Presumably the "unpaid taxes" Trump proposes to collect to fund his military expansion include his own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/trump-chris-christie-casin...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/trump-chris-christie-casin...
35
First: I'm sure that the Navy is slightly miffed that they will apparently not be included in the 30 day ISIS destruction plan since they have admirals not generals (the correct omnibus term is "flag officers"). Second: tasking the military leadership (presumably all services) to devise a plan to defeat ISIS in 30 days--wow I wonder why no one else has thought of this novel approach? Third: a general purge, oops I mean a General purge; slightly reminiscent of Stalin, Putin or Kim Jong-un but at least in this case the Navy will be happy to be exempted. Fourth: when in God's name will this campaign nightmare end? I'm 71.5 and feel it's been running since birth.
Hillary is a flawed candidate--obsessively secretive and certainly no Bill when it comes to the gift of gab. She has yet to learn when you screw up you admit it, offer no excuses, "lawyer-eze" or deflections and press on. Trump is: it is frankly hard to say in a few words: a snake oil salesman, carnival barker, charlatan, con artist, mentally lazy, self-aggrandizing, self-absorbed narcissistic buffoon who has no business with his hand on the Bible on Inauguration Day no less his finger on the trigger.
Hillary is a flawed candidate--obsessively secretive and certainly no Bill when it comes to the gift of gab. She has yet to learn when you screw up you admit it, offer no excuses, "lawyer-eze" or deflections and press on. Trump is: it is frankly hard to say in a few words: a snake oil salesman, carnival barker, charlatan, con artist, mentally lazy, self-aggrandizing, self-absorbed narcissistic buffoon who has no business with his hand on the Bible on Inauguration Day no less his finger on the trigger.
87
Trump explained why he was keeping his plan for defeating ISIS secret. “I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”
It is secret because when earlier during the campaign he started asking "if we have nukes how come we do not use them?" people started treating him as the sociopathic lunatic that he really it.
It is secret because when earlier during the campaign he started asking "if we have nukes how come we do not use them?" people started treating him as the sociopathic lunatic that he really it.
76
Let's see. I'm living in Minsk and a pollster calls up to ask what I think of our glorious president, Mr. Putin.
What is the answer? Siberia can be lovely in the spring (which occurs about July 12th).
"Comrade, he is the greatest man who ever lived."
What is the answer? Siberia can be lovely in the spring (which occurs about July 12th).
"Comrade, he is the greatest man who ever lived."
67
If she wants to win this election, Clinton needs to start acting like a clown.
The only way to win is to deliver ratings for the media, both now and after the election. It's all about the media - they're the ones running this election - the Trumpster and the media know this, Clinton does not.
She and the voters still think they're living in a democracy where people count. What a laugh!
The only way to win is to deliver ratings for the media, both now and after the election. It's all about the media - they're the ones running this election - the Trumpster and the media know this, Clinton does not.
She and the voters still think they're living in a democracy where people count. What a laugh!
46
In his closing remarks while recently visiting Mexico, Trump said, and said with great "Presidential" gravitas:
“A strong prosperous and vibrant Mexico is in the best interest of the United States and will keep and help keep, for a long, long period of time, America together. Both of our countries will work together for mutual good, and most importantly for the mutual good of our people. Mr. President, I want to thank you. It's been a tremendous honor and I call you a friend. Thank you.”
And yesterday, Trump revealed that the “good of Mexico” and the “good of the Mexican people” apparently includes his campaign "doing well" because a Mexican official was fired for arranging Trump’s visit:
“Look at the aftermath today where the people that arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government. That’s how well we did.”
There's the "Presidential" Trump we are most familiar with.
“A strong prosperous and vibrant Mexico is in the best interest of the United States and will keep and help keep, for a long, long period of time, America together. Both of our countries will work together for mutual good, and most importantly for the mutual good of our people. Mr. President, I want to thank you. It's been a tremendous honor and I call you a friend. Thank you.”
And yesterday, Trump revealed that the “good of Mexico” and the “good of the Mexican people” apparently includes his campaign "doing well" because a Mexican official was fired for arranging Trump’s visit:
“Look at the aftermath today where the people that arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government. That’s how well we did.”
There's the "Presidential" Trump we are most familiar with.
38
VA hospitals differ from medical programs most of us encounter. There are more trauma cases and many more geriatric problems.
Service connected disabilities are given priority for treatment with little waiting. Veterans whose medical problems were not incurred as result of their service are space available basis. As many of these are elderly some pass away from causes not associated with their service while waiting which is not surprising.
Mr. Trump would mandate a shorter the waiting period and would fund the treatment at a civilian hospital for quicker treatment. Since the wait period in VA facilities for those disabled as a result of their service is short, we are talking about veterans who have fallen ill as a result of life’s vicissitudes after their time in uniform.
Treatment of non-service connected cases is available for veterans as beds are available. Improving VA services is vital, but we must keep in mind that the primary mission is in Lincoln’s words, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.” Failure to keep this in mind and to fund outside care as Mr. Trump suggests would create tremendous funding problems and ultimately
Service connected disabilities are given priority for treatment with little waiting. Veterans whose medical problems were not incurred as result of their service are space available basis. As many of these are elderly some pass away from causes not associated with their service while waiting which is not surprising.
Mr. Trump would mandate a shorter the waiting period and would fund the treatment at a civilian hospital for quicker treatment. Since the wait period in VA facilities for those disabled as a result of their service is short, we are talking about veterans who have fallen ill as a result of life’s vicissitudes after their time in uniform.
Treatment of non-service connected cases is available for veterans as beds are available. Improving VA services is vital, but we must keep in mind that the primary mission is in Lincoln’s words, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.” Failure to keep this in mind and to fund outside care as Mr. Trump suggests would create tremendous funding problems and ultimately
11
Matt Lauer was a disgrace. He went out of his way to set Clinton up on the emails, even putting the word "trustworthy" into her mouth when pressing her for terms that describe what makes a good commander in chief. There are so many of us longing for substantive discussions and members of the media cannot get past the emails. But Trump gets a pass on lying to the public over and over in the present, even using the word "trustworthy" to describe why he is prepared to be commander in chief.
I watched the forum in hopes of it being substantive, not a rehash of the same stuff. What I did learn was only because Hillary pushed back on Lauer to finish her answers. Is this the way it is going to be the rest of this race? As a family member of a veteran, I wanted more and was sadly disappointed.
I watched the forum in hopes of it being substantive, not a rehash of the same stuff. What I did learn was only because Hillary pushed back on Lauer to finish her answers. Is this the way it is going to be the rest of this race? As a family member of a veteran, I wanted more and was sadly disappointed.
73
Trump stands as the trojan horse at the gate, ready to unleash an army to perform ridiculous projects involving walls, firing generals, undoing treaties and regulations, hunt down foreigners pal around with fellow dictators- and the so called journalists stand there admiring the horse's woodwork and the craftsmanship. After seeing far too many hand painted insulting signs on neighbors' lawns I can only hope we get the leadership we need and not the one we deserve.
36
I nearly forgot; thank God you are back Gail.
Truly missed your thoughts.
Truly missed your thoughts.
42
btw--If you like what privatization has done for prison systems and our prisoners, you'll love what it can do for our vets.
65
I see in the comments zealots for both candidates praising them and attacking the other. Can no one see that we have two complete failures?
1. Both are narcissistic personalities whose main goal is the be the chief priest in the temple. One came from business and the other plotted this since her spouse was the chief priest in the great White Ziggurat.
2. As far as answers - only a zealot would think that Donald was comprehensible on foreign policy. Only a zealot would not think that Clinton's e-mail and Iraq answers where equivalent to that guy with no shirt trying to explain himself as the officers shoved him into the patrol car on an episode of Cops.
Neither has a real plan to resolve the Middle East Crisis. Obama's view that it is unsolvable (see the Atlantic interview) is probably the sad reality.
A wonk plan reads well and a diatribe sounds good to some. Neither candidate will actual change the current state of the USA. Black citizens who think Hillary will save them are foolish. Young black scholars like Dr. Glaude, clearly point out that Hillary is one who will placate and pay off HNIC folks and really do little. Trump - well, if he actually generated decent jobs might. Don't hold your breath.
So, I take the rants about Matt and the interview as just tribal display behavior for their Alpha losers. Maybe we wouldn't have crappy interviews if we didn't have crappy candidates.
1. Both are narcissistic personalities whose main goal is the be the chief priest in the temple. One came from business and the other plotted this since her spouse was the chief priest in the great White Ziggurat.
2. As far as answers - only a zealot would think that Donald was comprehensible on foreign policy. Only a zealot would not think that Clinton's e-mail and Iraq answers where equivalent to that guy with no shirt trying to explain himself as the officers shoved him into the patrol car on an episode of Cops.
Neither has a real plan to resolve the Middle East Crisis. Obama's view that it is unsolvable (see the Atlantic interview) is probably the sad reality.
A wonk plan reads well and a diatribe sounds good to some. Neither candidate will actual change the current state of the USA. Black citizens who think Hillary will save them are foolish. Young black scholars like Dr. Glaude, clearly point out that Hillary is one who will placate and pay off HNIC folks and really do little. Trump - well, if he actually generated decent jobs might. Don't hold your breath.
So, I take the rants about Matt and the interview as just tribal display behavior for their Alpha losers. Maybe we wouldn't have crappy interviews if we didn't have crappy candidates.
13
Here is my opinion...the media built up this con man for ratings, he won the nomination. He is totally unqualified to do the job yet he continues to get a pass from the media just for showing up no matter how stupid , ridiculous , or false what comes out of his mouth happens to be.
The constant comparison with Hillary Clinton as if they were both equally prepared and qualified is a total travesty. I will not watch the debates, or any network or cable news because at this point it is all a ratings game for money.
Matt Lauer spends 10 minutes on e-mails and then rushes Hillary Clinton when attempts to give substantive answers to relevant questions. He proceeds to hand Trump one softball question after another without confronting him on his lies. This is a forum for commander in chief, really???
The constant comparison with Hillary Clinton as if they were both equally prepared and qualified is a total travesty. I will not watch the debates, or any network or cable news because at this point it is all a ratings game for money.
Matt Lauer spends 10 minutes on e-mails and then rushes Hillary Clinton when attempts to give substantive answers to relevant questions. He proceeds to hand Trump one softball question after another without confronting him on his lies. This is a forum for commander in chief, really???
135
So happy you are back. I have missed you so much. If this sounds like I've been stalking you, it's all true. When your columns are not here on Thursdays and Saturdays, life is gray.
20
For all the hand-wringing over Trump, he's pretty close in the polls. No specifics, a wall, insults, payoffs to squelch investigations. Huh? And not a peep out of Lauer. Thank you Ms. Collins for pointing out how silly this race is. And you did forget that DT compared his sexual adventures while avoiding STD's was his own "personal Vietnam".
50
Wow. Just....wow. The fact that Mr. Trump has a strong 40% backing of this nation's people just boggles the mind. His ties to Russia alone should disqualify him. He loves to compliment a KGB killer of anyone he wants out of his way - such as journalists (and wouldn't Trump love to have THAT power!), while demeaning our president and the military generals who advise him; his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had strong ties to Russians in Ukraine; Gen. Flynn, who sat next to Trump at his intelligence briefings, is a regular commentator on Russian TV and who interrupted the briefings so many times Christie had to step in;Trump indicating the intelligent briefers showed him by their 'body language' how much they disapproved of Pres. Obama, totally inappropriate and dangerous and a lie; he owes Russian oligarchs and banks large sums of money.
This man should be disqualified from getting any more intelligence briefings. Period. He is not trustable and is putting our country in danger even before the election.
I feel like we're trapped in a nightmare. Trump dislikes 'political correctness' so I will tell it like it is: he needs to leave this race. Right now. He needs to be forced out. If Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do not have the courage to do it, well then I say to them: We will remember. History will remember.
This man should be disqualified from getting any more intelligence briefings. Period. He is not trustable and is putting our country in danger even before the election.
I feel like we're trapped in a nightmare. Trump dislikes 'political correctness' so I will tell it like it is: he needs to leave this race. Right now. He needs to be forced out. If Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do not have the courage to do it, well then I say to them: We will remember. History will remember.
93
The media's reluctance to take Trump on and hold him accountable is rooted in fear. They are afraid that if they make Trump mad, he will refuse to come on their shows anymore. They are cowards.
81
I especially liked the comment about speaking in complete sentences. I wonder if anyone's thought about setting up a School for Moderators, where hammers and wedges would be handed out in place of notebooks. The central theme of the school would be "How to Get A Word In Edgewise" when someone like Trump rambles off into the dense brush of talking points in a non-response to a question.
A feature of the course would be similar to how football place kickers are trained to keep their concentration in the face of "white noise" similar to Trump's monologues: while the student tries to formulate a follow-up question, he would be surrounded by the rest of the class screaming nonsense in his ears and waving their tiny hands in front of him.
A feature of the course would be similar to how football place kickers are trained to keep their concentration in the face of "white noise" similar to Trump's monologues: while the student tries to formulate a follow-up question, he would be surrounded by the rest of the class screaming nonsense in his ears and waving their tiny hands in front of him.
15
The Don referred to "My generals" just as he referred to "My black" during one rally. The Don spent too much time with his tin soldiers during his childhood. His parents sent him to military school to try to teach him personal discipline. It didn't work. The Don is Attention Deficit Disorder, Manic-Depressive and Narcissism on steroids.
Hitler was nuts, too.
Hitler was nuts, too.
65
Like Liar like Lauer. As long as Don and Matt keep to scripts they'll prolly do OK.
(Disclosure: my TV remote has gathered dust for the duration of the summer.)
But it's puzzling to me in no small measure why, with plenty of evidence to support my critique, why anyone would attribute any sort of intellectual depth to people who appear as though they know the insides of a make-up room much better than a library.
It's the babble that comes out in the segues between just-so set pieces that gives away the game. With this crowd the thinking and talking circuits aren't very well wired.
Quite frankly, the soap opera-class acting is just too cringe inducing. But for the networks, care and feeding of the fashion obsession must always push major national election coverage way down the priority list ... And pushing drugs and potato chips to boomers. (By contrast chip commercials are gripping.)
I say put Trump in a sealed room with Noam Chomsky and beam out the CCTV capture. You could cut to Depends spots whenever paramedics are called in to extricate Don's tongue from his own throat.
It'll never happen though. Clinton would have to be subjected to same or similar given TV news' ham-fisted grip on fair play. And anyway The commercial break revenue from HRC's turn in the interrogation room might be sparse.
(Disclosure: my TV remote has gathered dust for the duration of the summer.)
But it's puzzling to me in no small measure why, with plenty of evidence to support my critique, why anyone would attribute any sort of intellectual depth to people who appear as though they know the insides of a make-up room much better than a library.
It's the babble that comes out in the segues between just-so set pieces that gives away the game. With this crowd the thinking and talking circuits aren't very well wired.
Quite frankly, the soap opera-class acting is just too cringe inducing. But for the networks, care and feeding of the fashion obsession must always push major national election coverage way down the priority list ... And pushing drugs and potato chips to boomers. (By contrast chip commercials are gripping.)
I say put Trump in a sealed room with Noam Chomsky and beam out the CCTV capture. You could cut to Depends spots whenever paramedics are called in to extricate Don's tongue from his own throat.
It'll never happen though. Clinton would have to be subjected to same or similar given TV news' ham-fisted grip on fair play. And anyway The commercial break revenue from HRC's turn in the interrogation room might be sparse.
7
Thank you Gail for recognizing that Hillary Clinton, while not holding major press conferences, has been meeting with every constituency in this country, and not simply, as that other NYT 'reporter' kid put it, hanging out with the ultra-rich.
She hasn't appointed a Veteran's affairs advisor like Trump's guy Al Baldasaro who suggested 1) putting a presidential candidate in front of a firing squad or 2) leaving gay soldiers behind on the battlefields.
Hillary didn't equate number of boats with naval strength - god bless her, she knows about nukes, about stuxnet computer worms that can wipe out Iran's centrifuge operating systems, and about cyber surveillance.
She hasn't appointed a Veteran's affairs advisor like Trump's guy Al Baldasaro who suggested 1) putting a presidential candidate in front of a firing squad or 2) leaving gay soldiers behind on the battlefields.
Hillary didn't equate number of boats with naval strength - god bless her, she knows about nukes, about stuxnet computer worms that can wipe out Iran's centrifuge operating systems, and about cyber surveillance.
49
I've never seen an American official speak so admiringly and respectfully to foreign leader and then completely contradict himself by humiliating him later--both on air, and not about a benign topic--on the character of the Mexican people and their relationship with the United States. He made a liar of himself in Mexico-no fact-checking necessary, Trump apparently doesn't know they have television and internet there--or doesn't care (great quality for the leader of the free world).
Why would any leader of any foreign nation trust Trump after the 2-part show he produced in Mexico and Arizona for them all to witness the humiliating con-game with which he will, of course, engage them if he takes the Oval Office. His supporters will love it--it will be the WWE school of international relations.
Why would any leader of any foreign nation trust Trump after the 2-part show he produced in Mexico and Arizona for them all to witness the humiliating con-game with which he will, of course, engage them if he takes the Oval Office. His supporters will love it--it will be the WWE school of international relations.
34
It is because he's not, and has never been, an official.
15
Neither does he resemble one.
13
One horribly ignorant candidate mean, cruel and exceedingly dangerous. One super informed candidate with horrible judgement and no real sense of the carnage she has been a part of. One super shallow and ignorant moderator who seems to be auditioning for the job of press secretary for the candidate even more ignorant than he is. We are in deep, deep trouble.
25
Most Trump supporters are stupid, but then there are Trump supporters who went to good schools, doctors, lawyers, accountants, CEO's, all people I know, smart people, successful people, wealthy people. There can be only one reason why they support Trump. They are afraid Hillary is going to raise their taxes. So like Preibus, Ryan, McConnell, and the rest of the Republican elite who are putting party ahead of country, my wealthy friends are putting themselves ahead of country, possibly endangering the U.S. with a psychopathic leader.
59
Trump's "secret plan" to defeat ISIS is similar to President Nixon's secret plan to defeat N. Vietnam. Nixon's was to open trade with China and then China would not support N. Vietnam, but the plan failed miserably. Trump's plan is similar in that he will stop sanctions on Russia, allow them to occupy Ukraine and Crimea, hoping then Russia will help defeat ISIS. This "plan" will hopelessly fail, as Russia is never a reliable party, and actually is in league with ISIS to help prop up their Syrian regime. I have seen this "secret plan" thing before, and will not fall for it again.
21
As I have said many times before Trump is no way capable, is unfit, and should not be anywhere near the White House except to visit with the other tourist. As far as sacrifice he has not sacrificed for anyone or anything that has not enriched himself and or helped him get him from under whatever current fiasco that he found himself into. It is way time for the media to stop giving him a free pass and confront the Narcissus on his many lies and not let him lie his way out of it anymore and kept badgering him on it the way they badger Clinton on her stupid emails.
36
Trump is like Chicken Little. He is trying to convince us that the sky is falling and that he alone can fix it, when in reality he is our biggest threat.
America will be great again on Nov 8th, when he loses the election.
America will be great again on Nov 8th, when he loses the election.
61
Is there any journalist out there who is going to nail the jello that is Donald Trump to the wall in these so called forums or debates?
Chris Wallace has already rolled over and said he will be playing Beta Male to the truth squad stuff in the next match up between Trump and Clinton. Laeur did a pitiful job. Maybe get someone else if Wallace is throwing in the towel beforehand.
Chris Wallace has already rolled over and said he will be playing Beta Male to the truth squad stuff in the next match up between Trump and Clinton. Laeur did a pitiful job. Maybe get someone else if Wallace is throwing in the towel beforehand.
36
Matt Lauer's interview approach:
(1) "Mrs. Clinton, yes or no--have you stopped kicking your dog yet, and why not?"
(2) "Mr. Trump, tell us a bit about yourself."
(1) "Mrs. Clinton, yes or no--have you stopped kicking your dog yet, and why not?"
(2) "Mr. Trump, tell us a bit about yourself."
93
What a Bad Joke this was on everyone. Commander In Chief Test for the candidates.
Where was this Test eight years ago when McCain ran against Obama. If the Commander In Chief standard was held between those two --- It is obvious that Obama would have failed against someone who served and was a war hero. The two year senator from IL having more Commander In Chief experience than the war veteran --- come on folks.
Where was this Test eight years ago when McCain ran against Obama. If the Commander In Chief standard was held between those two --- It is obvious that Obama would have failed against someone who served and was a war hero. The two year senator from IL having more Commander In Chief experience than the war veteran --- come on folks.
Flying a jet is not leading a country or commanding national forces, with all the policy and long-range decision making we require from a president.
Brains are nice. I know someone had to be near the bottom of the class, but did it have to be McCain?
Brains are nice. I know someone had to be near the bottom of the class, but did it have to be McCain?
21
A forum is not a test; personally, I thought that the President passed a series of tests, by working with Reoublicans on arms control, opposing the Iraq invasion, saying that he's go after bin Laden "even in Pakistan," and getting sneered at for it, managing not to punch McCain in the mouth for the "and THIS one," crack, stuff like that.
14
So Trump thinks that rapists in the military are justified in their behavior because women are there, too? Does he use this reasoning to defend himself regarding his raping of a thirteen year old child? It's only natural, she was at the party.
30
Trump would fire most American generals?
No problem, he can borrow some from Putin.
No problem, he can borrow some from Putin.
33
First Trump said that he was going to "fire all the generals." And then his "secret plan for ISIS," was asking the generals to submit plans. What generals...didn't he fire them all?
31
Donald Trump's answers to Matt Lauer were My Pet Goat, The Sequel- for the juvenile listener, not American citizens weighing an important election. If this is what we get, give the guy a diaper and a little drum to beat- it was THAT bad.
That uniformed military lent him any air of dignity by association should never happen again.
NBC: Next time get Mr. Khan, the Gold Star Dad to interview Trump.
That uniformed military lent him any air of dignity by association should never happen again.
NBC: Next time get Mr. Khan, the Gold Star Dad to interview Trump.
40
Welcome back, Gail!
13
On the agreement not to disparage the other candidate.
Matt Lauer was ready to jump on Clinton the moment she even started to think about attacking Trump
But with Trump it was Obama this and Clinton that. Over and over.
And not a peep from Lauer.
And Trump was again able to categorically state he was against the Iraq war from the beginning. And get away with it again. Not a peep from Lauer.
Double standard? Grading Trump on a curve? Again? A higher bar for Clinton because she has the experience to be the Commander in Chief? And Trump, the business man doesn't?
What gives?
Matt Lauer was ready to jump on Clinton the moment she even started to think about attacking Trump
But with Trump it was Obama this and Clinton that. Over and over.
And not a peep from Lauer.
And Trump was again able to categorically state he was against the Iraq war from the beginning. And get away with it again. Not a peep from Lauer.
Double standard? Grading Trump on a curve? Again? A higher bar for Clinton because she has the experience to be the Commander in Chief? And Trump, the business man doesn't?
What gives?
64
I used to think that the more Trump talked, the greater the likelihood that he would be perceived as incompetent and dangerous. Apparently, the reverse is true for a large segment of the electorate, which worries me more than Trump himself.
49
Never a good sign when Gail Collins is not funny. This means things are really grim. In this instance, a tightening race involving a dangerous personality the news/entertainment media is feeding to further their own interests; they want a close and entertaining race.
41
I truly have to wonder why the media spends so much time on dissecting any discussion with trump. It simply gives the fool more free coverage.
145
I have a hunting dog with great judgment. She's a lab and can retrieve two ducks. The Republicans should have run her.
22
My addled brain still truly believes that in one single day, should it choose to do so , the media could collectively make mince meat out of this terrifying man. I wake up every morning to see if perhaps THIS might be THAT day.
39
I guess the geniuses thought men wouldn't rape women.
6
Trump told us his trip to Mexico was a success, his audiences now believe it was. Just as they believe, because he told us, that he could shoot someone and not lose a vote. His assertion makes it true for them. If he shoots someone, they've now got the plan--they will still vote for him because he won't lose a single vote.
16
Attention "real" Journalists and assorted patriots:
1) A full court press on Herr Trump.
2) Leave Hillary alone for awhile. Everything about her has been said.
1) A full court press on Herr Trump.
2) Leave Hillary alone for awhile. Everything about her has been said.
20
Enrique Pena-Nieto was grasping at straws and... [insert joke about Donald's hair here]. And this single episode is the totality of Trump's foreign and diplomatic experience. I'm sold.
5
Crooked Hillary was terrible last night. She was out early this morning trying to clean up. The more we listen to her lie the more the American people dislike her. She is the worst of the lying, corrupt, brain dead establishment that has damaged our country so badly. When she lies the way whe does she shows her complete contempt for average working Americans. Our nation needs change for the better, not more lies and corruption.
3
That was a fact-free, insult-laden post.
25
Comments like this tell me we really are living in two very distinct realities. At this point I'd have to call mine a dystopian nightmare, but the sweet old conservative lady next door seems to be pleased with how well her candidate is doing. Really.
10
The British are coming! The British are coming" Oh and are they biased just like Trump.
"...the great job he did at his recent meeting south of the border"
Of course the Democrats accuse him of racism any time he even mentions legal immigration. But consider this:
"As the issue of migrants trying to make their way into Britain has become a major issue, policymakers are now building a concrete wall to combat the problem:
Metro reported that:
The 13ft [high]wall, which would be a kilometre long, is one of a series of measures designed to prevent migrants from attempting to climb into lorries and stop traffic, and could cost the taxpayer £2million.
The immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that ‘we are going to start building this big new wall very soon.
‘We’ve done the fence, now we are doing a wall,’ he said.
In Britain, they've already given the upcoming wall a nickname."
http://ijr.com/2016/09/688903-great-wall-being-built-by-britain-to-keep-...
"...the great job he did at his recent meeting south of the border"
Of course the Democrats accuse him of racism any time he even mentions legal immigration. But consider this:
"As the issue of migrants trying to make their way into Britain has become a major issue, policymakers are now building a concrete wall to combat the problem:
Metro reported that:
The 13ft [high]wall, which would be a kilometre long, is one of a series of measures designed to prevent migrants from attempting to climb into lorries and stop traffic, and could cost the taxpayer £2million.
The immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that ‘we are going to start building this big new wall very soon.
‘We’ve done the fence, now we are doing a wall,’ he said.
In Britain, they've already given the upcoming wall a nickname."
http://ijr.com/2016/09/688903-great-wall-being-built-by-britain-to-keep-...
Oh, Gail, you cannot compare apples and idiots. Billary is the idiot.
1
With all the respect Donald has for the military, I do wonder why neither he nor his children have served...
31
Matt Lauer and his producers showed all of America that, indeed, the 4th Estate has become the nation's 'drunken uncle'. Along with 2 political parties so asleep at the wheel that they toss up a couple of barely likeable candidates (and one wholly unqualified) for the position of POTUS. A Congress, to put it plainly- who are a danger to 330 million citizens. A SCOTUS so ideologically driven that their robes are on fire. And an electorate that wallows in the shallows of media propaganda.
29
It is way past time for the media to point out when trump is lying or obfuscating and not just report what he said.
29
Where's trump now? Just follow the hot air and bombast and you'll find him.
Where's Matt Lauer? Who cares! An empty shirt isn't worth bothering with.
Maybe the reason Lauer didn't question Trump about his Iraq War statements (the contradictions) is because Matt was a big cheerleader for that debacle. Who's controlling that puppet?
You can change his shirts but he's still an idiot.
Where's Matt Lauer? Who cares! An empty shirt isn't worth bothering with.
Maybe the reason Lauer didn't question Trump about his Iraq War statements (the contradictions) is because Matt was a big cheerleader for that debacle. Who's controlling that puppet?
You can change his shirts but he's still an idiot.
14
Where's the rest of the article?
2
Tell me about the ear bud Hillary was wearing during the forum with Trump last night. Who was talking in her ear during the forum? Why does she need to use one?
2
Please! It was not an earpiece for anything other than her microphone. It's how people talk to each other on TV. Look for it, everyone wears one; a cord comes down the back but usually nobody sees it as it can be hidden in hair. Look for the baldies on TV! Let go of the conspiracy theories, please!
18
How I wish you had moderated the forum, then at least their would have been an intelligent journalist on the stage.
20
It is obvious that the media is doing everything it can to keep the presidential race tight - keep harping on Hillary's emails and "untrustworthiness" and keep ignoring Trump's many mistakes - Trump U., many law suits, stiffing workers, etc. But a tight race means more $$ for the media, doesn't it?
How anyone can be so gullible as to believe Trump is capable of any rational action, even tying his shoes, is beyond me. Now I can begin to understand how Hitler was elected and how Putin stays in power. Americans are supposed to be some of the best-educated people in the world. That's a joke.
This contest has become beyond embarrassing for everyone concerned: candidates, voters, and media people.
