Sounds great! Where do we sign up for David Brooks' new party? I'd like a tent big enough for Bernie's best and free traders.
14
From your keyboard to god's ears
17
A "social/open" party? That was Hillary.
55
We have to respect and understand the Trump voters because maybe they weren't motivated by racism and misogyny?
Whatever their motivations, their ACTIONS in voting for the President-elect elevated to the highest office in the land a man who said the following on tape: "Grab em by the __," "most of them are rapists," "ban on all Muslims," "it's very hard for a flat chested woman to be a ten", "I don't ask," no one is allowed in the dressing rooms but I own the pageant so I can "inspect" by walking in on the beautiful women changing, "my daughter's got a great body," "if she weren't my daughter I'd probably be dating her," praise for Putin, pointed at ten your old and said "I'll be dating her in 10 years," "check out sex tape," "she gained an enormous amount of weight," "that was just Rosie O'Donnell," "bleeding out of her wherever," .... OK, I'll stop now.
So we don't know why the Trump voters did what they did? We know WHAT they did. Res ipsa loquitur.
Whatever their motivations, their ACTIONS in voting for the President-elect elevated to the highest office in the land a man who said the following on tape: "Grab em by the __," "most of them are rapists," "ban on all Muslims," "it's very hard for a flat chested woman to be a ten", "I don't ask," no one is allowed in the dressing rooms but I own the pageant so I can "inspect" by walking in on the beautiful women changing, "my daughter's got a great body," "if she weren't my daughter I'd probably be dating her," praise for Putin, pointed at ten your old and said "I'll be dating her in 10 years," "check out sex tape," "she gained an enormous amount of weight," "that was just Rosie O'Donnell," "bleeding out of her wherever," .... OK, I'll stop now.
So we don't know why the Trump voters did what they did? We know WHAT they did. Res ipsa loquitur.
88
David. I'm all for social and open. But the outline you speak of for your third party sounds a lot like Hillary's democratic party agenda. "we are all part of a single American idea" Stronger Together. No? I would like to hear more, fleshing out the gooey "compassionate" for starters.
46
Thanks to David, once again, for his calming perspective and providing a voice of reason amidst this current chaos!
42
Mr. Brooks, can you expand on your last sentence when you say Trump will resign or be impeached? What are your reasons for saying this? Thank you.
16
Why Trump? One word: Hillary. Choices: Don't vote, Trump, or... the candidate chosen by the Democratic Party. Here in CT, not voting would have been fine, but a little gutless. So Trump. Here in the land of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, yes, another roll of the dice. Couldn't go with Mrs. Clinton. Just couldn't.
14
I'm mostly in the Trump demographic: white, hetero, gun owning, male over 65 with a heavy duty evangelical childhood. Once again, the old white guys voted against their best interests and for someone who is the antithesis how "Christians" should live. Why? When the say it's not a lot about racism? It's more complex than that? It's about racism.
62
This was helpful--and not just the last sentence. Please keep it up.
8
After reading a NYT article about militias in Louisiana,I was struck by the thought that if these guys spent as much time and money going to a community college or technical school as they spent on guns, ammo, and "drills" in the woods, they might get a better job.
80
There are plenty of people who have legitimate grievances. The remedy to those grievances does not reside in a person who does not know how to fix them. Trump doesn't know how to fix them because he really doesn't know much of anything at all. He doesn't know how government works. He doesn't know anything about foreign policy. He barely knows how to speak coherently and, we've heard, never reads. So, my beef with the Trump voters is lack of common sense and logic. You Trump voters have harmed our country and you have harmed yourselves. We don't yet know how badly. Good-bye Dodd Frank: you have voted for abuses by the banks and Wall Street. Good-bye Consumer Protection Agency: you have voted for the rights of credit card companies to cheat you. Do you have a chronic illness? Good-bye health insurance. Good-bye Paris Accord: you have voted for the rights of corporations to create more climate change. The list of the harm is much longer. You've voted for change, all right.
66
Sign me up, Mr. Brooks.
5
Wake up folks! Its 1933 all over again. You white voters mixed up this toxic stew and you are likely to be the ones who suffer most from it.
25
I suspect a significant amount of Democrats and Republicans would join such a 3rd party. Where can I sign up?
9
There are two America's it is US versus Them. Sad. No hope.
8
The days of PBS may be numbered. Glad to know you made it under the wire.
16
"the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
I think he will cooperate with Putin and be charged with treason and spend the rest of his life in jail.
I think he will cooperate with Putin and be charged with treason and spend the rest of his life in jail.
19
Heaven forbid, the "educated" got Trumped. Grow up David.
14
Dear Mr. Brooks,
As usual, thank you for putting one foot in front of the other, and trying to make sense of our nation. Last week you gave us Buber, without Nietschze. I appreciated the omission then, now, I am tired of ignorance. I am confounded by the lack of ethical teaching in our Nation and the World. How is it okay to celebrate such ignorance? The cruelty of this parasitical attack on the Mind must be highlighted through the empathetic, as rational communication and Hearing has failed us again. Forget Putin, Trump is Netanyahu. Putin doesn't pretend to enjoy Democracy. The Model for the Trumps election victory feels much more like Netanyahu's 2015 approach.
Buber responded to Nietschze, because of his Jewishness. He needed to make sense of what happened. Tell me, Mr. Brooks, where is our Torah today? With Isreal and Netanyahu? Where is the Awe, today? We follow no rules, no discussion of empathy, all of this thing we call humanity comes with a price tag and fear. This is not the Torah I know and love.
Mr. Brooks, more Buber. More Nietszche. Luther Burbank. These questions have all been asked and answered. Give me Sonnet 129...let us start feeling each others heartbeats again. My ears hurt from all this yelling.
As usual, thank you for putting one foot in front of the other, and trying to make sense of our nation. Last week you gave us Buber, without Nietschze. I appreciated the omission then, now, I am tired of ignorance. I am confounded by the lack of ethical teaching in our Nation and the World. How is it okay to celebrate such ignorance? The cruelty of this parasitical attack on the Mind must be highlighted through the empathetic, as rational communication and Hearing has failed us again. Forget Putin, Trump is Netanyahu. Putin doesn't pretend to enjoy Democracy. The Model for the Trumps election victory feels much more like Netanyahu's 2015 approach.
Buber responded to Nietschze, because of his Jewishness. He needed to make sense of what happened. Tell me, Mr. Brooks, where is our Torah today? With Isreal and Netanyahu? Where is the Awe, today? We follow no rules, no discussion of empathy, all of this thing we call humanity comes with a price tag and fear. This is not the Torah I know and love.
Mr. Brooks, more Buber. More Nietszche. Luther Burbank. These questions have all been asked and answered. Give me Sonnet 129...let us start feeling each others heartbeats again. My ears hurt from all this yelling.
15
To quote Mr. Brook's article, "Second, we simply don’t yet know how much racism or misogyny motivated Trump voters. It is true that those voters are willing to tolerate a lot more bigotry in their candidate than I’d be willing to tolerate. But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
Unfortunately, Mr. Brooks, this is pretty much how the German people explained the rise of Hitler during the 1930's and although the Army and elite were sure they could rein Hitler in and control him we all know how well that turned out. But, hey, it can't happen here.
Trump supporters have continuously said that they voted for him because of his economic stance and that building walls, banning Muslims, and jailing Hilary was just fatuous campaign rhetoric (well, OK they didn't use that phrase exactly, but you know what I mean). Then why the groundswell of support exhibited for that fatuous campaign rhetoric?
" 'He tells it like it is', but we know he doesn't really mean what he says, but when he says it we chant and cheer". Sorry folks, you can't have it both ways.
Mr. Brooks, you seem to abhor this election result as much as many of the rest of us do, yet you've been a Republican apologist for a long time. Why not leave the children of darkness and walk towards the light.
Unfortunately, Mr. Brooks, this is pretty much how the German people explained the rise of Hitler during the 1930's and although the Army and elite were sure they could rein Hitler in and control him we all know how well that turned out. But, hey, it can't happen here.
Trump supporters have continuously said that they voted for him because of his economic stance and that building walls, banning Muslims, and jailing Hilary was just fatuous campaign rhetoric (well, OK they didn't use that phrase exactly, but you know what I mean). Then why the groundswell of support exhibited for that fatuous campaign rhetoric?
" 'He tells it like it is', but we know he doesn't really mean what he says, but when he says it we chant and cheer". Sorry folks, you can't have it both ways.
Mr. Brooks, you seem to abhor this election result as much as many of the rest of us do, yet you've been a Republican apologist for a long time. Why not leave the children of darkness and walk towards the light.
66
The policies of your proposed third party sound very much like the policies Hillary proposed. Remember her dream of Globalization? she got trashed on that one by both the activist left (supporters of sanders/warren); programs to rebuild communities...yep that was on her list. One America, irrespective of creed, color, or ability...check. Just sayin...
65
To accomplish your goals, the Times, the Post, CNN, etc will need to continue reporting - FRONT PAGE, HEADLINE NEWS - on how he breaks every single promise he made to his supporters. That will mean in-depth reporting on how he's filling his cabinet with the very people he rallied against, and how/why that contradicts his promise to "drain the swamp."
Christie and Rudy in charge of rooting out corruption? Newt,and Bannon in ANY position?!?! Trent Lott's coordination of lobbyist's access to him?!?! HA!! They will need to explain to their readers why those people are bad news!
! I want SERIOUS reporting - akin to the Times exposure of the tax returns and its hammering of the sexual assault allegations - on him and how he's letting them run things more prominently placed than the side bars and outside the Op/Ed page which preaches to the choir.
DO YOUR PART NEW YORK TIMES!!!!!
Christie and Rudy in charge of rooting out corruption? Newt,and Bannon in ANY position?!?! Trent Lott's coordination of lobbyist's access to him?!?! HA!! They will need to explain to their readers why those people are bad news!
! I want SERIOUS reporting - akin to the Times exposure of the tax returns and its hammering of the sexual assault allegations - on him and how he's letting them run things more prominently placed than the side bars and outside the Op/Ed page which preaches to the choir.
DO YOUR PART NEW YORK TIMES!!!!!
132
It's interesting that if Trump supporters (and Trump) wanted someone that wasn't a politician, how is it that Trump may select old ,white, damaged politicians as his team?
64
We do not need a third party that is social/open. One of the two parties did articulate the vision for the America you say we need. What has prevented you from fully endorsing Hillary Clinton, and in this latest article what drives you to so blatantly not even mention her name in connection to the America you want?
71
In the words of Hitchens: "As General Douglas McArthur once put it, all military defeats can be summarized in two words: "Too late." The same goes for political disasters."
6
Thanks David. Good column. Glad we are sympatico on this. Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed. I listened to a Trump supporter living in a deindustrialized town in northeastern Ohio yesterday, as he was interviewed on NPR. He wasn't a racist, and never mentioned immigration. He voted for Trump because of his promises to bring manufacturing jobs back. He said that he realized he couldn't do it right away, but that in a "year or so" he expected to see real improvements. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I just felt sorry for the guy, because he seemed sincerely to believe that this would happen.
24
Let's get started. I think you are right. Where do we sign up?
5
David,
Get off your Ivy tower, & smell the roses.
I had a customer in Syracuse , N.Y. that manufactured Air Conditioning for refrigerated Trucks, named Carrier. Carrier was the nucleolus of Syracuse's industry & employed hundreds of blue collar workers. Many of these workers were employed by Carrier right out of High school, & had been with Carrier for many years. They had married ,had children , purchased houses & cars, & had children in College. One day Carrier decided to pul out of Syracuse & sent the bulk of it’s business to Asia, & thus began the Great American tragedy .When the jobs left, so did the house, cars & college tuition. The Carrier workers that started at Carrier out of High School were now middle age, without any apparent job opportunities, except perhaps in Mac Donald’s. Government turned it’s back on them, except for giving them unemployment assistance.They were told what happened to Carrier was inevitable, as America could not compete with China & elsewhere & if Carrier did not move to Asia, their jobs would be taken over by technology , such as robots.
Out of darkness and gloom, came a boisterous individual named Trump, who promised to bring their jobs back, & restore their lives. He became President.
Get off your Ivy tower, & smell the roses.
