus but he has nothing to deliver.He is unable to put together a plan.He has not mental discipline.
He is what can be called a charlatan.
15
Yes, and just as Brittain woke up with a hangover the morning after, saying, "I did what last night? Is this real life?" the US may wake up to find King Trump on the throne.
It's becoming clear that, despite all the talk of the death of the GOP, the real story of 2016 may be a historic Democratic failure, with Wasserman to blame. For when the tides turned, and the ship capsized, Democrats jumped in with Hillary, the Olympic swimmer weighed down with scandal. Wasserman blew off Bernie as just some old guy in a raft. And the other raft? Full of desperate people who could care less that it is piloted by a narcissistic clown.
It's becoming clear that, despite all the talk of the death of the GOP, the real story of 2016 may be a historic Democratic failure, with Wasserman to blame. For when the tides turned, and the ship capsized, Democrats jumped in with Hillary, the Olympic swimmer weighed down with scandal. Wasserman blew off Bernie as just some old guy in a raft. And the other raft? Full of desperate people who could care less that it is piloted by a narcissistic clown.
7
Trump is the middle class white man's last best hope to defeat the once inexorable forces of the globalist elite. He declares himself the best person capable of doing this because he has been a member in good standing of the globalist elite -- exporting jobs to low-wage countries, building eponymous edifices all over the world glorifying his status. Now Trump says he wants to work to destroy the forces that enabled him to become a self-professed multi-billionaire. So why not give him the chance to do it? The "good" jobs are gone. The country is being run for the benefit of the 1%. America is supposedly being overrun by immigrants and is in imminent danger of succumbing to non-white power as the exploitation of middle class white men accelerates. As Trump says, what have you got to lose? Maybe Hillary has an answer to that. Maybe not.
2
Trump "has been a member in good standing of the globalist elite -- exporting jobs to low-wage countries, building eponymous edifices all over the world glorifying his status. Now Trump says he wants to work to destroy the forces that enabled him to become a self-professed multi-billionaire."
Trump has done nothing to date but talk about destroying the forces that have enabled him to become wealthy. At what point do you think we should expect him to put his money where his mouth is and start hiring Americans to manufacture his products in factories in the United States?
Trump has done nothing to date but talk about destroying the forces that have enabled him to become wealthy. At what point do you think we should expect him to put his money where his mouth is and start hiring Americans to manufacture his products in factories in the United States?
1
If you "look" "Mexican" or "Muslim, you loose the freedom to walk the streets without having to prove you're a citizen. I personally would wonder who is next on the hit list. Mormons? Jews? Women will lose the right to be treated seriously, unless they are "hot". The man is a serious danger to our social fabric, and should not be allowed anywhere near the oval office.
1
Much punditry here about a "popular insurrection against the status quo". But no mention of the fact that the brexiters weren't rebelling at all. Instead, they were slavishly following the massive anti-EU propaganda they had imbibed for years from the British counterpart of Fox News. Problem is, the pundits tend not to read the screaming, hate-filled British tabloids, so their analyses miss a lot.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
9
"One way to view Trump is that only his personal failings . . . stand in the way of his emerging as the logical victor in an anti-status quo, pro-change election that produced in Bernie Sanders the other political phenomenon of 2016."
The difference between Trump and Bernie Sanders is that Sanders championed a way back to prosperity and democracy for all the citizens of the United States with his advocacy for universal health care, campaign finance reform, a desperately needed infrastructure program to bring millions of jobs, a tuition-free public college education for those who wanted it for their future, fair trade agreements, fighting global warming, etc.
Now, look what are our two remaining choices: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. A much greater proportion than half do not trust either of these two remaining candidates for President, and rightfully so. Bernie Sanders was trusted by nearly all of the people. If it were not for the vast majority of the Democratic Party superdelegates supporting Hillary Clinton before the first primary vote had been cast ("dynastic entitlement" as the author of this piece phrases it), Bernie Sanders might have had a fair chance to win the Democratic Party nomination for President and then he would have easily defeated Trump.
The difference between Trump and Bernie Sanders is that Sanders championed a way back to prosperity and democracy for all the citizens of the United States with his advocacy for universal health care, campaign finance reform, a desperately needed infrastructure program to bring millions of jobs, a tuition-free public college education for those who wanted it for their future, fair trade agreements, fighting global warming, etc.
Now, look what are our two remaining choices: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. A much greater proportion than half do not trust either of these two remaining candidates for President, and rightfully so. Bernie Sanders was trusted by nearly all of the people. If it were not for the vast majority of the Democratic Party superdelegates supporting Hillary Clinton before the first primary vote had been cast ("dynastic entitlement" as the author of this piece phrases it), Bernie Sanders might have had a fair chance to win the Democratic Party nomination for President and then he would have easily defeated Trump.
9
Well, Hillary did win the primary by almost 4 million votes, so I'm not sure why Sander's supporters still think she 'stole' the show. Also, I'm not sure it's true that Sanders is (was) 'trusted by all the people'. I, for one, did not think him qualified and after his un- truth about being 'invited' to visit the Pope, felt him to be as wiling as anyone to stretch a good story for his own benefit. The possibility that he could have 'easily defeated Trump', is highly debatable.
1
reply to monheganmike
I should like to point out that you misquoted me, presumably on purpose. I wrote: "Bernie Sanders was trusted by nearly all of the people." And, you wrote:" I'm not sure it's true that Sanders is (was) 'trusted by all the people'."
The distinction between "nearly all" and "all" makes allowance for people like you.
By the way, do you trust Hillary Clinton? You don't say.
I should like to point out that you misquoted me, presumably on purpose. I wrote: "Bernie Sanders was trusted by nearly all of the people." And, you wrote:" I'm not sure it's true that Sanders is (was) 'trusted by all the people'."
The distinction between "nearly all" and "all" makes allowance for people like you.
By the way, do you trust Hillary Clinton? You don't say.
Tony Blair knows about as much about me as I do about him, except that Cohen groups him with Bill Clinton as a globalization champion and Uber neo- something, but I sure I may not be alone. Ah there is my take: what do hill and the Donald have that attracts? Is it that their supporters feel a little less like Me. Rigby of the Beatles song? The rise of refugees, those not so much lonely, but truly alone, when it comes to making their way (jobs),people is a larger if not exactly wild card in our world.
3
Why is this Brit interfering in our election?
Trump has no ideas; all he has done is offer vague solutions to make-believe problems. He claims our country is overrun by murderous foreigners, that it has descended into rampant lawlessness. So he trots out a guy with a proper British accent to mouth the same empty rhetoric.
Next, I expect he will book a Putin surrogate to reinforce his views on foreign policy.
Trump has no ideas; all he has done is offer vague solutions to make-believe problems. He claims our country is overrun by murderous foreigners, that it has descended into rampant lawlessness. So he trots out a guy with a proper British accent to mouth the same empty rhetoric.
Next, I expect he will book a Putin surrogate to reinforce his views on foreign policy.
89
Most of those commenting do not seem to have understood Mr. Cohen's underlying message. Yes, Trump and Farage are repulsive in their right wing bigotry; that's a given. The message is that we who call ourselves left or liberal have sold out or, rather, been sold out. In this election, of course we now have to vote for Clinton because Trump is deranged but we have been losing our moral compass and allowing our politicians to "triangulate" for far too long. Our own Democratic leaders focus us on the damage the right wing has done so that we hardly notice that they, too, often support Neoliberal economic policies that favor Wall Street over Main Street and military adventurism that benefits the Military Industrial Complex far more than the soldiers or the country they fight and die for. If we continue to look the other way as both the lower, working, and now middle classes spiral downward, we then cede the "cure" to the right.
111
So you think it's basically a *moral* problem? You think that if politicians would just "do the right thing," everything would be okay?
Interesting point - Jackson is 79% African-American - there is not one black face behind the podium - just blonde women and white men. I thought Trump was gearing his message to black people now, or was that just last week?
8
Roger, it's time Trump seriously considers leaving this country and settle down in Nigel Farage's England after the Brexit, instead of telling Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers Quarterback to find another country because of his refusal to stand up for the National Anthem before a recent N.F.L. game.
Kaepernick definitely has a point and has more rights to stay in America than Trump and his followers.
All Colin is trying to do is open our eyes to a centuries old problem of Institutional Racism in this country which openly discriminates against the Black people and other minorities. He's just trying to hold our politicians' feet on fire unless and until they stop this total neglect of the Black bodies.
There wouldn't be any BLACK LIVES MATTER movement if there were no killings of the unarmed and totally innocent Black people.
So what Kaepernick is trying to do is a non-violent protest until the day all the racism ends in this country when as per MLK ''a person is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character."
And for that Colin sees our flag as one symbol which has failed to honor and treat each and every Americans as equal. Every Americans should honor the Flag but who gets shot at the end of the day by a White Policeman?
It's always a person of color who's not posing any threat .
Unlike Colin, I'll honor the Flag and the National Anthem when it's played but I'll also honor the courage of Kaepernick to open our eyes.
Yes Washington, we got a problem.
Kaepernick definitely has a point and has more rights to stay in America than Trump and his followers.
All Colin is trying to do is open our eyes to a centuries old problem of Institutional Racism in this country which openly discriminates against the Black people and other minorities. He's just trying to hold our politicians' feet on fire unless and until they stop this total neglect of the Black bodies.
There wouldn't be any BLACK LIVES MATTER movement if there were no killings of the unarmed and totally innocent Black people.
So what Kaepernick is trying to do is a non-violent protest until the day all the racism ends in this country when as per MLK ''a person is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character."
And for that Colin sees our flag as one symbol which has failed to honor and treat each and every Americans as equal. Every Americans should honor the Flag but who gets shot at the end of the day by a White Policeman?
It's always a person of color who's not posing any threat .
Unlike Colin, I'll honor the Flag and the National Anthem when it's played but I'll also honor the courage of Kaepernick to open our eyes.
Yes Washington, we got a problem.
5
And soldiers like my son, have served
so he has the right to
Not stand.
so he has the right to
Not stand.
1
Of course, those political movements also produced great prosperity and optimism in their moment.
Did they? I'm pretty sure it was Stanford and the internet rather than Tony or Bill.
Did they? I'm pretty sure it was Stanford and the internet rather than Tony or Bill.
2
The quotation from Martin Jacques , “We are witnessing the end of the neoliberal era. It is not dead, but it is in its early death throes, just as the social democratic era was during the 1970s.” is correct and you know why? not because the little people, the real people and ordinary decent people hope to defeat the big banks, the multinationals or even the corrupt governments but because social democracy and neoliberalism was and is forced on these people. The decent, the little and the real people want to live comfortable and enjoy life with other decent, real and little people they like, with their families and neighbors. Social democracy and neoliberalism systems created an elite that tried to impose its theories on the decent, the little and the real people. The only decent, the little and the real people that want social democracy and neoliberalism are young people that dream on a better world where the decent, the little and the real people live in harmony and love each other. But these young people, who followed Mr. Sander's dreams, grow up to understand that such promises never work. Messrs. Trump and Farage use rough language but touch points that worry most decent, real and little people. The problem is that Trump and Farage, with their rough and sometimes ugly tune, alienate many decent, little and real people as well.
1
Schlomo: very well said and therein lies the conundrum.
The Smart Set got Brexit wrong.
And they will get Trump's win in November wrong.
And they will get Trump's win in November wrong.
3
A cautionary tale of letting your guard down even when an election outcome seems certain. Pollsters had Brexit failing by 2% points before the vote with even the stock and currency markets caught off-guard.
Too many citizens are too lazy or use their vote to send a "message" instead of showing up and voting responsibly.
Too many citizens are too lazy or use their vote to send a "message" instead of showing up and voting responsibly.
4
Without Trump's racism and scapegoating, he would lose a great many of his supporters and very likely would not have been nominated. It was the theme of his speech when he declared for the primary. That was what differentiated him most distinctly from the other GOP candidates. His "softening" on immigration has already created a backlash.
1
Trump has actually done a great service to the United States. On one hand, he has unintentionally demonstrated quite conclusively that racism, bigotry and xenophobia continue to be significant problems here that need to be addressed. Yet on the other hand, he has cynically rode the wave of real and justifiable anxiety over neoliberalism's embrace of globalized markets. This process began with the Marshall Plan's insistence on European cooperation. It intensified in the 1980s and 90s and it has increased wealth and also contributed to world peace. But there has been little planning for equitable sharing of the wealth created ; also, globalization's losers have seen little help. Moving forward, serious efforts to raise the prospects of the working class and prevent further income inequality will be needed.
4
So the answer is to go back to neoconservatism?
The kind given to us by Bush and Cheney?
The kind that brought global economic ruin to the planet?
The kind that launched two stupid multi trillion dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
No thanks, I'll stick with the grownups like Clinton and Obama rather than draft dodging spoiled little rich kids like Bush and Trump.
The kind given to us by Bush and Cheney?
The kind that brought global economic ruin to the planet?
The kind that launched two stupid multi trillion dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
No thanks, I'll stick with the grownups like Clinton and Obama rather than draft dodging spoiled little rich kids like Bush and Trump.
76
"So the answer is to go back to neoconservatism?"
Yes it is, if you can not tame the beast, you have to kill it. And if you can not kill it, you must rely on its own lack of sustainability and let it collapse by unleashing it.
What do you think will be worse, a lasting fight against the robber barons, or an total and maybe violent breakdown. And given the festering irreconcilability of the american society i rather say, lets go all the way and get over it.
Yes it is, if you can not tame the beast, you have to kill it. And if you can not kill it, you must rely on its own lack of sustainability and let it collapse by unleashing it.
What do you think will be worse, a lasting fight against the robber barons, or an total and maybe violent breakdown. And given the festering irreconcilability of the american society i rather say, lets go all the way and get over it.
1
Five million manufacturing jobs lost since 1980. 31,000,000 immigrants...both legal and illegal. Manufacturing creates wealth;the service economy just moves wealth around. Blue collar people of all races and ethnicities are beginning to realize who's paid the price of globalism. There are more of them than there are those en route to charity events in the Hamptons. They are caught in the death spiral of our policies and are just the forefront of what is happening to our economy in general. The question is who will unite them politically. Obviously it is not Hillary.
1
Trump and Farage are right.
They are right putting their finger on what ails our ultra-liberal society. We do have serious problems with social volatility and wealth inequality. That has made many (white) voters, who remember a different more stable and rewarding environment from their parents and grandparents, very angry. That has made many of us disillusionated with capitalism or whatever we call this pineapple of our national economy.
Trump and Farange are charlatans who are selling a wrong cure, but at least they reflect our wrath against a establishment, that we consider ignorant and arrogant.
We can not go on like this, the western society will descend into self-loathing, and if Trump do not break this misguided system, someone else will.
They are right putting their finger on what ails our ultra-liberal society. We do have serious problems with social volatility and wealth inequality. That has made many (white) voters, who remember a different more stable and rewarding environment from their parents and grandparents, very angry. That has made many of us disillusionated with capitalism or whatever we call this pineapple of our national economy.
Trump and Farange are charlatans who are selling a wrong cure, but at least they reflect our wrath against a establishment, that we consider ignorant and arrogant.
We can not go on like this, the western society will descend into self-loathing, and if Trump do not break this misguided system, someone else will.
8
Roger this is without a doubt the absolute most "conventional wisdom" article I have read in the NY Times since the last Maureen Dowd article. Atone Roger, You must say "Neo Liberal" 500 times while kneeling down on a pencil.
8
Bet those folks down there in Mississippi were very impressed by his accent.
8
Farage: “If the little people, if the real people, if the ordinary decent people are prepared to stand up and fight for what they believe in, we can overcome the big banks.”
The likes of Farage and Trump have been able to co-opt what should be the message of the left, because the mainstream left stopped saying it. Of course from Farage it's entirely insincere. The London stockbroker and the New York real estate tycoon, now fighting for the "little people" against the banks! It would be a good joke if it wasn't real.
But once upon a time, the left matched this sort of rhetoric to a coherent agenda intended to improve the lives of those "little people" now voting for snake oil. The far right successfully adopts economic populism to precisely the degree that the left fails.
The Democrats had a chance to reclaim the sort of language and ideals that suit our times. They chose a candidate who embodies the neo-liberal consensus even the neo-liberal author admits is dying, and they appealed to "pragmatism" as they did it.
Trump and Farage have no real ideas. They can only destroy. But they're cunning enough to identify the voters the Democratic establishment has abandoned.
Clinton will win the election, but her presidency will do nothing to address the grievances of those voters. And in such a climate, for all their pandering lies, future Trumps and Farages will thrive, due to one obvious truth the Democrats will steadfastly ignore: the economic status quo is broken.