How anyone can be so gullible as to believe Trump is capable of any rational action, even tying his shoes, is beyond me. Now I can begin to understand how Hitler was elected and how Putin stays in power. Americans are supposed to be some of the best-educated people in the world. That's a joke.
This contest has become beyond embarrassing for everyone concerned: candidates, voters, and media people.
34
Matt Lauer should run for Donald Trump's new Campaign Manager.
18
It's no use! It's no use, folks! With the silent majority getting their news from Matt Lauer and his slobbering over Trump, and Roger Ailes controlling and disciplining Trump, I fear all is lost.
16
Pathetic! Hillary can't even think for herself but has to have it piped into her ear. Maybe we should vote for who's on the other end of her ear bud?
6
I noticed that too, I wonder how much of the mainstream media will pick up on it. I wonder how many hours, days, and weeks Ms. Maddow will spend on "ear bud" gate?
1
Sorry to disappoint you, but Hillary really is that smart. She does not need any outside help.
On the other hand Trump's language skills are pathetic and his knowledge of foreign and domestic affairs is nonexistent.
On the other hand Trump's language skills are pathetic and his knowledge of foreign and domestic affairs is nonexistent.
31
The Donald is offering scholarships to Trump U for any moderator who will be easy on him. It looks like Matt Lauer took up the offer and will also head up the doctorate program in Trump U.
25
Trump is an undisciplined fool. Can you imagine any responsible president revealing any aspect of a security briefing? He has no clue what being a president means.
31
The Upside Down in "Stranger Things" was a prescient metaphor of the 2016 presidential race, whether the show's creators realized it or not.
Our country has gone certifiably insane.
Our country has gone certifiably insane.
10
Better a wonk than a proto-fascist. Any day.
38
Oh Matt Lauer, where have you gone? To the dark side, I think.
15
I'll take the wonk. SHE is the MOST QUALIFIED PERSON, WITH THE MOST NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL CAPITAL TO BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT.
The Don is nothing but a bully. Let's knock the hot air out of him and knock him down to size - nothing there but misplaced ego. He's a loser.
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a strong courageous woman who has been fighting for average and poor Americans and families her entire adult life, has my vote and SHE should have the vote of every woman in America - and the men who love them.
The Don is nothing but a bully. Let's knock the hot air out of him and knock him down to size - nothing there but misplaced ego. He's a loser.
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a strong courageous woman who has been fighting for average and poor Americans and families her entire adult life, has my vote and SHE should have the vote of every woman in America - and the men who love them.
43
Dear Lord, you do go on, Njglea.
I still believe Bernie was the only choice, but will now settle for Jill Stein.
Hillary and Trump are simply one and the same; Hillary hides it better, although there are moments when she barely contains her true nature, which, if she was a monarch, would result in her demanding "Off with their Heads, now"
I still can't accept, and won't, the lesser of two evils, which she most definitely is.
I still believe Bernie was the only choice, but will now settle for Jill Stein.
Hillary and Trump are simply one and the same; Hillary hides it better, although there are moments when she barely contains her true nature, which, if she was a monarch, would result in her demanding "Off with their Heads, now"
I still can't accept, and won't, the lesser of two evils, which she most definitely is.
4
Collins: "...Trump explained why he was keeping his plan for defeating ISIS secret."
Trump sounded exactly like "Tricky Dick" Nixon, the presidential candidate in 1968 that assured the American people he had a "secret plan" to end the war in Viet Nam. Of course, after taking office in 1969, his "secret plan" continued the war for another 6 years.
Trump has no plan for defeating ISIS, and voters believing he does are as benighted as the voters that elected "Tricky Dick" Nixon to office in 1968.
Trump sounded exactly like "Tricky Dick" Nixon, the presidential candidate in 1968 that assured the American people he had a "secret plan" to end the war in Viet Nam. Of course, after taking office in 1969, his "secret plan" continued the war for another 6 years.
Trump has no plan for defeating ISIS, and voters believing he does are as benighted as the voters that elected "Tricky Dick" Nixon to office in 1968.
14
Every time Trump opens his mouth, he seems to put his foot in? I am surprised that Ms. Collins failed to mention Trump’s most ignominious moment in last night CIC Forum, when he dissed the military leadership, “the generals have been reduced to rubble.” So if he becomes president, is he going to fire them all or work with the rubble?
Again, Trump gave no substantive answers last night and Matt Lauer did an awful job pressing him to get one. But Mr. Lauer had no qualms aggressively pursuing Hillary Clinton on “those goddamn emails?” Why the double standard? People keep wondering why this election is so close, when Ms. Clinton should be running away with it.
In my humble opinion, it’s the media, which seems to get bullied by Trump and just don’t stand up to his non-answers! Matt, if you want to show us what you really got, ask Trump about his tax returns and don’t get off the subject until you get a solid answer? At least, ask him to release the tax returns going back to 2008 and prior years where audits have been completed?
The media has been clobbering Ms. Clinton over her emails for 18 months and in comparison they seem to give Trump a pass on his tax returns, which might just reveal his business dealings with China and Russia? For shame!
Again, Trump gave no substantive answers last night and Matt Lauer did an awful job pressing him to get one. But Mr. Lauer had no qualms aggressively pursuing Hillary Clinton on “those goddamn emails?” Why the double standard? People keep wondering why this election is so close, when Ms. Clinton should be running away with it.
In my humble opinion, it’s the media, which seems to get bullied by Trump and just don’t stand up to his non-answers! Matt, if you want to show us what you really got, ask Trump about his tax returns and don’t get off the subject until you get a solid answer? At least, ask him to release the tax returns going back to 2008 and prior years where audits have been completed?
The media has been clobbering Ms. Clinton over her emails for 18 months and in comparison they seem to give Trump a pass on his tax returns, which might just reveal his business dealings with China and Russia? For shame!
28
Is Trump's babbling in justification to his claim that he "knows more than the generals about ISIS" really being viewed as acceptable discourse? He said, among other things, that the generals "under Obama" have been "reduced to rubble," but that they will (somehow) be OK under him. But also suggested that he is going to get rid of those Obama generals and replace them with his own guys: "They'll probably be different generals, to be honest (sic!) with you." (Is no one going to mention that he doesn't get to fire service members?) He also claimed both that he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS--can't let our enemies know what it is!-- and that he will come up with a plan based on input from the generals. Or maybe a combo plan. Or something. Whatever.
This is the sort of stuff I would expect from an 8th grader trying to wing it in a class project where you pretend to be a presidential candidate. But there is no mention of this part of Trump's discussion in this piece or elsewhere that I've seen in the NYT. Was that utter idiocy really not being seen as in itself disqualifying?
This is the sort of stuff I would expect from an 8th grader trying to wing it in a class project where you pretend to be a presidential candidate. But there is no mention of this part of Trump's discussion in this piece or elsewhere that I've seen in the NYT. Was that utter idiocy really not being seen as in itself disqualifying?
26
Lauer is such a Republican hack, remember George Bush he was Bush's personal interviewer. I am ashamed of our media the coverage you are giving to theses two candidates is so biased as you said, it's like two different universes.
21
I used to rely on MSNBC to get a more balanced picture. I know, the evening anchors are all lefties but they at least give republicans a microphone, which sometimes really ticks me off because they generally use the mic to lie.
Last night Lauer treated T rump with kid gloves while being rude to Clinton, but from someone of his stature who could realistically expect more?
Any military person of any gender or rank who thinks T rump has what it takes to be president doesn't seem fit to serve, to my mind. In his q and a the other day with "his general" Byrd(?) I actually heard him say regarding IS that he would confer with "his general".....his generals? I thought they were Americas generals. Our generals.
My generals is what dictators say; Hitler, Mussolini, or his best pal Putin.
Why do republicans hate America? T rump says, and most of them agree, that America is in decline. We're Not! They say they love America, then go on to say how they want to destroy the thing that makes America exceptional; our government.
T rump said, last night, that our generals were somehow inferior (not his words) and he would put new ones in charge. How does saying something like that not raise the hackles on every man, woman and general serving in our Armed Forces?
I keep seeing that, according to the electoral votes map, T rump has no way to win. I am still uneasy.
Last night Lauer treated T rump with kid gloves while being rude to Clinton, but from someone of his stature who could realistically expect more?
Any military person of any gender or rank who thinks T rump has what it takes to be president doesn't seem fit to serve, to my mind. In his q and a the other day with "his general" Byrd(?) I actually heard him say regarding IS that he would confer with "his general".....his generals? I thought they were Americas generals. Our generals.
My generals is what dictators say; Hitler, Mussolini, or his best pal Putin.
Why do republicans hate America? T rump says, and most of them agree, that America is in decline. We're Not! They say they love America, then go on to say how they want to destroy the thing that makes America exceptional; our government.
T rump said, last night, that our generals were somehow inferior (not his words) and he would put new ones in charge. How does saying something like that not raise the hackles on every man, woman and general serving in our Armed Forces?
I keep seeing that, according to the electoral votes map, T rump has no way to win. I am still uneasy.
33
In case you missed it, here's how quickly defeating ISIS would play out, using Trump's own words and attempting to somehow connect all that together into a timeline.
1. Trump says he knows more about ISIS than the generals do.
2. Trump has a plan on how to quickly defeat ISIS, but he's not going to tell you what it is, because he wants to be 'unpredictable.'
3. If elected, Trump is going to give the generals 30 days to deliver a plan on quickly defeating ISIS.
4. Trump says that under Obama, "the generals have been reduced to rubble," and that the generals who deliver the plan in the first 30 days "will probably be different generals."
5. Logically, then, this means that on day one, Trump will have to fire the top generals and select and appoint new generals. Keep in mind that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff require Senate confirmation.
6. So, in the first 30 days, after the top generals have been fired, replaced, (and for the Joint Chiefs, confirmed by the Senate), and the new generals have pulled an overnighter to produce and deliver their new plan, Trump will compare that to his own personal, secret plan, and decide which is better. (Which do you think he'll pick?)
7. This ISIS problem will be fixed, and America will be great again.
1. Trump says he knows more about ISIS than the generals do.
2. Trump has a plan on how to quickly defeat ISIS, but he's not going to tell you what it is, because he wants to be 'unpredictable.'
3. If elected, Trump is going to give the generals 30 days to deliver a plan on quickly defeating ISIS.
4. Trump says that under Obama, "the generals have been reduced to rubble," and that the generals who deliver the plan in the first 30 days "will probably be different generals."
5. Logically, then, this means that on day one, Trump will have to fire the top generals and select and appoint new generals. Keep in mind that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff require Senate confirmation.
6. So, in the first 30 days, after the top generals have been fired, replaced, (and for the Joint Chiefs, confirmed by the Senate), and the new generals have pulled an overnighter to produce and deliver their new plan, Trump will compare that to his own personal, secret plan, and decide which is better. (Which do you think he'll pick?)
7. This ISIS problem will be fixed, and America will be great again.
25
Watch out -- you'll be asked to be on the Trump transition team. He can't think this far ahead.
16
And the fourth estates wonders why Clinton detests press conferences?
19
Trump must be probed thoroughly by a smart reporter with spine, and not shepherded by a lightweight pusillanimous type.
Jon Stewart: Where are you? America needs you. Now.
Jon Stewart: Where are you? America needs you. Now.
23
It is a shame we have two sets of rules for each candidate. One can say hello I am Donald J. Trump and we say oh how presidential. The other gets grilled to the highest degree. Ladies this is the glass ceiling we live in. However, politics is all PR and so the Clinton people need to find a way to get around this. Just like WMDS the media will not be there to do their job.
24
Unless I missed it by careless reading, there should have been some reference in the Times coverage of the international affairs forum to the fact that Trump was permitted to follow Mrs. Clinton's Q&A on a monitor. NBC did not bother to level even this aspect of the dual appearance of the two candidates.
15
Trump wants more money for the military. I would suggest the Pentagon use the money it gets more wisely. Their latest boondoggle is the F-35 which, after a cost of $379 billion has now been cleared to fly limited missions.
How can the Pentagon spend that kind of money, not get a serviceable aircraft, and not be accountable to somebody?
How can the Pentagon spend that kind of money, not get a serviceable aircraft, and not be accountable to somebody?
13
one problem is that fox news has almost completely spun the journalistic world. the other problem is that there is a group of people that call themselves journalists but they will not do or say anything that will upset there own personal money train. the only journalistic standard for these people is don't commit a dan rather or brian williams.
7
Welcome back, Gail. I missed you so much while you were on vacation. From these comments many other faithful readers would seem to agree. While you were away the story has all been about how the Times and many other reputable journalistic enterprises are failing miserably in covering this election: casting Hillary always in "shadows" and "clouds," while giving Trump a free "get out of jail" pass. The Lauer performance last night is a case in point. I expect you to help shine a light on this practice, as you have in the past. I do have one further request. Please think of a refrain that you can mention every time Trump raises his ugly orange mien of the same sublime nature as your refrain about Mitt Romney and the dog on the top of the car n the 2012 election. I know it is harder with Trump whose every deed, thought (impure or not), bombastic proclamation is ridiculous and cringe-worthy. But I would love for you to come up with the same for the Trumpster. Finding it in each of your columns would be like finding the Nina references in an Al Hirschfeld drawings: pure joy.
8
What's the matter with you Gail? Clinton was asked for details. She gave details. That's not wonky. That's giving answers Americans need to hear. Move on.
20
it seems that you are "preaching to the choir" Trump Believers no more read you than I listen to "alternate reality radio" welcome back.
3
I was disappointed that Hillary didn't have a more coherent foreign policy vision at last night's forum even though she was being fed the answers through the earpiece she was wearing.
1
Only a traitor to humanity would believe that, when as Alex Jones courageously informs us, that earplug was really there to beam neural commands from our alien overloards, the Lizard People, directly into "her," cerebral cortex.
5
And you think Trump has a clue what foreign policy even means?
5
I have read several comments about Trump wearing an earpiece and now you are saying Hillary did. Perhaps people who don't watch pundits on TV on a regular basis don't realize that the 'earpiece' is a microphone on a clip with a cord that goes up to the ear so people can hear each other.
I wondered if Trump might try to slip by with an earpiece. And you suspected Hillary. But, really. It was just their microphones. OK? Hope you can let that conspiracy theory go.
I wondered if Trump might try to slip by with an earpiece. And you suspected Hillary. But, really. It was just their microphones. OK? Hope you can let that conspiracy theory go.
12
“Trump and international affairs is an end-of-the-summer horror thriller” only if you are sitting in a comfortable reclining theatre seat, as many clever pundits seem to think they are. But we, the inhabitants of the world, are the potential victims. We are living in this thriller. You can wait until the Blob squishes into the projection booth and ruins your entertainment, or you can get out of your seat, drop the popcorn, and accept that the horror is real. You are no safer than anyone else. You can’t defeat a monster with witty remarks or by pretending that it isn’t a monster.
12
Matt Lauer has been doing commercial sales on the Today Show for way too long to be the serious host of a presidential forum, and it showed. The questions he attacked Hillary with, and the way he let the first vet attack her was all too telling. When her opponent came on, were the questions about the Orange One's "donations" to AG's investigating his "university"? Where was the sense of wonder that he would brag about the man who championed his visit to Mexico was fired for it? A Mexican man who Wanted him there! And being so wrapped up poll numbers himself, Lauer didn't pursue Orange about liking someone based upon approval ratings from a country where not approving Putin could cost you your life. I guess it comes down to the fact that one popular TV host is not going to push another one too hard, bad for ratings. It was a sorry spectacle and an hour of my life I'll never get back.
26
I truly believe Lauer was told by higher-ups at NBC to go soft on Trump. They don't want this race to end too soon and Trump gets higher ratings because we all want to see a train wreck and gawk in horror, it's the human way. They want this to be a tight race.
Lauer should be scorned for being a coward - or being so biased for Trump that he could not remain neutral. It was infuriating.
Lauer should be scorned for being a coward - or being so biased for Trump that he could not remain neutral. It was infuriating.
7
Trump's secret plan to defeat ISIS reminds me of Richard Nixon's plan-that-never-was to win Vietnam. https://www.google.ca/amp/www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1997/1209...
4
Why no mention of Trump's plan to stay in the Mid East and "take their oil" after he defeats ISIS with his secret plan?
He sounds as realistic as a 6 year old fantasizing about how he will vanquish the imaginary monsters in his closet.
He sounds as realistic as a 6 year old fantasizing about how he will vanquish the imaginary monsters in his closet.
17
Last nights forum to discuss the Commander in Chief role in presidential duties was a great example of why dynamic fact checking is essential. Perhaps the Presential Debate Commission should take cue.
8
It's time to stop kidding, Gail, and call a spade a spade. There is nothing humorous about Donald Trump or Trumpism. Your lighthearted schtick creates the impression that we can laugh away the notion of this demagogue becoming the leader of the free world. Well, we can't. Too many of his supporters will believe him beyond any shadow of a doubt, and your making light of the matter creates a false equivalence between a person well-qualified to assume the role of President and a person who is barely qualified to assume the role of a human being. I ask that you simply cease and desist your lighthearted tone until the danger has passed.
11
How did we ever go this wrong?
I wouldn’t trust him with the keys to the White House bathrooms, let alone the nuclear codes.
He calls Mrs. Clinton “liar” and “crook.”
She must begin calling him a human hairpiece and a disgrace to the country, as in “Where are your tax records, hairpiece?”
I wouldn’t trust him with the keys to the White House bathrooms, let alone the nuclear codes.
He calls Mrs. Clinton “liar” and “crook.”
She must begin calling him a human hairpiece and a disgrace to the country, as in “Where are your tax records, hairpiece?”
23
"Where are your tax records, hairpiece?" Yes. She needs to hire Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert to be her speech writer. Trump must be mocked and in a way that brings a lot of derisive laughter. Make Trump feel like President Obama did at the White House Correspondents Dinner, just put him in his place to make him go fully-unhinged.
12
I love how Gail naively repeats Hillary's story about trying to sign up for the Marines, without ever questioning its preposterousness.
1
So, saying it was a strange anecdote wasn't enough for you? Do you read Gail Collins much? If you do, you would know that was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Of course it is preposterous but compared to the comments D Trump has made, it is small potatoes. Trump is guilty of making the most preposterous statements in the history of presidential elections campaigns, yet people take him seriously.
6
And... what? Do you questions Trump's sacrifices for the country, such as developing properties that he won't rent to people of color? Or building Trump Tower using underpaid Polish workers that he didn't even bother supplying with hard hats.
8
Jon Stewart, our country needs you now!!
You seem to be the only person who understands how to report on the clown that is Donald Trump. The rest of the media -- NY Times included -- is so obsessed with looking "fair and balanced" that they have desperately tried to turn a decision that two previous Secretary of States and Sec. of Defense have done into a high crime and misdemeanor because Hillary did it.
Please come back now! Take over Steven Colbert's show. You seem to be the only REAL reporter in the media these days despite your pretending to be a fake one.
You seem to be the only person who understands how to report on the clown that is Donald Trump. The rest of the media -- NY Times included -- is so obsessed with looking "fair and balanced" that they have desperately tried to turn a decision that two previous Secretary of States and Sec. of Defense have done into a high crime and misdemeanor because Hillary did it.
Please come back now! Take over Steven Colbert's show. You seem to be the only REAL reporter in the media these days despite your pretending to be a fake one.
12
I hope all the bull headed republicans are happy w their candidate choice now
11
I would not, in the real world, want to share a "fox hole" with either of these two, but at least I feel like I could depend on Hillary to pass the ammunition when needed. Trump not so much, I have a feeling he would duck out at the first shot and find something better to do in the rear having his bone spurs doctored of setting up a USO show.
This Vet would would never want D. Trump as C in C.
This Vet would would never want D. Trump as C in C.
25
Hillary's given NO benefit of the doubt, while the Donald's lies go unchallenged.
Hot Shots! Part Trois -- W Returns.
Hot Shots! Part Trois -- W Returns.
15
I looooooove Gail Collins! She is HILARIOUS!!!
4
Why is Trump's bar like a twig on the ground that I trip over, while Clinton's is so high that no one would be able to reach it even if they stood on their toes?
20
Some of the veterans will vote for Trump, the grifter. No wonder America has not won a battle since... can someone tell me? Stop being so nice to veterans who didi nothing for America except wanting more and more.
6
Regarding the sexual assault issue, Trump could have replaced it with his speculations about if Ivanka suffered mere sexual harassment (mere compared to assault): Run away.
Great message for women in our military - and men, too. If something happens because boys will be boys, just run and join a different military and hope it doesn't happen there.
His methods are clearly those of a bully. Bluster, dominate, when that fails - cave.
Great message for women in our military - and men, too. If something happens because boys will be boys, just run and join a different military and hope it doesn't happen there.
His methods are clearly those of a bully. Bluster, dominate, when that fails - cave.
15
With regard to Trump's idiotic response to sexual assault in the military, it's right in keeping with campaign mgr. Conway's comment that "sexual assault wouldn't be an issue if women were stronger". If the word "asinine" could be exemplified by a picture, either of theirs would work.
37
And let us not forget that Roger Ailes, who got the boot from Fox News for sexually harassing female subordinates, is now a major influencer in the Trump campaign.
11
There have been more men sexually assaulted in the military than women. That's a fact not, seemingly, fully understood. But even fewer men than women report assault because of their feelings of humiliation of 'not being strong enough' to stop it. Sexual assault/rape is about Power Over. Donald Trump doesn't come close to understanding that. And if you don't understand that you tweet out stupid things like "Women should not be in the military" (paraphrasing). He has so little knowledge about anything except his own self, needs and desires.
8
(“I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”)
You don't broadcast the plan to the so-called Islamic State, of course, you broadcast it to the current President of the United States of America and his national security team in a private conversation. This is just like Nixon and his secret plan (that didn't exist) to end the Vietnam War "with honor". I remember my mother screaming at the TV set, "If you've got a secret plan, get down to the White House and shove it in LBJ's face, so no more people die!" or words to that effect. (My mother was no less harsh toward LBJ. "Why doesn't he fly to Paris and plant himself at a table of any shape he finds there, and not leave until the North and South Vietnamese sit down anywhere they like and start talking?" If you remember, they spent months bickering over the size and shape of the table for possible peace talks.) As for Mr. Trump, with such a statement, this brutish beast of a candidate wants to sell us the idea that he cares about the country?
You don't broadcast the plan to the so-called Islamic State, of course, you broadcast it to the current President of the United States of America and his national security team in a private conversation. This is just like Nixon and his secret plan (that didn't exist) to end the Vietnam War "with honor". I remember my mother screaming at the TV set, "If you've got a secret plan, get down to the White House and shove it in LBJ's face, so no more people die!" or words to that effect. (My mother was no less harsh toward LBJ. "Why doesn't he fly to Paris and plant himself at a table of any shape he finds there, and not leave until the North and South Vietnamese sit down anywhere they like and start talking?" If you remember, they spent months bickering over the size and shape of the table for possible peace talks.) As for Mr. Trump, with such a statement, this brutish beast of a candidate wants to sell us the idea that he cares about the country?
21
"Each candidate had less than half an hour onstage Wednesday night, but Clinton managed to point out twice that she had been in the room for the plan to kill Osama bin Laden."
History will judge this as others already do: a summary execution. Yes, Hillary was in the room.
History will judge this as others already do: a summary execution. Yes, Hillary was in the room.
2
Agreed. The rule of law is not doing well.
2
And a well-deserved execution at that. Kudos to everyone who was in the room.
5
You are sorry bin Ladin was taken out?
6
This first "debate" makes the moderator's ability, credibility and strength a major issue. Otherwise, Trump can't be contained and the lies and half lies roll off his tongue unabated
14
Donald Trump hasn't got a clue about Foreign Affairs, much less Foreign Diplomacy (yes, remember that trip to Mexico?), which is reason enough to make one circumspect about a Trump presidency.
And just listening to him bang on about how he's going to raise the defense budget, in a clear nod to the right, makes it relatively clear, that no one should ever call Clinton a "Warhawk" again, without first thinking about Trump's rambling plan...and the fact that his hand will be on the Nuclear Codes.
And just listening to him bang on about how he's going to raise the defense budget, in a clear nod to the right, makes it relatively clear, that no one should ever call Clinton a "Warhawk" again, without first thinking about Trump's rambling plan...and the fact that his hand will be on the Nuclear Codes.
20
As expected, Trump showed how he has been bought off or brainwashed by Putin (or Russian creditors) last night.
When asked about a long list of transgressions and violations of international norms and treaties by Russia, Trump responded that Putin's actions pale compare to Obama's actions which are more serious.
That response is treasonous and effects our national security. Sanctions against Putin and Russia were enacted by a unanimous Congress and the President. . No wonder Putin and Iran are taunting US planes and ships. And this clown praises Putin for his alleged high approval rating and brilliance. Tell me that Putin was not cheering when he heard that. But hey Trump's trip to Mexico shows us how brilliant he is at diplomacy -by Tweet.
Trump may get an October surprise if the man from Kenya in the White House decides he will show Putin and Trump who is boss before the elections.
However to GOP stalwarts and Hillary haters the number of Blackberrys Hillary had and how she handled talking points from staff effects our national security and vital interests.
Hillary should have followed the Henry K precedent and hidden her Blackberrys and e-mails on the Rockefeller estate to avoid FOIA . Or she could have asked Rove and Gonzales to hide them on RNC computers before they are about top be replaced.
When asked about a long list of transgressions and violations of international norms and treaties by Russia, Trump responded that Putin's actions pale compare to Obama's actions which are more serious.
That response is treasonous and effects our national security. Sanctions against Putin and Russia were enacted by a unanimous Congress and the President. . No wonder Putin and Iran are taunting US planes and ships. And this clown praises Putin for his alleged high approval rating and brilliance. Tell me that Putin was not cheering when he heard that. But hey Trump's trip to Mexico shows us how brilliant he is at diplomacy -by Tweet.
Trump may get an October surprise if the man from Kenya in the White House decides he will show Putin and Trump who is boss before the elections.
However to GOP stalwarts and Hillary haters the number of Blackberrys Hillary had and how she handled talking points from staff effects our national security and vital interests.
Hillary should have followed the Henry K precedent and hidden her Blackberrys and e-mails on the Rockefeller estate to avoid FOIA . Or she could have asked Rove and Gonzales to hide them on RNC computers before they are about top be replaced.
12
I do love how Gail omitted the preceding sentence of Trump's tweet regarding sexual assaults in the military, which referenced the abysmal conviction rate - less than one percent - of these horrendous crimes. Another reminder why I gladly left journslism so many years ago and why Americans have so little faith in journalists anymore. And for the record I realize this is an op-ed. I am also still a Bernie supporter but blown away at how journalists today don't even remotely attempt to hide their obvious biases. I also admit to still being aghast at how the DNC rigged the primary against Bernie. What a disgrace. The major candidate choices this year are beyond horrendous.
4
Between Trump not answering the questions he was asked and then trying to bully and shout over Lauer whenever Trump thought he was losing the upper hand in controlling the conversation, Trump came off as the clear loser of this event, in my opinion. Trump's non stop criticism of Clinton, and on a lame duck President who in five more months will be playing golf then Trump does, is a sad substitution for explaining what is so great about his own ideas as to why we should hand over the keys to the USS America.
14
Sorry to offend the easily and perpetually offended - not really - but Trump's right. We're moving in the direction where females are allowed to be, in fact encouraged to be "men" and actual men and discouraged from being if not prohibited from being men. What geniuses thought of that? (don't you just love muscled up, tattooed ladies with girlfriend's?) A) it won't work and B) damage, like that pointed out by the question will be done in the fruitless - literally, effort.
Really! Women are encouraged to be men! Where does this stop-the-presses news come from?
In my experience, women have been encouraged to think of themselves as equal to men, not as the same as men. They have been encouraged to follow their interests in choosing a career, be it teaching ballet or joining the military. They are constrained by their smaller size and limited strength, but we have the means to correct for that, just as we have found ways to accommodate smaller, weaker males.
And how do you define "actual men"? In my experience men come in all shapes, sizes and inclinations--and it's the ones who spout off about what real men and real women should be like who cause most of the trouble in this world.
As for "muscled up, tattooed ladies with girlfriend's [sic]," I've had lots of friends and co-workers through the years who fit that description, and I'll take their company over that of "actual men" any day. They are a lot more interesting than people who insist that everyone fit into a certain category with a predetermined set of limitations.
PS: Thus far Donald Trump has not been right about anything. He flies over the facts while on the way from one ridiculous opinion to its opposite, but he has yet to land there.
In my experience, women have been encouraged to think of themselves as equal to men, not as the same as men. They have been encouraged to follow their interests in choosing a career, be it teaching ballet or joining the military. They are constrained by their smaller size and limited strength, but we have the means to correct for that, just as we have found ways to accommodate smaller, weaker males.
