I suggest Mr Friedman , famous world traveler that he is, take a drive through the old 'rust belt' that area of the country most hurt by globalization. It was here that Trump turned the tide , take a road trip and interview the people, this is about people being left out in the cold due to a movement there feel they had no control over- and this is their way of trying to grab back control. Look no further then these- for they have all the answer to all your unasked questions
171
If you "hope" a better man emerges than we saw in this campaign" then you have learned NOTHING from this campaign.
There IS no "better man." What we saw--and saw, and saw, ad naseum--is all there is. A vile, horrible, disgusting creature, that never belonged in the campaign in the first place, let alone polluting the building that once housed the likes of Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and--yes--Barack Obama.
There IS no "better man." What we saw--and saw, and saw, ad naseum--is all there is. A vile, horrible, disgusting creature, that never belonged in the campaign in the first place, let alone polluting the building that once housed the likes of Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and--yes--Barack Obama.
267
Oh grow up and stop the whining...............you lost, fair and square
We, the American voter, love this country.........we wanted change and the DC
cabal would not listen..................
We, the American voter, love this country.........we wanted change and the DC
cabal would not listen..................
83
Thank you, Tom Friedman, for making it acceptable for so many of us decent people to confront this election without magnanimity or graciousness. This is one time when we don't have to make nice, put on a false smile or ask the country to come together in support of this liar and misogynist.
145
Good God. What were you thinking, America? What have you done to the American promise? Why have you abandoned so many of your own? Why would you do this to yourself? If you are a working stiff and voted for Trump, do you really believe he gives a fig for you? If you are a woman and voted for Trump, do you really believe he sees you as an individual with potential rather than an object to fondle, to ridicule, to mock? If you are a black and voted Trump, do you really believe he thinks Black Lives Matter? Oh, America, you have earned my pity - and contempt.
237
"I've said it before, and I'll say again- Democracy simply doesn't work"
-Kent Brockman
-Kent Brockman
29
DO they understand the the awesome responsibility they have owning all the levers of government and the Supreme Court? Oh yes they do, they can't wait!
And we will be the poorer for it.
And we will be the poorer for it.
112
Faced with relative peace, a rising economy and a social fabric on the cusp of entering the 21st century, Americans elect President Toonces. I am at a loss for words...
76
Folks here (above all, Tom Friedman) still aren't getting it - or at least, the folks who didn't support Bernie aren't getting it. Best analysis I've read - and one that I found immensely heartening: http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/michael_hudson_on_why_trump_is_the_...
12
So much for our great democracy. The electoral college has to go.
171
“All too many Americans have been left behind during the aftermath of the Great Recession.”
This post is not directed at you but your quote above is one of the things I keep thinking about since I visited the Anne Frank house this summer. First I gotta say, Yes, what you say is true but people forget how we got to this point, basically the result of a republican president and his policies of 8 yrs. We’ve been slowing getting back to normal under Pres Obama and now we are going to unravel how we got to today. In 4 or 8 yrs from now we’ll be voting in another president who will need to unravel a possible mess from this new president's actions just like we did with Bush/Obama.
The other thing that keeps going through my mind is a statement by one of the guides at the Anne Frank house when I visited this past summer. Which was about the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany that was undergoing a severe economic crises. Hitler promised the German people he would get them out of that mess and make them great again, Well, what was the man to do after not being able fulfill his promises, naturally, start WWII and get them working again. Of course this is America and that won’t happen, Right?
This post is not directed at you but your quote above is one of the things I keep thinking about since I visited the Anne Frank house this summer. First I gotta say, Yes, what you say is true but people forget how we got to this point, basically the result of a republican president and his policies of 8 yrs. We’ve been slowing getting back to normal under Pres Obama and now we are going to unravel how we got to today. In 4 or 8 yrs from now we’ll be voting in another president who will need to unravel a possible mess from this new president's actions just like we did with Bush/Obama.
The other thing that keeps going through my mind is a statement by one of the guides at the Anne Frank house when I visited this past summer. Which was about the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany that was undergoing a severe economic crises. Hitler promised the German people he would get them out of that mess and make them great again, Well, what was the man to do after not being able fulfill his promises, naturally, start WWII and get them working again. Of course this is America and that won’t happen, Right?
98
I woke up this morning living in a country about to be governed, or perhaps ruled, by a man who was the number 1 choice of the Ku Klux Klan and Vladmir Putin. How I wish there was a 4-year snooze button to hit.
148
Well the incomprehensible has happened. Mr. Trump along with his mantra "Make America Great Again" will occupy the Oval Office. A nice catch phrase with serious xenophobic undertones. That vague mantra resonated with a portion of our citizens that feel they are under threat and have lost control.
Now that you have your leader in place, exactly what do you expect the outcome to be? You may be in for a rude awakening.
Now that you have your leader in place, exactly what do you expect the outcome to be? You may be in for a rude awakening.
63
Maybe instead of globetrotting and hobnobbing with world leaders and being a champion of globalization, you might start traveling around the country and talk to the rural population that feels helpless and threatened by globalization. Most of them are decent people, as you will find.
48
You love your democracy. Now uphold it by respecting it's results. The people have chosen their new chief executive. Support him by being a responsible journalist. And sto acting like another anguished voter with a large readership following.
37
Donald got all the trailer park vote. Sorry- he won't do a single thing for the trailer park.
101
Pogo: "we've met the enemy, and they're us." Trump gave voice and confidence to the racists and misogynists among us. He let 'em come out of the word work. Scary times ahead.
73
The DNC employed slippery tactics to support a flawed candidate. HRC, the DNC, and complicit media have themselves to blame for the Trump presidency.
31
Throw your environment out the window- throw your healthcare out there too’ throw your manners out the door, you don’t need them anymore cause tonight Trump will be staying here with you.
we should have cashed in our stocks this morning, but it was more than we thought through. For this hate comes on so strong, and we’ve waited all year long, now tonight Trump is staying here with you.
Is it any really wonder, the the grope a stranger might receive- he cast a spell and we went under, I find it so difficult to believe!
I hear that bristle blowing, I see the nation master too, if there’s a poor boy on the street, then sweep him off my beat… cause tonight Trump is staying here with you
we should have cashed in our stocks this morning, but it was more than we thought through. For this hate comes on so strong, and we’ve waited all year long, now tonight Trump is staying here with you.
Is it any really wonder, the the grope a stranger might receive- he cast a spell and we went under, I find it so difficult to believe!
I hear that bristle blowing, I see the nation master too, if there’s a poor boy on the street, then sweep him off my beat… cause tonight Trump is staying here with you
35
I'm thinking the country is going to experience a big case of 'buyers remorse'.
67
"[B]ecause you wanted radical, disruptive change, well, you’re going to get it."
if there is such disgust with "politics as usual" and dysfunction at the federal level, isn't it curious that so many incumbent Senators -- the very ones who literally shut down government with partisan obstructionism -- are being returned to office by landslides by the very people who wanted to "drain the swamp"? Meanwhile, the party of the incumbent White House, which had the DOW over 18,000 for more than a year, and joblessness down to 4.9 percent (a level where the risk of inflation starts to re-emerge, for all you economic know-nothings) loses the White House to a charlatan.
The people who wanted to "change Washington" without actually changing Washington have been worse, even, than hypocritical. They've been successfully taken for fools.
if there is such disgust with "politics as usual" and dysfunction at the federal level, isn't it curious that so many incumbent Senators -- the very ones who literally shut down government with partisan obstructionism -- are being returned to office by landslides by the very people who wanted to "drain the swamp"? Meanwhile, the party of the incumbent White House, which had the DOW over 18,000 for more than a year, and joblessness down to 4.9 percent (a level where the risk of inflation starts to re-emerge, for all you economic know-nothings) loses the White House to a charlatan.
The people who wanted to "change Washington" without actually changing Washington have been worse, even, than hypocritical. They've been successfully taken for fools.
288
My Hispanic grandson left for second grade this morning crying, fearing his 68 yr old grandmother will be deported.
Thanks for turning his life upside down Donald!
Thanks for turning his life upside down Donald!
146
What did Clinton do, in 30 years of being in the public spotlight, that would make you think that the corruption and lies would stop had she been elected?
29
Homeless in America
That will be literally, in every sense , once he begins "governing."
That will be literally, in every sense , once he begins "governing."
24
" . . . a majority of Americans wanted radical disruptive change so badly and simply did not care who the change agent was . . . ."
As with much of what Mr. Friedman writes that's disingenuous & self serving. In the end, the voters choice was between a badly flawed change agent and Hillary, the definition of "Washington insider." Had the Democratic Party establishment, in the seven years it had to prepare for '16, seriously considered an actual change agent rather than producing and directing the Sanders karaoke at the last minute, then perhaps Mr. Friedman's comment wouldn't be so silly.
As with much of what Mr. Friedman writes that's disingenuous & self serving. In the end, the voters choice was between a badly flawed change agent and Hillary, the definition of "Washington insider." Had the Democratic Party establishment, in the seven years it had to prepare for '16, seriously considered an actual change agent rather than producing and directing the Sanders karaoke at the last minute, then perhaps Mr. Friedman's comment wouldn't be so silly.
29
Congratulations Mr. Putin!
35
Fear and loathing in New York.
16
You are despicable Mr. Friedman! Trump has only been the President-elect for a hew hours and you have also showed your extreme bias without even giving him the opportunity to govern. So many spent the entire election season talking about Trump's dark campaign and scare tactics. But isn't this article the very essence of darkness and using scare tactics so very prematurely. You should be ashamed of yourself. I am sickened by the divide in this country and was prepared to accept any outcome as long as the country could become more united. Why couldn't you. Give him a chance and see if he disappoints before you go around scaring everyone. An article like is beneath any respectable journalist. BTW - the media bias in covering this election was so over the top against Trump that I firmly believe a number of people were in part, persuaded to lash out against the media by voting for Trump.
26
The joke is over and the nightmare has begun. Who will Trump go after first?
45
All of this is a good argument for better public education. Especially history.
49
"HOMELESS IN AMERICA" Are you kidding me? NYT just can't get it right. It was small-town America that found its voice to make America HOME AGAIN! I actually find it offensive that you use the word "homeless" so glibly.
23
Oh the irony...the new POTUS, a "rich white man," elected to save us from all that is "wrong" with America.
At this point, we can hope that the midterm elections will finally break the Republican stranglehold on Congress....
Show us your tax returns, Donald!
At this point, we can hope that the midterm elections will finally break the Republican stranglehold on Congress....
Show us your tax returns, Donald!
54
Ahhh, yes. Having endured years of Obama ruling by executive decree, ignoring the Constitution and law in general, we now have the spokesman for the elites telling Trump to remember to do it their way. And this is for our good, because obviously Trump doesn't understand the complexities of which Mr. Friedman is a master. Trump only made a fortune by engaging businesses and governments internationally, whereas Friedman writes for a living.
9
Most of the comments on Mr. Friedman's article reflect exactly why the Democrats lost this election. They reflect a general sentiment that anyone who did not vote for Mrs. Clinton is either stupid, a racist or just doesn't get it...its that arrogance and condescension, the we know better than you attitude, the failure to acknowledge that the opposing side's views might have some merit every now and then, that their concerns deserve at least some consideration not automatic contempt, that lead to the Trump victory.
85
11/9 Feels like 9/11.
This time we did it to ourselves.
This time we did it to ourselves.
63
Thank you for saying so eloquently what I am feeling this morning. The only comfort I am finding is the knowledge that I am not alone.
35
Truly the day the music died...
33
Sorry. No silver lining. It's worse than you think.
34
I am SCARED, SCARED, SCARED. My head is shouting these words to me, pushing out every other thought.
27
In response to those who blame free trade:
1982 - pre-trade deals. Billy Joel, "Well we're living here in Allantown, but the factories are closing down. Out in Bethlehem they're killing time, filling in forms and standing in line."
Pre-trade deals, 1984. Bruce Springsteen, "Well they're closing down the textile mill, cross the railroad tracks. Foreman says, "Those jobs are going boys, and they ain't coming back."
The writing was on the wall even in the time of Saint Reagan. We're now 32 years down the road and to quote Elton John, "Well this train don't stop, this train don't stop, this train don't stop here, anymore." And it isn't coming back, just like that factory the Boss sang about.
But keep blaming trade. And, oh, stop shopping at WalMart and only buy MADE IN AMERICA products, if you want to Make America Great Again! It might cost more, but hey, who wants to buy cheap and support China when they can pay more and support the USA! USA! LOL
1982 - pre-trade deals. Billy Joel, "Well we're living here in Allantown, but the factories are closing down. Out in Bethlehem they're killing time, filling in forms and standing in line."
Pre-trade deals, 1984. Bruce Springsteen, "Well they're closing down the textile mill, cross the railroad tracks. Foreman says, "Those jobs are going boys, and they ain't coming back."
The writing was on the wall even in the time of Saint Reagan. We're now 32 years down the road and to quote Elton John, "Well this train don't stop, this train don't stop, this train don't stop here, anymore." And it isn't coming back, just like that factory the Boss sang about.
But keep blaming trade. And, oh, stop shopping at WalMart and only buy MADE IN AMERICA products, if you want to Make America Great Again! It might cost more, but hey, who wants to buy cheap and support China when they can pay more and support the USA! USA! LOL
50
"But at the moment I am in anguish, frightened for my country and for our unity. And for the first time, I feel homeless in America."
Ame.
Ame.
23
When HRC was first stated to be the named Democratic candidate, my comment was “Who anointed the Queen so slam-dunk automatically?” Then came Bernie Sanders and I thought there would be a better contest. However, Wasserman-Schultz and the DNC plied their “dirty tricks,” and Bernie was gone.
However, the debacle by the Democrats was nothing in comparison to the free-for-all that was the Republican Primary. How the most repugnant of them all came away with the nomination I will never know.
However, the debacle by the Democrats was nothing in comparison to the free-for-all that was the Republican Primary. How the most repugnant of them all came away with the nomination I will never know.
23
No writer on the Center-Right has done more over the years than Thomas Friedman to celebrate the creative destruction of capitalism, and the modern cultural disruptions it has almost always brought along as well as its much deeper than "collateral damage" - and to write off the working class and its dying unions - so his lamentations here are rich in irony.
It retrospect, these workers and the Democratic Party would have done much better last night with Sanders as their nominee because Hillary Clinton was the embodiment of both the economic and cultural damage that the Centrist Dems had also come to represent, as Thomas Frank so well describes in his book "Listen Liberal."
May I add a "I told you so" as well? Please visit my essay from 2011 in Tikkum magazine here, http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/when-market-man-consigns-the-common-man-to...
I concluded that 30 years of economic trauma upon the working class, since the late 1970's, left us waiting to "see what Wagnerian climatic is in store for us, sitting on the edge of our seats in the vast Austerity Theatre, still wearing the rapidly thinning threads of our once 'Golden Straightjackets." I closed with a quote from Richard Sennett's book, "The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism": "I do know a regime which provides human beings no deep reasons to care about one another cannot long preserve its legitimacy."
The problem is the successor, as in Weimar, 1933.
It retrospect, these workers and the Democratic Party would have done much better last night with Sanders as their nominee because Hillary Clinton was the embodiment of both the economic and cultural damage that the Centrist Dems had also come to represent, as Thomas Frank so well describes in his book "Listen Liberal."
May I add a "I told you so" as well? Please visit my essay from 2011 in Tikkum magazine here, http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/when-market-man-consigns-the-common-man-to...
I concluded that 30 years of economic trauma upon the working class, since the late 1970's, left us waiting to "see what Wagnerian climatic is in store for us, sitting on the edge of our seats in the vast Austerity Theatre, still wearing the rapidly thinning threads of our once 'Golden Straightjackets." I closed with a quote from Richard Sennett's book, "The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism": "I do know a regime which provides human beings no deep reasons to care about one another cannot long preserve its legitimacy."
The problem is the successor, as in Weimar, 1933.
10
Thomas, you feel homeless because of your perception that has been proven out of touch and arrogant. Take a deep breath and think about it.
10
i am frightened for our children, i am frightened for our earth.
32
My God where were you during the horror of the Bush-Cheney years? Years filled with horror that goes on and on. Horrors aided by the paper for which you write?
17
He campaigned on hate and rage and hate and rage won. My heart cries for my country. I fear we will be thrown back into the dark ages or worse...
A terrible day for America.
A terrible day for America.
38
Good Night, and Good Luck
14
Thomas, I was lost when YOU elected Obama. Now it's your turn. Act what you preach. Help Trump govern. Don't be partisan.
11
It's appalling that Americans have chosen this racist, chauvinist, elitist spoiled brat that somehow passed as an anti-establishment outsider: a born-rich, private 757 owner, champion of the poor! So much for the force of populist rhetoric which other parts of the world (my country included) know so well. It makes me truly sad. When Obama was elected it felt like America was showing the world that racism can be overcome by the true power of Good Intent and Enlightenment. Now this son of a probable KKK member, a KKK endorsed candidate, triumphs despite all his villainy (no other word for him). In eight years America moved from "Yes, we can!" to "No! How you could it?"
40
Statue of Liberty is crying. Stay strong; keep your dreams.
18
"Personally, I will not wish them ill." I don't think sociopaths change and learn compassion. He saw his followers in action at his rallies and he wasn't appalled, in fact, he egged them on. He is bringing in Gingrich and Giuliani, two of the most nefarious men in America, that should ring an alarm because he has no conscience. You do not "wish them ill," but I hope the Clintons' passport is up to date because he promised to jail her. If he does, you're next because you critcised him; I bet he wishes ill for anyone who wrote negatively about him. There's an incipient dictator under that strange hair-do.
27
No good can or will come from this.
27
Unity? What unity?
A leopard doesn't change its spots, nor will Trump.
I see impeachment ahead, as lawsuits play out. Unfortunately, that will not avoid the economic fallout from Trump's divisive rhetoric and threatened behavior.
It would appear that H.L. Menken was right: nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the american public.
A leopard doesn't change its spots, nor will Trump.
I see impeachment ahead, as lawsuits play out. Unfortunately, that will not avoid the economic fallout from Trump's divisive rhetoric and threatened behavior.
It would appear that H.L. Menken was right: nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the american public.
24
First will be abolition of the estate tax, which creates the first aristocrat families. Next comes tax reform, wherein the rich get a giant tax cut. Next comes law-and-order reform and a Supreme Court wherein the little guy loses the tools of defense. Could it all happen in four years? All these ingredients for a switch away from democracy are high on the GOP agenda, and they're in charge.
We'll see...
We'll see...
21
In The Lexus and the Olive Tree you championed both mortgage securitization and the ability of companies to move wherever they saw an advantage at the moment. Both of those trends have left many Americans without homes and jobs. I would like to see a little recognition of that from you.
17
All I can say is the media needs to account for the role they played in this outcome.
21
Where is Hillary in all this learned analysis? Where is that elephant, the sheer intolerability of her arrogance, her elitism, her... Oh we all know that list by now. If you want a one word answer to Trump's triumph, it's the H word.
4
This is a bit simplistic and we can over-analyze this (and I am sure we will) but I think it comes down to the fact that people couldn't stand Hillary Clinton more than they couldn't stand Donald Trump. The Democrats put up a flawed candidate who promised more of the same, who thought it was 'her turn' , that she was entitled to the presidency and had the appeal and warmth of a telephone pole. The electorate just wasn't having any of it.
So now we have given the keys to the White House to a man who is, in the words of Elizabeth Warren, "a thin-skinned, loud mouthed bully". The markets have already spoken about what they think of this election. I hope they are wrong; but I fear that they are right. We'll be paying for this fiasco for a long time.
So now we have given the keys to the White House to a man who is, in the words of Elizabeth Warren, "a thin-skinned, loud mouthed bully". The markets have already spoken about what they think of this election. I hope they are wrong; but I fear that they are right. We'll be paying for this fiasco for a long time.
6
I'm sorry, Tom, you give trump way too much credit if you think he can learn or grow, or even understand the magnitude of the job. When you're perfect, there's no reason to change anything. He will be played by a Congress that will have no controls on it whatsoever.
This country is over, done, and it will take the rest of the world with it.
This country is over, done, and it will take the rest of the world with it.
25
I live in Minnesota where Jesse Ventura, a showman in tights, was elected governor. It was a shock (even to him, I think) We lived through embarrassment when we visited other state. But Jesse did rise to the occasion and he did fairly well. Now the U.S. has Mr. Trump, a non-career politician who ran as a Republican and will need to work with the Republican majority to get his goals accomplished. I, for one, am interested in seeing how he does. He laid out a plane for his first 100 days. I expect the NYT and other main stream newspapers to keep account of how he does. Will he rise to the occasion and actually represent all races, religions, etc. as he said in his victory speech?
45
Not too funny any more is it? For many months the satires of Trump including SNL should have been taken not so lightly. This is now very real and serious, after the fact.
9
What goes around, comes around.
This is like a bad dream that we will never wake up from for the next four years.
Let us hope that we can, once again, be hopeful in 2020.
This is like a bad dream that we will never wake up from for the next four years.
Let us hope that we can, once again, be hopeful in 2020.
6
Bernie would have beat him. Corporate Democrats take heed. Good luck to us all.
14
So leave! If nothing else, Trump's victory shows your arrogance and paternalistic attitude to the majority of Americans whom you feel inferior, but in reality, with whom you merely disagree. This is a victory for all Americans. No more PC. No more descent into being a corrupt banana republic. God Bless America. Get over it.
11
With Trump, it's all about the money. Anybody's money, as long as it ends up in his pocket. So Donald will continue his nastiness from a higher throne, while Melania bleats about how mean people are. Funny.
If I'd had to pick an issue for Melania it would have been skin cancer. As in, "Save your beautiful looks. My products are available at blah, blah, blah. Act now, and get a second jar absolutely free. Postage and handling not included."
If I'd had to pick an issue for Melania it would have been skin cancer. As in, "Save your beautiful looks. My products are available at blah, blah, blah. Act now, and get a second jar absolutely free. Postage and handling not included."
14
Thomas Friedman writes that he feels homeless in American because Donald Trump won. He says the people voted for him because they felt homeless in American. It seems to me that Mr. Friedman is the one that sees the outcome as a zero sum game.
4
Hmmm... seems to me that somebody got lazy today and plagiarized an old liberal's lamentation the day after Reagan one. The sky did not fall then and it won't now either.
9
The Americans who "wanted change so badly" that they elected one incompetent also returned a full complement of DC insiders.
Who will happily pursue the corporate anti-environment, anti-labor, Big Money, disenfranchisement agenda.
Which Trump will happily sign off because he's a "businessman" and because Ryan/McConnell will happily delegate all the limelight of the bully pulpit to him.
Who will happily pursue the corporate anti-environment, anti-labor, Big Money, disenfranchisement agenda.
Which Trump will happily sign off because he's a "businessman" and because Ryan/McConnell will happily delegate all the limelight of the bully pulpit to him.
21
you folks make me laugh sore losers doesn't even come close to it. friedman should lesve the country if he is so unhappy. he joins the rest of the liberal biased media who did everything in their power to paint Trump as the devil and hillary as a saint. give me a break where are the unbiased reproters of yester year. I know they are sucking up to the left wing politicians and elites so they can be told how smart they are and what wonderful columns they write or are fed. What the trump election means is maybe and I say maybe he will really be the person who brings change for the better of all not just a chosen few
9
Very sad commentary about feeling homeless in America, especially when you consider that Clinton won the popular vote by more than 140,000 votes.
12
Bernie Sanders was right. We needed a "revolution," just not THIS revolution.
Nonetheless, this column was hopeful, beautifully written and a spot-on analysis of a most dire situation.
Nonetheless, this column was hopeful, beautifully written and a spot-on analysis of a most dire situation.
8
America has just elected the Sorcerer's Apprentice. When is the Sorcerer (GOP) coming back to undo the damage and put the Apprentice in his place?
5
My thoughts are... Americans deserve donald. :)
At the end of the day, nothing will truly change. Those of us who are earning six figures won't have any issues. --Just sip your tea and be entertained.
At the end of the day, nothing will truly change. Those of us who are earning six figures won't have any issues. --Just sip your tea and be entertained.
7
Do all those white Americans who voted for "change" realize that they will lose their healthcare when Trump and the Republican congress invalidate the Affordable Care Act? Which probably one of the first things they will do. And anyone who has a 401K will see it plunge today. You want "change"? You got it.
15
With respect, Mr. Friedman, I think you should read your article with a critical eye. Is it really "disturbing" that people disagreed with you? Are Mayor Giuliani and Speaker Gingrich really the worst of people? Do you really believe that your American peers who voted for Mr. Trump are, in a word, ignorant? Could it be that it's EXACTLY that mentality that drove people to vote for Mr. Trump? For myself, I voted for Mr. Trump because he wasn't Sec. Clinton. While she may not be boarish or inarticulate, her ideas are extremely threatening to individual responsibility and freedom. THAT is why we have Mr. Trump (at least by my standards). It's not because I fear my different speaking / looking neighbors. It's not because I don't understand geopolitics. It's not because I hate women. Stop looking as yourself as the professor and start acting like the student. Then, maybe, you won't feel so homeless. Surround yourself with others who disagree with you. Learn from them. Then, maybe, you won't feel so homeless.
47
If Clarence Thomas could sit on Supreme Court bench, if George W. Bush (and Chaney) who invaded Iraq without provocation and spawned ISIS in the Middle East and the world, could get elected twice into the White House, yes, Donald Trump too can get into the White House. That shows the caliber of a majority of us, Americans. We are showing to the whole world how dysfunctional and disruptive democracy can be.
17
"The Republican Party and Donald Trump will have control of all the levers of government,..." The fact is that Trump had nor probably has a vision other than his populist blather and his own self aggrandizement. BUT, with a Republican majority in Senate and House, we will now have the entire Republican agenda, a mix of the moderate with a good dose and edge of the "tea party," for the next four years. When Obamacare is repealed, when "entitlements" are reduced, when trade treaties are ripped up, those who voted for Trump will find themselves the targets, too late to save themselves.
9
Thomas Friedman writes, "Trump has to become. . . someone who tells people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear."
Dare I say, is he not such a person already? I think we're all being given a message today. A number of messages. And knowing the Times' readership, these are certainly not messages they want to hear. But they would be wise to listen, rather than dismissing and insulting the majority of Americans who have spoken.
Dare I say, is he not such a person already? I think we're all being given a message today. A number of messages. And knowing the Times' readership, these are certainly not messages they want to hear. But they would be wise to listen, rather than dismissing and insulting the majority of Americans who have spoken.
4
The majority conned by a con man.
Deplorable James Comey.
A less-safe, less rich world.
Deplorable James Comey.
A less-safe, less rich world.
10
I wrote a week ago that if Americans elect this guy I will despair about what kind of people we are. I despair.
11
Well, Republicans own it all for now, including the Groper-in-Chief. He's theirs. Their his. Let it ring out: Republicans BELIEVE IN NOTHING because the President-elect literally believes in nothing, and they believe what he believes, which is nothing. They are the nakedly amoral party. Forget their high address as the party of Lincoln. Their all Nixonites now. They've got to own it.
11
Thanks Friedman. More sniveling and whining. And you get paid for it!
Maybe in the years leading up to the next election you can try something novel: open your eyes and ears and make an effort to see what's really happening in this country. This is the real world we live in, not your own little personal fantasy.
Maybe in the years leading up to the next election you can try something novel: open your eyes and ears and make an effort to see what's really happening in this country. This is the real world we live in, not your own little personal fantasy.
11
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: the unspeakable has just achieved the unthinkable. God help us all!
15
So quick to accuse Trump of divisiveness, of causing poor Mr. Friedman to be fearful. So slow to recognize Clinton's divisiveness and causes of fear.
So typical.
So typical.
5
C'mon man you know trump can't change and all his fans don't want change. They want things to be the way they used to be. That's not change.
10
To quote a future former President " elections have consequences"
10
Tom, let's give it some time. Sure there's healing to do. If the Press (including you) all political parties, and the people (me) don't play along we're not going to be any better than we are right now. And could be worse off. Don't try to make money off of this.
Now those of you who voted for this man will get a taste of the real trump...promises and nothing else. Donald cares about himself folks in case you didn't notice how he reacted to negative comments directed at him during the election cycle. He will not come through for you that is for certain.
10
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." - H. L. Mencken
6
Not that long ago those "pollsters" predicted Sanders had a better chance of beating Donald... now we will never know but we do know that a large percentage of "college educated white voters" cast their votes to the demise of this country
2
I believe Trump's candidacy was in the cards after 2008. No one in the political or economic establishment paid a price. The only group that paid a price was the white working class...who, yesterday, finally called in the debt.
4
We almost lost America with Nixon and Watergate. Now we're again on the cusp of fascism.
8
Tom, it is good that you feel adrift and homeless. You elites have gotten what you deserve. Foisting Iraq on us, pretending that doubling the debt doesn't matter, watching blithely as store fronts across the country are shuttered. You gave us the Clinton cartel and pretended that your flaws were less then the other guy's. You defended open borders when a smart gorilla knows that increasing the unskilled labor pool is destroying the lower blue collar class. you elites have enjoyed your segregated homes and class opportunities. The rabble has brought out the pitchforks and you are right to scurry to your gated communities. Finally, how you pundits assumed that Hillary would have stabilized a world in flames after the rubble left by Obama's "deer in a headlight's" foreign policy is your largest mis-step. Enjoy your crow.
7
Like many readers I very much fear a Trump presidency. I believe he will do a lot of harm. His total lack of preparation and lack of depth of knowledge for the office is troubling. Most troubling is that it's difficult to ignore the racial make up his voters. We will now have a president endorsed by the KKK. So we should not ignore that the election is largely a white backlash. But, I do believe it's the last gasp of that white backlash; after a step back progress will continue.
7
I'm with you, brother. And as the mother of a transgender child, I am terrified. A Republican President and Congress -- this feckless gang of bigots and hatemongers -- who know what bitter fruit they will yield?
10
With the GOP willingness to destroy everything they don't 100% agree on, it's just a matter of time before a broad coalition will pull together an impeachment.
2
I hear you, Tom, but here in NYC not much will change. We have our own NYState of Health exchange, we had abortion rights years before Roe v. Wade, we remain a bastion of liberalism and will continue to be. Now I can commiserate with all those White Fascists Trumpists who barked about America is out of touch with them. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, we shall see how a poorly educated demagogue leads a poorly educated populace of White people out of there despair. 'Taint gonna happen.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
11
Tom, I read your books and Op-Eds and I'm afraid you have been in the midst of the arrogant elite which caused this disaster - impatient with less far-seeing and intelligent folks who live average lives in old fashioned places. For decades they've been told to trust you all while the jobs left, the rich hot richer and their dreams withered. I am devastated that your hubris brought us to this point.
8
I am simply in shock and scared to death of the future for my kids and grandson. Please tell me this was a nightmare that I just cant wake up from. Trump is scary enough, but a full republican congress in addition to him. What kind of damage will they do to our country that was so fragile from the last time republicans held all the power.
9
You have been wrong about everything up to this point. Why should anyone believe you about what a Trump Presidency is going to be
4
Thank You Debbie Wasserman Schultz for president Trump.
Feel the Bern.
Feel the Bern.
1
Unity? When was the last time you saw something like that? Did it seem like we were pretending it in 1976 or 1964 or 1952 or 1932?
Anguish Mr. Friedman? That's the way a majority of American workers felt for decades but you didn't see that and didn't care. Sanders would have been a good alternative, an honest man but you berated him and propped a corrupt candidate no one wanted. Think about it!
8
I hope the stock market crashes. His voters will get a quick look at real despair. Instant feedback for checking the wrong box. Cash karma for the hatred they have let loose in their own hearts.
2
Well done Director Comey
6
I do not accept the Republican dictatorship of the government at every level.
4
The master salesman has done it again. Promise and sell, whatever the ethical and moral costs. The broken majority falls for the play and now he calls the shots. Trump wins, Republican voters & democracy has lost. However, lets see how the game plays out as the armed majority will be looking to collect their share of the spoils. Game on.
1
A wonderful piece Tom. I posted the following, before reading your eloquent and heartfelt essay - I hope you and I are both right about the possibilities...
Is it possible that Trump's ego will play to the benefit of the U.S. people. Maybe Trump is looking to the future, say 100 years out and thinking, "I want to have people look back and write about me as the greatest president that ever lived - what do I have to do to achieve that.' While he said some very bad things, he also did what most (I almost wrote every) politicians do - they say whatever they feel will get them elected. Isn't it possible that, now that he's elected, the 'greatness' of him will want to become a reality and he won't do all the things he said he would do when campaigning - just like the others? Isn't it possible?
Is it possible that Trump's ego will play to the benefit of the U.S. people. Maybe Trump is looking to the future, say 100 years out and thinking, "I want to have people look back and write about me as the greatest president that ever lived - what do I have to do to achieve that.' While he said some very bad things, he also did what most (I almost wrote every) politicians do - they say whatever they feel will get them elected. Isn't it possible that, now that he's elected, the 'greatness' of him will want to become a reality and he won't do all the things he said he would do when campaigning - just like the others? Isn't it possible?
3
I am guilty of having called our new President the Embodiment of Greed".
I have labeled our Land as a "Land of Disparity". I will, for now, hang a Black Flag. I still cal our country a Great Country. How can I actually hope that Donald J. Trump was Lying so much....just so he could Win? Why has my common phrase been, for months "Sometimes, the sanest
reaction to an insane situation....is Insanity"? My favorite book title is: "I Have Abandoned My Search for Truth, and am Now Looking for a Good
Fantasy" (Ashleigh Brilliant, published 1948). Now we must pray for Leaders who actually Serve, because we seem to have so many "Elected Non-Servants".
I have labeled our Land as a "Land of Disparity". I will, for now, hang a Black Flag. I still cal our country a Great Country. How can I actually hope that Donald J. Trump was Lying so much....just so he could Win? Why has my common phrase been, for months "Sometimes, the sanest
reaction to an insane situation....is Insanity"? My favorite book title is: "I Have Abandoned My Search for Truth, and am Now Looking for a Good
Fantasy" (Ashleigh Brilliant, published 1948). Now we must pray for Leaders who actually Serve, because we seem to have so many "Elected Non-Servants".
1
No, Mr. Friedman you are not homeless in America. America is your only home. But it's a big home and you are not the only tenant - you share the home with others whether you like it or not. We, who live in New York frequently forget that America is a big home. How many of us took cross-country trips? How many of us have seen how rest of tenants live? I have, I've seen. But, in my humble opinion DNC has not. Political arm of Democrats has become detached from populous. No, Trump did not win - Democrats lost.