I had a customer in Syracuse , N.Y. that manufactured Air Conditioning for refrigerated Trucks, named Carrier. Carrier was the nucleolus of Syracuse's industry & employed hundreds of blue collar workers. Many of these workers were employed by Carrier right out of High school, & had been with Carrier for many years. They had married ,had children , purchased houses & cars, & had children in College. One day Carrier decided to pul out of Syracuse & sent the bulk of it’s business to Asia, & thus began the Great American tragedy .When the jobs left, so did the house, cars & college tuition. The Carrier workers that started at Carrier out of High School were now middle age, without any apparent job opportunities, except perhaps in Mac Donald’s. Government turned it’s back on them, except for giving them unemployment assistance.They were told what happened to Carrier was inevitable, as America could not compete with China & elsewhere & if Carrier did not move to Asia, their jobs would be taken over by technology , such as robots.
Out of darkness and gloom, came a boisterous individual named Trump, who promised to bring their jobs back, & restore their lives. He became President.
19
Your Republican party built the tea-party movement that gave the US Trump! Own it because you're as part of it!
22
Mr. Brooks:
Nice wish list. You still haven't learned. Enough with the simple-minded categorizations where everything is neatly pidgeon-holed.
Will you be in the forefront of denouncing the bigotry,dishonesty and promise breaking? Or will the blind stupitity of modern conservatism and republican venality become even more entrenched with your help?
Maybe it's time for you to start reading the comments to your columns again. You know, all the people you ignored, who tried to save you from yourself. They may turn out to be your only hope.
By the way, the future may include a second term. Stepping down will give us what? Mike Pence? Time to wake up and wipe the pixie dust out of your eyes.
Nice wish list. You still haven't learned. Enough with the simple-minded categorizations where everything is neatly pidgeon-holed.
Will you be in the forefront of denouncing the bigotry,dishonesty and promise breaking? Or will the blind stupitity of modern conservatism and republican venality become even more entrenched with your help?
Maybe it's time for you to start reading the comments to your columns again. You know, all the people you ignored, who tried to save you from yourself. They may turn out to be your only hope.
By the way, the future may include a second term. Stepping down will give us what? Mike Pence? Time to wake up and wipe the pixie dust out of your eyes.
13
David, you missed the point he lost the popular vote by MILLIONS.. . . In light of the election results, I think it is time for something positive. We must have election reform. We need to get rid of the Electoral College so that all our votes count. We must limit the length of the campaigns, and most of all limit the amount of money that is spent. It is disgraceful that in a country where people are hungry and homeless we allow the candidates to collectively spend enough money to feed and house "millions of people." We need people of integrity and influence to back such a move. I am sure you are one of them. I am posting this on face book and anywhere else I can think of and asking everyone that it reaches to contact as many people as they can. And let's say "YES WE CAN!"
Judith Potts
Judith Potts
31
Here's a thought, David: maybe your mistake -- as opposed to the mistakes you attribute to the deplorable -- is that the Dems nominated a terrible candidate. BTW, the NY Times echo opinion chamber is boring, boring, boring.
9
That was quite a sign-off!
3
Thanks David! I'm in.
4
Social/0pen is a great idea! Let's do it!!
3
David, I love reading your columns and appreciate your ideas, although I am Democrat through and through. However, for a new party, we would have the same problem as the Arab Spring movement: who will lead?
9
Brooks said:
"But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his assent."
That would be the right-wing media.
"But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his assent."
That would be the right-wing media.
9
Actually, it looks like Trump is mostly going to be the traditional party of business on steroids.
See these two New York Times articles about lobbyists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/trump-campaigned-against-l...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/lobbyists-trump.html
The sharks are already circling.
See these two New York Times articles about lobbyists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/trump-campaigned-against-l...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/lobbyists-trump.html
The sharks are already circling.
7
Who do you think is going to impeach a President Trump? The Republicans hold all the cards for the next four years and they're not losing the House in 2018. You can look at the map for that and they're definitely not interesting in alienating their base and imperiling their own careers. Do you think Trump would voluntarily leave the power and grandeur that comes with living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.? Do you think President Trump will retreat because liberals like you don't like or approve of him? Get real David Brooks. We have Mr. Trump as our President till 2020 if not 2024.
18
Is there a real leader in the country, not the self-professed, one-issue fools who have no demonstrated leadership abilities or accomplishments? I would entertain any well-founded suggestions, however do not suggest Michael Bloomberg, because he cannot keep his nose out of things that are none of his business or about which he demonstrates an overwhelming ignorance,
5
Trump's policies will cause more damage and suffering than W's did, a very high bar. But two things really concern me; climate change policies; AND how he will react to inevitable crises; terrorist attack, civil unrest, a hot foreign confrontation. His authoritarian instincts, narcissistic, hyper-reactive personality and the awful people he will gather around him make him by far the scariest right wing president we have ever elected. GULP.
Meanwhile folks; make your lives more soulful and real, love each other better, never lose your neighborliness, and act where you can (single payer health care in states like mine, MD, that can pull it off). Don't lose heart. Pretend you have been in a car crash and have been lucky enough to walk away. Let your survival (so far) renew your purpose, kindness and resolve.
Meanwhile folks; make your lives more soulful and real, love each other better, never lose your neighborliness, and act where you can (single payer health care in states like mine, MD, that can pull it off). Don't lose heart. Pretend you have been in a car crash and have been lucky enough to walk away. Let your survival (so far) renew your purpose, kindness and resolve.
22
DB - that last sentiment shows a distinct lack of humility.
What just happened here? Let's learn the right lessons.
This was the Uni-party (Dems and Republicans) vs. Donald Trump and the People (white men and women - Read "The Women Who Helped Donald Trump to Victory" -Stolberg)
Hardworking, clear-sighted Americans from across the political, social and economic spectrums are the winners.
The losers were the political establishment (DC), feminists (and their supporters), social justice warriors and the liberal press. These folks had gone WAY TO FAR to the left threatening basic rights/practices like free speech, due process, presumption of innocence. People were afraid to speak their minds - but they voted.
Thank the women - Ann Coulter, Kellyanne Conway, Omorosa, Ivanka, Melania, all those women who voted fro Trump ... we gonna be aight.
What just happened here? Let's learn the right lessons.
This was the Uni-party (Dems and Republicans) vs. Donald Trump and the People (white men and women - Read "The Women Who Helped Donald Trump to Victory" -Stolberg)
Hardworking, clear-sighted Americans from across the political, social and economic spectrums are the winners.
The losers were the political establishment (DC), feminists (and their supporters), social justice warriors and the liberal press. These folks had gone WAY TO FAR to the left threatening basic rights/practices like free speech, due process, presumption of innocence. People were afraid to speak their minds - but they voted.
Thank the women - Ann Coulter, Kellyanne Conway, Omorosa, Ivanka, Melania, all those women who voted fro Trump ... we gonna be aight.
12
I've appreciated your point of view through this whole cycle, Mr. Brooks. Your thoughtfulness and sensitivity to both policy and moral issues from a rational perspective is what our public discourse needs.
7
As one of those eastern coastal elites that came from working class roots, served his country and worked hard for an education and career do not blame me for your economic plight. The republicans torn down labor unions to your detriment and crafted trade deals that benefited corporations. You have elected someone who is one of your abusers and what he his going to give you is more of the same.
25
Sign me up for the individual/closed!
2
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country..." In other words, let him reign but don't allow him to govern; others will do that. Is this the monarchical solution? Does this take advantage of a virtue, or a flaw, of the original constitutional design? Maybe a flaw, because this 'democratic' monarch may surely claim democratic legitimacy, but lacks moral legitimacy.
8
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
That's walking me back from the ledge; thank you.
That's walking me back from the ledge; thank you.
13
It's the environment, stupid.
12
People who have always voted against their own interests will finally have no one to blame but themselves.
17
However, if the view from Trump Tower cannot distinguish Jersey City from Jerusalem, we're in for a rocky ride:
http://silverberg-on-meltdown-economics.blogspot.com/2015/11/view-of-wor...
http://silverberg-on-meltdown-economics.blogspot.com/2015/11/view-of-wor...
You describe, almost exactly, HRC's campaign and her policy proposals. Winning presidential campaigns are not about policies or ideas. They are about people, emotions.
9
Trump reminds me of a contractor who gives you an outrageously high bid for a job only to be amazed when you accept the bid. He looks so pleased with himself! I can't believe you added the "be impeached or resign in a year" line. I guess that was supposed to be a joke.
8
David -- look at the map, listen to the interviews. The stupid have elected one of their own. There is nothing complex about it. Dumb just got a lot dumber.
21
i AM WITH WAYNE DOMBROSKI! Remember how the Repubs had huddled the day after the election of Obama? looks like that has worked well for them. It took a while but, voila, they have it all now.
4
David, I usually enjoy your column, but you must have a vendetta against Trump. We've had 8 terrible years. We had an opponent who was a "congenital liar", cheated, defrauded the Foundation, accomplished almost nothing in her years of service and you preferred that. At least give trump a chance to make things better. Some you may not like but others might be great to improve our economy, make friends again with our allies etc. improve conditions for blacks, reduce crime and a racially divisive country. Let's see and hope for the best. Can't be worse. Try it.
5
This result is stunning only for the coastal area people but people in central America knew Trump will win if they just go for vote and so they are not shocked. You think you represent America while you are just one half of it while the other half do not share your opinion. Main stream media always talk about coastal people and their problem and never for middle America. Now too they are only showing reactions of supporters of only one part one political party candidate but no news of how Trump supporters are celebrating . If you keep doing this then always this type results will keep shocking you. Your part of America's problems are racism and misogyny but the America who voted for Trump problems like Job and Economy comes first than any other minor issues
6
What about our planet? Why do we keep ignoring how critically important the Paris Climate Accord is? Willful ignorance is not acceptable.
9
All I heard from NYT was support HRC. You guys are losers. Bernie or bust!
7
With all due respect, Mr. Brooks, I don't think you are living in the new world that just evolved on Tuesday. Nothing good will come from Trump and the men around him like Giuliani, Christie and Gingrich with the ultra right wing Breitbart crew steering the ship. I cannot imagine what will happen in the next four years--or if your scenario holds--less if he somehow manages to disappear. (You've been reading too much Harry Potter.)
My confidence in the "free" press to has been shattered. Where was the story about Trump's pending fraud case that his attorney wants to delay until Trump is sworn in? Oh, yes, that's right, it was pushed off the front page by the never ending stories about emails and the "flawed candidacy of HRC".
Disgusting is to mild a word to describe what is happening to our country. "Have you no shame" once stopped men in their tracks. Now, no one seems to care or listen.
I have traveled all over the word--including to Iran--and have always been proud to proclaim my citizenship as an American. Today, for the first time, I am truly ashamed and happy that my son married a Canadian woman and lives there with my two grandsons. Safe, I hope from what is happening south of the border.
It's time to stop talking about how we got here and delude ourselves that Trump will go away sometime soon, and begin trying to figure out how to stop the madness of this speeding train.
My confidence in the "free" press to has been shattered. Where was the story about Trump's pending fraud case that his attorney wants to delay until Trump is sworn in? Oh, yes, that's right, it was pushed off the front page by the never ending stories about emails and the "flawed candidacy of HRC".
Disgusting is to mild a word to describe what is happening to our country. "Have you no shame" once stopped men in their tracks. Now, no one seems to care or listen.
I have traveled all over the word--including to Iran--and have always been proud to proclaim my citizenship as an American. Today, for the first time, I am truly ashamed and happy that my son married a Canadian woman and lives there with my two grandsons. Safe, I hope from what is happening south of the border.
It's time to stop talking about how we got here and delude ourselves that Trump will go away sometime soon, and begin trying to figure out how to stop the madness of this speeding train.
26
Did you really have to lead with the "they are not really bigots" line. One does not have to go far in the history of the world to see where that stand leads. Sometimes a spade is a spade. I live in the red world outside the blue one and can tell you that if you think racism and bigotry has nothing to do with this election, you are a bit too sweet for the fruitcake. Ideologues crush moderates like you. As Trump was well aware, hate makes your moderation seem feminine, and we now know most of America, in geographical terms, isn't over their loss of masculine power from the women's rights movement. If you think men like Donald Trump respond to anything but raw power, you are woefully unprepared to address what is about to follow.
15
David, You should be happy and proud of what YOUR Republican party hath wrought - you are reaping what you have sown and you are not allowed to disown this crop of Trumpism. Your "distinctions" between individual/open and social/closed are not even real. What, for example, are the differences between adding walls/withdrawing from the world? Between protectionism/closing off trade? Between closing off diversity/closing off integration?