And how do you define "actual men"? In my experience men come in all shapes, sizes and inclinations--and it's the ones who spout off about what real men and real women should be like who cause most of the trouble in this world.
As for "muscled up, tattooed ladies with girlfriend's [sic]," I've had lots of friends and co-workers through the years who fit that description, and I'll take their company over that of "actual men" any day. They are a lot more interesting than people who insist that everyone fit into a certain category with a predetermined set of limitations.
PS: Thus far Donald Trump has not been right about anything. He flies over the facts while on the way from one ridiculous opinion to its opposite, but he has yet to land there.
25
@bigrobtheactor
John Dobson, the inventor of the Dobsonian telescope, gave a lecture in Dallas some years ago. The main topic was astronomy, but he made some other interesting points. One was that the problem with humans is that we are all descended from that Alpha male.
Thank you for proving his point.
John Dobson, the inventor of the Dobsonian telescope, gave a lecture in Dallas some years ago. The main topic was astronomy, but he made some other interesting points. One was that the problem with humans is that we are all descended from that Alpha male.
Thank you for proving his point.
5
Why do you seem to have a problem with "muscled up" women, bigrobtheactor? If tattooes are OK on men, why aren't they OK on women? Shouldn't women have girlfriends? (Or is "girlfriend" a euphemism for something you can't bring yourself to think about?)
I'd gamble, here, that you're a man. And I'd say that there's no way I'd be a man if that meant I'd have to be one in your image.
I'd gamble, here, that you're a man. And I'd say that there's no way I'd be a man if that meant I'd have to be one in your image.
5
The next news person who uses the phrases, "They are both flawed candidates" or "Hillary's email scandal" should be put on the stand for promoting Republican hogwash. Hillary is not flawed, she is just wonkish and not very exciting. She is experienced and has devoted her life to improving life for the needy and women. Her emails are not a scandal - none were headed with security classifications, none were proven to be hacked as opposed to the governments system, similar systems were used widely throughout the government, no secure information leaked (outside of a story about drones already published in newspapers). She is not dishonest or a liar. Her problem is that she tries to answer every stupid question and does not do that very well. Then there is Trump: the generals are garbage, rape in the military should be expected, Putin is a great leader, he is afraid to let us see just how much he owes the Chinese and Russians which his taxes would reveal, he lies every time he opens his mouth and his chief dialectal tool is to insult his opposition. Is that a leader of the free world? Hillary was clearly the far superior candidate last night - not even close! Whatever happened to fair and balanced news coverage? The media needs to stop disseminating the lies coming out of the Republican back room smear factories! If there is no substance, do not put it on TV just because he is the candidate.
84
What color is the sky in your world?
1
Matt Lauer kept interrupting Clinton every 30 seconds and let Trump ramble on and on.
He confronted Clinton on minute details about emails and let Trump escape the outright lie that he was always against the Iraq War.
Why can't these "professional" journalists confront Trump like they do Clinton?
And isn't it interesting that the only moderator that Trump has complained about was a woman, Megyn Kelly?
Interesting.
He confronted Clinton on minute details about emails and let Trump escape the outright lie that he was always against the Iraq War.
Why can't these "professional" journalists confront Trump like they do Clinton?
And isn't it interesting that the only moderator that Trump has complained about was a woman, Megyn Kelly?
Interesting.
61
What Trump wants to do to VA benefits is what will happen to Medicare in general. Trump will slash our safety net to pay for his military build up, but of course the hapless lauer allowed no one to talk about the shape of our military much less how we would pay for it or why the build up is necessary.
Trump's stuttering over the fate of women sexually assaulted is a measure of the man's ineptitude on all feminine issues of which he knows nothing except how to mock them on their monthly cycles or abuse them as partners.
Trump's stuttering over the fate of women sexually assaulted is a measure of the man's ineptitude on all feminine issues of which he knows nothing except how to mock them on their monthly cycles or abuse them as partners.
38
After watching Matt Lauer's fumbling effort as chief interrogator last night, I am more anxious than ever about the upcoming debates. As Trump's performance demonstrated, consistent lying is proving to be a very effective debate strategy. Moderators are prepared to pounce and pound on the occasional misstep (e.g., Clinton's handling of emails), but seem totally lost in dealing with a debater who is a serial prevaricator. They are also better refuting the carefully thought out, detailed lie, but their skills are of little use when the lies are untethered and improvised. All I can say is that I wish I had known this in high school.
Part of Trump's popularity must be his appeal to people who fantasize about winning arguments by just-in-time "fact" creation rather than actual preparation. This does not bode well for the well-prepared Clinton who's appeal can be undermined any hint of sloppiness or embellishment. The rare Trump truth, on the other hand, is a cause for celebration...which does not bode well for the rest of us.
Part of Trump's popularity must be his appeal to people who fantasize about winning arguments by just-in-time "fact" creation rather than actual preparation. This does not bode well for the well-prepared Clinton who's appeal can be undermined any hint of sloppiness or embellishment. The rare Trump truth, on the other hand, is a cause for celebration...which does not bode well for the rest of us.
31
And speaking of being able to lie and get away with it, Judicial Watch is being allowed to submit 25 questions to Hillary, but she has somehow reserved the right not to have to answer any follow-up questions. In other words, she can lie with impunity in her responses. Of course, why would ANYONE ever think she lies? (Except for Comey, of course.)
Regarding “statements she made last October before the House Benghazi committee … At that hearing, Clinton had claimed that nothing she sent or received was marked classified.
Comey was asked about such claims, which she also made publicly, in a pointed exchange with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.
“That’s not true. … There was classified material emailed,” Comey said.
Former House Speaker goes 'On the Record' on FBI director's testimony before House Oversight committee on his decision not to recommend charges for Clinton in email scandal and Trump VP rumors
On her claim that she used one device, Comey also said, “She used multiple devices.”
And on her claim that she turned over all work-related emails, he said, “No, we found work-related emails, thousands that were not returned.”
“It’s apparent that she lied to the American people,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., later said of Clinton.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07/07/chaffetz-claims-double-standa...
Regarding “statements she made last October before the House Benghazi committee … At that hearing, Clinton had claimed that nothing she sent or received was marked classified.
Comey was asked about such claims, which she also made publicly, in a pointed exchange with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.
“That’s not true. … There was classified material emailed,” Comey said.
Former House Speaker goes 'On the Record' on FBI director's testimony before House Oversight committee on his decision not to recommend charges for Clinton in email scandal and Trump VP rumors
On her claim that she used one device, Comey also said, “She used multiple devices.”
And on her claim that she turned over all work-related emails, he said, “No, we found work-related emails, thousands that were not returned.”
“It’s apparent that she lied to the American people,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., later said of Clinton.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07/07/chaffetz-claims-double-standa...
One thing that has surprised me that no one has seemed to want to rank the package of remarks form each candidate. All of the comment has been on the separate questions and answers which were not all identical and instead observers have not made judgements about the overall presentations.
If you look at the caliber of the answers in terms of the use of the right language and detail, Hillary gets the job. Trump worked to bluster his way through but had no idea how the intelligence agencies and generals make assessments and plans and what have been the most recent outcomes.
Hillary nailed the email questions forthrightly. Trumpsters may simply ignore that but her reply in itself was a tutorial and she provided how she had to differentiate between how to handle subjects and classifications every day for 4 years.
You have to think that this was a job interview and that you were looking to select the best candidate.
Donald Trump got a clear "you are fired." That's bullet-proof.
If you look at the caliber of the answers in terms of the use of the right language and detail, Hillary gets the job. Trump worked to bluster his way through but had no idea how the intelligence agencies and generals make assessments and plans and what have been the most recent outcomes.
Hillary nailed the email questions forthrightly. Trumpsters may simply ignore that but her reply in itself was a tutorial and she provided how she had to differentiate between how to handle subjects and classifications every day for 4 years.
You have to think that this was a job interview and that you were looking to select the best candidate.
Donald Trump got a clear "you are fired." That's bullet-proof.
29
Even Hillary's campaign thought she was terrible last night and looked like a liar, again. They sent her out early to clean up. She terrible and a complete failure at everything.
1
Those of us who have lived through other presidential elections understand how to value "secret plans".
It was amazing to me that Mr. Trump was able to tell from their body language alone that those who gave him his intelligence briefing had given Sec. Clinton, Sec Kerry and President Obama policy recommendations that were not followed. Apparently he has inherited Bush II's ability to look into the eyes of people and see their "soul" plus all their experiences going back years. How does any reasonable person continue to believe Mr. Trump is qualified to do the job of the President?
It was amazing to me that Mr. Trump was able to tell from their body language alone that those who gave him his intelligence briefing had given Sec. Clinton, Sec Kerry and President Obama policy recommendations that were not followed. Apparently he has inherited Bush II's ability to look into the eyes of people and see their "soul" plus all their experiences going back years. How does any reasonable person continue to believe Mr. Trump is qualified to do the job of the President?
47
"How does any reasonable person continue to believe Mr. Trump is qualified to do the job of the President?"
We know for a fact that " for his personal convenience" he was not so indifferent to our nation's security as to place top secret and classified material on an insecure server-- information including the identities of our spies in the field and information on our schedule for upcoming drone strikes, for example.
We know for a fact that he has not broken a pledge to a president-elect not to allow foreign donations to a family foundation while serving in high office.
We know for a fact he has withheld or deleted, or caused to be deleted, thousands of work-related e mails AFTER they have been subpoenaed--a felony.
We know for a fact that he has not allowed a spouse to accept enhanced speaking fees while serving in high office and doing business with foreign nations paying those fees;
We know he has not repeatedly lied before two congressional investigating committees in a cover-up.
And we know his spouse did not secretly meet with the head of the Justice Department while a question regarding his prosecution for sharing national secrets was pending.
We know for a fact that " for his personal convenience" he was not so indifferent to our nation's security as to place top secret and classified material on an insecure server-- information including the identities of our spies in the field and information on our schedule for upcoming drone strikes, for example.
We know for a fact that he has not broken a pledge to a president-elect not to allow foreign donations to a family foundation while serving in high office.
We know for a fact he has withheld or deleted, or caused to be deleted, thousands of work-related e mails AFTER they have been subpoenaed--a felony.
We know for a fact that he has not allowed a spouse to accept enhanced speaking fees while serving in high office and doing business with foreign nations paying those fees;
We know he has not repeatedly lied before two congressional investigating committees in a cover-up.
And we know his spouse did not secretly meet with the head of the Justice Department while a question regarding his prosecution for sharing national secrets was pending.
Hi hargeave - We also know for a fact that none of your facts can be substantiated.
11
@Ronald H.
. We know for a fact that Trump & Putin have entered into a mutual admiration society.
. We know for a fact that Trump bought a Florida property for $40 million and then sold it to a Russian oligarch for $100 million, thereby laundering money and indebting himself to Russian oligarchs & Putin.
. We know for a fact that Trump will fire most American generals -- not a problem, since he can borrow generals from his crony Putin.
. We know for a fact that Trump & Putin have entered into a mutual admiration society.
. We know for a fact that Trump bought a Florida property for $40 million and then sold it to a Russian oligarch for $100 million, thereby laundering money and indebting himself to Russian oligarchs & Putin.
. We know for a fact that Trump will fire most American generals -- not a problem, since he can borrow generals from his crony Putin.
12
Mr Lauer has always been a light weight but last night was a disaster. Or maybe he is hedging his bet and looking to Faux News or CNN for a backup plan
28
i didn't even tune in to the Forum because Lauer makes my flesh crawl.
1
Oops. He's a liberal by ha actually asked crooked Hillary a real question and she lied again on national TV. So. Blam Lauer because Hillary is a lying corrupt failure.
Mrs. Clinton was asked, yet again, about not using the State Department's e-mail server. The one that was hacked. Meanwhile, no questions about Mr. Trump's use of his Trump Foundation money to make illegal political donations to the Florida Attorney General who dropped her department's investigation into Trump U's cheating of its students. The media appear intent on giving Trump a pass so his candidacy will remain relevant longer. Better for ratings, I guess.
52
Even if true, the charges against Trump leveled here do not amount to endangering national security. In addition, we have the Clinton's doing virtually the same, earning them $16 million.
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/hillary-clinton-scandal-why...
As George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote recently: "Laureate Education has been sued over such programs as its Walden University Online offering, which many have alleged is a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees."
He added: "Students say that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt."
Does that sound like a legitimate organization? It reeks of a bait-and-switch academic scheme to us, playing off the desperation of young people who are seeking academic credentials.
Now here's the kicker: Former President Bill Clinton is the "honorary" chancellor of Laureate International, the parent of Walden and other online schools of its ilk.
We're not sure what he does for his title, but we do know it's been extraordinarily lucrative. According to Inside Higher Education, Clinton received "an obscene" $16.5 million in pay from 2010 to 2014 for working as a glorified pitchman for the enterprise. Apparently, the money-backers thought that having a former U.S. president as their public face would give everything a patina of respectability."
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/hillary-clinton-scandal-why...
As George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote recently: "Laureate Education has been sued over such programs as its Walden University Online offering, which many have alleged is a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees."
He added: "Students say that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt."
Does that sound like a legitimate organization? It reeks of a bait-and-switch academic scheme to us, playing off the desperation of young people who are seeking academic credentials.
Now here's the kicker: Former President Bill Clinton is the "honorary" chancellor of Laureate International, the parent of Walden and other online schools of its ilk.
We're not sure what he does for his title, but we do know it's been extraordinarily lucrative. According to Inside Higher Education, Clinton received "an obscene" $16.5 million in pay from 2010 to 2014 for working as a glorified pitchman for the enterprise. Apparently, the money-backers thought that having a former U.S. president as their public face would give everything a patina of respectability."
Nice try at a hatchet job Ron-rhymes-with-Don. As noted in an update to the "release" on Turley's own website, the lawsuit was dismissed and the substance of the slanders against Walden and Laureate refuted by the facts. But then, you folks don't care about facts, do you?
5
While I'm sure he appreciates the compliment ("At times, Trump seemed to be exceeding expectations, just by speaking in complete sentences.") the Trump I heard last night was up to his usual tricks, full of evasion and misdirects,with repetition replacing elaboration.
It's a Max Headroom candidacy, or maybe signs the candidate suffers from political Trourette's.
TRUMP: I have a plan. But I want to be — I don’t want to — look. I have a very substantial chance of winning. Make America great again. We’re going to make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.
It's a Max Headroom candidacy, or maybe signs the candidate suffers from political Trourette's.
TRUMP: I have a plan. But I want to be — I don’t want to — look. I have a very substantial chance of winning. Make America great again. We’re going to make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.
28
I have noticed that while the Democrats have accepted Hillary's pivot without so much as blinking an eye, few are aware of the content of Trump's recent speeches, which demonstrate a pivot in demeanor, tone, and clarity of position.
In other words, Trump said "DUH, I don't know". What a joke but what do we expect of the Clown in Chief.
4
Circulation. Audience share. News readers. Ahistorical perspectives. Other than a few tardy but toughened brave women dismantling FOX, where are the strong tv and paper folk I was raised with, the Lippmans, Ivenses, the Konkites, the Rathers even? For 6 months, Trump has sold the media a package of dross their business offices said was golden and like cheap prostitutes in a Victorian farce, tv talking heads have been fully complaisant. Dumbed down may be a problem, but dumbed down for trashy thinking and fast bucks is a version of "love for sale." Embarrassing how unfair these shills can be when plying their lowly trade while pretending to be smart.
Thank heaven, we have Gail Collins, Krugman, Bruni, Blow... but compared to Hydra-headed tv? Sad. We may see America buy Trump because he is the brand they are sold by fashionista money-grubbers and marcelled hucksters painted as pundits.
Thank heaven, we have Gail Collins, Krugman, Bruni, Blow... but compared to Hydra-headed tv? Sad. We may see America buy Trump because he is the brand they are sold by fashionista money-grubbers and marcelled hucksters painted as pundits.
10
Shame on MSNBC. Were Lauer employed by any network other than NBC, Maddow et al would have done a blistering and well-deserved trashing of Lauer.
33
"Donald Trump explained how good he was going to be at dealing with world leaders by pointing to the great job he did at his recent meeting south of the border"
Yeah, right. Trump stood like a stiff on the dais with President Pena. He admitted that he didn't even raise the issue of Mexico paying for the wall, told the press it wasn't discussed (although Pena later Tweeted that he had told Trump emphatically that Mexico was not going to pay for the wall). When he spoke he fawned all over Pena and the Mexican people when in Mexico, then flew to Phoenix and savaged them. Yeah, a real world leader!
Yeah, right. Trump stood like a stiff on the dais with President Pena. He admitted that he didn't even raise the issue of Mexico paying for the wall, told the press it wasn't discussed (although Pena later Tweeted that he had told Trump emphatically that Mexico was not going to pay for the wall). When he spoke he fawned all over Pena and the Mexican people when in Mexico, then flew to Phoenix and savaged them. Yeah, a real world leader!
19
President Nieto.
All Matt Lauer had to do was to ask Donald Trump, "But what does that MEAN?" after one of those incoherent rants.
21
That's it? Sorry, Ms. Collins, but I expected much more from you today. No, not necessarily a dose of the great sense of humor and true irony you dispense with the usual grace and ferociousness.
I expected a serious reflection on how the "fair" media has been so unfair in its treatment of Trump, "reporting" instead of pointing the finger, the way it has always done when it came to Clinton: from her hairdo to the pantsuit, to the non-existent scandals that turned out to be total journalistic duds (NYT and Whitewater?)
The space that hosts your columns is the same space where week after week Dowd, Brooks and Douthat take turns haranguing and harassing the readers with overblown and gratuitous anti-Clinton propaganda. When are we going to see serious commenting about the day-to-day scandal of the lies and deranged hallucinations that spill out of Trump's mouth?
I expected a serious reflection on how the "fair" media has been so unfair in its treatment of Trump, "reporting" instead of pointing the finger, the way it has always done when it came to Clinton: from her hairdo to the pantsuit, to the non-existent scandals that turned out to be total journalistic duds (NYT and Whitewater?)
The space that hosts your columns is the same space where week after week Dowd, Brooks and Douthat take turns haranguing and harassing the readers with overblown and gratuitous anti-Clinton propaganda. When are we going to see serious commenting about the day-to-day scandal of the lies and deranged hallucinations that spill out of Trump's mouth?
11
In the Clinton-Trump exchanges about their presumed abilities to be the Commander in Chief, it is impossible not to notice that neither one can be imagined as a historical figure of a Commander on horseback with a drawn sword, leading a bayonet charge, or in a cockpit on a point of a jet-fighter squadron flying into an aerial combat.
1
True but Trump would be screaming "CHARGE" and then he would stiff them with the cost.
1
No, because we are in the 21st century and a) hope to avoid warfare and b) prize brains over brawn and bravado. At least, those of us WITH brains do.
1
Where you been Gail? We miss you.
10
No mention of Trump's support of using torture or his complete disregard for international agreements on the rules of war? Memo to Matt: This is a contest for American president, not Führer.
23
So ISIS is supposedly the biggest foreign problem our nation faces, and yet Trump has been sitting on his "foolproof plan" for a year and a half now?
He could've been a national hero and won this thing easily -- his he allergic to serving our great nation?
He could've been a national hero and won this thing easily -- his he allergic to serving our great nation?
8
NBC...the station that thought Al Roker was too hard on Ryan Lochte. What a joke. Matt Lauer ought to be ashamed of himself. And Trump, speaking in complete sentences is the litmus test? We're all doomed.
33
Trump's three-point plan to defeat ISIS is obvious and hinges on eliminating their funding. First he will hire as many ISIS members as possible as subcontractors on resort projects - then he will refuse to pay them anything and tie them up for years in expensive lawsuits. Then he will open Arabic-speaking branches of Trump University in countries with "less business oversight" than in the U.S. By encouraging yuge enrollments but failing to deliver anything of value, Trump will once again embroil thousands of ISIS militants in long, expensive lawsuits. Finally, Trump will insist that all meetings with ISIS representatives be held at Trump properties with Trump caterers, etc.AND charge ISIS inflated rates. Within a relatively short time, any and every ISIS member who has dealt with Trump will be confused frustrated, and broke.
28
"Trump — wants to give the nine million V.A. health clients cards that will allow them to go to any doctor or hospital that treats Medicare patients….a solution much beloved on the right, although it could very well cost a ton of additional money."
Sooooo...you're saying vets don't deserve good care? They're not worth "a ton of additional money?" I see. Perhaps the better solution would be to send all Medicare patients to VA hospitals. Maybe then they'd start to see some improvement.
Looking forward to a Trump presidency.
Sooooo...you're saying vets don't deserve good care? They're not worth "a ton of additional money?" I see. Perhaps the better solution would be to send all Medicare patients to VA hospitals. Maybe then they'd start to see some improvement.
Looking forward to a Trump presidency.
Sorry, Andrew, Gail isn't saying that she undervalues veterans' care. She is pointing out that all programs come at a cost, and allowing her readers room to speculate how those costs would be covered.
With the Republican party's history of cutting costs, and desire to minimize or cut government programs, it would be amazing if they actually supported funding any programs raising the level of care for veterans or old folks. So, please clarify, why are you supporting Trump?
With the Republican party's history of cutting costs, and desire to minimize or cut government programs, it would be amazing if they actually supported funding any programs raising the level of care for veterans or old folks. So, please clarify, why are you supporting Trump?
14
No, of course not. She's saying that privatizing much of the care would cost the taxpayers much more than funding the VA properly, but much of the additional money would go into the pockets of executives and shareholders of for-profit hospitals, so the Right will think it's a great plan. BTW, are you one of those executives, or just one of us taxpayers?
6
Soooo....you're saying that when it comes to funding choices–– Veterans are the ones we should sacrifice to substandard medical care? Bet they didn't see that coming when they volunteered to protect us with their very lives. As for "Republican party's history of cutting costs," are they the dirty scoundrels in the Senate who at this very moment are blocking funding to fight the Zika virus?
2
So you Gail are the person pointing at Trump and shouting the emperor has no clothes.
13
Major cyber-oops, Gail, sorry:
Colossal waste of time, dear Gail, the presidential candidates forum last night. And Matt Lauer as moderator on The Intrepid wasn't up to the mark of a real political whizbang interrogator like Lester Holt, Martha Raddatz and Chris Wallace, who will moderate the first presidential debate in a couple of weeks.
And who "won" the forum last night? No one, that's who. Waste of air time and the title of your piece "Trump and Clinton Take Up Arms" didn't mean diddly. If the back to back non-meeting of Clinton and Trump was meant to be serious, it wasn't. Do we believe Trump when he says "The main thing is I have great judgment"? Hell, no!
Colossal waste of time, dear Gail, the presidential candidates forum last night. And Matt Lauer as moderator on The Intrepid wasn't up to the mark of a real political whizbang interrogator like Lester Holt, Martha Raddatz and Chris Wallace, who will moderate the first presidential debate in a couple of weeks.
And who "won" the forum last night? No one, that's who. Waste of air time and the title of your piece "Trump and Clinton Take Up Arms" didn't mean diddly. If the back to back non-meeting of Clinton and Trump was meant to be serious, it wasn't. Do we believe Trump when he says "The main thing is I have great judgment"? Hell, no!
10
Lauer thought he was aboard the USS Insipid...
6
I guess I was lucky. It was supposed to be broadcast on NBC Montana at 7 pm but what did we get - America's Got Talent. Believe me, the talent on that show was far greater than Donald Trump could muster if he lived another 1,000 years and was reborn 100 times.
I expect the same with what they call "the debates".
These "debates" are over-moderated. Give them each a general question such as: how is your platform superior to your opponent's, and how are you superior as a potential leader?" And leave them alone for an hour or two, just timing their chances to respond.
These "debates" are over-moderated. Give them each a general question such as: how is your platform superior to your opponent's, and how are you superior as a potential leader?" And leave them alone for an hour or two, just timing their chances to respond.
1
I'm old enough to remember that Nixon, running for president in 1968, claimed to have a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. News flash: He didn't. Donald has no secret plans for ISIS or anything else, of course. He has no judgment and no steadiness. But we know this. God, what a year.
59
I remember it too, but apparently he didn't say it. At least no one can document it from 1968.
I've been listening to some of the folks who like Trump talk about why they like him. (I tutor high school dropouts, so have a good sampling.) So far, no one has mentioned things such as his Mexican meeting -- they're not sure where Mexico is; one guy came close with "South America." So far, no one has said anything about ISIS, but several did say that Trump proved he was for veterans because he had a conversation with a fallen hero's parents. So far, no one could tell me the name of even one of the heads of state in any major country on earth (I am not kidding about this.) So far, no one has been able to tell me what Trump Tower is or why it's named that or where it's located.
And I'm afraid that these people are going to vote. I'm thinking of ways to stop them.
And I'm afraid that these people are going to vote. I'm thinking of ways to stop them.
63
I suspect that these are the same intellectuals I meet when I was teaching, and now encounter at my local Walmart.
6
Maybe we should have to pass a basic civics, geography, economics and history test before voting.
If that were the case, no Republican would ever win another officer, from dog catcher to President, ever again in the United States of America.
If that were the case, no Republican would ever win another officer, from dog catcher to President, ever again in the United States of America.
11
Your comments about the people you tutor are dumbfounding. You should be ashamed. BTW HLS '73 with honors. How about you, genius?
The bar for Trump is a limbo bar and
people applaud when he dances under
The bar for Clinton is a high bar and
people complain if she just barely clears it.
SMH.
people applaud when he dances under
The bar for Clinton is a high bar and
people complain if she just barely clears it.
SMH.
249
So what`s new Gail, this forum proved again about sexism in America.
Donald Trump bullied his way through with lies clearly rattled by the calm demeanor of Secretary Clinton early on.
Camera was frequently on the beautiful curved stone faces of Trump clans.
But in the end media in the name of Matt Lauer failed us again.
Donald Trump bullied his way through with lies clearly rattled by the calm demeanor of Secretary Clinton early on.
Camera was frequently on the beautiful curved stone faces of Trump clans.
But in the end media in the name of Matt Lauer failed us again.
4
Count me among the NYT Opinion readers who thinks Collins writes a poorly-balanced column on the egregious shortcomings of our two major party candidates.
The story about a young Clinton entering a Marine Recruitment storefront to offer her sevices begs credulity. There's no way she has ever been able to take orders from anyone. She wouldn't have lasted a day at Quantico.
The same is true for Trump. But he would never have gone to the Recruitment Office in the first place. That's where the "losers" in life go, he'd say, and he's always been a "winner."
The losers in all this are the electorate who, for the first time in our history, have two candidates totally unworthy of the Office of President. But that won't stop their variant Know-Nothing Parties from getting one of them elected. It will give a new meaning to 4 years of hard time.
The story about a young Clinton entering a Marine Recruitment storefront to offer her sevices begs credulity. There's no way she has ever been able to take orders from anyone. She wouldn't have lasted a day at Quantico.
The same is true for Trump. But he would never have gone to the Recruitment Office in the first place. That's where the "losers" in life go, he'd say, and he's always been a "winner."
The losers in all this are the electorate who, for the first time in our history, have two candidates totally unworthy of the Office of President. But that won't stop their variant Know-Nothing Parties from getting one of them elected. It will give a new meaning to 4 years of hard time.
1
Gail, I like a good joke as much as the next person, but aren't we in a place now where the joke is starting to be on us?
11
Just goes to show that women still have to do everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in heels.
10
Gail,
Why did you add your "Just kidding" paragraph? What was that supposed to mean? If it was supposed to be sarcasm, it wasn't clearly so to me. Rather, it reads like another example of the press letting Trump off the hook.
Why did you add your "Just kidding" paragraph? What was that supposed to mean? If it was supposed to be sarcasm, it wasn't clearly so to me. Rather, it reads like another example of the press letting Trump off the hook.
1
Somehow, Donald reminded me of a third grader, with his limited.vocabulary,lack of depth, maturity and knowledge.
8
You might also notice his "girls have cooties" attitudes toward women and his elementary school slurs when he's miffed. There is a real case to be made for Trump as a case of arrested emotional development, and I'd say third grade is roughly the spot it happened. If he weren't so dangerous, I'd be sorry for him.
3
It's getting more and more painful watching and listening to The Buffoon scramble to make coherent sentences. Interviewers, so called journalists, are afraid to cross some imaginary line between what they consider impartiality and the urge to scream, "You're an idiot and a liar." Matt Lauer did his best by using his "tough voice" and let the idiot ramble on and on making up lies as he went. Too bad, Matt, you could have made yourself credible and serious, instead of the cutey-pie you play on "The Today Show"
5
"Where Are Your Tax Returns Mr. Trump"?
Should have been entertainer Matt Lauer's first question to Little Hands.
Should have been entertainer Matt Lauer's first question to Little Hands.
26
Thanks!
There is a ray of hope. It's possible that the sharp negative reaction to Matt Lauer's boyish interviews with the Clinton and Trump will warn the moderators for the upcoming debates that they'd better be ready with info about Trump's lies, laziness, and inconsistency, and stop mansplaining the world to Hillary.