7
People can talk all they want about what happened, but for me it is all about gender. People in this less than great country decided that a bat crazy MAN was better than a woman. This is more of a gender issue than people including Thomas Friedman, of whom I have great respect, want to discuss.
131
You're in anguish now, Friedman, but where were you when you were blathering on about the olive tree and Lexus (or whatever it was) and supporting the invasion of Iraq? At your high perch up on the New York Times' op-ed section, you have a pulpit and you've done nothing but support globalization policies that have callously and selfishly enabled a climate that begat Trump -- one that enriched your rich pals and -- despite your prognostications otherwise -- have impoverished the rest of us created this us vs. them scenario.
5
"Hope" is not a plan. And just as with Brexit- I believe the media was a "huge" part of what just happened. When I heard a female Trump supporter say she voted for him because now "he will restore our health care", I have to ask who gave her that idea? And why was the mainstream media not able to disabuse her of that egregious misconception? And why was Trump able to say, or imply, things like that without enormous media push-back?
7
All I can say is what Marlon Brandon said in Apocalypse Now, "the horror, the horror". But this is neither a bad movie nor a bad dream. It's what you get when the lowest common denominator of a nation has lost the power to distinguish between outright malice, hatred of "the other" and dishonesty, and truthfulness, logic and common sense.
6
Tom,
I am more frightened by the blatant dishonesty in the liberal news machine.
Sandy
I am more frightened by the blatant dishonesty in the liberal news machine.
Sandy
9
Mr. Friedman. Your friend, Ms Lesley Goldwasser's statement was very, very wise. Too bad that neither the DNC nor the RNC saw it that way.
What surprised me in this article was your statement; "With Donald Trump now elected president, I have more fear ...."
The divisions in our country which lead to this moment did not occur overnight. However, they do seem to have been mostly ignored until this morning.
Our real dilemma now is whether the politicians, who make up these two committees, can come to realize the wisdom and reality of Ms Goldwasser's statement. Please send it to all in Washington D.C.
What surprised me in this article was your statement; "With Donald Trump now elected president, I have more fear ...."
The divisions in our country which lead to this moment did not occur overnight. However, they do seem to have been mostly ignored until this morning.
Our real dilemma now is whether the politicians, who make up these two committees, can come to realize the wisdom and reality of Ms Goldwasser's statement. Please send it to all in Washington D.C.
Unless he starts a nuclear war, which is very possible, Trump's victory is a good thing. America finally has the unifier it so badly needs. He will be such a disaster that thoughtful people everywhere - white, African-American, Latino, gay, straight, liberal, conservative - people that care about this country and care about ALL of those who live in it will finally come together to fight the greedy racists who have taken America so far off track over the last 30 years. No alcoholic or drug addict can get better until they bottom out. So there's no where to go but up from here.
7
Well, not the mandate you were looking for? It is difficult to process this result. But it is now clear a majority of voters are so disgusted with the status quo, with the Washington establishment, and yes, with Hillary, they actually elected a very flawed Mr. Trump. Like Tom Friedman all I can do now is hope and pray he becomes a great president. Hoping for a disaster does me or our country no good.
2
On the bright side - nobody has to worry about their Obamacare premiums going up next year.
And now we know that anyone, literally anyone, can become president of that once-great nation nestled between Canada and Mexico.
And now we know that anyone, literally anyone, can become president of that once-great nation nestled between Canada and Mexico.
5
I worked my butt off for the Clinton campaign. That said, we need to be better than Mitch McConnell, and take solace in the fact that we still have, in Congress, such sane stalwarts as Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Charles Schumer and Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren and a few others. We need to try to work with Pres. Trump, and not against him. Obamacare can be improved. ISIS needs to be beaten. We can hope that the president-elect didn't mean 98% of the garbage he spewed during the campaign. Maybe he'll ask Loretta Lynch to stay on as attorney general. Call me a dreamer, but how about Barack Obama as secretary of state? Maybe I'll be sane tomorrow. But we surviived the Civil War and the Great Depression and maybe we can survive this.
6
The angry people hoping to be helped by Trump are in for a rude awakening.
Friedman is right; it's all on the GOP now. Put up or shut up.
On the other hand, Trump's people may be quite content to hate. Maybe that's what it's really about.
Friedman is right; it's all on the GOP now. Put up or shut up.
On the other hand, Trump's people may be quite content to hate. Maybe that's what it's really about.
2
In Poland, after a 2015 election win of alt-right with a xenophobic agenda, the incidences of racially motivated violence went up 11 times.
In UK, after Brexit vote, British citizens started killing (yes) Polish immigrants on the streets (yes, everybody in the British society condemns this).
This is what happens when people realize their hatreds are actually widely shared and common.
You might deplore "political correctness taboos", but after you throw these taboos away, you get on the streets "us" killing "them" for the crime of walking "our" turf.
So everybody withdraws to own turf and barricades there. And then really dark shapes emerge from the shadows, against isolated islands of people in fear.
In UK, after Brexit vote, British citizens started killing (yes) Polish immigrants on the streets (yes, everybody in the British society condemns this).
This is what happens when people realize their hatreds are actually widely shared and common.
You might deplore "political correctness taboos", but after you throw these taboos away, you get on the streets "us" killing "them" for the crime of walking "our" turf.
So everybody withdraws to own turf and barricades there. And then really dark shapes emerge from the shadows, against isolated islands of people in fear.
5
The Democratic party is finished. They colluded to give you the most distrusted candidate ever and then are shocked at the result?
Until the coward Corporate Dems are gone forever the Republicans will rule this nation.
Until the coward Corporate Dems are gone forever the Republicans will rule this nation.
1
"But Donald Trump cannot be a winner unless he undergoes a radical change in personality and politics and becomes everything he was not in this campaign. He has to become a healer instead of a divider; a compulsive truth-teller rather than a compulsive liar..." etc, etc, etc...
What rosy colored alternate reality do you live in? It's not going to happen. We've seen who Trump is. He is what he is. He's the most honest man out there today because he doesn't hide anything.
Which bodes badly for all of us.
What rosy colored alternate reality do you live in? It's not going to happen. We've seen who Trump is. He is what he is. He's the most honest man out there today because he doesn't hide anything.
Which bodes badly for all of us.
3
As horrifying as this is, I am not really that surprised. The poorest, most marginalized voters were ignored for too long. The writing was on the wall, even if no one wanted to believe it. The campaigns of BOTH were appalling, but the fact that a candidate like Hillary, with TV, news media and millions of dollars behind her, could not offer up a better result than this speaks volumes about what a weak, lackluster candidate she is. Many voted not FOR Trump, but AGAINST Hillary.
2
Friedman is wrong; it IS about the income gap. America was founded in capitalism and there has always been an implicit social contract between the elitist 1%ers and the average American. So long as the middle class had its sliver of the economic pie, it tolerated the shenanigans of the rich. The Credit Crisis destroyed that relationship and created the uncertainty that allowed someone like Trump to fan the flames of xenophobia and immigrants taking our jobs away. How do we restore and elarge the Middle Class? Nobody knows and if Trump's economic plans push us into a deep recession, we will see another populist uprising. Ironically, if such a recession is bad enough to warrant another New Deal, it may usher in an age of socialism and the demise of capitalism as we know it. I'm embarrassed to be an American and that won't change for a long time.
5
Ah, the "people's billionaire" has taken over. What a relief!
I thought for several moments last night that that terrible woman would make it in. With only 8 investigations into Benghazi, surely the 9nth will put her in jail!.
She was never the honest decent hard nosed businessman, who turned a mere 230 million into bankruptcy 6 times, only to come out the most powerful man on the planet.
And that Ryan character-opposing Fox News' special chosen one- how dare he!he needs to be locked up too!
I hope, the first thing, he gets people who supported him extra bonus points they can use to get into one of his many lovely casino's. All those that profess to be "dumbocrats" should be locked up! and everybody who says bad things about our leader! Our leader is precious! Praise him!
I thought for several moments last night that that terrible woman would make it in. With only 8 investigations into Benghazi, surely the 9nth will put her in jail!.
She was never the honest decent hard nosed businessman, who turned a mere 230 million into bankruptcy 6 times, only to come out the most powerful man on the planet.
And that Ryan character-opposing Fox News' special chosen one- how dare he!he needs to be locked up too!
I hope, the first thing, he gets people who supported him extra bonus points they can use to get into one of his many lovely casino's. All those that profess to be "dumbocrats" should be locked up! and everybody who says bad things about our leader! Our leader is precious! Praise him!
3
All I want to do right now is find some good news somewhere, anywhere.
Maybe if I had some Dramamine.
Maybe if I had some Dramamine.
I am truly shocked and saddened. How could our country let us down and nominate this man for the highest position. A very, very sad day.
1
Now is the time for lawyers to mobilize and in court defend the rights we already have that need preserving. We are still a nation of laws.
2
I said before that the one Good element of Trump's "Run" was that he brought to the Surface....so Much that is Under the Surface. I did not believe he really Wanted to Be President....but he Just wanted to Win.
I have called him, our Now President a Sociopath, a Psychopath, mostly because of his free-floating Lies. I so hope I have been So Wrong. I guess he is our "Elected Servant", but I am broken....for now. My Fears are for my Grandchildren. Many questions now survive....after this horrendous election....One question is "What is Truth"?
I have called him, our Now President a Sociopath, a Psychopath, mostly because of his free-floating Lies. I so hope I have been So Wrong. I guess he is our "Elected Servant", but I am broken....for now. My Fears are for my Grandchildren. Many questions now survive....after this horrendous election....One question is "What is Truth"?
2
The election of autocrats by democratic means is not unprecedented. In recent years we have watched as Netanyahu, Duterte, Putin, Berlusconi, and other men have played on the frustration, fears, and anger of "the people" to gain elected power. (They are always "strong men," never women.)
The common thread that motivates their supporters is fear, and the means they use to stoke the fear is anger. Blaming others ensures that, no matter how great the failures or corruption of the regime once it takes power, it will be able to harness that anger to maintain it.
Their villains include Jewish bankers and Islamic terrorists; Arabs and Muslims; ISIS, Al Qaeda, Sunnis or Shiites; undocumented immigrants from Mexico, all Latinos, women, blacks, gays, the disabled, those who have "taken our jobs away"; the Ivory Tower, Wall Street, industrialists, outsourcers, Europe, Asia, South America ...
In Donald Trump's America, the villains are whoever is not present at his rallies.
What should worry us all is that over the coming years, holding the reins of power in Congress, the Executive branch, SCOTUS, and legislatures, the Republicans will do as they like, no matter the harm to "the people" who elected them. To keep "the people" riled up, they will have no choice but to continually intensify their vilification of "the other," whoever it might be from week to week.
Fear motivates people to anger; autocrats know how to manipulate fear to their benefit. We shall all suffer.
The common thread that motivates their supporters is fear, and the means they use to stoke the fear is anger. Blaming others ensures that, no matter how great the failures or corruption of the regime once it takes power, it will be able to harness that anger to maintain it.
Their villains include Jewish bankers and Islamic terrorists; Arabs and Muslims; ISIS, Al Qaeda, Sunnis or Shiites; undocumented immigrants from Mexico, all Latinos, women, blacks, gays, the disabled, those who have "taken our jobs away"; the Ivory Tower, Wall Street, industrialists, outsourcers, Europe, Asia, South America ...
In Donald Trump's America, the villains are whoever is not present at his rallies.
What should worry us all is that over the coming years, holding the reins of power in Congress, the Executive branch, SCOTUS, and legislatures, the Republicans will do as they like, no matter the harm to "the people" who elected them. To keep "the people" riled up, they will have no choice but to continually intensify their vilification of "the other," whoever it might be from week to week.
Fear motivates people to anger; autocrats know how to manipulate fear to their benefit. We shall all suffer.
2
I wonder about a lot of things, like the fate of the planet with a brand new pro-pollution government coming into power. Another thing I wonder about: How will this change Putin's plans?
1
You are responsible for this.
The country is dead and by its own hand.....
It's the shame that's so painful. 78 years of Pride, then shame.
There is no way back...even after he leaves. The great American experiment
is a hoax.......he's shown us who we are.....There is no forgetting
that image and what we look like.
It's the shame that's so painful. 78 years of Pride, then shame.
There is no way back...even after he leaves. The great American experiment
is a hoax.......he's shown us who we are.....There is no forgetting
that image and what we look like.
3
Shocking as the news is, let us remember ,ours is a democracy and is based on constitutional principles. A President is not a dictator even though as a candidate he might have shown himself to be. I did not support Trump the candidate but I will now support Trump the President so long as he adheres to the democratic principles upon which our Country was founded.
25
Goodbye, America the ignorant. God save the world.
2
Any idea that Trump will transform into a leader for all the people is a fantasy. He has shown us repeatedly who he is and he will never change. What you see is what you get. Just wait till he gets his Twitter account back.
2
OK, so now the Republicans, who in my mind are critical of everything Obama and everything Democrat but have no answers but to repeal Obamacare and cut taxes, finally have the opportunity to "fix things." I will be interested to see what they come up with. (Hopefully not another war.) And if they don't "fix things", I will not be surprised.
2
Me, too, Tom. Homeless in America.
You and your colleagues at the NYT should have promoted a real primary process in the Democratic Party and not a coronation and you should learn from this experience .
1
Instead of wallowing in despair, as the world turns upside down, let's first acknowledge that we have been drinking our own NYT and MSNBC Kool - Aid for months re Pesident Elect Trump and his supporters. Not to mention how great his campaign was for said readership and viewership numbers. Personally, instead of of the numerous how could this happen editorials, I would like some practical op-ed analysis of how I explain this to my young daughters without scaring the heck out of them.
2
I don't want another war. I don't want Putin to take more land. I don't want to lose my right to choose whether I carry a child. I don't want my friends to lose their right to marry the person they choose to love. I want kindness. I want generosity. I want hope. I think Donald J. Trump is the worst thing to happen to the USA in it's history. I don't know what to do.
8
What a wonderful opportunity for reflection. They are crying on NPR. All the folk who characterized his supporters as deplorables have their outcome. Can't recall the name of the political cartoonist who gave his Nixon representation a shave upon his election. Oliphant? I'm willing to be grown up and go along with the campaign's closing theme, 'You can't always get what you want?' I voted for and do thank the Clinton's and Obama for taking us a long way, but for me, they took us just a little too far. We are going to see people leave the country. Goodbye. It has been so divisive that the call for unity feels good. The call for unity means common effort with the people who elected him as well as those who tried to defeat him. You know, Americans.
1
You are too angry and resentful at this moment to be writing opinion articles. Breathe in Love....Breathe out Fear.
Our home is going up for sale in a few days. Not sure where we are going but will not live in the USA while Donald J Trump is heading it.
3
As a white privileged male, you are frightened. Imagine how anyone outside of white straight America must feel. It was bad enough before but now it is open warfare on all people of color, non-Christians, LGBT and pro-choice people. All because the white minority in this country feel they have lost their country. That they fooled themselves into voting for what they think is their own best interest. But they have turned a blind eye to the struggles of the rest of America, the takers in their mind.
3
Pathetic Friedman - pathetic!!! A great victory!!!!
1
I'm thankful that my parents aren't alive to see this.
2
Feeling homeless in America? How about all the dumb Hollywood types who stated they would leave the country in the advent of a Trump Presidency? I will certainly contribute to the collection for a one way plane ticket for them if they give up their US citizenship - Friedman included. See how "homeless" you feel elsewhere.
3
Never have I been ashamed to be an American - until now.
5
I saddest thing is that Trump will not be reading your column. He does not like to read.
3
Well if only those white, middle class people with there average education just studied poetry at Vasser and took over their Dad's hedge fund, this would have been very different.
Maybe if Mr Friedman stopped hanging around these type of people at Davos and took a road trip to the pan handle, he would get it.
The problem here is that the NYT is classist. If you are not a rich, urban American - you most be a ignorant racist. Title "low-educated white man" should be average/middle educated. The constant derogatory nature of the label could lead Chomsky to write a book or two.
Maybe if Mr Friedman stopped hanging around these type of people at Davos and took a road trip to the pan handle, he would get it.
The problem here is that the NYT is classist. If you are not a rich, urban American - you most be a ignorant racist. Title "low-educated white man" should be average/middle educated. The constant derogatory nature of the label could lead Chomsky to write a book or two.
5
Well Tommy, the #NeverHillary crowd - as much responsible for this election as the Trump supporters - wish you good luck in your new home and career in Canada. The border is North by the way.
2
With your lucrative speaking fees you feel homeless in America? Imagine what the people on the wrong end of the growing income inequality gap feel.
3
Trump will be the president. He will never be my President. I am sitting home trying to find ways to handle this. No matter what I say to myself, it doesn't take away the huge disappointment I feel. How we got here is complicated and in some ways simple. My mantra, at least for now is: I am an American first and a Democrat second.
We know he will not be the one leading this country. It'll be those republicans behind the scene who will sway our country this way and that. He doesn't know anything and he'll need to delegate.
May God have mercy on our souls.
We know he will not be the one leading this country. It'll be those republicans behind the scene who will sway our country this way and that. He doesn't know anything and he'll need to delegate.
May God have mercy on our souls.
3
"..a compulsive truth-teller rather than a compulsive liar.."
I would contend that despite his obvious shortcomings in the truth department, he actually appealed to a lot of people precisely because he dared speak taboo truths that are thoughtcrimes in leftist discourse.
For instance, massive illegal immigration of poorly educated people is not necessarily desirable, irrespective of their race. Yet to say this straightforward fact has become verboten in leftist circles and is shouted down as "racist".
Another issue that got him a lot of notoriety (and support) were his statements against Islam, yet it is true that Islam does have deep rooted doctrinal issues; few if any Islamic countries permit conversion out of Islam or an equal status to women. Moreover there is a repeated pattern of Islamic immigrants forming ghettos and being sources of crime and militancy as we've seen in countries as diverse as Thailand, the Philippines, India, U.K., France and not least, the USA. Yet to point this out is to invite hysterical denunciations of "islamophobia" from the presumably "islamophilic" left.
This dogmatism has led to the result we see today.
Let me end with a quote from Cromwell:
"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken".
I would contend that despite his obvious shortcomings in the truth department, he actually appealed to a lot of people precisely because he dared speak taboo truths that are thoughtcrimes in leftist discourse.
For instance, massive illegal immigration of poorly educated people is not necessarily desirable, irrespective of their race. Yet to say this straightforward fact has become verboten in leftist circles and is shouted down as "racist".
Another issue that got him a lot of notoriety (and support) were his statements against Islam, yet it is true that Islam does have deep rooted doctrinal issues; few if any Islamic countries permit conversion out of Islam or an equal status to women. Moreover there is a repeated pattern of Islamic immigrants forming ghettos and being sources of crime and militancy as we've seen in countries as diverse as Thailand, the Philippines, India, U.K., France and not least, the USA. Yet to point this out is to invite hysterical denunciations of "islamophobia" from the presumably "islamophilic" left.
This dogmatism has led to the result we see today.
Let me end with a quote from Cromwell:
"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken".
5
Ah, Mr Friedman, neither here nor in your pre-election column did I notice any acknowledgement of the case against Hillary, and without that, your case against Mr Trump came across as grossly ignorant or merely partisan. I can respect someone comparing them and concluding that he, or she, is worse, far more easily than I can respect someone (a liberal Ann Coulter, if I may) who denounces him without noting the case against her. The case against her ability: in her current job as Presidential candidate she was underperforming (Tuesday surprised me how badly) against a weak Republican; she'd underperformed against Bernie Sanders, despite cheating which goes to her character and to Mr Trump's charges of rigging; she'd underperformed against Candidate Obama eight years ago; her own chosen resume highlight in the first Demo debate ("smart power at its best") was Libya, which at best is debatably improved from Qadaffy; her husband succeeded as President only by dumping her and shacking up with Newt Gingrich who bipartisanly balanced the budget (sort of), reformed welfare, and let the economy grow...Slime clings to her...And she called some of the people she wanted to rule "irredeemable," which Mr Trump rightly noted was worse than "deplorable." How can a former Goldwater girl consider anyone irredeemable? These "elites" (really?) have given us massive debt among other problems. Mr Trump has at least noticed some of the problems and some of the condescension. Pray hard.
3
Welcome to democracy in all it's glory which includes respecting others' views. The republic will survive this, let's celebrity diversity.
3
You and Bruni and Krugman and Blow and Dowd have all proven yourselves out of touch, reporting from your couches and reaffirming the bicoastal Liberal mind-set that's foundational to your opinions. Calling Trump a bigot/racist/misogynist/narcissist pleased the choir and confirmed your own superiority, but went no further. The fourth estate has done us citizens a disservice by not reporting on America.
2
I read the other day that together the Clintons have 'earned' $230 MILLION in the past 15 years. Public servants are not supposed to make that kind of money. Certainly not while pretending to care about the poor and middle classes. Face it. It is a gigantic fraud - funded/leveraged in large part off tax payers.
And THAT is what went wrong with the Democrats. They became the former Republicans.
May work if you really are doing a GREAT job. But are you/we?
Look at the NYTimes. My go-to source for news. I trusted you to keep me informed. But you didn't know what was going on right under your noses.
There was arrogance. Lots. And now it's hard to see how the country we once so loved will survive. Or even the world.
And THAT is what went wrong with the Democrats. They became the former Republicans.
May work if you really are doing a GREAT job. But are you/we?
Look at the NYTimes. My go-to source for news. I trusted you to keep me informed. But you didn't know what was going on right under your noses.
There was arrogance. Lots. And now it's hard to see how the country we once so loved will survive. Or even the world.
2
Re.: "Homeless in America" (T. Freidman, NYT, 11/8/16)
Perhaps Trump believes that homeless people actually like sleeping under bridges or in tunnels and this is why he is promising to substantially invest in these types of infrastructure projects. They'll be a home for everyone in Trump's America, it just might not be the one you want.
Perhaps Trump believes that homeless people actually like sleeping under bridges or in tunnels and this is why he is promising to substantially invest in these types of infrastructure projects. They'll be a home for everyone in Trump's America, it just might not be the one you want.
3
Please give the man a chance. He knows he is a president elect. He will act accordingly, not theatrically. I've always said HRC is a flawed candidate. You do not select a candidate while he/she is under FBI investigation because it is too risky. IMHO Bernie should have been the candidate all along, but the DNC thought otherwise and rigged his chances.
1
Give him a chance. If this paper would give Trump half the respect he deserves, you might watch a great POTUS in action. No one out works DJT. Now he will work for America and all Americans. Watch the stock market recover quickly - just as it did with Brexit.
1
Tom, when are you fleeing for Canada?
2
It feels like 9/11 again, except this time the entire country just got hit.
2
It it is a cold, gray and dismal morning in Paris.
"The sun for sorrow will not show his head."
How true for so many of us.
"The sun for sorrow will not show his head."
How true for so many of us.
3
My prediction is that Trump is not worried about being called the worst president in US history. He wants to go down as the last president in US history.
NewsFlash: White House Reaction to Election
Obama Sends Comey to Guantanamo for Interrogation;
Issues Presidential Perpetual Pardon to the Clintons;
Starts Short-Timer Calendar
Obama Sends Comey to Guantanamo for Interrogation;
Issues Presidential Perpetual Pardon to the Clintons;
Starts Short-Timer Calendar
1
Don't be frightened America, simply because Trump won.
This is all rhetoric from the NYT, a newspaper that had predicted HRC's win by a large margin up until about 9pm when the votes actually started coming in.
This is all rhetoric from the NYT, a newspaper that had predicted HRC's win by a large margin up until about 9pm when the votes actually started coming in.
1
What a shame, Mr. Friedman.
You are a smart guy. To have such a childish tantrum, when your intellectual ability could be leading you in the direction of understanding.
The world is not flat. It is NOT a small world after all.
And we Americans have our own fig trees as well, except they are called Carrier Air Conditioning, Ford Motor Company, and many others.
Frightened for our unity? After eight years of the most divisive President in history? Give me a break!
You are a smart guy. To have such a childish tantrum, when your intellectual ability could be leading you in the direction of understanding.
The world is not flat. It is NOT a small world after all.
And we Americans have our own fig trees as well, except they are called Carrier Air Conditioning, Ford Motor Company, and many others.
Frightened for our unity? After eight years of the most divisive President in history? Give me a break!
3
You should be proud of Trump's victory. Your mindless prattle in support of policies that hurt the middle class caused the public to turn on the liberal press and thus the people the press support.
1
Well Mr. Friedman it is not your country anymore. It is Mr. Trump's country, him and his constituency. And he likes to put his name on what he owns. I would even venture to say it is Mr. Trump's party instead of the republican party. Wonder if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell will join the Trump Party?
2
Oh, Mr. Friedman, I must vigorously disagree with you. The United States electorate has made a mistake of catastrophic proportions. Donald Trump will not bring this country together. He made that plain throughout his campaign. He insulted and marginalized Hispanics, Muslims, women, and the handicapped. He behaved like a school-yard bully throughout the campaign. What makes you think he will change his tune now that he is President? Just because he said a few nice words in his victory speech? Did it not occur to you that he might be lying, as he has lied throughout his campaign? Donald Trump cares about Donald Trump, and nothing else. He has made bigotry, xenophobia, and sexism politically acceptable. He thinks he can bully the world into doing what he wants. To paraphrase "Game of Thrones," Donald Trump wants to burn this country to the ground, so that he can be king of the ashes. This morning, I am ashamed to be an American. I didn't vote for him, but we still elected a demagogue. May God have mercy on us all.
2
imagine what people of color are feeling. ..Trump campaigned on hate and bigotry and won. Racism us alive, strong and will live in the White House..as anAfrican-American, I am afraid. .so very afraid.
3
Well if you are liberal enough to tolerate radical islam on the corner of your street you should be able to tolerate the klan hood dear democrat.
Is no one going to comment on the lack of a concession speech and a thank you to her supporters? Such a pathetic candidate, such a graceless loser. Sending her campaign chairmen over to tell everyone to go home. Never in my 64 years have I seen the like. Good riddance.
1
Thank you New York Times for giving him an almost unlimited budget of free headlines.
1
Spare us the drama.
1
My Canadian relatives emailed me all night in shock. My relatives in Michigan apologized.
I second Barack Obama's sentiment that while I was not a Bush or McCain or Romney voter, I respected them as good people. Thinking they really did care about this country. I will never believe this of Donald Trump. I think he is souless. And I don't belong in the US if we want a racist and fraud in the WH.
I cried last night. Not for Hillary Clinton, but for my feeling of homelessness. The only thing I can do now is vote with my pocketbook. I will not visit FLA, NC, PA, WI, or MI. I will not buy their furniture, beer or cheese. They were angry? Now I AM!
I second Barack Obama's sentiment that while I was not a Bush or McCain or Romney voter, I respected them as good people. Thinking they really did care about this country. I will never believe this of Donald Trump. I think he is souless. And I don't belong in the US if we want a racist and fraud in the WH.
I cried last night. Not for Hillary Clinton, but for my feeling of homelessness. The only thing I can do now is vote with my pocketbook. I will not visit FLA, NC, PA, WI, or MI. I will not buy their furniture, beer or cheese. They were angry? Now I AM!
3
I am in Paris right now and the French nation is in shock, and so am I. We are through the looking glass, and it is frightening. Sinclair Lewis was prescient, he just was off by several decades. All hail President Windrip/Trump.
2
could not have said it better. Thank you.
This is probably how the aristocrats felt after the Bastille was stormed. There is another America that is apparently more real than your America, Mr. Friedman. You have been wrong on nearly every issue for about thirty years. Let's not try for forty. You must have a comfortable retirement plan set aside.....
1
No one cares about the elite. You don't have to deal with day to day issues. You get in your limo and go. You live above the fray.
1
HELP! I am in complete disbelief and despair. This is not America. Our long national nightmare has begun.
2
voting hatred what could go wrong?
3
Um, can someone give me the words to explain this to my 3rd grade class of Chinese, Latino, and African-American children this morning?
4
Like many of us, I am in shock, frightened, disgusted, stricken....I know enough about history and the rise of fascism--and the terrible hubris and materialistic ego-maniacal hateful ways of the far-right and Donald Trump--to predict that our country is in for some terrible heart-breaking times.
Racism, misogyny, bias, obtuse nationalism and ignorance have won the day, Hillary Clinton has been shafted by the FBI, and we, the American people, have been fooled into electing a small-minded huckster to lead us.
I don't see any rational way to get out of this terrible mess. It is very hard not to despair.
Racism, misogyny, bias, obtuse nationalism and ignorance have won the day, Hillary Clinton has been shafted by the FBI, and we, the American people, have been fooled into electing a small-minded huckster to lead us.
I don't see any rational way to get out of this terrible mess. It is very hard not to despair.
5
Well, Mr. Friedman, there's always Canada. Don't let the door hit you, as they say.
1
"And for the first time, I feel homeless in America."
Tom, don't take it so hard. For years, I've had to read your columns in which you name the world leaders with whom you've shared a meal...and then breathlessly reported to us readers, based on that meal, not only the thoughts of your host, but by extrapolation, the thoughts of the entire country from which your dinner guest hailed.
You were generally wrong, as in Arab Spring wrong.
You just forgot to have "dinner" with anyone in Appalachia, the Rust Belt, the small towns and farm communities who are drowning in drugs and debt and who do not have time to ponder the unfairness of transgender males not being permitted access to the girls bathroom.
So, you are not "homeless," Tom. You will always be welcome in the hallways of the NYT. You know, the building which sits in the area of Manhattan cleaned up by Rudy Guiliani.
We can have lunch.
Tom, don't take it so hard. For years, I've had to read your columns in which you name the world leaders with whom you've shared a meal...and then breathlessly reported to us readers, based on that meal, not only the thoughts of your host, but by extrapolation, the thoughts of the entire country from which your dinner guest hailed.
You were generally wrong, as in Arab Spring wrong.
You just forgot to have "dinner" with anyone in Appalachia, the Rust Belt, the small towns and farm communities who are drowning in drugs and debt and who do not have time to ponder the unfairness of transgender males not being permitted access to the girls bathroom.
So, you are not "homeless," Tom. You will always be welcome in the hallways of the NYT. You know, the building which sits in the area of Manhattan cleaned up by Rudy Guiliani.
We can have lunch.
3
"...do you, Mr. Jones?"
I'm afraid I don't see any silver lining. Yours, that he never meant a word he said, only makes me feel sicker. A dangerous, compulsive liar is on his way to the White House & I have no idea what he'll do when he gets there. A man who lies, steals, cheats, degrades & humiliates anyone who opposes him or that he just doesn't like is poised to be our next president.
I haven't been able to stop crying. It can't get any worse than this, Tom.
I haven't been able to stop crying. It can't get any worse than this, Tom.
3
Mr. Friedman,
Your analysis of Mr. Trump's victory- a feeling of "homelessness" on the part of nativists- is much too generous. Mr. Trump won because people are greedy and neither understand nor even care that they are part of a community.
Your analysis of Mr. Trump's victory- a feeling of "homelessness" on the part of nativists- is much too generous. Mr. Trump won because people are greedy and neither understand nor even care that they are part of a community.
1
I just awoke with the horrible feeling one has after a particularly bad nightmare, and then remember it wasn't one at all, it really happened.
How do I explain this to my children? To myself? Moreover, where can we go? This isn't my country any longer and I no longer pledge allegiance.
How do I explain this to my children? To myself? Moreover, where can we go? This isn't my country any longer and I no longer pledge allegiance.
1
I don't know if anyone has yet mentioned this, but one positive side-effect of this election is that the Clintons and their scandals may finally be put out to pasture. That isn't to say that Hillary is without assets, but she was a weak, weak candidate.
3
Even IF Trump becomes the leader you hope for, how can we ever forget that so many Americans voted for a man who boasted about sexually assaulting women (and had women testify that he did just that); who denigrated immigrants, including the family of a fallen soldier; who appealed to racists by denying the citizenship of our first Black President; and who threatened only to accept the results of the election if "I won". How do we get over that!
89
I am emotionally divorcing myself from the American people. I never fully appreciated the phrase "stranger in a strange land" until now.
6
Tom: weep for the realization that either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders could have easily beaten Donald Trump. But the Democratic Party establishment and most of the media decided eight years ago and now, that Hillary Clinton was the chosen candidate. Americans rejected her then and now. She is a brilliant women with many attiributes but it should be clear that forever reasons, she is simply not electable as President.
4
Seems like the GOP finds a way to tank the markets and the economy every 5-10 years, whether by war, financial meltdown or touting loony policies. Each time I see myself working a few more years to make up for the setback. At this rate, I may never retire, assuming I still have a job, that is.
5
Trump has won and in the process marginalized every minority group including women. Does the electorate who voted for him understand they, too, have been marginalized? He will not and cannot deliver on any of his promises and then what do we all do?
5
We can only hope that Mr. Trump will mellow once he absorbs the importance of his new responsibilities. If he doesn't, think about dusting off those 1950's bomb shelter plans.
1
" ... But Donald Trump cannot be a winner unless he undergoes a radical change in personality and politics and becomes everything he was not in this campaign. He has to become a healer instead of a divider; a compulsive truth-teller rather than a compulsive liar; ..."
No he does not and he is also not capable of change.
And why should he?
After all, this is how he won.
So of course he will stay true to the only thing he ever was true, to himself.
He won't change the course of Trump universe.
He has won big time.
Stop whining from your ivory tower and get real.
As long as you, like so many others in the media, live in a bubble you will never see what happens outside in the real world.
Even less being able to understand it.
Trump won because his voters wanted change from those carefully selected words with no real change behind.
They felt that they were not the focus of politics but something else.
So they did what democracy is best in doing, they raised their vote and decided on change.
It is exactly the same that Obama voters did after Bush.
Only this time it is what the media and the self styled intellectual elite did not wanted to see.
No he does not and he is also not capable of change.
And why should he?
After all, this is how he won.
So of course he will stay true to the only thing he ever was true, to himself.
He won't change the course of Trump universe.
He has won big time.
Stop whining from your ivory tower and get real.
As long as you, like so many others in the media, live in a bubble you will never see what happens outside in the real world.
Even less being able to understand it.
Trump won because his voters wanted change from those carefully selected words with no real change behind.
They felt that they were not the focus of politics but something else.