The likes of Farage and Trump have been able to co-opt what should be the message of the left, because the mainstream left stopped saying it. Of course from Farage it's entirely insincere. The London stockbroker and the New York real estate tycoon, now fighting for the "little people" against the banks! It would be a good joke if it wasn't real.
But once upon a time, the left matched this sort of rhetoric to a coherent agenda intended to improve the lives of those "little people" now voting for snake oil. The far right successfully adopts economic populism to precisely the degree that the left fails.
The Democrats had a chance to reclaim the sort of language and ideals that suit our times. They chose a candidate who embodies the neo-liberal consensus even the neo-liberal author admits is dying, and they appealed to "pragmatism" as they did it.
Trump and Farage have no real ideas. They can only destroy. But they're cunning enough to identify the voters the Democratic establishment has abandoned.
Clinton will win the election, but her presidency will do nothing to address the grievances of those voters. And in such a climate, for all their pandering lies, future Trumps and Farages will thrive, due to one obvious truth the Democrats will steadfastly ignore: the economic status quo is broken.
25
Bluelotus: the message of Farage and Trump is not "left." Its "national socialism," and you should know where that developed and what it did to the world. The idea of Farage as a populist is bonkers.
2
Absurd reasoning in less than 2 dimension. "Neoliberalism" is "a policy model of economics that transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector" . . . a policy pursued most vigorously by the Republican party in the US and the Conservative party in the UK.
So Roger Cohen can't tell the difference between an economic policy and the name of a political party. Another blow in the service of disinformation and big money.
How anyone can write that Trump - an acclaimed, ruthless, uber-rich, full-time practicing capitalist - is in any serious way representing an anti-establishment revolution? Words are cheap but deeds reveal the truth - this commentator has already sold his soul.
So Roger Cohen can't tell the difference between an economic policy and the name of a political party. Another blow in the service of disinformation and big money.
How anyone can write that Trump - an acclaimed, ruthless, uber-rich, full-time practicing capitalist - is in any serious way representing an anti-establishment revolution? Words are cheap but deeds reveal the truth - this commentator has already sold his soul.
12
Interesting that Trump needs a Brit to tell the US how to vote!!!!! Didn't we stop listening to them a whole long while ago?
1
Nigel Farage is the sort of person avoided by anyone of good sense.
There is a good reason that after prevailing on Brexit he retired from leadership rather than going on to lead doing what he'd won the right to do. People who knew him best would not follow him, wanted nothing more to do with him.
He maxed out his potential just as an agent provocateur.
That is how Trump is using him. However, that is a mistake. Trump himself is his own agent provocateur. What he needs is people to lend seriousness to his provocation. Instead, he brought in the lunatic fringe.
There is a good reason that after prevailing on Brexit he retired from leadership rather than going on to lead doing what he'd won the right to do. People who knew him best would not follow him, wanted nothing more to do with him.
He maxed out his potential just as an agent provocateur.
That is how Trump is using him. However, that is a mistake. Trump himself is his own agent provocateur. What he needs is people to lend seriousness to his provocation. Instead, he brought in the lunatic fringe.
20
I strongly urge this writer to read :It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, not your standard alarmist, to see how the Trump campaign mirrors that of The Mickey Mousers in Lewis's masterpiece, rivalling Babbitt or Main Street.
A semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis. Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a populist United States Senator who is elected to the presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler and the SS.
The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion. Reviewers at the time, and literary critics ever since, have emphasized the connection with Louisiana politician Huey Long, who was preparing to run for president in the 1936 election when he was assassinated in 1935 just prior to the novel's publication.
We are facing this very same dillema now. A tawdry right wing mob scene passing as normal politics. I suggest, for your own protection, you read Lewis. Before it is toolate, perhaps.
A semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis. Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a populist United States Senator who is elected to the presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler and the SS.
The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion. Reviewers at the time, and literary critics ever since, have emphasized the connection with Louisiana politician Huey Long, who was preparing to run for president in the 1936 election when he was assassinated in 1935 just prior to the novel's publication.
We are facing this very same dillema now. A tawdry right wing mob scene passing as normal politics. I suggest, for your own protection, you read Lewis. Before it is toolate, perhaps.
34
It's not exactly symmetrical to Lewis, but the film Network is also essential reading/viewing for understanding the current Zeitgeist. I love it when commenters here recommend close study of books from the past to understand the present. Now, good luck in getting people to actually follow up :/
I have had many people read the Lewis book and they agreed with me. The past is prologue to the present; the future doesn't yet exist. Do not fear lessons from those who have lived before us. Those who do not know history are often doomed to repeat its mistakes.
1
Trump would not exist, politically, were he not supported by a large swath of the American electorate. It’s a good thing that the New York Times feels compelled to report and comment on this most important hallmark of today’s America.
Despite the multiple diversion attempts with the french burkini, with front page headlines above the fold, readers can still rank these news according to their respective importance.
Despite the multiple diversion attempts with the french burkini, with front page headlines above the fold, readers can still rank these news according to their respective importance.
1
Nigel Farage, along with Jeremy Corbin, is not a politician, but a punch-line to a joke. Many jokes. He lost his seat, retired as head of his "party", but returned to the latter position. His party has only one M.P. The two men do not speak. Americans make the mistake of thinking that actors with British accents are all great actors. Some are, many are not. Don't listen to him; we don't.
28
". Some are, many are not. Don't listen to him; we don't."
That's a bit irrelevant isn't it? Enough people listened and changed history. Just as you didn't listen and made no changes but allowed the people's concerns to fester so will the National Front in France and Alternatives for Germany foster the changes in their respective countries. The EU will collapse under the weight of promises and debt and no more slaves to pay the bill. Britain has nearly collapsed under the costs of immigration. 50% of its housing stock has disappeared and the other 50% of council housing is uninhabitable. How much block housing was torn down some as young as 15 years because of poor workmanship and lack of government oversight?
You created this Socialist "empire" and now it is coming down around your ears.
That's a bit irrelevant isn't it? Enough people listened and changed history. Just as you didn't listen and made no changes but allowed the people's concerns to fester so will the National Front in France and Alternatives for Germany foster the changes in their respective countries. The EU will collapse under the weight of promises and debt and no more slaves to pay the bill. Britain has nearly collapsed under the costs of immigration. 50% of its housing stock has disappeared and the other 50% of council housing is uninhabitable. How much block housing was torn down some as young as 15 years because of poor workmanship and lack of government oversight?
You created this Socialist "empire" and now it is coming down around your ears.
1
That "powerful wave" you speak of is built on hate, and hypocrisy and it has been around in America for a very long time. It is part of the soul of America that runs through its founding and an ever present part of its history.
The irony, of course is everything Democrats have stood and fought for in the modern era - Unions; Social Security; Medicare; Public Education; Healthcare; Minimum Wage; Higher Taxes on the Wealthy; Protecting our Environment; Protecting workers, consumers, woman, minorities, children, and seniors; and fairer justice system - in other words all of the things that help the lower and middle class, are exactly the same things the Republican Party, Donald Trump, and their supporters have been and are now fighting against.
The irony, of course is everything Democrats have stood and fought for in the modern era - Unions; Social Security; Medicare; Public Education; Healthcare; Minimum Wage; Higher Taxes on the Wealthy; Protecting our Environment; Protecting workers, consumers, woman, minorities, children, and seniors; and fairer justice system - in other words all of the things that help the lower and middle class, are exactly the same things the Republican Party, Donald Trump, and their supporters have been and are now fighting against.
45
When a Brit addresses an audience as "folks" it's obvious that something evil is in the offing.
32
Apparently Cohen does realise that modern 'neo liberalism' has proved to be quite damaging to large proportions of the populations of nations in the industrialised West. But the political movement that -in ways conflicting with the taste of Mr Cohen- tries to change the system is seen as the 'loony extremist right'. As a very carefull follower of the Brexit discussions I do not agree at all. I have to conclude that Cohen's rather superficial discussion of both Trumpism and Brexit are adding confusion, not analysis and highly necesary truthfull reporting.
7
Farage's message to the people of Mississippi was as clear as the message he would be able to give the good people of my village in Kenya. In other words, it made zero sense.
15
Mississippi has never suffered from a lack of Neo-Confederates, Neo-secessionists, white racists, KKk members etc. It has also had a contingent of good and decent people, white and black,who are none of the above.
The latter are not sufficient in number to actually take the reigns of government and finally end the racism that has pervaded that state forever.
Everyone seems to be confused by why Farage and Trump are both there. Simple enough. They are both racists and object to anyone who is not Lilly white sharing in any way in government FOR the people.
Farage is a despicable human being sharing the values of Donald Trump.
He may be able to,claim some degree of credit for Brexit by agitating the racist segments of Britain. But it's not really enough to sustain him in his need for attention.
The latter are not sufficient in number to actually take the reigns of government and finally end the racism that has pervaded that state forever.
Everyone seems to be confused by why Farage and Trump are both there. Simple enough. They are both racists and object to anyone who is not Lilly white sharing in any way in government FOR the people.
Farage is a despicable human being sharing the values of Donald Trump.
He may be able to,claim some degree of credit for Brexit by agitating the racist segments of Britain. But it's not really enough to sustain him in his need for attention.
17
"Farage, who has declared mission accomplished and quit the leadership"
This guy is class all the way. He wins and now when Britain needs someone to do the tough job of working out the details of structuring Britain's withdrawal from the European Union he quits. Didn't Trump offer Kasich the VP spot and tell him he could run all domestic and foreign affaires. These two are great at loud mouthing movements but when it comes to actual governing and policy making they turn tail and run.
This guy is class all the way. He wins and now when Britain needs someone to do the tough job of working out the details of structuring Britain's withdrawal from the European Union he quits. Didn't Trump offer Kasich the VP spot and tell him he could run all domestic and foreign affaires. These two are great at loud mouthing movements but when it comes to actual governing and policy making they turn tail and run.
19
Hey Americans,
Do you have any money invested in anything in America? A house, a business, your child's education, a bond, a mutual fund, a stock? Are you willing to gamble that away by letting a racist, sexist clown with a dead squirrel on his head become President? A racist, sexist clown who's made a fool of you already by hiding his tax and debt obligations from you and then asking you to entrust everything you have to him on a wink and a promise?
The stock market, the housing market, and your child's future employment will all go fffffffttt like a deflated balloon by Thanksgiving if we don't all get out there and give this two-bit carnival barker the hook on November 9.
Do you have any money invested in anything in America? A house, a business, your child's education, a bond, a mutual fund, a stock? Are you willing to gamble that away by letting a racist, sexist clown with a dead squirrel on his head become President? A racist, sexist clown who's made a fool of you already by hiding his tax and debt obligations from you and then asking you to entrust everything you have to him on a wink and a promise?
The stock market, the housing market, and your child's future employment will all go fffffffttt like a deflated balloon by Thanksgiving if we don't all get out there and give this two-bit carnival barker the hook on November 9.
69
"Do you have any money invested in anything in America? A house, a business, your child's education, a bond, a mutual fund, a stock?"
Housing is priced beyond the ability of the average person to buy a home. The stock market is a house cards pumped up by a trillion dollars in fake Federal Reserve notes. No one will buy the bonds Treasury is told to issue except the Federal Reserve. Our children are going into hock to get a job that doesn't pay them enough to to retire the debt. Running a small business is more precarious than ever while the big ones suck every dime out and help create the fake "booming" economy. The Labor Department "statistics" are not to be believed. Sorry, one person working two part time jobs is not a booming economy. And here in Bank Town the layoffs are in the thousands at the banks.
And the Times give us the latest diversion, Anthony Weiner. and his wiener but won't tell us that her entire family works for the Muslim Brotherhood. The credibility of the media and government have gone down the toilet and no one cares to fish for it.
Housing is priced beyond the ability of the average person to buy a home. The stock market is a house cards pumped up by a trillion dollars in fake Federal Reserve notes. No one will buy the bonds Treasury is told to issue except the Federal Reserve. Our children are going into hock to get a job that doesn't pay them enough to to retire the debt. Running a small business is more precarious than ever while the big ones suck every dime out and help create the fake "booming" economy. The Labor Department "statistics" are not to be believed. Sorry, one person working two part time jobs is not a booming economy. And here in Bank Town the layoffs are in the thousands at the banks.
And the Times give us the latest diversion, Anthony Weiner. and his wiener but won't tell us that her entire family works for the Muslim Brotherhood. The credibility of the media and government have gone down the toilet and no one cares to fish for it.
1
Hopefully, the Clinton campaign will continue and the American media will begin to stop addressing the Trump campaign as an equivalent competitor in the race for the Presidency; that the Trump campaign looks at American politics and values in America in the same way as the liberal left and approaches this competition with the same level of intellectual integrity; they do not. The Trump campaign is waging a disinformation campaign against the American people, saying in broad sweeping terms whatever it thinks will work to attract votes, without some basic commitment to honesty and veracity. Such an approach to political discourse can only be countered by informed, efficient, surgical rebuttals - point by point, each and every one - to demonstrate to the American people that someone is not playing by the same rules and understandings to which they are accustomed. The media needs to address this pointedly in executing its role to keep the competition honest and truthful on both sides.
10
" The media needs to address this pointedly in executing its role to keep the competition honest and truthful on both sides."
How do you propose the media do that when it cannot report truthfully itself? Ask Bernie Sanders how truthful he found the media during the primaries.
More emails please? That's where the truth lies.
How do you propose the media do that when it cannot report truthfully itself? Ask Bernie Sanders how truthful he found the media during the primaries.
More emails please? That's where the truth lies.
You, Mr. Cohen, might like neo liberalism. I find it a disaster. 40 years ago, CEO's made 40 times as much as factory workers. Now CEO's make 400 Times as much as factory workers. Today I spoke to a clerk in Duane Reade's. His paltry pay forces him to share one room with ten other workers. Poverty and the sulfurous arrogance of the sickeningly rich are riding high. May the Left rise again in all of its ferocity and nobility.
Incidentally the author quoted someone as saying, “We are witnessing the end of the neoliberal era. It is not dead, but it is in its early death throes, just as the social democratic era was during the 1970s.”
Actually, this death has been predicted before. In the Summer of 1967, in a famous issue of the New York Review of Books which featured a cover with instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail, a writer proclaimed, "The Civil War (the race riots) and the Foreign One (Vietnam) have contrived this Summer to murder liberalism in its official robes." (By liberal, the author was using the definition philosophers employ, which is to say that he meant what people in politics call Conservative. His definition of liberal meant limited govt. intervention in the market place, free trade, free speech, religion and political organization.) Neo liberalism, which is a rejection of the policies of FDR, Truman and Kennedy, is akin to what philosophers mean when they use the word liberal.
I pray neo liberalism dies.
Incidentally the author quoted someone as saying, “We are witnessing the end of the neoliberal era. It is not dead, but it is in its early death throes, just as the social democratic era was during the 1970s.”
Actually, this death has been predicted before. In the Summer of 1967, in a famous issue of the New York Review of Books which featured a cover with instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail, a writer proclaimed, "The Civil War (the race riots) and the Foreign One (Vietnam) have contrived this Summer to murder liberalism in its official robes." (By liberal, the author was using the definition philosophers employ, which is to say that he meant what people in politics call Conservative. His definition of liberal meant limited govt. intervention in the market place, free trade, free speech, religion and political organization.) Neo liberalism, which is a rejection of the policies of FDR, Truman and Kennedy, is akin to what philosophers mean when they use the word liberal.
I pray neo liberalism dies.
7
"sulfurous arrogance of the sickeningly rich"
Quote of the week for me. Thank you for the prefect description of Kardashian/Gates/Koch class. They are all the same.
Quote of the week for me. Thank you for the prefect description of Kardashian/Gates/Koch class. They are all the same.
thanks for the definitions, my reading is a bit too promiscuous to properly make me ready for wisdom, I comment too, and often enough it reminds me of so called code speak
Yes, there are definitely some valid points, but the messengers are merely trying to replace one idea with another. Britain is an excellent example of such, in that just several days after the Leave vote won, there were several million Brits marching in the street, asking for a chance to vote again. Unfortunately, that points out a truism that any good salesman should know.
Prosper ts in a wales pitch are usually most of the wales pitch, other than the actual content. It's called: "Sell the sizzle, not the steak!" Walk past steak or burgers on the grill and, even though you were not particularly hungry, you would be attracted by the sound and smell of the grease floating in the air. It might be the toughest steak you ever tasted, but it'll be great--just based on that sizzle.
That's how Trump and Farage made their snake oil sale. They sold the masses on the appeal--for Trump, the hollow promises--without getting into the details--How, What, Why, Cost. You smell "Jobs", and don't even ask how Trump will fulfill that promise.