Note: Lester Holt is NOT a hard hitter in interviews.
There is a ray of hope. It's possible that the sharp negative reaction to Matt Lauer's boyish interviews with the Clinton and Trump will warn the moderators for the upcoming debates that they'd better be ready with info about Trump's lies, laziness, and inconsistency, and stop mansplaining the world to Hillary.
Note: Lester Holt is NOT a hard hitter in interviews.
14
Elizabeth Warren would have mulched Orange Head by now.
8
Warren would be in exactly the same place as Clinton. Both are well-educated, highly experienced and deeply versed on the issues. They believe voters will reward them accordingly. But that's not how it works.
The GOP understands that a large segment of American voters want to be entertained. They want to hear that they are getting a raw deal and it's not their fault. They want a veneer of patriotism and religiosity, a willingness to bully other countries and a promise that all of the country's problems can be easily solved without effort or sacrifice on the voters' part. Someone who says what he thinks; they couldn't care less what he says, which is why they don't notice when he makes 180-degree pivots in his positions. They won't even pay attention to what he does, unless he celebrates some (real or imagined) triumph against a backdrop of flags on a warship with Navy and Air Force planes buzzing overhead.
The GOP knows that if their candidate has serious flaws, the remedy is to accuse the opponent of the same flaws, magnifying relatively minor mistakes into a national catastrophe if necessary. If their candidate lies a lot, accuse the opponent of lying. If the candidate has a history of unethical behavior, insist that the opponent is corrupt to the bone. Work it into every speech and interview and repeat, repeat, repeat.
If Warren were running we would hear nonstop about her claim to be Native American; if Sanders, we would be treated to the Cold War Redux. And it works.
The GOP understands that a large segment of American voters want to be entertained. They want to hear that they are getting a raw deal and it's not their fault. They want a veneer of patriotism and religiosity, a willingness to bully other countries and a promise that all of the country's problems can be easily solved without effort or sacrifice on the voters' part. Someone who says what he thinks; they couldn't care less what he says, which is why they don't notice when he makes 180-degree pivots in his positions. They won't even pay attention to what he does, unless he celebrates some (real or imagined) triumph against a backdrop of flags on a warship with Navy and Air Force planes buzzing overhead.
The GOP knows that if their candidate has serious flaws, the remedy is to accuse the opponent of the same flaws, magnifying relatively minor mistakes into a national catastrophe if necessary. If their candidate lies a lot, accuse the opponent of lying. If the candidate has a history of unethical behavior, insist that the opponent is corrupt to the bone. Work it into every speech and interview and repeat, repeat, repeat.
If Warren were running we would hear nonstop about her claim to be Native American; if Sanders, we would be treated to the Cold War Redux. And it works.
9
But she didn't run. You can't mulch if you don't push the lawnmower.
2
Nobody with any sort of morals or respect for others would be able to "mulch" him.
I see that Lauer is being treated harshly today, and I think it is very unfair. He has every right to ask: When did "Clinton Rules" stop applying to the media and why didn't anyone tell me about it? Next question: When were the rules changed, and it was decided that I should ask Trump substantive questions and demand honest, substantive answers?
5
We cannot learn anything new about those two candidates. The news from last night was Matt Lauer. And Trump's treatment by the mainstream media for its entertainment value.
That's what I was expecting to read from you today Gail.
That's what I was expecting to read from you today Gail.
7
Welcome back, Gail! We really need you to remind us that Trump's absurdities are still just that, even if he is now being coached with new distorted views.
3
Finally something we can all agree on in this nightmare election- Matt Lauer did a terrible job as moderator.
6
Colossal waste of time, dear Gail, the presidential candidates forum last night. And Matt Lauer as moderator on The Intrepid wasn't up to the mark of a real political whizbang interrogator like Lester Holt, Martha Raddatz and Chris Wallace, who will moderate the first presidential debate in a couple of weeks.
And who "won" the forum last night? No one, that's who. Waste of air time and the title of your piece "Trump and Clinton Take Up Arms" didn't mean diddly. If the back to back non-meeting of Clinton and Trump was meant to be serious, it wasn't. Do we believe Trump when he says "The main thing is I have great judgment"? Hell, no!
And who "won" the forum last night? No one, that's who. Waste of air time and the title of your piece "Trump and Clinton Take Up Arms" didn't mean diddly. If the back to back non-meeting of Clinton and Trump was meant to be serious, it wasn't. Do we believe Trump when he says "The main thing is I have great judgment"? Hell, no!
2
The media's love affair with Trump is a commercial affair. He is good for ratings and advertising revenue. Never mind the risk. As one commenter says "It is like sitting through Beckett's "Waiting for Godot"" (thank you Paul Westbrook, CT): An existential nightmare really.
Clinton,on the other hand, is a boring wonk who happens to be a woman who, for that reason, can be abused by the likes of Lauer. Hillary wants to solve problems, create jobs, etc. Trump is offering jingoism, and WWIII. If he is gaining on Hillary then those of us who see this election for what it is need to double down on our support for her.
Clinton,on the other hand, is a boring wonk who happens to be a woman who, for that reason, can be abused by the likes of Lauer. Hillary wants to solve problems, create jobs, etc. Trump is offering jingoism, and WWIII. If he is gaining on Hillary then those of us who see this election for what it is need to double down on our support for her.
8
Trump obviously never heard of TriCare, which permits military personnel and veterans to use participating civilian doctors and hospitals. See www.tricare.mil/Plans/Eligibility.
But we're dealing with someone who wants to be the Second Coming of Hitler and feels himself above reading and above fact-checking, in contrast to Harry Truman, who had a sign on his desk "The Buck Stops Here."
But we're dealing with someone who wants to be the Second Coming of Hitler and feels himself above reading and above fact-checking, in contrast to Harry Truman, who had a sign on his desk "The Buck Stops Here."
10
Mr. Trump also said his "personal Vietnam" was the avoidance of STDs while carousing around in New York City.
How could you leave that little gem out?
Don the Con is despicable.
How could you leave that little gem out?
Don the Con is despicable.
4
It's easy to blame the press, given Lauer's incompetent groveling, but it's way too easy to do. Lauer can't make you vote against your interests.
There is no shortage of information about the candidates or parties. No one can claim he didn't know. Not even in the 1930's was self-delusion possible, if you cared enough to pay attention.
There is no shortage of information about the candidates or parties. No one can claim he didn't know. Not even in the 1930's was self-delusion possible, if you cared enough to pay attention.
2
"He babbled on, trying to save himself, but it was really way too late."
Yesterday the loser was Matt Lauer who let Trump bully him. He never followed up on the fact-free claims made by Trump. As for Hillary Clinton, he spent more than half the time on the email brouhaha that has so far seen countless hours and millions of dollars spent for nada outcome.
Yesterday the loser was Matt Lauer who let Trump bully him. He never followed up on the fact-free claims made by Trump. As for Hillary Clinton, he spent more than half the time on the email brouhaha that has so far seen countless hours and millions of dollars spent for nada outcome.
6
Matt was worse than incompetent. Not one question to the Donald on his stance about nuclear proliferation , Not one question on his position with our allies in NATO and how he would not immediately come to their aid, possibly from Mr. Putin, in case they paid up some imaginary number he has in his head. Lauer also allowed Trump to say what a success his trip to Mexico was when the reality was 180 degrees opposite. Just another mediocre moderator from an industry replete with mediocrity.
4
To explain the volcanoes that erupt in his head
Trump does not use logic or knowledge, instead
In poll-based orations,
He makes phony citations:
“Many people are saying [what I just said].”
Trump does not use logic or knowledge, instead
In poll-based orations,
He makes phony citations:
“Many people are saying [what I just said].”
I don't know which was worse - Lauer's cross-examination of HRC or his beyond kid gloves treatment of Trump. What an absolute disgrace.
7
Matt Lauer was so far in over his head that he failed to challenged brazen lies. He should have stopped still until he got the truth, or proved that the truth was not possible as in "I have a secret plan I'm saving as a big surprise".
Letting Trump slide around while being antagonistic with Hillary is not the measure of journalistic integrity.
Letting Trump slide around while being antagonistic with Hillary is not the measure of journalistic integrity.
7
Dear Ms. Collins,
Welcome back!
I watched both candidates answer questions from Mr. Lauer but was, really, more impressed by the A-4 Skyhawk aircraft that served as the background for this "Lie-a-Thon" (Did you see Mr. Blow's column today? His numbers indicate that Mr. Trump lies 85% of the time while Ms. Clinton only lies 50% of the time; impressive indeed!).
It seems that the aircraft is the same type that a former presidential candidate flew over Vietnam, Senator John McCain. I find it ironic that a draft avoider , Mr. Trump, and a wannabe Marine (?), Ms. Clinton, both gave their answers on how they would handle the world's conflicts when, in reality, neither one have seen the business end of a weapon.
Oh wait, Ms. Clinton DID say she embarked from a helicopter "under fire"...I'm not sure which side of the 50% "truthiness" quotient THAT story lies upon but I've got my suspicions.
Welcome back!
I watched both candidates answer questions from Mr. Lauer but was, really, more impressed by the A-4 Skyhawk aircraft that served as the background for this "Lie-a-Thon" (Did you see Mr. Blow's column today? His numbers indicate that Mr. Trump lies 85% of the time while Ms. Clinton only lies 50% of the time; impressive indeed!).
It seems that the aircraft is the same type that a former presidential candidate flew over Vietnam, Senator John McCain. I find it ironic that a draft avoider , Mr. Trump, and a wannabe Marine (?), Ms. Clinton, both gave their answers on how they would handle the world's conflicts when, in reality, neither one have seen the business end of a weapon.
Oh wait, Ms. Clinton DID say she embarked from a helicopter "under fire"...I'm not sure which side of the 50% "truthiness" quotient THAT story lies upon but I've got my suspicions.
1
Trump has this great plan to defeat ISIS but can't tell us about it because that would forewarn the enemy. He can't release his tax returns because he is being audited. He needs to come up with a better class of lies. This sounds like third grade stuff which is about his intellectual level.
6
Yeah, and there are tens of millions of eligible voters out there who think a third grade intellect is exactly what we need in the White House. Enough of this fancy-pants, college-educated, politically correct elitism. Time for someone who "tells it like it is."
2
Perhaps Ms. Collins should do a little fact checking herself - Hillary Clinton had decades of service to this country - working for women's rights. Human rights, as Secretary of State, senator. It's one thing for men to disrespect her but a woman who owes her job to women who have been fighting for recognition for decades - shameful. Hillary Clonton has a thousand times more experience, knowledge, and compassion than the "pundits" and the likes of Paul Ryan. Trump does not deserve to be in the running. He is ignorant, lacks any sense of decency, and is a national embarrassment. He is so inarticulate that he has to repeat his three word sentences - and the hand thing! How did he get this far - fawning media!
9
Listening to Trump say that he has a "secret plan" to defeat ISIS sounds like a high pressure tactic from a sleazy salesman. "Look, I have this amazing product but if you want it you need to pay within the next 15 minutes! No I can't tell you more than that, there's no time. You have to decide now!"
For anyone that has fallen for that schtick, ask yourself: have your ever gotten a great deal?
For anyone that has fallen for that schtick, ask yourself: have your ever gotten a great deal?
6
Donald I, Ruler of the North American Empire, invades countries under false pretenses and steals their oil. Long live Emperor Donald!
6
Did Donald Trump really channel Richard Nixon regarding ISIS by stating, “If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is”?
Four years later, 25,000 additional American dead, even more wounded, and heaven knows how many thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian dead, Nixon's "plan" came to fruition.
Other than Trump's "plan" to put in practice the Nazi policy of collective responsibility by killing the families of ISIS members, you can rest assured that Professor Harold Hill's nefarious twin brother ain't got no such "plan".
Four years later, 25,000 additional American dead, even more wounded, and heaven knows how many thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian dead, Nixon's "plan" came to fruition.
Other than Trump's "plan" to put in practice the Nazi policy of collective responsibility by killing the families of ISIS members, you can rest assured that Professor Harold Hill's nefarious twin brother ain't got no such "plan".
7
The sweaty hand of Roger Ailes was all over Trump's responses last night. Obama and Clinton defy the generals! Who are rubble anyway! I never supported the war in Iraq! Lines and outright lies calculated to make veterans--and their civilian advocates--sit up straight and start growling.
Still, Ailes must've had more than a few face/palm moments. For example, the thing about Putin's approval rating--not all conservatives have gotten over the Cold War (some seem to want to bring it back).
As for Lauer: Nothing says "unprepared" like a reporter who fastens onto the most publicized scandals and won't let go. Constantly calling time on a female candidate, then letting the male opponent babble on and on ...
*lapses into angry silence*
Still, Ailes must've had more than a few face/palm moments. For example, the thing about Putin's approval rating--not all conservatives have gotten over the Cold War (some seem to want to bring it back).
As for Lauer: Nothing says "unprepared" like a reporter who fastens onto the most publicized scandals and won't let go. Constantly calling time on a female candidate, then letting the male opponent babble on and on ...
*lapses into angry silence*
8
Gail,
I know you must be thinking how it could all go south like this, with two candidates who are both unredeemable, both engaged in hustling the electorate, along with the aid of an entirely complicit media, and to add insult to injury, this electorate is so brain dead, it sits back, dumb as a brick, watching the show, never getting the fact they are witnessing the murder of democracy.
I know you must be thinking how it could all go south like this, with two candidates who are both unredeemable, both engaged in hustling the electorate, along with the aid of an entirely complicit media, and to add insult to injury, this electorate is so brain dead, it sits back, dumb as a brick, watching the show, never getting the fact they are witnessing the murder of democracy.
2
Donald Trump (and his likely appointees) makes the Bush II administration look like a paragon of intellectual incisiveness. Remember Rummy, Dick Cheney, Jerry Bremer, John Yoo, etc, etc.
Then look forward in horror at the likelihood of Rudy Guliliani as Sec State (or AG), Jeff Sessions as Sec Interior, Chris Christy as HUD Secretary. Or Buck Turgidson as Sec Def!!
Then look forward in horror at the likelihood of Rudy Guliliani as Sec State (or AG), Jeff Sessions as Sec Interior, Chris Christy as HUD Secretary. Or Buck Turgidson as Sec Def!!
7
Astounded and saddened that " Sgt. Bilko" is the Republican nominee. (Had Lincoln heard Trump claim a connection to him--Lincoln would have shot himself in the head--on Fifth Avenue).
Perhaps--since he puts his foot in his mouth so often-- the bone spur that kept Trump out of the army has traveled to his brain.
Perhaps--since he puts his foot in his mouth so often-- the bone spur that kept Trump out of the army has traveled to his brain.
6
"Clinton dived into her work mode."
No truer words could be said about Hillary Clinton last night.
She answered the questions, standing, directing her words into the ears of the veterans and us. She spoke with clarity. Her experience was her demeanor. We know she prepared in the best way she possibly could have to present herself as she is: intelligent, prepared, committed, and in her words describing a president - steady - and in Lauer's words - good judgement.
She did not get a fair shake from Lauer. But maybe not so bad of a show in the long run - she rose above it. She held steady, serious, determined.
Unlike her opponent, where everything seemed to be off the cuff, opinion, not fact, she shone.
It just makes me say - Thank you, Hillary Clinton. You have taken the lives of us Americans seriously. This is no half cocked popularity scheme to you. It is serious, it is real.
Incidentally, from what we were asked to swallow about Iraq - from George Bush and Colin Powell and George Tenet and Dick Cheney - how many of us also would have voted for the War in Iraq? Congress was being asked to protect the American people from Sadam Hussein - and those weapons of mass destruction.
We had just already been wounded by 9/11 in the most horrendous way.
I really need to ask. If you had been Hillary Clinton at the time - what would you have done?
No truer words could be said about Hillary Clinton last night.
She answered the questions, standing, directing her words into the ears of the veterans and us. She spoke with clarity. Her experience was her demeanor. We know she prepared in the best way she possibly could have to present herself as she is: intelligent, prepared, committed, and in her words describing a president - steady - and in Lauer's words - good judgement.
She did not get a fair shake from Lauer. But maybe not so bad of a show in the long run - she rose above it. She held steady, serious, determined.
Unlike her opponent, where everything seemed to be off the cuff, opinion, not fact, she shone.
It just makes me say - Thank you, Hillary Clinton. You have taken the lives of us Americans seriously. This is no half cocked popularity scheme to you. It is serious, it is real.
Incidentally, from what we were asked to swallow about Iraq - from George Bush and Colin Powell and George Tenet and Dick Cheney - how many of us also would have voted for the War in Iraq? Congress was being asked to protect the American people from Sadam Hussein - and those weapons of mass destruction.
We had just already been wounded by 9/11 in the most horrendous way.
I really need to ask. If you had been Hillary Clinton at the time - what would you have done?
3
Shame on you Matt Lauer.
1
And just Where have you been, young lady? It has been a long, boring summer without you. Welcome back! :)
2
If the American people want a slick, used car salesman (not to disparage honest used car salesmen) for their president, it would appear that is who they will get.
2
The emperor has no clothes ... with the possible exception of his manufactured overseas wardrobe.
1
There was nothing of substance in any Trump's responses last night; which is not really news to anyone. Why does there seem to be a double standard in the line of questioning? Matt did the entire forum a disservice by neglecting to ask any follow-up questions to Trump as he did indeed "babble on". I was already yelling at the television when Matt started off the forum with those wretched e-mails. I don't know what else HRC or anyone else could possibly say about them at this point. He wasted valuable time on them and then rushed her through the rest of her 20 minutes.
And why is no one jumping up and down about the absolutely crazy intelligence briefings/"I know body language" answer?
And why is no one jumping up and down about the absolutely crazy intelligence briefings/"I know body language" answer?
3
I could not watch the actual interviews but have been much interested in reading the various responses
I'm actually glad that I had to miss it and instead read the verbatim transcript.
Even if you heard it you should read it so you can really absorb - get the full effect - of Donald's inarticulation, inability to finish a sentence, inability to stay on focus, to answer a straightforward question with a straightforward answer that actually makes sense.
Read it - and ask yourself if you want this man to be on the School Board, let alone hold the most powerful office in the world.
I'm actually glad that I had to miss it and instead read the verbatim transcript.
Even if you heard it you should read it so you can really absorb - get the full effect - of Donald's inarticulation, inability to finish a sentence, inability to stay on focus, to answer a straightforward question with a straightforward answer that actually makes sense.
Read it - and ask yourself if you want this man to be on the School Board, let alone hold the most powerful office in the world.
8
I feel like we have been twilight-zoned.
Give Hillary a bruising question, then ask Trump things like "who made your tie?" (I paraphrase).
This is the PRECISE climate of 16 years ago. W was bumbling, but there was little talk of what happens when we elect a stupid person for president. FF to 2016 and the new normal is the president from Idiocracy.
Give Hillary a bruising question, then ask Trump things like "who made your tie?" (I paraphrase).
This is the PRECISE climate of 16 years ago. W was bumbling, but there was little talk of what happens when we elect a stupid person for president. FF to 2016 and the new normal is the president from Idiocracy.
6
Sorry, Gail, you missed the boat on this one. I didn't learn a thing and didn't appreciate your attempted humor, cute analogies, or "kidding". Unless I missed it, there's no mention of how trump and Clinton compare re mental health and the headline has nothing to do with the content. Arms still pertain to guns not health care.
1
Has anyone been watching the CBS TV series "BrainDead"? That show either explains Donald Trump's behavior or it is the inspiration for his campaign.
Last night Trump insinuated he learned something shocking about President Obama and Hillary Clinton in a national security briefing--of course it's top secret so he can't talk about it, but it's shocking. BrainDead viewers, which episode did Republican Red Wheatus use the same ploy, insinuating he learned something shocking about Democrats in a top secret briefing?
Donald Trump is not just an unusual candidate, his behavior is not just bizarre, he is not simply a Washington outsider, he acts like an ALIEN.
Does Donald Trump have space alien bugs in his head? Does he only have half a brain? Do the writers on the "BrainDead" series know something top secret about Donald Trump? If only Matt Lauer had confronted Trump on his likely bug infection. America needs to know!
America needs to watch "BrainDead" to better understand our government and why our Congress is failing the country.
Last night Trump insinuated he learned something shocking about President Obama and Hillary Clinton in a national security briefing--of course it's top secret so he can't talk about it, but it's shocking. BrainDead viewers, which episode did Republican Red Wheatus use the same ploy, insinuating he learned something shocking about Democrats in a top secret briefing?
Donald Trump is not just an unusual candidate, his behavior is not just bizarre, he is not simply a Washington outsider, he acts like an ALIEN.
Does Donald Trump have space alien bugs in his head? Does he only have half a brain? Do the writers on the "BrainDead" series know something top secret about Donald Trump? If only Matt Lauer had confronted Trump on his likely bug infection. America needs to know!
America needs to watch "BrainDead" to better understand our government and why our Congress is failing the country.
4
I liked how Trump blamed everything on "the generals" just before bragging how many "generals" were supporting him. In both cases, Trump could likely not have named a single general had Lauer bothered to follow up properly.
5
Frankly the much ballyhooed "forum" was a complete waste of time and Matt Lauer came off as a bit of a fool.
3
Well, last night we learned that Hillary Clinton thinks and talks in complete paragraphs; Donald Trump can talk in a complete sentence while saying nothing of substance, and Matt Lauer is a lightweight who should stick to interviewing tourists outside 30 Rock. Done, done and done.
5
Most sexual assaults in the military are on men. Should the Armed Forces stop admitting men into their ranks? That would put an end to the military. Alternatively, they should separate men from men. Me thinks, just following Trumpian logic.
164
Donald Trump gets just about everything exactly wrong . . . except: Whomever crafted his plan to reform veterans' health care has it exactly right. The US health system is fractured and dysfunctional in so many ways, not the least of which is that veterans have more obstacles to care than almost any other group. Having veterans cared for on a par with Medicare recipients, and their benefits managed by the same system would be an admirable start to fixing our bloated, clunky and remarkably cost-ineffective health care system.
I think we should see Matt Lauer's emails.
About those emails. Can we all take a step back and realize we are all human? We have opinions. We say stuff. It's a new world, where young and old have varying skills with the internet.
Secretary of State is a big job. Clinton performed it well (see the record). She decided, based on with 20/20 hindsight, inadequate advice, that it would be OK to have her IT people set up a server that was convenient for her.
Given her enemies, it is surprising that nobody has yet revealed those emails, while the State Department was hacked last year, another government server gave up 21.5 million personal IDs, and both the DNC and RNC have been hacked. Perhaps they're waiting for a critical moment? Yes, there are 60+ more days.
Meanwhile, I am terrified, because I don't think our country, or even our world, will survive four years of this. Aside from the rampant hate and militarism, there's climate change, which some people may have noticed is getting bloody obvious.
You can run but you cannot hide.
Vote Democratic down the line, to your town and schoolboard, and don't skip midterms. Stop demanding perfection and enabling evil.
About those emails. Can we all take a step back and realize we are all human? We have opinions. We say stuff. It's a new world, where young and old have varying skills with the internet.
Secretary of State is a big job. Clinton performed it well (see the record). She decided, based on with 20/20 hindsight, inadequate advice, that it would be OK to have her IT people set up a server that was convenient for her.
Given her enemies, it is surprising that nobody has yet revealed those emails, while the State Department was hacked last year, another government server gave up 21.5 million personal IDs, and both the DNC and RNC have been hacked. Perhaps they're waiting for a critical moment? Yes, there are 60+ more days.
Meanwhile, I am terrified, because I don't think our country, or even our world, will survive four years of this. Aside from the rampant hate and militarism, there's climate change, which some people may have noticed is getting bloody obvious.
You can run but you cannot hide.
Vote Democratic down the line, to your town and schoolboard, and don't skip midterms. Stop demanding perfection and enabling evil.
43
I left out the bit about the changed world that has changed the definition of privacy. I'm so glad my youth happened before the internet, so my history is my own business. Every misstep, every adjustment, every effort, every misconception, it's all public these days. Apparently Trump is immune from criticism of his "realism" which is as ugly as it gets. Clinton is attacked on the part of her record that can be attacked, without much "balance" about the good stuff, and there's lot of that.
The screen world is not the whole world. One big flood, one big storm, one big fire, and you're stuck with real reality. Climate change is real, it's here, and hiding doesn't make it go away. That's what I mean by "you can run but you cannot hide."
The screen world is not the whole world. One big flood, one big storm, one big fire, and you're stuck with real reality. Climate change is real, it's here, and hiding doesn't make it go away. That's what I mean by "you can run but you cannot hide."
8
To be clear, (C) is supposed to be atop the email. ISeparate (C) designations are for confidential negotiating points, and are public once negotiations are complete. If anyone has ever given a deposition one would know why the answer I can't remember so often appears. So no, Petraus skated and yes, higher ups often do. Before one judges the use of private versus state servers, please watch Mark Cuban on FoxNews (it was 9/6 or 9/7). He was very clear about private servers. And really, do you not see that an email does not go to/from state.gov? The honorable people who serve in our military deserve a leader who values their lives, not one who considers us fodder. And while I have military members in my family. I am not in the military.
1
We declined the privilege of watching this farce. What could one expect of a presentation featuring on the one hand, a serious politician with a record and policies to discuss and defend, and on the other, an TV celebrity most noted for ill-advised Twitter posts and ex tempore mouth-farting?
15
Yes the candidates were handled differently, which began in the first Donald Trump minute. Clear difference in tone immediately, and body language. "Try (!!) to stick to a policy discussion" or some such, as opposed to how he laid it out for Hillary.
Not much Hillary can do about that (though her surrogates can do plenty) except to continue to lay out her case for the presidency. She has my respect and certainly my vote.
Not much Hillary can do about that (though her surrogates can do plenty) except to continue to lay out her case for the presidency. She has my respect and certainly my vote.
33
I don't believe Turmp believes a single thing that he says or has said in the course of his campaign--all of it, spontaneous or scripted, is all just an attempt at pandering to a particular group at a particular time, in the hopes of getting that group's recognition.
All Trump believes in is Trump, and the need for Trump, and Trump brands, to "win yuge" . And that is why he can say such wildly disparate thing to different constituencies, and appear to be constantly flip-flopping on positions. He's only currying favor, and ten minutes later he'll be attempting to curry favor with some other group. It's all in the service of getting people to look at him, to know of him. Being liked is not necessary; just the need to be known as a "player", so that later, when he's trying to get business advantage or start a media empire or whatever, he'll have enough Q-recognition to claim if you get into bed with him it's a good "deal".
Trump'll say anything, do anything to enhance his personal brand and name recognition (even if the majority of those who recognize the name disdain it--there is no such thing, in his world, as bad publicity). Consistent principles and moral codes are for suckers, because people of all political and philosophical stripes buy apartments, gamble in casinos, eat steaks, and watch media. Who cares, as long as the eyeballs, and hopefully the money, keep pouring in.
Of course, becoming President gets you the highest Q-rating of all.
All Trump believes in is Trump, and the need for Trump, and Trump brands, to "win yuge" . And that is why he can say such wildly disparate thing to different constituencies, and appear to be constantly flip-flopping on positions. He's only currying favor, and ten minutes later he'll be attempting to curry favor with some other group. It's all in the service of getting people to look at him, to know of him. Being liked is not necessary; just the need to be known as a "player", so that later, when he's trying to get business advantage or start a media empire or whatever, he'll have enough Q-recognition to claim if you get into bed with him it's a good "deal".
Trump'll say anything, do anything to enhance his personal brand and name recognition (even if the majority of those who recognize the name disdain it--there is no such thing, in his world, as bad publicity). Consistent principles and moral codes are for suckers, because people of all political and philosophical stripes buy apartments, gamble in casinos, eat steaks, and watch media. Who cares, as long as the eyeballs, and hopefully the money, keep pouring in.
Of course, becoming President gets you the highest Q-rating of all.
10
Liberals repeatedly write about the vast shortcomings of Trump. And their principal theme is that he is unfit to be elected. But the fact of the matter is that, despite his many shortcomings, Trump is still in the running. The inability of the liberals to understand what is going on in the elections is a clear sign that they are out of touch with a vast number of Americans. Insisting that Trump be rejected when that is not happening is foolhardy. It's time for the liberals to reach an understanding of the political world as it is rather than insisting that it be the way the liberals believe it should be.
2
I know why Mr. Trump is attractive to many--I hope not a majority--of voters. I understand their anger and feelings of abandonment. I'm a liberal, and I understand. I still reject Mr. Trump with all my heart. And I hope and trust that a vast number of Americans agree with me.
7
It seems that in the eyes of millions of Americans the fact that Trump has begun speaking in full sentences (albeit with a teleprompter) now qualifies him for the Presidency. The fact that the sentences are replete with distortions, misinformation and outright lies doesn't matter at all.