6
Mr. Brooks,
Thank you for your thoughtful writing. I especially appreciate your characterization of the following rationale of Trump voters: ".... if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too." My sense is this represents a large number of American citizens, and until their basic needs are, deservedly, met, candidates like Trump will appeal to them as the solution. How will anything but a "closed" message appeal to them? Where will jobs come from? They've been waiting for 20 years and nothing has materialized. I don't support their politics, but I do support them in their predicament. Can you elaborate, with specifics, about a future that holds a place for them? Thanks.
Thank you for your thoughtful writing. I especially appreciate your characterization of the following rationale of Trump voters: ".... if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too." My sense is this represents a large number of American citizens, and until their basic needs are, deservedly, met, candidates like Trump will appeal to them as the solution. How will anything but a "closed" message appeal to them? Where will jobs come from? They've been waiting for 20 years and nothing has materialized. I don't support their politics, but I do support them in their predicament. Can you elaborate, with specifics, about a future that holds a place for them? Thanks.
6
Sorry David, but a mob of poorly educated Whites have spoken. In case you are that unaware, their hate for President Obama and Hillary extend to you, the NYTimes, we Eastern Establishment elites whom they view with equal scorn. They read your words, and what did they do? They voted to spite you. They voted to cut off their noses, just to show you, mister smarty-pants.
To them you don't know what real work is. You have nothing in common with them, and they you. This weekend, they're not about to sit around discussing world events and whatnot. They busy playing the lottery, hoping against hope they luck out. They'll be watching football, drinking beer, talking about trivial things like who is the best at throwing, catching, hitting a ball. They'll be there, sitting on their bar stools, waiting for "their" jobs to return. They never thought to getting another job. They have only brawn not brains. They, like Trump, don't read books. Trump is like them in so many ways. Except when this is over, he will still be a billionaire, and they will still be the working poor. They will still be sitting in all those dive bars across America come 2018 and 2020. They voted to give full rein to the Stupid Party, the presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court. And when Trump has come and gone, they will still be there, clinging to their guns and religion. Boy, you Trumpists sure showed we Libs living comfortably here in NYC. We will win with Trump, it is you who will lose.
DD
Manhattan
To them you don't know what real work is. You have nothing in common with them, and they you. This weekend, they're not about to sit around discussing world events and whatnot. They busy playing the lottery, hoping against hope they luck out. They'll be watching football, drinking beer, talking about trivial things like who is the best at throwing, catching, hitting a ball. They'll be there, sitting on their bar stools, waiting for "their" jobs to return. They never thought to getting another job. They have only brawn not brains. They, like Trump, don't read books. Trump is like them in so many ways. Except when this is over, he will still be a billionaire, and they will still be the working poor. They will still be sitting in all those dive bars across America come 2018 and 2020. They voted to give full rein to the Stupid Party, the presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court. And when Trump has come and gone, they will still be there, clinging to their guns and religion. Boy, you Trumpists sure showed we Libs living comfortably here in NYC. We will win with Trump, it is you who will lose.
DD
Manhattan
24
Sorry Brooks, your credibility ended Tuesday night.
10
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." Ojalá, as they say it in Spanish.
For a few hours after his victory , his seemingly sincere and conciliatory acceptance speech and genial words about his opponent and a day later with Mr. Obama gave me a glimmer of hope that he's turning a page. But his alternating initial childish Mr. Hyde and later more mature Dr. Jekyll twitter responses to the protests last night just show that he is not going to change. His unstable volatile split-like persona is ominous and a harbinger of things to come.
For a few hours after his victory , his seemingly sincere and conciliatory acceptance speech and genial words about his opponent and a day later with Mr. Obama gave me a glimmer of hope that he's turning a page. But his alternating initial childish Mr. Hyde and later more mature Dr. Jekyll twitter responses to the protests last night just show that he is not going to change. His unstable volatile split-like persona is ominous and a harbinger of things to come.
14
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. --- Karl Marx
Remember Ralphie in “A Christmas Story,” how excited he was when he got his secret decoder ring and how disappointed he was by it afterwards?
Well, a few weeks from now Donald will be getting his nuclear codes.
Remember Ralphie in “A Christmas Story,” how excited he was when he got his secret decoder ring and how disappointed he was by it afterwards?
Well, a few weeks from now Donald will be getting his nuclear codes.
5
Thank you David Brooks for your compassionate intelligent take on our current political status. I supported Hillary and campaigned when and how I could. She fought a good fight, stood up to the bully of bullies but read the tea leaves wrong. For some reason, I'm not hopeless. The protesters fill me with joy. I hope no one gets hurt and God Bless them for getting out there.
5
I appreciate what David said and I agree... But wasnt HRC representing the very "social/open" policy ideas that he believes we need?
6
David Brooks is the one Republicans should have been listening to. Always the voice of reason. He probably meant to write 'ascent' in penultimate paragraph.
2
Maybe it could be Warren/Sanders, next? Bernie will be too old for the demands placed on one running for the highest office, but maybe he could do the vice president's spot. This newspaper screwed him and all of us.
1
Way to say it Avatar- A person or a president has to earn our trust and Mr. Trump has done everything possible to do the opposite. He will say or do anything to make "the sale" / "close the deal" and he just proved he is top notch at that and now what- we join hands and start singing Kumbaya?
Hitler is looking up and smiling.
Hitler is looking up and smiling.
7
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
David, you forgot to add: "and relied solely on sources of news and information that were doing you a great injustice"
Access to media of opposing or even more informative information can go a long way to solving how people with these types of problems perceive the way their government is intended to function.
Why would a person like the one you illustrate think that LESS government will help him out of his situation? Does he even know what a trade war with China would entail, long-term?
Information, good information, and access to it are the first requirement for an informed populace. Otherwise, their vote is a farce.
As we may well yet see...
David, you forgot to add: "and relied solely on sources of news and information that were doing you a great injustice"
Access to media of opposing or even more informative information can go a long way to solving how people with these types of problems perceive the way their government is intended to function.
Why would a person like the one you illustrate think that LESS government will help him out of his situation? Does he even know what a trade war with China would entail, long-term?
Information, good information, and access to it are the first requirement for an informed populace. Otherwise, their vote is a farce.
As we may well yet see...
9
What is striking about this column is that in describing the party he would like to create, Mr. Brooks is describing the Democratic Party under President Obama.
12
Your social /open party already has a name.
It's called The Democratic Party of Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama MINUS cynical, mean spirited, power hungry Republicans standing in the way.
Want proof?
All this talk in the last 48 hours about a "job generating infrastructure bill." Same bill Obama has been proposing for most of his term. Only difference is that Republicans can now take credit for any progress with job creation.
God forbid the other party might be looked upon favorably.
Better to screw workers till you can look good.
Mean children.
That's what they are.
Now, lead by the worst psycho on the schoolyard.
If I were Obama I'd be on TV numerous times in the next two months with parting shots that called them on their obstructionist tactics. Detail how they blocked policies designed to help the very people who now to Trump in desperation, (like investment in infrastructure) and their capricious use of the filibuster just to monkey wrench the political process so they could then blame Obama for "dysfunctional government."
THEY ARE THE DYSFUNCTION.
And it's the inability of Democrats to counterpunch them squarely in their lying faces that has led to misinformed voters and Trump.
Tell the truth to Americans President Obama. Even about Obamacare and their sabotage of key elements that would make it better. They have NO plan for health care.
You have the pulpit still.
Clinch your fists and launch.
Do it!!
It's called The Democratic Party of Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama MINUS cynical, mean spirited, power hungry Republicans standing in the way.
Want proof?
All this talk in the last 48 hours about a "job generating infrastructure bill." Same bill Obama has been proposing for most of his term. Only difference is that Republicans can now take credit for any progress with job creation.
God forbid the other party might be looked upon favorably.
Better to screw workers till you can look good.
Mean children.
That's what they are.
Now, lead by the worst psycho on the schoolyard.
If I were Obama I'd be on TV numerous times in the next two months with parting shots that called them on their obstructionist tactics. Detail how they blocked policies designed to help the very people who now to Trump in desperation, (like investment in infrastructure) and their capricious use of the filibuster just to monkey wrench the political process so they could then blame Obama for "dysfunctional government."
THEY ARE THE DYSFUNCTION.
And it's the inability of Democrats to counterpunch them squarely in their lying faces that has led to misinformed voters and Trump.
Tell the truth to Americans President Obama. Even about Obamacare and their sabotage of key elements that would make it better. They have NO plan for health care.
You have the pulpit still.
Clinch your fists and launch.
Do it!!
20
David Brooks, I have been reading your columns for years now, sometimes agreeing, sometimes not, but always growing in my understanding and I thank you for that. As a life-long Democrat I am interested in this third party you call for as I have found myself more and more in agreement with your observations. I have become more open. Who will lead this third party ? How will it take shape ? I hope to live long enough to find out.
1
Interesting. I think there are MANY progressives who also believe safe space/ trigger warning PC-ness has gone too far.
We should support diversity, immigrants, women, young black men -- WHILE ALSO being able to hear opposing & frankly offensive view points. It makes us stronger, not weaker.
And as someone with young kids, CLIMATE CHANGE has to become a bipartisan issue. Like yesterday.
We should support diversity, immigrants, women, young black men -- WHILE ALSO being able to hear opposing & frankly offensive view points. It makes us stronger, not weaker.
And as someone with young kids, CLIMATE CHANGE has to become a bipartisan issue. Like yesterday.
13
Where do I sign up, Mr. Brooks?
1
If you think that saying he will be impeached in a year which gives us President Pence makes me feel one iota better, you are 100% wrong.
Mike Pence is a Theocrat. Of course, he is who the Republicans really want in office. They're hoping Trump will stay busy tweeting idiocies while Pence and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell destroy America. If you are poor, if you are jobless, if you are not white, if you already feel disenfranchised you will be all that and more so under the Republicans no matter if Trump is the figurehead or Pence becomes president. Pence and his henchmen will dramatically hurt women, that is a given. Perhaps three Supreme Court nominations in the next few years?
America is now not the place for young people starting their adult lives to remain. I say, Go Forth and Find a New Home because Trump and Pence are going to dismantle your lives and the freedoms you have come to cherish. Quick as a wink, you betcha.
Mike Pence is a Theocrat. Of course, he is who the Republicans really want in office. They're hoping Trump will stay busy tweeting idiocies while Pence and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell destroy America. If you are poor, if you are jobless, if you are not white, if you already feel disenfranchised you will be all that and more so under the Republicans no matter if Trump is the figurehead or Pence becomes president. Pence and his henchmen will dramatically hurt women, that is a given. Perhaps three Supreme Court nominations in the next few years?
America is now not the place for young people starting their adult lives to remain. I say, Go Forth and Find a New Home because Trump and Pence are going to dismantle your lives and the freedoms you have come to cherish. Quick as a wink, you betcha.
5
Mr. Brooks, I don't think America is going to make it this time.
5
I'm from a liberal upstate New York community. I too scramble to pay my electric bill. I too have lost loved ones to opiates. I too bemoan the lack of living-wage jobs and seeming impossibility of ever getting ahead. BUT NOT ONCE, not even for a nanosecond, did I ever consider voting for Trump. Suggesting he was elected because people are tired of being poor and unemployed is just patently ridiculous. Poor people are still thinking people. It simply does not add up. Also, David: "The coming Sanders-Warren party will advocate proposals that help communities with early education programs and the like, but that party will close off trade, withdraw from the world, close off integration with hyper-race-conscious categories and close off debate with political correctness....." Please. How belittling, how demeaning, how contemptuous. Stop.
5
Nonsense, you talk about all kind of reason but you don't even mention the most important: Hillary Clinton CORRUPTION.
1
The third party you describe is the Democratic party most Democrats envision. Why can't you admit that.
4
Mr. Brooks, I have admired your writings for many years. Your recent comments about the "gene pool" caused me to reassess my view of you. The arrogance of the statement was overwhelming. Some time ago I purchased 20 copies of your book "The Road to Character" to give to friends and associates. I would suggest you think about the contents of your book. Hopefully my thought about you and hypocrisy are not true. tp
Resign or impeached within a year? From your mouth to Gods ear, David. He's too prideful to resign and will delegate to ideologues and lobbyists. He tapped into something that neither party has addressed and will need to work to do so.
I am ready to join this party today!
3
And who, exactly, are these people and institutions that are going to hold Trump accountable and even impeach him? Get a grip people. The Republicans have not acted responsibly since about, oh, the days of George Bush the First, so if you think they are suddenly going to eat one of their own, now that they control the presidency, both houses, and soon SCOTUS, you are delusional.
5
You sound oddly hopeful in despair!