On the day after Trump declared that he would be the "Law and Order President", a reporter asked NYC Police Commissioner for his response. Bill Bratton simply asked: "What's his experience?" TRUMP HAS NONE!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Prosper ts in a wales pitch are usually most of the wales pitch, other than the actual content. It's called: "Sell the sizzle, not the steak!" Walk past steak or burgers on the grill and, even though you were not particularly hungry, you would be attracted by the sound and smell of the grease floating in the air. It might be the toughest steak you ever tasted, but it'll be great--just based on that sizzle.
That's how Trump and Farage made their snake oil sale. They sold the masses on the appeal--for Trump, the hollow promises--without getting into the details--How, What, Why, Cost. You smell "Jobs", and don't even ask how Trump will fulfill that promise.
On the day after Trump declared that he would be the "Law and Order President", a reporter asked NYC Police Commissioner for his response. Bill Bratton simply asked: "What's his experience?" TRUMP HAS NONE!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
11
There were a few hundred in London protesting about us leaving. Most people who voted out are still glad we are leaving. Farage is still popular here but nobody ever wanted him to be a MP. There are plenty of cabinet ministers who supported out still in power. I live in the Uk.
The past quarter century? Free trade and globalization are the design the the US set in motion in response to WWII. This world is the triumph of our grand design and the ultimate failure of communism and the Soviet Union. And it has even worked - for all the dangers of the past 70 years, we have not gone back to the ugly bouts of slaughter that marked the two wars of the first half of the 20th century.
3
How did the informed populace at the Mississippi rally react to Farage?
Did the know who he was?
It seems hard to imagine that they could have - voters who lean towards the information-free world of Trump while somehow aware of the world across the pond.
Did the know who he was?
It seems hard to imagine that they could have - voters who lean towards the information-free world of Trump while somehow aware of the world across the pond.
4
I had read that 80 percent of the people had no idea of what Brexit was.
"They are politicians delivering ugly messages — explicit and implicit."
Yes, and you forgot to mention that the press is enabling them, there and here. The Vote to Leave campaign claimed that £350m per week would return to Britain's coffers if they exited, but journalists did nothing to correct this blatant lie. Nigel Farage is a demagogue, as is our own boorish republican nominee, he who traffics in incendiary speak and outright lies. Yet our media engages mainly in false equivalency - we see him covered everywhere, but any mention of Hillary Clinton is laced with the innuendo of make-believe scandal or republican falsehoods.
The media helped to foster Brexit, and it's filling our own screens with nonsense for click bait profits. There are a lot of reasons we've landed here: it's time for the media to take responsibility for its part.
Yes, and you forgot to mention that the press is enabling them, there and here. The Vote to Leave campaign claimed that £350m per week would return to Britain's coffers if they exited, but journalists did nothing to correct this blatant lie. Nigel Farage is a demagogue, as is our own boorish republican nominee, he who traffics in incendiary speak and outright lies. Yet our media engages mainly in false equivalency - we see him covered everywhere, but any mention of Hillary Clinton is laced with the innuendo of make-believe scandal or republican falsehoods.
The media helped to foster Brexit, and it's filling our own screens with nonsense for click bait profits. There are a lot of reasons we've landed here: it's time for the media to take responsibility for its part.
17
So why did Farage declare “mission accomplished” after the Brexit vote “and quit the leadership of the anti-immigrant U.K. Independence Party?” Because he was smart enough to recognize that while he had a winning message, he was not exactly a winning messenger to lead UKIP going forward.
Unfortunately, we can’t same the same of Donald Trump, who also had a winning message but is not smart enough to recognize that “his personal failings — his bullying, his petulance, his egomania, his ignorance, his inconsistency, his mendacity, his racism, his hair-trigger temper, his arrogance, his disorganization and his misogyny — stand in the way” of making him a winning messenger.
Unfortunately, we can’t same the same of Donald Trump, who also had a winning message but is not smart enough to recognize that “his personal failings — his bullying, his petulance, his egomania, his ignorance, his inconsistency, his mendacity, his racism, his hair-trigger temper, his arrogance, his disorganization and his misogyny — stand in the way” of making him a winning messenger.
8
Forage drove his country off the cliff then left it to a woman to steer Britain back onto the international highway. Let's just eliminate the insane middleman and elect the woman who actually knows how to drive.
25
Mr. Cohen should be applauded for warning Democrats against complacency. But all one need to do is to point at how the BREXIT leaders, Mr. Farage included, all "dropped" out after they won the BREXIT vote because they really did not expect to win, and he and Boris Johnson, have no plans and no clue to go forward. The US election is quite different from the Brexit referendum. It is not the majority vote that counts, it depends on winning States with significant electoral votes. Even if Trump is able to get a majority of White voters to vote for him, he may not win depending on the geographic distribution of the Trump voters.
9
Nigel Farage has already done great damage to Britain, or more to the point, Britain has done great damage to itself, Farage arriving just in time to be the opportunistic vessel of destruction. Half-truths and lied serve well for a celebrity campaign of narcissism. They do nothing for taking responsibility for the consequences of their own.
Before the campaign rhetoric had even begun to cool down, Farage up and quit the scene he created, as did his partner in mendacious conceit, Boris Johnson. This is the mark of a bloviating coward. His unwillingness to participate in the clean-up of his own mess isn't quite Sarah Palin grade, but it is darned close.
At the bottom line, however, it is we who vote and we who hold ultimate responsibility. I hope we exercise ours better than the Brits handled theirs.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Before the campaign rhetoric had even begun to cool down, Farage up and quit the scene he created, as did his partner in mendacious conceit, Boris Johnson. This is the mark of a bloviating coward. His unwillingness to participate in the clean-up of his own mess isn't quite Sarah Palin grade, but it is darned close.
At the bottom line, however, it is we who vote and we who hold ultimate responsibility. I hope we exercise ours better than the Brits handled theirs.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
9
I don’t know what the polling in Britain was on the Brexit issue before the vote, so I don’t know why the vote came as a surprise. But I doubt that the margin between pro- and anti-Brexit poll results was as disparate as the Clinton-Trump one is. If Trump manages to climb out of the hole he’s in now it will be a rather great miracle.
I agree with those commentators who argue that most of Trump’s support is not from economically suffering Americans but from older whites who resent the fact that the culture is slipping out of the frame they are comfortable with: white, heterosexual, rather fundamentalist Christian superiority. I also think that there aren’t nearly enough of these people to elect him.
I agree with those commentators who argue that most of Trump’s support is not from economically suffering Americans but from older whites who resent the fact that the culture is slipping out of the frame they are comfortable with: white, heterosexual, rather fundamentalist Christian superiority. I also think that there aren’t nearly enough of these people to elect him.
3
Who's next on Trump's campaign trail? Putin? Kim Jong Un? Ayatollah Khamenei? Assad? Maduro?
Isn't it illegal for foreign countries to interfere in American politics? And Trump receiving security briefings...
Isn't it illegal for foreign countries to interfere in American politics? And Trump receiving security briefings...
8
Great, Lets review those people who are in joyful anticipation of a Trump presidency.
Kim Jong-un
Vladimre Putin
ISIL
And now one of the architects of brexit
First foreign intervention would be the death knell of most politicians especially this toxic stew.
Secondly could it be that these people are better informed than Trumps supporters?
Kim Jong-un
Vladimre Putin
ISIL
And now one of the architects of brexit
First foreign intervention would be the death knell of most politicians especially this toxic stew.
Secondly could it be that these people are better informed than Trumps supporters?
5
"Nigel Paul Farage (/ˈfærɑːʒ/;[2] born 3 April 1964) is a British politician who was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from September 2006 to November 2009, and again from November 2010 to July 2016.[3] Since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament for South East England. He ... has strongly criticised the euro currency."
Roger, are you quite sure you know what you are saying? Are you SURE that Trump has the same amount of political experience as Farage? Are you kidding? You are comparing two people who have hardly anything in common.
And frankly I no longer believe you that Farage is a leader of an "anti-immigrant" party. It is quite possible that he merely wants autonomy for Britain, and in your usual way, you are giving him a spin, confident that most NYT readers will not check - and they probably will not.
Call someone a bigot, an anti-immigrant or a racist, and your job is done. The crowd here will lap it just as another crowd will lap up the fantasy that all Mexicans are rapists.
Trump's crowd will not ask if Mexicans are really rapists and your crowd will not ask if Farage is a racist.
Would be wonderful if there were some Americans left who are capable of checking facts and doing some thinking of their own.
Roger, are you quite sure you know what you are saying? Are you SURE that Trump has the same amount of political experience as Farage? Are you kidding? You are comparing two people who have hardly anything in common.
And frankly I no longer believe you that Farage is a leader of an "anti-immigrant" party. It is quite possible that he merely wants autonomy for Britain, and in your usual way, you are giving him a spin, confident that most NYT readers will not check - and they probably will not.
Call someone a bigot, an anti-immigrant or a racist, and your job is done. The crowd here will lap it just as another crowd will lap up the fantasy that all Mexicans are rapists.
Trump's crowd will not ask if Mexicans are really rapists and your crowd will not ask if Farage is a racist.
Would be wonderful if there were some Americans left who are capable of checking facts and doing some thinking of their own.
2
I would like to see real solutions from the establishment to help those who have lost due to globalization. That also includes the African American population in Syracuse and a Detroit as much as includes white miners in West Virginia.
8
After the ballots were counted in the United Kingdom, Farage took great credit for the "Leave" win. However, he had no interest in staying on to lead his country through the ensuing economic instability and the complex, lengthy process of exiting the European Union. He quickly resigned as leader of his party, declaring his plan to spread his message in other countries. So here he is in the U.S.A., stumping for Trump as an international celebrity. Could Trump be looking so approvingly at Farage because he intends to do likewise if he wins?
4
I'd be surprised if most Americans who support Trump know Farage by name or any other way. I'd also be surprised if they know what Brexit is or was.
However lack of knowledge has never stopped the unexpected from happening. Take for instance that the most searched word after Brexit became official was "What is EU?"
So, don't be surprised if Trump trumps you know who in November.
However lack of knowledge has never stopped the unexpected from happening. Take for instance that the most searched word after Brexit became official was "What is EU?"
So, don't be surprised if Trump trumps you know who in November.
1
For 40 years the GOP has insisted on continually reducing taxes on the wealthy, claiming that the wealthy would, in turn, "create jobs" - well, the wealthy now own more than ever before in human history...if the GOP were right, we wouldn't have any employment, underemployment, or unemployment problems.
Workers have a right to be mad, but their anger is misdirected, for it is the GOP establishment and their wealthy and corporate supporters who have taken jobs overseas or simply eliminated them with technology. The wealthy, who have benefitted so much from GOP tax cuts, have not created those good jobs that were promised; that false narrative has been used as a justification for cutting taxes, but hasn't been matched by the responsibility the GOP has claimed the wealthy would shoulder with all that extra wealth.
Angry workers would do well to stop a moment and ask themselves who, really, is on their side...hint: it's not the party that cuts from the bottom to give to the top.
Workers have a right to be mad, but their anger is misdirected, for it is the GOP establishment and their wealthy and corporate supporters who have taken jobs overseas or simply eliminated them with technology. The wealthy, who have benefitted so much from GOP tax cuts, have not created those good jobs that were promised; that false narrative has been used as a justification for cutting taxes, but hasn't been matched by the responsibility the GOP has claimed the wealthy would shoulder with all that extra wealth.
Angry workers would do well to stop a moment and ask themselves who, really, is on their side...hint: it's not the party that cuts from the bottom to give to the top.
8
Mr Cohen, a very strong clarion call for all of us. Trump has captured the spirits of the damned that swirl around his overt and covert followers. There is among them a malignancy of an immoral/amoral subsociety that if not defeated will take us all over the precipice. It is almost biblical.
5
Responsibility or accountability is long dead in our political system, Every body knows it.
You can spread this blame all sides of the aisle equally or not but , what Farage did is disgraceful and despicable in terms of mid 20th century politic ethics.
He herded the sheep's out of the barn but he didn't go with them, what happens sheep alone on the meadow. how long they can hold their herd status.
You may find my language atrocious but People today literally leaded to their oblivion with Farage like leaders.
Britain is not going to be Switzerland, they are not going to directly govern the country. Brexit approved but where is the political leaders of movement.
Same can happen in USA, Trump will lead America out of world leadership room and left alone.
This doesn't mean that Hillary like politicians shouldn't change their direction , they are at the dawn of new era. This era people are not trusting to political clout but themselves are also not taking responsibility.
we all know what the problem is, we just don't want to work for solution.
You can spread this blame all sides of the aisle equally or not but , what Farage did is disgraceful and despicable in terms of mid 20th century politic ethics.
He herded the sheep's out of the barn but he didn't go with them, what happens sheep alone on the meadow. how long they can hold their herd status.
You may find my language atrocious but People today literally leaded to their oblivion with Farage like leaders.
Britain is not going to be Switzerland, they are not going to directly govern the country. Brexit approved but where is the political leaders of movement.
Same can happen in USA, Trump will lead America out of world leadership room and left alone.
This doesn't mean that Hillary like politicians shouldn't change their direction , they are at the dawn of new era. This era people are not trusting to political clout but themselves are also not taking responsibility.
we all know what the problem is, we just don't want to work for solution.
3
Trump is like a rattle snake. Doesn't have much of a brain but one bit and we are dead from his poison. We should heed Mr. Cohen's alarm.
2
Too much smug Hillary has it? Really? I and the many around me are warding off the evil eye and working on making sure Trump loses. Smug? Not even close. Terrified, now that works. Sickened, yeah. Furious. Disgusted and committed to handing Trump his hubris on a platter.
6
The principal root cause of job loss and wage depletion in the U.S. is labor-displacing technology. Globalization is another reason but of decreasing significance relative to technological change as labor rates abroad approach those in America. Growth in immigration is the result of these forces not, itself, the driver of unemployment or chronic withdrawal from the labor market. Quantification of the cause-effect relationships among these factors would be of enormous value in combatting the anti-immigration rhetoric of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage who are shamelessly exploiting public fears.
59
No, sorry - wage rates in the key competitive countries of East Asia and South America are nowhere near those of the USA, not to speak of the social and environmental overheads that companies need to pay in North America that vastly exceed anything owing to workers or governments in those other countries. This is why factories have moved wholesale out of the USA and Canada, a trend that has been accumulating for decades.
Free movement of goods entices free movement of the factors of production and no one has come up with a viable approach for getting away from this.
Yes, in a pure economic sense it may be a more efficient international division of labour, but it comes at an enormously disruptive transitional cost which is much more prolonged and much greater than any one in the economics profession ever determined it could be.
You are correct that technological change also disrupts labour markets, but in this case it cuts both ways: it destroys some jobs and creates others. Both the quality and the quantity of the net impact is hard to know, but clearly rote functions on which a great many jobs were predicated have been most at risk.
People like Trump and Farage are of course riding these weaknesses in the theoretical and practical underpinnings of global economics, but they have no viable solutions; their recipes will make everyone worse off in every conceivable way, and the other camp is failing to carry conviction on this matter; it could sink them and all of us.
Free movement of goods entices free movement of the factors of production and no one has come up with a viable approach for getting away from this.
Yes, in a pure economic sense it may be a more efficient international division of labour, but it comes at an enormously disruptive transitional cost which is much more prolonged and much greater than any one in the economics profession ever determined it could be.
You are correct that technological change also disrupts labour markets, but in this case it cuts both ways: it destroys some jobs and creates others. Both the quality and the quantity of the net impact is hard to know, but clearly rote functions on which a great many jobs were predicated have been most at risk.
People like Trump and Farage are of course riding these weaknesses in the theoretical and practical underpinnings of global economics, but they have no viable solutions; their recipes will make everyone worse off in every conceivable way, and the other camp is failing to carry conviction on this matter; it could sink them and all of us.
The principle cause of job loss and wage degeneration in this country and the rest of the developed world is allowing the formerly wealthy class to control government policy, market place regulation, and the media. In doin so the formerly wealthy class are now the uber-wealthy class. A pie is finite in volume, when you give more to some there is less for the rest. We have been convinced that if I say that I have grown the pie more than you then I should get a bigger slice makes sense, but we have all contributed to the pie and without that original contribution there would be no pie.
1
So, “neoliberalism” and “uber-globalization” are “in their death throes,” according to Cohen, as well as the elite Western liberal technocrats who pull the strings of the rigged global economy? (Western liberal technocrat: Russian troll-slang for “not strong, like Putin.”) Let all these things die. They are just journalistic buzzwords anyway, and cobwebs in the attic of internet conspiracy theorists. Brexit will hardly slow the march of globalization, even if Britain does decide to go through with Article 50. Theresa May is not Donald Trump. And England is not the United States, where demographics hobble a racist candidate and the Sun is not the newspaper of record.