10
What I find most fascinating this election cycle is how the media has led voters down a path of false equivalencies. There really is no lesser of two evils. The people in this country are so astounding stupid that they think Clinton is the corrupt one (no record of that which is true) and that Trump is truthful and innocent (but has a long history of breaking the law, lying, failed business, fraudulent business practices and outright theft... And the list goes on.
When Clinton was Secretary of State trump was on record praising her and that she was "quite possibly the best" sec'y of state...
I'm with her.
When Clinton was Secretary of State trump was on record praising her and that she was "quite possibly the best" sec'y of state...
I'm with her.
16
"(We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.)"
The author wants to have one's cake and eat it too. The Clinton campaign lowered the bar for assessment pf Trump by choosing to cast Trump as "dangerous," incompetent, unstable, and stupid. He may be all of those things, and has certainly seemed that way at times. But the trade-off for characterizing him that way is that you make it relatively easy for him to look good; he just has to behave normally.
I've read this author's previous pieces, and she was very happy with the location of "the bar" when Trump was under the bar - as he was with the Khans. The author is "in the tank" for Clinton but does not want to take the good consequence of that allegiance with the bad.
Each candidate is being judged on the basis his or her opponent set out for him or her. Trump, perhaps wisely, focused on characterizing Clinton as "crooked." She's being evaluated, however fairly or unfairly, on that basis.
It may just be that, on this point of strategy, Trump chose more wisely than Clinton did.
The author wants to have one's cake and eat it too. The Clinton campaign lowered the bar for assessment pf Trump by choosing to cast Trump as "dangerous," incompetent, unstable, and stupid. He may be all of those things, and has certainly seemed that way at times. But the trade-off for characterizing him that way is that you make it relatively easy for him to look good; he just has to behave normally.
I've read this author's previous pieces, and she was very happy with the location of "the bar" when Trump was under the bar - as he was with the Khans. The author is "in the tank" for Clinton but does not want to take the good consequence of that allegiance with the bad.
Each candidate is being judged on the basis his or her opponent set out for him or her. Trump, perhaps wisely, focused on characterizing Clinton as "crooked." She's being evaluated, however fairly or unfairly, on that basis.
It may just be that, on this point of strategy, Trump chose more wisely than Clinton did.
3
Perhaps a return to NY Military Academy would be the best outcome for Trump. Now owned by Chinese investors, with 29 students after bankruptcy, there would be plenty of room. Since Trump seems to have failed to gain any discipline or fondness for accuracy and truth in his first term there, that might be a good focus for his 'graduate studies." Unfortunately, the school's other best known attendee(he did not graduate), John Gotti, is no longer with us to help revive the institution. They would have made a great team.
5
Actually, Putin respects her enough to use Russia's vaunted cyber force to attack her. Buddying up to him and supporting and imitating his bully tactics is not a good recipe for my country.
Trump wouldn't have survived being Secretary of State for a week!
Trump wouldn't have survived being Secretary of State for a week!
11
There is a reason why most vets and military people are voting for Trump. Obama has decimated the military and both he and Hillary Clinton have made a greater mess out of the Middle East. Clinton's skirt will never be respected by Putin or the Middle East. Even if she continues to wear her matronly pants suits.
"Decimate" means to destroy ten percent of a quantity--typically soldiers, structures, etc. It comes from the Latin word for ten. It was a rarely used form of punishment visited upon defeated segments of the Roman army by their commanders to to frighten remaining troops into fighting to the death. A true modern decimation is the infamous sequester in which most federal budget items were slashed by 10% by the Congress. I suppose this was meant to frighten as well. Too bad the term is now used to indicate any diminution or destruction no matter what the numerical reality.
3
"Decimated the military": I'm not aware of any significant cuts in funding to the military industrial complex in the past 8 years. Was it really possible to make a "greater mess" out of the middle east than the previous administration? The middle east was pretty stable (as in, no civil war, or countries overrun by suicide bombers) until about 2003, in other words while Saddam was in power. What if the US had intervened in Syria in 2011 as so many conservatives wanted? Then we'd really be in a mess. Why should I care whether Putin or some Middle-Eastern strongman like Assad respects Clinton or not? Since when have Russian or Middle-Eastern dictators and their wishes been been something we had to be sensitive about? We get to elect our own president, and I cannot support a president who is cozy with Putin.
1
Well, Janis, that was a sexist comment if ever there was one. Do you think Putin will respect that orange haired orangutan? Think again. And if vets and military people are voting for Trump, then they'll get exactly what they deserve. Nothing. Not the dirt under his fingernails. That man has never done anything for anyone but himself, ever.
3
Unfortunately, I'm in no mood to laugh this morning. There is simply nothing light-hearted about the prospect of President Trump or the fact that the American media is unable or unwilling to expose him for what he truly is.
23
I watched in horror. One of these two will soon be voted "off the island." We are a nation of idiots. Even the smart people are idiots. So what if the emperor has no clothes. Everyone else is running around naked, too.
8
Thank heavens Gail is back! So much ridiculousness in our country with this bizarre election, where we are given a choice whether we will eat boiled kale or chocolate covered ants for dinner.
"We have got to start raising the bar on this guy."
Absolutely! Frankly, are we to believe Trump graduated from the Wharton School--what courses did he take, what were his grades, did he ever attend class or learn anything--any thing?
I know we asked for Sarah Palin's grades and college transcripts to no avail. I don't think we ever found out how many and which colleges she attended and abandoned. A similar pattern with her Alaska governorship.
But, after Trump's "doctored" letter from his gastroenterologist stating: “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” can we really trust what Trump says about being educated the Wharton School? Or, maybe he did go to the Wharton School. But if so, they might want to ask for their diploma back.
While we are into "raising the bar," can we also please raise it for the TV stars chosen to moderate the debates and interview the presidential candidates?
Have we hit bottom yet? Plenty of material for Gail's columns anyway.
"We have got to start raising the bar on this guy."
Absolutely! Frankly, are we to believe Trump graduated from the Wharton School--what courses did he take, what were his grades, did he ever attend class or learn anything--any thing?
I know we asked for Sarah Palin's grades and college transcripts to no avail. I don't think we ever found out how many and which colleges she attended and abandoned. A similar pattern with her Alaska governorship.
But, after Trump's "doctored" letter from his gastroenterologist stating: “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” can we really trust what Trump says about being educated the Wharton School? Or, maybe he did go to the Wharton School. But if so, they might want to ask for their diploma back.
While we are into "raising the bar," can we also please raise it for the TV stars chosen to moderate the debates and interview the presidential candidates?
Have we hit bottom yet? Plenty of material for Gail's columns anyway.
9
many people are asking why professional media types cannot seem to confront trump when he lies with such staggering confidence.
it's because his depth of sociopathy far exceeds their skills as interviewers or journalists. most 'normal' people would feel some level of anxiety when being interviewed. not trump. he is a better and more accomplished liar than any public figure we have seen in our lifetime.
it's because his depth of sociopathy far exceeds their skills as interviewers or journalists. most 'normal' people would feel some level of anxiety when being interviewed. not trump. he is a better and more accomplished liar than any public figure we have seen in our lifetime.
22
That it was a veterans' forum and devoted so little time to actual veterans' issues just exemplifies the sort of political idiocy to which we submit. My gosh, we've become stupid.
Kind of makes me long for the days of Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle. At least back then we had a standard for intelligence in our politicians below which a politician could not go without suffering widespread ridicule. Now, Trump can do everything but drool, and still be considered presidential.
This is what happens when the electorate spends all its time watching TV and not reading books.
Kind of makes me long for the days of Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle. At least back then we had a standard for intelligence in our politicians below which a politician could not go without suffering widespread ridicule. Now, Trump can do everything but drool, and still be considered presidential.
This is what happens when the electorate spends all its time watching TV and not reading books.
19
We seem to have forgotten that there are two types of soldiers in American history: (1) citizen soldiers, who are drafted or volunteer during a time of war and (2) professional soldiers, who join the military because that is a career they wish to pursue, or, because it is (often) the only option they have for a job. We also have a large "reserve" of professional soldiers who can be mobilized in case of need and sent to places like Afghanistan or Iraq. We have not had any "citizen" soldiers since Nixon ended the draft. The citizen soldiers were skeptical about the military and brought a civilian point of view into its ranks. The career guys hated them. Too bad. They were a healthy sort of soldier class. The professionals are not mercenaries, but they are not all heroes and heroines, as depicted. They are folks who like to fight wars. They are the "standing army" our Founding Fathers warned against. Let's remember that, and also we need to pay them well and give them the health care services they are entitled too. Politically, they do not deserve any greater weight than the rest of us.
12
Since 9/11/01 a mere 0.75% of Americans have volunteered to put on the military uniform of any American armed force. As in their cowardly mutually dishonorable unpatriotic draft dodging and military service evading past none of them come from either the Clinton or Trump family and friends clan. They have been ground to emotional, mental and physical dust fighting in foreign ethnic sectarian civil wars that have no military solution.
Hillary Clinton is a barking little dainty poodle nation building global interventionist beholden to Cairo, Riyadh, Tel Aviv and the military-industrial complex. Donald Trump is a barking Chihuahua nationalist isolationist beholden to Wall Street, London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Tel Aviv and the military-industrial complex.
No one hates war more than warriors. During this "debate forum" there clearly was no commander-in -chief material on board the mothballed aircraft named Intrepid. Incompetent, Immature, Ignorant or Intemperate would have been more apt names.
Dwight Eisenhower's warning about the dangers to American liberty poised by the rise of the military-industrial complex is embodied from two different but troubling perspetives by these two very flawed candidates. War and peace are much too important nation state matters than to be left to the machinations of the uniformed military.
Hillary Clinton is a barking little dainty poodle nation building global interventionist beholden to Cairo, Riyadh, Tel Aviv and the military-industrial complex. Donald Trump is a barking Chihuahua nationalist isolationist beholden to Wall Street, London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Tel Aviv and the military-industrial complex.
No one hates war more than warriors. During this "debate forum" there clearly was no commander-in -chief material on board the mothballed aircraft named Intrepid. Incompetent, Immature, Ignorant or Intemperate would have been more apt names.
Dwight Eisenhower's warning about the dangers to American liberty poised by the rise of the military-industrial complex is embodied from two different but troubling perspetives by these two very flawed candidates. War and peace are much too important nation state matters than to be left to the machinations of the uniformed military.
7
While veterans deserve our respect and gratitude, please refrain from insinuating that serving in the military is a necessary experience for the Presidency.
8
Indeed, two of our greatest wartime presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, did not serve in the military. Of course, both were wise, intelligent leaders who recognized good advice when they got it. The same could not be said of Donald Trump.
1
"He babbled on, trying to save himself, but it was really way too late."
Too late for what? It should have been too late for this 5th grade bully posing as a presidential candidate when he first announced his intentions 15 months ago. Watching the 1st half of the forum last night I felt my adrenaline rising in anticipation of Lauer being as tough on Trump as he was being on Clinton. Of course, that turned out to be a pipe dream. Why this unqualified, deranged man is getting a free ride from the press is something that baffles me to no end. As big of a problem Trump is with his lies, obfuscation and his nonsensical non-sentences, my frustration has become less and less with Trump as it is with the press for allowing him to get away with it. The general public doesn't have the opportunity and access that the press has to the candidates. It is up to them to be the eyes, ears and voice for us, and to ask the questions and get answers, real answers, and when they are not forthcoming to ask again or question the logic and validity of responses. Clinton's feet were held to the fire last night but the closest Trump got to any heat was probably in his tanning bed earlier in the day.
Too late for what? It should have been too late for this 5th grade bully posing as a presidential candidate when he first announced his intentions 15 months ago. Watching the 1st half of the forum last night I felt my adrenaline rising in anticipation of Lauer being as tough on Trump as he was being on Clinton. Of course, that turned out to be a pipe dream. Why this unqualified, deranged man is getting a free ride from the press is something that baffles me to no end. As big of a problem Trump is with his lies, obfuscation and his nonsensical non-sentences, my frustration has become less and less with Trump as it is with the press for allowing him to get away with it. The general public doesn't have the opportunity and access that the press has to the candidates. It is up to them to be the eyes, ears and voice for us, and to ask the questions and get answers, real answers, and when they are not forthcoming to ask again or question the logic and validity of responses. Clinton's feet were held to the fire last night but the closest Trump got to any heat was probably in his tanning bed earlier in the day.
32
Yes it is time to raise the bar on Trump. Just because he can now stumble through reading from a teleprompter something somebody else wrote for him does not mean he is more presidential or ready for office. I have recorded the 'forum' but havent decided if I want to watch it. I cannot stomach even seeing him at all. I assume he was asked softball questions and not questioned further when he disagreed with something he said last year, last week or 30 minutes ago. The fact that Matt asked Hillary questions about emails and this was supposed to be a forum on the military is disgusting, he should be ashamed of himself.
18
Saying we have got to raise the bar on treatment of Trump while lowering the bar, is disengenous at best. What was the point of this editorial? False equivalency? Trump's performance was scary-firing generals, lovin on Putin, doing who knows what for the veterans. Trump's trip to Mexico was a disasterous, novice play, using and embarrassing an ally yet it is treated by Collins as a normal occurrance. When the press is too inept to do their work, what can we do? It makes the future seem frightening.
10
The most revealing moment was Clinton's answer to a veteran, an R, who had held a top-secret naval flight clearance & who said he would have been "prosecuted & imprisoned" had he done what Clinton had done. He told Clinton she had "clearly corrupted our national security."
Clinton's answer, that the emails contained no headers, is her latest lie to justify putting classified material in the public domain/compromising our national security. Recall what we learned about headers from her previously released email: SoS Clinton had instructed her aide, Jake Sullivan, to send classified material to her by removing "identifying heading & send nonsecure.”
This woman is a clear & present danger. If her name were Hillary Schmo, she wouldn't pass an FBI background check for an entry-level post. As the questioner implied, she would be contemplating four walls of a jail cell, not a possible stint in the WH. The FBI 302 confirms the accuracy of my July analysis, (posted earlier), that the fix was in, i.e., HC was a Martha-Stewart sitting duck but escaped perjury or self-incrimination & indictment by pleading the functional 5th ("I don't recall") & by the FBI failing to follow up with incriminating questions that would elicit intent, which Comey said he needed to prosecute.
"I never received or sent emails marked classified"
She claims with nary crossed fingers
Knowing content–not markings–controls classification
The stench of corruption lingers.
(Jake Sullivan deleted heading zingers)…
Clinton's answer, that the emails contained no headers, is her latest lie to justify putting classified material in the public domain/compromising our national security. Recall what we learned about headers from her previously released email: SoS Clinton had instructed her aide, Jake Sullivan, to send classified material to her by removing "identifying heading & send nonsecure.”
This woman is a clear & present danger. If her name were Hillary Schmo, she wouldn't pass an FBI background check for an entry-level post. As the questioner implied, she would be contemplating four walls of a jail cell, not a possible stint in the WH. The FBI 302 confirms the accuracy of my July analysis, (posted earlier), that the fix was in, i.e., HC was a Martha-Stewart sitting duck but escaped perjury or self-incrimination & indictment by pleading the functional 5th ("I don't recall") & by the FBI failing to follow up with incriminating questions that would elicit intent, which Comey said he needed to prosecute.
"I never received or sent emails marked classified"
She claims with nary crossed fingers
Knowing content–not markings–controls classification
The stench of corruption lingers.
(Jake Sullivan deleted heading zingers)…
3
Remember what the alternative to Mrs. Clinton is.
10
Stop letting Limbaugh and Ailes and Murdock do your thinking for you.
If she is a crook she is the best crook in the history of human kind for her ability to avoid indictment. Either way she is definitely qualified to be a world leader.
T rump is not qualified for anything.
If she is a crook she is the best crook in the history of human kind for her ability to avoid indictment. Either way she is definitely qualified to be a world leader.
T rump is not qualified for anything.
Can you prove that, or is this just another blurring of the truth? Condemn with innuendo seems to be the way those who attack Hillary operate, and no one questions it because it's become "fact".
2
'Trump explained why he was keeping his plan for defeating ISIS secret. (“I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”)'
'I have a secret plan to end the war.'
Stop me if you've heard this one. I know I have.
Not only did Nixon *not* have a secret plan, during the campaign he secretly met with South Vietnamese leaders to persuade them to pull out of peace talks - arguably treason, as he had no authority to do so- successfully sabotaging Humphrey's late surge in the polls and leading to Humphrey's narrow defeat. As president, not only did Nixon not end the war, he expanded it into Laos and Cambodia. His strategy included the 'madman' hypothesis, i.e., the hope that North Vietnamese leaders would see him as unpredictable, unstable, and likely to 'drop the big one' if they didn't surrender. Ultimately, after Nixon resigned in disgrace due to Watergate, Ford presided over exactly the ignoble exit his predecessor claimed to want to avoid, sneaking out in the middle of the night, leaving behind, to the mercy of the Viet Cong, any South Vietnamese fool enough to trust us and collaborate with us; and destabilized Cambodia fell to Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, who conducted a genocide notorious for its horror, even for the bloody 20th Century.
Good work, Dick.
Trump is rebooting the Nixon playbook. We can expect similar results.
'I have a secret plan to end the war.'
Stop me if you've heard this one. I know I have.
Not only did Nixon *not* have a secret plan, during the campaign he secretly met with South Vietnamese leaders to persuade them to pull out of peace talks - arguably treason, as he had no authority to do so- successfully sabotaging Humphrey's late surge in the polls and leading to Humphrey's narrow defeat. As president, not only did Nixon not end the war, he expanded it into Laos and Cambodia. His strategy included the 'madman' hypothesis, i.e., the hope that North Vietnamese leaders would see him as unpredictable, unstable, and likely to 'drop the big one' if they didn't surrender. Ultimately, after Nixon resigned in disgrace due to Watergate, Ford presided over exactly the ignoble exit his predecessor claimed to want to avoid, sneaking out in the middle of the night, leaving behind, to the mercy of the Viet Cong, any South Vietnamese fool enough to trust us and collaborate with us; and destabilized Cambodia fell to Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, who conducted a genocide notorious for its horror, even for the bloody 20th Century.
Good work, Dick.
Trump is rebooting the Nixon playbook. We can expect similar results.
30
Crooked lying Trump's intervention last night was pathetic, as was Matt Lauer's, by allowing misogyny to roam free, and by maintaining Trump's incoherence alive, as if our time to listen to this pathological lier wasn't a total waste. The 'Veterans' frustration was palpable, given Trump's fanning of fear and hate, belittling the military to smithereens. The high hopes of this conference were confined to a fighting Hillary to show confidence and substance...given that arrogant Trump was a lost cause from start to finish, with Lauer's cowed complicity. If this vulgar bully had an ounce of decency, he would go home and sulk in his incompetence and irrelevancy.
7
Trump has by definition (he is an outsider to politics) may have no experience, but Hillary's so-called "wonk mode" is very interesting. Besides being another name for boring, most of her claims are as deceitful as her answers about her emails.
She claimed responsibility for children's health insurance (no that was Ted Kennedy and Bill opposed it) and touted her own health insurance scheme (which was so bad a Democrat congress scuttled it) and she was responsible for the Libyan intervention disaster where she ignored all advice about the aftermath. Now she claims bragging rights on Libya, a low point in Obama's diplomacy where Russia has trumped us (excuse the phrase).
It is really difficult to accept the common wisdom that Hillary is qualified to be president - most senators and Secretaries of State were not. Certainly a true statesmen would not have so many people believe she is dishonest.
She claimed responsibility for children's health insurance (no that was Ted Kennedy and Bill opposed it) and touted her own health insurance scheme (which was so bad a Democrat congress scuttled it) and she was responsible for the Libyan intervention disaster where she ignored all advice about the aftermath. Now she claims bragging rights on Libya, a low point in Obama's diplomacy where Russia has trumped us (excuse the phrase).
It is really difficult to accept the common wisdom that Hillary is qualified to be president - most senators and Secretaries of State were not. Certainly a true statesmen would not have so many people believe she is dishonest.
In response to the above a LOT OF PEOPLE once thought the world was flat .
She worked incessantly to pass children's health care and my family was one of the beneficiaries of her tireless efforts.
Not to mention, are you implying that this treasonous conman Trump is a better alternative to her, no matter how flawed you may find her?
Not to mention, are you implying that this treasonous conman Trump is a better alternative to her, no matter how flawed you may find her?
2
If anyone cares about the issues, much substance is available from Readers' and NYT Picks, particularly from people who have actually, you know, checked the facts and know something about the issues, unlike Mr. Dumpster Fire Trump with his hate rhetoric and false claims.
All of his claims run contrary to facts, but Matt Lauer couldn't be bothered, he was too busy attacking Clinton to notice that she'd done her homework and has a good record.
So we increase the military (whether they want it or not) and old-fashioned weapons, and that'll fix ISIS? Nope. They love him, because their style of recruitment thrives on hatred, and he loves hatred.
Some people actually think, but Trump just figures out what his fans want to hear and uses a megaphone.
And taxes? He's going to cut them, while building up the military? Just like Bush, telling us to go out and shop. Debts? What are those, he's experienced at welshing, from bankruptcies to lawsuits to lies to stiffing working stiffs and contractors. Money's better used for bribes.
Those emails, the press is guilty of promoting negative gossip and avoiding substance. No mention of how Chaffetz and his buddies voted to defund embassy security. This set of Republicans are good at creating problems and blaming their opponents for them.
The Clinton Foundation is an asset, not a liability. Doing good by doing well; the Clintons leveraged their power and wealth to help millions. This should not be ignored; it's on the record.
All of his claims run contrary to facts, but Matt Lauer couldn't be bothered, he was too busy attacking Clinton to notice that she'd done her homework and has a good record.
So we increase the military (whether they want it or not) and old-fashioned weapons, and that'll fix ISIS? Nope. They love him, because their style of recruitment thrives on hatred, and he loves hatred.
Some people actually think, but Trump just figures out what his fans want to hear and uses a megaphone.
And taxes? He's going to cut them, while building up the military? Just like Bush, telling us to go out and shop. Debts? What are those, he's experienced at welshing, from bankruptcies to lawsuits to lies to stiffing working stiffs and contractors. Money's better used for bribes.
Those emails, the press is guilty of promoting negative gossip and avoiding substance. No mention of how Chaffetz and his buddies voted to defund embassy security. This set of Republicans are good at creating problems and blaming their opponents for them.
The Clinton Foundation is an asset, not a liability. Doing good by doing well; the Clintons leveraged their power and wealth to help millions. This should not be ignored; it's on the record.
19
I've just spent five weeks in a VA hospital with them saving my life. I've also had excellent care in on non- Va hospital with a huge bill and another that the VA paid for during the Hurricane Sandy debacle. On the other hand I checked into a large private NYCity hospital Roosevelt/St Lukes and walked seventeen hours later with a $12,000 plus bill for services $1,200 of which I paid as a deductable for no answers. I checked out because the tests were endless and I could see the money just being thown away. Private is sometimes great but only if you have the money and the VA is a great system severely understaffed and under funded. My five weeks at Saint Albans in Queens and the intitial service in the ER at Manhattan 23rd street, was a real lesson in how fine the system is and how heroic the staff is in the face of a recalcitrant Congress that cares only about money and although filled with doctors who love potential babies in petri dishes, have little to say for you once you are born, sick or wounded. Those doctors in Congress should have to serve a couple of years, as volunteers, in the VA as community service for their dereliction of duty in the Congress. REH
387
Trump's success to date is proof that many Americans vote unwisely. Even a person learning about Clinton and Trump for the first time would see how much more thoughtful and articulate she is than him. Even if they were in lockstep on the issues, those two characteristics alone would demonstrate Clinton's superiority as a candidate.
I am disappointed by the lack of judgment shown by my fellow Americans who choose to support Trump. Anybody who follows the news at more than a cursory level should be able to discern what a terrible candidate he is. What we are facing is a dilemma where bad Americans make bad choices that jeopardize the whole country.
I am disappointed by the lack of judgment shown by my fellow Americans who choose to support Trump. Anybody who follows the news at more than a cursory level should be able to discern what a terrible candidate he is. What we are facing is a dilemma where bad Americans make bad choices that jeopardize the whole country.
25
I wouldn't call Trump supporters "bad Americans," but I would call them gullible, myopic, disgruntled, and desperate. As to their "bad choice," no argument from me.
In view of how easily voters seem to "swing" from one side to the other, I'm scared to think about moody, impulsive voters in Florida and/or Pennsylvania making a ghastly difference in November.
In view of how easily voters seem to "swing" from one side to the other, I'm scared to think about moody, impulsive voters in Florida and/or Pennsylvania making a ghastly difference in November.
3
Yesterday the head of the F.B.I said with regards to Clinton's e-mails said "At the end of the day, the case was not a cliff hanger, despite all the chest-beating by people no longer in government, there really wasn't a prosecutable case". Yet Clintons emails are all the news media wants to talk about with regards to Clinton. She wasn't even close to being charged, she has admitted her mistake in using a private server, and with anyone else this would be over and done with. Yet again, the Republicans are "swift boating" a Democratic candidate with the generous help of the news media
It has already been shown by an independent fact checking organization that Clinton has been the most honest candidate running for the Presidency this year, and that includes Bernie Sanders, yet the news media persists in painting her as untruthful and dishonest. If they were to print the truths told by Trump, there would be a blank page.
This time next year a newly elected President will be well into his or her first term of office. We will reap a very bitter harvest from the news media if that person is Trump. I have pit in my stomach right now that will not go away. I am frightened by the prospect that Trump might actually win the election on nothing more than the whim of those who control the news, because there surely isn't any substance to the man, only hot air and unschooled spouting that pass for toughness.
It has already been shown by an independent fact checking organization that Clinton has been the most honest candidate running for the Presidency this year, and that includes Bernie Sanders, yet the news media persists in painting her as untruthful and dishonest. If they were to print the truths told by Trump, there would be a blank page.
This time next year a newly elected President will be well into his or her first term of office. We will reap a very bitter harvest from the news media if that person is Trump. I have pit in my stomach right now that will not go away. I am frightened by the prospect that Trump might actually win the election on nothing more than the whim of those who control the news, because there surely isn't any substance to the man, only hot air and unschooled spouting that pass for toughness.
44
Where have our American values disappeared? 30 percent of American citizens support this loose cannon.
Talk of uneven bars - a low one for Trump and a high one for Clinton.
A candidate for President of these United States talks of taking oil from a country torn with strife! ...and he goes unchallenged by the moderator.
A candidate for the President of these United States lauds Putin, who is a dictator and has annexed Crimea and occupied Ukraine. He claims that Putin has 82 percent approval ratings. Maybe he should run as a candidate in Russia.
A candidate for President of these United States disparages our Generals in front of the men (and veterans) they command. He has no values we hold dear. Neither does he have any knowledge of basic management principles.
This man, married three times, tweeted that sexual harassment is a natural outcome of men and women who are put together in working situation.
And he cast a negative light on the professionals who provide him his top secret briefings.
What is appalling at this juncture is he has a base support of 30 percent.
It should not require a college degree to discern right from wrong. Maybe it is time to take a hard look at what we teach our children - true American values.
Talk of uneven bars - a low one for Trump and a high one for Clinton.
A candidate for President of these United States talks of taking oil from a country torn with strife! ...and he goes unchallenged by the moderator.
A candidate for the President of these United States lauds Putin, who is a dictator and has annexed Crimea and occupied Ukraine. He claims that Putin has 82 percent approval ratings. Maybe he should run as a candidate in Russia.
A candidate for President of these United States disparages our Generals in front of the men (and veterans) they command. He has no values we hold dear. Neither does he have any knowledge of basic management principles.
This man, married three times, tweeted that sexual harassment is a natural outcome of men and women who are put together in working situation.
And he cast a negative light on the professionals who provide him his top secret briefings.
What is appalling at this juncture is he has a base support of 30 percent.
It should not require a college degree to discern right from wrong. Maybe it is time to take a hard look at what we teach our children - true American values.
40
There is suddenly a whiff of fear in the air. The Clinton defensive masque was firmly affixed after no high fives were suddenly pitched her way at the onset. Particularly after the initial high and in fastball was zeroing in from friendly fire in what was expected to be a mere on-board fireside chat.
With acronyms flying at each questioner, the formerly unchallenged Queen’s demeanor remained defiant. Sitting awkwardly, should she stand and become more strident or just stiff and wooden, much like her ideology, at the edge of the seat. This was grand and unexpected theater and suddenly the shorter sentences and syntax of the rival Trump look like the high-rise next to a now Clinton reclamation project. Just imagine when questions expose CGI activities.
Quick resuscitation for Bernie please as Hillary now has the shakes much like hubby Bill.
With acronyms flying at each questioner, the formerly unchallenged Queen’s demeanor remained defiant. Sitting awkwardly, should she stand and become more strident or just stiff and wooden, much like her ideology, at the edge of the seat. This was grand and unexpected theater and suddenly the shorter sentences and syntax of the rival Trump look like the high-rise next to a now Clinton reclamation project. Just imagine when questions expose CGI activities.