So they did what democracy is best in doing, they raised their vote and decided on change.
It is exactly the same that Obama voters did after Bush.
Only this time it is what the media and the self styled intellectual elite did not wanted to see.
2
I am almost wordless with grief. Mr. Friedman echoes the concerns I have for our country. How could the Times and all the polls have so badly misread the numbers of people so unhappy with government status quo that they would believe that Trump by himself can turn back the clock to an America that in their minds used to be.The comment by sdavidc9 below seems to be an accurate analysis. The truth also lies in the changes required to live in a fast changing and more global world. I am reminded of the exchange between Nick and Gatsby in Fitzgerald's classic when Nick says, "You can't repeat the past," but Gatsby naively responds, "Of course you can." No, we cannot, but only pray for a future that will not mean the downfall of our own civilization. Sadly, we are not immune to the possibility.
3
There is a large bloc of Trump voters for whom a better economy is incidental, because they're doing all right economically the way it is. I refer to the so-called values voters, who have been chomping at the bit for decades waiting to get a chance to overturn Roe v. Wade. Those fine upstanding church-goers in Iowa and Wisconsin and Michigan and other midwestern states smell blood now and won't rest until they've managed to fill three or four SCOTUS seats with young, ultra-conservative judges.
9
It is ironic that a majority of Americans want change at any price, but have re-elected the same Congressmen who have ignored them for 8 years in their pursuit for "control".
164
Say goodbye to Roe v. Wade, to the right to marry who you love, to financial regulations or any regulations for that matter, to any sane solution to climate change, to the increase of the minimum wage, to any rational limits on political spending, to any rational gun control, to improving ObamaCare. I can only hope and pray that the Republicans, now that they will be in control of all three branches, will decide that, for the good of this great country, they truly must find ways to govern and govern for ALL of us!
3
Actually the Electoral College has spoken. Clinton actually won the popular vote, as Gore did in 2000.
6
There comes a point in politics where voters give up on themselves and move to revenge and hatred. That point lies somewhere back in time a few years. Trump's election is a huge crowbar aimed at Washington and Wall Street. Trump voters don't care about 'the economy', they want him to swing that crowbar as he promised he would.
He won't.
Trump has no intention of wrecking the system. That was just campaign rhetoric to him. Instead, he will try to govern without any experience in government. He will be a lousy President but not an apocalyptic one.
Meanwhile, the anger will grow...
He won't.
Trump has no intention of wrecking the system. That was just campaign rhetoric to him. Instead, he will try to govern without any experience in government. He will be a lousy President but not an apocalyptic one.
Meanwhile, the anger will grow...
5
I was not a Trump supporter, but, I have to say that I trust the instincts of all the people that watched this campaign and decided to give him a try. They are my fellow countrymen and I believe they too want the best for their country. I am hopeful that Mr. Deeds has finally taken over Washington!
1
That is beautifully written. Thanks for a shred of comfort and compassionate perspective this depressing morning.
3
I am so scared right now. What have we done. We have let a tyrant in. I am beyond scared for so many hard working "American" families. What have we done. we should be ashamed of ourselves, after all the struggles that we as a country have won for basic civil rights. This man by his very nature is opposed to that. His campaign has won from basic fear and bottomless divisiveness, and conjures up that other historical German dictator.
7
I read Arlie Hochshuld's critically important book, Strangers in their own land. Tellingly I could not get any of my progressive circle of friends and relations to do the same.
There's no surprise here Mr Friedman, and her analysis -- presaging your own words (acknowledgement here is owed) is the deepest I have read. You are now experiencing the sense of loss that drove the wave that Trump caught. He did not invent it
There's no surprise here Mr Friedman, and her analysis -- presaging your own words (acknowledgement here is owed) is the deepest I have read. You are now experiencing the sense of loss that drove the wave that Trump caught. He did not invent it
1
I used to read Friedman religiously, looking forward to every column and sharing his opinions and perspectives with friends and family. Then came his and the NYT's incessant Trump bashing. He has lost touch with the American people and what we stand for and need. The pontificators, coastal elites, Obama socialists and the rest of the Totally irrelevant biased and bought media learned something about this great country last night that most of us knew already. The ship needed to be righted and this is just the first step. For the first time in decades, I feel optimism for our future. The whining, naive, politically correct bullies who value no opinions but their own have woken up this morning to a new dawn. Sometimes the best medicine is that which you are forced to take. For the NYT and Washington Post and their ilk to become the least bit relevant in the future, the negative journalism, the pandering to complainers, and the annoying scolding because they know what's best for us must end or this unrepresentative media will die the death of all cliches. The American people have shown that we are ready to stop our death spiral and do the best we can for the future of our children and their children.
4
Men like Friedman must not despair--what is to be of us regular folk if Friedman and his like drop the torch? We must soldier on fighting the good fight one day at a time, one step at a time. I feared Nixon on his election night--I remember it well. But we survived him and Watergate. Pazienza. If you will, take this Trump aberration as a sign of the unwieldy, unmanageable times we live in. Blame the internet or the media--doesn't matter, both are inevitable and feed our sense of helplessness and anger. And until the dust settles and some new modus for modern times is found, who knows what can happen. But we need the Friedmans and the light they shed. All that is needed for evil to triumph (Tr-ump-?) is for one good man to do nothing.
5
This slap at the smug, the self-righteous, the safely ensconced sheep serving the elite is like the clearing breeze after the cleansing rainfall. The acolytes and bloggers probing their medicine cabinets for palliatives present an amusing sight in the mind's eye and one wonders: could we DVR that?
1
The author just insulted hundreds of thousands of truly homeless people across America. Taking such liberty while enjoying a cushy life of good work, fine dining, and five-star travel, as did most of his tribe across the Northeast and the West Coast is exactly what drove DJT to the presidency. Whites in large urban centers, particularly non-christian whites, have long turned their backs on lower middle class and poor whites while leading the caviar left lifestyle. The day of reckoning cometh.
1
Here’s a fantasy. Perhaps there are enough centrist Republicans who have been secretly appalled at the idea of Donald Trump becoming President but kept their mouths shut (so as not to endanger the Republican majority in Congress) who would want to form an alliance with centrist Democrats to form a new majority in Congress. People who put their country ahead of their party. We can hope that responsible people on both sides of the aisle step forward with mature leadership.
70
It was a campaign built on hate
I feel truly sorry for people that voted for him that they hate that much
I didn't sleep all night
How am I telling my kids that he is our president
That people who believe in hating others based on race religion and gender won?
It is not my America
I feel truly sorry for people that voted for him that they hate that much
I didn't sleep all night
How am I telling my kids that he is our president
That people who believe in hating others based on race religion and gender won?
It is not my America
10
The liberal elites and politics as usual elected Trump. The middle class that built this country were marginalized and have voted for radical change.
2
Many people who would have normally voted for the Democratic candidate couldn't bring themselves to do it because of Hilary Clinton's chronic problem with telling the truth. And the continuing revelations about the purpose of the Clinton Foundation (Bill Clinton Inc.) was just the "last straw" for many voters. Clinton has only herself to blame.
1
Thank you for giving me hope -- that our national government might fail to function. Otherwise it's all selfishness and unreason, with no Senate or House to stop it: repeal Obamacare; roll back all environmental regulations; repeal the first amendment; handing Europe over to Putin; nuclear war with North Korea -- who knows what's coming next? Failure? Sure, I'll take that.
Clintonistas apparently still in denial that only a severely mentally disturbed person would pull the lever for the most corrupt and untruthful candidate to ever run for POTUS. Get over it! The temporary insanity that fell over this nation with the 2 elections of Obama has been cleansed and his Saul Alinsky inspired agenda will now be replaced by traditional values of love of country, protecting borders and working to bring jobs back to America.
1
Friedman, you still don't get it!
This is NOT about Trump. It is about all the people who are hurt. They don't have the opportunity to do the Opinion piece in the NYT. If you stopped thinking about yourself and how bad Trump is, then maybe the party machine could have support Sanders....its not a vote for Trump, its a vote against Clinton and what she stands for.
Bill
This is NOT about Trump. It is about all the people who are hurt. They don't have the opportunity to do the Opinion piece in the NYT. If you stopped thinking about yourself and how bad Trump is, then maybe the party machine could have support Sanders....its not a vote for Trump, its a vote against Clinton and what she stands for.
Bill
Anyone with a knowledge of the history of the Roman Republic, we just elected Sulla. But he was co-counsel for just one year, we'll get Trump alone for at least 4, and his party will control both houses of congress and the judicial branch as well.
He wanted to call off this election and just have himself crowned winner. We'll see if he actually tries to do that for the next.
He wanted to call off this election and just have himself crowned winner. We'll see if he actually tries to do that for the next.
3
In anguish? Grow up. The grifter from Arkansas lost, giving the country an opportunity for change where it is needed. You should welcome the new scenario.
1
I share Friedman's view of not wishing the R's ill - within the bounds of the Constitution and common decency. My biggest concern is that when something goes wrong, as it always does, that these Trump-led folks don't send us into some sort of war as cover.
1
"How could this happen?"
There's only one answer: the MEDIA.
Make no mistake. The media is now delighted by the ratings prospects for our first Reality Show President. The train wreck will be televised.
There's only one answer: the MEDIA.
Make no mistake. The media is now delighted by the ratings prospects for our first Reality Show President. The train wreck will be televised.
89
I feel sickened.No, poisoned. I am afraid of what can happen when the house, senate and White House are in the grip of one very selfish party. The Supreme Court's future is especially troubling. Maybe, just maybe, the actual role of being president can transform this man into a reasonable , measured and thoughtful person. I have grave doubts.
5
America is already a great country, Now we have to work together to keep it that way. We assume Mr. Trump will now learn some on-the-job humility by implementing a moral responsibility of working equally for all the people.
I am ashamed of my fellow citizens who could vote to endanger our country so much. This man is the least qualified and most dangerously uninformed and mentally unfit to be president in history. I was alarmed when they put Bush in his first term and embarrassed and angry when he got his second term. But, I am ashamed of the country and frightened by this man. I hope everyone hugs their sons today because there will be a war and there will be many who die. Shame. Shame. Shame.
6
"I assume that Trump will not want to go down as the worst president in history, let alone the one who presided over the deepest fracturing of our country since the Civil War. " Your confused Tommy. That was the last guy.
Hillary Clinton and the Democrats never had a chance. Donald Trump's rise to power was engineered by Assange and Wikileaks, Putin and his cadre of hackers, a 24 hour news cycle more interested in ratings than journalism, and a politicized FBI. Another factor, but by no meams the sole factor, was the number of voters who knew Trump was unfit and would be disasterous for this country and despite that chose to vote for a third party candidate as a protest. If you think third party protest votes were not a factor just look at how close the margins were in those important battleground states where Clinton lost by one or two percent and where Gary Johnson and Jill Stein got 3 or 4 percent of the vote collectively. This was a "red alert all hands on deck election" if we were to avoid a catastrophe. The catastrophe is now upon us.
105
My heart is heavy and add my voice to the chorus. I am thankful for the young people mostly millennials who are messenging me for offers of hope. It is now I will help them organize like never before. Teach them about how democracy works. Register them and help them reshape the faces and voices of democracy.
2
So the dog has finally caught the car and we may have elected the national version of Maine's erratic Paul LePage. The great experiment begins with the man who promises to make the trains run on time. I fear we may have given (metaphorically) a pearl necklace to a chimpanzee. Big league.
4
I think that Donald Trump will make America great again. More than that, he will become one of the greatest Presidents in history and in 2020 he will be reelected by a landslide. This is just a feeling but so far this feeling has been correct 10 times out of 10.
Mr. Friedman, the one thing Mr. Trump has been successful at, greatly so, in fact, is delegating authority. He has some very good advisors and I am sure he will appoint a top flight cabinet to whom he will delegate a lot. We lost a lot of ground under President Obama and American's would no longer accept the Establishment's view of how America should act. He won despite the New York Times best efforts to derail him, indicating how little trust the American public places in journalists who no longer report but, rather, attempt to influence thinking toward their bias. My prediction is he will bring the country back together and his tenancy of the Oval Office will be a successful and memorable for its turning the direction of America back to being the World leader.
There are many, many people across the US that have absolutely no idea as to what they've called down on our country. Knee jerk reactions to global issues. End of health care for millions. End of gay marriage? Mass exportations? Who knows, the end of abortion rights?? Some people will lose their lives because of this election. I couldn't sleep fearing what will be unleashed.
7
So far from victory hour till now he said the right thing and he has no excuses to hide behind. Economy is decent and he has both chambers to govern. Plus he is indebted to no one. Let's see where we are comes the summer and pray the white house does not look too gaudy with gold plated furniture and such.
Friedman feels homeless? The guy lives in a mansion on a country estate, for crying out loud. This election was all about preserving the swamp or draining the swamp. The voters chose to drain. This schadenfraude I'm breaking my fast with this morning is absolutely delicious.
How could you write a commentary on this election without even mentioning Trump´s opponent?
This is not so much a triumph of the Republicans or Trump but al failure of the Democratic Party to nominate an appropriate candidate. Why didn´t some other Democrat challenge Clinton for the nomination? In 2008 Obama was virtually unknown but defeated her for the nomination and the same would have happened in 2016 if there had been a realistic alternative-an alternative that could have defeated Trump.
How much of the vote for Trump was actually a vote against Clinton and the Democrats for their failure to nominate a better candidate?
This is not so much a triumph of the Republicans or Trump but al failure of the Democratic Party to nominate an appropriate candidate. Why didn´t some other Democrat challenge Clinton for the nomination? In 2008 Obama was virtually unknown but defeated her for the nomination and the same would have happened in 2016 if there had been a realistic alternative-an alternative that could have defeated Trump.
How much of the vote for Trump was actually a vote against Clinton and the Democrats for their failure to nominate a better candidate?
40
The other option is that he fails so quickly and completely that he is run out of office in the next 12 months. Not in my lifetime do I expect a better governing body. SCOTUS will be devastated for the next generation. We are moving quickly towards a society as totalitarian and extremist as those we are fighting in the middle east. I am heartsick. Can our fine journalists finally start uncovering his many deep corruptions now?
4
I live in Southern Appalachia and have driven by the Trump/Pence signs for months. I talk to the people and there is little understanding of the dynamics of either government or the economy but they are mad. There are no jobs, The mines have closed or eliminated most of the jobs. Healthcare is minimal and often unavailable. I'm back to the Janis Joplin and "freedom is when you have nothing to lose." By throwing a brick into the china closet, it does no harm that they can foresee. A local bar/restaurant has a sign on the outside that says, "Welcome Deplorables." Little more needs to be said.
91
The Clinton's, their sense of entitlement, their toadies, the rigged democratic primaries, and now, the haters are out and are home to roost. Rough ride ahead. Some of us middle class white folks will now metaphorically experience the lash of the whip. As a retired elementary school principal, I note that pictures of presidents have in the past adorned classrooms. Teachers should have the right not to post a Trump picture.
Two words: climate change. Oi vey, we're in it now! We just made a huge step forward with the Paris agreement and Trump has promised to renege on it, re-open coal mines, roll back the EPA's powers... the list went on and on. This more than anything was a horrifying prospect and now he has the ability to do it all. Talk about consequences! That is irreversible. We are so close to the edge of the cliff now. If he follows through with all of that, who knows what kind of a horrible future the world could face? Without America's leadership on this crucial issue China and India won't feel compelled to do anything urgent either. It's hard enough for them to move on it, even with New Delhi and Beijing regularly covered in smog. This more than anything has made this feel like an incredibly black day for the planet. I fear for our future.
6
Why so much surprise? it was almost the logical conclusion to a descent
in chaos in America. Frist Reagan was elected and the streets where filled up with the homeless. Later Bush 2 was elected, and we invaded Iraq with flawed logic and lies. Then we elected Obama, thanks to the press who destroyed Clinton's candidacy. Although Obama did the best he could in domestic policy, his foreign policy is pitiful, especially in Syria. And now we have Trump. Does he now where Aleppo is?
in chaos in America. Frist Reagan was elected and the streets where filled up with the homeless. Later Bush 2 was elected, and we invaded Iraq with flawed logic and lies. Then we elected Obama, thanks to the press who destroyed Clinton's candidacy. Although Obama did the best he could in domestic policy, his foreign policy is pitiful, especially in Syria. And now we have Trump. Does he now where Aleppo is?
1
Homeless in America is a poor euphemism for the bigotry, resentment and seeming loss of privilege that is in play here. I too fear for this country and feel alienated from it. But I hold no delusion of Trump changing. We have seen his soul and there is nothing there. Heaven help us and the world.
5
Democracy is dead as we know it. This result was easily predictable from this campaign. Why you don’t want to recognize that in the new social media world stupidity is taking over. The simple truth is that in the past ignorant people simply didn’t vote (at least in overwhelming numbers) because they didn’t have candidates that they can identify with. It always was the case that for one expert in any field (economic, science etc.) there are hundreds of people sitting in bars drinking and watching sports who could care less about scientific or economic facts. For them different conspiracy theories will always “trump” reality. In the past very few of them bothered to vote. Now they had a candidate that they can identify with – it doesn’t matter who would run against D.T. – they didn’t stand a chance. Those people will always vote now since their smartphones will keep them engaged in “political” process. This is our future. In addition you have to admit that this group of people is having more kids than anyone with slightly higher IQ so their numbers and voting power will only grow. I know that this statement is not politically correct and you don’t want to see its simple truth – just like you could not see this defeat. You will come up with many complicated theories for this failure when the source of the problem is right in front of you. Just take a look at our House and Senate representatives… - do you think that these picks are getting smarter or dumber?
3
Trump's lies turned out to be just bunch of "white lies" ... which unfortunately may not turn out to be so harmless.
I have confidence that Trump will beat out William Henry Harrison in terms being the worst president of all time and land himself in second place (which I know he won't be happy about since he is a winner)
I have confidence that Trump will beat out William Henry Harrison in terms being the worst president of all time and land himself in second place (which I know he won't be happy about since he is a winner)
Excellent column. I can only say I agree with you completely and I pray for the best, But at this point in time, I am embarrassed to be an American.
3
Nobody really wanted Hillary Clinton as a candidate except the DNC, Elected Dem Establishment, and their media allies, and they rigged and propped her up and tried to stuff her down out mouths. Anyone could see that Bernie Sanders had the enthusiasm on which to build and if these groups hadn't done their darndest to minimize him, black him out, smear him, we'd be celebrating President Sanders tonight. Centrism is not a winning position--it's a cop out, cave in, compromising strategy that means appease the Republicans, maybe they'll work with us. Thanks. Now, I have to leave the country.
God help us.
5
"But at the moment I am in anguish, frightened for my country and for our unity. And for the first time, I feel homeless in America."
The melodrama coming from the failed propagandists is amusing, but I find this line profoundly tone deaf. These poor NYT one-percenters are so distraught over the results of the election.
Meanwhile, the voters who drove the results feel the SAME PRECISE WAY about their life's circumstances. Their jobs, their finances, their futures.
These self-important hacks still just do not get it—your hypothetical fears are millions and millions of Americans ACTUAL fears and another establishment, beltway-insider shill wasn't going to help.
The melodrama coming from the failed propagandists is amusing, but I find this line profoundly tone deaf. These poor NYT one-percenters are so distraught over the results of the election.
Meanwhile, the voters who drove the results feel the SAME PRECISE WAY about their life's circumstances. Their jobs, their finances, their futures.
These self-important hacks still just do not get it—your hypothetical fears are millions and millions of Americans ACTUAL fears and another establishment, beltway-insider shill wasn't going to help.
1
I feel homeless, too, because truthfulness was such a casualty.
Will the NY Times and NPR and all the media I trust now start lying?
Will my Republican doctors and dentists lie to me because there is no accountability?
Will the Democratic party feel obliged to find ways to be as dishonest as "climate change is a hoax" and the rest?
Will the Christians that already feel the lies are acceptable as a means to an end...ever remember a commandment about not bearing false witness?
It could get worse, Tom...but thank you so much for your interesting and intelligent columns, always in the public interest, throughout the election season.
Will the NY Times and NPR and all the media I trust now start lying?
Will my Republican doctors and dentists lie to me because there is no accountability?
Will the Democratic party feel obliged to find ways to be as dishonest as "climate change is a hoax" and the rest?
Will the Christians that already feel the lies are acceptable as a means to an end...ever remember a commandment about not bearing false witness?
It could get worse, Tom...but thank you so much for your interesting and intelligent columns, always in the public interest, throughout the election season.
2
The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle endorsed Clinton. The Arizona Republic endorsed Clinton. This country is divided between those who can read and absorb factual reality and those who cannot.
3
Mr. Friedman,
Your metaphor of being "Homeless in America"
is a slap in the face of those in America who are Homeless.
Of those who live on the very edge of being homeless,
of those who never have enough money at the end of the month
to pay the rent, to eat, to heat a home, to be able to keep their job.
You, Mr. Friedman should have spent a month driving around America,
getting off the Interstate and asking ordinary Americans what they thought
and what they felt.
I have no doubt that Comment after Comment will decry Trump and
his apparent election to the Presidency and will adjudge all those who
voted for Trump as racist uneducated deplorables.
Perhaps Hillary will demand a recount and win the Presidency.
Even if she does, it will not change the simple fact that far too many
Elites who consider themselves to be Well Educated, to be Progressive,
to be Cosmopolitan know so little about most Americans who work
far, far harder than they do, for far, far less money and live without
any financial security.
Reach out across the divide Mr. Friedman and you will find that most
Trump supporters will gladly invite you into their homes, offer you a
meal and even offer you a bed to sleep on if you are still homeless in America.
Your metaphor of being "Homeless in America"
is a slap in the face of those in America who are Homeless.
Of those who live on the very edge of being homeless,
of those who never have enough money at the end of the month
to pay the rent, to eat, to heat a home, to be able to keep their job.
You, Mr. Friedman should have spent a month driving around America,
getting off the Interstate and asking ordinary Americans what they thought
and what they felt.
I have no doubt that Comment after Comment will decry Trump and
his apparent election to the Presidency and will adjudge all those who
voted for Trump as racist uneducated deplorables.
Perhaps Hillary will demand a recount and win the Presidency.
Even if she does, it will not change the simple fact that far too many
Elites who consider themselves to be Well Educated, to be Progressive,
to be Cosmopolitan know so little about most Americans who work
far, far harder than they do, for far, far less money and live without
any financial security.
Reach out across the divide Mr. Friedman and you will find that most
Trump supporters will gladly invite you into their homes, offer you a
meal and even offer you a bed to sleep on if you are still homeless in America.
4
Huey Long 84 years after 1932?
Get over it liberals. You arrogantly thought that you were smarter than the rest of us. I've got news for you: Trump knows business and the real world. Hillary is nothing more than a corrupt cartoon dictator. No world leader would respect or fear her. She is dirty. You liberals got behind the wrong horse. Shame on the NYT for being so clueless, biased, divisive and anti-American. After 8 long years of failed Obama actions, the Pendulum corrects itself by swinging back right.
1
How many people who generally agreed with you faced your exceptions, slight disagreements and criticisms because they could not be "quite right"? How many times have people like you had a chance to form a majority but could not because you had to pare away those who were just not quite righteousness enough?
Maybe people like you should rethink your own position on acceptance if you want to build a majority that lasts. I agree with you on most issues, but doubt that you would consider it acceptable to find yourself in agreement with me.
Perhaps you are just a bit too good for ... who? Maybe those you might need to obtain a majority?
Maybe people like you should rethink your own position on acceptance if you want to build a majority that lasts. I agree with you on most issues, but doubt that you would consider it acceptable to find yourself in agreement with me.
Perhaps you are just a bit too good for ... who? Maybe those you might need to obtain a majority?
1
So Mr. Friedman, I am a little confused. Should I move Trump ahead of global warming/climate change in my list of things that will soon destroy the planet or should I not worry so much about Trump because CO2 is going to kill us all before he understands how the nuke codes work?
1
Is this how the end looks?
And all along I thought man would do himself in with nuclear weapons.
Trump was right. "This election is rigged".
Any media folks taking that one on?
Any media folks taking that one on?
1
The level of fear demonstrated through the election of Trump is palpable. Clinton was not a strong candidate. Not really. I did not like her, even though I voted for her. Wasserman-Schultz and the DNC obstructionist behavior toward Sanders had a hand in this result, as did the push by the FBI. The huge increases in the cost of insurance did not help. I for one will take more walks, watch more cat videos and continue to work for progressive change.
44
Right now all I feel is tremendous sadness for all that has been lost, all that has been set back, all that has been degraded, for so many, many human beings, in a single day.
1
Thomas you have been wrong from Day One on this election. What if you are wrong again? Lets see what happens...presidents are never as good as they hope they will be or bad as we think they are. Now is not the time to hit the panic button. You clearly have not had your had you hand anywhere near pulse of the American people for the past year. One could view this election as a rejection of all you have written. I'm willing to wait before I pass judgement.
2
I always knew Trump would win, why didn't anyone else? Hillary is a proven liar and a federal criminal, of course. But her biggest flaw is that she is astonishingly unlikable, she has a shrill voice, and she had to hire big name people to draw crowds to her events since she could not draw the crowds that Trump attracted on a regular basis. She and Bill are now history forever, their time is up, gone forever. Sorry if you are disappointed, but knowing people knew how this would turn out.
1
This is how the world ends,
not with a bang, but with a whimper.
The poet was prescient. I'd weep, but
my emotions feel frozen.
Good luck, oh my America.
not with a bang, but with a whimper.
The poet was prescient. I'd weep, but
my emotions feel frozen.
Good luck, oh my America.
2
America's comeuppance. However, from a sellfish POV, pundits are saying that President elect Trump will the the best thing for India. Let's hope so.
I did not stay up to watch the returns. I could not face the possibility that Trump would win. And now he has. I'm sickened and I'm hating neighbors who put those Trump signs in their yards. How could they endanger the nation like this?
2
I feel so awful this morning ... I feel extremely anxious for france elections next year it could go wrong really wrong .
1
Oh. You're the guy who in 2012 promoted on your column "Hire Art" which you touted as "the wave of the future" -- an on line job referral service. I applied and sent my videotape. Within two weeks I was referred to jobs cleaning hotel rooms, dog sitting and maid service. My UCLA MFA in film 2012 was never taken into consideration -- only my Hispanic background. "Algorithms," I was told. Am I supposed to believe that you actually care a hoot about anyone outside of your circle of elite insiders? Mugdia Chinea UCLA MFA 2012 - long-time member of the WGAW.
1
Lost their homes? Yes the neoliberal establishment saw to that with the Wall Street Bankster affair. No one held accountable, nothing changed. Now neoliberal Clinton and Obama are gone. The ship of state has imploded. Man the lifeboats.
1
Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite.
Every nation gets the government it deserves.
Joseph de Maistre, the most visionary of France's early counter-revolutionaries.
Every nation gets the government it deserves.
Joseph de Maistre, the most visionary of France's early counter-revolutionaries.
>>>
Buyer's remorse is soon to come.
The uneducated are now in control of the educated.
You can't fix stupid, but stupid can "fix" you.
The Titan has repeatedly warned of the comimg of a strongman and America's fascist moment, it has arrived. Trump will charm until he doesn't get what he demands. He has all the character traits of dictator.
History tells us how this ends.
Marx said history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce. Let's hope this is the farce part.
The only hope is nonviolent resistance. The Dems in the Senate have the guts to stand up to him, the republican establishment probably does not. They need to form a coalition to oppose him.
His supporters will suffer for what they've done. Unfortunately, the rest of us will too.
Thank the Gods l didn't have children. But that's the benefit of foresight.
Sent from iPad
Buyer's remorse is soon to come.
The uneducated are now in control of the educated.
You can't fix stupid, but stupid can "fix" you.
The Titan has repeatedly warned of the comimg of a strongman and America's fascist moment, it has arrived. Trump will charm until he doesn't get what he demands. He has all the character traits of dictator.
History tells us how this ends.
Marx said history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce. Let's hope this is the farce part.
The only hope is nonviolent resistance. The Dems in the Senate have the guts to stand up to him, the republican establishment probably does not. They need to form a coalition to oppose him.
His supporters will suffer for what they've done. Unfortunately, the rest of us will too.
Thank the Gods l didn't have children. But that's the benefit of foresight.
Sent from iPad
4
Why not make an appeal for funding by the CLinton Foundation?
1
Well, I know homelessness having lived that way previously.
But what applies more to my fear has to do with growing up in a dysfunctional alcoholic home...that pit of the stomach feeling that never goes away, that super sense one grows that lets one watch for the slurred word or wavering path in the car that is the prelude to disaster.
America will be led for years by in incompetent fool, Putin's puppet, and the only way he runs this country is with the support of the far right. People that the Bush family didn't even like.
I can suggest some help for that pit of the stomach feeling...support groups. Find others of like terror, and just sit with them. It really does help.
America did this, and though it is the path of all empires, to elect nincompoops who become tyrants, there are children to be considered.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene
But what applies more to my fear has to do with growing up in a dysfunctional alcoholic home...that pit of the stomach feeling that never goes away, that super sense one grows that lets one watch for the slurred word or wavering path in the car that is the prelude to disaster.
America will be led for years by in incompetent fool, Putin's puppet, and the only way he runs this country is with the support of the far right. People that the Bush family didn't even like.
I can suggest some help for that pit of the stomach feeling...support groups. Find others of like terror, and just sit with them. It really does help.
America did this, and though it is the path of all empires, to elect nincompoops who become tyrants, there are children to be considered.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene
2
We are here, we will continue to fight, we will prevail in the end - why? because we represent love, all that is good, all that is right ethical, knowledgeable and intelligent. Thinking of all my dear friends with love......
God Bless America! As a legal immigrant and proud American, I cast my vote for Mr. Trump because "We the People" have been repeatedly betrayed by slick elites who have transnational loyalties and interests rather than affection and love for this Nation. It is therefore deeply satisfying to know that we the regular people could for at least once actually tell people like Mr. Friedman and his globalizing fellow travelers that his so called globalization agenda needn't take precedence over our interests, livelihood and this nation's well being. Hope Mr. Friedman and his "globalistas" get it that "you can't fool all the people, all the time."
1
Trump is against immigration and that's ALL that really matters for the people who support him. The same reason Brexit passed in England and the same reason for Marie Le Pen's popularity. The same reason that far right parties are on the rise in Europe. People all around the western world have had it with unbridled immigration. They never asked for it. Don't understand why it's happening and will do anything to stop it. The only thing surprising about Trump is that he was the first politician in America to figure this out. The ivory tower elites don't get this because they don't have to deal with it and never see it. They don't see women covered head toe in Burkas pushing baby carriages through there old neighborhoods or have frustration that nobody where they grew up no longer speaks English.
1
How much more passionately did the media spend its time covering things like Corey Lewandowski grabbing an arm, as opposed to Trump's failure to pay federal income tax, release tax returns, the business practices of Trump University etc.
3
The NRA and the KKK must be dancing at this very moment. I'm sure they feel quite emboldened by election results.
Those of us who stand on the side of decency must continue to stand up for vulnerable people, and never lose sight of what is decent and right.
This is our wake up call--we have to actively shape the world that we will live in. It may be akin to the 60's revolution, but if that's what it takes, we will do it.
Those of us who stand on the side of decency must continue to stand up for vulnerable people, and never lose sight of what is decent and right.
This is our wake up call--we have to actively shape the world that we will live in. It may be akin to the 60's revolution, but if that's what it takes, we will do it.
4
You neo-cons destroyed America. Continuous wars: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria have destroyed this nation. While our corporations ship jobs overseas, and bring in more H1-B's, all our tax money is fed into the war machine. "We came, We saw, He died". How do you feel now, Hillary?
1
"In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." - Joseph de Maistre
2
How will other countries deal with someone who consistently lies and invents whatever story suits his need at the time. Neither nations nor banks will tolerate this generator of fibs, deceits and pretend events. Negotiating will hardly work, since Trump listens only to himself. It's not even possible to follow someone whose mind is a maelstrom.
4
People voted, accept it. We live in a democracy and part of that is accepting when you lose.
I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but guess what? A majority of voters did. Instead of wailing and crying figure out why a majority of Americans voted the way they did. Something is happening in this country. It wasn't only white men that voted for Trump. It was the entitled and wealthy. It was poor people with limited economic opportunities in parts of this country politicians from both parties gave up on decades ago. Bernie Sanders got it. Hillary Clinton didn't, and she lost. People voted for Obama for change. When they didn't a change that actually helped them in their daily lives they voted for a different flavor of change. In four years they'll vote for change again, and they'll keep doing so until they get a government that actually helps them and doesn't look down on them as 'low information voters' or 'flyover country inhabitants.'
I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but guess what? A majority of voters did. Instead of wailing and crying figure out why a majority of Americans voted the way they did. Something is happening in this country. It wasn't only white men that voted for Trump. It was the entitled and wealthy. It was poor people with limited economic opportunities in parts of this country politicians from both parties gave up on decades ago. Bernie Sanders got it. Hillary Clinton didn't, and she lost. People voted for Obama for change. When they didn't a change that actually helped them in their daily lives they voted for a different flavor of change. In four years they'll vote for change again, and they'll keep doing so until they get a government that actually helps them and doesn't look down on them as 'low information voters' or 'flyover country inhabitants.'
4
Trump won't become any of those good things that Friedman hopes. And his followers don't want him to, and would be very angry with him if he tries. The only check against him will be the slim one in the Senate, through Democratic filibusters, and in the Supreme Court prior to Trump assigning a justice that's to Pence's liking, who hopefully the Democrats in the Senate will filibuster just as the Republicans in the Senate have refused to hold hearings for any Court nominee put forth by President Obama.
5
Me, too, Tom.
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
1
Tom -- in your further analysis, I hope you don't omit the Russian attack on our political system, which through hacks against the DNC and Podesta produced a stream of emails that seemed to pre-occupy the media and cast a negative aura over the final weeks of the Clinton campaign. And don't forget the extraordinary role of James Comey, who, except for a presidential assassin, may have had the most distortive effect on American political history of any non-elected official.
4
I am thunderstruck. Even though I haven't lived among them for more than 10 years, I have always believed in the fundamental sense and sensibility of my fellow Americans. I have never doubted the fundamental goodness of the American character.
Now I have no idea.
Now I have no idea.