2
His choice of Gingrich et al is antithetical to his intended Washington house cleaning.
5
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." What? Did I read it right? I used to love David Brooks. But I think in this case he can never get enough of "being wrong." Apparently he enjoys it. My prediction: Donald Trump is going to the president for eight years, and in last than one year the "narrative" will change dramatically. Better still, the "narrative" will disappear. It did not do us any good, and we don't need one.
3
David Brooks saved a bombshell for the last throwaway paragraph:
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Wow, if only it were true.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Wow, if only it were true.
Yes, David. Feel the Bern.
1
OK David, here's a thought. I'd love to learn more about who Mr. Trump is really.You can learn a lot from a person by his library. How about asking him for the last 10 books he read? (That way he won't be unfairly penalized for what he picked up at Newark airport). Should be illuminating.
3
Oh, David Brooks, I love your columns (at least 95% of them). But I do think your prediction about Trump resigning or being impeached within the year is a little too rosy. And, honestly, I don’t know if we’d be better off with Pence at the helm. Although, Pence and his ilk (Christie, Guiliani, etc.) are probably already at the helm of the incoming administration.
5
David Brooks, why not YOU to lead the creation of this third party? Who better than you to bring us together? Think about it and keep on writing and encouraging this well considered and much needed proposal.
1
At least you close on an optimistic note.
2
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too." Sounds like, except for his use of the word "town," David is describing parts of our inner cities and native American reservations but. of course, in this column he isn't. Would he be willing to show the same understanding, qualified as it may be, to the residents of those other communities? Would Trump's supporters be willing to allow those communities a to display a similar degree of "ugliness"?
Nice essay, Mr. Brooks. I, too, would caution against over-reaction and letting legitimate worries slide into hysteria. However, I do disagree with your prognosis of the Sanders/Warren coalition of the Democratic Party.
More importantly, your amusing conclusion that Trump will "probably resign or be impeached within a year" is ridiculously optimistic. His gigantic ego would not allow him to resign, and who do you think is going to "impeach" him? The Republican controlled Congress? Wishful thinking, at best.
More importantly, your amusing conclusion that Trump will "probably resign or be impeached within a year" is ridiculously optimistic. His gigantic ego would not allow him to resign, and who do you think is going to "impeach" him? The Republican controlled Congress? Wishful thinking, at best.
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
I see we are continuing to pretend that it is merely the dispossessed who voted for Trump, and not also the very wealthy and college educated. I am speaking from my heart when I say that I can empathise with the struggles of isolated, hopeless folks desperate for some kind of empowerment. But that is not Trump's base -- we know that. You cannot pretend that the rich and powerful (or at least, well-to-do) do not count among his supporters.
Besides, it's not okay to be a racist just because you're poor. To claim so betrays the thousands of impoverished and working class families of color in our nation. What a weird position to take.
I see we are continuing to pretend that it is merely the dispossessed who voted for Trump, and not also the very wealthy and college educated. I am speaking from my heart when I say that I can empathise with the struggles of isolated, hopeless folks desperate for some kind of empowerment. But that is not Trump's base -- we know that. You cannot pretend that the rich and powerful (or at least, well-to-do) do not count among his supporters.
Besides, it's not okay to be a racist just because you're poor. To claim so betrays the thousands of impoverished and working class families of color in our nation. What a weird position to take.
1
Insightful and courageous. Thank you.
I don't think you can know what the next 4 years will hold. One can only hope that both the major parties will just die.
Where's that last paragraph come from?
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
While I agree with much of what you say, Mr. Brooks, you are dead wrong about this one. Look at who Trump will tap to run the country - Pence, Gingrich, Giuliani, etc. A basket of deplorables, indeed. Many of us have much to lose in the coming years. As a gay woman, I tremble at what's to come.
While I agree with much of what you say, Mr. Brooks, you are dead wrong about this one. Look at who Trump will tap to run the country - Pence, Gingrich, Giuliani, etc. A basket of deplorables, indeed. Many of us have much to lose in the coming years. As a gay woman, I tremble at what's to come.
1
Bannon as a Chief of staff, the Grifter at one of his properties and the alt right knocking at the White House door. Bannon opens it to David Duke and all of his little friends waving a nazi flag. Welcome to America the beautiful!
4
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." My fears exactly. Mike Pence is a much more dangerous know-nothing ideologue than Trump and will enable the Ryan, McConnell, Koch Randian onslaught. Consider yourself warned.
3
David, I'm interested in hearing more about your thoughts that Trump will probably resign or be impeached within the year. If you don't respond via comment, just keep in mind that some of us would like to hear more about this.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year". The future is close than you think. And that's what the World's Uber Elite White Supremacists... the Koch Brothers, Mr Putin, Fox Media wanted all along. Pence as President. Donald Trump was just their obnoxious Front Man and Puppet Get ready for the rage that is going to erupt when half the country realizes that they have been had... they have been lied to and manipulated. All those wonderful jobs he described will never manifest... and if people took the time to research Mr. Trumps past that should have been blatantly obvious. My only hope that they will collaborate with the majority of people who did not vote for this madness... Hillary Clinton won the Popular Vote... as we overthrow and overhaul our government...
2
An impeached Trump leaves America with an evangelical VP Pence. A man who does not believe in evolution is about as unfit as anyone can be to run the most powerful nation on the planet in the 21st century.
Careful what you wish for...
Careful what you wish for...
4
The view? Trump does not look OUT. OUT the window at the real people who are AFRAID of his RACISM and BIGOTRY. He blames Hillary Clinton yet again for the protesters. Really? Oh My God. She has absolutely nothing to do with the demonstrators. We are afraid for our safety as citizens. Students in middle schools are chanting Build the Wall. This is what we are afraid of. And the idiot Trump blames Hillary because he can't think of anything else. This is why we are upset. Trump looks in the mirror and is gloating because he won. Everybody loves him, admires him and waits for his every utterance. But Trump does not have a clue what to say.
The GOP will "handle" the Oval Office and all its policies for the incompetent Trump. And Giuliani as AG will use his secret police in the FBI to throw Trump supporters their racist bones to show that "change is happening" while the GOP
elites line their pockets for the next 4 years.
So we will continue to protest as peacefully as we can.
The GOP will "handle" the Oval Office and all its policies for the incompetent Trump. And Giuliani as AG will use his secret police in the FBI to throw Trump supporters their racist bones to show that "change is happening" while the GOP
elites line their pockets for the next 4 years.
So we will continue to protest as peacefully as we can.
4
Interesting how the republicans and the "Creature" come out and say Oh we are going to invest heavily into infrastructure repair all around the country...where have I heard that before ?? Oh yeah I think Obama has been trying to get that through congress for about 8 years now!
6
The last statement in your editorial gave me hope. As the saying goes, "From your mouth to God's ears".
1
Thank you, David. My heart is still sick this morning. I am glad that you are not getting on the Trump bandwagon that so many republicans seem to be running to grab.
We must demonstrate that we are better than this.
We must demonstrate that we are better than this.
3
The misguided dream of a viable third party (let's vote for Stein/Johnson to make a statement) got us into this horrible mess. And you propose how many more election cycles to solve the problem?
2
To the Republican Establishment and Would-Be Dictator Elect
1. Climate change is REAL
2. Racism and sexism DIVIDE
3. Democracy MATTERS
4. THE WORLD IS WATCHING
The People United, will never be defeated. We will endure. We go to the streets to show our power and challenge our government to govern US. All of US. Trump needs to listen to people. Trump needs to see beyond himself and there will be unrest in the streets until the message is heard.
1. Climate change is REAL
2. Racism and sexism DIVIDE
3. Democracy MATTERS
4. THE WORLD IS WATCHING
The People United, will never be defeated. We will endure. We go to the streets to show our power and challenge our government to govern US. All of US. Trump needs to listen to people. Trump needs to see beyond himself and there will be unrest in the streets until the message is heard.
4
What a bitter column from a Never Trumper. Please explain the difference between yourself and the toothless guy from Idaho you love to disparage.
There will be an orange pelt festering on a DC roadway soon enough. The IQ attention span challenged baboon will be K street and congressional road kill.
1
So David, do you know of any jobs for those who voted for Trump?
Please share, before you bloviate more.
Thanks.
Please share, before you bloviate more.
Thanks.
2
And maybe you should get your posh head out of the books for awhile. I'm really tired of the educated relying on "what once was --- because, I'm not sure it is anymore." I have a girlfriend fretting a leaking water service. She built her home on rock. The ancients instructed such, and then came indoor plumbing.
1
but isn't open social what Hillary represented? yes to impeachment.
thank you....
Now we know how the 57% and 59% of white Americans who voted for McCain/Palin in 2008 and then Romney/Ryan in 2012 felt when the Kenyan Luo Arab Muslim socialist usurper moved into occupy "their" White House. This election they voted 58% for Donald John Trump.
And although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, she can discuss that "victory" with Al Gore. The Obama Coalition did not accept her as the 2nd black President any more than Bill was the 1st. They stayed home. Slaying Scheme Clinton was a very good thing.
Having rebelled against rule by divinely selected royals some Americans seemingly yearn to be led by royals again. The Bush, Clinton, Romney, McCain and Trump clans resemble the dueling royal houses of England. Trump Tower calls forth the memory of the bloody Tower of London. The House of Bush represented by poison ivy vine was slain by the House of Trump represented by the death cap destroying angel mushrooms. That is also a very good thing.
Who and what comes next in House of Trump ? Donald Junior then Baron? Ten year old Baron seems way too mature and temperate to be a true Trump.
And although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, she can discuss that "victory" with Al Gore. The Obama Coalition did not accept her as the 2nd black President any more than Bill was the 1st. They stayed home. Slaying Scheme Clinton was a very good thing.
Having rebelled against rule by divinely selected royals some Americans seemingly yearn to be led by royals again. The Bush, Clinton, Romney, McCain and Trump clans resemble the dueling royal houses of England. Trump Tower calls forth the memory of the bloody Tower of London. The House of Bush represented by poison ivy vine was slain by the House of Trump represented by the death cap destroying angel mushrooms. That is also a very good thing.
Who and what comes next in House of Trump ? Donald Junior then Baron? Ten year old Baron seems way too mature and temperate to be a true Trump.
1
Well, David, this has been an interesting year for you. You have moved and been chastened by your party's candidate and by the members of that party who embraced him. On Tuesday, you and the crowd at PBS - especially the Republican pollster (or whatever he is) - were reflective, interesting.
I agree with much of what you say. If we continue to ignore social needs and inequality, we are doomed. We can't put the genie of globalization back in the box, but it can be made to serve the broader good, not just the 1%. That is what people around the globe are screaming for. We do it or we perish.
Time to stop blaming the victims of this seismic shift and begin to withhold approval of the billionaires who arrogantly disregard the common good. They aren't doing "god's work"; they think they ARE god. Pull them down. Start by shaming them publicly and frequently.
I agree with much of what you say. If we continue to ignore social needs and inequality, we are doomed. We can't put the genie of globalization back in the box, but it can be made to serve the broader good, not just the 1%. That is what people around the globe are screaming for. We do it or we perish.
Time to stop blaming the victims of this seismic shift and begin to withhold approval of the billionaires who arrogantly disregard the common good. They aren't doing "god's work"; they think they ARE god. Pull them down. Start by shaming them publicly and frequently.
4
Beautifully written. I'm a social/open Democrat by your analysis. I never thought I would become a David Brooks fan, but his character has really hit home with me during this election. Thank you for choosing country over party. I would like to do the same.
1
Mr. Brooks - I have always enjoyed your column and your erudite commentary on the PBS News Hour with Mark Shields. During the campaign I kept looking for you to make comments like this. Although a bit late, I appreciate you acknowledging the situation we find ourselves in and the likely path(s) forward. What I wonder, however, is if the new path forward is a Trump GOP, a reformed Democratic Party with thoughtful Republicans and Democrats and a new Socialist Democratic Party led by the Sanders coalition. Any thoughts?
I'm afraid while he bloviates, Palin, Christie, Giuliani and others of the same ilk, will be running the country.
3
Several people have pointed out the obvious: Trump has no plan at all for actually being president -- never thought about it. It isn't even that he never thought he'd win, he truly didn't care about the country.
Imagine yourself running for president -- would you have said the things Trump said? Wouldn't it have crossed any normal person's mind that America has real problems, many of which do not have easy answers, and "yuge" and "it'll be the very best, trust me" aren't solutions or answers?