Quick resuscitation for Bernie please as Hillary now has the shakes much like hubby Bill.
1
Ah the mystery Trump fans masquerading as Bernie fans.
If you care about real people, listen to him and the millions who voted for Clinton. You may not think you're supporting Trump, but that's what you're doing. Try listening to Bernie and Elizabeth Warren and many other progressive heroes who are paying attention. (Those rumors about cheating, there are places in social media that censor narratives they don't like (try Snopes, about that fake Huffpost, etc. The DNC is made up of people, and I doubt your personal emails are free of opinions that you'd prefer not to be published; think about it. It's not hard using a search engine to find things like Hillary's Wellesley speech. Hate speech is easy, but real life is important.)
We live in a world awash in influence and money; are you really willing to cede all influence to the Koch billionaire network, the Roves and all? The Clintons used their money and influence to help millions of people, and that's a sin? I call it an asset.
Yes, we need to get rid of it, but do remember that Citizens United was about an attack movie on Clinton. She wants rid of it.
The "shakes"? Okay, I've been writing as if you were legit, but now I see, that's the latest Republican attack. Enough already.
If you care about real people, listen to him and the millions who voted for Clinton. You may not think you're supporting Trump, but that's what you're doing. Try listening to Bernie and Elizabeth Warren and many other progressive heroes who are paying attention. (Those rumors about cheating, there are places in social media that censor narratives they don't like (try Snopes, about that fake Huffpost, etc. The DNC is made up of people, and I doubt your personal emails are free of opinions that you'd prefer not to be published; think about it. It's not hard using a search engine to find things like Hillary's Wellesley speech. Hate speech is easy, but real life is important.)
We live in a world awash in influence and money; are you really willing to cede all influence to the Koch billionaire network, the Roves and all? The Clintons used their money and influence to help millions of people, and that's a sin? I call it an asset.
Yes, we need to get rid of it, but do remember that Citizens United was about an attack movie on Clinton. She wants rid of it.
The "shakes"? Okay, I've been writing as if you were legit, but now I see, that's the latest Republican attack. Enough already.
8
Get off whatever dope you on. The Bernie boat has sailed, you missed it.
2
Paul Simon: "Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." Your assessment of last night's performances--a case in point.
5
To clarify all this discussion about military service among the ruling class: with the greening of America, the division of our society into the 99 and the 1 over the past 40 years, it became quite clear to all that the wars of aggression in which we became entrenched which served as political capital for war mongering political ideologues and a wealth source for their war- profiteering plutocratic owners were never meant to be executed by the 1 and their coddled offspring. Their lives and career aspirations were much too valuable to the nation. The task of fighting and dying in these wars fell squarely where it was intended: on the backs of the 99 whose lives were valueless and who were so easily interchangeable . And there were so many of them.
6
Putin has "an 82% approval rating, and Trump uses that as an excuse for his admiration. I wonder what the rating would be for people who could express their opinions freely in the new Soviet-style state of Russia? Trump has to keep his plans secret, because he doesn't have any, and voters are supposed to "trust" him to do the right thing. Like he has any experience doing the right thing. He's a pathological liar, cheater, adulterer, racist, narcissistic, low information misanthrope. Not fit to be a dog catcher.
37
Regarding Trump, as my father used to say: "This is s**t, this is shinolla. It would be good if you knew the difference."
3
Where are the questions about Trump University, or Trump’s using illegal Polish workers to work under illegal conditions and refusing to pay them, his stiffing contractors or using lawsuits of threats of them to renegotiate fully performed contracts. Trump has put people out of work, exported American jobs, and has defrauded so many that he needs and army of lawyers to defend the suits against him. He is a reckless and predatory liar and he makes grandiose and bazar promises which he can never deliver.
Trump has a personality defect that renders him unfit for any office. This man is running for king and he thinks he is a god.
Trump has a personality defect that renders him unfit for any office. This man is running for king and he thinks he is a god.
71
Trump: "Under Clinton and Obama the generals have been reduced to rubble, they have been reduced to the point where they're an embarrassment to our country" and he goes on to point out that "we have a force of maybe 30,000 or so, nobody really knows how many, really."
According to data from the Department of Defense: 1,354,054 active military (leaving out the National Guard and Reserves).
He just sort of opens his mouth and vomits and the TV talking heads go straight to Obama's opinion of this idiocy and nobody offers any context or actual facts. Stephen Colbert might call it Truthiness. No wonder we are in danger of electing a reality show host to the White House, one who lauds Putin for his approval ratings (like sales?), insults large swaths of the citizenry and offers a biography largely full of self-aggrandizement, carnival barker moxie, and shallowness of knowledge, insight, and empathy.
We want a Lincoln and forget that Lincoln barely won re-election and had to sneak into Washington because so many hated him (and one killed him) or Kennedy as if he were a saint and that fatal day in November never happened. This is not a movie where the heroes are pure, their bullets true, and the villains created to stand in as foils. But if we're not careful, we'll end up with an Idiocracy.
I wish Clinton didn't have baggage. I wish we had a polished Lincolnesque effigy who had never made a wrong decision. But barring a miraculous second coming...
According to data from the Department of Defense: 1,354,054 active military (leaving out the National Guard and Reserves).
He just sort of opens his mouth and vomits and the TV talking heads go straight to Obama's opinion of this idiocy and nobody offers any context or actual facts. Stephen Colbert might call it Truthiness. No wonder we are in danger of electing a reality show host to the White House, one who lauds Putin for his approval ratings (like sales?), insults large swaths of the citizenry and offers a biography largely full of self-aggrandizement, carnival barker moxie, and shallowness of knowledge, insight, and empathy.
We want a Lincoln and forget that Lincoln barely won re-election and had to sneak into Washington because so many hated him (and one killed him) or Kennedy as if he were a saint and that fatal day in November never happened. This is not a movie where the heroes are pure, their bullets true, and the villains created to stand in as foils. But if we're not careful, we'll end up with an Idiocracy.
I wish Clinton didn't have baggage. I wish we had a polished Lincolnesque effigy who had never made a wrong decision. But barring a miraculous second coming...
66
Clinton's "baggage" is made up repugniklan conspiracy theories.
2
I am a Democrat and a staunch supporter of Secretary Clinton. I find Trump to be repugnant and totally unqualified in every way.
But I must point out that you misunderstood Trump about the 30,000. He was referring to ISIS, not the US military.
But I must point out that you misunderstood Trump about the 30,000. He was referring to ISIS, not the US military.
2
The public is not going to learn much of anything that is reliably insightful about Clinton and Trump unless and until they are interviewed by journalists who are considerably more competent, experienced, knowledgeable and morally daring than Matt Lauer.
The list of moderators for the three upcoming debates offers little reason to believe that will happen before the November election.
The list of moderators for the three upcoming debates offers little reason to believe that will happen before the November election.
34
Lauer is not a journalist. He is, at best, an entertainment host.
I am not a veteran. Our treatment of veterans is despicable regarding health care. People on the right, always waving the flag and declaring their undying patriotism, think that issuing a health care card will solve the problem? Yet another slap in the face for the honorable veteran men and women who unselfishly served our country.
I am not a veteran. Our treatment of veterans is despicable regarding health care. People on the right, always waving the flag and declaring their undying patriotism, think that issuing a health care card will solve the problem? Yet another slap in the face for the honorable veteran men and women who unselfishly served our country.
51
You have to wonder how the military folks who signed the trump letter feel about it now, having been reduced to rubble and all.
1
That veterans would sit and listen to a man who so disdainfully avoided military service and who has done nothing of significance in his life in the public service realm is disturbing on every level.
147
That's THEIR problem. Putting a uniform on a fool doesn't make him less of a fool.
That T rump leads 55-35 among veterans tells me we need to do a better job of educating our military.
Any military person of any gender or rank who supports this impostor is not fit to serve in "my" armed forces.
Any military person of any gender or rank who supports this impostor is not fit to serve in "my" armed forces.
1
The Democrat panic is setting in. It is quite enjoyable to watch. No one has adequately addressed Hillary's honesty problem. Or is it a memory problem. The weekly FBI dump of emails that were withheld, as she attempted to obstruct justice is quite damaging. She isn't trustworthy. I don't know anyone that is with Her. The Democratic Party nominee is in trouble! It's down to a 2 point race, and that gap is closing fast. What now?
4
Indeed, it is difficult to address her honesty problem when the problem exists mostly in the minds who hate her or have been influenced by the constant drumbeat of how dishonest she is. We have a choice between a candidate whose fraudulence has amply documented, was fined for unethical behavior, stuck investors with worthless shares, stiffed naive students by offering the Art of the Deal (the Trump version) in a shadow Trump University, and on and on; and one whose dishonesty is the product of a relentless campaign to discredit her. That Trump is even within a mile of the White House should be cause for seriously examining what is wrong with this country.
47
Nice try. But with your leader Trump, the grifter, you lie.
3
Not in the states, where Clinton holds a major lead in electoral votes. Read before you comment.
3
Today, the Times placed a "news analysis" item on its front page of last night's debate precursor.
The tenor of this "news analysis" appeared to re-assure the liberal faithful that DT is a loud-mouthed bum, Hill is oppressed as a female candidate, and the real villain is poor Matt Lauer, who was the real debate loser because he failed to eviscerate orange-head.
Whether DT wins or not, it is really something to see him drive the Times to such partisan heights as daily violating its own professed journalistic standards by mixing fact and opinion reporting with such dubious entitled first-page pieces such as the above "news analysis."
It almost makes one long for the good ole days when the Times displayed a graph, during Hamas's last missile war on Israel, of how many Jews vs. Arabs died on a particular day. As if evil can be rated on how many innocents must die to justify self-defense. But I notice there is no graph comparing total Muslim deaths to the number of fascists killed by Obama's drone strikes.
When you got the Times' endorsement, they sure have your back, without pretense of non-partisanship.
The tenor of this "news analysis" appeared to re-assure the liberal faithful that DT is a loud-mouthed bum, Hill is oppressed as a female candidate, and the real villain is poor Matt Lauer, who was the real debate loser because he failed to eviscerate orange-head.
Whether DT wins or not, it is really something to see him drive the Times to such partisan heights as daily violating its own professed journalistic standards by mixing fact and opinion reporting with such dubious entitled first-page pieces such as the above "news analysis."
It almost makes one long for the good ole days when the Times displayed a graph, during Hamas's last missile war on Israel, of how many Jews vs. Arabs died on a particular day. As if evil can be rated on how many innocents must die to justify self-defense. But I notice there is no graph comparing total Muslim deaths to the number of fascists killed by Obama's drone strikes.
When you got the Times' endorsement, they sure have your back, without pretense of non-partisanship.
8
" its own professed journalistic standards by mixing fact and opinion reporting with such dubious entitled first-page pieces such as the above "news analysis."
This is common practice: news plus an opinion. That you find it so offensive means only you don't read very much.
This is common practice: news plus an opinion. That you find it so offensive means only you don't read very much.
1
Trump's brain is very accomplished as perceiving slights, insults, and unwanted reminders on his reversals of position (or at least what he perceives as slights, insults and attacks on his shifts). As for facts, truth, reason...these are lost in the murk and shadows. Donald's hair may glow in the dark, but the light doesn't flow to the roots.
Thank you, Gail, for this sentence: "Most candidates for high office are grateful to veterans for their service, and a little uneasy if they didn't serve themselves." Currently 80% of Congress, 100% of SCOTUS and close to that of the Executive branch fall into that category. The 20% of congresspersons who are vets is still a slight drop from their numbers in 1971, the year I was discharged. That is, it's a slight drop if going from 73% to 20% is a barely measurable decrease. I would imagine there is a lot of squirming and shifting in the chairs going on when military and veterans issues are the subject of discussion. I find it disconcerting that my congressman, Mac Thornberry, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, failed to find the time or take the opportunity to serve. Just sayin...
But I digress. Back to Trump and his life-threatening heel spurs. Well, at least he had an excuse, even if it was the equivalent of note from a doting Mom, written to get her precious son back into class without punishment for a day spent playing hooky. Or was it for a trip to doctor for a shot of penicillin?
Thank you, Gail, for this sentence: "Most candidates for high office are grateful to veterans for their service, and a little uneasy if they didn't serve themselves." Currently 80% of Congress, 100% of SCOTUS and close to that of the Executive branch fall into that category. The 20% of congresspersons who are vets is still a slight drop from their numbers in 1971, the year I was discharged. That is, it's a slight drop if going from 73% to 20% is a barely measurable decrease. I would imagine there is a lot of squirming and shifting in the chairs going on when military and veterans issues are the subject of discussion. I find it disconcerting that my congressman, Mac Thornberry, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, failed to find the time or take the opportunity to serve. Just sayin...
But I digress. Back to Trump and his life-threatening heel spurs. Well, at least he had an excuse, even if it was the equivalent of note from a doting Mom, written to get her precious son back into class without punishment for a day spent playing hooky. Or was it for a trip to doctor for a shot of penicillin?
227
I'm just sayin' too, and with respect, that citing the 73% of 1973 congressmen who served in the military without also mentioning that we had a military draft until January of 1973 is an example of cherry picking facts to make a misleading point.
I'm just sayin' too that your analysis is cherry-picking as well. There was a military draft in until 1973, but a little less than 10% were conscripted. If 73% of congressmen were veterans in 1973, the voters obviously valued military service.
Luke, I am 100% in favor of universal service (military Americorps, or other public program), even to the point of making it a requirement for the privilege of voting. I'm not picking any cherries.
6
Metaphorically, Donald Trump's behavior, decision making capacity and how he has conducted his various ventures brings to mind Captain Francesco Schettino. Schettino was at the helm of the Concordia when he ran the ship into rocks off Tuscany (Jan '12). Schettino was traveling too fast; was too close to shore, failed to consult maps & used the wrong land mark to turn the ship. He failed to notify the Italian Coast Guard- they learned from a passenger's Mother 1/2 hour after the collision. In the mean time, the good Captain had abandoned his sinking ship with 300 passengers & crew, and, refused to return when instructed. The August 2nd Newsweek has a great piece on Trump's actual career. Net, Mr. Trump has exacted his fees while abandoning investors, employees and businesses with whom he has contracted. The media needs to stop with the false equivalencies and overtly, misogynist double standard.
70
From the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to a Commander-In-Chief forum. What exactly did anyone expect from a hard hitting Today show host. Hillary Clinton must beat the other team and the refs. Fortunately, that won't be difficult to do.....Lauer is irrelevant.
22
Staggering that Trump is not crucified by the media every time he opens his mouth. Matt Lauer- journalist? Really? Mr. Powderpuff questions to Trump then hung upon the emails. What a lightweight.
50
Congratulations, Matt 'Trey Gowdy' Lauer !
You've won the starring role in Fake Journalism's 2016 remake of that 2015 'Fair and Balanced' Classic, the Benghazi Salem Witch Trial about the persecution of Hillary Clinton for the high crimes of being female and for running for a 'man's job'.
If Matt Lauer - or any other journalist - knew how to do a 'man's job', they would've asked Donald Trump a few questions about his own past such as:
1. Don't you think that the 200 undocumented laborers (illegal immigrants) from Poland that demolished the site for Trump Tower and later sued you in federal court - a case that was settled and 'sealed' in secrecy - for unpaid wages is relevant to your character ?
2. Don't you think your $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, your $35,000 donations to Governor Greg Abbott's (and former Texas AG), and your $12,500 donation to New York’s AG Eric Schneiderman - all of whom were considering whether or not to pursue a suit against the now defunct Trump University for widespread consumer fraud - is relevant to your character, especially since you said earlier this year, quote unquote:
“I’ve given to everybody. Because that was my job. I gotta give to them. Because when I want something, I get it. When I call, they kiss my ass.”
Mr. Trump, what exactly did you 'want' when you sent money to several state Attorneys General looking into your apparently fraudulent business ?
Welcome to American journalism: The Land of Eunuchs !
You've won the starring role in Fake Journalism's 2016 remake of that 2015 'Fair and Balanced' Classic, the Benghazi Salem Witch Trial about the persecution of Hillary Clinton for the high crimes of being female and for running for a 'man's job'.
If Matt Lauer - or any other journalist - knew how to do a 'man's job', they would've asked Donald Trump a few questions about his own past such as:
1. Don't you think that the 200 undocumented laborers (illegal immigrants) from Poland that demolished the site for Trump Tower and later sued you in federal court - a case that was settled and 'sealed' in secrecy - for unpaid wages is relevant to your character ?
2. Don't you think your $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, your $35,000 donations to Governor Greg Abbott's (and former Texas AG), and your $12,500 donation to New York’s AG Eric Schneiderman - all of whom were considering whether or not to pursue a suit against the now defunct Trump University for widespread consumer fraud - is relevant to your character, especially since you said earlier this year, quote unquote:
“I’ve given to everybody. Because that was my job. I gotta give to them. Because when I want something, I get it. When I call, they kiss my ass.”
Mr. Trump, what exactly did you 'want' when you sent money to several state Attorneys General looking into your apparently fraudulent business ?
Welcome to American journalism: The Land of Eunuchs !
834
Or how about this follow-up question, after the "put men and women together" answer Trump gave to the vet who asked about sexual assault?:
So is rape something automatic or inevitable when you "put them together", or is it a horrible crime of violence that should be prosecuted criminally?
Of course, a eunuch-journalist probably wouldn't have thought of that! Seriously, why would any woman vote for Trump, after that comment?!
So is rape something automatic or inevitable when you "put them together", or is it a horrible crime of violence that should be prosecuted criminally?
Of course, a eunuch-journalist probably wouldn't have thought of that! Seriously, why would any woman vote for Trump, after that comment?!
1
"and Mr. Trump, why do you continue to insist that you were against he Iraq war from the beginning? When we have heard the Howard Stern radio interview where you supported the invasion?"
3
Trump sounded reasonable, calm and presidential in his question/answer session. His solution to the problems in Obama's incompetent Veterans Administration seems reasonable and prudent: Allow the private health system to back up the VA when it is obviously failing sick, injured and aging vets.
Who the hell can disagree with that? Unfortunately it is a REAL solution that Hillary cant embrace because of liberal ideology. Would she rather they just die in the waiting rooms when they cant get essential appointments, as has been the practice in the Obama administration?
Who the hell can disagree with that? Unfortunately it is a REAL solution that Hillary cant embrace because of liberal ideology. Would she rather they just die in the waiting rooms when they cant get essential appointments, as has been the practice in the Obama administration?
3
Why disagree with it? Because it's more expensive and Republicans claim that they like to be fiscally conservative, we know they love not spending money on people who really need it and have earned it.
We also have a shortage of doctors in this country so flooding our private health care system with vets might not get them care any faster than they would get it through the VA.
We also have a shortage of doctors in this country so flooding our private health care system with vets might not get them care any faster than they would get it through the VA.
1
Welcome back, Gail. You've been missed.
"(We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.)" If you want to raise the bar on Trump, delve into his long history of pay-to-play illegal political contributions, how his donees responded and what he gained. There is a reason that word starts with "con", and it plays far to great a role in U.S. politics altogether. Trump University alone should disqualify him from public office, but the press has been far too consumed with Hillary's "very legal" email arrangements, and way too silent on Trump's egregious business conduct in general, and Trump University specifically. Get moving or this "Carnival Barker" is going to be elected, and he'll sink us all.
"(We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.)" If you want to raise the bar on Trump, delve into his long history of pay-to-play illegal political contributions, how his donees responded and what he gained. There is a reason that word starts with "con", and it plays far to great a role in U.S. politics altogether. Trump University alone should disqualify him from public office, but the press has been far too consumed with Hillary's "very legal" email arrangements, and way too silent on Trump's egregious business conduct in general, and Trump University specifically. Get moving or this "Carnival Barker" is going to be elected, and he'll sink us all.
37
1. The "Bradley effect": People don't want to appear to support Trump, so they lie to pollsters. Actual support for Trump is greater than polls indicate.
2. The "don't like either so not going to vote". This reduces votes for Clinton and is effectively a vote for Trump.
3. The passionate come out to vote, and the passionate support Trump, the tepid support Clinton.
Result: Trump wins. I'm just plain scared.
2. The "don't like either so not going to vote". This reduces votes for Clinton and is effectively a vote for Trump.
3. The passionate come out to vote, and the passionate support Trump, the tepid support Clinton.
Result: Trump wins. I'm just plain scared.
19
As a Vietnam-era vet and independent voter, I watched in astonishment as an unchallenged draft evader [heel spurs - really] trashed the military leadership, and at one point was going to pull out a sheet containing the names of generals and admirals who support him. Were these the same military elite that are 'rubble' in his other statement?
Trump may very well pull off one of the greatest scams in history, and his enablers will be a large percentage of the media who, like a seemingly uninformed electorate, let him wax unencumbered by actual facts and eat it up. Altering Tiny Tim's blessing in "A Christmas Carol" - "God bless [help] us, every one!"
Trump may very well pull off one of the greatest scams in history, and his enablers will be a large percentage of the media who, like a seemingly uninformed electorate, let him wax unencumbered by actual facts and eat it up. Altering Tiny Tim's blessing in "A Christmas Carol" - "God bless [help] us, every one!"
62
Only masochists could empower a psychotic like Trump to have any influence at all in their lives.
SOMEONE -- ideally the moderator, but if necessary Mrs. Clinton -- has got to get over being nicey nice and do what it takes to stop him when he lies, interrupts, changes the subject and insults. If it means blowing a whistle, then that's what you do. Otherwise he will bully his way to the Presidency.
36
I would love to see someone blow a whistle each time he lies!
1
It really takes some sort of dogged integrity to keep covering Trump properly, I think. It's like having to discuss over and over, day after day, why a 4 year old should not be given keys to the car. It must be utterly exasperating.
The media at large is showing signs of collapse on this. Trump is now about 3/4 'normalized', it seems. It's actually a very frightening thing, and I thank Collins and others for hanging in there.
The media at large is showing signs of collapse on this. Trump is now about 3/4 'normalized', it seems. It's actually a very frightening thing, and I thank Collins and others for hanging in there.
47
I think Gail is right, we have to hold him to a higher standard, complete sentences. So this is where we have descended, a man who would be king doesn't know how to give a subject, a verb and an indirect or direct object. Remember all the RWC requests for transcripts from prez Obama, Gore, WJC and the crew? I would really love to see this hucksters transcripts. Better, let's have some off the record interviews with his former professors. How did he personally ever past a written test when he can't construct a complete sentence? No Donny probably did it the Trump way, he negotiated good deals with underpaid Profs. In other words, a Trump world outcome, the fix was in.
13
Clinton and Trump, back-to-back, being questioned in the non-parallel universes of Matt Lauer. She gets pressed on Servergate. He gets to skate on lie after lie. She demonstrates wide experience and genuine caring in respect of veterans' affairs. His facile palliative for treatment delays is the treasury printing press. Nor is he challenged regarding his scurrilous slur against John McCain and all fighting forces.
Members of the press don't need muscles to raise the bar on Donald J. Trump. They simply need to seek and honor truth, expose falsehoods and fiction in real-time, and commit to fair play.
Members of the press don't need muscles to raise the bar on Donald J. Trump. They simply need to seek and honor truth, expose falsehoods and fiction in real-time, and commit to fair play.
47
Welcome back, Gail! You have been missed.
13
Matt Lauer had his own agenda and was a poor choice for the show. As one colonel stated at the Rachel Maddow after-party that most of the important questions about fitness for commander-in-chief were not even brought up, and he then listed a half dozen important questions that I would have liked to have heard answered. It is sad that many of the news celebrities are more interested in the hype cycle rather than talking about the real issues.
42
For all the well deserved criticism Matt Lauer is getting, his pursuit of the email issue is a signature media obsession. No matter what the response from Clinton, the subsequent media reaction is that she should simply apologize (apparently she hasn't done so sufficiently) and admit that the false media narrative about the issue is the one she should embrace. Then she would be able to move on-to the next interview in which she would again be asked about the email issue because there are so many unanswered questions.
When it comes to Trump, there is no question he can't answer with his stump speech logo or a lie that has been previously debunked. Perhaps the media can ratchet up their level of inquiry in an attempt to get a straight answer from him and ask him what he had for breakfast.
There is a double standard at work in the media, but it is apparently necessary to even the playing field.
When it comes to Trump, there is no question he can't answer with his stump speech logo or a lie that has been previously debunked. Perhaps the media can ratchet up their level of inquiry in an attempt to get a straight answer from him and ask him what he had for breakfast.
There is a double standard at work in the media, but it is apparently necessary to even the playing field.
20
Matt Lauer is auditioning for Greta's vacated job in Faux News. He knows he won't be asked to wear a short skirt on the job and Faux News will pay for his rug.
27
Then again NBC has a long relationship (lucrative one in terms of viewership) with trump. This TV bye work made Trump a household name.
67
Gail:
(We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.)
And why haven't "you?" Meaning the 4th Estate. It's a little late in the process to be engaging in such a consideration, isn't it? It IS the job of the Estate to act as watchdog for the common good. You are there to counterbalance the nuttiness of our elite leadership class, not to countenance it. I'm not speaking about you (Gail) necessarily. The institution.
The 4th Estate has sacrifice its ethics and ideals on the altar of profit. Pure and simple the chase for eyeballs, clicks and all the rest that powers your paycheck has led directly to this state of affairs. If you laugh and bemoan the Trumpster you need only look in the mirror to properly assign the blame. And American's are culpable, too, for lapping up the slop, the drivel, that the Trumpster oozes out of every (media) orifice.
John~
American Net'Zen
(We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.)
And why haven't "you?" Meaning the 4th Estate. It's a little late in the process to be engaging in such a consideration, isn't it? It IS the job of the Estate to act as watchdog for the common good. You are there to counterbalance the nuttiness of our elite leadership class, not to countenance it. I'm not speaking about you (Gail) necessarily. The institution.
The 4th Estate has sacrifice its ethics and ideals on the altar of profit. Pure and simple the chase for eyeballs, clicks and all the rest that powers your paycheck has led directly to this state of affairs. If you laugh and bemoan the Trumpster you need only look in the mirror to properly assign the blame. And American's are culpable, too, for lapping up the slop, the drivel, that the Trumpster oozes out of every (media) orifice.
John~
American Net'Zen
19
How can the right like Trump's idea to give vets (of which I am one) cards to go to any doctor/hospital? Is that not the start of a government run system, i.e., one more population beyond seniors and the disabled accessing civilian doctors on the government's nickle?
14
The right does not like Trump
The story continues to be Trump is crazy and Hillary well we know what Hillary is but don't talk about it and vote for her any way. The Democratic/Corproatist Party should be ashamed!
To those who say the emails don't matter I say I'm sick of the lying. I don't trust her.
To those who say the emails don't matter I say I'm sick of the lying. I don't trust her.
1
But you're OK with Trunplethinskin lying about everything, including being against the Iraq war when he told Howard Stern the opposite?
3
He's crazy, she's beyond competent to do the job at hand. Seems like a pretty clear-cut choice. You don't trust her? OK - do you trust him?
2
Trump is like a drunk uncle. He would not be able to speak if the rules forbade him from using "great" and all the other superlatives he uses to describe himself and his supposed impact on the world. Trump has nothing but simple answers for complex problems. If America falls for his nonsense, then this great experiment in democracy is finished.
30
It's amazing how Hillary unequivocally stated that she 'did what she had to do' regarding security and preservation of her emails, but just a few short months ago during an FBI interview she responded that she 'could not recall' dozens of times. This continual prevarication seems congenital. The only reason she may win is because Trump is, by a slight margin, even worse.
5
Lauer badgered Clinton about emails then spent the rest of the debate telling her to hurry up and acting bored with her rational, substantive answers.
Then Trump came on and he let him spew all this:
1. Lie that he was against the Iraq War
2. Malign our generals as "rubble" then act like he'd put his own guys in there, showing that he doesn't understand how the US military works and seems to think they're another set of lackeys for him
3. Praise the brutal dictator Putin and look to insult our President in comparison to him
4. Imply that at intelligence briefings he was told Obama doesn't follow the advice of the intelligence community
5. Agree that rape in the military happens because, as he tweeted some years ago, women don't belong there
6. Say that we should rob the oil of Mideastern countries after we conquer them
.... And all that without Lauer even pressing him about all the military related questions he could have asked, such as his slander of McCain, insults of a Gold Star family, his own draft dodging, etc.
A disgrace.
Then Trump came on and he let him spew all this:
1. Lie that he was against the Iraq War
2. Malign our generals as "rubble" then act like he'd put his own guys in there, showing that he doesn't understand how the US military works and seems to think they're another set of lackeys for him
3. Praise the brutal dictator Putin and look to insult our President in comparison to him
4. Imply that at intelligence briefings he was told Obama doesn't follow the advice of the intelligence community
5. Agree that rape in the military happens because, as he tweeted some years ago, women don't belong there
6. Say that we should rob the oil of Mideastern countries after we conquer them
.... And all that without Lauer even pressing him about all the military related questions he could have asked, such as his slander of McCain, insults of a Gold Star family, his own draft dodging, etc.