7
As you say that you do not wish ill to the victors in this election, perhaps you can pursue some actual engagement with the majority whose views have triumphed, and with whom you seem so ill-acquainted. This will not be easy, as we humans are not made to be mutable in our beliefs and allegiances. But if you adopt the mind of the beginner, of the learner, and engage in thoughtful inquiry, you may come to see the current reality. Demonstrate that you are able to learn, to adapt, to change.
3
America, please build that wall quickly and keep Trump behind it so the rest of the world doesn't have to deal with him!
6
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for helping put this dark night of the nation's soul into thoughtful perspective
2
I'm very sorry for the US and it's people. Now you will know what is to have a Hugo Chavez, Cristina Kirchner, Rafael Correa, etc. as a president. I wish the US people the best in the next 4 years to come!!! Greetings from Argentina.
6
Spot on. The resentment of my working class white family members, including toward myself, as the most educated member of the family, close to completing a doctorate, was demonstrated to me when my brother, who barely finished high school, began sending me texts saying I did not care about my own kind, and that I cared more about Black and Brown people, to use his words. He unfriended me on Facebook when the Trump sexual harassment scandal erupted. I am sure he feels very powerful tonight, but I do not know if I ever want to talk to him again.
115
Breitbart won today. Sean Hannity won today. Ann Coulter won today. Fox News won today. The KKK won today. Rush won today. Racists of all stripes won today. The rest of us? The 52 percent of us who really like President Obama? I guess I can only speak for myself, but I'm scared and horrified. I really believed all that lofty stuff about equality and one nation and how our better angels always prevail. I'm simply in dispair now.
12
Unless democrats are willing to no longer "be reasonable" and adopt a stance of total and absolute opposition, unless we embrace the scorched earth policies of our (internal) enemies, we are doomed.
5
Democracy is a fading thought,as I write this my first reaction is that the next four years will be hell for my kids. The fact that I reduced the amount of contributions to my 401k because the plunge in markets have started is only the beginning.
America was always a great country, contrary to what our new president thinks. Time may heal all wounds but this desicion by the american public may stick around for more than four years. God help my beloved and divided country.
America was always a great country, contrary to what our new president thinks. Time may heal all wounds but this desicion by the american public may stick around for more than four years. God help my beloved and divided country.
3
If we are worth saving as a people, this will unite us. If we are not, we will spiral down into a very dark place. I believe that we are bigger than any one man, that our freedoms are our greatest strength, now more than ever, and that we will honor our country, the idea of it, and use this opportunity to recognize the pain of others and, ultimately, protect our birthright, together. This seems like a bad thing. It may be, but, in the end, don't think so. Scary though, as every great opportunity is.
6
Most of those who voted for Trump did not want change, rather they want to undo the change wrought over the last sixty years, something that neither Trump nor anyone else can bring about.
2
From Abraham Lincoln to Donald Trump. Thank you so much, GOP, for helping us realize that we are not the country we thought we were.
The Age of America is over.
The Age of America is over.
5
I am laughing as I read these comments. How could people elect somebody that has spent the whole election being investigated by the FBI? That Clinton Foundation investigation is still going on by the way. There was no way Hillary could win.
3
Now I understand the emotions behind the GOP decision to unconditionally oppose Obama. I want Democrat politicians to do everything in their power to stop Trump from accomplishing anything.
4
please Mr. Friedman, don't insult the real homeless people that are all over the streets of our cities.
3
Like you I feel homeless in America, and threatened as well. Not a specific threat, as some groups are sure to feel, but a general sense of heading into a less secure nation and world. Don't forget that the Republicans have also maintained control of both houses of congress and there won't be much in the way to stop Trump from doing severe, and nearly irreversible, damage.
5
Dude........you are so complicit. Was it not you who sang the praises of globalism for years???
2
me too, Tom. I think Democrats.. Obama Holder Clintons need to stand tall and Dem Senate and House should do all can to obstruct take down and break him to their will culminating in the Donald's own words projected back at him.."much worse than Watergate'
3
This is what happens when MSM like the NYTimes engages in fraud to knock out the one candidate with integrity, Bernie, whom all the polls show would have smashed Trump, and foist on us a corrupt incompetent. How's that working for ya, Tom?
3
If you're still searching for a silver lining, here's two:
Democrats might realize they have to nominate a candidate people can get excited to support, for Hope and Change that didn't make it to many. (Instead of an imperialist who finds universally accepted universal health care too radical for us.)
Columnists will encourage readers with positive reasons to vote for a positive person. Instead of motivating Republicans and offending independents by trashing a provocateur (finger on the button hysteria?) He played you well.
Democrats might realize they have to nominate a candidate people can get excited to support, for Hope and Change that didn't make it to many. (Instead of an imperialist who finds universally accepted universal health care too radical for us.)
Columnists will encourage readers with positive reasons to vote for a positive person. Instead of motivating Republicans and offending independents by trashing a provocateur (finger on the button hysteria?) He played you well.
2
The only people "homeless" are the millions of Americans who are in poverty, the mentally ill "homeless" and the many un-employed Americans not a multi-millionaire columnist who is swimming in self-pity. After 8 years of Obama our GDP is a sick 1%. He refused to kick start the economy by lowering taxes. He piled regulation upon regulation that handicapped business. He continued to do the bidding of Big Business by pushing the TPP. It is a pity that fear mongering and bleak pessimism are only presented in this Opinion Page column. The author should have left the NY Metropolitan area and spoken the Americans in other parts of the country. He wouldn't have been so surprised today.
3
I voted for her, even though she wasn't my candidate. The media reported the show instead of the news. It was my fault for watching it. I helped feed the circus with my attention. I am so sorry for that.
So, I am going to go away now. Hope the media enjoyed its ratings boost. Winter is coming.
So, I am going to go away now. Hope the media enjoyed its ratings boost. Winter is coming.
5
The American Presidency of Trump/Putin will be a disaster for America. I have fought in three wars for the United States and thought I was done, having recently moved to Europe. I am now looking at another war here and will probably go to work for NATO in some capacity because I can't sit on the sidelines. This is a disaster for the US, for Europe, and for all our allies that counted on our commitment and strength to keep the wolf at bay.
4
Trump is a paranoid narcissist. The U.S. would do well to quickly learn how to handle such a person instead of publicizing him and reacting to him. Maybe the U.S. needs to break in order to finally, truly change themselves politically, economically and socially which the rest of the western world should do as well.
3
Tom. I'm with you, I lived most of my adult life outside the U.S. Payed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes before returning to the land of my birth where I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to create jobs and support the community that I and my wife chose to live in. Our neighbors have turned out to be racists and ignorant to the extent that we no longer care to live among them. Where should we go?
I cannot help but wonder if there are the fingerprints of a cyber attack on our election. We already know Russia hacked American emails and publicized them with the purpose of influencing our election. Would it be beyond them to extend their attack to the digital vulnerabilities of our electoral process? It's pretty fishy that so many polls were so wrong preceding the final vote. Hitting us in our democracy would seem to fit their MO and could explain a number of recent disruptions to Western order supposedly at the hands of the voters (Brexit, Duterte, Trump...). In these cases where there are bona fide constituencies, all they need to do is fan the flames, then put their thumb on the digital scale at the election. I hope the FBI and NSA will do a careful analysis, and consider the sophistication and multi-faceted character such an attack might possess. It needs to be done now while it still can be.
5
As a consistent reader of the Times it has been and is now even more clear that this paper is out of touch with the majority in the country and its concerns. Instead it focuses on its own concerns priorities and biases discounting reality.
Thus I feel it has been instrumental in the results of this election. I also feel I am not getting the real and most relevant news coverage and what I do get is slanted and obfuscatory--like calling illegals 'undocumented'. Wake up.
Thus I feel it has been instrumental in the results of this election. I also feel I am not getting the real and most relevant news coverage and what I do get is slanted and obfuscatory--like calling illegals 'undocumented'. Wake up.
3
I don't get it. You brand Trump as a compulsive liar, someone who only tells people what they want to hear. Sure sounds like Clinton to me.
I voted for Trump. I'm well-educated and intelligent. Did I vote for him partly to stick it to the liberal elites and the MSM who are so oblivious to the deep pain in much of this country that they have been running a campaign for Clinton on the front page rather than just reporting the news? Absolutely.
That's not the sum total of why I voted for Trump though. I recognize his issues. I don't believe the fear-mongering, the branding of him as a anti-Semite, Hitler and all the rest. I think that he won as so many are tired of being labeled "deplorables" in fly-over country and thus they don't count. They are tired of being told that the liberal elites know what is best for them, even if that includes their 14 year old daughter having to share a locker room with a teenage boy wearing makeup who thinks he should have been born a girl. They are tired of the wholesale flouting of immigration rules. Tired of the unwillingness to confront and even voice the term "radical Islam" and what it means for this country. Tired of their jobs going overseas and having to settle for working the counter at Wendy's for $8/hr.
I'm sure he will assemble a cabinet of intelligent skilled people. He has the smarts to do this. He managed to win an election with both parties against him. I don't fear for my country.
I voted for Trump. I'm well-educated and intelligent. Did I vote for him partly to stick it to the liberal elites and the MSM who are so oblivious to the deep pain in much of this country that they have been running a campaign for Clinton on the front page rather than just reporting the news? Absolutely.
That's not the sum total of why I voted for Trump though. I recognize his issues. I don't believe the fear-mongering, the branding of him as a anti-Semite, Hitler and all the rest. I think that he won as so many are tired of being labeled "deplorables" in fly-over country and thus they don't count. They are tired of being told that the liberal elites know what is best for them, even if that includes their 14 year old daughter having to share a locker room with a teenage boy wearing makeup who thinks he should have been born a girl. They are tired of the wholesale flouting of immigration rules. Tired of the unwillingness to confront and even voice the term "radical Islam" and what it means for this country. Tired of their jobs going overseas and having to settle for working the counter at Wendy's for $8/hr.
I'm sure he will assemble a cabinet of intelligent skilled people. He has the smarts to do this. He managed to win an election with both parties against him. I don't fear for my country.
4
My country elected a narcissistic sexual deviant with absolutely no idea how to govern. And Russia is rejoicing. The best we can do right now is open our ears and be prepared to get and stay involved. He is not my President.
3
We know he won't be able to keep his promises. There will be great disappointment among his followers when he discovees he can't deport all the illegal immigrants. As for bringing back manufacturing jobs, it's not going to happen. Automation will prevent that. And just wait until driverlessvehicles get on the road and put truck drivers and taxi drivers out of work! Therefore, I think there will be a lot of buyer's remorse long before his term ends. That is the only silver lining I see: disappointment among his supporters means he will be a one-term president. But it's going to be a long 4 years.
2
I am terrified about what the outcome of this election means for US democracy and the impact of global democracy.
Will the Supreme Court be stacked in a way that robs us of voter rights, civil rights, freedom of the press and the right to love whomever we choose?
We have told our children this morning that the only action permissible today and for the coming weeks is to treat everyone with love, decency and kindness regardless of their political views. We, who believe in the humanist teachings of great religious leaders, must show that we will stick to high standards of behavior.
Will the Supreme Court be stacked in a way that robs us of voter rights, civil rights, freedom of the press and the right to love whomever we choose?
We have told our children this morning that the only action permissible today and for the coming weeks is to treat everyone with love, decency and kindness regardless of their political views. We, who believe in the humanist teachings of great religious leaders, must show that we will stick to high standards of behavior.
4
What this means for us for the next four years is that we need to be more vigilant at the local level, to make it clear that what others have apparently found acceptable at the national level is NOT acceptable in our own communities. We should show no tolerance for scapegoating, or for behaviors or actions based in racism, sexism, and lack of regard for fact. We need to create the appropriate social environments that we want our children to grow up in - but locally, while hoping that the country around us isn't permanently scarred and can eventually turn itself back around in the right direction. We have a lot to do over the next few years.
6
If your version of democracy does not encourage or accept the possibility that the other side can win then your democracy is a weak and shallow process. This election was about the less 'worldly' people telling the smartest guys in the room that they aren't so smart or that their worldly intelligence has limited value.
Finally if I were one of Mr. Friedman's many PC admirers I would accuse him of being cruel and insensitive for associating himself with the unfortunate poor even though he is clearly wealthy and probably owns more than one residence!
Finally if I were one of Mr. Friedman's many PC admirers I would accuse him of being cruel and insensitive for associating himself with the unfortunate poor even though he is clearly wealthy and probably owns more than one residence!
1
I went to my knees crying this morning, the same way I did when my Father died.
The loss of security, the basic loss of what is decent and good is overwhelming. Where do I go for comfort and reassurance- there is no corner to hide in, no where.
Basically I am witnessing the slow burn of the destruction of our society, our democracy.
The loss of security, the basic loss of what is decent and good is overwhelming. Where do I go for comfort and reassurance- there is no corner to hide in, no where.
Basically I am witnessing the slow burn of the destruction of our society, our democracy.
6
Trump promised change. Unlike Clinton, he was what one sees what one gets. The Clintons and their scandalous aids have come to an end. Truth prevails and this country will benefit from it. Many educated people voted for Trump as we were against socialism, illegal immigration, and theft and deception in the government. Finally we are done with the Clinton/Bush dynasty. Perhaps Hillary can enjoy her grandchildren and learn to knot.
At hindsight one has to look at judgement & leadership qualities of the two candidates who were fighting election. Mrs. Clinton judgement to not to visit Winsconsin was a major blunder. Her inability to face her supporters & sending her manager to handle them just shows what type of leadership America would have got if they elected her as President. Leaders face problemetic situations and are ready for worst. Against this Trump had fabulous judgement about that he can target Rust belt & was successful at that. In last 16 years America had presidents who had very bad judgements which has left world in very bad shape.
Funny how those who felt the same way after President Obama was elected were mocked and belittled. Republicans could have stopped Trump by paying just a little more attention to what their base was saying, but they were more interested in posturing. Democrats could have stopped Trump by nominating virtually any other candidate - certainly not one with glaring red flags such as distaste for "flyover" Americans and unprecedented legal issues. But they didn't, and now we'll see what happens. The country will still be here when President Trump is done. Deal with it.
Homeless? We will become a nation of empty houses. This election has been about envy, about those without clamouring to bring down those with, and now it appears they will be getting their way. As of last night we are already homeless, wandering in a wilderness of his encouragement and our own making.
Religious dogma will become our constitution. And envy will determine who gets what. What complete stupidity.
Religious dogma will become our constitution. And envy will determine who gets what. What complete stupidity.
1
This election leaves this reader crushed. Having experienced crushing poverty as a youth, depression, homelessness, fear of the future, I finally stumbled upon a home at 50 years of age. Now, I wonder whether this elusive sense of place, this nascent sense of possibly belonging somewhere, is lost.
I love this place where I was born, yet now am wanting to leave. I feel shamed, and guilty, and confused. Who are we, that we will lash out at the weakest among us in this way? How did so few convince so many that distrust and hatred should become the norm here? Where is the safe haven that I thought this place was?
I love this place where I was born, yet now am wanting to leave. I feel shamed, and guilty, and confused. Who are we, that we will lash out at the weakest among us in this way? How did so few convince so many that distrust and hatred should become the norm here? Where is the safe haven that I thought this place was?
4
Sometimes a significant emotional event needs to occur to people before they realize that a change needs to take place. Maybe we have just had a national significant emotional event that will force us to examine and/or re-examine our values, mores, ethic, and responsibilities as a people. There will be recourse to this event, but whether we, as a nation, want to accept it remains to be seen. Just because we have a new POTUS-elect does not mean we are not at a crossroads.
1
Ditto. I am sick, disbelieving and grieving but have to find some way to reconcile myself that friends and people I love have elected a hateful, misogynistic, sexual predator with a cult of personality who knows nothing about history, politics, legal economics or common decency. It will take a while but I will try for my country.
2
If Donald wants to make a real change, he has only one option: build a bipartisan team with best of the best from both sides. It's the only way to make America great.
But I don't believe he will be able of such a heroic decision. Consequently, he will fail, either if he tries to do what he said he would do or (what seems less hypothetical) by being fooled and manipulated by his counselors.
But I don't believe he will be able of such a heroic decision. Consequently, he will fail, either if he tries to do what he said he would do or (what seems less hypothetical) by being fooled and manipulated by his counselors.
1
We urged the Dems last spring to nominate an electable, name of Bernie, if they wanted to defeat Trump's movement. No, the party's poh-bahs and their corporate media responded, we prefer the status quo and went on to crown a very unpopular warmonger and wall street sweetheart.
So now we witness the sad revenge of the deplorables.
So now we witness the sad revenge of the deplorables.
3
There is no need to search for answers to the question "Why?" It is simple. The majority of Americans are NOT as good as we thought. If they were, they would not have voted for such a despicable, immoral, unethical, selfish, brutish, hateful person to be their president. We are judged by the company we keep, or as the Bible says, by the fruits we bear. And of all the people who should not have associated themselves with this man, professed Christians are the most culpable. They have a model of what humans are supposed to be and there is nothing in the man they supported and voted for that resembles that model. Donald Trump is exactly the man he showed us, and those who voted him show us who they are. Nobody forced them vote as they did. They made their choice.
5
I did not vote for Trump; but I will say those Europeans and others who come to this country have been some of the rudest, aggressive, hostile people this Detroit lady then California transplant has ever had to deal with. Americans don't understand, why it is necessary to always have to take the back seat to our trading partners, allies, new citizens and supposed friends. I grew up believing that we were great Americans, until the invaders and careless leaders taught me I was someone they could easily spit and tramp on. People like Hillary send the message of pure utter elitism and cluelessness of core American Pride and values. No other people I have ever met are nearly as great as those Americans that I grew up with. We don't wish to be peons to corporate & international profit agenda's, with zero personal gain. Many hardworking decent Americans, in the blue Democrat state's like California and New York, are actually really homeless, without any hope, but to watch others succeed leaving the door to any American Dream shut closed for them. We are the great Americans; but why don't our leaders understand and respect this?
1
How to explain the Trump victory? We will kick this question around for decades or longer, but I have three immediate thoughts: 1) The political parties, DNC and RNC, no longer represent the people of the United States. The DNC especially in this election cycle ignored the will of the people to sabotage Bernie Sander's campaign and put forth Hillary Clinton. And so the mainstream parties have been repudiated by we the people; 2) The American people do not want political dynasties -- no more Bushes, no more Clintons; and 3) the "mainstream media" -- print and TV -- controlled by corporations who focus on profit and sound bites at the expense of news and honest, forthright analysis, tries to feed us what they want us to believe, and is likewise out of touch with we the people of this United States, and we have repudiated you too.
2
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." --H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
3
The dog caught the car. Now what?
Cosmopolites will realize that the model of governance America's authoritarian whites have voted into power is our own answer to Turkey's Recep Erdogan. Trump won't have the scope of action available to Erdogan, but he's likely to try to get as close to Erdogan's style as he can.
Like Trump, Erdogan enjoys the rapturous support of his country's unlettered rural conservatives. The biggest different is that Erdogan doesn't also run an international network of business enterprises on the side, mostly financed by a hostile foreign nation, as is true of Trump.
What will happen when Trump faces a decision that will make him a bundle but only if he betrays America's national interests? Remember how th Republicans kept accusing Clinton of this. That's because it was actually true of Trump.
My question is, now that the GOP controls the entire federal government (assuming he'll pack SCOTUS with Scalia 2.0s), what I'm curious about is that when the promised jobs don't appear and the narcissist at the tiller steers the ship of state onto the shoals, how they will blame all their failures on the Democrats?...as they surely will.
My warning to the Republicans is, beware success--with great triumph comes great danger, because it encourages heedlessness. You think you can do no wrong since you got to the top of the mountain.
Remember Nokia?
Cosmopolites will realize that the model of governance America's authoritarian whites have voted into power is our own answer to Turkey's Recep Erdogan. Trump won't have the scope of action available to Erdogan, but he's likely to try to get as close to Erdogan's style as he can.
Like Trump, Erdogan enjoys the rapturous support of his country's unlettered rural conservatives. The biggest different is that Erdogan doesn't also run an international network of business enterprises on the side, mostly financed by a hostile foreign nation, as is true of Trump.
What will happen when Trump faces a decision that will make him a bundle but only if he betrays America's national interests? Remember how th Republicans kept accusing Clinton of this. That's because it was actually true of Trump.
My question is, now that the GOP controls the entire federal government (assuming he'll pack SCOTUS with Scalia 2.0s), what I'm curious about is that when the promised jobs don't appear and the narcissist at the tiller steers the ship of state onto the shoals, how they will blame all their failures on the Democrats?...as they surely will.
My warning to the Republicans is, beware success--with great triumph comes great danger, because it encourages heedlessness. You think you can do no wrong since you got to the top of the mountain.
Remember Nokia?
6
"For instance, America undertook the Marshall Plan after World War II — giving millions of dollars to Europe — to build it up into a trading partner and into a relationship that turned out to be of great mutual benefit."
This is only a part of the lesson of Europe. Before the Marshall Plan was enacted, the American military first of all had to annihilate Germany, Italy, and Japan. Secondly, the U.S. military had to stay in those countries, for over 70 years now, to ensure the peace.
This is the lesson that the current Administration has failed to learn. You cannot win wars with surgical, limited strikes, you have to win. Then, you have to remain to maintain order.
This is only a part of the lesson of Europe. Before the Marshall Plan was enacted, the American military first of all had to annihilate Germany, Italy, and Japan. Secondly, the U.S. military had to stay in those countries, for over 70 years now, to ensure the peace.
This is the lesson that the current Administration has failed to learn. You cannot win wars with surgical, limited strikes, you have to win. Then, you have to remain to maintain order.
1
There is one thing terribly wrong with journalists today which is that they present the news in the form of opinion which is theirs and theirs alone. So they instruct their readers , sometimes very eloquently, but nonetheless incorrectly by exhibiting their wishful thinking and virtual PCorrectness, and very often liberally sprinkled with big time calumny.
Good reporters go out to observe what is out there with their eyes, ears and other senses and then report it without extraneous, personal suppositions.
This Trump win was a certain bet given the many deliberately unacknowledged signs of rottenness in the system of US governance led by the very journalists who consider themselves intellectually superior to the little guy. If one is so superior intellectually how come one loses the big debates such as this one? Answer: the little guy observes and listens.
Good reporters go out to observe what is out there with their eyes, ears and other senses and then report it without extraneous, personal suppositions.
This Trump win was a certain bet given the many deliberately unacknowledged signs of rottenness in the system of US governance led by the very journalists who consider themselves intellectually superior to the little guy. If one is so superior intellectually how come one loses the big debates such as this one? Answer: the little guy observes and listens.
1
Unfortunately, Tom, I don't believe Mr Trump is capable of the transformation for which you hope. 70 year old white guys have only a limited ability to change - even less so if they are self-entitled men who have surrounded themselves with an echo chamber to help create the illusion of their rectitude and superiority.
What scares me more than a Trump presidency is the recognition that I live in a country where a seeming majority of my fellow citizens prefer to angrily stick their head in the sands and wish for the "good old days" than to face the reality of a fast changing world - one where they won't, by virtue of their skin color and their genitalia, automatically be at the top of the social pecking order!
That is, unless, of course, the whole notion of democracy goes out the window in favor of a wannabe dictator, who will tell them what they want to hear even as he viciously exploits them. And that is, I am afraid, the more likely path for our new Con-Artist-in-Chief.
What scares me more than a Trump presidency is the recognition that I live in a country where a seeming majority of my fellow citizens prefer to angrily stick their head in the sands and wish for the "good old days" than to face the reality of a fast changing world - one where they won't, by virtue of their skin color and their genitalia, automatically be at the top of the social pecking order!
That is, unless, of course, the whole notion of democracy goes out the window in favor of a wannabe dictator, who will tell them what they want to hear even as he viciously exploits them. And that is, I am afraid, the more likely path for our new Con-Artist-in-Chief.
6
Once again, it is looking like the candidate who won the popular vote lost the election. The system IS rigged, but not by the Democrats. To add insult to injury, the blue states will continue to have to subsidize the red states. There's a group in California trying to qualify a secession measure for the ballot--we'd be the 6th largest GDP on earth on our own--but we're kind of stuck. At least now we have legal weed so maybe it's time to work less and pay less taxes to the feds, put on a virtual reality helmet, and disappear for four years.
7
Tom feels homeless? Stop belly aching. Unlike millions of voters, Tom, you are secure, with great health insurance, income, security, prestige, and no chance of your job being replaced by a columnist in Asia. So far anyway.
And the media is making too much of the majority/minority ‘threat to white people’? This anxiety is overblown---it distracts from the real economic problems of all. And that’s caused by our govt allowing corporate profits above responsibility to society---all long rationalized by Friedman. Now he sees the result and he’s appalled?
The nation is broken and divided. Not exactly the “union” Lincoln wanted and the civil war was fought for. And both Gop and Dems, and their excuse makers for business profit uber alles have been driving the wedge. Bill Clinton, Bush, Obama, with trade deals, taxes, offshoring, high cost health care, TPP, etc.
Those 'deplorable' Trumpites want radical change because their elected govt isn’t redressing their grievances. Disruptive? To which class of society?
You want a healer not a divider? Then stop cheering for ‘globalization’ that steals our jobs, ruins the livelihoods of millions, destroys commerce and viability of whole towns and regions---all while Congress is sharing business profits made on the backs of Americans. And our candidates get sponsorship.
Write a column on campaign finance reform. Expand your mental horizons, Tom.
And the media is making too much of the majority/minority ‘threat to white people’? This anxiety is overblown---it distracts from the real economic problems of all. And that’s caused by our govt allowing corporate profits above responsibility to society---all long rationalized by Friedman. Now he sees the result and he’s appalled?
The nation is broken and divided. Not exactly the “union” Lincoln wanted and the civil war was fought for. And both Gop and Dems, and their excuse makers for business profit uber alles have been driving the wedge. Bill Clinton, Bush, Obama, with trade deals, taxes, offshoring, high cost health care, TPP, etc.
Those 'deplorable' Trumpites want radical change because their elected govt isn’t redressing their grievances. Disruptive? To which class of society?
You want a healer not a divider? Then stop cheering for ‘globalization’ that steals our jobs, ruins the livelihoods of millions, destroys commerce and viability of whole towns and regions---all while Congress is sharing business profits made on the backs of Americans. And our candidates get sponsorship.
Write a column on campaign finance reform. Expand your mental horizons, Tom.
7
As a child welfare worker who sees daily the poverty, hopelessness, drug abuse and lack of education that always seems to co-exist for the families I work with I feel rudderless now and without hope or optimism. How do I tell my families to keep their heads and hopes up when their own country has clearly just had a collective temper tantrum and decided to "hold its breathe until it got what it wanted"? What do I say to people waiting for housing help, for drug treatment for a family member in serious trouble, to kids who's parents are facing deportation to countries were life expectancy for young men is equalvalint
6
My heart breaks for Hillary Clinton and her family. And for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama - great Gods, what a terrible, terrible thing for them. And for Joe Biden, and Tim Kaine, and all the Democrat politicians who have worked so hard to uphold values without which no person, no community, no country, can survive for long without disintegrating.
My heart breaks for the great minds and great journalists who had the courage to not sit on the fence. For every wonderful, courageous Democrat voter who poured themselves one way or another into Hillary Clinton's campaign, whose faces just got slapped and whose prospects just got a whole lot darker.
But let's not forget, none of them are going away. America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave; it's just that they're openly in the minority now. I've always wondered what it must have been like for activists during Hitler's time. Now I guess I'm going to have the experience myself. This can't be the end. It must be the beginning of a new phase of fighting bigotry. Despair isn't an option.
If Barack Obama could turn "Yes we can" into "Yes we did", through years of mountainous obstacles, and starting with such a disastrous situation, then we can overcome the evil of bigotry, no matter how much power it has at the moment.
My heart breaks for the great minds and great journalists who had the courage to not sit on the fence. For every wonderful, courageous Democrat voter who poured themselves one way or another into Hillary Clinton's campaign, whose faces just got slapped and whose prospects just got a whole lot darker.
But let's not forget, none of them are going away. America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave; it's just that they're openly in the minority now. I've always wondered what it must have been like for activists during Hitler's time. Now I guess I'm going to have the experience myself. This can't be the end. It must be the beginning of a new phase of fighting bigotry. Despair isn't an option.
If Barack Obama could turn "Yes we can" into "Yes we did", through years of mountainous obstacles, and starting with such a disastrous situation, then we can overcome the evil of bigotry, no matter how much power it has at the moment.
8
As a Republican, Trump was not my first choice but when he won the nomination, I supported him and contributed money to his campaign. What was on the ballot was Rule of Law, not Rule of Men. Mr. Friedman and many of his fellow writers at the New York Times believe in government by a cognitive elite who know what's best. For decades, we wake up one day and see decisions not made by the voters but by political insiders - no prayer in our schools, legalized abortion, failure to enforce our immigration laws, senseless wars led by the people who refused to be drafted for Viet-Nam, bailouts of the Wall Street Welfare State, the so-called "Affordable Health Care Act" in which the elites were exempted. I could go on but you get the point. Thus, I proudly cast my vote for Donald Trump.
2
I feel only slightly better after reading this column. American has spoken, and I don't feel part of that America. But I will stay positive, for the sake of my family (which includes my 95-year old mother).
Where do we progressives go from here? We need to find a "moderate progressive" to run in 2020. Apparently rich people can only win elections if they are Republicans.
Where do we progressives go from here? We need to find a "moderate progressive" to run in 2020. Apparently rich people can only win elections if they are Republicans.
5
PART 2
Will the Democratic leadership finally acknowledge that, by pursuing a Republican-lite neoliberal economic agenda and a liberal social agenda, it has alienated the white working-class Reagan Democrats? Has the Democratic establishment, as many fear, become just another appendage of Wall Street and global-corporate interests? The Democratic establishment has obviously lost all credibility with far too many voters.
Is there a statesman/woman or group of statesmen/women who might arise to actually unite this fractured country and lead it into a truly promising future?
Will Mr. Trump, who has proved the pollsters and pundits ever so wrong, prove all the armchair psychoanalysts also to be wrong? In spite of all the evidence--evidence cited not only by liberals, but also by many sober conservative commentators--concerning the manner in which Mr. Trump is psychologically unfit for the office of the presidency, will he surprise us all, suppress his narcissism and his vengeful tendencies, and govern with balance and moderation?
Will the Democratic leadership finally acknowledge that, by pursuing a Republican-lite neoliberal economic agenda and a liberal social agenda, it has alienated the white working-class Reagan Democrats? Has the Democratic establishment, as many fear, become just another appendage of Wall Street and global-corporate interests? The Democratic establishment has obviously lost all credibility with far too many voters.
Is there a statesman/woman or group of statesmen/women who might arise to actually unite this fractured country and lead it into a truly promising future?
Will Mr. Trump, who has proved the pollsters and pundits ever so wrong, prove all the armchair psychoanalysts also to be wrong? In spite of all the evidence--evidence cited not only by liberals, but also by many sober conservative commentators--concerning the manner in which Mr. Trump is psychologically unfit for the office of the presidency, will he surprise us all, suppress his narcissism and his vengeful tendencies, and govern with balance and moderation?
4
While I had grave misgivings about some previous presidents, never have I awakened with this sense of horror, of a waking nightmare, Never has there been this visceral sense that we, both as a country and as individuals, may very well not survive this grotesque individual's ascendancy to the height of political power. The Great Experiment may well be over.
7
I listened to Trumps' final campaign ad yesterday and I thought: this is straight out of Karl Marx's manifesto! It was a fierce denunciation of the political elite funded by finance capitalists in the pursuit of their globalist agenda of exploiting the American working class and "bleeding the country dry". Donald promised the beleaguered white masses deliverance from their oppressors.
It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party in Congress, victorious in the midst of crisis, deals with Trump's diktats from the Oval Office. That precarious alliance could come apart quickly.
It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party in Congress, victorious in the midst of crisis, deals with Trump's diktats from the Oval Office. That precarious alliance could come apart quickly.
3
The powerful politicians today felt the wrath of a country's citizenry being wielded with an insane vengeance. The upper 1% can't believe Trump won and they have to deal with reality, which will be hard to swallow.
Therefore, it is no longer business as usual. Now, even though the pundits will try to predict what is going to happen, the results of this election prove that they haven't a clue. It is going to be a wild ride!
Therefore, it is no longer business as usual. Now, even though the pundits will try to predict what is going to happen, the results of this election prove that they haven't a clue. It is going to be a wild ride!
3
The unthinkable happened.
Ignorance fostered frustration and resentment.
Millions of voters believed deceptive statements and irresponsible promises.
And this happened in America: Tocqueville must feel devastated in his grave!
Throughout Europe, right-wing extremists will feel empowered by this example and think "We can, too! We can dismember Europe and build walls."
How will investors react to an unpredictable future? How will the jobs market react?
Ignorance fostered frustration and resentment.
Millions of voters believed deceptive statements and irresponsible promises.
And this happened in America: Tocqueville must feel devastated in his grave!
Throughout Europe, right-wing extremists will feel empowered by this example and think "We can, too! We can dismember Europe and build walls."
How will investors react to an unpredictable future? How will the jobs market react?
3
As those of us who find Donald Trump repugnant wake up in America to find ourselves members of the loyal opposition, we must accept the verdict of the ballot box and move on.
The only sensible and loyal way to behave is to give Trump and the Republicans a chance to succeed.
This does not mean, however, that we should falter in our opposition to announced policies of the Republicans which are immoral or foolish.
This does not mean that we should be silent about the bigotry, the misogyny or the xenophobia.
This does not mean that we should stop our effort to combat global warming or nuclear proliferation.
This does not mean that we should accept a gutting of the Bill of Rights.
We can only hope that Trump and Republicans will have enough intelligence to realize that, while they won the verdict of the voters, they have to be better Americans – much better – to win the verdict of history.
The only sensible and loyal way to behave is to give Trump and the Republicans a chance to succeed.
This does not mean, however, that we should falter in our opposition to announced policies of the Republicans which are immoral or foolish.
This does not mean that we should be silent about the bigotry, the misogyny or the xenophobia.
This does not mean that we should stop our effort to combat global warming or nuclear proliferation.
This does not mean that we should accept a gutting of the Bill of Rights.
We can only hope that Trump and Republicans will have enough intelligence to realize that, while they won the verdict of the voters, they have to be better Americans – much better – to win the verdict of history.