So why did Trump win this election? Spouting angry nonsense like Trump's convinced enough people that he "seemed able to fix (their) problems and hear (their) voice?" Wow ... so Trump is some new Bill Clinton able to "feel their pain?" This wasn't about pain, it was about rage.
As to "Trump’s main problem in governing is not going to be some fascistic ideology ..." Oh, yes it is, because he doesn't have anything else at all. That's ALL he is. There is nothing else there except fascist appeals and 'yuge.'
Trump won't accomplish any of what his supporters wanted -- other than destruction. If you wanted that, he'll deliver.
But mostly it's Ryan, McConnnell and the Republicans unleashed with their fingers in the cookie jar -- you call this "draining the swamp?" Look at Trump's team: Christie, Giuliani, Gingrich -- the swamp.
Things will go from bad to worse and the only thing Trump can do is go more fascist, incite more rage.
Imagine yourself running for president -- would you have said the things Trump said? Wouldn't it have crossed any normal person's mind that America has real problems, many of which do not have easy answers, and "yuge" and "it'll be the very best, trust me" aren't solutions or answers?
So why did Trump win this election? Spouting angry nonsense like Trump's convinced enough people that he "seemed able to fix (their) problems and hear (their) voice?" Wow ... so Trump is some new Bill Clinton able to "feel their pain?" This wasn't about pain, it was about rage.
As to "Trump’s main problem in governing is not going to be some fascistic ideology ..." Oh, yes it is, because he doesn't have anything else at all. That's ALL he is. There is nothing else there except fascist appeals and 'yuge.'
Trump won't accomplish any of what his supporters wanted -- other than destruction. If you wanted that, he'll deliver.
But mostly it's Ryan, McConnnell and the Republicans unleashed with their fingers in the cookie jar -- you call this "draining the swamp?" Look at Trump's team: Christie, Giuliani, Gingrich -- the swamp.
Things will go from bad to worse and the only thing Trump can do is go more fascist, incite more rage.
4
"the century began with 9/11"
No, it did not. It began as a STOLEN ELECTION...very much like this one, with a man who could barely form proper sentences treated on different terms by a media from a highly qualified candidate who could not do anything right in the eyes of the media.
I for one went through the same shock and anguish, every bit just like this, but back then, it was a very isolated experience.
Till today, America chooses to ignore the improprieties of that OTHER election...leaving history, no choice but to repeat.
A past left unreckoned and unacknowledged has a habit of propping up. Again and again, overtime, seemingly every bit more in your face than before.
When will we wake up, and stop pushing unpleasant truths under the carpet. I for one would much prefer unpleasant truth over pleasant falsities.
No, it did not. It began as a STOLEN ELECTION...very much like this one, with a man who could barely form proper sentences treated on different terms by a media from a highly qualified candidate who could not do anything right in the eyes of the media.
I for one went through the same shock and anguish, every bit just like this, but back then, it was a very isolated experience.
Till today, America chooses to ignore the improprieties of that OTHER election...leaving history, no choice but to repeat.
A past left unreckoned and unacknowledged has a habit of propping up. Again and again, overtime, seemingly every bit more in your face than before.
When will we wake up, and stop pushing unpleasant truths under the carpet. I for one would much prefer unpleasant truth over pleasant falsities.
5
Hmmmm. Social and open. David seems to be advocating for a leader like Obama.
1
Um, the social/open crowd got trashed for being "neoliberals." They're going to spend the next four years hunkered down, drinking craft beer, and reading The Economist.
2
You support a third party that supports free trade and heavy spending on social programs? You might as well support Santa Claus giving double presents to everyone this year. Get in the real world, Mr. Brooks, that third option does not exist, and if it did it would not get more than 10% of the vote outside of Portland, OR.
David, I don't think you understand what just happened. It is NOT something that can be cured, short of eliminating the source. The next president of the United States has demonstrated, to all the people in this country and perhaps more importanlly their children, by his own actions, that it is perfectly permissable to denigrate and insult blacks and Hispanics, because he himself has done it often. It is OK to openly in public mock and make fun of disabled prople, because he himself has done it. It is OK to assault women and brag about it, because he himself has done it. That in public discussions and debates with people that might disagree with you it is alright if you not only degrade and insult them but even OK to tell any lie you can make up about them, because he himself has done it. Most egregious of all he has done these things over and over again, demonstrating that at the age of 70 he is very much unlikely to change because that is who he really is.
4
You condescendingly misread Sanders and Warren. They are not naive, uninformed, unrealistic, or ignorant. Both see the incremental steps needed to proceed to a better world. While your new third party sounds like a solution, it is not plausible without the steps both of them propose. Move beyond thinking you are the only person who understands the concept of "open."
1
The key dynamic is Trump/McConnell/Ryan. Will Trump put on his "builder" hat and work to make his vision detour real? Or will he be content to wave to the adoring crowds and let McConnell and Ryan (and Pence?) do the work?
One can only hope the Dem's become the party of Warren and Sanders.
One can only hope the Dem's become the party of Warren and Sanders.
7
I hope he does everything we fear he'll do. Americans have been too cavalier with their democracy and treated it like a role of the dice - they need to learn an indelible lesson.
8
Greedy CEO's to the right of them
Incomprehensiblely huge civl service pensions to the left of them
High Frequency Traders in front of them
Volly'd and thunder'd
Storm'd at with zirp and knockoff replacements
....into the valley of degraded lifestyles rhode the once upper middle class
Please Brooks, many Trump supporters were highly educated! Personaly, I voted against President Trump, (still hard to accept) belieivng, "actions speak louder than words". But, if you leave the FED protected Island of Manhattan, you might actuallly catch a glimpse of the way things really are!
Incomprehensiblely huge civl service pensions to the left of them
High Frequency Traders in front of them
Volly'd and thunder'd
Storm'd at with zirp and knockoff replacements
....into the valley of degraded lifestyles rhode the once upper middle class
Please Brooks, many Trump supporters were highly educated! Personaly, I voted against President Trump, (still hard to accept) belieivng, "actions speak louder than words". But, if you leave the FED protected Island of Manhattan, you might actuallly catch a glimpse of the way things really are!
5
Please David Brooks don't stop being you - a sane voice in a confused house. I am watching my nieces and nephew rip each other up on Facebook over this. We need people on both sides of the aisle and even those in the aisle to speak out. You keep speaking and I will keep reading - as always thank you.
8
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
No, Mr. Brooks, we will not be that lucky. This anomalous beast, this product of that part of America for which you have been one of the foremost apologists will not remove himself from your conscience quite so easily. But good luck with that. You, and the rest of us, will need it.
No, Mr. Brooks, we will not be that lucky. This anomalous beast, this product of that part of America for which you have been one of the foremost apologists will not remove himself from your conscience quite so easily. But good luck with that. You, and the rest of us, will need it.
7
Well, David, tell us how do you really feel? On the one hand you recognize how out of touch you and your associates have been. Missed the whole Trump thing, Now, here you are once agin telling us how right you are, how you know better from your "tower" than do Trump supporters and voters. Broken promises....of course there will be. Every politician promises more than he or she can deliver. Big misses from Obama include promising to be the most transparent presidency ever, the closing of Guantanamo and caving into special interests instead of providing affordable heath care. That's just the start. Why did you give President O a pass when he took office truly unprepared to be the President. Trump is equally but differently unprepared, and you jump on him and his supporters. I believe that it was because you saw in O someone like yourself, well educated, articulate. Trump is at the other end of the scale and you can't stomach it. As one Midwest farmer observed on TV, Trump isn't the solution, but perhaps he is a start. More wisdom there than I've heard from any national commentator or pundit.
10
The disgust is with the person elected, who has shown little regard for anything but sensationalism. His rhetoric is scary and divisive and he has truly brought out the worst in people. We could have tolerated a McCain or Romney because we knew there was a there there. I am afraid of the loose cannon we have elected. I am afraid of him.
8
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Where did this out-of-the blue comment come from. Details in your next column please, Mr. Brooks?
Where did this out-of-the blue comment come from. Details in your next column please, Mr. Brooks?
2
The election of Trump might be akin , in the long run , to 9/11 for people here and around the world . The white working class especially , in my opinion , might just have swallowed cyanide voting for Trump .
3
Why, why, why was it impossible to get through the reality that the Republicans in Congress, in Governor's mansions, and in State Houses across the country have been the ones standing in the way of getting real help to "Real Americans". Remember after Obamacare (passed with D in WH and both houses of Congress) was functioning and people realized they could actually get affordable insurance? In spite of all the discussion in the news, they hadn't actually known what it would feel like to have that security. What about the Republican Governors that DID accept expanded Medicare because it truly helped their people. Why don't people realize that the other Republican led states are HURTING them? They didn't vote to throw the bums in Congress out. They just voted to bring the charlatan in.
4
Nice thoughts, my friend, but it's not just Donald now. It's your party which has no problem stopping Obama from appointing a highly qualified Supreme Court Justice because they just don't feel like it. So the norms of our democracy are being trashed one by one. What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize now? Will The Donald attempt to remove it from the harbor? Is that such a crazy thought in this new America of hatred and exclusion?
7
Dear Mr. Brooks,
If you build it, they will come; starting with me.
If you build it, they will come; starting with me.
2
This sounds like Hillary Clinton's platform.
6
David Brooks is still in denial, and engaging in the hyper-ventilating and hysteria of the left. Trump is not going to resign or be impeached w/in a year. Anyone who wants to bet on that, let me know.
4
Nice try, David. Please devote your next 10 columns to explicitly apologizing to us and the World for helping the Greedy Old Party build and unleash this Frankenstein. You had plenty of chances to call the GOP out over the last 15 years, but you kept spinning their obvious country-destroying plans as The Way to a better America. Well done.
4
You told us he will never actually run for the Presidency.
You told us he will never be the Republican nominee.
You told us he will never be elected President.
And now you want us to believe he will resign/ be impeached?
Whats next? He will never win a second term?
You told us he will never be the Republican nominee.
You told us he will never be elected President.
And now you want us to believe he will resign/ be impeached?
Whats next? He will never win a second term?
13
Another out of touch fool who had it all wrong speaks.
5
David, the social/open party you're looking for is the democratic party I already belong to. Why don't you join me? We have much work to do, and time is not on our side.
4
I have read in your column and in countless others the depiction of the white voters for trump as having poor jobs, or not jobs, in towsn with social problems due to joblessness, struggling to make ends meat, feeling left behind etc. But I am not sure this depiction is factual or at least it doesnt tally with the NYT published exit interview polls which showed that the majorityu o people making 50,000 or more voted for Trump and those making 30,000 or less voted for Hilary.
4
Certainly Senators Warren and Sanders will hold the Democrat stage for a time but I wonder if Senator Tim Kaine might be a better messenger for the party going forward...He seems to speak to a broader range of Americans, including those feeling left behind...
3
It's difficult for me to untangle this mess.
So let's get one fact straight. Though Mr. Brooks has criticized Donald Trump, he remains allied with a party (the GOP) that is deeply indebted to homophobic and anti-Muslim evangelicals, defensive gun owners, selfish "trickle-down" anti-government ideologues, and white supremacists. Though he continues to question Trump, he never openly endorsed Trump's rival ... Ms. Clinton.
And now he's theorizing that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both Lefties, are bound to control the future Democratic Party and render it more rigid and "closed."
Wake up, Mr. Brooks.
Your fictional "open and social" political party already exists. It is the working Democratic
Party. Have you heard of Barack Obama, it's leader for the last eight years? Know anything about his domestic and international policies?
Jeez.
So let's get one fact straight. Though Mr. Brooks has criticized Donald Trump, he remains allied with a party (the GOP) that is deeply indebted to homophobic and anti-Muslim evangelicals, defensive gun owners, selfish "trickle-down" anti-government ideologues, and white supremacists. Though he continues to question Trump, he never openly endorsed Trump's rival ... Ms. Clinton.
And now he's theorizing that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both Lefties, are bound to control the future Democratic Party and render it more rigid and "closed."
Wake up, Mr. Brooks.
Your fictional "open and social" political party already exists. It is the working Democratic
Party. Have you heard of Barack Obama, it's leader for the last eight years? Know anything about his domestic and international policies?
Jeez.
4
One of the craziest things in this campaign and election combo, is that the democrats and others implied that Trump is a fascist, then they bowed their heads afterwards: Give Trump/fascism a chance! (sic).
Well, folks, it is one or the other. If he is a fascist, then it is frankly crazy to say as Obama did that "If you/Trump succeed then America will succeed"
About Mr. Brooks overly optimistic view that Trump will be impeached, one should remember that Pence could be the Dick Cheney of this team and Trump simply the frontman and the distraction.