A disgrace.
93
Well said.
2
It is easy to see why the late Phyllis Schlafly supported Donald Trump. The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) was defeated because of her scare tactics that women could be drafted and forced into combat. Today, women volunteer in the military and are regularly in combat and roles that support combat. Donald Trump clearly still regrets that change. What do you expect when men and women serve in the military together, Donald? Certainly not sexual assault. But Donald Trump doesn't seem to realize the president isn't the person who hires and fires the Generals and Admirals and then proposes creating a military court system, apparently in ignorance that one currently exists. Trump's susceptibility to flattery was on public display in his preference for Putin over Obama, as well as his inability to recall his own policy positions, reinventing them on the fly. I will not be voting for Trump, but others somehow believe he will keep Americans safe because he is wealthy and therefore wise. It would be nice if Matt Lauer were prepared to rebut some of Trump's more outrageous misstatements of fact, but recall he is fresh off his getting to the bottom of idiots on the Olympic swimming team destroying a filling station bathroom in Rio while drunk. That story dominated the news cycle and showed as little journalistic acumen as his debate moderation last night.
118
Sadly, today's "television journalists," not to mention journalists in print media, fail to ask the sad questions in a Devil's bargain to gain access to politicians.
2
Matt Lauer needs to be fired!
2
If I believed in the Rapture, I'd be praying for it right now. Before November. I'd be fervently praying we'd wake up one morning and all that would be left behind is a pair of wing tips and Mike Pence looking more confused than usual.
Poof.
But no, we will be stuck with the clear choice between someone who is competent and can do the job, but is loathed by half the nation, and someone who is not competent, and cannot do the job, but at least has the honor of being just as loathed.
No poof. No hope.
The orange buffoon is amazingly resilient - everything eventually bounces off him. He is like a rubber ball - the harder you hit, the higher he goes. Hillary slogs, Trump bounces, and all of us suffer.
Is it really to much to ask that he be a chosen one sooner rather than later?
Poof.
But no, we will be stuck with the clear choice between someone who is competent and can do the job, but is loathed by half the nation, and someone who is not competent, and cannot do the job, but at least has the honor of being just as loathed.
No poof. No hope.
The orange buffoon is amazingly resilient - everything eventually bounces off him. He is like a rubber ball - the harder you hit, the higher he goes. Hillary slogs, Trump bounces, and all of us suffer.
Is it really to much to ask that he be a chosen one sooner rather than later?
65
Never, ever, did I see this coming, and unless a miracle occurs, we are cooked.
2
I thought Hillary created bad optics when she continued talking over Matt Lauer, barely on topic, her back to him. Not a great half hour for her in my mind. She is becoming obsessed with pointing out Trump's shortcomings, as if they aren't obvious to all. She forgets his followers at this point are deaf and blind to his faults; and she is raising frightened concern in at least this follower that she is one closed door away from carrying on like a shrieking, finger-pointing hot mess, and perhaps she's not the calm, dedicated, even-tempered, focused, Presidential sort I have hoped she is.
Trump, on the other hand, was his usual pompous, evasive, lying self. Win none, lose none on this night for him.
And really, what IS that thing on his head?
Trump, on the other hand, was his usual pompous, evasive, lying self. Win none, lose none on this night for him.
And really, what IS that thing on his head?
15
Why is it when a woman raises her voice she is shrieking,yet a man is being strong and forceful?
3
Matt Lauer is as shallow as a kid's wading pool. He deserved to be talked over; in fact, she should have ignored him altogether and just talked about something SHE wanted to talk about, instead of those damned e=mails. Maybe she could have been the one to point out how Trump's lack of every quality he claims he has, like judgement, or truthfulness.
9
"Shrieking, finger-pointing hot mess"? tomhct, if you really support Clinton, check your misogyny in the mirror.
4
When you have one candidate who is a bully and a sociopath, you find out which journalists are really good at their jobs. Lauer isn't among them.
Rather look at someone like Major Garrett of CBS News, who valiantly tries to cover Trump day after day. He deserves a medal for attempting to maintain his journalistic demeanor while covering the lies, the almost weekly revelations of corruption and the generally bad behavior of this despicable GOP candidate. I have faith that Lester Holt will do a good job reining in Trump in the first debate later this month. We can only hope . . .
If you want to understand the challenges of a really good, fair and objective journalist in covering Trump, imagine yourself in Berlin in the mid-1930s assigned to write balanced stories on Hitler at a time when a good chunk of the American population thought he was a really good guy. That's what it's like.
Rather look at someone like Major Garrett of CBS News, who valiantly tries to cover Trump day after day. He deserves a medal for attempting to maintain his journalistic demeanor while covering the lies, the almost weekly revelations of corruption and the generally bad behavior of this despicable GOP candidate. I have faith that Lester Holt will do a good job reining in Trump in the first debate later this month. We can only hope . . .
If you want to understand the challenges of a really good, fair and objective journalist in covering Trump, imagine yourself in Berlin in the mid-1930s assigned to write balanced stories on Hitler at a time when a good chunk of the American population thought he was a really good guy. That's what it's like.
118
Trump has invalidated "Godwin's law" and has permitted us to mention Hitler again. Hopefully this invalidation will help us prevent another Hitler in the form of Trump--who NEVER denied reading a volume of Hitler's speeches as bedtime reading. (Nor did Marvin Davis ever deny giving it to Trump.)
Do we have to lose World War II to the Axis some 70 years later by copying our former enemies?
Do we have to lose World War II to the Axis some 70 years later by copying our former enemies?
4
As I expected, Matt Lauer did not treat the candidates the same, thus following the example set by the press throughout this campaign.
139
Matt Lauer is disgusting...needs to go!
6
I think you can categorize Trump's "strategies" broadly in two types. There is the Tarzan strategy - give a loud shout, beat your breast and swing from the vine; and there is the Trump University ploy - when things go wrong write a sales script and send out aggressive sales people to get results. That's it
40
Ms. Collins, for a moment as a human and an American, I am going to indulge in the doom and gloom. Before reading your column, earlier I thought America is turning into a Police State under our noses, insular with a Trump Empire in the tarnished muddy workings of the Brutality of Nations.
A popular song in the Hudson Valley is 'An American Man'. The hard-working men in charge of rebuilding houses have often been in the Military, and one whom I call with affection a 'human squirrel', was turned away from the Marines when he was thirty.
I believe we are a Nation with hearts of stones and antelope souls, and when having lunch this weekend last, my neighbor on the right looked aghast when I started 'we could discuss America'. A retired building constructor, he probably thought I was going to ask about our State-of-Affairs. He looked much relieved when I asked about his travels with his spouse here at home. My tour of the Country is with 'Heartland' at the moment where the young actress reminds me of Clinton. Not only in looks, but in strength, mettle and courage.
My other luncheon companion was a Veteran. He was in Vietnam but he has never been the same since he returned home. 'He's kinda of funny', they say about him in this Community, and he also is a Trump supporter. I like him, but neither of us are planning to watch any violent movies if we go to the theater in this town. We are already on 'The Titanic'.
A popular song in the Hudson Valley is 'An American Man'. The hard-working men in charge of rebuilding houses have often been in the Military, and one whom I call with affection a 'human squirrel', was turned away from the Marines when he was thirty.
I believe we are a Nation with hearts of stones and antelope souls, and when having lunch this weekend last, my neighbor on the right looked aghast when I started 'we could discuss America'. A retired building constructor, he probably thought I was going to ask about our State-of-Affairs. He looked much relieved when I asked about his travels with his spouse here at home. My tour of the Country is with 'Heartland' at the moment where the young actress reminds me of Clinton. Not only in looks, but in strength, mettle and courage.
My other luncheon companion was a Veteran. He was in Vietnam but he has never been the same since he returned home. 'He's kinda of funny', they say about him in this Community, and he also is a Trump supporter. I like him, but neither of us are planning to watch any violent movies if we go to the theater in this town. We are already on 'The Titanic'.
7
The big question this time, is, will there be survivors, and if there are, will they have the wisdom to not build another Titanic.
2
Hillary is a "hawk" (this paper's label) who supports endless war. Donald is a "hawk" who wants to increase the size of the military. The winner--The Military Industrial Complex.
Both are dangerous and the World will be a more dangerous with either at the helm. Maybe more so with Donald, but anyone who believes Hillary's judgment in making foreign policy decisions is good has not been paying attention the past decade.
And as for the mutual admiration between Hillary and Henry. Does that even bother any Hillary supporters? After Henry engaged in the criminal act of secretly bombing Cambodia causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. How can any Democrat cozy up with that war criminal?
We expect so little from our candidates and get even less in return.
Both are dangerous and the World will be a more dangerous with either at the helm. Maybe more so with Donald, but anyone who believes Hillary's judgment in making foreign policy decisions is good has not been paying attention the past decade.
And as for the mutual admiration between Hillary and Henry. Does that even bother any Hillary supporters? After Henry engaged in the criminal act of secretly bombing Cambodia causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. How can any Democrat cozy up with that war criminal?
We expect so little from our candidates and get even less in return.
10
"Both are dangerous and the World will be a more dangerous with either at the helm. Maybe more so with Donald,"
Maybe? Did you seriously say maybe?
Maybe? Did you seriously say maybe?
7
The only candidate who was completely anti war, was Bernie who the media ignored and blocked out, putting generations into the oath of peril and disharmony. Mr Obama has painstakingly restored America's name and dignity by emphasizing diplomacy over violent means. He has healed old wounds, acknowledged America's ignorant ways of dealing with nations like Laos, he has made deliberate and concrete efforts to bring the world together.
3
This showed what I have observed many times. There seems to be a different standard for Hillary. She is grilled on the same stuff over and over and heaven help her if she changes a comma, what she says is dissected seven ways to sunday. Trump babbles on, lies, changes positions every 5 minutes and all say what a good job he did and nobody challenges any lie he tells! Why is that??
422
Perhaps because Trump gets hysterical and falls off-stage if there is so much as a whiff of dissension in the air. Hillary might frown, her eyes darken, but she stays the course and inspires stability. She is so much brighter by a long shot than this man who 'does not know', and eventually Americans are going to be subjected once again to one of his temper tantrums and tirades that it is all the fault of Clinton, the President and the Commies that we are in such a sorry state. Honey draws some men like bumble-bees, and their agenda is much revealed when presented with a pedestal to tower over the Country, shouting 'I am fed up and not going to take this anymore'. It works well for true Americans struggling to make a decent living.
5
It's called "sexism."
3
The basic fact is that Mrs. Clinton has been involved in politics so has probably the most political experience ever seen in a Presidential candidate, understands government and international relations, and has grounded policies and agendas. Trump has none of the above, but has intransigence, ignorance, psychological issues (apparently), poor business sense and decision-making skills, advanced narcissism even for a "politician", and extreme inter-personal relationship issues...except with Putin and with alt-right wingbats. And yet, reporters and interviewers still cannot do their jobs when interacting with Trump by demanding answers, not buffoonery. When will they step up and do their jobs, and hold both candidates' feet to the fire, but especially quit pussy-footing around trump? Professionalism needs to come from somewhere...Hillary has it, Trump never will, and the press is not displaying much of it.
239
Watching Trump is like sitting through Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." Trump gives new meaning to the theater of the absurd. The irony is so-called journalists not only let him get away with his nonsense, and I mean that literally, they abet his provocations by not following up in search for the truth.
207
Such an apt comparison. Brilliant, in fact.
2
Thanks, Gail, for reminding me that the GOP and the entire country seems to have gone berserk nominating D J Trump.
I purposely avoid hearing him or reading about his 'ideas' because I become so flabbergasted that I can't think straight. I feel I've fallen down some 'rabbit hole' and I'm in some horrific wonderland. But this is really happening.
Just your few quotes from DJT remind me that you're forcing yourself to look at DJF, which is a sort of 'fascination of abomination', like a gruesome crash scene. But you do it so well,and with humor and with trust that your readers will appreciate that you are following this election closely. It's a dirty job this year, but you are doing it with flair and clarity.
I purposely avoid hearing him or reading about his 'ideas' because I become so flabbergasted that I can't think straight. I feel I've fallen down some 'rabbit hole' and I'm in some horrific wonderland. But this is really happening.
Just your few quotes from DJT remind me that you're forcing yourself to look at DJF, which is a sort of 'fascination of abomination', like a gruesome crash scene. But you do it so well,and with humor and with trust that your readers will appreciate that you are following this election closely. It's a dirty job this year, but you are doing it with flair and clarity.
47
The TV media is afraid of Trump. They give him a free ride, while they hammer Clinton. She has to be twice as good as the man. It is the American story.
366
She's thousands of times better than Trump.
8
She already is a whole lot more than twice as good as Trump, but it doesn't matter. It's the story of the nexus between lap-dog journalism and gut-thinking voters.
1
Host Matt Lauer might as well have been wearing a Trump red cap and should have asked Trump for an autograph.
In this kind of interviews and for the presidential debates, networks should fact check at the same time the candidates are talking; let viewers read the fact checking at the bottom of the screen and, question candidates about it.
Just asking for a little respect for viewers. Most of us think and, hopefully, vote.
In this kind of interviews and for the presidential debates, networks should fact check at the same time the candidates are talking; let viewers read the fact checking at the bottom of the screen and, question candidates about it.
Just asking for a little respect for viewers. Most of us think and, hopefully, vote.
245
Welcome back, Mrs.Collins.
Seems to me that Trump is more of a realist than Clinton, be it Iraq, ISIS, or Putin.
Absolutely grotesque for Clinton to call Iraq a "mistake". It was premeditated, illegal aggression against a sovereign state, and she didn't learn from Iraq, instead supporting more sectarian violence in Libya and Syria and the rise if ISIS. And what's wrong with the 2 biggest nuclear powers getting along?
Mrs.Clintons transparent pandering to whichever audience she faces is nauseatingly predictable and tiresome, not because of "her wonk mode", but because it is so blatantly disingenuous. She may be "a woman who has been to town hall meetings with virtually every single group of Americans who have a problem", but in the end none of those problems got solved unless your problem was one of the 1%ers, giant corporations or the military industrial complex.
Another problem for Mrs.Clinton is that people have much higher expectations towards former President Clinton's wife given her, on paper and with little investigation, impressive record. The Clinton campaign went through great pains and tons of cash to paint The Donald as a racist ignoramus, so no wonder "at times, Trump seemed to be exceeding expectations, just by speaking in complete sentences."
I'd call that a bad strategy and it'll be hurting her all the way up to the election, on top of her myriad of other problems and the Sword of Damocles in form of more WikiLeaks or computer hack releases looming ahead.
Seems to me that Trump is more of a realist than Clinton, be it Iraq, ISIS, or Putin.
Absolutely grotesque for Clinton to call Iraq a "mistake". It was premeditated, illegal aggression against a sovereign state, and she didn't learn from Iraq, instead supporting more sectarian violence in Libya and Syria and the rise if ISIS. And what's wrong with the 2 biggest nuclear powers getting along?
Mrs.Clintons transparent pandering to whichever audience she faces is nauseatingly predictable and tiresome, not because of "her wonk mode", but because it is so blatantly disingenuous. She may be "a woman who has been to town hall meetings with virtually every single group of Americans who have a problem", but in the end none of those problems got solved unless your problem was one of the 1%ers, giant corporations or the military industrial complex.
Another problem for Mrs.Clinton is that people have much higher expectations towards former President Clinton's wife given her, on paper and with little investigation, impressive record. The Clinton campaign went through great pains and tons of cash to paint The Donald as a racist ignoramus, so no wonder "at times, Trump seemed to be exceeding expectations, just by speaking in complete sentences."
I'd call that a bad strategy and it'll be hurting her all the way up to the election, on top of her myriad of other problems and the Sword of Damocles in form of more WikiLeaks or computer hack releases looming ahead.
15
Trump painted himself as a racist and ignoramus long before Ms Clinton was even nominated.
5
Welcome back, Gail. We missed your unique point of view and ability to cut to the heart of every issue. Writing against deadline, you came up with a perfect summary of Trump's performance last night. "He babbled on, trying to save himself, but it was really way too late." The emperor indeed has no clothes.
66
Perhaps this man, who would be President, has such an enormous and suffocating wardrobe, causing his luggage to fall on our crowns and flatten us.
That Forum was depressing. To watch Trump's answers and imagine that loon making life and death decisions about our kids fighting somewhere - unacceptable.
145
Everyone on the show played their well-established roles: Hillary the Wonk, Trump the Blowhard, and Lauer the Lightweight.
81
A wonk is by definition "a studious and hard working person". That is precisely one of the top skills a presidential candidate should possess. It's time to stop misusing "wonk" as an insulting term. use expert, informed, skilled, professional and knowledgeable instead. "Wonk" is a school yard taunt wielded by bullies who are threatened by kids who enjoy learning and the insights that come with it. Trump, in his goofy hairdo, illiterate gibberish and fascist gestures is a bully who never grew up and as we have seen he still thinks it's fun, he still thinks it makes him cool to insult and lie whenever he feels the least bit threatened by anyone, even the grieving parents who lost their beloved child in Afghanistan. Never in a hundred lifetimes would Hillary Clinton be so heartless! The truth is Trump is scared to death of Hillary and she knows it.
9
You're being kind to Lauer.
3
Everyobe is talking about how close Little Hands is to President Clinton but what is often missed by hack rightist entertainers like Matt Lauer is that President Clinton is even or even beating Little Hands in confederate strongholds like south carolina.
If Little Hands doesn't carry every single confederate state he loses.
Same goes for Pennsylvania and Ohio.
If Little Hands doesn't carry every single confederate state he loses.
Same goes for Pennsylvania and Ohio.
26
Like a used car salesman, Trump is barely literate but knows how to fake it. His target audience responds like a Pavlov dog. It's going to be a long four years if he wins: war, denial of climate change, women, children, minorities, and immigrants thrown under the bus.
That Trump has gotten this far should concern any civilized person.
That Trump has gotten this far should concern any civilized person.
256
He has made a habit of dating and marrying "immigrant women" as long as they are from the right part of the planet...
3
@David Henry: Following this farcical forum, MSNBC featured a small focus group and member commentary. A Trump supporter stated his mind was not changed, Trump spoke the truth, HRC is a liar and belongs in jail. Guessing, but by his manner of speech and expression, he's a high school grad, at best.
I'm no genius, no advanced degrees, etc., but whether it's ignorance or stupidity, or both, I passed concern a while ago and am now in full on panic.
I'm no genius, no advanced degrees, etc., but whether it's ignorance or stupidity, or both, I passed concern a while ago and am now in full on panic.
4
Matt Lauer picks up the NBC corporate crusade to get Trump elected where morning Joe left off, when his ratings started to tank. His sucking up to Trump early on revealed him a bit too plainly for what he is - a smart greedy redneck, who can play the part of "enlightened Republican" and fool most of the people most of the time. Lauer is just a typical TV "journalist" , i.e., obedient compliant actor who learns his lines, and a good enough actor to make most people believe he thought up those words himself. He was, after all, the perfect "moderator for the first blantantly "corporate TV" election, without any visible values, and sufficient acting skills to seem as interested, day after meaningless day, in Beyoncé, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Martha Stewart, AND the Presidential candidates. Meanwhile, in the back room, corporate America screws the American people again, and most of us don't even know who put the knife in our back. We watch, (tragi-comically) TV anxiously for a clue. Gail Collins is right, much of what people do, is so
absurd, it will make you laugh or cry. Might as well laugh.
absurd, it will make you laugh or cry. Might as well laugh.
58
" He was, after all, the perfect "moderator for the first blatantly "corporate TV" election"
This is sloppy rhetoric. Lauer cannot determine your vote. YOU DO.
This is sloppy rhetoric. Lauer cannot determine your vote. YOU DO.
1
Lauer was horrible to her, it's true everyone is against her. Even when they're not, they are. Even Bill is starting to sound (and look) like W. C. Fields. She needs to take a firm grip of the situation and assert herself as a strong woman.
Face it, she's done for. Being a compulsive liar didn't help.
Face it, she's done for. Being a compulsive liar didn't help.
5
I only saw one compulsive liar on the stage, and he wasn't a she.
17
Rob, for the sake of argument I will allow that Clinton is "a compulsive liar." Only for the sake of argument...stipulating it to be fact, how does that mitigate the compulsive, truly compulsive, lying of Donald? Is a male compulsive liar with no experience to be preferred to a female compulsive liar with loads of experience? What could be different here?
If you think he's a better choice because of the equipment that came with his Y chromosome you really should reexamine those tiny hands of his.
If you think he's a better choice because of the equipment that came with his Y chromosome you really should reexamine those tiny hands of his.
5
Hi, Rob. I'm one of the everyone. I'm not against her. I'm for her.
I'm also thinking the person who say's "everyone is" something or other might be the compulsive liar here.
I'm also thinking the person who say's "everyone is" something or other might be the compulsive liar here.
8
Here in Florida, Trump is running an ad that has as much political insight as an ad for Frosted Mini Wheats. In it, the voice of God intones "In Hillary Clinton's America" and then, with black and white photography, Armageddon is described. Jobs are lost, taxes are raised, wars are started and, for some reason, it rains everyday. Then the voice intones "But in Donald Trump's America" and like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, America is brought to you in living color and we are transported to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory where jobs are plentiful, the middle class is now the upper middle class and the trees have gumdrops on them. The simplicity of the ad makes you wonder if it is geared to an age group that is not yet old enough to vote. Yet I see he is closing the gap in the polls and beats Hillary with veterans by 55 to 35 which makes me wonder if my plan to leave America if he wins might have to be amended to leaving whether he wins or not. Can I really live in a place where the average white male (my demographic) and the average defenders of the constitution are no more politically astute or sophisticated than your average Oompha Loompha or Munchkin?
275
Just this week, I also began to rethink my plans to escape from the U.S. if Trump somehow was named President. Thinking I'd be happier not surrounded by the sub-mediocre Yahoos who (one can spot them) voted for such a horror.
Let me know where you'll be going, OK?
Let me know where you'll be going, OK?
7
Yes. Hello Rick. So well said. Here in Massachusetts I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realize almost half the adults in this country support this despicable opportunist, when Congress cannot pass legislation to counter a ZIka epidemic because some GOP clown thinks it is just as important to sabotage Planned Parenthood, when I see six kids sitting at a table Tweeting with busy fingers or buried in Facebook - who after years of school don't know where Syria is or Oklahoma is part of the United States. My wife is activating dual Irish citizenship. The West Cork is so beautiful - and as good a place as any to watch Americans pulling their common identity and government apart.
12
Trump is running the same ad here in Pa. Utter nonsense. You can see from this ad that the Trump campaign has no respect for the intelligence of the voters and indeed, this ad corresponds to Trump's own statement about how much he loves the under educated voter. Truer words were never spoken by Trump- it is perhaps the only truth that ever came out of his mouth.
6
This is the usual appalling NY Times claptrap.
Your newspaper had a chance to put the e-mail investigation to bed forever. An FBI report came out that completely EXONERATED Hillary Clinton. She told the truth when she said Colin Powell advised her it was regular procedure for the Secy of State NOT to use the state dept. server. She told the truth when she said nothing marked CLASSIFIED was ever sent. Nothing marked CLASSIFIED was ever e-mailed to her. Period. In order for someone to call that a lie, they have to twist and turn and say "well but there were 3 e-mails and there was a tiny little "c" somewhere on the page". Nope, regardless of how the Republicans try to spin it, and the NY Times helps them, having a little tiny "c" is NOT how you mark something that is top secret. And if the NY Times had reported the story properly instead of pretending that 3 e-mails with tiny little c's "proved" that national security was being flouted, then most Americans would not be convinced that "even that liberal NY Times" knew that Hillary was corrupt and sold out our national security in order to get rich.
This is on you, Gail Collins, and all of the editors, reporters and publishers at the NY Times who are so terrified of Fox News accusing you of bias that you have distorted reality and created the monster that is Trump.
This is on the NY Times. You are more concerned with pleasing Fox News than in actually reporting the news correctly. Shame on you all.
Your newspaper had a chance to put the e-mail investigation to bed forever. An FBI report came out that completely EXONERATED Hillary Clinton. She told the truth when she said Colin Powell advised her it was regular procedure for the Secy of State NOT to use the state dept. server. She told the truth when she said nothing marked CLASSIFIED was ever sent. Nothing marked CLASSIFIED was ever e-mailed to her. Period. In order for someone to call that a lie, they have to twist and turn and say "well but there were 3 e-mails and there was a tiny little "c" somewhere on the page". Nope, regardless of how the Republicans try to spin it, and the NY Times helps them, having a little tiny "c" is NOT how you mark something that is top secret. And if the NY Times had reported the story properly instead of pretending that 3 e-mails with tiny little c's "proved" that national security was being flouted, then most Americans would not be convinced that "even that liberal NY Times" knew that Hillary was corrupt and sold out our national security in order to get rich.
This is on you, Gail Collins, and all of the editors, reporters and publishers at the NY Times who are so terrified of Fox News accusing you of bias that you have distorted reality and created the monster that is Trump.
This is on the NY Times. You are more concerned with pleasing Fox News than in actually reporting the news correctly. Shame on you all.
339
I except Gail Collins but otherwise agree with you completely. If, God forbid!, Trump were to be elected, The Times would be complicit. And don't get me started on the breathless condemning headlines!
5
Thank you! I sent a letter to the editor for the first time in my life. Aside from the few columnists I like, I will not be reading the NYT. I don't trust them. I'll find the real news somewhere else.
1
When Lincoln somehow managed to preserve the United States of America against treasonous war and rebellion, he saw repeatedly that expressions of cocky self-confidence and braggadocio usually foretold complete failure.
He constructed a cabinet made up of Republicans, and Democrats, strong proven leader, some who had opposed him.
He opened up the White House to the public, on a weekly basis, to take what he called my "public opinion baths".
He often would expressly refuse to say anything.
But I will not slander our history with a comparison so obscene.
Please forgive me.
He constructed a cabinet made up of Republicans, and Democrats, strong proven leader, some who had opposed him.
He opened up the White House to the public, on a weekly basis, to take what he called my "public opinion baths".
He often would expressly refuse to say anything.
But I will not slander our history with a comparison so obscene.
Please forgive me.
24
The Republican Party was once the Party of Lincoln. And the desert Southwest was once an inland sea. Things change.
7
Gail it is really great you are back. I did not watch the Forum because Matt Lauer was so obviously in his head to begin with. I guess he is OK with new recipes and introducing Justin Bieber at 30 Rock but this was a C in C Forum without Paula Deen, why was Matt Lauer there? Thank God Lester Holt will moderate the first debate.
31
Congratulations, Matt 'Trey Gowdy' Lauer !
You've won the starring role in Fake Journalism's 2016 remake of that 2015 'Fair and Balanced' Classic, the Benghazi Salem Witch Trial about the persecution of Hillary Clinton for the high crimes of being female and for running for a 'man's job'.
If Matt Lauer - or any other journalist - knew how to do a 'man's job', they would've asked Donald Trump a few questions about his own past such as:
1. Don't you think that the 200 undocumented laborers (illegal immigrants) from Poland that demolished the site for Trump Tower and later sued you in federal court - a case that was settled and 'sealed' in secrecy - for unpaid wages is relevant to your character ?
2. Don't you think your $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, your $35,000 donations to Governor Greg Abbott's (and former Texas AG), and your $12,500 donation to New York’s AG Eric Schneiderman - all of whom were considering whether or not to pursue a suit against the now defunct Trump University for widespread consumer fraud - is relevant to your character, especially since you said earlier this year, quote unquote:
“I’ve given to everybody. Because that was my job. I gotta give to them. Because when I want something, I get it. When I call, they kiss my aXX.”
Mr. Trump, what exactly did you 'want' when you sent money to several state Attorneys General looking into your apparently fraudulent business ?
Welcome to American journalism: The Land of Eunuchs !
You've won the starring role in Fake Journalism's 2016 remake of that 2015 'Fair and Balanced' Classic, the Benghazi Salem Witch Trial about the persecution of Hillary Clinton for the high crimes of being female and for running for a 'man's job'.
If Matt Lauer - or any other journalist - knew how to do a 'man's job', they would've asked Donald Trump a few questions about his own past such as:
1. Don't you think that the 200 undocumented laborers (illegal immigrants) from Poland that demolished the site for Trump Tower and later sued you in federal court - a case that was settled and 'sealed' in secrecy - for unpaid wages is relevant to your character ?