6
I have this visual of a huge black cloud. Reminiscent of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. But this time it has covered our entire country. Maybe this madman won't have an immediate impact on my family. Maybe he won't start a nuclear war or cause another Great Depression. But this morning I'd hate to be an undocumented immigrant, a member of the LGBT community, a woman with an unwanted pregnancy, a person of color, a family living in poverty. Or Hillary Clinton or Russ Feingold. The list goes on and on. The bad guys have won. I've never asked God for anything. I believe the responsibility for caring for our world is within all of us. But...please God, help us.
8
Mr. Friedman needs to go back and reread his book on the benefits of a global economy and the danger of "the herd" and "government" moving away from the working men and women of the nation. The global economy results in winner's and loser's and Mr. Friedman himself warned about governments like the US and England not addressing the issue of ignoring their need to part of the wealth creation global trade provides. The economic loser's in a democracy do have a voice!
2
We had a fighting chance to mitigate the advance of global warming, of improving the standard of living around the world, which in my opinion, would go a long way towards global peace and to fight the disparity between the super rich and the marginalized population. Now I see the path leading to the end of our civilization. Over dramatic? This is a nightmare I wish I could wake up from.
5
I know that weeds tend to prevail. I know that the mechanism for evolutionary progress is to win. I know that the instinct for compassion is secondary. Yet I am devastated by Trump winning the presidency. Clearly, decency is only a thin veneer over the instinct to prevail. Basically, we are still indecent.
Friedman said it, “I feel homeless in America”.
Friedman said it, “I feel homeless in America”.
4
Mr Friedman, excellent article as usual. E pluribus unum is my motto of his term, although I did not vote for him for all the obvious and unobvious reasons I believe he needs to be given all the tools to make things work we need to create jobs in alternative energy sources and I pray he puts the right people in place to do that. We have lived through passionate campaigns before and we have overcome. We are a great nation and must continue to be so
Mr. Friedman's comments are well stated. As disturbing as it was to wake up in Europe this morning and find that our country has elected Donald Trump as our next President, and that over 60 million people deemed him fit to serve our country in that capacity, we have to believe he will not carry through on the most outrageous of his campaign promises. I may never understand the people who supported him, but I hope this is a lesson for those who failed to vote (I am an absentee ballot voter almost every year) and are complaining this morning. We have two years to plan to at least put the Senate in more rationale hands
3
Wow, all 3 houses are in repub control so here's the future. Paul Ryan's goal of cutting social security and medicare will be realized. Mitch McConnell's plan to expand the use of coal will also occur. VP Pence, who speaks to god, will terminate Planned Parenthood and with it legal abortion. No one really knows what Trump will do because he never told us and no one asked. His supporters assumed that a billionaire had lots in common with Joe Public, let's see how that goes.
The supreme court will get another Scalia so the progressive move is dead. Pre-existing illnesses will once again preclude health care coverage for millions of Americans. Insurance companies will regain complete control of our healthcare and will be able to dictate when health care is cutoff.
Dodd Frank will be repealed, Glass Steagel has no chances of resurrection which means the banks will be able to use your CD money for their wild bets.
Bottom line? Congratulations America. You proved that stupidity has no limits. That you learned nothing from the disasters known as George Bush, Ronald Reagan & Richard Nixon. That respect for women means nothing.
The supreme court will get another Scalia so the progressive move is dead. Pre-existing illnesses will once again preclude health care coverage for millions of Americans. Insurance companies will regain complete control of our healthcare and will be able to dictate when health care is cutoff.
Dodd Frank will be repealed, Glass Steagel has no chances of resurrection which means the banks will be able to use your CD money for their wild bets.
Bottom line? Congratulations America. You proved that stupidity has no limits. That you learned nothing from the disasters known as George Bush, Ronald Reagan & Richard Nixon. That respect for women means nothing.
24
Staring at the ceiling. It's time to re-read Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." I need to remember the last of the human freedoms...to choose how I respond to this situation. It can be so easy to succumb to darkness, to feel hopeless. I cannot do that. I refuse. Time to get up. Years ago I painstakingly reassembled shattered fragments of a ceramic statue I dropped on the floor at O'Hare airport after disembarking a flight from Mexico. I'd purchased the statue from a street vendor in Mexico City. The statue was a woman, seated cross-legged, with her hand raised to her cheek as if deep in thought. After dropping her, I almost tossed her fragments into the trash. Instead, I decided after some time to put her back together again. She had a gaping hole in her head and cracks everywhere, one resembling a tear rolling down her cheek. I placed the remaining shards and clay dust that couldn't be repaired into a tiny pot in front of her. On either side of the pot I placed a stone. One said "Remember" and the other..."Begin Again." And so I will. I need to find fragments of what I thought was my America. I have to believe there can be strength in our brokenness.
12
Donald Trump has no capacity to learn. He is a profoundly stupid and ignorant man. There is absolutely no reason to believe that he can change, even if he wanted to do so. He lacks the intelligence and care needed to be a good President. He lacks the judgment to surround himself with good people. Remember, the last time the GOP controlled the Presidency, it was led by George W. Bush, the worst President in US history, who surrounded himself with incompetents. Trump is infinitely worse and has not the perception to even understand where it is that he finds himself. I say all of this not because I necessarily wish the US ill - after all, all of us are going to suffer as Trump proves to be a disaster. I'm saying this because we have to deal with facts. Trump has been examined and analyzed ad infinitum. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that he can do or change in any of the ways that Friedman hopes.
9
This is truly his first job that he will have work at, but I think pathological shirkers will continue shirking responsibilities. Pay will be relatively low. Living quarters will be considered substandard, not to mention a whole host of inconveniences that come with the job. No sleep. Constant demand for your attention. I believe he will fawn a lot of the responsibility off on Pence, which could be a disaster for a whole lot of people (minorities, LGBT, etc.) I can only hope that Congress will unite (doubt it, but gotta try to have hope) and ignore him and work for the country.
8
I don't know why you assume Trump won't be the worst president in history. The larger story is that the GOP has won single party rule and the power to reshape politics in America to make it permanent. While article after article in the times focused on the candidate personalities, and endlessly delving into lame analysis of the psyche of the average voter, the political system has changed from the top down. Politicians over time remade politics and the press in it's name. Trump is a know nothing demagogue and will rule as such. His party will run government without any checks, and the GOP has long been the party for private sector profiteering over public service and the welfare of all.
The question is will we be able to call this new kind of single party government a form of democracy?
The question is will we be able to call this new kind of single party government a form of democracy?
10
I think the best way to understand this horrible outcome is as an inevitable expression of the decay of popular culture. In a world of reality TV, irresponsible social media, violent digital games, combative interactive cartoons and Twitter reality, with old media pandering to sensationalism out of sheer panic at the threats to their existence, it is inevitable that many of those living in that world will think the same standards-or lack thereof- apply to politics.
8
So some commenters still think Bernie could have saved us from the future the Donald will bring. But imagine how Bernie would have been attacked for his socialistic ideas, if he'd won the nomination! The movement that elected Trump were out for the very opposite of improving life for more people; they wanted 'those people (different from us) out of the way of 'our' progress.
Only Trump could have harnessed the energy of hate in America all the way into the presidency. A Pied Piper and a brilliant divider, Mr. Trump is; but he could not have won without the eagerness for change.
Let us hope that something within him will push him to want a more important legacy than to make it easier to make millions on the backs of 'ordinary people', because it seems now that only he could save America from himself.
Only Trump could have harnessed the energy of hate in America all the way into the presidency. A Pied Piper and a brilliant divider, Mr. Trump is; but he could not have won without the eagerness for change.
Let us hope that something within him will push him to want a more important legacy than to make it easier to make millions on the backs of 'ordinary people', because it seems now that only he could save America from himself.
2
The country has no chance of mending itself if the supposedly well-educated writers of most of the comments here cannot come to terms with what has happened and have some rational and empathetic understanding of why half the people in the country (obviously not all ignorant racist redneck trailer-trash or there would never be nearly enough of them) would vote for Trump.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties, along with the news media and the economic elites, need to do a lot of soul searching to understand how they together managed to steer the country into this perfect storm. I hope people calm down over the coming weeks and get on with the task. I applaud Tom Friedman for at least seeing that task on us even if no clear path is obvious yet.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties, along with the news media and the economic elites, need to do a lot of soul searching to understand how they together managed to steer the country into this perfect storm. I hope people calm down over the coming weeks and get on with the task. I applaud Tom Friedman for at least seeing that task on us even if no clear path is obvious yet.
3
If one believes in Democracy, one has to accept (without grudging) the outcome it throws! There were several opportunities available to both Rebublicans Democrats to have strong candidates. Since those were not chosen, this is the outcome and it has been arrived at by fair process. So we really need to cease from making statements that are contrary to the spirit of Democracy and America!
Incidentally, it is hard to believe that Trump would be able to make any drastic changes during his team in office. As far as rest of his voters are concerned, it is unfair to brand them all as some sort of inferior Americans who one would rather not have in America!
Incidentally, it is hard to believe that Trump would be able to make any drastic changes during his team in office. As far as rest of his voters are concerned, it is unfair to brand them all as some sort of inferior Americans who one would rather not have in America!
1
I get it that neo-liberalism is at its end. I really get that the chattering class hasn't the vaguest memory of the stresses of poverty and humiliation. but this doesn't detract from the fact that I am really frightened for our judicial system. I'm frightened for our free press. I'm frightened for the physical safety of minorities. You think a president is only one man and cant destroy a system. but backed by a likeminded coterie-And a willing majority of legislators-And an acquiescent judicial branch-And a complicit CIA/FBI/homeland security-And a frivolous press most of whom haven't a clue of the grave role they need to play in maintaining our government -what chance do some quaint hoary principles stand? Moreover, I'm really frightened that in a couple of months when the honeymoon is over and the cheering stops, unfillable narcissistic trump will inflame the masses in the old time tested manner. WAR. its inevitable. Hes become addicted to the cheering crowds. I'm actually with him on slapping tariffs on us companies importing goods made outside the u.s.--and a couple of other things. But this really puts me in mind of the beginnings of the 3rd Reich. Jesus have mercy.
9
OMG! As of 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Clinton has the popular vote by an inconsequential margin. This election was evenly divided. But, the electoral college overwhelmingly went in Trump's favor. The votes in low population red states are weighted more heavily in the electoral college. Yes, our elections are rigged in favor of more rural voters because of the mechanics of the electoral college. It looks like foul once again just like the 2000 election.
7
We have chosen the new captain for our ship of state. Since I am incapable of holding my breath for 1,461 days, I can only pray he will be successful in his on-the-job-training effort. I can hope the sheer size of the America as supertanker will make it harder for him to ground the vessel.
I believe he will learn how difficult governance is and that it cannot be reduced to 140 characters.
I fear for the marauding masses given cover to vent their anger on our fellow citizens in minority communities.
There is joy among the sons of Nathan Bedford Forrest and in Red Square and in Raqqa.
I am lashing myself to the mast along with my box still containing hope as we sail for the approaching hurricane.
I believe he will learn how difficult governance is and that it cannot be reduced to 140 characters.
I fear for the marauding masses given cover to vent their anger on our fellow citizens in minority communities.
There is joy among the sons of Nathan Bedford Forrest and in Red Square and in Raqqa.
I am lashing myself to the mast along with my box still containing hope as we sail for the approaching hurricane.
4
At the end of the day so many things went wrong for Hillary Clinton that there aren't enough characters to describe them all. For starters she couldn't win over disgruntled Bernie Sanders' supporters who decided to vote for Trump out of spite. If Bernie couldn't become president then Hillary Clinton wasn't going to be the president either. They decided to vent their wrath on Hillary Clinton big time. The Hamlet like performance of FBI Director Comey who kept pondering: to Investigate the emails or not to investigate the emails. That ill-fated "basket of deplorables" crack. Ooops.
Look at the bright side--at least America won't have to worry about having to endure the possibility of a second Clinton impeachment trial with the Republicans still firmly in charge of the House and the Senate. Hey, the Democrats deserved to lose. And I'd like to propose a novel suggestion to Tom Friedman et al--instead of writing endless hysterical columns why don't we give Donald Trump a chance? He won the presidency and now he has to put his money where his mouth is to make good on his promises.
Look at the bright side--at least America won't have to worry about having to endure the possibility of a second Clinton impeachment trial with the Republicans still firmly in charge of the House and the Senate. Hey, the Democrats deserved to lose. And I'd like to propose a novel suggestion to Tom Friedman et al--instead of writing endless hysterical columns why don't we give Donald Trump a chance? He won the presidency and now he has to put his money where his mouth is to make good on his promises.
1
Before the election in 2008, I heard people say--on television and in the building where I worked--that America didn't need or want an angry black man, and maybe that was one reason Barack Obama could be elected. He was not an angry man. In the face of incredible, race-based taunting about everything from his legitimacy as a citizen to his right to deliver a State of the Union Address without being told, "You lie," President Obama maintained his calm demeanor. Now, eight years later, America has chosen an angry white man as president. Tonight I am too shocked to be angry. Too ashamed. Too sad. Demographics is revealing that the voters responsible for Trump's victory are white men and white women. I cannot afford to wish revenge upon them, to hope they will live to be sorry for their action, because whatever they suffer, the rest of us will suffer, too. Not only am I ashamed of my country, I am ashamed of my race.
10
There is no silver lining. Trump will not undergo "a radical change in personality and politics." Trump is a narcissistic sociopath. Sociopaths never change. They only become better at manipulating those around them, exploiting vulnerabilities, and inflicting maximum damage. We've seen only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Trump, and icebergs sink ships.
9
When the North won the Civil War there was no Marshall Plan, and the culture of the south was allowed to remain intact. Those are the values that triumphed with a Trump election. So while the Civil War was won by the North, the South was allowed to remain unchanged in fundamental ways that continue to impact the USA in negative ways.
6
Trump will be just be a liar and a looser as president, like he is real life where he lost $1billion, unable to deal with the complexity of the office, or take any action at all. The 4 year term of Trump will be marked by scandal, inaction, and political upheaval against his administration, much of it caused by those who voted for him. An impeachment effort started by his own party is possible. Dont look for him to do alot of damage, for he is unable to do much of anything. He will find Obama care impossible to eliminate, it just helps too many people, and they will cause mayhem when he tries. Republicans will be stuck for the 4 year term, constantly trying to explain away his senseless actions. When he looses in 2020, it will change the system all right - but way different than he thought.
3
PART 1
Mr.Richard Luettgen, to my shock, had it pegged for months now.
Congratulations, Mr. Luettgen.
I hope that your other pronouncements concerning what a Trump presidency will mean come to fruition: That President Trump will shake up the system so that both major party establishments will reflect on their past errors, come together in the middle and effect compromises that will serve the common good.
Questions remain: Will the Republican Party respond to a Trump presidency by becoming a populist-nationalist party, like those led by Le Pen in France, Orban in Hungary, and Kaczynski in Poland? Or was Trump's turn on stage as a populist-nationalist leader merely a ploy to get himself elected? Will the GOP be able to persuade President Trump to assume a largely ceremonial role and leave the actual governance to Vice President Pence, Speaker Ryan and Senator McConnell? What roles will early and faithful Trump supporters like Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Christie play in the new administration? Have moderate Republicans like Mr. Romney, General Powell, Governor Kasich and the Bush family, by their denunciations of Mr. Trump, effectively committed political hiri-kiri?
The Republicans will now control the administrative and legislative branches of the federal government. Republican appointees will soon once again control the Supreme Court. Just how will the GOP politicians play the hand they have been dealt?
Mr.Richard Luettgen, to my shock, had it pegged for months now.
Congratulations, Mr. Luettgen.
I hope that your other pronouncements concerning what a Trump presidency will mean come to fruition: That President Trump will shake up the system so that both major party establishments will reflect on their past errors, come together in the middle and effect compromises that will serve the common good.
Questions remain: Will the Republican Party respond to a Trump presidency by becoming a populist-nationalist party, like those led by Le Pen in France, Orban in Hungary, and Kaczynski in Poland? Or was Trump's turn on stage as a populist-nationalist leader merely a ploy to get himself elected? Will the GOP be able to persuade President Trump to assume a largely ceremonial role and leave the actual governance to Vice President Pence, Speaker Ryan and Senator McConnell? What roles will early and faithful Trump supporters like Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Christie play in the new administration? Have moderate Republicans like Mr. Romney, General Powell, Governor Kasich and the Bush family, by their denunciations of Mr. Trump, effectively committed political hiri-kiri?
The Republicans will now control the administrative and legislative branches of the federal government. Republican appointees will soon once again control the Supreme Court. Just how will the GOP politicians play the hand they have been dealt?
1
The people who actually run this country - the owners, handlers, and operators of the elected politicians, the career military and civilian bureaucrats, and the anointed political appointees - have not changed in the slightest. That is evident from the re-election rate of incumbents in Congress and in State and Local races. Again, a lot can happen between now and January 20.
In a year that has already seen Brexit and the Cubs, we now have, in a couple of months, a Trump to go along with a Putin, a Xi Jinping, a Netanyahu, a Kim Jong-un, and the Islamic State. No wonder the Chinese term this a "Year of the Fire Dog."
The next couple of months will disclose for the people of this nation and the entire world to see just exactly how much of an "Outsider" beyond the control of the military-industrial, petro-financial, techno-media, surveillance and security complex Mr Trump actually, really is. Or really, actually has ever been.
jg moebus
sitka, ak
In
In a year that has already seen Brexit and the Cubs, we now have, in a couple of months, a Trump to go along with a Putin, a Xi Jinping, a Netanyahu, a Kim Jong-un, and the Islamic State. No wonder the Chinese term this a "Year of the Fire Dog."
The next couple of months will disclose for the people of this nation and the entire world to see just exactly how much of an "Outsider" beyond the control of the military-industrial, petro-financial, techno-media, surveillance and security complex Mr Trump actually, really is. Or really, actually has ever been.
jg moebus
sitka, ak
In
1
I stayed up to watch Trump's speech, which was largely platitudes and inanities, and thought of President-elect Barack Obama in that vast stadium in Chicago in 2008. Remember that night, and the sense of possibility? There was none of that soaring rhetoric tonight. Trump lacks eloquence, that's not his forte.
But with the diminished expectations that Trump's election requires, I am grateful that he was gracious toward his opponent, Hillary Clinton. For this night, anyway, he was magnanimous in his victory, so he didn't call her Lyin' Hillary, or Crooked Hillary. He didn't promise to pursue an indictment as his first act in office, and his supporters didn't chant "Lock her up!" That's something small, but it's something.
Right now I am profoundly sad for our country, and uneasy about our future as a nation, but Trump has a decisive win, and a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. So let's see what he does to "make America great again." If he doesn't run our economy into a ditch, if the Constitution isn't dismantled, if undocumented immigrants aren't rounded up and deported en masse, if he doesn't take umbrage at some perceived foreign slight and start a new war...hopefully all these fears will remain just that, fears, and we will move forward. We have survived a civil war, two world wars, a great depression, a great recession, and more. We will survive this too.
But with the diminished expectations that Trump's election requires, I am grateful that he was gracious toward his opponent, Hillary Clinton. For this night, anyway, he was magnanimous in his victory, so he didn't call her Lyin' Hillary, or Crooked Hillary. He didn't promise to pursue an indictment as his first act in office, and his supporters didn't chant "Lock her up!" That's something small, but it's something.
Right now I am profoundly sad for our country, and uneasy about our future as a nation, but Trump has a decisive win, and a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. So let's see what he does to "make America great again." If he doesn't run our economy into a ditch, if the Constitution isn't dismantled, if undocumented immigrants aren't rounded up and deported en masse, if he doesn't take umbrage at some perceived foreign slight and start a new war...hopefully all these fears will remain just that, fears, and we will move forward. We have survived a civil war, two world wars, a great depression, a great recession, and more. We will survive this too.
5
This election had two deeply flawed candidates. One belongs in prison for violation of espionage laws, bribery, and racketeering. The other belongs on an after midnight AM radio broadcast.
But one candidate promised to lower the taxes on my small business and to lower the taxes on me personally. Lowering corporate taxes encourages firms to keep their profits and their HQs in the US, creating jobs. Lowering taxes on small business owners, corp or individual, provides more scarce capital for growth.
One candidate has promised to do everything she can to gut Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, the right to defend oneself, and the right to be charged before being deprived of liberty. She lost.
Democrats are shocked this morning, but don't be. Trump is no more nor less than Andrew Jackson re-incarnate. They should have realized who they were running against.
But one candidate promised to lower the taxes on my small business and to lower the taxes on me personally. Lowering corporate taxes encourages firms to keep their profits and their HQs in the US, creating jobs. Lowering taxes on small business owners, corp or individual, provides more scarce capital for growth.
One candidate has promised to do everything she can to gut Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, the right to defend oneself, and the right to be charged before being deprived of liberty. She lost.
Democrats are shocked this morning, but don't be. Trump is no more nor less than Andrew Jackson re-incarnate. They should have realized who they were running against.
It's not only Trump who has to be a healer. We all have to be. We all have to take responsibility for where our nation goes next. That is what being a citizen in a democracy is about -- the tough work of listening to people with whom you disagree, but listening to hear if perhaps there's a bit of common ground around which to start having genuine policy debates.
We've simply got to do it, as the alternative is ever more dysfunction and cynicism and angry, impulsive reactions. I'm fighting shock and denial, and it is incredibly tempting to engage in exactly the same blaming and shaming and name-calling that characterized the campaign. Heaping more anger and vitriol into our common space will not help us. Trying desperately and honestly to understand where "the other" is coming from is the only thing that will. Sadly, it will not be easy.
We've simply got to do it, as the alternative is ever more dysfunction and cynicism and angry, impulsive reactions. I'm fighting shock and denial, and it is incredibly tempting to engage in exactly the same blaming and shaming and name-calling that characterized the campaign. Heaping more anger and vitriol into our common space will not help us. Trying desperately and honestly to understand where "the other" is coming from is the only thing that will. Sadly, it will not be easy.
2
Once again Tom writes a column that claims to be about reconciliation while at the same time sowing the seeds of discord. What we need now is less discord and more unity.
Trump's victory can be the impetus to a radical change in the American body politic. He may yet turn out to be the tyrant many fear, or he could be a unifier in the same vien as Teddy Roosevelt who famously called for the an end to hyphenated Americans and unification around our commonality as Americans. The "homeless" cited by Krugman are people who consider themselves Americans and nothing more.
Historically the consideration has been that once you get to America you become an American, not a citizen of some other country living in America but and American from somewhere else. Our current naive insistence that immigrants can arrive here and keep all their cultural backgrounds and not assimilate has lead to a Balkanization of the country which contributes to the feelings of homelessness for not only the Trump supporters but also to the erstwhile Hillary backers.
If a Trump presidency reinforces the unifying factors we have, that we are all Americans, he can create a nation that lives up to its promise of equality. If he exacerbates the differences between Americans by ethnicity or class then we are doomed. It is up to columnists such as those employed by the NYT to work towards unity over disunity and for community leaders to stress what we have in common over what sets us apart.
Trump's victory can be the impetus to a radical change in the American body politic. He may yet turn out to be the tyrant many fear, or he could be a unifier in the same vien as Teddy Roosevelt who famously called for the an end to hyphenated Americans and unification around our commonality as Americans. The "homeless" cited by Krugman are people who consider themselves Americans and nothing more.
Historically the consideration has been that once you get to America you become an American, not a citizen of some other country living in America but and American from somewhere else. Our current naive insistence that immigrants can arrive here and keep all their cultural backgrounds and not assimilate has lead to a Balkanization of the country which contributes to the feelings of homelessness for not only the Trump supporters but also to the erstwhile Hillary backers.
If a Trump presidency reinforces the unifying factors we have, that we are all Americans, he can create a nation that lives up to its promise of equality. If he exacerbates the differences between Americans by ethnicity or class then we are doomed. It is up to columnists such as those employed by the NYT to work towards unity over disunity and for community leaders to stress what we have in common over what sets us apart.
1
I believe that our country already is so irreparably divided that our national government can not function. We have seen evidence of this since the election of Mr. Obama, with nothing but obstruction coming from the Republicans in Congress.
While many will rejoice about the outcome of this election, many others will feel nothing but deep despair. I can not foresee a path forward that unites these disparate visions of what the United States truly is and truly stands for in the world.
While many will rejoice about the outcome of this election, many others will feel nothing but deep despair. I can not foresee a path forward that unites these disparate visions of what the United States truly is and truly stands for in the world.
4
Hello Tom and fellow readers of the NYTimes:
It was your editorial that taught me that the United States and China are "joined at the hip."
I reviled at the thought, because I am a Tibetan Buddhist who is deeply and personally related to the Tibetan Refugee community in the United States and some abroad in English speaking countries. China committed a genocide against the Tibetans. They committed a genocide against their own people in to die of starvation.
That stated, I am afraid of Donald Trumps profound lack of awareness that despite China's wrong doings, barring them, obstructing them, or interfering with trade or from trade with the United States would cause severe suffering and possible death amoung the Chinese of mainland China.
I am afraid not of world markets downturning so much as the people consequences of such downturns. I know Mr. Trump does not seek adult education as I have an millions of other Americans.
The fact is that America suffered an economic depression moved by the Republicans of the original Bush era and it has not experienced a reversal. Connecticut is a zero in economic terms. So too are Kentucky, Tennessee and other coal producing States. The Dakotas are golden. They have no excuse for voting for DT.
I am hoping that DT who seems open to information will refuse the shackles of republican control and truly adopt governing a people's government of the United States.
It was your editorial that taught me that the United States and China are "joined at the hip."
I reviled at the thought, because I am a Tibetan Buddhist who is deeply and personally related to the Tibetan Refugee community in the United States and some abroad in English speaking countries. China committed a genocide against the Tibetans. They committed a genocide against their own people in to die of starvation.
That stated, I am afraid of Donald Trumps profound lack of awareness that despite China's wrong doings, barring them, obstructing them, or interfering with trade or from trade with the United States would cause severe suffering and possible death amoung the Chinese of mainland China.
I am afraid not of world markets downturning so much as the people consequences of such downturns. I know Mr. Trump does not seek adult education as I have an millions of other Americans.
The fact is that America suffered an economic depression moved by the Republicans of the original Bush era and it has not experienced a reversal. Connecticut is a zero in economic terms. So too are Kentucky, Tennessee and other coal producing States. The Dakotas are golden. They have no excuse for voting for DT.
I am hoping that DT who seems open to information will refuse the shackles of republican control and truly adopt governing a people's government of the United States.
2
"I assume that Trump will not want to go down as the worst president in history,.." Impossible sir, that title goes to our current POTUS, the most inexperiencd man in the room, who presided over the degradation of the best health care system in the world, ruined race relations in the U.S.A., demonized the police, gutted the armed forces, signed the disaster nuclear catastrophe with Iran, and (physically and mentally) bowed low to dictators all over the world. From having the least qualified person in the room as president, we will now have a successful international business man with lots of management experience, a man who understands keeping expenses under control, and a patriot to boot.
2
The United States elected a populist last night. Democrats squandered their chance to nominate a populist to go head-to-head against Trump. The battle between the free market-winner-take-all approach of Trump and the democratic socialist approach of Bernie Sanders would have been the more just fight at this time in America. At least then, the true sentiment of the American people, for better or for worse, could have been more honestly gauged. Instead, a milk-toast establishment insider with a bad reputation for honesty was rammed into position by DNC leadership. Rigged, indeed. It showed an arrogant sense of entitlement, one to deliver the first woman president. And it backfired. Big time. The one good outcome of this colossal failure of the DNC could be to question the value of backroom politics that caused the mismatch. It appears that Americans no longer accept nominees chosen by political insiders and the media.
That said, whether Trump’s leadership will see successes for the entire country, not just Wall Street and the wealthy, remains to be seen.
That said, whether Trump’s leadership will see successes for the entire country, not just Wall Street and the wealthy, remains to be seen.
3
Although far from being a Trump supporter, I found it noteworthy that his speech was bordering on gracious; the way he thanked and introduced all those people, even the creepy ones. Instead of the usual platitudes, what I heard was a desire to jump right on in and fix things, beginning with hiring a lot of people to work on the infrastructure. Even if that's not what happens, the fact that it's his intended first priority was impressive, considering he's no longer a candidate.
It seems conceivable he might even strive to keep us out of the wars Mrs. Clinton seems to find so fulfilling: I thought I detected a whiff of olive branch there. Mrs. Clinton is now free to pursue her endless good works w/ The Foundation, work on her memoirs, give helpful speeches to confused financiers in need of guidance, and continue to sock away a bundle.
It seems conceivable he might even strive to keep us out of the wars Mrs. Clinton seems to find so fulfilling: I thought I detected a whiff of olive branch there. Mrs. Clinton is now free to pursue her endless good works w/ The Foundation, work on her memoirs, give helpful speeches to confused financiers in need of guidance, and continue to sock away a bundle.
5
"But Donald Trump cannot be a winner unless he undergoes a radical change in personality and politics and becomes everything he was not in this campaign."
Mr. Friedman, at my advanced age of 77, I have come to a major conclusion: As people grow older, a few actually mature, but many become more and more the insecure, unreflective neurotic children they always were.
I hope that Mr. Trump will prove that, even in one's seventies, one can grow beyond insecurities and neuroses, and move on to assume mature, adult responsibilities.
Mr. Friedman, at my advanced age of 77, I have come to a major conclusion: As people grow older, a few actually mature, but many become more and more the insecure, unreflective neurotic children they always were.
I hope that Mr. Trump will prove that, even in one's seventies, one can grow beyond insecurities and neuroses, and move on to assume mature, adult responsibilities.
3
There could be a simple earthy messages in Trump's victory. The people of USA do not care about their country's international stature, many of the men in the country do think of women in terms that Trump articulated and they would be happy to live in a society where unnecessary freedoms are curtailed. Possibly many of Trump's voters identify with his behavior and do see him as a good role model for their children. What the rest of world thinks of a USA that elects such a President is the business of the rest of the world and America couldn't care less. This may be blessing in disguise as W. Europe, Canada and a few other countries could begin to claim their rightful prominence in the world while USA looks more and more inward.
2
Trump is no idiot. He did everything right to win. Here in Europe we are already used to this kind of politician. In a capitalistic world the poltician gets the vote, who is in the news - bad news are good news. And because all the media need the bad news they support (indirectly) people like Trump. I love the NYT, because it is not on this bandwagon. Anyway, the modern politician does anything to get into the news, to win the election, afterwards everything is absolutely different. The modern politician changes his behaviour after election and acts in the interest of the monetarian elite to get more power for them. Trump will follow, and greedy people will follow. Have that seen here in EU, you will see it in US. As long as the media (newspapers, TV, internet) gets their money from ads and not from the reader themself nothing will change. On a sidenote: quite interesting that even half the population of the US - women - could not prove their solidarity between women and women. Media is so powerful. We need a regulation that media is paid by their readers only. I don't want to support rightish media anymore with my money that I pay for products and services and that is partly than used by CEO's to pay ads in media I don't want to support! The rightish get more power, because all people pay to support their media via ads.
2
First of all, it is deeply offensive to read Friedman using the characterization of "homeless" for anything other than the actual condition, in which so many unfortunate people the world over suffer right now in ways that the comfortably well-heeled likes of Friedman can't really imagine. It's the kind of precious self-regard and entitled sense of liberal-as-martyr that has proven today to be so removed from the concerns of a majority of Americans. Secondly, I agree that nothing Trump campaigned on can be counted on as something he will actually pursue. He said whatever he thought was needed given whatever situation presented itself, often without any forethought, and the big question now is: what is he REALLY going to do, and does he even know? My guess is he's always had his own more measured sense of the direction he wants to take the country in. He is not an idiot or a buffoon. He is a very practiced operator, an adept manipulator. He took grandstand as the most promising campaign style in the current climate and it paid off. The page has now turned on that chapter, and we can expect only to not really be sure what to expect in the next.
2
Policy prescriptions either work or they don't. Either we'll have coastal flooding and massive disruptions in the environment due to increased Co2 from burning coal or we won't.
At best, Trump will just let us drift toward policy solutions on the environment, economy and immigration that make things catastrophic and away from sensible solutions that could make things better.
The advisors he surrounds himself with will be the discredited Republicans from the past like Gingrich and Guiliani and current supply-sliders and budget-balancing ideologues like Ryan.
The movement to "make America great again" will be nothing more than boiler-plate Republican policies of the past, accompanied by great fanfare and hype as something new.
And the ensuing disasters will create more crises and the solutions implemented just won't work.
But this is what America has voted for.
At best, Trump will just let us drift toward policy solutions on the environment, economy and immigration that make things catastrophic and away from sensible solutions that could make things better.
The advisors he surrounds himself with will be the discredited Republicans from the past like Gingrich and Guiliani and current supply-sliders and budget-balancing ideologues like Ryan.
The movement to "make America great again" will be nothing more than boiler-plate Republican policies of the past, accompanied by great fanfare and hype as something new.
And the ensuing disasters will create more crises and the solutions implemented just won't work.
But this is what America has voted for.
9
We really are our own worst enemy.
People who support Trump are frustrated with government, want change, want to shake up Washington. Well they have managed to shake up the entire country, even the globe. The Republican Party succeeded in its strategy to make government fail and blame it on Obama, Clinton and the Democratic Party. If Trump supporters had been guided by anything more than hatred and anger they would have seen that the change they sought would come only by throwing Republicans out of office.
We are witnessing the failure of the grand experiment, the collapse of America from within. After calling for divisiveness, Trump now calls for healing, but that is absurd. How will blacks, Muslims, Latino Americans, forgive their white neighbors? How will Democrats come to accept the policies that Trump promised? How will women accept government control over their bodies? How will progressives accept climate change on steroids? How will educated Americans accept the will of the uneducated who deny science, deny that there is a world outside of America that we need to get along with?
Trump's triumph is the triumph of ignorance over knowledge.
People who support Trump are frustrated with government, want change, want to shake up Washington. Well they have managed to shake up the entire country, even the globe. The Republican Party succeeded in its strategy to make government fail and blame it on Obama, Clinton and the Democratic Party. If Trump supporters had been guided by anything more than hatred and anger they would have seen that the change they sought would come only by throwing Republicans out of office.
We are witnessing the failure of the grand experiment, the collapse of America from within. After calling for divisiveness, Trump now calls for healing, but that is absurd. How will blacks, Muslims, Latino Americans, forgive their white neighbors? How will Democrats come to accept the policies that Trump promised? How will women accept government control over their bodies? How will progressives accept climate change on steroids? How will educated Americans accept the will of the uneducated who deny science, deny that there is a world outside of America that we need to get along with?