1
Good column, but luckily it's not a straight majority vote between Hillary and Trump, as it was for Brexit. I never liked the electoral college much, but I'm thankful for it now.
1
To me, the clearest message from Brexit is that voting for (or not voting against) something you don't really want is a very dangerous form of protest. I suggest that anyone who is considering a protest vote for Trump or a third party or write-in candidate, or not voting at all out of disgust, should instead pen a scalding letter to the NY Times or other outlet(s), but on November 8th, vote for the Democrats. As an updated version of the old typewriter testing verse might put it: Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party.
5
Thanks, Britain, for sharing Mr. Farage with us. As a return courtesy, we would be glad to loan you Mr. Trump. May we suggest the same terms as the Lend-Lease?
6
From your column: "One way to view Trump is that only his personal failings — his bullying, his petulance, his egomania, his ignorance, his inconsistency, his mendacity, his racism, his hair-trigger temper, his arrogance, his disorganization and his misogyny"
There were 3 anti-trump columns in the Times today, each one more insulting, apocalyptic, incendiary, and bombastic towards him than the next. Are there any more names you guys want to call him today? I'll see if I can think of some original ones for you to insult him with tomorrow. BTW, you forgot "bigotry" in the above. Try to keep up, OK?
There were 3 anti-trump columns in the Times today, each one more insulting, apocalyptic, incendiary, and bombastic towards him than the next. Are there any more names you guys want to call him today? I'll see if I can think of some original ones for you to insult him with tomorrow. BTW, you forgot "bigotry" in the above. Try to keep up, OK?
If the shoe fits...
5
Farage and Trump share many characteristics. Both are selling a con job, trying to persuade angry people that throwing over 'the system' will solve all their problems, will "make America great again". Both are agitating and speechifying without ever specifying any details of exactly -how- they will make the miraculous changes happen. Farage is a little ahead of Trump in running his con job, he's already won the election and now he's bailed out, leaving behind the mess for someone else to clear up, leaving economic mayhem and a string of broken promises. Trump's election is still in his future, but can there be any doubt that when the election is past those Trump promises will be just as broken as Farage's Brexit fantasies? Can anyone doubt that Trump is just as much a 'pump and bailout' artist as Farage, and will leave the nation holding the short end just as Farage has left Britain a mess to resolve while he parades to new celebrity and new cons? When Farage returns to Britain, can he please, please, please take Trump with him?
1
I hate to sound like the tinfoil hat brigade of the alt-right, but if you read another article in today's NYT about the Russian misinformation campaign in Europe which was on my email of the top stories of the day but on the website today is buried at the bottom of the European news page, the Trump campaign and the Brexit campaign both sound an awfully lot like what the Russians are trying to do in Europe. They are trying to spread outlandish stories on far right and far left websites that are then picked up by the paranoid people who get all their news from places like that. These stories try to undermine the confidence of the general public in the governments of Europe, the European Union and NATO in general. Which means that the supposedly uber-patriotic but uneducated ("we love the uneducated") voters are being played by the Russian government in its attempts to weaken the West. I'm interested to see if anyone else reads it the same way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/29/world/europe/russia-sweden-disinformat...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/29/world/europe/russia-sweden-disinformat...
5
Farage may be the candidate of disruption but he is also the candidate of lie. He campaigned on a premise he knew was false, driving around in a bus with lettering that promised to reinvest the money saved from not contributing to the EU to the national health service. After the vote, all the Brexit leaders were forced to admit not only would there be no subsidy for the National Health Service but many other subsidies would be cut since they were provided by the EU. Voters believed Farage and now with their economy in free fall, they are trying to figure out how to go forward. Voters may be angry and want to take their anger out at the polls but it is important that they know exactly who and what they are electing and what the outcome of their protest will be. Neither "the Donald" nor Mr. Farage care about outcomes all they want is to win.
4
There's an old maxim: "Do not listen to what Zeno says, look at what Achilles does".
I personally don't care what emanates from the faux, golden head. His record of bankruptcies, screwing contractors, et al. dominates my judgement. But, there are many in America who have been victimized by her policies just as much as Trump's contractors. Is his candidacy alone, proof that something is terribly wrong?
The situation is as complex as our zero percent, monetary policy, which actually helped our worst institutions and their leaders thrive, when they should have been punished. Many savers who were risk averse, (won't gamble in the stock or commodities markets) were hurt badly, rather than rewarded for their sensibilities. But, without that rate policy, many more would have been hurt, if not had their lives destroyed .
Our immigration policies can not be classified as liberal. Those who benefitted most were corporate tycoons. Depending on your profession and other things you could have had your life ruined or made better. I personally have been hurt as an engineer and my life made much better as the father of a boy engaged to a most, wonderful foreign girl he met in medical school.
Many, white, black and others; from the bottom class to the upper end of the middle class, have been hurt by lack of controlled immigration. When the chad hung the wrong way, a very thoughtless man became our president. Trump is not thoughtless. He's just consumed by one thought, Trump.
I personally don't care what emanates from the faux, golden head. His record of bankruptcies, screwing contractors, et al. dominates my judgement. But, there are many in America who have been victimized by her policies just as much as Trump's contractors. Is his candidacy alone, proof that something is terribly wrong?
The situation is as complex as our zero percent, monetary policy, which actually helped our worst institutions and their leaders thrive, when they should have been punished. Many savers who were risk averse, (won't gamble in the stock or commodities markets) were hurt badly, rather than rewarded for their sensibilities. But, without that rate policy, many more would have been hurt, if not had their lives destroyed .
Our immigration policies can not be classified as liberal. Those who benefitted most were corporate tycoons. Depending on your profession and other things you could have had your life ruined or made better. I personally have been hurt as an engineer and my life made much better as the father of a boy engaged to a most, wonderful foreign girl he met in medical school.
Many, white, black and others; from the bottom class to the upper end of the middle class, have been hurt by lack of controlled immigration. When the chad hung the wrong way, a very thoughtless man became our president. Trump is not thoughtless. He's just consumed by one thought, Trump.
7
As I've commented on this forum before, I wish the NYT and others would just stop with this false narrative about those who have been left behind by globalization. Left behind? How about getting on the bus with your fellow citizens? Oops, forgot, some of the passengers are women, or have black & brown skin.
Let's hear some real & specific numbers about how many white guys have been turned down for a job in favor of an immigrant. Retired white guys need not apply. The joke's on them. And if you truly have been left behind, a vet, a senior, a disabled person, single parent with children...don't look to T&F for relief.
This (in the UK & here in the US) is about racism & white nationalism pure and simple and for the media to pretend that it's about US citizens losing out jobs to immigrants & their subsequent misplaced anger is false.
T&F have profited and indulged themselves with lies and false narratives about anger and being left behind. Trump, like Farage, has no plan, emphasis on no, of what he will do, if he's elected, for all those poor souls who have been left behind, he, like Farage doesn't give a whit about anyone other than himself, why should they, they're already in the 1%.
Let's hear some real & specific numbers about how many white guys have been turned down for a job in favor of an immigrant. Retired white guys need not apply. The joke's on them. And if you truly have been left behind, a vet, a senior, a disabled person, single parent with children...don't look to T&F for relief.
This (in the UK & here in the US) is about racism & white nationalism pure and simple and for the media to pretend that it's about US citizens losing out jobs to immigrants & their subsequent misplaced anger is false.
T&F have profited and indulged themselves with lies and false narratives about anger and being left behind. Trump, like Farage, has no plan, emphasis on no, of what he will do, if he's elected, for all those poor souls who have been left behind, he, like Farage doesn't give a whit about anyone other than himself, why should they, they're already in the 1%.
3
Two moldy peas in a pod. Farage sold wholesale lies, le his tourbus promising £350 million/week going to prop up the National Health if they voted to leave, a claim he admitted was false the morning after the vote.
Any number of Trumplethinskin claims could be viewed the same.
And Farage couldn't quit fast enough to avoid the hard work of implementing Article 50, just the way Boris Johnson took himself out of the running for PM right after the vote. Good on Theresa May for sticking him with the Foreign Minister portfolio, making him the cheif Brexit negotiator, where his empty bluster will be badly exposed.
Trumplethinskin has no plan for governance should he win, either. Think Robert Redford at the end of "The Candidate," wondering what to do now that he won.
Any number of Trumplethinskin claims could be viewed the same.
And Farage couldn't quit fast enough to avoid the hard work of implementing Article 50, just the way Boris Johnson took himself out of the running for PM right after the vote. Good on Theresa May for sticking him with the Foreign Minister portfolio, making him the cheif Brexit negotiator, where his empty bluster will be badly exposed.
Trumplethinskin has no plan for governance should he win, either. Think Robert Redford at the end of "The Candidate," wondering what to do now that he won.
6
Nigel Farage and Donald Trump--together on the same stage and in the same hall! Two inveterate liars spreading frigid divisiveness!
The temperature must have dropped 20-30 degrees and the hall has doubtlessly developed a permanent cold spot!
The temperature must have dropped 20-30 degrees and the hall has doubtlessly developed a permanent cold spot!
3
Why are foreigners such as Netanyahu and Farage allowed to come to this country and insert themselves into our politics?
4
the collapse of the republican party is the end of the neoliberal era - really - its the collapse of the fascist republican party - tea party era - the end of whitemerica - I like most Americans do not really care what the British do - I do care about America replicating their mistake.
3
One element to the 'middle class left behind by globalization' story which has not been well covered is how Silicon Valley developed technology is like gasoline on the fire which enables and drives globalization; Uber, Amazon, Facebook....many of which are also strong HRC supporters. Every mention of $15/hr min wage has champagne corks popping in the Bay Area as VC's furiously funnel capital to technology than can further eliminate costly labor; robotics, AI, chatbots etc
Mr. Cohen, you are right to sound the alarm. However, I take issue with three things: (1) There is no strong evidence that globalization or immigration are strong drivers of income inequality. I believe that Ragan's trickle down economic policies are mostly to blame. Liberals can beat this inequality problem if we make income tax more progressive, increase capital gain tax, increase estate tax, plug commercial tax loop holes, and mostly revitalize unions. (2) The pendulum has swung in a way but we should note that the underlying demography is strongly against this nationalist and protectionist mood. The most important drivers against this swing are urbanization and racial diversification, as least in the US. These two forces are unrelenting and will win decisively within one to two decades. We, old liberals, just need to fight and hold out for a while longer to prevent demagogues like Trump and Farage from destroying the world. In twenty years, men like trump will be in the dust bin of history. I am hopeful looking at Trump's dismal support among the young. (3) Finally, a minor point, as you have pointed out, Farage quit the leadership once the dog caught the bus. Trump's most fervent supporters may be too blinded to see the parallel but more clear eyed ones may ask why Trump stands with someone who won't do the hard work to rebuild after they have pulled the tent down. Hopefully, by standing together, they remind some people that they are both just carnival barkers.
4
There's a lot of weird things in this election cycle, and if you include Brexit, globally on an almost schizoid level. The temerity of both candidates to continue to sing their own tunes without senses and sensibility, and sensitivity. One is playing offensive with lots of random Hail Mary passes, the other playing defensive, as if a 1-0 is enough to win the soccer championship game with 75 minutes to go. The fall of Rome nor the French Revolution did not culminate overnight nor was there a spark, and in retrospect, seemed inevitable. Change is a must, and will, not a condition of when or how. This reminds me of Woody Allen in his TIME interview, quoting "the heart wants what it wants," and Maya Angelou's "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." The human condition is a fallacy, and I'm pretty sure the founding fathers realized this upon the establishment of the constitution, and in this election, it will be tested like it has never been before. While the human emotion is hard to gauge, history repeats itself, as you have alluded to the contemporary Europe (or not).
1
Hate in the dark on a day in early November.
1
We aren't Britain. We don't run from responsibility. We don't fold when our flaws are revealed. We fix them.
trump is the ice-water slap in the face that we needed to reassert our status as a great nation, and reassert we will.
Brexit was simply an example of finger-pointing and cowardice, and Britain will long suffer for turning its back on its oftentimes noble traditions...
At least Rome went down with a fight. Britain, with a flight.
trump is a flailing, lying, cowardly imbecile.... who will never set foot in the White House, unless he can beg a tour ticket from Paul Ryan... while Ryan is still in service (may not be long...).
trump is the ice-water slap in the face that we needed to reassert our status as a great nation, and reassert we will.
Brexit was simply an example of finger-pointing and cowardice, and Britain will long suffer for turning its back on its oftentimes noble traditions...
At least Rome went down with a fight. Britain, with a flight.
trump is a flailing, lying, cowardly imbecile.... who will never set foot in the White House, unless he can beg a tour ticket from Paul Ryan... while Ryan is still in service (may not be long...).
3
I hope and pray that Trump follows his new BFF Farage and quits shamelessly, just like Farage did, after bringing Great Britain to its knees in the EU.
Free trade and globalization was a great economic and social experiment. After 20 or more years, the result is in. It was a failure. Large numbers of the US working class are struggling, while it further enriched the few banks and multinationals. Whoever gets elected (it will be HRC) needs to do a course correction to stop the growng disparity of income, and it doesn't matter whether or if she's bought by the 1%.
1
I'm confused by the whole mess. Can globalism be separated from plutocracy? We harp on Trump's many obvious sins, but he has struck a very real chord, and I don't think the primary notes in that chord are misogyny, racism and xenophobia. I think they're the very accurate perception that the game is rigged, and the rigging is wrapped around the necks of the working class. Why racism is tied to loathing if the plutocrats, I don't know. Maybe because brown people are easy to see on the streets and uber-rich people hide behind their obscene wealth?
Guess what I'm trying to say is the neo-liberals were right. Globalization does produce more wealth for everyone, at a national and international level. Does all that wealth by definition go to the few? Is that a quality of free trade? Or is that just an inherent result of the rigged economy that has swept the world?
Guess what I'm trying to say is the neo-liberals were right. Globalization does produce more wealth for everyone, at a national and international level. Does all that wealth by definition go to the few? Is that a quality of free trade? Or is that just an inherent result of the rigged economy that has swept the world?
We can't run scared. Farage may have won for the moment, but he has awakened the power of the future -- young people who want to stay in Europe and are not anti-immigrant. This mirrors the U.S., where young people are finally not racist, for the first time in our nation's history we can indulge in a vision of harmonious race relations. Not all young people, but that's the trend. Once the vile old men shrink into dust, the young will take over, and all the more powerfully because of their hatred of people like Farage and Trump. They will have their flaws, but we don't yet know what those will be.
1
Right. No complacency. This will be a slog.
2
Nigel Farage, the anti-immigrant English leader who championed BREXIT was beside Donald Trump in Jackson, Mississippi, another loudmouth whose bigotry is in step with Trump's. They are birds of a feather. Vultures. But one wonders why a Brit was partnering with Donald Trump. Had you not written about this event, Roger Cohen, likelihood is we wouldn't have noticed. Farage won. BREXIT happened, was voted by the Brits, stunning the Conservatives and people who thought Britain would never leave the EU. Farage proved pollsters, talking heads, and others like President Obama who urged Britain to remain in the European Community, wrong. Farage's insurrection was as popular as Les Miz in Paris in 1789. Britain is now "Make the UK great again!". Rid the UK of immigrants. Bigotry abounds there. The same scent of popular revolt is our Trumpian zeitgeist, our awful political phenomenon who has risen like that 100 year stink-flower in botanical gardens. The neoliberal era, whose figurehead is Hillary Clinton is past. Hillary is riding under the bowsprit of our ship of state - like the nautical figureheads on ancient galleons down through history powered by wind for centuries. Women figureheads were believed to represent the spirit of the ship. To have the power to calm storms and gales. And our figurehead, Hillary Clinton, is battling the cruel seas of intolerable inequality, while Trump and Farage, the spirits of demented disruption play Dumb and Dumber in red, low-info states.
2
Regardless of how you feel about Farage and the 3rd world invasion of the US, you can't ignore the fact that millions of unskilled laborers is not good for any country's economy.
A fact the NYT leaves out is almost 1/3 of the federal prison inmates are illegal aliens. That's not counting state and local prisons.
"Farage proved pollsters wrong. He proved commentators wrong." This editorial is a lot of assumptions, weak on facts.
I'll be so happy when President Trump starts work.
A fact the NYT leaves out is almost 1/3 of the federal prison inmates are illegal aliens. That's not counting state and local prisons.
"Farage proved pollsters wrong. He proved commentators wrong." This editorial is a lot of assumptions, weak on facts.
I'll be so happy when President Trump starts work.
2
There is no more convincing evidence of the complete breakdown of public education than the growth of this nihilistic ignorati of cultural arsonists.