2. Don't you think your $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, your $35,000 donations to Governor Greg Abbott's (and former Texas AG), and your $12,500 donation to New York’s AG Eric Schneiderman - all of whom were considering whether or not to pursue a suit against the now defunct Trump University for widespread consumer fraud - is relevant to your character, especially since you said earlier this year, quote unquote:
“I’ve given to everybody. Because that was my job. I gotta give to them. Because when I want something, I get it. When I call, they kiss my aXX.”
Mr. Trump, what exactly did you 'want' when you sent money to several state Attorneys General looking into your apparently fraudulent business ?
Welcome to American journalism: The Land of Eunuchs !
605
@Socrates: Your raise good questions that should be asked of Trump, along with many more that would expose his utter incompetence and unfitness to be President.
But Hillary also needs to be up to the task of answering questions about her private email server and apparent inability to determine the difference between classified and non-classified information. Does anyone really believe after 8 years on the Sen. foreign relations committee and 4 years as Sec. of State she does not know the difference. Emails detailing drone bombing positions are not classified unless marked at the top with a heading? Sorry--that just sounds stupid.
Trump's campaign contributions were obviously tied with expecting favorable treatment by the Florida A.G. That is why donors give money--to gain access, receive favorable treatment, or give thanks for beneficial policies. No one donates a dollar to someone they disagree with.
Which brings me to Hillary taking tens of millions personally from special interests, and special interests donating tens of millions into her campaign and super Pacs. That should cause us all concern. Unfortunately, what I read from many Hillary supporters is money corrupts Republicans, but not Democrats, or at least not Hillary.
We need journalists to ask Trump & Hillary tough questions. We need to stop with the lament that any criticism of Hillary is support for Trump.
When Hillary becomes President we need to hold her feet to the fire.
But Hillary also needs to be up to the task of answering questions about her private email server and apparent inability to determine the difference between classified and non-classified information. Does anyone really believe after 8 years on the Sen. foreign relations committee and 4 years as Sec. of State she does not know the difference. Emails detailing drone bombing positions are not classified unless marked at the top with a heading? Sorry--that just sounds stupid.
Trump's campaign contributions were obviously tied with expecting favorable treatment by the Florida A.G. That is why donors give money--to gain access, receive favorable treatment, or give thanks for beneficial policies. No one donates a dollar to someone they disagree with.
Which brings me to Hillary taking tens of millions personally from special interests, and special interests donating tens of millions into her campaign and super Pacs. That should cause us all concern. Unfortunately, what I read from many Hillary supporters is money corrupts Republicans, but not Democrats, or at least not Hillary.
We need journalists to ask Trump & Hillary tough questions. We need to stop with the lament that any criticism of Hillary is support for Trump.
When Hillary becomes President we need to hold her feet to the fire.
7
"At times, Trump seemed to be exceeding expectations, just by speaking in complete sentences. (We have got to start raising the bar on this guy.) Then a veteran in the audience asked him about sexual assault in the military, and Lauer reminded Trump that he had once twittered, “What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?” ........“Well,” Trump answered, “it is. … It is a correct tweet. "
Welcome back, Gail, how we need you now. I've already listed the many horrors of last night in a separate article, but you nail it with this "raising the bar" call to action.
How one woman with a lifetime of government service can be put through the wringer on scandal stuff while the newbie on the presidential block--does everyone realize this guy is TWO MONTHS away from the Oval?--gets treated like a comical oddity is beyond comprehension.
I will beat my drum until November 8, and then beyond. MSM, you simply must do your job. Stop vetting so harshly someone whose vetted 24/7 and give a free pass, or even worse, an intimidation effect from a mouthy Trump spewing nonsense and sounding like a total idiot. (No wonder Putin wants him to win).
Where are today's Russerts, Brinkleys, and Koppels now that we need them? So far, the only political moderator I've seen who won't take no for an answer is the fast talking Chris Matthews.
He already nailed Trump on nukes and abortion. So if no-facts Chris Wallace can be a moderator, why not the other Chris?
Welcome back, Gail, how we need you now. I've already listed the many horrors of last night in a separate article, but you nail it with this "raising the bar" call to action.
How one woman with a lifetime of government service can be put through the wringer on scandal stuff while the newbie on the presidential block--does everyone realize this guy is TWO MONTHS away from the Oval?--gets treated like a comical oddity is beyond comprehension.
I will beat my drum until November 8, and then beyond. MSM, you simply must do your job. Stop vetting so harshly someone whose vetted 24/7 and give a free pass, or even worse, an intimidation effect from a mouthy Trump spewing nonsense and sounding like a total idiot. (No wonder Putin wants him to win).
Where are today's Russerts, Brinkleys, and Koppels now that we need them? So far, the only political moderator I've seen who won't take no for an answer is the fast talking Chris Matthews.
He already nailed Trump on nukes and abortion. So if no-facts Chris Wallace can be a moderator, why not the other Chris?
803
Interesting that you suggest that because Chris Wallace can be a moderator Chris Mathews scan be too. I think Chris Mathews is a loud mouthed bully whose better days are long gone....but then both candidates have some of that too.
1
He doesn't allow the folks he's interviewing to change the subject or get away with lies. For that alone, he's far better than a mealy mouthed Conservative pundit like Chris Wallace who already told us he is not there to fact check. Well, in a debate, if you can't call out the debaters, why are you there. Even I can ask a bunch of questions, then sit still while they blather and lie.
25
And Chris Wallace has already surrendered, saying he wasn't going to be the "truth squad."
*weeping*
*weeping*
4
We can accept Trump's humanity without voting for his insanity! It ricocheted around the Intrepid amidst his dream plans of fired (or not) generals told to submit plans (or not) to defeat ISIS (or not—do American generals do cyber-war? Is a military strategy the best way to eliminate terrorists threats?), and Trump's visions of veterans dying after being given a pill (or not), the expectation of rape (or not) for women in uniform, and his knowing more (or not) than the generals, a result of President (a twice elected President slammed continuously as Putin was praised) who daily reduces generals and admirals to “rubble!” (And is at odds with his briefers.)
Trump is entitled to basic care. By no (not!) standard is he fit to be America's political and military leader, because he “negotiates deals.”
Memo to Matt Lauder: And what do emails have to do with military leadership? Isn't empathy a quality of leadership: why no questions about Trump's bludgeoning of a gold star family?
Gail hits the penultimate moment of the town hall in her opening: Trump thinks the sacrificial firing of Mexico's Minister of Finance, an American trained MIT economist, Presidential confidant, and party leader was a good result of his visit! He cannot see the disruption his brief sojourn caused—yet he keys on stairs as a idol of power and says he would leave the summit of G-20 leaders if denied its trappings, as he disparaged mechanics (“Obama had to use the stairs the mechanics use”). Idiocy!
Trump is entitled to basic care. By no (not!) standard is he fit to be America's political and military leader, because he “negotiates deals.”
Memo to Matt Lauder: And what do emails have to do with military leadership? Isn't empathy a quality of leadership: why no questions about Trump's bludgeoning of a gold star family?
Gail hits the penultimate moment of the town hall in her opening: Trump thinks the sacrificial firing of Mexico's Minister of Finance, an American trained MIT economist, Presidential confidant, and party leader was a good result of his visit! He cannot see the disruption his brief sojourn caused—yet he keys on stairs as a idol of power and says he would leave the summit of G-20 leaders if denied its trappings, as he disparaged mechanics (“Obama had to use the stairs the mechanics use”). Idiocy!
264
Space and weariness eliminates a full review of Trump's neo-colonialism ("take the oil"). He is a man born in the wrong century in the wrong country. He may say what many want to believe, but he has no standard of truth.
His stairs will descend into the inferno. (Red carpet and all.)
His stairs will descend into the inferno. (Red carpet and all.)
71
One would have thought that by now she’d have a more believable story on eMailGate, and that Trump would have tested better given the cram courses his new campaign team force-fed. But there’s really not much to say about deleting 33,000 “personal” emails only to have it demonstrated that many the FBI could recover not only weren’t “personal” but some contained classified information. And there are people who just don’t test well because they never learned how to properly study.
I wasn’t impressed by the performances.
If the debate on 26 September turns out to be this boring, then I could favor having Zack Galifianakis “streak” the event just to wake viewers up.
Yet it shouldn’t be boring when they face one another. Mrs. Clinton has been effective in setting traps to compel Trumpian temper, but I suspect that we’ve seen the last of that temper for now. If I were preparing him for debates, I’d confront him mercilessly with these traps and prepare him to turn each into an advantage by compelling her to go off-script to respond. When she goes off-script, she’s like a deer in a headlamp. Hammana hammana hammana.
Trump has ALL the momentum in the polls, and has tightened them just about to the margin of error. A good performance in the first debate could put him solidly ahead and provide him leisure to coast. A bad one could put him behind again with little time to recover and more pressure on the remaining ones.
But, then … we STILL haven’t heard from Vladimir Putin, have we?
I wasn’t impressed by the performances.
If the debate on 26 September turns out to be this boring, then I could favor having Zack Galifianakis “streak” the event just to wake viewers up.
Yet it shouldn’t be boring when they face one another. Mrs. Clinton has been effective in setting traps to compel Trumpian temper, but I suspect that we’ve seen the last of that temper for now. If I were preparing him for debates, I’d confront him mercilessly with these traps and prepare him to turn each into an advantage by compelling her to go off-script to respond. When she goes off-script, she’s like a deer in a headlamp. Hammana hammana hammana.
Trump has ALL the momentum in the polls, and has tightened them just about to the margin of error. A good performance in the first debate could put him solidly ahead and provide him leisure to coast. A bad one could put him behind again with little time to recover and more pressure on the remaining ones.
But, then … we STILL haven’t heard from Vladimir Putin, have we?
12
Lawyers dig through piles of email looking for relevant ones using keyword searches. If you think Clinton or anyone else actually read through 88,000 emails deciding which ones were personal, then you can believe anything. Likely those on which keywords hit were deemed official, and the rest were deemed personal.
99
Trump was a disaster with his "Secret Isis Plan". The man is An Idiot.
43
If you listened to her explanation of the email issue it made perfect sense. There's nothing there except a Fox News talking point.
31
If the media continues to treat Trump with a velvet glove, he could win the presidency. What unprofessional, coward-like journalists these are. Do your job. If Trump evades a question, come back to it. Again and again and again, until he either answers it or breaks out into something spectacular. It would make history. And the Presidential debates aren't an opportunity to do that, due to various rules and restrictions. One-on-one interviews, however, are the perfect opportunity, and each time a journalist blows it, the bigger a step Trump takes to the White House.
848
To your point about spineless pseudo-journalists, I have heard Trump interrupt and talk over so many of them, and they just sit there and take it!
33
Megan Kelly understood how to challenge Trump. Guess we'd better let some qualified FEMALE investigative reporters take over from the old boy network and start grilling him the way the entire press corps treats Hillary. Of course if this were to actually happen, DT's feelings would be hurt, he'd lash out inappropriately and ban them from his entourage.
23
Wish I could "Recommend" this 1,000 times, Peter.
6
When you read the transcript Trump's answers are appalling. Matt Lauer's failure to follow up on Trump's most absurd statements, after he had admonished and interrupted Clinton several times, smacked of sexism and turtle like ineptitude. In the course of just 1/2 an hour Donald Trump called current U.S.generals "rubble", inferred he was a body language expert, who could divine that his briefers objected to Obama's policies, talked of his "secret" ISIS plan, quoted Vladimir Putin's poll numbers, said if Putin praised him, he'd praise Putin, cited his foreign policy bona fides by alluding to the firing of the Mexican Finance minister, said we should have left "certain people" behind and "taken" the Iraqi oil, and finally testified to the accuracy of his tweet in response to the epidemic of sexual assaults "what did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together". LOL, LOL, LOL to the exponential.
526
Don, I give you credit for listening to him for half an hour; I cannot bear watching or listening to him. And BTW, I'm not laughing.
22
@Miriam, I certainly understand your BTW comment. The idea that any sentient being could possibly vote for Donald Trump activates my sense of the absurd and is the darkest of all humor.
1
" “Look at the aftermath today where the people that arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government. That’s how well we did.” WHAT? if you negotiate with people who are then forced out of office, then any agreement you might have reached with them becomes null and void. that's hardly a success.
329
We have got to start raising the bar on this guy!
We have got to start raising the bar on this guy!
For God's sake: it is about time!
Just try to put the bar at the same height for both caniddates, OK?
We have got to start raising the bar on this guy!
For God's sake: it is about time!
Just try to put the bar at the same height for both caniddates, OK?
812
Talk to the media about that, they've failed at the "equal treatment" since the start of the election, Gail excepted, of course.
3
Hey, the bar's two inches above the floor for Trump and 3 feet for Clinton. Republicans say that's UNFAIR.
The bar for Trump should only be an inch and it should be a 100 feet for Hillary. As everyone know who reads Maureen Dowd, that's because the "liberal media" is biased for Clinton.
The bar for Trump should only be an inch and it should be a 100 feet for Hillary. As everyone know who reads Maureen Dowd, that's because the "liberal media" is biased for Clinton.
4
I don't believe that, at this point, anyone who still supports Donald Trump for President will be dissuaded from that position based on any further nonsense that emanates from his mouth.
276
A secret plan to defeat ISIS! Trump must be using the Nixon playbook. He had a secret plan to end the Vietnam war. Nixon mentioned it several times in the 1968 campaign. The plan was to bomb the living daylights out of the "enemy" until we won. We "won" when we finally quit. Remember the helicopter picture we saw as we left the Saigon embassy?
America's ISIS fight will dissolve their traditional methods to take territory. As we witness the switch, we see terrorism across the globe is now the ISIS tactic. No way to stop it, either.
America's ISIS fight will dissolve their traditional methods to take territory. As we witness the switch, we see terrorism across the globe is now the ISIS tactic. No way to stop it, either.
82
Exactly except that you omitted the other part of Nixon's secret plan: to keep the war going full force until just before the next election in 1972...which is what he did. Kissinger announced a week before that election, that "peace is at hand."
Trump is just like Nixon. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth and lies out of both. Nixon reveled his tax return information in which he was trying to cheat...maybe Trump has something to hide in his?
Trump is just like Nixon. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth and lies out of both. Nixon reveled his tax return information in which he was trying to cheat...maybe Trump has something to hide in his?
19
I tweeted to NBC news a couple times during the forum about how outrageously disparate Lauer was in his treatment of Clinton, where he was brash, on the attack and very aggressive, especially regarding the email controversy. With Trump, he was quiet, calmer and allowed him to speak with very little interruption. Trump was still spouting his canned responses we've all heard before, and there was no mention of the Bondi issue. Totally inequitable handling of each candidate with a clear low expectation, almost a deference to Trump. I believe so called journalists like Lauer want to retain access to Trump. Therefore, they treat him with kid gloves. Shockingly inequitable.
1545
Lauer is NOT a journalist.
He is the male equivalent of Foxes foxy anchors.
Matt Lauer lost what miniscule credibility he had last night.
But I'm sure he was told to attack Clinton and bend over for Trump.
And he did as he was told.
He is the male equivalent of Foxes foxy anchors.
Matt Lauer lost what miniscule credibility he had last night.
But I'm sure he was told to attack Clinton and bend over for Trump.
And he did as he was told.
40
If bias and ineptitude were crimes, Lauer would be indicted.
36
Lauer is not a journalist, he is a "personality".
30
The press wants Donald Trump as President.
Newspapers and radio have not had this large of a viewing audience in their history.
With Trump as President, every day, Lauer will have something crazy to report to an excited TV audience.
So, every reporter, TV host in America is setting Trump up to be elected.
Money, if you follow it, you will always find the reason.
Newspapers and radio have not had this large of a viewing audience in their history.
With Trump as President, every day, Lauer will have something crazy to report to an excited TV audience.
So, every reporter, TV host in America is setting Trump up to be elected.
Money, if you follow it, you will always find the reason.
414
This is fantasy, unsupported by fact. This very article contradicts your assertion. Did you even bother to read it?
1
So sad and so true, Michael. Let's just VOTE, get like minded people to vote and hope there are more rational fellow Americans than it sometimes seems. Hugs.
4
What these guys fail to remember is that in a fascist state reporters are usually out of work and in prison.
1
I think I get it now. Donald Trump is a joke, and the media are playing along. They don't dare ask him if he has no shame, or in what universe he imagines that he's presidential material, because that would just bring down the room. They act as though they're part of an improv sketch, where the rules are you never say no and never ask why. He pretends to be a presidential candidate, any they pretend they're the press, complete with those big hats and flashbulbs from the '40s. You can't really blame 'em. Trump is all three stooges rolled into one. A Trump presidency would be hi-LAR-ious.
There's nothing funny about Hillary Clinton, so they're stuck with the e-mail controversy thing. Bernie Sanders was tired of the damn e-mail months ago, and it's just getting wearisome now. They burned out on Benghazi, so what else is there to talk about? Issues? They're impatient with Hillary because almost nothing she says will make it to Myers or Corden.
Maybe the press is right. The world is a mess. There's nothing but war, suicide bombings, mass shootings and deadly diseases everywhere you look. Things are pretty bad when we have to depend on the rising sea levels to put out the forest fires.
There's a sense that nothing we can do will prevent Armageddon. In that case, Trump is our man. At least we'll die laughing.
There's nothing funny about Hillary Clinton, so they're stuck with the e-mail controversy thing. Bernie Sanders was tired of the damn e-mail months ago, and it's just getting wearisome now. They burned out on Benghazi, so what else is there to talk about? Issues? They're impatient with Hillary because almost nothing she says will make it to Myers or Corden.
Maybe the press is right. The world is a mess. There's nothing but war, suicide bombings, mass shootings and deadly diseases everywhere you look. Things are pretty bad when we have to depend on the rising sea levels to put out the forest fires.
There's a sense that nothing we can do will prevent Armageddon. In that case, Trump is our man. At least we'll die laughing.
652
Gemli,
When some of us started this narrative a year ago we were interested spectators at a large American arena called the media. We were apprehensive and concerned but now seeing you coming on board is it time to panic?
On this side of the borden we sometimes think the world is a better place than it has ever been and we might all get together and solve climate change and inequality and then we see and hear Herr Trump. Sometimes I think we should build a wall but we can't build a wall wide enough or high enough to keep you guys out and besides my children and grandchildren are on the wrong side of the wall.
When some of us started this narrative a year ago we were interested spectators at a large American arena called the media. We were apprehensive and concerned but now seeing you coming on board is it time to panic?
On this side of the borden we sometimes think the world is a better place than it has ever been and we might all get together and solve climate change and inequality and then we see and hear Herr Trump. Sometimes I think we should build a wall but we can't build a wall wide enough or high enough to keep you guys out and besides my children and grandchildren are on the wrong side of the wall.
8
First, l must get this out of the way. I missed you!
I bet Trump could get Putin to use the same color hair dye! I also believe that Putin is not being particularly verbal or showy, because he wants to be on-easy street over the next few years with Trump bumbling everything he does, That wil be easy!
I bet Trump could get Putin to use the same color hair dye! I also believe that Putin is not being particularly verbal or showy, because he wants to be on-easy street over the next few years with Trump bumbling everything he does, That wil be easy!
41
Putin has hair?
Keen defence analyst Donald Trump says he will boost the army by 50,000 and the navy by hundreds of ships. Nice round numbers, if not finely calibrated to actual military requirements. But hey, that’s how you sell golf resorts.
Incidentally, I’ve totally lost interest in the breathless way the media reports every grunt and every fart emanating from this clown. I now take the position that if he is elected, Americans can’t complain if they don’t get tips from waiters in Paris and Rome.
Incidentally, I’ve totally lost interest in the breathless way the media reports every grunt and every fart emanating from this clown. I now take the position that if he is elected, Americans can’t complain if they don’t get tips from waiters in Paris and Rome.
253
Tips from waiters?
4
Oh, Gail, "it was really way too late" on June 15, 2015, when Donald Trump pulled the jack-in-the-box alien egg job onto the rest of us. We're now stuck with this gruesome thing on our collective face-plate and it's smothering us into bad dreams and forgetfulness. Oh, we'll wake up hungry one night, ready for dinner and, well...
I guess I really just can't understand how a complete nothing (is that even remotely possible?) has his small, stubby fingers inches away from Keats's urn. Are we so totally stupid that we're willing to gamble 240 years on a complete and total lie? I often ask myself "what is it, really, that Trump Nation sees him him that they would risk the ruin of everything?" It's got to be more than race or class or politics. Right? There's more?"
If Hillary Clinton becomes No. 45, she's already halfway out on the long plank over the snapping sharks in the water. Trump has polluted, perhaps for generations, anything like a courteous and civil dialog between people who can disagree without being disagreeable. The extremes in politics have become the center and reason and common sense have been banished to the margins, a "quaint, old-fashion notion" as Tina Turner cynically declared about love.
Trump has made Mexico almost a mortal enemy at our southern border. He has courted the devil in Eastern Europe, ignorant of the truth that the devil is not apt to keep his word.
This has long ceased to be a joke and, sadly, we're all, in some way, complicit in Trump.
I guess I really just can't understand how a complete nothing (is that even remotely possible?) has his small, stubby fingers inches away from Keats's urn. Are we so totally stupid that we're willing to gamble 240 years on a complete and total lie? I often ask myself "what is it, really, that Trump Nation sees him him that they would risk the ruin of everything?" It's got to be more than race or class or politics. Right? There's more?"
If Hillary Clinton becomes No. 45, she's already halfway out on the long plank over the snapping sharks in the water. Trump has polluted, perhaps for generations, anything like a courteous and civil dialog between people who can disagree without being disagreeable. The extremes in politics have become the center and reason and common sense have been banished to the margins, a "quaint, old-fashion notion" as Tina Turner cynically declared about love.
Trump has made Mexico almost a mortal enemy at our southern border. He has courted the devil in Eastern Europe, ignorant of the truth that the devil is not apt to keep his word.
This has long ceased to be a joke and, sadly, we're all, in some way, complicit in Trump.
471
soxared040713
Why do you believe that it is Donald Trump that has brought us to this? It is the citizens of the United States that has brought us here. When the drums of war were beating loudly dissenters were intimated by fear of violence or public humiliation if they were to express their dissention. Donald Trump supporters are the real bullies, Donald only gives them permission to act badly, just as George W. Bush gave them permission to act badly.
Why do you believe that it is Donald Trump that has brought us to this? It is the citizens of the United States that has brought us here. When the drums of war were beating loudly dissenters were intimated by fear of violence or public humiliation if they were to express their dissention. Donald Trump supporters are the real bullies, Donald only gives them permission to act badly, just as George W. Bush gave them permission to act badly.
95
No! I am not complicit! I have always, and will always, despise Trump and everything he says, does and represents. Would that we could go back to the old days when he was just an interviewee on Howard Stern's show.
18
Within each of us resides that little idiot, needy, selfish, resentful and yearning, not able to understand why we haven't risen to the top of the heap simply by nature of how awesome we are. It's what Freud called the id, I suppose, and some number of us see it in Trump. We see it set free and unbridled, careening "successfully", trampling the rules, lashing out with a tongue as sharp as Samurai's katana, and most importantly, defying logic and common sense (those other parts of the brain) and getting away with it.
Another group of us has learned to contain and/or control most of those urges, feelings and drives, and have moved past the early stage of development DJT and many of his followers are stuck at, or have reverted to. Current widespread disillusionment and resentment have bolstered the former's numbers and have tested the resolve of many of the others. Some no doubt feel trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.
DJT presents a very specific pathology whose intricacies are above my pay grade but are nonetheless obvious. What should scare most of us is how many of the rest of us share it. Documenting his foibles and transgressions will achieve nothing unless society can enforce the rules and take him to task. We read about his steaks, university, ties with russia, and now his modeling agency, as well as sliding on tax deals in Jersey and political gifts in florida, and we see nothing being done. We're simply enabling him, and them, his "what, me worry?" mob.
Another group of us has learned to contain and/or control most of those urges, feelings and drives, and have moved past the early stage of development DJT and many of his followers are stuck at, or have reverted to. Current widespread disillusionment and resentment have bolstered the former's numbers and have tested the resolve of many of the others. Some no doubt feel trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.
DJT presents a very specific pathology whose intricacies are above my pay grade but are nonetheless obvious. What should scare most of us is how many of the rest of us share it. Documenting his foibles and transgressions will achieve nothing unless society can enforce the rules and take him to task. We read about his steaks, university, ties with russia, and now his modeling agency, as well as sliding on tax deals in Jersey and political gifts in florida, and we see nothing being done. We're simply enabling him, and them, his "what, me worry?" mob.
4
The last republican nominee and Trump have two things in common:
Both Willard Mitty Romney and Donald Trump dodged the Viet Nam draft.
Better yet, in five generations of Romney's and four generations of Trumps not one member of their family's EVER served one day in the US military.
These are the preening, belligerent gung ho republican pretenders to Commander in Chief.
For the record, not one republican baby boomer who has sought or won the republican nomination for the Presidency set foot in Viet Nam.
In contrast, four Democratic baby boomers, Al Gore, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey and Jim Webb VOLUNTEERED and served in Viet Nam.
Both Willard Mitty Romney and Donald Trump dodged the Viet Nam draft.
Better yet, in five generations of Romney's and four generations of Trumps not one member of their family's EVER served one day in the US military.
These are the preening, belligerent gung ho republican pretenders to Commander in Chief.
For the record, not one republican baby boomer who has sought or won the republican nomination for the Presidency set foot in Viet Nam.
In contrast, four Democratic baby boomers, Al Gore, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey and Jim Webb VOLUNTEERED and served in Viet Nam.
978
Character should count. Unfortunately many seem unable to recognize it or understand it's value.
85
John McCain perhaps?
7
And let's recall the Swift-boating of Kerry. John McCain lost the South Carolina primary because Bush's people were spreading lies that he had and illegitimate African-American child (adopted) and that his wife was a drug addict. And yet McCain endorsed Bush II and has endorsed Trump. Apparently, loyalty trumps honesty.
27
I don't have a lot of interest in recent dealings between Trump and Clinton. I know their many weaknesses and their few strengths. They may venture into new areas, but not in a way likely to reveal anything new about them. Trump spouts half truths, mistakes, and some outright lies. Clinton lies less and is more often in the ballpark of the truth. The upcoming debate is the most interesting of their future encounters. But it's pretty likely that Trump will be routinely aggressive while Clinton remains routinely careful. Since they're both on automatic pilot, clever zingers are unlikely. So the much anticipated debate is likely to be pretty dulll. Can we just vote and get this over?
19
Except it won't be "over" after you vote. The new president will probably pick a new Supreme Court, which will affect you and your children for decades.
It will never be over, so grow up.
It will never be over, so grow up.
40
"Can we just vote and get this over?" Absolutely not; I am so looking forward to him making a complete fool of himself in front of millions of people. He'll probably have to dragged off the stage.
12
Now that we are dangerously close to the election - I can no longer laugh at trumps ludicrousness given that the media still insists upon normalizing his candidacy and treating him like a celebrity rather than a politician running for the nations highest office. Tonight's panel was a disgrace. Real issues were not meaningfully discussed and trump got away with the worst crime of all - admitting that he does not read to prepare for his candidacy. He simply hears things (from Putin perhaps?) and hopes to absorb by osmosis.
551
He has admitted that he reads nothing, and he also has the attention span of a gnat.
28
No, gnat's attention spans are twice as long.
3
A gnat has more of an attention span than Trump the Fraud. A gnat will persist in trying to bite you way longer than Trump the Fraud can stay on topic.
4
Oh welcome back dear Ms C
Harbinger of jocosity,
In this era Trumpiish
I'm down in the dumpish,
Trump's active on Twitter
With barbs that embitter
And frenzies of fracking
Have got Earthquakes cracking,
Trump still is denying
Weather hoax implying,
I'm truly morose,
So please be jocose.
Harbinger of jocosity,
In this era Trumpiish
I'm down in the dumpish,
Trump's active on Twitter
With barbs that embitter
And frenzies of fracking
Have got Earthquakes cracking,
Trump still is denying
Weather hoax implying,
I'm truly morose,
So please be jocose.
180
I am very tired of HRC's constant grin, but consider the alternative...Trump's constant scowl.
1
Miriam,
You mean "Risus sardonicus or rictus grin, which is a highly characteristic, abnormal, sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce grinning".
Sometimes seen on corpses.
You mean "Risus sardonicus or rictus grin, which is a highly characteristic, abnormal, sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce grinning".
Sometimes seen on corpses.
1
She almost never smiles, she talks to voters like she's giving a lecture, and I believe she's a pushover for powerful people. She'll do anything that powerful people want her to do, which means she won't be able to control the military hawks.
I didn't know much about here back when I thought she should run for President. Now that I know more, I think she's the wrong person for the job. The right person was Bernie Sanders. He came out of the blue and almost beat her. If the Democratic party had any sense at all it would have rode that bandwagon to victory. As it stands, I think Hillary is going to lose to Trump.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to say, "I told you so!" in a couple of months. I'll say it now just in case I forget later: I told you so!