Well, folks, it is one or the other. If he is a fascist, then it is frankly crazy to say as Obama did that "If you/Trump succeed then America will succeed"
About Mr. Brooks overly optimistic view that Trump will be impeached, one should remember that Pence could be the Dick Cheney of this team and Trump simply the frontman and the distraction.
4
There are still large remnants of "you don't get it", Mr. Brooks, in this piece.
For all of us who chose to avoid and ignore the polls and pollsters, secret our choice in the election from those who would call us ignorant, racist, or worse - for all the tolerance heaped upon everyone BUT us - Trump's victory is a validation of myriad lifestyles that defy your neat little pigeon holes. You are so far removed from an America you cannot feel any more; the pulse you think you have your finger on is not this country's, it is just your own.
This is so vastly more diverse a country than your narrow peep-hole affords you, and as you and your ilk slung insult after insult all summer long and snickered and giggled at these ease with with you'd succeed on election day, an America you refuse to acknowledge outvoted you.
You want change? You want reform? You want to throw the bums, charlatans and special interests out of DC? Well, America just gave you the best chance you've had in your lifetime to do all of that.
So let's get to work. OK?
For all of us who chose to avoid and ignore the polls and pollsters, secret our choice in the election from those who would call us ignorant, racist, or worse - for all the tolerance heaped upon everyone BUT us - Trump's victory is a validation of myriad lifestyles that defy your neat little pigeon holes. You are so far removed from an America you cannot feel any more; the pulse you think you have your finger on is not this country's, it is just your own.
This is so vastly more diverse a country than your narrow peep-hole affords you, and as you and your ilk slung insult after insult all summer long and snickered and giggled at these ease with with you'd succeed on election day, an America you refuse to acknowledge outvoted you.
You want change? You want reform? You want to throw the bums, charlatans and special interests out of DC? Well, America just gave you the best chance you've had in your lifetime to do all of that.
So let's get to work. OK?
5
More nonsense from the Time's chief purveyor of nonsense. So you want a third party? And who would constitute that third party? Ah, centrist and center right Republicans and centrist and center left Democrats. In other words, the great middle of the American polity. And what complexion would such a party have? The answer: nearly entirely white. A party of the moderate white suburbanites
and non leftist, non minority urban dwellers. You can call it the "White Whigs."
Face the facts. The party you supported all these years now relies on a base of racist, homophobic, xenophobic, mysogynist ignoramuses. And it works. The solution is demographic: this country needs to get less white. What we don't need is a new white party to salve the sensibilities of the suburbanites.
and non leftist, non minority urban dwellers. You can call it the "White Whigs."
Face the facts. The party you supported all these years now relies on a base of racist, homophobic, xenophobic, mysogynist ignoramuses. And it works. The solution is demographic: this country needs to get less white. What we don't need is a new white party to salve the sensibilities of the suburbanites.
2
You're trying to force the Sanders/Warren party into your mold and it does not fit. Your idea of open trade is pharma, tech, etc. forcing themselves on other nations by taking away their rights by means of these uber courts. Down with TPP.
Your definition of "active foreign policy" is and has always been regime change. Down with neocons.
I'll buy in to a Sanders/Warren party, but I don't think you would like it.
Your definition of "active foreign policy" is and has always been regime change. Down with neocons.
I'll buy in to a Sanders/Warren party, but I don't think you would like it.
David, interesting article but Glenn Beck, of all people, beat you to it the night of the election. Perhaps you've seen the tape when Beck made the simple point that we've all stopped listening. I'd go as far to say that we've not only stopped listening to each other, we don't even listen to ourselves anymore (Mr. Trump's a wonderful example of the latter, don't you think?).
So Glenn said, it's time for all of to speak AND LISTEN to each other. If, and it's a big if, Donald Trump becomes the catalyst for an honest open dialogue on the future of the country, we might find ourselves in interesting times.
Glenn Beck also pointed out that listening calmly to everybody and all points of view is hard work. It's not really something that any longer comes naturally to a lot of people.
Gut a good article....perhaps you and Glenn need to have lunch as you've both hit upon the same conclusion....social open is the future. Perhaps the United States will succeed if it gets back to it roots and the term "Liberal" re-assumes its more classic definition of a contract among citizens to do what is right for all while respecting the motivations, ambitions and needs of individuals to each do what is right for the unfettered by the social contract.
Good start huh??? I've just made liberal sound like the core value of the Ryan republicanism. We wind up much closer together if we just think about our fellow citizens and work with 'em.
So Glenn said, it's time for all of to speak AND LISTEN to each other. If, and it's a big if, Donald Trump becomes the catalyst for an honest open dialogue on the future of the country, we might find ourselves in interesting times.
Glenn Beck also pointed out that listening calmly to everybody and all points of view is hard work. It's not really something that any longer comes naturally to a lot of people.
Gut a good article....perhaps you and Glenn need to have lunch as you've both hit upon the same conclusion....social open is the future. Perhaps the United States will succeed if it gets back to it roots and the term "Liberal" re-assumes its more classic definition of a contract among citizens to do what is right for all while respecting the motivations, ambitions and needs of individuals to each do what is right for the unfettered by the social contract.
Good start huh??? I've just made liberal sound like the core value of the Ryan republicanism. We wind up much closer together if we just think about our fellow citizens and work with 'em.
2
Get over it, Brooks! It happened and we need to move on with a more positive attitude.
The arrogant, snooty, condescending Mr Brooks comes thru again.
Advice you can join groups holding 'cry-ins,' bringing in therapy dogs and allowing people to play with Play-Doh or color with crayons.
From a deplorable, poorly educated, racist & bigoted Trump supporter.
Advice you can join groups holding 'cry-ins,' bringing in therapy dogs and allowing people to play with Play-Doh or color with crayons.
From a deplorable, poorly educated, racist & bigoted Trump supporter.
5
Brooks: "After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." I didn't expect David to wallow in wishful thinking.
1
Sounds great David. Where do I sign up?
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."-- characterizing the trump electorate as unemployed, addicted and poor is no way to bridge the divide in this country. The Times, opinion section or not, has become a pure instrument for the left and a journalistic joke.
6
David, that's really the best you can do?
4
According to the website DNA New York, Trump got 33% of the votes in Election District 100 in Manhattan - new luxury buildings 62-65th Street on the West Side.
The voters in ED 100 are not the jobless stuck in small towns who are watching friends OD on opiates - these voters are affluent residents of new luxury buildings. They are suburban transplant college graduates, many under age 40.
The voters in ED 100 are not the jobless stuck in small towns who are watching friends OD on opiates - these voters are affluent residents of new luxury buildings. They are suburban transplant college graduates, many under age 40.
3
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
Obviously, they would, especially if they collectively lacked the intellect and curiosity to understand that the promises were wholly false and fantastic.
It might be impolitic to say so, but there's a clear deficiency in people who bought these lies...
Obviously, they would, especially if they collectively lacked the intellect and curiosity to understand that the promises were wholly false and fantastic.
It might be impolitic to say so, but there's a clear deficiency in people who bought these lies...
1
You are rooting for impeachment? You are a sad little man.
5
Mr. Brooks, I respect and admire you. But you will look back on this column with embarrassment and shame. You let your emotions cloud your judgement. We have to allow Trump to lead and succeed. Denouncing him as a President before he even takes office is pure prejudice.
3
Projection.
First of all, thank you so much for your closing lines, "After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." I'm loving how you think.
Secondly, I feel like I sort of kind of understand why people voted for the man. Condescension by the elite is a big part of it. The limousine liberals and the white collar conservatives always in front of a camera, speaking in Ivy-tinged language about what is best for America, when it is pretty obvious that they are just talking about what is best for their own tax bracket. When the rubber hits the road, the rich get richer. The elites get more elite. What completely baffles me, though, is how people could vote for a silver-spooned, effeminate bully. This guy is so elite I wonder if he could drive stick? I wonder if he could swing a pick? The guy eats pizza with a knife and fork for doG's sake! What on earth did average-joe see in him? Was average-joe just enamored with a B-rate TV star? If so, that's pathetic. Or is it that average-joe is also an effeminate bully and is lashing out out of insecurity in exactly the same ways the TRUMP does. TRUMP would make fun of average-joe's wife if she happened to walk by him and Billy B. Come on. He's a total creep.
Projection. That's what I'm guessing. Male TRUMP voters are fundamentally emasculated and insecure, and female TRUMP voters are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome???
First of all, thank you so much for your closing lines, "After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." I'm loving how you think.
Secondly, I feel like I sort of kind of understand why people voted for the man. Condescension by the elite is a big part of it. The limousine liberals and the white collar conservatives always in front of a camera, speaking in Ivy-tinged language about what is best for America, when it is pretty obvious that they are just talking about what is best for their own tax bracket. When the rubber hits the road, the rich get richer. The elites get more elite. What completely baffles me, though, is how people could vote for a silver-spooned, effeminate bully. This guy is so elite I wonder if he could drive stick? I wonder if he could swing a pick? The guy eats pizza with a knife and fork for doG's sake! What on earth did average-joe see in him? Was average-joe just enamored with a B-rate TV star? If so, that's pathetic. Or is it that average-joe is also an effeminate bully and is lashing out out of insecurity in exactly the same ways the TRUMP does. TRUMP would make fun of average-joe's wife if she happened to walk by him and Billy B. Come on. He's a total creep.
Projection. That's what I'm guessing. Male TRUMP voters are fundamentally emasculated and insecure, and female TRUMP voters are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome???
9
This is really well said....I agree that our whining and us versus them is counterproductive - obviously there are good people in this country who felt nobody was listening to them, or helping them, so this is a wake up call. I'd love to feel Trump will be gone within a year or so, but we can't bank on that....need to face the possibility that he'll be in for full term or possibly 8 years!
Larry Reinharz, Pleasantville, NY
Larry Reinharz, Pleasantville, NY
1
For a year and a half, everyone of your insights and analysis has been off the mark. Makes it difficult to buy in to the remedies you offer now.
5
I'm wondering if anyone in America even knows how to start a legitimate third party. Brooks should write a handbook about it and distribute it widely.
I actually think we're seeing some start of "community building" in the current protests going on. They won't last, but perhaps congeal into something with structure.
Meanwhile, I agree wholeheartedly with the last sentence -- Trump will not be able to tolerate this job for myriad reasons. He already has that "prairie stare" when you see him in DC. If you think this guy is gonna read a 1000 page document on Ryan's health-care plan or anything else, think again. He'll hand it off to some lackey and go play golf.
I actually think we're seeing some start of "community building" in the current protests going on. They won't last, but perhaps congeal into something with structure.
Meanwhile, I agree wholeheartedly with the last sentence -- Trump will not be able to tolerate this job for myriad reasons. He already has that "prairie stare" when you see him in DC. If you think this guy is gonna read a 1000 page document on Ryan's health-care plan or anything else, think again. He'll hand it off to some lackey and go play golf.
After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think.
And then we get Pray Away the Gay Pence?
And then we get Pray Away the Gay Pence?
5
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year" Your statement just shows how much the elite and media are in denial. You still don't understand how tired the average American is in hearing how we should think from people who think they are smarter than the rest of us,get over it your candidate lost.
5
David Brooks, What do you think Democrats,Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Lyndon Johnson, for a start, have always stood for? Republicans should get full blame for getting us where we are using a hopelessly horrible candidate to force their will to power., obstructing Obama;s efforts to vote for money for infrastructure, to block innovation in providing healthcare, etc. Obstructing Obama's rightful appointment of a Supreme Court justice also showed us their horrible lack of principle.
Democrats under Sanders/Warren will be "social/closed"? Total nonsense. You're showing your reluctance to admit Democrats are our progressive hope.
Democrats under Sanders/Warren will be "social/closed"? Total nonsense. You're showing your reluctance to admit Democrats are our progressive hope.
2
I literally just said to my husband, before reading your article, that I thought Trump would resign within a year. He never wanted to be president, he just wanted to win. As to the rest of your article, about what needs to happen, you and other journalists and those in the media, need to do your part too. Cover it all, cover it loud, put it on the front page everyday - the outrageousness of his appointees and cabinet, the Supreme Court, the ignorance of his stance on climate change, the fear of families being torn apart by threats of immigration. Do it! CHAAAANGE THIS!