4
There are some good arguments against ill-conceived trade agreements like TPP made by thoughtful, caring, intelligent people. Having the likes of Trump and Farage arguing against globalization is the worst thing that could happen to the rational arguments that appear to have a good shot at shutting down TPP.
3
The Huckster's utopian promises only The Huckster can deliver sound exactly like the unattainable, inflated and-or empty promises made by the Brexit Blowhard.
1
Mr. Cohen is right when he observes, “Inequality has risen to intolerable levels.” No matter your political ideology, you ignore this truth at the peril of civil unrest unlike anything we have seen since the beginning of the 20th century.
Donald Trump is a dangerous man, not just because he might be elected, but because he gives voice to the rage of the millions Mr. Cohen references in his article. They have rallied to him and they have had their expectations raised. They will not go away should Clinton prevail in November, nor should they.
We – all of us in every corner of the globe – will have to face the ramifications of this inequality. It, more than the teachings of radical Islamists, has given rise to the growing ranks of young men willing to sacrifice their lives for Isis. It has robbed millions worldwide of hope. It has destroyed families, neighborhoods and nations.
Brexit might have been a wake-up call to Great Britain, yet most of the discussion following the referendum has been about the impact it might have on the financiers in London and not about the genuine concerns of those who voted to leave.
In the US, we have allowed our focus to be directed away from the root causes of the violence in our cities by a political establishment that has so polarized the nation that reasoned debate on fundamental issues is now impossible.
Perhaps it will take true chaos to force a rebalancing. Perhaps we have already passed the tipping point in that direction.
Donald Trump is a dangerous man, not just because he might be elected, but because he gives voice to the rage of the millions Mr. Cohen references in his article. They have rallied to him and they have had their expectations raised. They will not go away should Clinton prevail in November, nor should they.
We – all of us in every corner of the globe – will have to face the ramifications of this inequality. It, more than the teachings of radical Islamists, has given rise to the growing ranks of young men willing to sacrifice their lives for Isis. It has robbed millions worldwide of hope. It has destroyed families, neighborhoods and nations.
Brexit might have been a wake-up call to Great Britain, yet most of the discussion following the referendum has been about the impact it might have on the financiers in London and not about the genuine concerns of those who voted to leave.
In the US, we have allowed our focus to be directed away from the root causes of the violence in our cities by a political establishment that has so polarized the nation that reasoned debate on fundamental issues is now impossible.
Perhaps it will take true chaos to force a rebalancing. Perhaps we have already passed the tipping point in that direction.
3
Brexit and Trump supporters are the same. They think they will be better off by supporting their spokes people, but have no clue what they are in for. Both Trump and Farage have no idea what they are doing or how to do it.
2
I hear a lot of people, on and off air, saying they want to hear about the issues. Good luck with that. At some level the plea is disingenuous. Attention spans are geared to bumper sticker statements and most news shows ratings are dependent on scandal, blood and name-calling. Were we to hear substantive debate, expecting a reasonable level of erudition, large swaths of the population would tune out and news ratings would fall. Heaven forbid that cable news networks were forced to limit poll reporting to one day a week--they would go broke.
The Trump/Farge alliance feeds very well into the ratings narrative. Do we get what we deserve, or just what the 24 hour news feeds think they can sell? It is disturbing. Were the future debates held to any kind of standard (hard to be optimistic about that, but I wish the moderators well), Trump would be unable to articulate much of anything. But marketing rules.
The Trump/Farge alliance feeds very well into the ratings narrative. Do we get what we deserve, or just what the 24 hour news feeds think they can sell? It is disturbing. Were the future debates held to any kind of standard (hard to be optimistic about that, but I wish the moderators well), Trump would be unable to articulate much of anything. But marketing rules.
1
We have to address the precariousness of sticks dwellers' existences. Their communities, values, finances have all broken down. They're uneducated, see little prospects for the future, and are now being taken for a ride by a charlatan.
I don't think the answer to this is some kind of "democratic socialism" [sic]. But the Republican Party and many of its voters have inched ever closer to an almost Libertarian disdain for government. The difference is that the Kochs really believe it, while for the majority of the voters "government" just means "people who aren't white."
America needs governmental reform. We have to eliminate influence peddling and make Congress more representative -- perhaps the number of House seats needs to grow. The United States is not astonishingly corrupt, but it IS corrupt nonetheless. And the perception is that it is corrupt (but most corruption is at the local, not federal, level). ... The cost of TV and radio ads is through the roof. Perhaps candidates could be given a certain amount of free political broadcasts. We must make citizens more engaged. It has to be easier, not harder, for people to register and to vote. Elections have to be made more competitive, which will increase turnout (Congress members hailing from competitive districts are more moderate). Some think we should prevent "stupid" people from voting. But we know support for Trump is correlated with feelings of disempowerment. Maybe the answer is to empower average citizens.
I don't think the answer to this is some kind of "democratic socialism" [sic]. But the Republican Party and many of its voters have inched ever closer to an almost Libertarian disdain for government. The difference is that the Kochs really believe it, while for the majority of the voters "government" just means "people who aren't white."
America needs governmental reform. We have to eliminate influence peddling and make Congress more representative -- perhaps the number of House seats needs to grow. The United States is not astonishingly corrupt, but it IS corrupt nonetheless. And the perception is that it is corrupt (but most corruption is at the local, not federal, level). ... The cost of TV and radio ads is through the roof. Perhaps candidates could be given a certain amount of free political broadcasts. We must make citizens more engaged. It has to be easier, not harder, for people to register and to vote. Elections have to be made more competitive, which will increase turnout (Congress members hailing from competitive districts are more moderate). Some think we should prevent "stupid" people from voting. But we know support for Trump is correlated with feelings of disempowerment. Maybe the answer is to empower average citizens.
1
I arrived in the UK a day after the Brexit vote. I was there almost three weeks visiting my wifes family and travelled from Hastings to Edinburgh. What fascinated me was the number of Britons who had voted for Brexit as a protest and were now stunned with the fact it had won. Life savings down the drain, children and grandchildren who were to lose their jobs on the continent and everyone angry. Thanks to Farage.
3
in democracy it is the peoples choice that matters. 40 years of of the EU ruling us.we, the British have chosen to leave. Farage was only one voice there were many others who played a significant role in the decision to leave.for myself I want to elect a government that I can hold responsable not unelected bureaucrats who imposes laws on me that my government are forced to accept. the same reason your founding fathers decided to leave the British Empire to decide their own fate not by bureaucrats living three thousand miles away. they too were British like myself
1
Farange awakened fears about immigration in the European Union. He spoke of this relentlessly. He and Boris Johnson told the UKers that 300 million pounds per week sent to the EU would be spent on health care in the UK. He and Boris stayed on message and won. Donald is all over the map with contradictory statements, so he will not get as far as Farange. At least one hopes so.
1
Indeed Farange and Johnson stayed on message and with their wild promises of benefits convinced Brits to vote for Brexit. However, once having had their campaign prevail they suddenly realized that their wild promises of benefits were totally unrealistic and began to disavow them. So with Trump and his rantings about changing the nature of American society for "the better" without any real ideas how to do so and if granted power no awareness of the vacuum in his ideology.
2
Obnoxiousness seeks its own level. They are perfect for each other.
2
Clearly the Brexit bros can be disarmed.
Eschewing neoliberalism will help consolidate a majority for the Democracy Party thus taking away their only reasonable policy position.
Eschewing neoliberalism will help consolidate a majority for the Democracy Party thus taking away their only reasonable policy position.
You have way overestimated Farage's influence over the Brexit vote. That result came about largely because large numbers of Conservative Party members like Boris Johnson went for it. Farage by himself, or with his nasty UKIP fellows, could not have accomplished this alone. Which is largely why Farage has now vanished from British political life. He is irrelevant now. You also overestimate Trump's following.
Farage has actually done great service to Britain. The EU is an idea whose time has passed. If the French lived in a democracy and its people were allowed to vote in a referendum, they too would vote to leave. Polls show that 61% of French people have an unfavorable view of the EU. They have had enough of the euro and German imposed austerity.
Mr. Cohen needs to consider the damage done to Europe by its pro-European elites and their obsession with integration. Unemployment in Southern Europe, thanks to the EU's economic mismanagement is awful. In Spain it is 21%, in Greece 24%, and Italy 12%. The Italians, Greeks, and Spanish enjoy non-existent economic growth.
Mr. Cohen needs to consider the damage done to Europe by its pro-European elites and their obsession with integration. Unemployment in Southern Europe, thanks to the EU's economic mismanagement is awful. In Spain it is 21%, in Greece 24%, and Italy 12%. The Italians, Greeks, and Spanish enjoy non-existent economic growth.
1
Trump will parrot Farage and Johnson and exit as soon as he is elected. He will abdicate his responsibility and resign, leaving America with Mike Pence, a Trojan Horse Republican whose policies are Republican truths. He will bring back the prayer in schools and appoint Conservative Judges affirming Citizens United (and outlawing abortion. Trickle down economics will be law and Social Security will be privatized. Each state will be freeballing since the Federal Government will be downsized. Taxes for the rich will go lower while the rest of us will be paying everything through indirect Sales taxes, subsidizing charter schools while Public schools will be almost non-existent. This is the nightmare that is a Trump(quick presidency)/Pence (VPturnedPresident in one full swoop). Be forewarned!
4
And Trump's economic plan will free the worker bees? Sure, if they already make big money or are looking at beating the 'death tax' like donald-he'll pocket 4 BILLION. And we hear people say they will vote for him because he's a 'businessman'! I wouldn't want to do business with that con artist.
I'm sick of hearing about a fly over zone being neglected-check out the votes for Hillery in that area!
I'm sick of hearing about a fly over zone being neglected-check out the votes for Hillery in that area!
1
That last quarter-century is precisely the period that saw U.S. middle-classes hollowed-out and the deepening of income inequalities that the left regard as central to our economic reality. One could question just how productive the “neo-liberal consensus” that has reigned over that period was, to us OR to the Brits.
Is it so surprising that Trump and Farage might see things similarly? Is it so surprising that they might strike similar chords in economically devastated constituencies?
All self-important loudmouths who fasten on legitimate issues that strike a chord in large populations should be taken seriously. The fact that the high ground has been ceded to them by their political opponents isn’t their fault: like everything else, it’s Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s fault. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that.)
But let’s not bury the lead here. Clearly, matters of economic stability and questions of growth are becoming more important, whether or not you buy that factors impeding them include trade agreements such as the TPP or excessive bureaucratic influence on Britain from Brussels. As that increasing importance affects America and the imminent upcoming, it favors Trump, who can easily put the lie to the Obama Administration’s cheery economic claims in the teeth of projections of 1% economic growth as far as the eye can see.
People ALWAYS have voted their pocketbooks and wallets. Neither Trump nor Farage invented the phenomenon.
Is it so surprising that Trump and Farage might see things similarly? Is it so surprising that they might strike similar chords in economically devastated constituencies?
All self-important loudmouths who fasten on legitimate issues that strike a chord in large populations should be taken seriously. The fact that the high ground has been ceded to them by their political opponents isn’t their fault: like everything else, it’s Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s fault. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that.)
But let’s not bury the lead here. Clearly, matters of economic stability and questions of growth are becoming more important, whether or not you buy that factors impeding them include trade agreements such as the TPP or excessive bureaucratic influence on Britain from Brussels. As that increasing importance affects America and the imminent upcoming, it favors Trump, who can easily put the lie to the Obama Administration’s cheery economic claims in the teeth of projections of 1% economic growth as far as the eye can see.
People ALWAYS have voted their pocketbooks and wallets. Neither Trump nor Farage invented the phenomenon.
3
Farage is a dead ender who is eager for an audience. Pretty desperate, really.
This has nothing to do with practical solutions to the problems of working stiffs. Farage is uncomfortably similar to British blackshirt Oswald Mosley:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mosley
Except he is a real loser. Ugly is as ugly does. And while I'm being trite, birds of a feather flock together.
This has nothing to do with practical solutions to the problems of working stiffs. Farage is uncomfortably similar to British blackshirt Oswald Mosley:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mosley
Except he is a real loser. Ugly is as ugly does. And while I'm being trite, birds of a feather flock together.
18
@Richard Luettgen
It's precisely BECAUSE 'people have always voted their pocketbooks and wallets' that Trump is going to lose this November. While the economy certainly isn't great (and neither Obama nor HRC claim it as such), few are in such dire straits as to opt for a failed casino(!) owner to make things better; and likely more than a few will vote HRC to prevent an economy worse than what we have now.
Aside from that, I don't find the parallels between Britain-Brexit and US-Trump to be very convincing. They voted against an idea, an abstraction without a face. We'll be voting against a spray-on tan with hairspray.
Also, we aren't 'aghast' at fly-over country thinking differently. We can count. There are more of us than there are of them and, all else being equal, we will prevail in the maintenance of a political sanity that has managed to survive in spite of an unremitting GOP political obstructionism never experienced in the UK. Actions have consequences...even over here.
It's precisely BECAUSE 'people have always voted their pocketbooks and wallets' that Trump is going to lose this November. While the economy certainly isn't great (and neither Obama nor HRC claim it as such), few are in such dire straits as to opt for a failed casino(!) owner to make things better; and likely more than a few will vote HRC to prevent an economy worse than what we have now.
Aside from that, I don't find the parallels between Britain-Brexit and US-Trump to be very convincing. They voted against an idea, an abstraction without a face. We'll be voting against a spray-on tan with hairspray.
Also, we aren't 'aghast' at fly-over country thinking differently. We can count. There are more of us than there are of them and, all else being equal, we will prevail in the maintenance of a political sanity that has managed to survive in spite of an unremitting GOP political obstructionism never experienced in the UK. Actions have consequences...even over here.
1
But Farage won. Now he's retiring to enjoy the many millions he made as a commodities trader in the Blairite era, i.e. under neoliberalism.
3
Mr. Cohen traffics in stereotypes, for instance, "the global citizens of New York or Los Angeles can’t see Trump’s appeal to tens of millions of Americans." Well, I can see Trump's appeal to tens of millions of Americans; I voted for Bernie Sanders. But what's the point you are making?
Look at the Democratic party's platform, compare it with the Republican one, and then tell me who is more likely to help ordinary working people.
Look at the Democratic party's platform, compare it with the Republican one, and then tell me who is more likely to help ordinary working people.
14
Mr. Cohen,
Globalization has winners and losers. Those who lose are not enjoined to political impotence. As a right, they can act in defiance of the neoliberal doctrines.
Globalization has winners and losers. Those who lose are not enjoined to political impotence. As a right, they can act in defiance of the neoliberal doctrines.
15
Actually, Nigel Farage is a great reminder of much that is wrong with Trump.
To begin with, there was Trump's deep ignorance about Brexit itself. He weighed in on the 'victory' from Scotland, oblivious to how anti-Brexit Scottish people are, and added a hopeful note about our great priority - his golf course.
Then there was Trump's dizzying double-speak. After spending more than a year making hardline immigration enforcement his signature issue, he walks back his fantastical deportation talk - and then campaigns with Farage, who used xenophobic, nativist sentiment to push Brexit.
Finally, the hypocritical hits on President Obama. Farage criticized President Obama, who voiced his opinion against Brexit, as meddling in foreign affairs. Trump criticizes President Obama for things which aren't even real. And then Farage goes to campaign with a foreign candidate (technical lack of endorsement notwithstanding).
Two of a kind.
To begin with, there was Trump's deep ignorance about Brexit itself. He weighed in on the 'victory' from Scotland, oblivious to how anti-Brexit Scottish people are, and added a hopeful note about our great priority - his golf course.
Then there was Trump's dizzying double-speak. After spending more than a year making hardline immigration enforcement his signature issue, he walks back his fantastical deportation talk - and then campaigns with Farage, who used xenophobic, nativist sentiment to push Brexit.
Finally, the hypocritical hits on President Obama. Farage criticized President Obama, who voiced his opinion against Brexit, as meddling in foreign affairs. Trump criticizes President Obama for things which aren't even real. And then Farage goes to campaign with a foreign candidate (technical lack of endorsement notwithstanding).
Two of a kind.
125
And does it in Mississippi
1
Britain will survive Brexit despite the pain it brings even to the people who voted Leave.