Trump's triumph is the triumph of ignorance over knowledge.
12
One lesson to be learned from this election - again.
A lesson that Americans simply refuse to learn, is that elections are "spoiled", not by voter fraud or rigging , but by third party candidates that refuse to leave the race and direct their supporters to the candidate who thinks most like themselves, rather than insist on fueling their own gigantic egos at the price of the good of the country.
Trump received 57,322,430 popular votes
Hillary received 56,423,462
Stein received 1,104,722
If Stein voters had voted for the only climate change "believer" in the race, Clinton would have had 57,528,184 - and beat Trump in the popular vote.
Add in Johnson's 3,836,419 - even if only that 1,100,000 of them had switched to Hillary we'd have the same as the Stein results, and if all of them did, she would have had 61,364,603.
Third party candidates with less than 10% of the vote, at least 60 days before the election, should have the good grace to drop out. If not, it is pure ego that drives them on - and changes history.
Good going Third Party voters- who did none of the work over the last 4 years or more to actually form a viable Third Party and candidate. President Trump is, to a significant degree, on your shoulders.
A lesson that Americans simply refuse to learn, is that elections are "spoiled", not by voter fraud or rigging , but by third party candidates that refuse to leave the race and direct their supporters to the candidate who thinks most like themselves, rather than insist on fueling their own gigantic egos at the price of the good of the country.
Trump received 57,322,430 popular votes
Hillary received 56,423,462
Stein received 1,104,722
If Stein voters had voted for the only climate change "believer" in the race, Clinton would have had 57,528,184 - and beat Trump in the popular vote.
Add in Johnson's 3,836,419 - even if only that 1,100,000 of them had switched to Hillary we'd have the same as the Stein results, and if all of them did, she would have had 61,364,603.
Third party candidates with less than 10% of the vote, at least 60 days before the election, should have the good grace to drop out. If not, it is pure ego that drives them on - and changes history.
Good going Third Party voters- who did none of the work over the last 4 years or more to actually form a viable Third Party and candidate. President Trump is, to a significant degree, on your shoulders.
11
I feel like I have lost my country, and not because Hillary Clinton lost the election. No, this is a larger feeling of despair. As the daughter of a World War II veteran who has studied how the Nazis rose in Germany, I see too many parallels to have any hope that a Donald Trump presidency will bring anything but destruction to the United States and the world. We have just elected a nationalistic egomaniac supported by a strong neo-Nazi movement, and who has the impulse control of a three-year-old, to the highest office in the world, a man who has all but announced his intention to turn this country into a concentration camp for anyone who does not think like him or look like him. The roundup of millions of undocumented immigrants could begin; the decimation of President Obama's attempts to control climate change will certainly begin. With someone who has bragged about his power to sexually assault women, and the certainty that he will appoint supreme court justices who will overturn every protection that every underrepresented American has gained in the last 50 years, I no longer recognize my country. And I no longer feel safe in it. I will be praying for its survival.
12
As a citizen, patriot, and someone who supported Hillary Clinton, I accept the legitimacy of what has happened. Donald Trump is President-elect, will be sworn in on January 20, and he will have my support as his term begins. All of us, no matter for whom we voted, owe him that as citizens. Now is the time, and if only for a time, that we lay aside our differences and come together as a nation and in good faith. Our responsibility to the continuance of the American Experiment demands it.
For those who, like me, supported the Democrats in this contest, now is not the time for despair, wringing of hands, or other acts of political brooding. We cannot afford it. Our hope for what we believe can be a brighter and more meaningful future for ourselves and our children begins with what we think and do today, in spite of what we see happening. If those thoughts and actions are filled with regret and paralysis, we fail outright. We must gather our sensibility, faith, courage, and patriotism, and pledge to quickly set aside our disappointment and fear. There is much work to do.
"I am hurt, but I am not slain ... I'll rise and fight again"
For those who, like me, supported the Democrats in this contest, now is not the time for despair, wringing of hands, or other acts of political brooding. We cannot afford it. Our hope for what we believe can be a brighter and more meaningful future for ourselves and our children begins with what we think and do today, in spite of what we see happening. If those thoughts and actions are filled with regret and paralysis, we fail outright. We must gather our sensibility, faith, courage, and patriotism, and pledge to quickly set aside our disappointment and fear. There is much work to do.
"I am hurt, but I am not slain ... I'll rise and fight again"
5
The Democrats have lost an election, Europe may lose its most important partner. In the last decades the USA and Europe stood side by side, when freedom, democracy and human rights had to be defended (remark: I am aware of the not so occasional failures).
Now, I am not so sure any more. The winning candidate announced to stop supporting NATO and instead wants to be on good terms with Putin - even asked Russia to spy on his enemies (what they apparently did - successfully). He shows no interest for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and supports Assad in fighting 'terrorists' and instead critisizes Germany for helping Syrian refugees.
Until now we have had a partnership based on common values - values the next president possibly does not share. If his announcements come true we may go separate ways in the future.
Now, I am not so sure any more. The winning candidate announced to stop supporting NATO and instead wants to be on good terms with Putin - even asked Russia to spy on his enemies (what they apparently did - successfully). He shows no interest for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and supports Assad in fighting 'terrorists' and instead critisizes Germany for helping Syrian refugees.
Until now we have had a partnership based on common values - values the next president possibly does not share. If his announcements come true we may go separate ways in the future.
7
Tom: You did hit on at least one thing that strikes a profound chord. My hunch is that many of us who voted the way we did, for a flawed messenger. . .nevertheless agreed with an underlying and important message.
It turns out that several of America's lost ideals have been re-born for many of us: The United States as the great "melting pot" (as even Martin Luther King Jr. espoused). The glue of assimilation can be loosened to the point of separating us all with so much emphasis on multi-culturalism. When does too much diversity become divisive and destroy the basic underpinnings that unite us as one country and one people? This was and is the unspoken question the majority of us asked tonight.
It's not about being white or any other color or ethnicity. Its about reclaiming what it is to be an American and not being ashamed of it.
On our coins is minted the phrase "E Pluribus Unam" "From many into one." This is what we won back tonight.
If learning English to fit in was good enough for our parents and grandparents we should no longer be considered politically incorrect for requiring that anyone who wishes to vote will have to read it in that language. . .and they should be proud that they've learned to speak it in order to fit in. There was a time when "fitting in" as an American was valued in this country. We are saying that others need to adapt to us rather than vice versa. It has been the wrong way for far too long.
It turns out that several of America's lost ideals have been re-born for many of us: The United States as the great "melting pot" (as even Martin Luther King Jr. espoused). The glue of assimilation can be loosened to the point of separating us all with so much emphasis on multi-culturalism. When does too much diversity become divisive and destroy the basic underpinnings that unite us as one country and one people? This was and is the unspoken question the majority of us asked tonight.
It's not about being white or any other color or ethnicity. Its about reclaiming what it is to be an American and not being ashamed of it.
On our coins is minted the phrase "E Pluribus Unam" "From many into one." This is what we won back tonight.
If learning English to fit in was good enough for our parents and grandparents we should no longer be considered politically incorrect for requiring that anyone who wishes to vote will have to read it in that language. . .and they should be proud that they've learned to speak it in order to fit in. There was a time when "fitting in" as an American was valued in this country. We are saying that others need to adapt to us rather than vice versa. It has been the wrong way for far too long.
4
It's time to eat humble pie and to bow down in the face of this victory. Make no mistake, I voted for the Blue ticket. But we were beaten. So I say instead of lamenting and kibitzing, lets allow the majority to rule with impunity.
They know what's best - immigration, consumer protection, taxes, etc. - so let's allow them to demonstrate what their policies result in. If Democrats interfere or modify with the plans then they have a scapegoat. If we, as Dems, believe in our positions, lets allow for the real world test through the implementation of policy. Not that we have much choice, but simply standing aside and announcing in a grandiose manner that we acquiesce will serve to set the baseline when the next election comes around. Of course, I have no doubt that it will be a disaster for most, and that it will all be blamed on an Obama hangover, but at least we will have something objective to point to.
The voters have spoken. Lets allow them to have their way and reap the whirlwind. I hope it's not too late for our country at the end but, if it is, perhaps this is the fate that we are destined to consummate. And if it isn't, perhaps we will emerge wiser and less subject to our more base instincts. What choice do we really have?
They know what's best - immigration, consumer protection, taxes, etc. - so let's allow them to demonstrate what their policies result in. If Democrats interfere or modify with the plans then they have a scapegoat. If we, as Dems, believe in our positions, lets allow for the real world test through the implementation of policy. Not that we have much choice, but simply standing aside and announcing in a grandiose manner that we acquiesce will serve to set the baseline when the next election comes around. Of course, I have no doubt that it will be a disaster for most, and that it will all be blamed on an Obama hangover, but at least we will have something objective to point to.
The voters have spoken. Lets allow them to have their way and reap the whirlwind. I hope it's not too late for our country at the end but, if it is, perhaps this is the fate that we are destined to consummate. And if it isn't, perhaps we will emerge wiser and less subject to our more base instincts. What choice do we really have?
4
What happened?
A lot of people may now be wondering where they went wrong. Perhaps casting a look out the window at the world may enlighten them.
It was hubris and certitude among the talking heads in the liberal media, plain and simple. The so-called "left intellectual" class has always been detached from the rest of society, seeing it in their self-image that they accepted as a true reflection of the state of affairs. But this class has been disconnected from Everyday Citizen.
Had they but examined what happened in India in 2014 or in the UK earlier this year, they would have had some reason for self-doubt and, with it, a more honest appreciation of their positions and if they, indeed, described the average people. It is this certitude that made the powerful commissars miss the likelihood of the fall of the Soviet Union; Angela Merkel and her clique miss the German anger towards refugees from Syria; the astonishing election results in India; and the ostensibly unexplainable renunciation of the EU by the Brits.
We saw all that in Nate Silver's blog just 24 hours ago.
A lot of people may now be wondering where they went wrong. Perhaps casting a look out the window at the world may enlighten them.
It was hubris and certitude among the talking heads in the liberal media, plain and simple. The so-called "left intellectual" class has always been detached from the rest of society, seeing it in their self-image that they accepted as a true reflection of the state of affairs. But this class has been disconnected from Everyday Citizen.
Had they but examined what happened in India in 2014 or in the UK earlier this year, they would have had some reason for self-doubt and, with it, a more honest appreciation of their positions and if they, indeed, described the average people. It is this certitude that made the powerful commissars miss the likelihood of the fall of the Soviet Union; Angela Merkel and her clique miss the German anger towards refugees from Syria; the astonishing election results in India; and the ostensibly unexplainable renunciation of the EU by the Brits.
We saw all that in Nate Silver's blog just 24 hours ago.
4
An ex-pat away for 17 years, I toured the West Coast this past summer. I saw that, up and down, the coast has been overrun by Asians and Latinos. Classic Americans were rare sights to be seen. I saw incredibly high home prices. I saw homeless people laid out in urban centers reeked in urine and filth. I saw grossly overweight Americans of yesteryear, most probably the result of the commercialized food that they have been fed with.
Looking at the situation from the outside, it is as if the newly rich natives of those Asian countries that have profited the most from Free Trade and Globalization had invaded the most desirable part of the country, pushing up the home prices and pushing out local population, some of which had ended up living in the streets of city centers.
Frankly, this not the U.S. I had left behind. It obviously is in a shocking rate of decline. And if the foreign flow continues at this rate, it will end up as just one indistinct corner of the so-desired 'Global Village'.
Looking at the situation from the outside, it is as if the newly rich natives of those Asian countries that have profited the most from Free Trade and Globalization had invaded the most desirable part of the country, pushing up the home prices and pushing out local population, some of which had ended up living in the streets of city centers.
Frankly, this not the U.S. I had left behind. It obviously is in a shocking rate of decline. And if the foreign flow continues at this rate, it will end up as just one indistinct corner of the so-desired 'Global Village'.
1
I keep turning over this notion of tough love that many of the Bernie-Or-Bust folks put forward. They suggested that if Hillary lost, Trump would be so terrible that the country would then run to the Left in 2020. I still think this is a deeply flawed theory. History seems to show that making things worse only, well, makes things worse. However, there’s an alternative version of tough love that might be effective. It’s a terrible name, but the best I can come up with ‘jujutsu love.’ Jujutsu is the martial art based on using an adversary’s energy against him, rather than directly opposing it. What if progressive America, the majority, gave the Right exactly what it wants? What if we helped them slash the federal government to the bone? Our federal taxes would drop. Progressive America, the true economic powerhouse of the country, could then raise taxes at the State and local levels and use those revenues to build the kinds of communities we always wish we could. Like minded States could coordinate their efforts on healthcare, the environment and social welfare. There might be a Pacific Alliance and a Northeast Alliance. Progressive states and large metropolitan areas could conduct their own grand Social Democratic experiments. Conservative states and rural areas could free themselves of the onerous federal regulations and dollars. Neighbors can then look over the fences to see who’s grass is greener. Would this work? Is it a pipe dream?
4
Clinton lost because she clearly stood for a diseased way of economics, the profit system, that has been damaging, even destroying, the lives of Americans for all the years it has existed. The Podesta e-mails hurt her primarily because it confirmed for voters that she was two-faced and did not really stand behind the progressive platform she so reluctantly agreed to.
It is ironic that Trump won because the immense ethical objection to establishment economics that Bernie Sanders stood for, stifled by a corrupt Democratic establishment, found its only expression through a man and a party who will undoubtedly do even more economic damage to Americans. If only this much is seen clearly by Americans, despite all the MSM lies that will be told in the coming days, there will still be good reason to hope for a better future.
I look to Bernie Sanders to lead the real resistance to all the trumpery we will be subject to in the next four years, including from the MSM, and to one of his best surrogates to take up the torch in 2020. Our best hopes are: Sanders now and Nina Turner in 2020.
It is ironic that Trump won because the immense ethical objection to establishment economics that Bernie Sanders stood for, stifled by a corrupt Democratic establishment, found its only expression through a man and a party who will undoubtedly do even more economic damage to Americans. If only this much is seen clearly by Americans, despite all the MSM lies that will be told in the coming days, there will still be good reason to hope for a better future.
I look to Bernie Sanders to lead the real resistance to all the trumpery we will be subject to in the next four years, including from the MSM, and to one of his best surrogates to take up the torch in 2020. Our best hopes are: Sanders now and Nina Turner in 2020.
1
As I write this, it is apparent that Trump has won the presidency. Ponder that for a moment.
How can I best explain what horrible emotions course through me at this moment?
Quite simply, if one isn’t Muslim or an immigrant, then no amount of context could possibly convey the horror at our new reality.
How do I explain to Muslim or European friends from overseas that this is the same country that elected Barack Obama? I’m not even sure anymore.
Every assumption I made regarding my country’s slow progress toward true pluralism and tolerance has been utterly upended.
This has revealed that there are so many angry white citizens in this country who would willingly throw away every social, political, and ethical norm. They’d eagerly elect and support a man, along with his advisors, whose avowed bigotry, Islamophobia, and misogyny are in plain view.
My greatest concern is for those Muslim citizens like myself who are real patriots. What this man symbolizes, and advocates, are truly dark impulses that threaten to antagonize and alienate significant portions of the country. What may follow are profoundly ugly and divisive policies that can tear the country apart in ways that haven’t been witnessed for a century. Those of us who are followers of political history and culture, are shaken this morning. Something profound and special about America just died with this election.
How can I best explain what horrible emotions course through me at this moment?
Quite simply, if one isn’t Muslim or an immigrant, then no amount of context could possibly convey the horror at our new reality.
How do I explain to Muslim or European friends from overseas that this is the same country that elected Barack Obama? I’m not even sure anymore.
Every assumption I made regarding my country’s slow progress toward true pluralism and tolerance has been utterly upended.
This has revealed that there are so many angry white citizens in this country who would willingly throw away every social, political, and ethical norm. They’d eagerly elect and support a man, along with his advisors, whose avowed bigotry, Islamophobia, and misogyny are in plain view.
My greatest concern is for those Muslim citizens like myself who are real patriots. What this man symbolizes, and advocates, are truly dark impulses that threaten to antagonize and alienate significant portions of the country. What may follow are profoundly ugly and divisive policies that can tear the country apart in ways that haven’t been witnessed for a century. Those of us who are followers of political history and culture, are shaken this morning. Something profound and special about America just died with this election.
8
Score another triumph for us paleolithic humans. Over and over and over in prehistory, whenever one band of homo sapiens felt threatened by palpably dwindling food sources in their own territory, they survived by transforming themselves into aggressive, fierce warriors, annihilating the weakest of their neighbors in order to take over their ecosystem. Over many thousands of generations, this behavior has become deeply albeit unconsciously embedded in all of us.
In fact, researchers have documented surprisingly similar behavior in chimpanzees, from whom our ancestors parted company 8 million years ago.
This election was not about change, at least not in our genteel meaning of the word. It was really about war and annihilation. Specifically, annihilation of the other, in a time of perceived existential threat to ourselves, even if that threat is exaggerated.
Every person who voted for Trump, regardless of his or her conscious reasoning, was acting out this archetypal behavior, a pattern of behavior that predates yesterday's election by many hundreds of thousands of years.
This does not just apply to Trump voters. In fact, Clinton voters were likewise acting out a separate set of archetypal behaviors, embodying yet another facet of our shared humanity.
The question going forward is, what will our future look like? Rwanda or Cambodia? Or Andrew Jackson's America, with all of its flaws.
Here's hoping for the latter.
In fact, researchers have documented surprisingly similar behavior in chimpanzees, from whom our ancestors parted company 8 million years ago.
This election was not about change, at least not in our genteel meaning of the word. It was really about war and annihilation. Specifically, annihilation of the other, in a time of perceived existential threat to ourselves, even if that threat is exaggerated.
Every person who voted for Trump, regardless of his or her conscious reasoning, was acting out this archetypal behavior, a pattern of behavior that predates yesterday's election by many hundreds of thousands of years.
This does not just apply to Trump voters. In fact, Clinton voters were likewise acting out a separate set of archetypal behaviors, embodying yet another facet of our shared humanity.
The question going forward is, what will our future look like? Rwanda or Cambodia? Or Andrew Jackson's America, with all of its flaws.
Here's hoping for the latter.
1
"What I do know for certain is this: The Republican Party and Donald Trump will have control of all the levers of government, from the courts to the Congress to the White House. That is an awesome responsibility, and it is all going to be on them. Do they understand that?"
Mr. Friedman, I too, like you, hope that the GOP will fully appreciate the responsibility that has befallen its members. I sincerely endorse your resolve and insight: "Unlike the Republican Party for the last eight years, I am not going to try to make my president fail. If he fails, we all fail."
But can the GOP, with its ideological establishment and its anti-intellectual, anti-science base-voters, now become a thoughtful, moderate party--a group of leaders and followers who, in a pluralistic and democratic context, can empathize with the concerns of those who remain outside their fold?
Do they fully appreciate the role of compromise in effective democratic governance?
Do they understand that the center must hold. Do they understand that the nation is imperiled--that we can no longer afford to prolong an era during which: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst [are] full of passionate intensity."
Will those who now identify with the Republican Party moderate their ideological fervor and govern democratically, or will they lead us down an anti-taxation and anti-regulatory path with the result that the entire nation finds itself in a condition analogous to that in Governor Brownbach's Kansas?
Mr. Friedman, I too, like you, hope that the GOP will fully appreciate the responsibility that has befallen its members. I sincerely endorse your resolve and insight: "Unlike the Republican Party for the last eight years, I am not going to try to make my president fail. If he fails, we all fail."
But can the GOP, with its ideological establishment and its anti-intellectual, anti-science base-voters, now become a thoughtful, moderate party--a group of leaders and followers who, in a pluralistic and democratic context, can empathize with the concerns of those who remain outside their fold?
Do they fully appreciate the role of compromise in effective democratic governance?
Do they understand that the center must hold. Do they understand that the nation is imperiled--that we can no longer afford to prolong an era during which: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst [are] full of passionate intensity."
Will those who now identify with the Republican Party moderate their ideological fervor and govern democratically, or will they lead us down an anti-taxation and anti-regulatory path with the result that the entire nation finds itself in a condition analogous to that in Governor Brownbach's Kansas?
6
Homeless in America, now Thomas Friedman understands how so many others in America have felt for a long time. By no means was Donald Trump my first, second, third, fourth or even fifth pick. I held my nose all the way to the voting booth. To me, the message that Donald Trump puts forward is that Government power should not be centralized. There should not be a ruling elite class that is protected by the media, and academia, controlling how people live their lives. Our founding fathers created a Democratic Republic and not a democracy to make it more difficult for power to be concentrated in certain areas. People who live in cities should not control how people who live in rural areas live and vice versa. Hence the reason for the 10th amendment. Our founding fathers wanted as many decisions to be made as close to each and every one of us as possible. Our constitution is written in a manner to make it hard for 50% +1 to decide on a federal level. It is written to make sure that a large number of people in the United States agree with changes, that is why 75% of the States must approve a constitutional amendment. A republic is difficult but it has worked for well over 200 years and will continue to work, even with a Donald Trump presidency, but we just might see that we return more to what we originally were. New Yorkers can live like New Yorkers, and people in other states can live as they choose as well.
4
THEY WEREN'T CAREFUL IN WHAT THEY'VE WISHED FOR
The voters angrily & foolishly over-reacted,
Is this is the beginning of the end.
End of what? The end of prudence and moderation.
But Is it the end of world?
Anything is possible if not more likely of course.
The man is shrewd, but is seemingly not well-educated nor well-read.
Sociopath? Narcissist? Elements thereof.
Ethnocentric? A sophisticated New Yorker is not ethnocentric.
The recession of circa 2008 is showing angry political effects.
This vote is a product of "dislocation" as in that former euphemism, "laid-off."
I betcha votes came from foreclosures too: The vote is vengeance.
Like the national fronts of Europe? There's enough similar elements.
Lost war results? The costly debacles of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq II.
Deaths, injuries & other humiliations suffered in limited wars have had effects.
The voters angrily & foolishly over-reacted,
Is this is the beginning of the end.
End of what? The end of prudence and moderation.
But Is it the end of world?
Anything is possible if not more likely of course.
The man is shrewd, but is seemingly not well-educated nor well-read.
Sociopath? Narcissist? Elements thereof.
Ethnocentric? A sophisticated New Yorker is not ethnocentric.
The recession of circa 2008 is showing angry political effects.
This vote is a product of "dislocation" as in that former euphemism, "laid-off."
I betcha votes came from foreclosures too: The vote is vengeance.
Like the national fronts of Europe? There's enough similar elements.
Lost war results? The costly debacles of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq II.
Deaths, injuries & other humiliations suffered in limited wars have had effects.
This is like the dog chasing the car and catching it and wondering now what. Now we'll see what the GOP does with its control over our government. I don't think it will be pretty and if the Democratic Party gets its act together for the mid-terms there is a chance to save what will be left of America after Trump shows how he makes America Great Again. Also maybe in two years the media will have learned that its pursuit of ratings and profits regardless of the truth is a short-term winner and a long term disaster.
13
I will never call this man my president, he is still a sociopath.
13
I fear that our country just committed political suicide.
13
"Break our country so irreparably that our national govt. won't function."
What do you mean won't function. Repubs run it all now. You've complained about the ills of gridlock, but apparently gridlock was only a concern when you were running things. Now I imagine you'll find you like gridlock just fine. Of course, gridlock won't stop Trump from appointing 3, or maybe 4 SC justices. That probably means a good 30 more years of sanity. Really, what's not to like?
What do you mean won't function. Repubs run it all now. You've complained about the ills of gridlock, but apparently gridlock was only a concern when you were running things. Now I imagine you'll find you like gridlock just fine. Of course, gridlock won't stop Trump from appointing 3, or maybe 4 SC justices. That probably means a good 30 more years of sanity. Really, what's not to like?
1
Really? Don't be a sore loser. Just because we are not marching down the long road to leftist utopianism does not mean that America is over. If you didn't feel homeless in America in 2005 during a booming economy, why do you now?
5
I hate to break it to you, Mr. Friedman, but you are near the epitome of what voters rejected today. Self-appointed, self-entitled, out-of-touch elites shoving Wall Street-sponsored conventional "wisdom" about "free trade" down our throats.
Maybe you haven't heard, but white people are killing themselves with opiates at a rate rivaling the AIDS epidemic. It's so bad that white life expectancy has actually declined. Now you're clutching your pearls, absolutely shocked, shocked, you say, that white people are revolting against a Democratic Party whose only appeal is identity politics, pitting people of color against the white working class!
News flash: white people are still 72% of this country, and they still vote more reliably than everyone else. Bernie Sanders was the canary in the coal mine, and the Democratic Party's response was to fire birdshot at him. Well done!
Maybe you haven't heard, but white people are killing themselves with opiates at a rate rivaling the AIDS epidemic. It's so bad that white life expectancy has actually declined. Now you're clutching your pearls, absolutely shocked, shocked, you say, that white people are revolting against a Democratic Party whose only appeal is identity politics, pitting people of color against the white working class!
News flash: white people are still 72% of this country, and they still vote more reliably than everyone else. Bernie Sanders was the canary in the coal mine, and the Democratic Party's response was to fire birdshot at him. Well done!
12
Tom Friedman, you've been part of the reason that a Trump presidency became possible for more than 20 years. Racism and misogyny in the name of "fair and equal" is not actually fair and equal. And now here we are...
9
YOU GO LOW, I GO HIGH!
As a Trump supporter I find it interesting how the left now goes low......
We are about to endure another governing experiment. Relax, the sky is not falling.
As a Trump supporter I find it interesting how the left now goes low......
We are about to endure another governing experiment. Relax, the sky is not falling.
6
It doesn't matter what Trump becomes. The damage is done. He has insulted everyone, and as a woman, I will not forget his words or actions. He will not be my president. I will no longer pay any attention to politics or Washington. I am done. I consider him utterly repulsive and completely unable to lead without a 24/7 babysitter. I'm stunned that any female would vote for this person.
22
Haha Friedman - laughing at your tears. Nobody was a bigger shill for globalism than you.
5
I feel the same way Thomas and we need guidance! So confused and frightened right now! What happens to science, technology, the environment, women rights - all of it! Keep writing and speaking because we need your thoughts!
11
As a Hillary supporter but as a physician who spends his day talking to all sorts of people with all sorts of opinions, I must say that this was not a close election, and I am shocked but not totally surprised. I do not believe that this one sided result was caused by Russian hacking or by FBI betrayal of confidences. People believe that President Trump will rescue our economy, improve the safety of the nation, and make America a better place. As with his primary victory. he won because people voted for him. We live in a democracy and the will of the people must be respected. I wish President Trump well. His success must become our nation's success.
11
Plunged back into the dark ages...
14
I am embarrassed and ashamed to be American and scared to death that we are falling into a rabbit hole from which there is no escape. Growing up in Arlington and riding my American Flyer through Arlington Cemetery, across the Memorial Bridge and around the National Mall I believed in the American Dream. Then they started killing us. In Viet Nam, in Dallas, in Memphis, in DC, and at Kent State. They lied to us to justify for profit wars and the criminalization of three generations of black boys and men. They divided us by social, economic, and racial parameters to make it easier to rule over us. Now they have used that divide to elect a man driven by hatred, greed, and a lust for power that knows no boundaries.
We citizens are not without fault. We are getting the government we deserve based on the effort we put into knowing and understanding the issues and challenges we face as a country and a world. The average voter driven by feelings and emotions and having applied precious little intellect into researching or understanding macroeconomics or political realities has voted blind to reality. They have absorbed the propaganda that reinforces their prejudices and biases as though it were the holy grail of truth. They voted their fears and issues had nothing to do with it… Well they should be terrified now that they will get exactly what they voted for…
We citizens are not without fault. We are getting the government we deserve based on the effort we put into knowing and understanding the issues and challenges we face as a country and a world. The average voter driven by feelings and emotions and having applied precious little intellect into researching or understanding macroeconomics or political realities has voted blind to reality. They have absorbed the propaganda that reinforces their prejudices and biases as though it were the holy grail of truth. They voted their fears and issues had nothing to do with it… Well they should be terrified now that they will get exactly what they voted for…
16
He will never ever be my president. He is vile, racist, a sexual predator and a con man. The stain of his presidency will never be erased. The America I admired, I loved and fought for is dead.
21
Americans never learn. However let's not overdo the rending of garments even though it's undoubtedly a vote against darkness and connectivity which are the two words that define the modern world. Console yourself with the thought that Trump will not be able to deliver on the promises he's made to the white working class dopes who voted for him. The wall won't really be built at Mexico's expense. Millions of illegals will not be put on buses. Millions of jobs will not be brought back home. All these trade treaties will not be torn up. It's even doubtful they'll take health insurance away from 20 million people. NATO will still be here and primarily funded by the US in four years. Trump and the Republican party now in control of the entire government will have ample opportunity to fail. There will be a lot of broken crockery no doubt and much of it will belong to the very people who voted for him who are much more likely to be harmed than the well educated and mobile. In Britain the Brexit vote is currently being mugged by reality. It's not going to be very long before the same thing happens to Trump.
65
Sorry my bad there. The second sentence should have read "a vote for darkness, and against complexity and connectivity which are the two words that define the modern world."
17
You were right the first time...
Well put, John, but we have hoped before, and to quote Yeats selectively: “A vast image troubles my sight, a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun. The darkness drops again. What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”
Do not feel bad. Bernie was my first choice, and I think he would have beat Trump. Hillary was disliked by millions, and I predicted a year ago that she would never be elected President. (I wish I was wrong. But I hope she never runs again!!!)
It will truly be a lot of fun to watch Trump eventually clash with the Republican Congress. Most Republican congressmen (House plus Senate) are old-fashioned *conservatives*, not like Trump. Trump has some progressive ideas, like Bernie: both favor less foreign intervention, higher tariffs, keeping Social Security and Medicare as they are, and both support "Keynesian" fiscal policies (high spending), such as massive new spending on infrastructure. Most Republican congressmen are opposed to that high spending.
Without a doubt, Hillary would not have been able to get much through Congress. Trump will. Hillary supported *free trade* and balanced budgets, and Hillary is an interventionist.
The best news is that we will not spend the next 4 years with endless investigations and possibly impeachment of Hillary.
I was heartened by Trump's gracious speech. He has a hundred times better odds of healing some of the divisions in our country than Hillary did. In fact, the divisions would have gotten worse, not because of Hillary, but because of the deranged Republican feelings about her.
As long as Trump does not start a world war, we will probably see a lot of improvements, and the end of a lot of divisions.
It will truly be a lot of fun to watch Trump eventually clash with the Republican Congress. Most Republican congressmen (House plus Senate) are old-fashioned *conservatives*, not like Trump. Trump has some progressive ideas, like Bernie: both favor less foreign intervention, higher tariffs, keeping Social Security and Medicare as they are, and both support "Keynesian" fiscal policies (high spending), such as massive new spending on infrastructure. Most Republican congressmen are opposed to that high spending.
Without a doubt, Hillary would not have been able to get much through Congress. Trump will. Hillary supported *free trade* and balanced budgets, and Hillary is an interventionist.
The best news is that we will not spend the next 4 years with endless investigations and possibly impeachment of Hillary.
I was heartened by Trump's gracious speech. He has a hundred times better odds of healing some of the divisions in our country than Hillary did. In fact, the divisions would have gotten worse, not because of Hillary, but because of the deranged Republican feelings about her.
As long as Trump does not start a world war, we will probably see a lot of improvements, and the end of a lot of divisions.
85
It is that whole starting a world war caveat that has me just a bit on edge.
On a positive note I was concerned about my 401K account with a Trump victory, but if he does start a nuclear war I won't have to worry about retirement or my mortgage payment. So there could be some pluses out of this.
On a positive note I was concerned about my 401K account with a Trump victory, but if he does start a nuclear war I won't have to worry about retirement or my mortgage payment. So there could be some pluses out of this.
I have none of the optimism you possess - I wish I did. I would leave if I could. I don't feel like I belong.
You know that feeling when a parent dies and it hits you that you will never see them again. I have that feeling this morning. I lost an America I thought stood up for everyone. Perhaps I was delusional all along, but America is dead to me now.
You know that feeling when a parent dies and it hits you that you will never see them again. I have that feeling this morning. I lost an America I thought stood up for everyone. Perhaps I was delusional all along, but America is dead to me now.
1
That is the thinking that got us here. And will get us a Supreme Court that will set us back 70 years to a time I had dared to believe was long past. We can only hope that he will not follow through on the rest of his promises to divide this country. This is a heartbreaking day.
As usual, Thomas Friedman expressed the core issue, clearly and unequivocally. I am drawn to the image that Trump's voters resembled confused old people grown dependent on their care providers for their life context. They did not seem to question the validity of his statements; they did not know enough to evaluate his statements. Friedman called it "homelessness." To me it is a sense that the center will not hold. For the first time I have a hint of what it must have been like to watch the early rise to power of narcissistic dictators who constructed the twentieth century in all its horror. I lived all my life in that construct although I was fortunate enough not to suffer its direct consequences. I am old: homelessness, at least in a cosmic sense, is a situation that will catch me fairly soon. My fear is that the center will not hold strongly enough to pull everyone through the narrow straights toward a productive life.
58
Not all Trump voters are OLD
Trump may be a disaster as president.
But at least he will force liberals like Thomas Friedman to examine the conventional wisdom that they have accepted as gospel.
For example, Friedman believes in global warming. Why then does he not recognize the cause of global warming, which is too much population growth?
Indeed, the world population doubled since 1970. That has a disastrous impact on global warming.
And how do we fight population growth?
Well for one thing, we provide people with contraceptives. And we encourage them to have smaller families, a maximum of two children per family.
In fact the US has achieved a fertility rate that is almost consistent with zero population growth.
The third action needed is to stop illegal immigration. So that the US can provide an improved living standard for a fixed number of people.
We can also help Mexico to achieve zero population growth. But we can only encourage not force other countries to control their fertility. If the other countries refuse, we must put a limit on immigration, or our efforts to achieve zero population growth will fail.
I know that some find that Draconian. But having more than two children in an overpopulated world is an immoral act. And as we attempt to convince third world countries to control their fertility, we must in the interim control immigration so our own country is not driven out of balance.
The US is already overcrowded. Just visit LA if you want to see the evidence.
But at least he will force liberals like Thomas Friedman to examine the conventional wisdom that they have accepted as gospel.