And encourage all of your colleagues in other positions within the media to do the same. This isn't about ratings and entertainment anymore. And never should have been. This is about the future. None of us did as much as we could, but with all due respect, the media in all forms, chose to highlight Trump way way too much, ushering him into this presidency, without actually covering how serious a threat his candidacy was and the seriousness of the fallout if he were elected until it was too late. Way too late. We all have to work harder, including the press, tv news, and journalists in all areas. If you all step up, in real hardcore ways, it will make a difference for all of us.
Be the Edward R. Murrows of today. We need that. This country, the world actually, deserves nothing less.
And encourage all of your colleagues in other positions within the media to do the same. This isn't about ratings and entertainment anymore. And never should have been. This is about the future. None of us did as much as we could, but with all due respect, the media in all forms, chose to highlight Trump way way too much, ushering him into this presidency, without actually covering how serious a threat his candidacy was and the seriousness of the fallout if he were elected until it was too late. Way too late. We all have to work harder, including the press, tv news, and journalists in all areas. If you all step up, in real hardcore ways, it will make a difference for all of us.
Be the Edward R. Murrows of today. We need that. This country, the world actually, deserves nothing less.
3
Yes a third party maybe but in the meantime our county will be under the control of this monster. A monster who has inflamed the worst natures of 'downtrodden' , but in my neighborhood most of the houses with Trump signs were new and quiet posh. TRUMP achieved the aims of his GOP; complete control of this government OUR government. I have to believe their standard bearer achieved their, the GOP's aims. Nose holding 'conservatives' that voted for this monster, I have to believe are pretty cool with his ideals. They want him to lead this country; Win enforce your values at any and all costs. Scary
Mr Brooks - you are the only one I know who got this election more wrong than I. From the start you knew that a President Trump was not a possibility. What are you wrong about now? "Impeached within a year"? Frankly, your column is not worth reading. I heard there's an opening for a landscaper in Florida.
5
David Brooks, more than anyone else through this unbelievable election cycle, your words have consistently given me pause and encouraged me to take a breath. Your grounded voice represents wisdom and fairness in a time when there is a painful dearth of both. Thank you.
1
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
Good grief! It's the true believers I fear the most. Those like Pence who think it's OK to torture the gay out of someone; like those who defund Planned Parenthood and make birth control unavailable; like those who close a bridge to traffic in a juvenile snit; like those who think throwing seniors and the disabled off Social Security and into the (for profit) market is humane. No, Trump isn't the worst thing that is going to happen.
Oh, and David? You helped make it so, your disclaimers notwithstanding.
Good grief! It's the true believers I fear the most. Those like Pence who think it's OK to torture the gay out of someone; like those who defund Planned Parenthood and make birth control unavailable; like those who close a bridge to traffic in a juvenile snit; like those who think throwing seniors and the disabled off Social Security and into the (for profit) market is humane. No, Trump isn't the worst thing that is going to happen.
Oh, and David? You helped make it so, your disclaimers notwithstanding.
3
Mr. Brooks, you wrote: "After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
When you don't find reality congenial, there's always fantasy to fall back on. Mr. Trump will almost certainly be President for four years. Please note that if he is not, he will be replaced by an intemperate, intolerant, fanatical Christian who wants to teach creationism as a theory, clearly not having any idea of what the word 'theory' actually means.
I find it encouraging that Mr. Trump looks both terrified and ten years older than he did before election night. Closing your eyes and hoping that he will disappear is not a viable strategy. Try hoping that he might grow up a little.
Dan Kravitz
When you don't find reality congenial, there's always fantasy to fall back on. Mr. Trump will almost certainly be President for four years. Please note that if he is not, he will be replaced by an intemperate, intolerant, fanatical Christian who wants to teach creationism as a theory, clearly not having any idea of what the word 'theory' actually means.
I find it encouraging that Mr. Trump looks both terrified and ten years older than he did before election night. Closing your eyes and hoping that he will disappear is not a viable strategy. Try hoping that he might grow up a little.
Dan Kravitz
1
Journalists forget that they could be part of the healing. Give the man a chance.
2
“After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think.”
Care to elaborate, Mr. Brooks?
Care to elaborate, Mr. Brooks?
Yeah but will Pence as president any better? They will never drain the swamp they will just add rats.
2
Re: "That crude and ignorant condescension is what feeds the Trump phenomenon in the first place." And then:
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
Odd that you chose in the end to supply exactly the type of "crude and ignorant condescension" that you at first criticized, Dave.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
Odd that you chose in the end to supply exactly the type of "crude and ignorant condescension" that you at first criticized, Dave.
3
You sound so bitter, because you were wrong, and you are wrong about the future. Obama was a disaster for America and the elections leading up to this one proved it. You Ellites are not smarter than everyone else, your excuses ring hollow, give the guy a chance, you dont know everything.
6
If you want to see a change, Mr. Brooks, then you and Republicans who allege that you are moderates must leave the Republican party now and form a new party. That goes for you and for Congressional Republicans. It is not possible to be a Republican and be a moderate because the Republican party has moved so far to the right and because it is now the party of bigotry - and yes, you and all who say they are moderates are tainted as long as you stay a Republican.
If a new party wants to support conservative financial policy, I won't agree with but that's OK. If you are a member of a new party and want to talk about the fascist, authoritarian, white supremacist, racial and religious bigotry that is descening on our country, I will listen to what you have to say.
But as long as you remain in the Republican party you are complicit and I, for one, am not willing to read your columns or listen to you on the PBS News Hour. Talk is cheap, Mr. Brooks. It's action, I need to see.
If a new party wants to support conservative financial policy, I won't agree with but that's OK. If you are a member of a new party and want to talk about the fascist, authoritarian, white supremacist, racial and religious bigotry that is descening on our country, I will listen to what you have to say.
But as long as you remain in the Republican party you are complicit and I, for one, am not willing to read your columns or listen to you on the PBS News Hour. Talk is cheap, Mr. Brooks. It's action, I need to see.
4
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
David Brooks, I never thought I'd write this: bless you for comfort in a time of great personal discomfort. I feel better than I have since the election results.
David Brooks, I never thought I'd write this: bless you for comfort in a time of great personal discomfort. I feel better than I have since the election results.
1
To bad you didn't think of forming your social/open party with Obama. You're a bit late. We are here because of Republican obstruction. If only sensible Republicans had treated Obama with the grace Obama is now showing Trump.
1
Sorry, Dave. Prophesy is not your forte. We saw how well you predicted the winner of the Presidential race. Donald Trump will live to a ripe old age after a long Presidential administration--successful or not. Years from now we will see his picture, on the front page of the NYT, an ancient face still topped by a golden swirling coif, looking at us with that joke's-on-you smirk, a new young wife on his arm, a foreign model with a swan-like neck and incredibly high cheekbones... You should stick to explaining abstract ideas, evaluating social and political trends, and bringing up the precisely relevant philosophical point at just the right moment. You're good at that.
David Brooks
The reason you and other members of the white media elite completely missed the boat is that you don't get who the Trump voter is. The jobless working class that are living in opiate ridden communities did not elect this racist and misogynist bully--white people with jobs did. White people living in communities that are doing economically well did. White people who benefited from Obamacare did. White people from all walks of life did. If not, he would not have won. Stop pretending this election was not about race and misogyny. You, the establishment, need to really look at your denial.
The reason you and other members of the white media elite completely missed the boat is that you don't get who the Trump voter is. The jobless working class that are living in opiate ridden communities did not elect this racist and misogynist bully--white people with jobs did. White people living in communities that are doing economically well did. White people who benefited from Obamacare did. White people from all walks of life did. If not, he would not have won. Stop pretending this election was not about race and misogyny. You, the establishment, need to really look at your denial.
3
If Mr. Brooks' last sentence is correct about Trump only lasting one year, then we're in for Pastor-In-Chief Pence turning America into an evangelical Christian Sharia Law country. Maybe it's best to keep the Bumbler-in-Chief around.
2
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
And then we'll have Mike Pence, a religious zealot and an advocate of the "I've got mine, tough luck for you" school of economics. Hardly the joyous outcome Mr. Brooks latest efforts at political reinvention point to.
And then we'll have Mike Pence, a religious zealot and an advocate of the "I've got mine, tough luck for you" school of economics. Hardly the joyous outcome Mr. Brooks latest efforts at political reinvention point to.
2
Donald Trump will be president on January 20th. Where does that leave us? What may or may not happen? What must we watch for? See http://worksnewage.blogspot.com/2016/11/trumps-been-elected-where-do-we-....
"After all the guy will probably resign or be impeached..." Oh no! I just dug my "Keep Bush alive" button out of retirement. Remember we were scared of a President Quayle (he who practiced his Latin before going sound of the border). But if Trump is removed then we are faced with Pence - much more scary than Dan Quayle, especially if you are female or a non-christian or a believer in natural selection or...the list goes on. Just have to change the Bush to Trumph, and hope he becomes semi-comatose so that he does nothing in the next two years before the Dems take the senate back.
1
Why don't you stop sugar coating it and tell us what you really think. David, get ready to be audited.
Yes I know, not so funny
Yes I know, not so funny
Wow! Yikes! Please calm down, you are scaring me! These voters that you shame and disparage, voted for Obama, twice. So throw out racism. (Unfortunately, the KKK is allowed to vote in this country - curses to the campaign they choose. They might not know it yet, but they have just been used!)
Misogyny, I hope this is the last time I ever hear this gross sounding word. Nothing was more disgusting in this election than to hear women state they were voting for Hillary because she was a woman. (One stood up in our caucus - a disgrace to the sex.) If anything, we saw the opposite of misogyny. So throw out that one, too.
Now we are down to you --- how is that, "us enlightened, college-educated tolerant people", couldn't see it coming? (Or am I being made a fool again?) Forgive me for sounding like the Lord, but you can discern the sky, but not the times? C'mon? May I suggest the comment section? You owe me!
I don't know what kind of leader Mr. Trump will be, I don't think the people that put him in place care for Gingrich and Christie - I think they were voting against those types. There is no doubt about it, it is "change". I think of when my husband and I first married and every night he came home the sofa was in a different spot. It will take time for all of us to settle in. I hope President Obama didn't spoil us, he sure was easy to entreat - Trump, not so much. Just expect the sofa in a new spot for awhile - we'll get used to it.
Misogyny, I hope this is the last time I ever hear this gross sounding word. Nothing was more disgusting in this election than to hear women state they were voting for Hillary because she was a woman. (One stood up in our caucus - a disgrace to the sex.) If anything, we saw the opposite of misogyny. So throw out that one, too.
Now we are down to you --- how is that, "us enlightened, college-educated tolerant people", couldn't see it coming? (Or am I being made a fool again?) Forgive me for sounding like the Lord, but you can discern the sky, but not the times? C'mon? May I suggest the comment section? You owe me!
I don't know what kind of leader Mr. Trump will be, I don't think the people that put him in place care for Gingrich and Christie - I think they were voting against those types. There is no doubt about it, it is "change". I think of when my husband and I first married and every night he came home the sofa was in a different spot. It will take time for all of us to settle in. I hope President Obama didn't spoil us, he sure was easy to entreat - Trump, not so much. Just expect the sofa in a new spot for awhile - we'll get used to it.
You're thinking too small, David. Trump will want to demonstrate his power by using a nuclear weapon in the middle east. His constituents will love him for it. That's his secret plan. He will say it's what we should have done in Viet Nam to keep America great. He will say only he could have done it, making him greater than Johnson. And there may be no way to stop him. Pandoras box has been opened.
1
Your column is a soothing and helpful perspective, Mr. Brooks. But was your last sentence written as a joke or an attempt at irony? Please elaborate.
Social/open politics?
David Brooks is on to something!
David Brooks is on to something!
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." Forgive me if the thought of Mike Pence as President doesn't thrill me. He is anti-Science, Anti-Woman, Anti-Intellectual. And worse, contrary to Trump he has the political skills to put his ideas into effect.
4
The party of greed and bigotry nominated a greedy bigot. This is not a shock to Democrats. Wake up David, and smell your party.
5
Sanders is not a Democrat! He's an opportunist with a couple of good ideas, but like Trump, he is no team player or he'd have an entirely different political bio.
6
Thank you for trying to make some sense of this incomprehensible event. The rise of the likes of Trump and Guliani is painful to watch. It is a triumph of meanness, of doing anything, of saying anything, of winning at all costs. I'll always be "social" and would like to be "open" as well, but today I just feel unmoored. Thank you David Brooks for being there on PBS Tuesday night, and for framing the problem in this way.