But folks, wake up. We in America are facing Armageddon as a nation. Trump means the end of democracy, the rejection of morality and decency, the end of science in the climate change debate, the end of separation of church and state. He will choose up to four Supreme Court justices..imagine who they would be. We are facing the Dark Ages. Voters must stop quibbling about Hillary's obvious blemishes and emails and get their priorities straight. We must overwhelmingly reject Trump and all that he stands for. We must send a powerful message of rejection to hate-mongers around the world. It is crunch time for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
But folks, wake up. We in America are facing Armageddon as a nation. Trump means the end of democracy, the rejection of morality and decency, the end of science in the climate change debate, the end of separation of church and state. He will choose up to four Supreme Court justices..imagine who they would be. We are facing the Dark Ages. Voters must stop quibbling about Hillary's obvious blemishes and emails and get their priorities straight. We must overwhelmingly reject Trump and all that he stands for. We must send a powerful message of rejection to hate-mongers around the world. It is crunch time for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
354
I agree with your ideas, Jeff LZ, but please stop the "Armageddon" talk. All we have to do is get out the vote against hate-anger-fear-war.
1
The author got it right on so many points except a couple of big ones.
Farage was always a fringe player in the UK political arena. The Brexit result was not a surprise to most (apart from Scotland) outside of London. The real Brexit movers were the Conservative party Euro-sceptics, with Farage playing his loud mouth part. In so many ways he is in the image of Trump, with his anti-immigration voice and loud obnoxious behavior.
Immigration issues, while very important, were not the root cause for the Brexit vote. The number one issue was SOVEREIGNTY, or the lack of it under EU rules. The lack of sovereignty meant that over 60% of laws applicable in the UK were created by the faceless wonders in Brussels.
The author's comment, "Farage has already great damage to Britain", is simply untrue. His ugly message on immigration was questionable, but in the end, Brexit was the best solution to correct a disastrous Euro relationship. The fears of the economic doom-mongers of the 'Remain' camp if Brexit passed, have not come to pass. There are difficult times ahead, but the rest of the world is clamoring to do a trade deal with Britain. The TTIP (US-Euro) failure is a great example of why the UK, when not part of a squabbling 28 country pact, can better negotiate trade deals down the road. Farage will be totally forgotten within the next 12 months, as I hope Trump will be.
Farage was always a fringe player in the UK political arena. The Brexit result was not a surprise to most (apart from Scotland) outside of London. The real Brexit movers were the Conservative party Euro-sceptics, with Farage playing his loud mouth part. In so many ways he is in the image of Trump, with his anti-immigration voice and loud obnoxious behavior.
Immigration issues, while very important, were not the root cause for the Brexit vote. The number one issue was SOVEREIGNTY, or the lack of it under EU rules. The lack of sovereignty meant that over 60% of laws applicable in the UK were created by the faceless wonders in Brussels.
The author's comment, "Farage has already great damage to Britain", is simply untrue. His ugly message on immigration was questionable, but in the end, Brexit was the best solution to correct a disastrous Euro relationship. The fears of the economic doom-mongers of the 'Remain' camp if Brexit passed, have not come to pass. There are difficult times ahead, but the rest of the world is clamoring to do a trade deal with Britain. The TTIP (US-Euro) failure is a great example of why the UK, when not part of a squabbling 28 country pact, can better negotiate trade deals down the road. Farage will be totally forgotten within the next 12 months, as I hope Trump will be.
19
Tom, the yuge problem is that in order to retain access to the unified market, the largest trading partner, by far, of the UK, the fifth largest economy n the world at the time of the referendum (though passed by both France and California since), the UK will have to accede to the EU rules on free movement of people and currency. So much for sovereignty. Now if the Brits don't care about trading with the EU, or prefer to make separate trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, that's another story. But all those Brits working or studying in EU countries are gonna have a problem. My cousin, living in Edinburgh for seven years on a Greek passport (his mom was born in Greece) thinks that Article 50 is never going to be invoked. Magical thinking? No mre than thinking that the Brits will regain sovereignty.
3
I'd question a few of your points, Tom.
First, many middle class voters were swayed by concerns over sovereignty, but they'd never have won the referendum without Farage's working class anti-immigration vote. Indeed, many pollsters put immigration (or rather fear of immigration -- areas with high immigrant populations tended to vote to remain) as the single biggest factor. Sovereignty was "the number one issue" for a minority.
Secondly, nobody who treated the subject seriously believed "that over 60% of laws applicable in the UK were created by the faceless wonders in Brussels." For that to be true, you'd have to count a major Act of Parliament running to hundreds of pages on education, welfare or defense as equal to a minor regulation on the composition of ball bearings. Most if not all EU regulations existed to ensure a level economic playing field between member countries.
If TTIP turns out to be a failure, it will be in spite of the British government's efforts as its biggest cheerleader. I see absolutely no grounds for believing "the UK, when not part of a squabbling 28 country pact, can better negotiate trade deals down the road," not least because it has had zero experience in the last 40 years of negotiating such deals because the EU did that for it.
Unlike London taxis, economies do not turn on a dime. And your suggestion that "The fears of the economic doom-mongers of the 'Remain' camp if Brexit passed, have not come to pass," may yet turn out to be premature.
First, many middle class voters were swayed by concerns over sovereignty, but they'd never have won the referendum without Farage's working class anti-immigration vote. Indeed, many pollsters put immigration (or rather fear of immigration -- areas with high immigrant populations tended to vote to remain) as the single biggest factor. Sovereignty was "the number one issue" for a minority.
Secondly, nobody who treated the subject seriously believed "that over 60% of laws applicable in the UK were created by the faceless wonders in Brussels." For that to be true, you'd have to count a major Act of Parliament running to hundreds of pages on education, welfare or defense as equal to a minor regulation on the composition of ball bearings. Most if not all EU regulations existed to ensure a level economic playing field between member countries.
If TTIP turns out to be a failure, it will be in spite of the British government's efforts as its biggest cheerleader. I see absolutely no grounds for believing "the UK, when not part of a squabbling 28 country pact, can better negotiate trade deals down the road," not least because it has had zero experience in the last 40 years of negotiating such deals because the EU did that for it.
Unlike London taxis, economies do not turn on a dime. And your suggestion that "The fears of the economic doom-mongers of the 'Remain' camp if Brexit passed, have not come to pass," may yet turn out to be premature.
3
Whenever one criticizes from within he/she are in equivocally told that if you don't like it go back to where you came from. The Brits, with their delusion of empire, have decided to set sail on the belief that Farange, Johnson and Gove would know how to steer Britannia to wherever. They had not even thought about it for a minute. Farage quickly disappeared (but is keeping the well payed seat in the much despised European Parliament), Jonhson played the fool and is now the country's foreign joker, ahem, minister, Gove's wife unwittingly(?) unmasked the jerk.
Back to the USA, exit from where to where? Outside of Texas no one state is even contemplating leaving the Union and even then to where? Canadians would have strict controls on the political affiliations of those requesting asylum, whereas on the southern border the wall built on the first day of the Trump presidency will be used to keep the Yanquis out of Mexico.
That a hypocrite of the size of Farange should even appear in a USA electoral campaign does not really add anything to the dismal state of mind of DJT.
From a former immigrant, just keep on building on what you have, a lot, don't dream of exiting on emptiness of thoughts and on fakery.
Back to the USA, exit from where to where? Outside of Texas no one state is even contemplating leaving the Union and even then to where? Canadians would have strict controls on the political affiliations of those requesting asylum, whereas on the southern border the wall built on the first day of the Trump presidency will be used to keep the Yanquis out of Mexico.
That a hypocrite of the size of Farange should even appear in a USA electoral campaign does not really add anything to the dismal state of mind of DJT.
From a former immigrant, just keep on building on what you have, a lot, don't dream of exiting on emptiness of thoughts and on fakery.
4
This is all the fault of neoliberalism? Really? I see something different. A lot of trends came together in the late 70s and into the 80s that led us to where we are today--neoliberalism is perhaps the least important of these because it would never have gotten the foothold it did without the other trends in place. One was a conservative reaction to the social revolution(s) that began in the late 60s and carried on into the 70s: free sex, drugs, black civil rights, feminism. The good, the bad, and the questionable--all given a great deal of (often negative) visibility in the media--elicited a backlash from the more conservative among the population. It was often a disproportionate backlash being egged on by the increasingly effective right-wing propaganda machine that took off with Goldwater's defeat in 1964. Let's not forget the emergence of the Moral Majority as part of this. Meanwhile Reagan that affable, good-natured pitchman was being groomed to carry the message that "greed is good and government is bad". And far too many voters bought into all of it--or enough of it to vote for empty promises of good times by going "back to the future" rather than Carter's scolding about the issues we faced. Clinton successfully managed to thread a path through the right-wing minefield. Not that the right-wing still didn't try their best to take him down--and his wife along with him. Too many voters were gullible while too many others were lazy and apathetic. Oversimplistic--but 1500.
26
Thank you, very well said, Annie.
There is no question that Messrs. Trump, Sanders, Farage and Boris Johnson have identified and are exploiting a powerful political sentiment that is present most developed countries. That sentiment has substantial legitimacy: Globalization and advanced technology have caused the socioeconomic status of less educated and less skilled people to stagnate or decrease while that of those who are better educated and skilled have soared astronomically. In today's age of social media and instant communication, there is no way that this could not produce massive discontent and resentment. Furthermore, the political class in the United States and the United Kingdom have done absolutely NOTHING to redress and ameliorate this disparity. The "rugged individualism" of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher has run its logical course and has transformed into self-righteous greed and narcissism and is rightly seen as an injustice. This has to change. The tsunami is just getting started.
117
" the socioeconomic status of less educated and less skilled people to stagnate or decrease while that of those who are better educated and skilled have soared astronomically."
NO! Many "well-educated" and competent 30 somethings are earning way less, adjusted for inflation, than the similarly educated cohort of 20-30 years ago. With a B.S. in Physics (math and analytical skills implied) I got employed in the IT world at $7,500 p.a. in 1966. To-day, based on the CPI calculator that is equivalent to $55,705. A college degree (any Bachelor's) is also not what it used to be. No wonder H.S. only folks are in trouble. The other problem, is that skills in high demand are changing much more rapidly than our national educational system can accommodate.
NO! Many "well-educated" and competent 30 somethings are earning way less, adjusted for inflation, than the similarly educated cohort of 20-30 years ago. With a B.S. in Physics (math and analytical skills implied) I got employed in the IT world at $7,500 p.a. in 1966. To-day, based on the CPI calculator that is equivalent to $55,705. A college degree (any Bachelor's) is also not what it used to be. No wonder H.S. only folks are in trouble. The other problem, is that skills in high demand are changing much more rapidly than our national educational system can accommodate.
2
I see no way to avoid social unrest if either of these candidates wins the presidency. Trump would be a disaster, and Hillary will only continue the slide downward with her continuation of pro-corporate neoliberal policies. The queen of the Clinton Foundation is nothing but a corporate tool.
I agree with your ideas, TJ, but please stop the "Armageddon" talk. All we have to do is get out the vote against hate-anger-fear-war.
This isn't right. Clinton didn't usher in economic prosperity anymore than the E.U. did for the U.K. And as someone who supports Trump, with advanced degrees and a profession in the STEM field, it's this re-writing of history that's so perplexing. I'm more bemused than angry, though, and here's why.
The prosperity we enjoyed during Clinton's Presidency was tied mostly to corporations becoming leaner and revolutions in personal and networked (internet) computing. NAFTA and free(er) trade were ushered in too late to have an impact on any of this, and by then our manufacturing sector had already recovered from the slumps of the 70s - in some cases thanks to enhanced protection (recall how Reagan protected Harley-Davidson). We didn't need NAFTA any more than the U.K. apparently needs the E.U. Joining both were cases of largess and good will.
On this latter point, just consider how well the U.K. has been doing post-Brexit. None of the dire predictions made by the anti-Brexit crowd came to pass, nor are they likely to. The U.K. was turned around by Thatcher in the same way that this country was turned around by Reagan. Both nations were turned around via a turn away from 70s command and control policies, which was the "original liberal," pre "neo-liberal."
This is basic economic history. But leave it to the media, bankers, and their politicians to not know this. For having the attention span of a gnat, they deserve to be voted against, and laughed at.
The prosperity we enjoyed during Clinton's Presidency was tied mostly to corporations becoming leaner and revolutions in personal and networked (internet) computing. NAFTA and free(er) trade were ushered in too late to have an impact on any of this, and by then our manufacturing sector had already recovered from the slumps of the 70s - in some cases thanks to enhanced protection (recall how Reagan protected Harley-Davidson). We didn't need NAFTA any more than the U.K. apparently needs the E.U. Joining both were cases of largess and good will.
On this latter point, just consider how well the U.K. has been doing post-Brexit. None of the dire predictions made by the anti-Brexit crowd came to pass, nor are they likely to. The U.K. was turned around by Thatcher in the same way that this country was turned around by Reagan. Both nations were turned around via a turn away from 70s command and control policies, which was the "original liberal," pre "neo-liberal."
This is basic economic history. But leave it to the media, bankers, and their politicians to not know this. For having the attention span of a gnat, they deserve to be voted against, and laughed at.
5
Ben, if you do some basic research you will find that Brexit has not happened yet, and the lengthy process is not likely to even commence for the better part of a year. Your trumpeting of how well we are doing "post-Brexit" is completely invalid, and your lack of knowledge seems odd, given the educated tone of your post. Firstly, Parliament need to formally trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which gives each side two years to agree the terms of the split. Then the exact terms of our exit need to be agreed to by 27 national parliaments, which is estimated to possibly take longer than the two year figure. Then, and only then, will the UK be deemed to have undergone full 'Brexit', and the implications assessed.
But in the meantime, the value of the pound is at a 30-year low, a recession seems likely, and every house sale I know of before referendum day has been reneged on, which is at odds with your glowing appraisal of "how well" we are doing. Not to mention the fear and uncertainty felt by hundreds of thousands of people from other EU countries who live in the UK, as they wait to find out if they will be made to leave.
But in the meantime, the value of the pound is at a 30-year low, a recession seems likely, and every house sale I know of before referendum day has been reneged on, which is at odds with your glowing appraisal of "how well" we are doing. Not to mention the fear and uncertainty felt by hundreds of thousands of people from other EU countries who live in the UK, as they wait to find out if they will be made to leave.
3
Opinion? Where are links to facts that confirm your statements. I do not have contrary ones, so I am just asking. My admittedly fallible human memory does not agree with your statements.
1
Both of these characters, Trump and Farage, are products of the tabloid universe. Clever tabloid media brew up shock headlines using a vocabulary of scandal, resentment, innuendo and outright fiction. Free press rights allow this phenomenon, but we are supposed to compensate for the gibberish-factor by maintaining awareness that the tabloid media and the tabloid politicians are speaking in a weird coded language and are never to be taken literally. The entire problem arises when the audience - who have been binging on this garbage - start believing it. As if the audience at some WWE fake wrestling event started believing they were watching an actual competition. It's a complete confusion and a sad testimony to the gullibility of people.
9
I bitterly resent being effectively taxed to support Rupert Murdoch's psychopathy factory in my cable TV bills. The Congress sells us all to parasites as captive consumers.
2
I have no trouble seeing the appeal demagogue/conman/businessman/carnival barker Trump holds to tens of millions of Americans. But I also see that to many, many tens of millions more, Trump's flaws are likely to prove fatal, and Roger Cohen only listed some of them: "his bullying, his petulance, his egomania, his ignorance, his inconsistency, his mendacity, his racism, his hair-trigger temper, his arrogance, his disorganization and his misogyny..." As if that's not enough to sink him, the column reminds us neo-liberal, uber globalist elites: "There is too much smug Hillary-has-it sentiment swilling around." Agreed... and it might even be more dangerous than Trump.
8
Don't forget that Trump is an egregious abuser of judicial process who has committed to nominating bald faced liars and oathbreakers to the federal judiciary.
1
Perhaps someone can explain to me why Nigel Farage's travel to the US to campaign for Donald Trump was not a violation of the FECA ban on foreign nationals donating to US election campaigns. I can recall no precedent for a candidate for the Presidency inviting a foreign political leader to make stump speeches in the US. If the Clinton campaign doesn't call out Trump on thie they are truly asleep at the switch.
78
Robert Rackmales: Excellent observation! Thanks.
What about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel campaigning against the Obama Administration by speaking on Iran to a joint meeting of Congress on Mar 3, 2015? Then there is Trump inviting Putin to hack the DNC servers and Hillary's private server, etc. Republicans seem to be skilled at skirting the law by involving foreign nationals in US politics.
2
In response to another article (on the Clinton Foundation) a Canadian commented that he and his neighbor had both contributed to the Trump campaign, and it has been reported that members of legislatures in Britain and Australia received solicitation letters from Trump. Time for charges, Justice Department?
1
Brexit 'won' the Leave vote with a campaign of untruths and half-truths riding a wave of growing fears of immigrants, a wave of immigration caused in part by Great Britain's support for the massive strategic blunder known as the March 2003 incursion into Iraq. The Brits apparently feel no sense of responsibility or regret for destabilizing the Middle East. Trump is running a similar campaign of untruths and half-truths playing upon the fears of the white working class, fears of brown people. And the majority of the white working class, especially in Mississippi, dismiss any charge they benefited from or were in any way responsible for slavery. Trump and Farange belong on a stage together..a stage out of town.