For example, Friedman believes in global warming. Why then does he not recognize the cause of global warming, which is too much population growth?
Indeed, the world population doubled since 1970. That has a disastrous impact on global warming.
And how do we fight population growth?
Well for one thing, we provide people with contraceptives. And we encourage them to have smaller families, a maximum of two children per family.
In fact the US has achieved a fertility rate that is almost consistent with zero population growth.
The third action needed is to stop illegal immigration. So that the US can provide an improved living standard for a fixed number of people.
We can also help Mexico to achieve zero population growth. But we can only encourage not force other countries to control their fertility. If the other countries refuse, we must put a limit on immigration, or our efforts to achieve zero population growth will fail.
I know that some find that Draconian. But having more than two children in an overpopulated world is an immoral act. And as we attempt to convince third world countries to control their fertility, we must in the interim control immigration so our own country is not driven out of balance.
The US is already overcrowded. Just visit LA if you want to see the evidence.
22
Certain areas of the world are overcrowded, but you could give every man, woman and child in the world 1000 square feet of their own personal space and you would only fill up the state of Texas.
It is news to me that the Republicans support birth control!
Check out Wyoming if you don't like crowds.
HRC has herself to blame because she did not address the real economic concerns of of people who lost good paying blue collar jobs.
For example telling coal miners they can become call center operators at a fraction of their former wage will not and did not gain the coal miners' votes.
Trump's "solutions" are nuts but HRC could have proposed programs to help displaced workers.
She did not and she lost.
Neither has Mr. Friedman proposed "solutions" for displaced workers.
For example telling coal miners they can become call center operators at a fraction of their former wage will not and did not gain the coal miners' votes.
Trump's "solutions" are nuts but HRC could have proposed programs to help displaced workers.
She did not and she lost.
Neither has Mr. Friedman proposed "solutions" for displaced workers.
17
I voted for Clinton, albeit with little enthusiasm, and am appalled at Trump's victory.
But there is a small sliver of consolation that the election results repudiate Mr. Friedman's offensive view, expressed repeatedly in his columns, that globalism and solo entrepreneurship will bring sufficient prosperity to the lion's share of the populace.
When you come right down to it, most Americans want a stable and steady job, not an uncertain income derived from driving for Uber or renting out the family home on AirBnB. The gig economy, oft-times praised by Mr. Friedman, is not the answer. Bernie Sanders understood this. Hillary Clinton, the DNC and the mainstream media, not so much.
The Democratic elites and their media supporters, the New York Times and the Washington Post chief among them, have much soul searching to do this morning. So does Tom Friedman. As a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders, I can't say that I am entirely surprised.
But there is a small sliver of consolation that the election results repudiate Mr. Friedman's offensive view, expressed repeatedly in his columns, that globalism and solo entrepreneurship will bring sufficient prosperity to the lion's share of the populace.
When you come right down to it, most Americans want a stable and steady job, not an uncertain income derived from driving for Uber or renting out the family home on AirBnB. The gig economy, oft-times praised by Mr. Friedman, is not the answer. Bernie Sanders understood this. Hillary Clinton, the DNC and the mainstream media, not so much.
The Democratic elites and their media supporters, the New York Times and the Washington Post chief among them, have much soul searching to do this morning. So does Tom Friedman. As a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders, I can't say that I am entirely surprised.
71
Bravo, you summed it all up beautifully! Thank you.
No! I don't blame the NYTimes, etc. they saw a dangerous man in Trump and called him out on it. I blame the people who voted for Trump! They had every opportunity to see who he was. It was on display in every debate and speech. A nasty, mean-spirited blowhard who cackled he could commit murder and not lose any supporters. They saw the racism and misogyny- and they voted for him.
NO excuses! I hold them and the people who didn't bother to vote responsible. And we'll all pay for their horrible mistakes.
NO excuses! I hold them and the people who didn't bother to vote responsible. And we'll all pay for their horrible mistakes.
For years everyone said white males would not take the low skill jobs immigrants were willing to do. Do the uneducated realize that's what they have just voted for? Trump will Deport all the cheap labor so whites can slide down the economic ladder to those jobs. Hillary promised training and college, to move up, and was rejected. How long till buyers remorse sets in?
When George W. Bush was elected, I wasn't happy. Later I clearly remember crying as I watched the bombing of Baghdad begin. I had never been so ashamed to be an America, never so disgusted about where my tax money was going. Still, I continued to pay taxes, continued to have hope that my country was, at base, good.
Both my husband and I became sick to our stomachs last night as we watched the returns come in. This is not the same thing as losing to someone we disagree with. Our distress is not just sour grapes. This is something different.
How do we even begin to address the lies and misinformation, the ugly hatefulness, the amoral selfishness, and the lack of reason that has brought us to this place? Again I am not proud of the country I am a part of.
Both my husband and I became sick to our stomachs last night as we watched the returns come in. This is not the same thing as losing to someone we disagree with. Our distress is not just sour grapes. This is something different.
How do we even begin to address the lies and misinformation, the ugly hatefulness, the amoral selfishness, and the lack of reason that has brought us to this place? Again I am not proud of the country I am a part of.
544
There is always Canada
Well said. You have expressed my and my wife's feeling and experiences.
1
I'm sick of this "not proud of my country" stuff. I voted for Hilary Clinton and am very disappointed that she was not elected.
I refuse to take the blame for Donald Trump or the people who voted for him. Of course you continued paying taxes when things didn't go your way. It's part of the deal. I'm guessing you live a pretty nice life (as do I). If you don't like it here, move elsewhere. That is our right in our country.
Forgive me if I'm a little cranky this morning!
I refuse to take the blame for Donald Trump or the people who voted for him. Of course you continued paying taxes when things didn't go your way. It's part of the deal. I'm guessing you live a pretty nice life (as do I). If you don't like it here, move elsewhere. That is our right in our country.
Forgive me if I'm a little cranky this morning!
"I will hope that a better man emerges than we saw in this campaign.But at the moment I am in anguish, frightened for my country and for our unity. And for the first time, I feel homeless in America."
I read this in the middle of the night, unable to sleep as I'm sure many Americans couldn't. The people have spoken, rather shouted and screamed.
Donald Trump is an expert salesman, and he built up a set of expectations that his voters will soon demand.
I rather doubt he really thought he'd win, in the end. He might be just as shocked as the nation is--which doesn't bode well if this campaign was only a lark.
Of all this week's wild messaging, this one stands out for me: Donald J. Trump saying "if I don't win, this will have been a huge waste of time."
Spoken by a man obsessed with winning over losing, Trump sees the world only in relation to himself. I hope his supporters realize what that means for them, their anger, and their desire for change.
I read this in the middle of the night, unable to sleep as I'm sure many Americans couldn't. The people have spoken, rather shouted and screamed.
Donald Trump is an expert salesman, and he built up a set of expectations that his voters will soon demand.
I rather doubt he really thought he'd win, in the end. He might be just as shocked as the nation is--which doesn't bode well if this campaign was only a lark.
Of all this week's wild messaging, this one stands out for me: Donald J. Trump saying "if I don't win, this will have been a huge waste of time."
Spoken by a man obsessed with winning over losing, Trump sees the world only in relation to himself. I hope his supporters realize what that means for them, their anger, and their desire for change.
193
"How do I explain Trump’s victory?"
Perhaps if the New York Times had given its precious column inches over to people skilled at policy analysis, who could have described and discussed (or at least mentioned) the detailed policy proposals Clinton took the time to propose, instead of devoting all of its coverage to (failed) polling campaign color, and emails....?
Perhaps if the New York Times had given its precious column inches over to people skilled at policy analysis, who could have described and discussed (or at least mentioned) the detailed policy proposals Clinton took the time to propose, instead of devoting all of its coverage to (failed) polling campaign color, and emails....?
141
Perhaps if the New York Times had spent more time covering the Clinton family's institutionalized corruption you would understand how she lost?
This is bigger than the New York Times could handle. It doesn't seem to matter.
"the stark fact that a majority of Americans wanted radical, disruptive change so badly and simply did not care who the change agent was"
No, apparently the majority of Americans voted for Clinton.
The members of the Electoral College can honor the choice of the American people and cast their votes for Clinton too.
No, apparently the majority of Americans voted for Clinton.
The members of the Electoral College can honor the choice of the American people and cast their votes for Clinton too.
74
But that's not how the system works. The Electoral College represents states or districts. The popular vote is actually irrelevant except insofar as it decides how the EC will vote. It does look as though Clinton had a 35,000 vote majority which out of 117 million ballots (so far) is a rounding error and not a mandate. Had she won by millions of votes then I would agree with you that she should have won the election.
1
"The members of the Electoral College can honor the choice of the American people and cast their votes for Clinton too."
How selfish can you be? Some of you people don't realize how dangerously close this country is to all out civil war. If the Electoral College does what you wish be prepared for a disaster most of you on the Left are ill prepared to deal with.
How selfish can you be? Some of you people don't realize how dangerously close this country is to all out civil war. If the Electoral College does what you wish be prepared for a disaster most of you on the Left are ill prepared to deal with.
1
Oh Lynn that would be a very very bad and stupid thing to do.
Those darn middle-class whites! I knew it!
Is anyone at this newspaper aware that people really resent being told they're racist? Especially by people who make every possible effort to avoid being anywhere near minorities who don't have professional/graduate degrees from Ivy League institutions.
Is anyone at this newspaper aware that people really resent being told they're racist? Especially by people who make every possible effort to avoid being anywhere near minorities who don't have professional/graduate degrees from Ivy League institutions.
71
No it was the likes of the totally ignorant, 'take care of me' people of Hillbilly Elegy, who don't see the writing on the wall of the genie of globalism as not going back into the bottle. Mr Trump makes his ties outside of the United States and builds his hotels with contracts for illegal immigrants labor. There are no jobs to bring back because all the money is being invested outside of the United States, even as the so called technology geniuses from Eastern Europe and India flock here.
It has been almost forty years or more since the manufacturing jobs in the South East went to Mexico, India, and other places. Look on the where made of some older garment and see where it was made. People are just now reacting to that?
Just as no company feels it has a contract with the people who made them great then, can this man make those jobs return. The people who sneer at those of us who saw that writing on the wall then and chose to adapt to the future will expect this president to take care of them. But the sad truth is that he won't.
A true independent or conservative says I will be responsible to take care of myself but I will honor the needs of the citizens with whom I live in a democracy.
Someone who is the embodiment of gilt covered separateness only sees his own advantage; take note that he prides himself on his college education. Did you forget that?
It has been almost forty years or more since the manufacturing jobs in the South East went to Mexico, India, and other places. Look on the where made of some older garment and see where it was made. People are just now reacting to that?
Just as no company feels it has a contract with the people who made them great then, can this man make those jobs return. The people who sneer at those of us who saw that writing on the wall then and chose to adapt to the future will expect this president to take care of them. But the sad truth is that he won't.
A true independent or conservative says I will be responsible to take care of myself but I will honor the needs of the citizens with whom I live in a democracy.
Someone who is the embodiment of gilt covered separateness only sees his own advantage; take note that he prides himself on his college education. Did you forget that?
2
Hello Carolina (I am assuming Durham, Caroline :-). Looking from the outside, being Black in America sucks. Not just because of MSM, but because of reality. But of course, there is no inherent racism, just middle class whites unknowingly wrapped in their bubble, oblivious to what is happening around them because "that's the way it is." I agree, you didn't create the system, but the system exists to serve you over "them" and politicians want to keep it that way, thank you very much. And it doesn't make you "racist", but it certainly makes you the recipient of the benefits of racism.
If you're a bigot, don't be afraid and wear it proudly. And if you're not, why so offended?
A lot of the anger on the right is the feeling that they are being ignored while others are being coddled or given unearned advantages. In their own minds they want to go without special help as much as they can, and expect the same approach to help from others. They become enraged when other recipients of help do not deserve it or are abusing it. They also feel that they have been sitting on this feeling for a long time, expressing it in private but not seeing anything done in public. So now they expect great things and quickly.
This feeling is often based on extreme anecdotal evidence and at variance with easily found out facts, but it still exists.
This feeling is often based on extreme anecdotal evidence and at variance with easily found out facts, but it still exists.
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These are people who don't even realize that Social Security and Medicare are Federal programs. Puhleeze!
1
Excellent post, you nailed it perfectly.
Enough with the handouts for the illegals and welfare for the takers.
Enough with the handouts for the illegals and welfare for the takers.
This is exactly the problem -- there is a lot of emotion and "feelings" about things, but not much analysis of facts, logic, or reading of reliable news sources.
Why do they "feel" ignored, and "feel" like others are getting more help? Because they imbibe a constant stream of junk news, from Fox, Breibart etc. I have no sympathy.
Why do they "feel" ignored, and "feel" like others are getting more help? Because they imbibe a constant stream of junk news, from Fox, Breibart etc. I have no sympathy.
Thank you, Mr Friedman, for your eloquent and cogent thoughts. But, the system and process of, and the people benefiting from this nation's politics have been with us for a lot longer than the last eight years.
240 years after the First American Revolution, and 150 years after the First Civil War, it will be interesting to see what happens between now and January 20. Assuming we survive that, then we can all begin to think about what happens after January 20.
JG Moebus
Sitka
240 years after the First American Revolution, and 150 years after the First Civil War, it will be interesting to see what happens between now and January 20. Assuming we survive that, then we can all begin to think about what happens after January 20.
JG Moebus
Sitka
12
Why would we not survive? This apocalyptic, I'm-going-to-Canada, the-markets -will-crash attitude is helping no one except the people who say these things feel smarter than the rest of the county.
Thomas Friedman I didn't vote for Trump...but here's my take your editorial. You have been consistently out of touch and wrong about this election. Trump's victory is a repudiation of everything you have written. Why should we listen to you anymore?
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Very true. They're all having a hard time justifying their punditry at this point.
He's just offering his sincere opinions. If you don't like them, you're free not to read them.
Um, maybe cause he's right.
How much loss will my 401K suffer on Wed.? Are we going back to semi financial regulations as in the Bush years? How soon will Trump invade the Middle East? How soon is the Deportation Force going to round up those Mexicans? Where are those persons going to be housed? When is Trump going to give the green light for Russia to invade other countries? What will happen to our democratic institutions that Trump worked hard to destroy, such as Freedom of Speech, Due Process, Equality,.....
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This is armaggedon, more or less.
1
All good questions, my friend...and all questions that should have been strongly considered before the "we'll show them who's boss" voted.
1
Add the Department of Education, Interior, Commerce and Separation of Church and State... Oh, and membership in the United Nations....
1
I've never before, not believing in any deity, thought about the "God bless America" that always seems to end political speeches other than to shrug. I sincerely wish that there was a deity that we could beg to protect and bless this country as it is going to desperately need help and blessings from some deity as mere humans have voted for hate, bigotry, anti-science, anti-women, anti-intellectualism, anti-minorities.
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That traditional sign off will become " And God help the United States of America." We will need all the help we can get.
1
The conversations I had with good people over this election have flabbergasted me. To the minute of their voting they didn't know who they were voting for...Or they were adamant on voting with knee jerk emotionalism.
They relied on a church mate, facebook, twitter, etc., for their information. None had read a book on either candidate nor a newspaper. They let themselves be manipulated by the herd mentality of fear from both sides.
I come away from this not with as much antipathy towards the elected but with absolute incredulity at the people that PUT THEM THERE.
They relied on a church mate, facebook, twitter, etc., for their information. None had read a book on either candidate nor a newspaper. They let themselves be manipulated by the herd mentality of fear from both sides.
I come away from this not with as much antipathy towards the elected but with absolute incredulity at the people that PUT THEM THERE.
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That may be the problem in America. No one reads or discusses anything anymore but just looks at Facebook. Precisely why Trump likes the "uneducated" and conned them over to his side.
1
Unfortunately the mainstream media, including the NYTimes refused to publish the whole news, much like FoxNews. NYTimes readers are shocked by this election because they were not informed.
Obviously these people operated on the same 'me first' attitude of the president elect and his cohort of fanning the flames of discontent.
Well maybe the Democrat senators will pull a 'Cruz' and filibuster any and all of Trumps programs!
38
A good argument for some Harry Reid payback and finally eliminating the filibuster completely.
20
Bob, you're assuming there will be any respect for protocol and order. If they filibuster, he'll just do whatever he wants to do anyway...remember? He's in charge!
The Lexus ran over the Olive Tree, Thomas.
Actually, it was a Lexus SUV and it ripped it out of the ground.
Actually, it was a Lexus SUV and it ripped it out of the ground.
31
And it is the deep red South that benefited from the manufacturer of the Lexus in your states. And the Volvo and the Nissan, etc. Republicans engineered those manufacturing coups. And the departure of textiles, printing and raped the South on a level greater than Reconstruction.
Well you columnists kept trying to steer the country too much to Hillary and her nonsense. You threw bernie under the bus.
The NYT kept trying to predict win 86% to 14 % in favour of Hillary.
Its time to eat humble pie.
The NYT kept trying to predict win 86% to 14 % in favour of Hillary.
Its time to eat humble pie.
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I wonder if the Times still has that blue-red bar on its home page giving Mrs. Clinton an 85% chance of winning the presidency.
37
I hope you enjoy your tax cut, Richard.
Keep track. See how much he costs you.
Keep track. See how much he costs you.
Ha ha. But Nate Silver still has this at the top of his page: http://tinyurl.com/pz2jo9q
Forget celebrating the 4th of July, 2017. It will be a day of mourning.
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The people have spoken and we now have President Trump. I believe that the best course of action for all of us now is to hold him to his words and promises. Let us now demand a huge wall, the immediate deportation of 11 million illegals, ask for some kind of timeline for the return of manufacturing jobs and lastly when will we all become rich as he promised in the primary's.
The Democrats in Congress should not become obstructionists, but teach the Republican majority that it is possible to work with the White House by giving the President exactly what he said that he wanted in the campaign with nothing more nor less.
The Democrats in Congress should not become obstructionists, but teach the Republican majority that it is possible to work with the White House by giving the President exactly what he said that he wanted in the campaign with nothing more nor less.
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Why shouldn't Democrats become obstructionists? We spent the last eight years watching no federal gun control legislation even be considered following multiple massacres, many federal judgeships remaining vacant, and a Supreme Court seat remaining open leading to a year of dysfunctionality. Obstruction worked well for Republicans, so it seems a good weapon to keep in the arsenal.
I agree with the first paragraph not the second. When the promises of the first paragraph don't materialize what excuses will his "uneducated" voters offer that they were conned? Who will they blame for their predicament? Benghazi, Hillary and Obama will be gone. Never fear there will always be some conspiracy to take the place of factual evidence that Trump failed to "Make America Great Again".
You didn't vote for him, yet you want to hold him to his words and make you rich? I think you missed the point.
Trump now addresses the nation on television; his "victory speech", it's billed. I turned it off. I can't bear to watch the approaching calamity.
His victory is our catastrophe; and the world's. Only Putin triumphs.
How could he not? His hand-picked man will soon sit in the Oval Office.
His victory is our catastrophe; and the world's. Only Putin triumphs.
How could he not? His hand-picked man will soon sit in the Oval Office.
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Yes, this is profoundly disturbing.
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So, I've been on facebook almost all night. and the WaPo comment section and here. No one can seem to believe this happened. Is it that only rational people read the newspapers and are engaged on line? Who are these people who just handed us an unhinged republican president, a fascist vp and more republicans in the house and senate? where were they all hiding out all this time?
When W was re-elected I said that sometimes you have to give people what they want before they realize they don't actually want it. Four years later they finally realized they definitely didn't want him anymore. Now the majority of Americans have again decided they want a completely unqualified person as president because they think he will deliver on promises he can't possibly fulfill. I'm not sure how many more lessons the country can fail at.
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There are many disgruntled people in this nation who actually believe that a billionaire will have their best interest in mind. --Don't get me wrong, hillary wasn't a good candidate either, but it's important for poor and middle class whites (who largely voted for trump) to understand the truth about politics. Candidates will say whatever is necessary to get themselves elected, but once in office, it will be a continuation of the existing policies --which favor corporate interest.
In due time, they will come to see the truth (dem or repub) nothing changes, it's just more of the same corporate greed...
In due time, they will come to see the truth (dem or repub) nothing changes, it's just more of the same corporate greed...
Unfortunately, it took us 8 years, not 4, to get rid of "W" and only then because he couldn't run again. Americans love military might, war and financial euphoria followed by economic disaster. All that could be just around the corner, once again.
So far Trump does NOT have a majority. Clinton does. Like 2000, the electoral college results do not reflect a majority of the electorate.
We’re nowhere near the breaking point. Even Democrats, soon to be reduced in influence to Senate filibusters as long as they last – and that may not be for long – will reform and look to 2018 and 2020.
What happened at just past 3:00 AM Eastern Time was a statement by the American people – enough of them anyway – that America needs a time-out; and we care little that the rest of the world disagrees. What we saw was a failsafe mechanism that forced the hand of our irreconcilably divided governance to impel forward movement.
It’s the received wisdom among both liberals and conservatives opposed to Trump that his viability was supported only by whites yearning for a lost 1950s world. But, then, when this roller coaster ride began last evening, the received wisdom was that Hillary Clinton would win handily in the Electoral College, when significant core constituencies she took for granted failed to support her to the extent they did candidate and President Obama. EVERYONE was disillusioned by politics-as-usual, which is all that Mrs. Clinton offered.
Trump will surround himself with good people and has the potential to eclipse Teddy Roosevelt, who TRULY never would have been elected president if he hadn’t come to the White House by way of an assassin’s bullet.
What’s the funniest thing about this election, because we desperately need some humor? I probably have a better chance of being invited to Trump’s inaugural than George Will does.
What happened at just past 3:00 AM Eastern Time was a statement by the American people – enough of them anyway – that America needs a time-out; and we care little that the rest of the world disagrees. What we saw was a failsafe mechanism that forced the hand of our irreconcilably divided governance to impel forward movement.
It’s the received wisdom among both liberals and conservatives opposed to Trump that his viability was supported only by whites yearning for a lost 1950s world. But, then, when this roller coaster ride began last evening, the received wisdom was that Hillary Clinton would win handily in the Electoral College, when significant core constituencies she took for granted failed to support her to the extent they did candidate and President Obama. EVERYONE was disillusioned by politics-as-usual, which is all that Mrs. Clinton offered.
Trump will surround himself with good people and has the potential to eclipse Teddy Roosevelt, who TRULY never would have been elected president if he hadn’t come to the White House by way of an assassin’s bullet.
What’s the funniest thing about this election, because we desperately need some humor? I probably have a better chance of being invited to Trump’s inaugural than George Will does.
23
Wish I could be that sanguine. Sad to say I cannot be. I say this as a naturalized American citizen who deeply loves the country and as an optimist who almost always sees the glass as half full. Sadly I saw very little that was positive in the person I saw during the campaign (or even earlier) or in the people he sorrounded himself with. There is also likely to be very little check on his power given what we saw with congressional leaders. For the first time ever I am genuinely afraid for the future of my child. I am hoping against hope and praying that I am wrong.
1
What makes you think Trump will surround himself with good people? He didn't do that during his entire campaign--all he did was to surround himself with people who could help him stir up irrational fears and hate. Trump keeps doing whatever he sees has gotten him what he wants, so he'll continue to surround himself with this type of person.
1
"Trump will surround himself with good people"? I see it is not only the Clinton campaign that indulges in wishful thinking. You have no more evidence to back up that assertion than those who say he is a great businessman despite inheriting millions of dollars and having several bankruptcies.
1
Near a national breaking point is right. I am so excruciatingly sad for my country because I know we are way better than the hatred Donald Trump has awakened and empowered. The only grudging positive is that the country is now forced to seriously face its flaws, the only problem being one of the most volatile and unprepared presidential candidates to ever seek the office is at this hour a heartbeat away from commanding the world's most powerful military and accessing nuclear codes. Our republic may be stumbling into a very scary unknown. May God Bless America.
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No, we are not better than the hatred Trump has awakened and empowered. We are precisely that very thing. We have broadcasted that fact, to our great national shame, to the entire planet. And we will suffer grievously.
the problem is facing our flaws is an introspective exercise. the people who voted him in aren't the least bit introspective. they simply think that he sounds like them so they must be like them...married to the slovenian centerfold bombshell, living on 5th Avenue in a gilded cage and flying around on a private jet. no thought given to the fact that he was born into money, has zero idea of what it's like to live the way they do and has zero in common with them.
I am happy for my country because I know we are way better than the cronyism and power elite that backed Hillary Clinton. We are way better than a divisive, race-baiting President who unethically campaigned for his chosen successor, mocking the opposition party and its chosen candidate. And we are better than a woman who called millions of Americans "deplorable" for supporting her opponent. Democracy has spoken. Get used to the idea.
Will the Clintons be jailed?
Will they live in exile?
Will they live in exile?
14
Sorry to say, but there is no "we" anymore. It is going to be everyone looking out for number one, just like Trump. I've lived through a lot of elections as an adult, and this one is the worst. Anyone that thinks that Trump can be an adequate president is delusional. And the Republicans - they have brought about the end of the republic, with the productive people in the blue states subsidizing the rest of the country. There is a breach that cannot be put back together, and the sooner the sane people figure it out, the better. Don't waste your energy. You're going to need it to take care of yourself.
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This election only goes to prove that when a political party nominates
someone who finished 2nd in its last nomination contest and now feels very much entitled to the nomination, it often goes badly. See Bob Dole, John McCain and now Hillary Clinton.
someone who finished 2nd in its last nomination contest and now feels very much entitled to the nomination, it often goes badly. See Bob Dole, John McCain and now Hillary Clinton.
21
I am sitting here, at 1:45 AM on November 9, stunned by the results of the election. I cannot believe what I have witnessed tonight/this morning. I cannot believe that people who know so little about history, so little about facts, but who live their lives by sound bites and eight-second slogans have voted for a man who uses women--but only if they're beautiful, in his eyes, makes fun of disabled people, brags about his so-called intelligence, promises to bring in the "best" people (but won't say who they are), won't reveal his tax returns, doesn't pay people who work for him, wants to ban Muslims, spews hatred and encourages violence. He says climate changes is a hoax. He tells people he will bring manufacturing back to this country, and yet he moves jobs overseas himself. He manufactures the very hats he wears that bear his "Make America Great" slogan overseas. He uses vile language and promises to bomb our enemies to kingdom come. And yet, people seem to believe that he is an improvement over our incumbent president, who has occupied the White House with class and intelligence, and a family who have had no scandals and no issues. I cannot even believe what has unfolded before my eyes. Civil discourse no longer exists in this country; compromise has become a dirty word. America great under these circumstances? Not a chance.
474
Someone should have told you this America is the biggest hick town in existence. Just kidding, I share your disbelief to a degree. But hey, this country elected Reagan twice.
Thank you for your excellent comment-everything you have stated is the truth.
This country may not survive.
This country may not survive.
1
Your state as did mine attempt to elect the right person, flawed as she is, with intelligence and reason. I fear for the people who really believed him enough to fool themselves into believing he would deliver on his crazy promises.
Let's hope that they will demand that he deliver what he said. His only contract is to himself.
Let's hope that they will demand that he deliver what he said. His only contract is to himself.
So question is, would partisan media accept the democratic verdict?
12
The American people have just about spoken, and it may well be the most gigantic obscenity to which a democratic election has ever given voice.
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The American people have not "spoken." They have spooked.
Friedman trots out the same old liberal cliches about angry white men.
By the way, Tom, HRC hid her emails because they said things about Clinton, Inc. that she didn't want the electorate to know. So, aside from the procedural "mistake" of sending classified emails through her private email account - which by the way if a Republican had done this you would have shed your fake evenhandedness in a second - there was revealed in those emails a croneyism and graft never before seen in Washington.
Thank you, Mr. Assange, for getting us past the email-procedural-misstep-thing and pointing us to the real substance of the matter.
By the way, Tom, HRC hid her emails because they said things about Clinton, Inc. that she didn't want the electorate to know. So, aside from the procedural "mistake" of sending classified emails through her private email account - which by the way if a Republican had done this you would have shed your fake evenhandedness in a second - there was revealed in those emails a croneyism and graft never before seen in Washington.
Thank you, Mr. Assange, for getting us past the email-procedural-misstep-thing and pointing us to the real substance of the matter.
20
Funny R, how Russia never released the Republican emails. LOL
Ever wonder what was in it for Putin to not release them?
Ever wonder what was in it for Putin to not release them?
One question Mr. Assange - your releases seem a bit one-sided, are you sure you don't have a copy of those tax returns somewhere?
I'd really like to get past procedural audit thing and have substantial information about that matter.
I'd really like to get past procedural audit thing and have substantial information about that matter.
I recently heard a reporter on NPR who bothered to read the transcript of the FBI's 249 page interrogation of Mrs. Clinton. What he came away was not some Machiavellian scheme but a person and staff who were not technologically savvy. Mrs. Clinton preferred her old blackberry, did not know how to use her laptop, and until recently preferred her flip phone. Now as a person only a few years younger than she, I can relate. As a teacher I have had to become more "techy" but many times I have to ask my students for help. So, Mr. Johnson listen to the interview with Ira Glass and get the real facts. Mrs. Assange is a promoter of anarchy pure and simple and a global coward. I truly believe we missed a great opportunity by not electing Secretary Clinton.
Well, my worst nightmare has come true- the man some many of us have emailed against for months is president- elect. I don't know exactly what to say- hope that he can rise to the position, maybe a recount, a bad dream? Four years of Trump, Guiliani and Newt. Not a positive prospect? I hope he doesn't gold guilt the WH.
30
Well... New York City was pretty happy with eight years of GuilianI! After descending into crime, chaos and mismanagement under Dinkins, New York City dwellers breathed a sigh of relief as the crime rate plummeted under Guiliani. The garbage was picked up, tourism soared, aggressive panhandlers were stopped from terrorizing pedestrians and drivers, crime dropped dramatically, real estate prices climbed, prosperity and safety came to the Five Boroughs due to Guiliani and The New York City Police Department. New Yorkers breathed a sigh of relief to be suddenly living in one of the safest big cities in the world. Tourists flocked to New York in droves bringing their money with them and leaving it in New York. I'd say for four similar years under Trump and Guiliani would be a good thing!
The GOP owns every problem now.
They hate our institutions and their leader is a demagogue.
Nothing good will come of it.
They hate our institutions and their leader is a demagogue.
Nothing good will come of it.
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And we have things to say to our daughters and sons -- things including: we do not condone sexual assaults, misogyny, discrimination against people with disability, hatred toward those of different ethnicities and races, dishonesty over-simplification, and arrogance... I have a teenage daughter. I have several sons from 15 to 23. How do we explain this outcome to them? How do we focus on a bright future and realistic hopes for them ? And mean it when we say these things? I am bereft.
They will just blame Obama.
Does this make you a clairvoyant, Mr. Prometheus or perhaps a genius?
Especially since you are living right around the corner in the Caucasus?
And what do you mean by "Buyer's remorse." a phrase used by pres. elect Trump only a few days ago?
Especially since you are living right around the corner in the Caucasus?
And what do you mean by "Buyer's remorse." a phrase used by pres. elect Trump only a few days ago?
First things first. He has a rape trial coming up and another for fraud. Good start to a presidency. Oh and the markets are crashing. Happy everyone?
252
The woman who filed the rape case has dropped it. She announced this only a few days ago because she said she had received too many threats of violence.
1
Actually didn't the accuser drop the case completely?
1
The people that put him in office do not care about the markets. They have shot themselves
in the foot again. I am in the top 10% and I intend to vote with my pocketbook -- not spending a dime in these moronic states that put this degenerate in our WH. Then when he crashes the economy I will use his playbook and buy cheap real estate in the third world country the USA.
in the foot again. I am in the top 10% and I intend to vote with my pocketbook -- not spending a dime in these moronic states that put this degenerate in our WH. Then when he crashes the economy I will use his playbook and buy cheap real estate in the third world country the USA.
Dark times ahead.
Very dark.
Very dark.
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We make it so the more we say it.
The sky is falling..the sky is falling
I go to bed tonight believing that America has just sold its birthright for a mess of pottage.
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"The Manchurian Candidate" is no longer a movie.
42
Trump winning means moderates from both sides will have to come together to keep him in check, and maybe they'll actually work together to get some things done.
A Clinton presidency would be nothing but gridlock and obstruction and fighting and nothing would get done.
Time to come together Americans and heal the wounds of this sham of an election, and the great embarrassment to our greatness.
A Clinton presidency would be nothing but gridlock and obstruction and fighting and nothing would get done.
Time to come together Americans and heal the wounds of this sham of an election, and the great embarrassment to our greatness.
19
You're dreaming
How, if the ruling party has all branches, including naming Supreme Court justices? God help us
This is the most hopeful perspective on this election outcome I've seen yet. Thank you.
70% of Americans want change.
Hillary is not change.
Bernie was change.
Hillary primary voters are to blame.
Is this really so hard to understand? When the only options are change and no change, why in the world do Democrats insist that 70% of Americans are stupid?
Whether it is Hillary or Trump, people will still want change because neither is a decent candidate for POTUS. Curl up into a ball or fight for real change during the midterms and 2020. Which one will it be?
Hillary is not change.
Bernie was change.
Hillary primary voters are to blame.
Is this really so hard to understand? When the only options are change and no change, why in the world do Democrats insist that 70% of Americans are stupid?
Whether it is Hillary or Trump, people will still want change because neither is a decent candidate for POTUS. Curl up into a ball or fight for real change during the midterms and 2020. Which one will it be?
20
Actually, it seems that some Trump voters believe that he means "no change'--except getting rid of inconvenient laws that negatively affect their own existences. I was shocked, at first, when a woman I know, a medical doctor, lambasted Hillary with the trumped-up "criminal" label (no specifics, of course). She and her once-lurking online friends are ecstatic. Previously, I had not realized that any of my friends--real or online only--were Trumpists. How could they be? See, I didn't get it. The distrust of media is at the core: Opinionaters dump on Trump, so there must be something great about him. They're pushing Hillary, so she must be in cahoots...or something like that. Never make the mistake of believing that people are basically rational.
Bernie was still stuck at the barricades in 68. Get over him.
No it's 2018 elections here we come, I'm not waiting for 2020...