17
Cohen dismisses the "disruptive movements aim to break the free trade, pro-globalization neoliberal consensus that has held sway in the West for the past quarter-century at least." Yes, you are finally beginning to understand that the great majority of people (Sanders and Trump supporters) want to disrupt the consensus that has given the US increased disparities in wealth and income, government by banking and multinational corporation lobbyists, and financial sector excess that led to the Great Recession. Now, if the Great Recession wasn't the most disruptive economic event of the past half century, what would you suggest as an alternative?
One doesn't need to demonize the demon - Demon Donald. It is clear that even you recognize that H-Rod is "banking" on gender and race to overcome economic self-interest and elect her to fight a rear guard action to preserve economic privilege (those with enough income to support the Clinton Foundation). The great damage done to the UK was done by the Tories and New Labour, not by Farage and his ilk. Slick Willy was a corporate and banking stooge, as can be seen by the legislation he signed.
Fortunately, Johnson and Stein offer decent alternatives to the disreputable duo foistered upon us by the DNC and pugilistic populism.
Vote. But vote for a third party candidate.
One doesn't need to demonize the demon - Demon Donald. It is clear that even you recognize that H-Rod is "banking" on gender and race to overcome economic self-interest and elect her to fight a rear guard action to preserve economic privilege (those with enough income to support the Clinton Foundation). The great damage done to the UK was done by the Tories and New Labour, not by Farage and his ilk. Slick Willy was a corporate and banking stooge, as can be seen by the legislation he signed.
Fortunately, Johnson and Stein offer decent alternatives to the disreputable duo foistered upon us by the DNC and pugilistic populism.
Vote. But vote for a third party candidate.
13
I suggest before anyone vote for either Stein or Johnson, they take a closer look. The very fact that someone can mention them in the same breath is disturbing. Stein is an opportunist who as an MD has no business encouraging fringe views on vaccinations and WiFi. She is not a true "green" candidate. Johnson is a fringe libertarian with a few reasonable views. Neither is capable of delivering anything but chaos.
101
Stein is not perfect but compared to the alternatives, she is miles above Hillary who will only continue the status quo and continue the consolidation of wealth unabated to a tiny minority.
1
"They are politicians delivering ugly messages "
The problem is that thye are pointing out the obvious. The vast majority have not benefitted from globalization. Just how Mr. Cohen are you supposed to tell a guy that had a job at the Ford plant, with a house and car, cottage at the lake and boat, with paid vacations and pension , plus health insurance that he should be absolutely delighted with globalization that has brought him and his family nothing but financial ruin. He and his co workers are lucky to have a decent diet. He can no longer afford a house. And he drives a junker car. His city has fallen into ruin just as his neighbourhood has fallen into ruin. He can forget college for his kids etc. this is what Bill and Hillary Clinton brought them when they sold the country down the river with free trade. Some deal that! The middle class in the USA is now as dead as the Dodo Bird.
What did this middle class guy get for having lost all of that, what did the globalists give him? Nothing! Sir. And better still what are they promising with Mrs. Clinton? Her constituency is Wall Street. Just look at her advisers. All well connected to Wall Street. ( And the media seems to have forgotten all about her 21 million dollars worth of speeches (promises? to the big banks.) Even her pick as Vice is a Wall Street insider and darling of the big banks, You think people might just be a tad ticked off and just might vote Trump? I wonder why in the world they might want to do that?
The problem is that thye are pointing out the obvious. The vast majority have not benefitted from globalization. Just how Mr. Cohen are you supposed to tell a guy that had a job at the Ford plant, with a house and car, cottage at the lake and boat, with paid vacations and pension , plus health insurance that he should be absolutely delighted with globalization that has brought him and his family nothing but financial ruin. He and his co workers are lucky to have a decent diet. He can no longer afford a house. And he drives a junker car. His city has fallen into ruin just as his neighbourhood has fallen into ruin. He can forget college for his kids etc. this is what Bill and Hillary Clinton brought them when they sold the country down the river with free trade. Some deal that! The middle class in the USA is now as dead as the Dodo Bird.
What did this middle class guy get for having lost all of that, what did the globalists give him? Nothing! Sir. And better still what are they promising with Mrs. Clinton? Her constituency is Wall Street. Just look at her advisers. All well connected to Wall Street. ( And the media seems to have forgotten all about her 21 million dollars worth of speeches (promises? to the big banks.) Even her pick as Vice is a Wall Street insider and darling of the big banks, You think people might just be a tad ticked off and just might vote Trump? I wonder why in the world they might want to do that?
15
The guy at the Ford plan now drives a 5 yr old Toyota Corolla - but you fail to mention that the Toyota is valued by blue book at more than the 2 year old Ford.
The wide screen TV he watches at home would cost twice as much if it were made here. The windbreaker he bought for 10 bucks would cost 3 times that if it were made in Taiwan. The smartphone his daughter owns would cost $1000 if made in the USA.
"What did this miidle class guy get for having "lost all of that?" I just told you.
The wide screen TV he watches at home would cost twice as much if it were made here. The windbreaker he bought for 10 bucks would cost 3 times that if it were made in Taiwan. The smartphone his daughter owns would cost $1000 if made in the USA.
"What did this miidle class guy get for having "lost all of that?" I just told you.
2
I do not know enough about Ford sales in the international market, but GM has recovered from its bankruptcy in large part because it was able to sell Buick and Chevrolet to Chinese consumers. What auto workers need to remember is the foreign market is the growth center for the auto industry. Policies that would "protect" US industry against unfair trade practices will be responded in kind in other countries, and the Ford worker may end up losing his job rather than just complaining that he or she was not paid as well those employees hired 20 years ago.
3
And my question to you is why does the guy who makes the car have to sacrifice his living standard so that his company can have access to a foreign market, while the CEOs and shareholders are making out loike bandits? What is the use of capitalism if it impoverishes the people who actually work for a living and not just make the paper shufflers rich?
Free trade killed the Middle Class in the USA. Clinton brought you free trade.Now you may well belong to the 1% elites, if you do then of course you are all for it. Your ox never got gored in those terrible deals.
Free trade killed the Middle Class in the USA. Clinton brought you free trade.Now you may well belong to the 1% elites, if you do then of course you are all for it. Your ox never got gored in those terrible deals.
Yes, Roger, all that about the death of neoliberalism.
Trump couldn't have gotten as far as he has had not the Democratic Party mutated from being the party of the working middle classes to the party of college kids. The latter took Econ 101. Global trade looks good on a chalkboard. Everyone benefits. All boats rise together. Except when they don't. Those left behind are an afterthought, useful as foils in election season.
So what kind of candidate did the Democratic machine, attuned to the Zeitgeist, offer the country? A Champagne socialist who sat on the board of Wal-Mart.
Trump couldn't have gotten as far as he has had not the Democratic Party mutated from being the party of the working middle classes to the party of college kids. The latter took Econ 101. Global trade looks good on a chalkboard. Everyone benefits. All boats rise together. Except when they don't. Those left behind are an afterthought, useful as foils in election season.
So what kind of candidate did the Democratic machine, attuned to the Zeitgeist, offer the country? A Champagne socialist who sat on the board of Wal-Mart.
25
Hillary was the first woman on the board of Walmart, and she used the opportunity to advocate for women and minorities. So typical to misrepresent good deeds as bad. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/politics/20walmart.html
Just like representing an international charity that helps millions of people as only an occasion for corruption.
"Fellow board members and company executives, who have not spoken publicly about her role at Wal-Mart, say Mrs. Clinton used her position to champion personal causes, like the need for more women in management and a comprehensive environmental program, despite being Wal-Mart’s only female director, the youngest and arguably the least experienced in business. On other topics, like Wal-Mart’s vehement anti-unionism, for example, she was largely silent, they said.
"Her years on the Wal-Mart board, from 1986 to 1992, gave her an unusual tutorial in the ways of American business — a credential that could serve as an antidote to Republican efforts to portray her as an enemy of free markets and an advocate for big government."
Just like representing an international charity that helps millions of people as only an occasion for corruption.
"Fellow board members and company executives, who have not spoken publicly about her role at Wal-Mart, say Mrs. Clinton used her position to champion personal causes, like the need for more women in management and a comprehensive environmental program, despite being Wal-Mart’s only female director, the youngest and arguably the least experienced in business. On other topics, like Wal-Mart’s vehement anti-unionism, for example, she was largely silent, they said.
"Her years on the Wal-Mart board, from 1986 to 1992, gave her an unusual tutorial in the ways of American business — a credential that could serve as an antidote to Republican efforts to portray her as an enemy of free markets and an advocate for big government."
32
Good analysis, I think, Mr. Cohen.
9
Donald will Make America Great again by,
* Marrying foreign women
* Inviting our enemies to hack into our secrets
* Worshiping a Russian dictator
* Campaigning with a man who broke Britain, and then ran away
Look, if you still vote for him, you are even stupider than we have been giving you credit.
* Marrying foreign women
* Inviting our enemies to hack into our secrets
* Worshiping a Russian dictator
* Campaigning with a man who broke Britain, and then ran away
Look, if you still vote for him, you are even stupider than we have been giving you credit.
347
Not to mention making his products in China.
1
This would be the same Nigel Farage who sold secession from the EU to the cheap seats with phonied up 'facts' and empty promises; won the referendum; and then washed his hands of the mess that ensued and walked away... But not before speaking in front of a gathering of EU ministers one last time to beat his chest and shove a sharp stick in the EU's eye on his way out the door.
Yes indeed. The perfect sidekick for the Donald J. Trump show.
Yes indeed. The perfect sidekick for the Donald J. Trump show.
220
I hope the EU makes brexit painful as hell for England.
2
American's would be well advised to ignore everything Mr. Farage has to say. He is a complete fraud and having succeeded in hoodwinking the gullible in Britain to leave the European Union he has resigned from his party and has no intention of helping to straighten out the mess his lies have caused. Not that he ever could. He is the quintessential snake oil salesmen; full of self confidence and high regard for himself but with no substance to underpin such confidence. His arguments are superficial and glib. He has no intellectual heft. Beware such visitors from Britain with the nicely cut suit, the plummy voice and no scruples whatsoever. As Cohen notes though he is politically quite astute. A very dangerous man.
237
Right wingers are evidently void of any capacity to own up to the consequences of implementing any of their half-cocked policies.
3
So much like Trump.
1
Farage proves that the Orange One could win the election. We already know that the US media in general and Faux News in particular will keep 'covering' him thus giving him free air time on national TV, that his supporters will continue to make noise between now and November 8 and that they will go out and vote.
Hillary Clinton's team can't base their entire strategy on 'our candidate sounds less crazy than the other guy.' She's run a pretty dull campaign and we all know how that worked out for the anti-Brexit side in the UK.
Remember reading those stories about folks there regretting voting for Brexit and asking for a do-over? Pretty sure Americans don't want to wake to that on November 9. Except for Putin, I know the rest of the world doesn't.
Hillary Clinton's team can't base their entire strategy on 'our candidate sounds less crazy than the other guy.' She's run a pretty dull campaign and we all know how that worked out for the anti-Brexit side in the UK.
Remember reading those stories about folks there regretting voting for Brexit and asking for a do-over? Pretty sure Americans don't want to wake to that on November 9. Except for Putin, I know the rest of the world doesn't.
82
Brexit exit has already adversely affected the economic future of Britain and nothing has actually changed yet. Most people who voted for Bexit had no idea what it meant or how it affect their country. Many regret that vote.
Voters here have a warming if they are considering voting for Trump. DON'T DO IT!!
Voters here have a warming if they are considering voting for Trump. DON'T DO IT!!
107
is that a global warming?
Trump knows no bottom, he will go to the depths, and pick up the lowest form of scum. Really? Nigel Farage? I guess grifters and con men help each other out.
174
Socrates makes a simplistic argument below that ignores the difference between the USA and the EU. We are a country. They are not. And that makes all the difference in the world. We were not a country until the end of the Civil War either, not really despite the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. We did not have a unified national currency until the Confederacy was defeated and Union Army troops occupied the South; then people in Boston and New York finally felt comfortable sending their tax dollars to the betterment of Texas--or Mississippi. Much as I would like to expel certain states from the Union from time to time, and think perhaps Lincoln over-reacted in waging war to keep them as part of the fold, I know the stature of the USA would be greatly diminished were we to let them depart. Furthermore, the world would be a far more dangerous place without the presence of the colossus known as America. We'll just have to put up with the rednecks who control well over half the land area of the country and make sure they never gain control.
56
That is exactly correct. Before the Civil War people would say, "The United States are..." After the war people said "The United States is..."
3
Mr. Cohen, you should have perhaps mentioned that Farage and his campaign won by dispensing lies so liberally that they had to start walking them back as early as 8am the morning after the referendum. Farage had to backpedal the claim made *on the front of his tourbus* that Brexit would lead to £ 350 mn a week being invested in the National Health System. The reason he's in the US turning out for a fellow racist is because he has no taste for the hard work of managing the chaos that he and his fellow Brexit liars have ushered in, and of course the fact that he has lost 7 (count 'em, 7!) attempts to get into Parliament, so there is literally no constituency here in the UK that wants this work-shy hypocrite as their MP, a job in which he would actually be expected to do some real work, rather than grandstanding with lies.
452
Mr. Farage is a hard workin' guy, just like Trump.
1
Farage has worked extremely hard for years to secure the referendum. To suggest otherwise is a untruth. There is no chaos in the UK because of Brexit. I don't know where that's suppose to be happening. Perhaps a few of the London chattering classes who have nothing better to do.Incidentally I voted to leave not because of immigration but to get control of our country back to the UK.
while your observation is accurate and criticism spot on, all it proves is that seductive lies work magic among the gullable, a symptom of the more profound problem: #FactFree works
1
I contributed to Obama on both 2008 and 2012 election seasons. I was planning to keep my money this time, thinking Hillary has it in the bag. Mr. Cohen convince me that I need to stop being so cheap!
301
More important than a campaign donation I feel, is to get the sensible people out to vote for Hillary.
2
White nationalism is solely the ugliest sentiment any American can harbor and speaks to their evil and shallowness of their damned soul. Nothing about redneck racism is pretty or wholesome or Christian. Alt-Right racism is especially damning because it speaks to inner evil so vile that even the devil himself might shutter at.
87
How is that Trump is campaigning with a foreigner who injects himself into our domestic politics?
266
No different than Obama urging the anti-brexit vote.
but if you look hard, you'll see Putin standing just behind DT.
but if you look hard, you'll see Putin standing just behind DT.
fascists stick together - look at lumpy and putin.
I heard Trump is planning a campaign rally with Putin in Lubbock, TX next week.
1
Regarding: "There is too much smug Hillary-has-it sentiment swilling around." I don't know many people who believe without reservation that "Hillary has it." It is apparent no one can let up the effort to elect Hillary Clinton (or prevent Donald Trump's election) until November 9th.
15
It may not be France in 1789 or Russia in 1917, but the inability of most of those in the 0.1% (there are some exceptions) to realise that all of their wealth will do them little good if the political and economic systems on which they depend and in which they live collapses around them never ceases to surprise me.
68
You're absolutely correct. I've always wondered how someone intelligent enough to build a fortune can be so ignorant and shortsighted to not realize that being too greedy threatens what they have worked so hard to attain. There is so much evidence now that treating all levels of society fairly makes everyone wealthier, including the one-percenters.
4
"They are politicians delivering ugly messages — explicit and implicit. Theirs is the last hate-filled stand of the white man in societies that globalization has irrevocably changed in composition and color."
Reads like DNC Politburo propaganda bullet-point that even Trotsky would have been proud of. I think he was a "white" guy, too, and with many of Cohen's leanings, too, though not so guilt-ridden.
So goes the relentless NYT assault on Trump and cover for odious Hillary.
Reads like DNC Politburo propaganda bullet-point that even Trotsky would have been proud of. I think he was a "white" guy, too, and with many of Cohen's leanings, too, though not so guilt-ridden.
So goes the relentless NYT assault on Trump and cover for odious Hillary.
6
The media, all forms, are so universally against Trump, so full of hate for Trump, that for a time there I thought that they just might get him assasinated. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack trying to find a single positive thing that these owners of our corporate media have to say about him. From the headlines to the last page, TV, newsprint, radio, Internet wall to wall coverage in the most savage and hateful way imaginable. Clinton is forgiven everything, every single thing Trump has to say is blown out of all proportion and sensationalized. Like the connection, the supposed connection, between Trump and Putin. never was and never will be. Putin does not know and has never even met Trump, Yet here we are with this conspiracy theory that Trump is a manchurian candidate for Russia. I am 76 years old and I have never ever seen anything like the universal attacks against this man. Like I said in the beginning I am still afraid that they might get him assasinated. it does not take much for some gun nut in the USA to want to murder so visiously and universally discredited and hated man for his 15 minutes of fame. If that happens the blood will be on their hands.
1
Mr. Cohen, tell us you you really feel. If there were any more adjectives on the polite scale of awful, they would be in your column. Farage is a worm. Does that help?
9
Trump cannot win for many reasons. Clinton is supported by the wealthy off both parties. Trump is not a serious candidate, but part of the Clinton team. That is why he deliberately alienates all groups, especially the group that constitutes the majority of voters - women. Lately Trump has even alienated the one group that has supported him - undereducated while males. He's done that by walking back the deportation of immigrants without papers. And talking about that, anyone with a brain should realize that you don't alienate 1/5 of the voting public - Hispanics - if you are a serious candidate. Actually, Trump alienated most Americans, even those who want to limit illegal immigration, with his ' they're all rapists and murderers' talk. What makes me angry is the the Clintons have insured that there is no viable alternative to Clinton.
4
So much of life is a question of how. We know what doesn’t work: the establishment doesn’t; Trump might. Give him four years to try his hand at setting right the economy for the twenty-first century, and then we all can go back to arguing about which toilet people should use.
1
Ed, I won't give Trump a second. He's done enough damage already.
3
No, thanks.
4
why is he even allowed in this country?
1
Why shouldn't he be? Has he committed any crime that would preclude his entrance into the US?
This is the United States of America. Our government, with the support of the people, allow people into this country even if their ideas are stupid, wrong, absurd and even reprehensible as long as they aren't criminal. We're not scared babies who hide under the bed when someone we don't like wants to come over.
The damage that the Republicans and Trump have done to America is to make people afraid. We're tougher than that. And smarter. Let Farage and Trump spew their lies and garbage. We can take it, we can see through it and we can vehemently oppose it.
This is the United States of America. Our government, with the support of the people, allow people into this country even if their ideas are stupid, wrong, absurd and even reprehensible as long as they aren't criminal. We're not scared babies who hide under the bed when someone we don't like wants to come over.
The damage that the Republicans and Trump have done to America is to make people afraid. We're tougher than that. And smarter. Let Farage and Trump spew their lies and garbage. We can take it, we can see through it and we can vehemently oppose it.
2
Today, now, here is the greatest time for the greatest number of humans the world has known on almost every front. Yes there can and should be efforts made to improve the lives of those that live in poverty and despair. How is it that the message of health and wealth for so many is so poorly communicated? I would suggest that the shift in old media to if it bleeds it leads coupled with unparalleled desire for profits over facts and figures has fed so many a steady diet of fear, division, and anger particularly of "others" that many cannot see the difference in living today with the lives of their own parents and grandparents. Couple this with the explosion in Internet blogs and phony news outlets where every perceived slight Is magnified beyond recognition and you have the world as it exists in the virtual world of network and Internet news vs reality. We can only hope that as younger people assume their roles as leaders they will be up to the tasks of truly recognizing what is really happening. They then will be able to make decisions that will continue to improve the lives of all while building a civilization that comes in harmony with our home planet.
3
I suppose Farage passed Trump's extreme vetting process. Trump is fine with importing hatred and incitement as long as it targets those he hates too. I don't thing the GOP had the thought of bringing in the racist European fringe when they touted their big tent philosophy. The silence from Paul Ryan, John McCain and other GOP leaders is deafening.
50
The fear, hate and anger of the older whites who supported Brexit was pumped up by the right wing press - the UK version of Murdoch’s Fox News (how unsurprising). Brexit Leave was a vote against immigrants and minorities. It was a vote based on false promises of greater benefits for Brits. It was a vote based on little knowledge of the chaotic outcome that would result both politically and economically as the pound falls to new lows and politicians admit their failure to look after the best interest of their country.
What is becoming clearer and clearer in the United States is that the people that support Trump couldn’t care less about who he is or what he says, how little he can do for them or how politically dangerous he is. They are drawn to Trump as a symbol of their frustration born of fear, disappointment and yes, racism and xenophobia. Trump knowingly exploits this rage and the lowest of human sentiments. Farage and Trump are cut from the same cloth and are the embodiment of everything we must fight against as a democracy.
This is no time for complacency. Americans cannot afford to to relive the morning-after shock of Brexit and find Trump in the White House. There will be no coming back.
What is becoming clearer and clearer in the United States is that the people that support Trump couldn’t care less about who he is or what he says, how little he can do for them or how politically dangerous he is. They are drawn to Trump as a symbol of their frustration born of fear, disappointment and yes, racism and xenophobia. Trump knowingly exploits this rage and the lowest of human sentiments. Farage and Trump are cut from the same cloth and are the embodiment of everything we must fight against as a democracy.
This is no time for complacency. Americans cannot afford to to relive the morning-after shock of Brexit and find Trump in the White House. There will be no coming back.
241
The odious and oleaginous Nigel Farage speaking for Donald Trump could not be more appropriate. Farage and his fellow UKIP members have come out with so many outrageous misogynist, homophobic and racist statements that they can give even Trump a run for his money. To list them all would take too long, but a few of the more memorable include calling women who don't clean behind their fridges "sluts," referring to countries receiving British government aid as "Bongo Bongo Land," saying that the links between pedophilia and homosexuality are so numerous that "even a full length book could hardly do justice to the subject," and saying that women were of little value in business because they let "babies get in the way." UKIP's demonization of immigrants could have come straight from the mouth of Trump himself. As if Trump was not already surrounded by enough far-right thugs In his campaign, now he even has to import them from the outside the US.
25
An important reason that "Brexit" happened, is that very few believed it would actually happen so (too) many stayed home. That is an important lesson to heed in the upcoming presidential elections. There is no room for complacency at all for those who want Trump defeated, not now, not in November, and not in the mid-term elections.
25
I guess Drumph's personal repulsiveness alone may be what saves us from his potential victory. A sardonic salvation to be sure, but I'll take it!
16
August 29, 2016
Yes it is the The Show on Earth- a World ruler's appearance to save humanity, the earth, and the world from a Hillary Clinton Cleopatra debacle. Can life get any better and not withstanding my tax reporting or my need for a new deal with the art of therapeutically make all of us in my image..... U know u will and u know u want my voice, my body, my tongue. my little of everything for the greatest times ahead.....
Yes it is the The Show on Earth- a World ruler's appearance to save humanity, the earth, and the world from a Hillary Clinton Cleopatra debacle. Can life get any better and not withstanding my tax reporting or my need for a new deal with the art of therapeutically make all of us in my image..... U know u will and u know u want my voice, my body, my tongue. my little of everything for the greatest times ahead.....
3
The GOP is the party that foisted the big banks and multinationals upon us. They are the party that wants to reduce taxes on the banks and multinationals, and the rich that run them. This was not done by the neoliberals. The liberals want to increase taxes on the big banks and multinationals and decrease them on the middle and lower classes. The main area that the GOP stands for that the Trumpsters like is social conservatism and the barely hidden racism, nationalism, sexism and homophobia.
17
One think that Farage has in common with Trump is that he is a monumental liar. He and his party claimed that the alleged 300 million pounds that were going to Brussels would go to the National Health Service if Brexit passed. The day after the vote he admitted that this would not happen, and try to slough it off as a misunderstanding.
60
Mr. Cohen:
DJT is the reflection of the supporters who voted for him.
the mob has chosen him as their representative.
this group is large - -
more than 20% of all eligible voters, exceeding 40% of actual voters.
the MSM has sold-these-people short in the past.
NF is, as you point out, a precursor of what the u.s. election may yet become.
when confronted with daily realities that upset the previous norms,
tribes will often resort to outrageous lies, distortions, and, most-fundamentally,
to "fear-of-the-other" in an effort to recover what is perceived-to-be lost.
this beast will not disintegrate without at least one-last-fight.
these are, indeed, most interesting times that we are living-through.
1
Just about no one at that Trump campaign had a clue who Farage was, or had heard of Brexit. Nor did they know that Farage, like the gold-topped Boris Johnson had cut and run once "victory" was declared. It's going to take several years for the wreckage of Brexit to be cleared and there is already buyer's remorse after people realize a lot of the anti-EU propaganda was nonsense. None of this will have the slightest effect on Trump and his angry hordes. It's too bad that Bernie Sanders had the cards stacked against him in the primary. It would have made for a much more involving election.
12
So it's Republican déjà vu time. First it's right wing Netanyahoo, addressing the House and now it's Far-rage at the Trump Reality Show.
Who is up next? Vladimir?
Who is up next? Vladimir?
77
Vlad the Russian Impaler? Or Vlad the Ruler? If I were Putin I'd be laughing my head off at the current American election cycle. It's a spectacle.
1
What a despicable duo.
17
What many of the Brits, and now many Americans, have not accepted nor try to understand, as they wallow in their ignorance and indifference, is that world will continue to "globalize" whether white working/middle class Americans or country bumpkin Brits like it or not. Technology allows for instant communication across the globe, the easy manner that technology can be transferred around the world, and the desire for more and more people to develop national economies and consumers will continue unabated. Corporations will continue to globalize as they seek expanded markets and low cost labor. Its time for both Americans and Brits to "make change your friend" not your enemy. My definition of conservatism is the inability of a sector of people to accept and understand that the world has been and will continue to change despite how much they may tug on the rope of the past. Get over it and let's move on so we can position our nation to benefit from this change and not succumb to xenophobia and finger pointing rather than making the changes in our society that are needed to meet the challenge. Other nations are. Failure to do so will leave us further and further behind. We need politicians with vision not those like Trump who are pointing the fingers at others using bigotry and racism as the source of our ills.
43
Well Said.
C'mon everybody-- onward and upward-- stay focused. Don't be distracted by the attention-grabbing muck.
The biggest mistake we can make is to assume Hillary has this-- don't be lulled by reading the polls. The polls are not votes or a promise (who are those people being polled anyway? I'm 62 and I've never known anyone who has been polled)
Get out the vote so we can move Forward and be the country we are meant to be.
C'mon everybody-- onward and upward-- stay focused. Don't be distracted by the attention-grabbing muck.
The biggest mistake we can make is to assume Hillary has this-- don't be lulled by reading the polls. The polls are not votes or a promise (who are those people being polled anyway? I'm 62 and I've never known anyone who has been polled)
Get out the vote so we can move Forward and be the country we are meant to be.
3
Two peas in a rotten pod.
8
Well done, Mr. Cohen! I think the most relevant paragraph is the one that begins: "One way to view Trump is that only his personal failings..." in which he makes clear that Trump the man is an abysmal failure, but Trump the anti-status quo guy is actually right on target.
5
Roger Simon wrote,"We are now a banana republic—a rich and powerful one, at least temporarily, but still a banana republic.
The election of Hillary Clinton—our own Evita—will make the situation yet more grave. Consider something so basic as how you raise your children in a country where the president is most probably an indictable criminal and most certainly a serial liar of almost inexhaustible proportions. What do you tell them? What do their teachers tell them? A far cry from George Washington, isn't it? What does this say about our basic morality and how does that affect all aspects of our culture? The fish, as they say, rots from the top.Which leads us to Donald Trump.
He is, like it or not, the last man standing to prevent this. He and all of us. And that includes you, NeverTrumpers. There is nothing, repeat NOTHING, that Trump has ever done that comes remotely within the proverbial spitting distance (even from a dragon) of the malfeasances of the Clinton Foundation. The big difference between Trump and Clinton is this: What distresses us about Donald is what he says. What distresses us about Hillary is what she does. Anyone with an IQ in the also proverbial triple digits knows which is worse."
The election of Hillary Clinton—our own Evita—will make the situation yet more grave. Consider something so basic as how you raise your children in a country where the president is most probably an indictable criminal and most certainly a serial liar of almost inexhaustible proportions. What do you tell them? What do their teachers tell them? A far cry from George Washington, isn't it? What does this say about our basic morality and how does that affect all aspects of our culture? The fish, as they say, rots from the top.Which leads us to Donald Trump.
He is, like it or not, the last man standing to prevent this. He and all of us. And that includes you, NeverTrumpers. There is nothing, repeat NOTHING, that Trump has ever done that comes remotely within the proverbial spitting distance (even from a dragon) of the malfeasances of the Clinton Foundation. The big difference between Trump and Clinton is this: What distresses us about Donald is what he says. What distresses us about Hillary is what she does. Anyone with an IQ in the also proverbial triple digits knows which is worse."
5
If people are so distressed by Hillary Clinton, then why did she get more votes than Trump during the primaries? And why do the same polls that accurately tracked Trump's rise to victory in the GOP now show him on his way to massive defeat at the hands of a woman you claim is so unacceptable as President?
2
Roger Simon liar liar pamts on fire!
What Trump does is abuse thr judicial process to bully people, enabler.
2
I think Farage would like to think he orchestrated Brexit but more of the credit goes to Boris Johnson. Also, they both lied, and Farage was unrepetentant about it (all that money, oops I lied, do you care, no I don't, said he).
Two ugly demagogues ready to whip up a frenzy in their followers and encourage violence in the service of selfishness and racism. What could go wrong?
One could wish it was only a story of two losers, but I'm afraid it's worse than that. It is a tragedy for all of us to see ourselves so degraded by the dredging up the worst in ourselves and each other.
Two ugly demagogues ready to whip up a frenzy in their followers and encourage violence in the service of selfishness and racism. What could go wrong?
One could wish it was only a story of two losers, but I'm afraid it's worse than that. It is a tragedy for all of us to see ourselves so degraded by the dredging up the worst in ourselves and each other.
211
The amazing John Oliver "slays" Farage and Johnson (warning, very rude language, and a cameo by Trump at the end):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPqxPCrT5CE
There's an amazing wonderful bit on Johnson (if time is short, go to 1:20!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t3zjfVSkyU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPqxPCrT5CE
There's an amazing wonderful bit on Johnson (if time is short, go to 1:20!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t3zjfVSkyU
7
On the other hand, Mr. Johnson gives a truly gracious apology in that second clip, setting the bar for saying I did stupid stuff way too high for this side of the pond!
1
Thanks for the tip...."right on" video!
1
How cute that the Trump-Farage minstrel show was held in the heart of the White Confederacy, in Good Old Boy Mississippi, the state that relied on federal (Washington DC) assistance for 43% of its total state revenue, the leading economic parasite state out of all 50 states in the country.
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/which-states-rely-most-federal-aid-0
Everyone knows that the real 'Brexit' needed in America is the secession of the Republican Confederacy of Dunce States that disproportionately sponge enough federal welfare dollars to make a real welfare queen blush.
If Republistan seceded from America - producing a liberal, progressive, Democratic America and a reactionary, 'conservative', Bible-Thumping Republican America - Republistan would spiral into immediate insolvency as the largesse of the liberal Northeast and California would be removed from the suckling Republican mouths of the New Confederacy.
Of course America would be greatly diminished by being split in two, but sometimes you just have to give people what they're asking for...even if it's suicide pills.
The Republican Party has fully devolved into a Jim Jones-type cult of nihilism anyway -- let's give Republistan the exit from reality they so desperately crave and desire.
Mr. Trump won't be elected, because the New Confederacy is a minority party, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't welcome their exit from American society, along with their Confederate sensibilities and disdain for American ideals.
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/which-states-rely-most-federal-aid-0
Everyone knows that the real 'Brexit' needed in America is the secession of the Republican Confederacy of Dunce States that disproportionately sponge enough federal welfare dollars to make a real welfare queen blush.
If Republistan seceded from America - producing a liberal, progressive, Democratic America and a reactionary, 'conservative', Bible-Thumping Republican America - Republistan would spiral into immediate insolvency as the largesse of the liberal Northeast and California would be removed from the suckling Republican mouths of the New Confederacy.
Of course America would be greatly diminished by being split in two, but sometimes you just have to give people what they're asking for...even if it's suicide pills.
The Republican Party has fully devolved into a Jim Jones-type cult of nihilism anyway -- let's give Republistan the exit from reality they so desperately crave and desire.
Mr. Trump won't be elected, because the New Confederacy is a minority party, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't welcome their exit from American society, along with their Confederate sensibilities and disdain for American ideals.
415
The American South now is more industrialized than it was in the mid 1800s. It might survive now without federal assistance and being in the Union and Trump could its president out of Florida. I'd have to leave Texas though.
9
@Socrates
Soc it to em my man. Great comment!
Right arm!
Soc it to em my man. Great comment!
Right arm!
6
Let's start planning "Texit" now.
6