"She has to make clear that as president her top priority is to repair trust." Impossible - because, as much as Friedman disparages Trump, he understates the multiple and serious "trust" flaws of Hillary Clinton. Do democrats, liberals, NYtimes editors and writers not understand how much she is hated? Do you not appreciate that Americans who voted for Trump fully understand, fear, and are repulsed by the democrats' progressive agenda? Do you not see the failure of Obamacare and realize that the draconian demand of sign up or receive penally is inimitable to basic freedom?
Tom - you just don't get it.
Tom - you just don't get it.
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"understand, fear, and are repulsed by the democrats' progressive agenda"
Your country is going to split in two. I only hope it is a peaceful process.
Your country is going to split in two. I only hope it is a peaceful process.
Inimical
Trust? From a man who lies 85% of the time? From someone who is so dishonest he can't release his tax returns? Who has cheated on 2 of his 3 wives? Who doesn't pay contractors who have worked for him? A man who has the longest nose of any political figure ever? Good luck with that.
Several months before Trump won the Republican nomination I wrote in a comment that neither Jeb Bush nor Hillary Clinton could become our next president. Not would. Could. Why? Because too many Americans instinctively reject political dynasties and won't vote for one.
16
Forgotten W., have you?
It's been broken since 9/11 and there were years of warning that went ignored. This sense of exceptionalism has brought the US to its knees....
33
The American elites have no connection to the bottom 50 per cent, no idea of the daily struggle to meet daily needs undergone by the forgotten people for whom a holiday is a trip to a municipal park.
America, the wealthiest country, has the worst child poverty of any advanced democracy. A country so vile as to so mistreat its children is no longer an inspiration, but a failure in heart, mind and soul.
The American elites need shaking up while the plutocracy needs a wealth tax.
The disruption that Trump brings is likely to end in nuclear war.
America, the wealthiest country, has the worst child poverty of any advanced democracy. A country so vile as to so mistreat its children is no longer an inspiration, but a failure in heart, mind and soul.
The American elites need shaking up while the plutocracy needs a wealth tax.
The disruption that Trump brings is likely to end in nuclear war.
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Americans just elected a billionaire elite who has no connection to the bottom 50 percent
Doug, thank the Republicans for that. LOL
No to head start, no to increased food stamps, no, no no to anything that benefits the poor. No to minimum wage increases, no to anything benefiting the poor. Just no no no. When the poor are not your constituency, then just NO!
No to head start, no to increased food stamps, no, no no to anything that benefits the poor. No to minimum wage increases, no to anything benefiting the poor. Just no no no. When the poor are not your constituency, then just NO!
Who could possibly be more elite than Donald Trump? The man is a self professed billionaire who has been rich all his life and could afford to squander millions on risky plans and schemes. How is the election of Trump disrupting the elites?
I don't know how my face my grandchildren. Donald Trump who is at best a buffoon and at worst a tyrannical demagogue, is on the path to getting elected tonight. The pollsters and the pundits got it wrong-- and to paraphrase, Mr. Trump, he got it right when he said he could probably stand in Time square and shoot somebody and the people would still vote for him. The media loved him. He got billions of dollars worth of free advertising because it gave our 24 hour news cycle good ratings and plenty of revenue. In actuality what more could he have done to discourage the American people? And yes, they still voted for him.
I've recently started to watch HBO's Westworld where humans pay exorbitant prices to rape women and "shoot the bad guys". Is this a reflection of what American society has become? Who are "the bad guys" and by extension "the bad people"? We all know that Mr Trumps voters, think the 2nd amendment protects their rights to unparalleled abilities to buy guns and shot who they construe are "the bad guys". As I write this the Senate has held the Republican majority-- giving a clear path to a Conservative Supreme Court. I'm frightened for my grandchildren, I'm frightened for America.
I've recently started to watch HBO's Westworld where humans pay exorbitant prices to rape women and "shoot the bad guys". Is this a reflection of what American society has become? Who are "the bad guys" and by extension "the bad people"? We all know that Mr Trumps voters, think the 2nd amendment protects their rights to unparalleled abilities to buy guns and shot who they construe are "the bad guys". As I write this the Senate has held the Republican majority-- giving a clear path to a Conservative Supreme Court. I'm frightened for my grandchildren, I'm frightened for America.
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Linda: And just why are you even watching Westworld? Do you want your mind filled with that fearful trash? TV is a great wasteland, as always--except for news, sports and genuine good material such as PBS and the BBC produce. Do you know what I fear more than Mr. Trump? All the young minds playing war games day after day on their devices. Feeding the Hollywood crowd billions of dollars. Completely oblivious to the world around them. Oblivious even to close friends. Better get and read "Alone Together", it will open your eyes. Unconsciousness is really scary.
Who are the 'bad guys' in Westworld? The latest war game? It just insane what the young people do these days with their precious life's time. They think they will live forever. Have they ever been to visit people confined to "old folks homes", many in wheelchairs? I have no idea but I do know that as a nation we are in deep trouble for a number of reasons:
1. Executives now earn 300-600 and more times their average employee. Used to be 60. Most of the income goes to the top 1%.
2. In the Great Recession, SEVEN MILLION people lost their homes while bankers got bonuses and an 800 BILLION dollar bailout.
3. Hillary and Bill gave speeches for which they were paid hundreds of thousands to more than a million dollars! Huh?
4. As Tom wrote, people have become "homeless" in their own country.
If Trump (I voted McMullen) can fix some of this, great. We'll soon see. The world is not ending. Be well.
Who are the 'bad guys' in Westworld? The latest war game? It just insane what the young people do these days with their precious life's time. They think they will live forever. Have they ever been to visit people confined to "old folks homes", many in wheelchairs? I have no idea but I do know that as a nation we are in deep trouble for a number of reasons:
1. Executives now earn 300-600 and more times their average employee. Used to be 60. Most of the income goes to the top 1%.
2. In the Great Recession, SEVEN MILLION people lost their homes while bankers got bonuses and an 800 BILLION dollar bailout.
3. Hillary and Bill gave speeches for which they were paid hundreds of thousands to more than a million dollars! Huh?
4. As Tom wrote, people have become "homeless" in their own country.
If Trump (I voted McMullen) can fix some of this, great. We'll soon see. The world is not ending. Be well.
We got through a Carter administration and we can get through a Trump one.
1
It's already broken. Obviously.
11
15% chance. Big city liberal media is lost.
It's not the meek shall inherit the Earth. It seems as though the ultimate prize goes to the ignorant.
"I want the country to go back to the way it was," a 20 something said on Fox News. Boy, is she in for a terrible surprise, when it does go back to the way it was.
"I want the country to go back to the way it was," a 20 something said on Fox News. Boy, is she in for a terrible surprise, when it does go back to the way it was.
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Atheists like myself have been watching our country's descent into this horror and trying every way we know to educate the public that this is what an unchallengeable allegiance to religion brings. The ubiquitous prohibition our country of any criticism of faith has caused an almost irreversible dumbing down of our citizenry along with a vicious anti-intellectualism and a worship of power, great wealth and violence. These have all combined to disable our once great democracy just as they did to the Weimar Republic of prewar Germany. Humanity's hope must therefore shift away from a theocracy-vulnerable form of government to one that is resistant to this malady: socialism.
51
Ummm, you should move to North Korea, where you can celebrate your socialism. Non-theism is actually much more compatible with our Constitutional Republic and its defense of (negative) rights.
Have you looked at Venezuela lately? That is socialism in action. Even after America has spoken liberals believe they, and only they, know what is true and morale. Ridiculous.
The media failed us in this election. We're about to elect a person who has open court cases against him. If he's found guilty will he resign or will we have to impeach him?
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I totally agree with you, Ami (Portland , OR). I believe that the 24/7 TV people from MSNBC, CNN, AND FOX CABLE elected Trump. They relayed every single tweet that Trump produced when they didn't have him on in person. They let him spew garage without any efforts to get to the truth.
That's always a good way to show bipartisanship and comity, start talking about impeachment the day after the election.
Check the Votes
Keep in mind that Trump is essentially a con man. Very good at it. That’s how he has gamed the business world all these years—a master of self-promotion generating lots of publicity while stiffing contractors, going bankrupt but sticking others with the losses, suing people, running cons like Trump University.
So now in this election he’s proved very adept at conning voters and gaming the political system. He likes to charge Hillary with all sorts of terrible things: she’s corrupt, she’s a liar, she’s a hater, what an unstable, terrible president she would make, etc…all the things he knows are true about himself, so he tries to head off criticism on these points by loudly charging his opponent with them first. And one of his biggest points lately has been that the election is rigged.
What if it is rigged? Trump might be doing it again, charging that he is being cheated while he is busy doing it himself. Is anyone checking to make sure these election results we are seeing are actually correct? That we haven’t been hacked by Russians or more likely slimy Republican operatives who re-program enough votes in various precincts to shift a few hundred votes here and there that start to add up enough to make a difference?
Keep in mind that Trump is essentially a con man. Very good at it. That’s how he has gamed the business world all these years—a master of self-promotion generating lots of publicity while stiffing contractors, going bankrupt but sticking others with the losses, suing people, running cons like Trump University.
So now in this election he’s proved very adept at conning voters and gaming the political system. He likes to charge Hillary with all sorts of terrible things: she’s corrupt, she’s a liar, she’s a hater, what an unstable, terrible president she would make, etc…all the things he knows are true about himself, so he tries to head off criticism on these points by loudly charging his opponent with them first. And one of his biggest points lately has been that the election is rigged.
What if it is rigged? Trump might be doing it again, charging that he is being cheated while he is busy doing it himself. Is anyone checking to make sure these election results we are seeing are actually correct? That we haven’t been hacked by Russians or more likely slimy Republican operatives who re-program enough votes in various precincts to shift a few hundred votes here and there that start to add up enough to make a difference?
51
That would explain how the reported results are so far off the predictions and mathematical models. Exit data should be helpful. Remember Giuliani gloated several days ago that they had several things up their sleeves.
Mr. Friedman, I suspect we are looking at the last, desperate gasp of the ill-informed, uneducated white male.
Fortunately, demographics will ensure that this group's voting power will be greatly diminished in the near-term.
Unfortunately, their chosen candidate, supported by a Republican Senate and Congress, will soon be installing Supreme Court judges who will create havoc for long term.
Fortunately, demographics will ensure that this group's voting power will be greatly diminished in the near-term.
Unfortunately, their chosen candidate, supported by a Republican Senate and Congress, will soon be installing Supreme Court judges who will create havoc for long term.
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My father - the kind of thoughtful Burkean conservative that has become an endangered species in this age of faux-conservative manicheanism - taught me that the first rule of protecting your freedom is to reject leaders who encourage you to hate or dehumanize people. Hate evil deeds but avoid hating people, he counseled.
This lesson was deeply informed by my father's experience. He was a World War II veteran whose grandfathers fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. He was also a student of Alfred Adler, one of the three main architects of modern psychiatry, along with Freud and Jung. Adler was then a recent refugee from the Third Reich.
Americans were leery and distrustful of hate for a generation after the horrors of World War II. Our political discourse was not perfect, but compared to today more careful, fact-based and civil.
But hate comes back. A neuroscience study published in 2006 showed that political hate affected the brain much like drugs and alcohol, making it giddily euphoric but also terrifyingly stupid. it is probably addictive, too.
The problem is that political haters, like drug and alcohol abusers, are fully aware of the pleasure but completely oblivious to the stupid.
A civilization addicted to hate is a dead civilization. The irony is, white Americans immersed in a giddy stupid culture of hate have lost their American heritage, while American minorities and immigrants have become the keepers of American civilization.
This lesson was deeply informed by my father's experience. He was a World War II veteran whose grandfathers fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. He was also a student of Alfred Adler, one of the three main architects of modern psychiatry, along with Freud and Jung. Adler was then a recent refugee from the Third Reich.
Americans were leery and distrustful of hate for a generation after the horrors of World War II. Our political discourse was not perfect, but compared to today more careful, fact-based and civil.
But hate comes back. A neuroscience study published in 2006 showed that political hate affected the brain much like drugs and alcohol, making it giddily euphoric but also terrifyingly stupid. it is probably addictive, too.
The problem is that political haters, like drug and alcohol abusers, are fully aware of the pleasure but completely oblivious to the stupid.
A civilization addicted to hate is a dead civilization. The irony is, white Americans immersed in a giddy stupid culture of hate have lost their American heritage, while American minorities and immigrants have become the keepers of American civilization.
150
"A giddy stupid culture of hate have lost their American heritage, while American minorities and immigrants have become the keepers of American civilization."
My roots go back to colonial times. My ancestors fought in the American Revolution. I am now praying - with a feeling of fear and desperation - that those minorities and immigrants who are the true inheritors of what my ancestors did will preserve us!
My roots go back to colonial times. My ancestors fought in the American Revolution. I am now praying - with a feeling of fear and desperation - that those minorities and immigrants who are the true inheritors of what my ancestors did will preserve us!
Well America, here you are and what many thought would never happen HAS happened. The problem is the rise of Donald Trump was essentially one that was 35 yrs. in the making with, of course, the help of a gullible mainstream media that was only interested in immediate ratings and the dollars that came with it. The democratic party and the entrenched establishment continually ignored the warnings of a substantial number of the disaffected electorate and Bernie Sanders, whom unlike the political hacks who wanted Hillary as the nominee at any cost, warned the party, that unless the country and its politicians made a distinct change in direction and policy, a demagague like Trump could prevail and history is not without its similar examples. The democrats failed miserably in all aspects of ths campaign.
Now, along with potentially a Republican President, it looks like the Republicans will have control of both the House and The Senate. Good luck America and you have my condolences. Welcome back to the 1800s!
Now, along with potentially a Republican President, it looks like the Republicans will have control of both the House and The Senate. Good luck America and you have my condolences. Welcome back to the 1800s!
60
Will Canadians volunteer to accept some refugees?
We have seen the future that the super rich like Soros and Zuckerburg planned for us.
The upside-down world where we care more about the welfare of just off the boat immigrants, than our own children, and the blabbings of overage twittering 23 year old adolescents, than the wisdom of experience.
And some how we were supposed to believe that voters who are incapable of running their own and even of procuring a voter id, are magically capable of effectively ruling our country with their votes.
I guess we have established that we Americans have rejected this future.
The upside-down world where we care more about the welfare of just off the boat immigrants, than our own children, and the blabbings of overage twittering 23 year old adolescents, than the wisdom of experience.
And some how we were supposed to believe that voters who are incapable of running their own and even of procuring a voter id, are magically capable of effectively ruling our country with their votes.
I guess we have established that we Americans have rejected this future.
24
Just like you rejected Iraq's future with the last Republican President.
A future disconnected from one another where only media promoted gimmicks succeed at the expense of hard work and dedication.
And what future do you have in mind? I guess you forgot golden rule.
Can not believe that our nation voted for misogyny, bigotry, hate, fear and lies.
Tragic. You bought it, America, don't complain when disaster arrives!
Tragic. You bought it, America, don't complain when disaster arrives!
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They'll go to the usual sources and blame it on the usual people. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I am so distraught.
How do we tell our children that this is the legacy they'll be left with?
How can I tell my daughter that an arrogant, admitted sexual predator was deemed fit for the highest office in the land?
I'm struggling to see how those who voted for this cretin can justify the message they've sent to our next generation (and the rest of the world) ... How?
How do we tell our children that this is the legacy they'll be left with?
How can I tell my daughter that an arrogant, admitted sexual predator was deemed fit for the highest office in the land?
I'm struggling to see how those who voted for this cretin can justify the message they've sent to our next generation (and the rest of the world) ... How?
I'm no longer proud of my country.
225
The problem is it will take Donald 4 years to move along his learning curve. By then, our beautiful heritage has been compromised...even if we pat him on the back all the way and say, "good boy, keep reading your teleprompter". Do we really want to do that? He needs to be accountable and transparent. He wanted this job. Now he has to deliver on extraordinary promises, like giving jobs to all of rural America. He will not be able to select his crowds and media for 4 years.
1
We can choose doom and gloom or we can figure out how to move forward from this point in time, where to go from here. Democracy and the power of the people can prove messy, and scary, but most would take it any day of the week over other forms of government we see around the world.
America is a 240 years old experiment and the men and women who came before us fought hard for this country and what it means to have representative government. We can't stop fighting for the best version of what this country can be. Many forget -- America has faced hard challenges and times as a nation before - and always moves through them and learns from them.
'I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.' - Thomas Jefferson
America is a 240 years old experiment and the men and women who came before us fought hard for this country and what it means to have representative government. We can't stop fighting for the best version of what this country can be. Many forget -- America has faced hard challenges and times as a nation before - and always moves through them and learns from them.
'I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.' - Thomas Jefferson
120
I'm afraid, not this time. Not this time. We know something now we did not know before. We know it in our skin, our fingers, in our hearts, and it is a terrible thing to know. We are a hateful country. Everything about the data shows the same thing: Trump's base are white nationalists, racists, misogynists. They're not the lunatic fringe; they ARE America. The educated, reality-based readers of the New York Times--it turns out they are the cranks. The real America is a reflection of the man it just elected. As Adam Gopnik wrote months ago, there will be no recovery from this. Our greatness has passed from us. We now face the long, slow uneven decline of all once great powers. Would that I had not lived to see this day.
Memo to all: Do Your job
Who knows what the newly elected president will do or try.
Elected officials: hold each other accountable, including the new president. None of you can possibly believe he is right all the time. So say so. The lesson learned is that we're 'in this together'.
The media: Grow up. Reflect on the criticism of your work over the last twenty months. Learn, don't deny. Greed does not look good on anyone, nor does unearned pride. Opportunism without substance is worthless to read.
Readers/citizens: It takes more than reading twitter feeds. That's not news. In fact, know from whom you get what you consume. Good chance it's not news; it may very well be the opposite
All: Speak up, loudly. IThis may be an experiment. Get in the experiment
Who knows what the newly elected president will do or try.
Elected officials: hold each other accountable, including the new president. None of you can possibly believe he is right all the time. So say so. The lesson learned is that we're 'in this together'.
The media: Grow up. Reflect on the criticism of your work over the last twenty months. Learn, don't deny. Greed does not look good on anyone, nor does unearned pride. Opportunism without substance is worthless to read.
Readers/citizens: It takes more than reading twitter feeds. That's not news. In fact, know from whom you get what you consume. Good chance it's not news; it may very well be the opposite
All: Speak up, loudly. IThis may be an experiment. Get in the experiment
During Jefferson's time, America wasn't the powerful global force it is now. This little rebellion could have unimaginable horrific consequences on our country as well as the rest of the world. The stock market crash could be just the beginning.
1
Once again, a man telling Hillary she has to make nice with people who slandered her, but nothing on what Trump must do to heal the breach with the people he slandered. Tonight, everyone who is not "white" including Tom Friedman got a very loud message from their "fellow" Americans. Who are they going to blame when the world does not magically become 1950 again? It would not surprise me to see Dylan Roof get away with murder. Welcome to Breitbart America. I hope you like it.
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Ok, now substitute Trump for Clinton. Never was a man more slandered during a campaign than he was.
With Rudolph Giuliani as his Attorney General, many will get away with murder.
It appears that there are two bubbles in America. Both quite unaware of the deep feelings of the other. That's why some of us are shocked.
24
>>>
For two years, I've said HRC would never be allowed into the WH.
Stupidity and folly carried the day.
Outside of the pollsters forgetting to poll rural America, I apologize for my misplaced optimism that HRC should win.
The only question is how many days before buyers remorse sets in, it won't be long.
For two years, I've said HRC would never be allowed into the WH.
Stupidity and folly carried the day.
Outside of the pollsters forgetting to poll rural America, I apologize for my misplaced optimism that HRC should win.
The only question is how many days before buyers remorse sets in, it won't be long.
75
One of the worst outcomes is the senate Republicans blocking hearings on Obama's pick for Supreme Court. That is despicable and now we must all live with this illegal action. Imagine who Trump will pick. Let's all pitch in for vitamins for Ginsburg.
108
Hopefully, President Obama will confirm Judge Garland during the Senate recess.
It's not too late to confirm Merrick Garland.
Well--the most common chant was "lock her up". Maybe Hillary Clinton now will be. This is just one test in the months to come.
What do you think the fate will be of the women who have come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault? This is the man who has said that when he is hit, he hits back as hard as he can. He already has Putin and the FBI.
Looks at this point like we will get the chance to see if our Republic is strong enough to resist "the man on a horse".
What do you think the fate will be of the women who have come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault? This is the man who has said that when he is hit, he hits back as hard as he can. He already has Putin and the FBI.
Looks at this point like we will get the chance to see if our Republic is strong enough to resist "the man on a horse".
58
Do you suppose that Trump may face being "locked up" as well? He has several trials coming up soon, including a rape case. He has to face a trial on Trump University at the end of this month. I didn't hear people at Democratic gatherings screaming "Lock him up!"
He now plans to sue all of the women who accused him of having sexually assaulted them. Let's see what happens there.
He now plans to sue all of the women who accused him of having sexually assaulted them. Let's see what happens there.
17
I hope trump wont try to do anything as silly petty and pointless as to try put Hill in jail. He has a raft of problems internationally, and she should be allowed to go to lick her electoral wounds.
No one serious believed he would sue them. I only wish he would.
I think I'll never again believe the experts, pundits, poll takers, journalists, & news anchors.
133
They're not on your side! Maybe now people will understand. The business interests that control the newsmedia (especially the television newsmedia) do not want the democrats in power.
17
"...do not want the democrat's in power." Maybe the most ridiculous comment I have seen in the NYT. If you can not see the left-bias of the majority of press then you truly are blind.
That seems a bit of a non-sequitur: Trump, after all, was just democratically elected. What the MSM has no respect for, IMHO, are republicans, with a small R: those who believe in the rule of law, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights.
I don't know what is to be done.
The pure center of the horror, leaving aside all the tsunami of ignorance, vulgarity, lies, authoritarianism, corruption,coat-tailing Republican machine, environmental degradation etc, is this:
a man whose Twitter account was taken away last week by his own own kids and campaign, for lack of the most basic self-control on crazed petty vindictiveness, will now have his hand on the nuclear button, and there is no place to hide.
I am so very very sorry for all children.
The pure center of the horror, leaving aside all the tsunami of ignorance, vulgarity, lies, authoritarianism, corruption,coat-tailing Republican machine, environmental degradation etc, is this:
a man whose Twitter account was taken away last week by his own own kids and campaign, for lack of the most basic self-control on crazed petty vindictiveness, will now have his hand on the nuclear button, and there is no place to hide.
I am so very very sorry for all children.
612
I could not agree more with comment.
13
Please don't start with the hatred. Give the man a chance. We need to unify the country.
None of these narratives added up. As I wrote over and over again in the NYT you( the NYT groupthink) demanded that a weak candidate for the City State New World Order be coronated to run against an angry populace. Then you (group think) asked everyone to be okey donkey working three part time service jobs while you jet around talking to your favorite token immigrants and try to tease nationalism and racism apart from suffering.
News flash. People in pain are stupid. They do horrible things. And when country mouse gets angry, he gets racist and nationalist.
The Good Patrician wouldn't be so stupid as to sell out 80% of the land in the United States for better real estate prices in SoHo. That means the DNC needs a house cleaning.
News flash. People in pain are stupid. They do horrible things. And when country mouse gets angry, he gets racist and nationalist.
The Good Patrician wouldn't be so stupid as to sell out 80% of the land in the United States for better real estate prices in SoHo. That means the DNC needs a house cleaning.
29
A comment my oldest niece from Ontario, Canada wrote just now on her Facebook page:
Feeling like we are watching the realization of Idiocracy as a prediction rather than crazy fiction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy
Feeling like we are watching the realization of Idiocracy as a prediction rather than crazy fiction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy
31
What has happened? How can we believe our election hasn't been stolen. First free press and then no one fought for the truth and called him on his lies until this last week. Where was the national media, the news broadcasters? No one did anything about the constant propaganda being spewed. It was just reprinted and the headlines were devastating. So how will this impact us? This is a rich man who has never worked a real day in his life. And all the working men/women don't get that he bankrupted, didn't pay his venders, ruined numerous small business; he doesn't pay his bills. How did that message of who he was not get carried loud and clear to America. He's sexually abusive/dismissive to women, makes fun of the handicapped and is supported by racists. He was allowed to destroy any semblance of truth. How can these results with all the predictions, indicators that Hillary would win suggest that this was a true election.Where are the questions? I feel like we have been horribly manipulated , betrayed and that Russia is more dangerous to our democracy than anyone understood. A lot of people are devastated. What will we do if our voting process has been hacked? Who will be left to report it? Trump has demonized any one who questions him so what will he do to freedom of the press? This is a man who didn't know we had nuclear weapons? No one can control him. Please, let this be a nightmare; God help us. These are desperate times; I fear we may be doomed.
207
completely agree why was he not taken to task - it is so surreal - so concerned about the environment and science-based thinking!
3
"Where was the national media, the news broadcasters?"
Acting as cheerleaders, enjoying their ad revenues and turning a blind eye because, hey, it made good copy.
Elections have consequences. Congratulations, America. You're about to meet yours.
Acting as cheerleaders, enjoying their ad revenues and turning a blind eye because, hey, it made good copy.
Elections have consequences. Congratulations, America. You're about to meet yours.
3
Examine the state election vote count numbers. There is a very curious 100,000 vote advantage in each of the Red States against Hillary. The precision of those numbers collectively is too coincidental. DT was schooled by the most evil man who ever ran the US scared, Roy Cohn. DT learned how to defame and destroy, anyone from Roy Cohn the communist witch hunter and hollywood ball wrecker. I think that sometime soon DT will face a prosecutorial proceeding for "rigging" the election, his red herring phrase.
1
Thanks for your words at least they are inspiring. Can't believe there are this many Americans that can't see through this guy.....
54
But wait! Trump said he wants to drain the swamp! The majority of legislators on Capitol Hill are Republicans! He's talking about them! Right? Given his feud with Paul Ryan, I expect Ryan to be the first one he fires! Right?
He can fire them, can't he? I mean . . . he said that if we elect him he would "drain the swamp." I heard it! That means "You're fired" to Paul Ryan, who hates his guts, and "Lyin' Ted Cruz" and "Little Marco" Rubio and bunch of others, right? Right?
Or maybe he was just talking about a new Trump golf course?
Either way, I expect to see a drained swamp pretty darned soon!
He can fire them, can't he? I mean . . . he said that if we elect him he would "drain the swamp." I heard it! That means "You're fired" to Paul Ryan, who hates his guts, and "Lyin' Ted Cruz" and "Little Marco" Rubio and bunch of others, right? Right?
Or maybe he was just talking about a new Trump golf course?
Either way, I expect to see a drained swamp pretty darned soon!
51
If Trump gets rid of all his political enemies, it will result in empty seats in Congress, but a different Supreme Court, a new one that Trump will appoint will give Trump the rights to replace unpalatable congressmen with better ones. Just think of all the money, America will save, if we stop having this elections. I think about a billion dollars was spent in 2016 on this election. Well starting right now, the American people will simply be told who is in the latest Congress. And if Trump is overwhelmed with all this work, choosing new congressmen, he should ask his friend Putin for advice.
You're right, he can't fire them. He lied.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
-- H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Sun (July 26, 1920)
And now it appears we may know the glorious day it happened.
-- H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Sun (July 26, 1920)
And now it appears we may know the glorious day it happened.
392
So it's starting to look the way globalization plays out is the lower and middle class are decimated and are manipulated by demogogues who trash inconvenient truths to take on the usual list of scapegoats - minorities and elites and foreigners - with the predictable results that are not good for anyone or more importantly the planet,
Now that's sad.
Now that's sad.
46
The thing about Trump is he's a sham - all of it.
He did not even have the skills or interests to prep for the debates. His own staff freely admits he has zero attention span and interest in details. His view of the Presidency is it's a really cool status toy, but he has done nothing to Spin Up and Prep for it. It's not an adulation booster! Instead, he spouts a fantasy view that simply doesn't exist in Reality, and ways to solve problems that deny most of our laws - and our Constitution!
The job is like the debate prep, times ten - every day. Who will do the Job?Already, our Country is getting trashed, because Congress has not done any real work since 2010. Will the Presidency be like this too?
The ultimate insult is the man himself. His University fraud, his countless lawsuits, his stiffing of venders, partners and workers, his vengeance obsessions, endless pit of need... and his horrific treatment of women. All the stuff about "Criminal Clinton" is GOTP fantasy - but Trump's illegal activities are the real deal! His anger is all false outrage. He's the ultimate insider, the ultimate rich pampered kid, the ultimate bully. What's he got to be angry with the system for? He's taken every advantage of it for 70 years!
But... as I write this, the "Comey Effect" is working. Democrats stayed home, and Trump is winning. Two weeks ago, it would have been an absurd Clinton rout. Now, it looks like Trump the Know Nothing will take it. God help us!
He did not even have the skills or interests to prep for the debates. His own staff freely admits he has zero attention span and interest in details. His view of the Presidency is it's a really cool status toy, but he has done nothing to Spin Up and Prep for it. It's not an adulation booster! Instead, he spouts a fantasy view that simply doesn't exist in Reality, and ways to solve problems that deny most of our laws - and our Constitution!
The job is like the debate prep, times ten - every day. Who will do the Job?Already, our Country is getting trashed, because Congress has not done any real work since 2010. Will the Presidency be like this too?
The ultimate insult is the man himself. His University fraud, his countless lawsuits, his stiffing of venders, partners and workers, his vengeance obsessions, endless pit of need... and his horrific treatment of women. All the stuff about "Criminal Clinton" is GOTP fantasy - but Trump's illegal activities are the real deal! His anger is all false outrage. He's the ultimate insider, the ultimate rich pampered kid, the ultimate bully. What's he got to be angry with the system for? He's taken every advantage of it for 70 years!
But... as I write this, the "Comey Effect" is working. Democrats stayed home, and Trump is winning. Two weeks ago, it would have been an absurd Clinton rout. Now, it looks like Trump the Know Nothing will take it. God help us!
95
Weell you threw out Bernie - a decent man
No - his lawsuits are countless; they number 4000. That's about 12 a year which is phenomenal. He is a vexatious litigant. He should be in jail alone for instituted so many lawsuits.
This is the stuff of nightmares. Why did I have such confidence that at the end of the day Americans would remember their values, their role as the leader of the world, the fact that we value ethics, our high moral values and that we do not suffer fools gladly, especially those who are openly dishonest and proud of it.
I believe in our constitution and everything for which it stands. I believe in our system of government and the thoughtful manner in which it was constructed and remained confident that our system is resilient enough to overcome temporary obstructionism because at the end of the day we all share the value of being Americans.
Suddenly I don't understand how the new President who not only doesn't believe in our constitutional value system, but neither does he believe in our system of laws. He slanders those constrained by law as being 'politically correct', as if it's OK to ignore our laws to do what he thinks needs to be done.
Fear played an important part of this election with masses of people believing everything they were told without requiring a shred of evidence (those from Missouri should be forced to change their state's motto).
OK, you have my attention and I am afraid. We are on the verge of a long planned retirement but now I fear for our solvency. Our children's lives had solidified and they were optimistic, but now it seems our economy is in for a major recession with unknown consequences.
I don't know how I can ever call this President mine!
I believe in our constitution and everything for which it stands. I believe in our system of government and the thoughtful manner in which it was constructed and remained confident that our system is resilient enough to overcome temporary obstructionism because at the end of the day we all share the value of being Americans.
Suddenly I don't understand how the new President who not only doesn't believe in our constitutional value system, but neither does he believe in our system of laws. He slanders those constrained by law as being 'politically correct', as if it's OK to ignore our laws to do what he thinks needs to be done.
Fear played an important part of this election with masses of people believing everything they were told without requiring a shred of evidence (those from Missouri should be forced to change their state's motto).
OK, you have my attention and I am afraid. We are on the verge of a long planned retirement but now I fear for our solvency. Our children's lives had solidified and they were optimistic, but now it seems our economy is in for a major recession with unknown consequences.
I don't know how I can ever call this President mine!
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And it is reported that Rudy and Newt will have places in his cabinet! Whew!
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And the Republican cowards in Congress who enabled him will rubber-stamp everything he sends them, including privatizing Social Security.
When Trump state he is law and order he is saying to uphold the law. Obama has conveniently, for illegals and wanna be terrorists, ignored this countries immigration laws. Had Obama not done this, or had Hillary not stated she wanted open borders, the White House would have stayed under democrat rule.
"Republican leaders have been speaking like Middle Eastern tribal chiefs: If we’re not in power, we just won’t allow anything to get done."
Ah, but you see Mr.Freidman, the Repulicans ARE in power: they control the
legislature. Our country is comprised of 3 co-equal branches. What they are saying is "We have been elected by the people into power, and have a legitimate say in the process, so we don't have to acquiesce to what the President demands." Obama never understood this.
Ah, but you see Mr.Freidman, the Repulicans ARE in power: they control the
legislature. Our country is comprised of 3 co-equal branches. What they are saying is "We have been elected by the people into power, and have a legitimate say in the process, so we don't have to acquiesce to what the President demands." Obama never understood this.
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3 co-equal branches...so that means that the legislature should allow the president to do his job. Like appointing supreme court justices. Get it? Obama was elected to 4 years, not 3. (Well, actually 8 years and the Repubs never got over it).
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The Republicans control both the Congress and the Presidency! You and the Leftists here might want to take that into account as we move forward!
I take the name calling and personal attacks that are the norm here as what will occur moving forward. If the low road makes you feel better go for it! The rest of us, your "deplorables" will move forward without you.
President elect Trump will appoint 3 or 4 Supreme Court Justices over the next 4 years. None of us will live to see a Liberal Court in our lifetime.
Actions have consequences, if the Democrats had backed Bernie Sanders we might be having a far different discussion this morning!
I take the name calling and personal attacks that are the norm here as what will occur moving forward. If the low road makes you feel better go for it! The rest of us, your "deplorables" will move forward without you.
President elect Trump will appoint 3 or 4 Supreme Court Justices over the next 4 years. None of us will live to see a Liberal Court in our lifetime.
Actions have consequences, if the Democrats had backed Bernie Sanders we might be having a far different discussion this morning!
Read the Constitution. The President does not appoint people, he selects nominees to the SCOTUS, with advice and concept of the Senate. The Senate advised him, he declined to follow that advice. Therefore, no consent. Further, there is no requirement that the Supreme Court have 9 members. But have no fear, President Trump will select nominees in his term...
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Who needs ISIS, when our electorate is in a self-destruct mode. Our poor country.
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