3
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." Maine elected a government hating businessman in 2010, and as we've lurched form crisis to crisis for six years we've told ourselves exactly what you've just said. But it hasn't happened. Both LePage and Trump have a strong base of supporters who will defends their every action, no matter how reckless. Nope. We're in this for a minimum of four chaotic years.
7
Thank you David Brooks. As a Democrat, I find your viewpoint helpful in searching for a way to think about, and respond, to a Trump presidency. And the idea of a third party that is social/open is intriguing...
1
Demagogues don't resign; they double down and increase the vengeance. Trump will never admit that he is in over his head.
7
Trump can't lead if no one will follow, and we shouldn't. Already, #CalExit is gaining strength. And, there are demonstrations in the street.
4
Please thank Debra Wasserman Schultz for the democratic loss. Nuff said.
4
Not sure what "we" Mr. Brooks considers himself to be part of. Nice of him, though, to think of himself as part of the solution. Heartwarming, really.
Here's my advice in two words, Mr. Brooks: book leave.
Here's my advice in two words, Mr. Brooks: book leave.
2
Correction: I see that Trump is back on Twitter now. I think it calms him.
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country..."
Gingrich, Pence, Giuliani, Christie.
Not comforting.
Gingrich, Pence, Giuliani, Christie.
Not comforting.
4
Mr. Brooks writes
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
Now that is something that I can agree with.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
Now that is something that I can agree with.
We already have what your proposing. Progressives and conservatives.
1
Democrats are dedicated to being social / open today and will continue to be.
The world will never ever trust us again.
We have lost our position as the amazing amalgamation of immigrant people who set the example of how to work together... And struggles to become more just...
And I work for one of the largest corporations in the US that has a culture program that emphasizes integrity, compassion, relationships, perfmance/ fact based decision making...
And the guy elected embodies/ promotes the opposite and yet the stock market went up....
The world will never ever trust us again.
We have lost our position as the amazing amalgamation of immigrant people who set the example of how to work together... And struggles to become more just...
And I work for one of the largest corporations in the US that has a culture program that emphasizes integrity, compassion, relationships, perfmance/ fact based decision making...
And the guy elected embodies/ promotes the opposite and yet the stock market went up....
With his opening words--"If your social circles are like mine"--Mr. Brooks describes why it is that the Trump victory is so surprising. No one was paying attention to his disaffected supporters, in part, because we all create "social circles" of people just like ourselves. If we only listen to people just like ourselves, how are we to hear contrary opinions?
3
The campaign is officially over but you and the NYT carry on the battle. You have been wrong more times than I can count. My advice is that you take a sabbatical.
6
"After all the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year?" Seriously Mr. Brooks?? Donald Trump hasn't taken the Oath of Office yet and already David Brooks is accusing him of committing "high crimes and misdemeanors". Besides Donald Trump is going to become president blessed with a Republican House and Senate. The Republican political establishment may not like him but they'll now close ranks and support the new president anyhow. I'll give Trump credit where credit is due--he's not a quitter that's for sure. He pulled off the impossible--defeating the best qualified Democratic presidential nominee since Al Gore to win the biggest prize of all.
4
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
Many of those who rejected Trump are also still suffering from the effects of the Great Recession, are struggling to make ends meet, and watch friends and family OD on opiates. These issues cross party lines. But more than half of voters renounced Trump. Maybe they hold dear the words of Pearl Buck, "...the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members", and can't chose a leader who tromps on those who feel marginalized rather than lift them up.
Many of those who rejected Trump are also still suffering from the effects of the Great Recession, are struggling to make ends meet, and watch friends and family OD on opiates. These issues cross party lines. But more than half of voters renounced Trump. Maybe they hold dear the words of Pearl Buck, "...the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members", and can't chose a leader who tromps on those who feel marginalized rather than lift them up.
2
This whole issue is not Trump; he is just a tiny aspect of the disaster created by Americans; both Pro-Trump and Anti-Trump. America has been rotting away from the core to the outside for some 100 years now. In my backyard I have some tall and fully established oaks that look just fine but the gardener told me that their leaves are getting less and less. These trees are dying he said, you better cut them down before they crash your home. Same thing with the US but don't blame it on Trump; he is just one of these rotten branches.
We can only hope that Trump's resignation or impeachment happens much sooner than a year from now.
Give the man back his twitter, insult him a little, and let it begin.
Give the man back his twitter, insult him a little, and let it begin.
1
We can begin to look ahead to future election possibilities, in 2018 and 2020:
A) Obama, where he leaves office will be able to give us perspectives on future possibilities. And Hillary and Bill Clinton will offer their views.
B) The anger will shift from the Right to the Left, with Trump in power. There will be more social media activity on the Left, etc.
C) Sen. Tim Kaine might emerge as a 2020 prospect.
D) Polls will be improved to reflect real voter turnout.
E) Stronger efforts will be made to elect more Democrats to Congress and in local races.
F) The real Donald Trump will be examined in depth to determine his real views and his real intelligence. (I think he has a learning disability, LD) Books and films will appear on Trump.
G) "You can always count on the Americans to do things right, after they have tried everything else." (Churchill) Hopefully we learn.
Forward, not Backward (Obama slogan)
==============================
A) Obama, where he leaves office will be able to give us perspectives on future possibilities. And Hillary and Bill Clinton will offer their views.
B) The anger will shift from the Right to the Left, with Trump in power. There will be more social media activity on the Left, etc.
C) Sen. Tim Kaine might emerge as a 2020 prospect.
D) Polls will be improved to reflect real voter turnout.
E) Stronger efforts will be made to elect more Democrats to Congress and in local races.
F) The real Donald Trump will be examined in depth to determine his real views and his real intelligence. (I think he has a learning disability, LD) Books and films will appear on Trump.
G) "You can always count on the Americans to do things right, after they have tried everything else." (Churchill) Hopefully we learn.
Forward, not Backward (Obama slogan)
==============================
2
Mr. Brooks, you will continue to pontificate, collect hefty paychecks, and enjoy a well-fed rest of your life while too many Americans and others around the world will suffer in the world you created.
It's Trump world, and you seem unable or unwilling to accept your responsibility for creating it.
It's Trump world, and you seem unable or unwilling to accept your responsibility for creating it.
3
Last night, when I saw he got his Twitter back, all I could think was, "We're off and running..."
2
The social/open party was President Obama's party. You should have been more supportive of it when you had the chance.
2
Is that you, David? Or is it the beer?
3
David, if you start a third party, ping me, maybe I will join you.
Mr. Brooks, why don't you put your money and time where your mouth is, and actually start that third party? You've got connections, know a lot of people, are good with words. Stop wasting your time speaking to the echo chamber of people who read NYT Opinion pieces, and actually *do* something.
1
House, Senate, Presidency, and Supreme Court- The Full Boat get over it - America beat NY and California resoundingly. The stupid dirty peasants took their country back.
1
I'd believe this if it were not for the "others" who will run the country:
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
Interesting column. Marred only by silly spelling error in second to last graf. It should be "ascent," not "assent,"
1
As always, thank you for a thoughtful piece and a great punchline. My only concern about the impeachment option is that since impeachment occurs in the House of Representatives, that seems highly unlikely (unless it turns out he really is in cahoots with the Kremlin). Resignation, ala Sarah Palin, is a reassuring thought; after all, Trump's new job is such a step-down from a paycheck point-of-view!
Mr. Brooks: I read your op ed, hoping for some clarity. However, starting with your 5th paragraph, you began to lose me. Here in suburbia, there were plenty of McMansions with Trump signs. People driving oversized sup's and pick ups with Tru bumper stickers. Other folks driving BMWs. You can't tell me that economic suffering caused those people to support Mr. Trump. Selfishness, mesogony, racism, as well as a hatred for all things Clinton is what drove those votes.
I am not discounting those folks who haven't be heard and are suffering economically. They voted in frustration, and that is understandable. But many more people voted for Trump out is "ill will".
I am not discounting those folks who haven't be heard and are suffering economically. They voted in frustration, and that is understandable. But many more people voted for Trump out is "ill will".
2
I have been writing comments for a year now and was wrong about the impossibility of trump's ascension--wrong about everything, practically. I think I should stop having opinions for awhile and just reflect. But already I feel the urge to keep suggesting. Shouldn't Congressional Dems just kind of go passive for awhile? Not so much giving the guy a chance but just letting it all be on him and his Breitbart goons. Similar to McConnell's obstructionism but more...just refusing to engage at all. Bartleby's strategy: "I would prefer not to." (That's probably wrong too. (Again, I should stop these comments for awhile!) Bad place we are in--to have lost fairly and to have to figure out how to "go high" in a way that is not just righteous--but actually effective.
Trump just won the keys to every palace on the planet and you think he's going to resign? Trump set the stage for Republicans to run the table and he has not begun to collect what he feels they owe him - and I'm talking about Ryan, McConnell, and the like. Collecting what he feels people owe him, especially in terms of "gratitude" - is what makes The Donald tick. That is all still in front of him. David - wake up - yes it's real. You're in charge. Tell your people to do some good.
1
On December 16th Mr Trump faces rape charges in court against a girl who was 13 at the time. Has any president-elect been in a similar situation?
Blah, Blah, Blah. Over the past year I've heard enough of your blathering visions of a wonderful Clinton vision for society. And now the candidate who couldn't shake the "lying Hillary" slogan is permanently resting in Chappaque on a government pension, money from speeches ( that doomed her) enough millions that could buy anything but the title, Madam President and now her own private e-mail server.
Thank you for your column. It rests nicely in my cats litter box where all journalism with no relevance lie.
Thank you for your column. It rests nicely in my cats litter box where all journalism with no relevance lie.
1
Mr. Brooks,
I assume from your post you voted for Hillary. Yet your call for a third party sounds as if Hillary did not stand for exactly what you're asking for.
She was the centrist candidate--one of the reasons people like myself supported her in the primary was because we not only thought she was right in her openness and inclusiveness but because it would help her win over conservatives. That was the biggest mistake of this campaign. Seeing how few republicans, because of years of scorched-earth tactics, could see Hillary as the candidate she really was and go to her instead of the abyss.
You and many in your intellectual sphere did, and for that I'm grateful. But let's not pretend that Hillary didn't represent exactly what you, me and frankly most of the country wanted. An inclusive, open world.
I assume from your post you voted for Hillary. Yet your call for a third party sounds as if Hillary did not stand for exactly what you're asking for.
She was the centrist candidate--one of the reasons people like myself supported her in the primary was because we not only thought she was right in her openness and inclusiveness but because it would help her win over conservatives. That was the biggest mistake of this campaign. Seeing how few republicans, because of years of scorched-earth tactics, could see Hillary as the candidate she really was and go to her instead of the abyss.
You and many in your intellectual sphere did, and for that I'm grateful. But let's not pretend that Hillary didn't represent exactly what you, me and frankly most of the country wanted. An inclusive, open world.
3
From this morning's news brief........
"The Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, and Mr. Trump’s campaign chief, the Breitbart executive Steve Bannon, are said to be top candidates for chief of staff."
Great! Steve Bannon the right wing nut-job can now plug directly into the puppet sitting in the oval office
"Mr. Trump’s transition team inclds corp execs, consultants and lobbyists — roles he said during the campaign exert 2 much influence in Wash DC...members listed are experts with no clear interest in helping private-sector clients. But critics of Mr. Trump in both parties say the inclusion of advisers with industry ties signals that he may not follow through on his promises.
Trump lied?
"Universities across the nation are scrambling to address a series of hostile acts against minorities ...
Similar episodes have been reported at high schools, including one in Pennsylvania where a video circulated of students carrying a Trump sign and yelling “white power” as they walked down a hall."
So 2 get elected Trump lied 2 the naive, used indirect condoning of racism throughout the campaign and spawned a new generation of Hitler youth.
Good job Donald! PS-call me when the coal miners go back to their jobs.
What has the ignorance and hate in the heartland of America spawned?
Yesterday in the white house our next president had the look of a scared deer in the middle of the road; will he be able to turn back this blackness that has erupted?
"The Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, and Mr. Trump’s campaign chief, the Breitbart executive Steve Bannon, are said to be top candidates for chief of staff."
Great! Steve Bannon the right wing nut-job can now plug directly into the puppet sitting in the oval office
"Mr. Trump’s transition team inclds corp execs, consultants and lobbyists — roles he said during the campaign exert 2 much influence in Wash DC...members listed are experts with no clear interest in helping private-sector clients. But critics of Mr. Trump in both parties say the inclusion of advisers with industry ties signals that he may not follow through on his promises.
Trump lied?
"Universities across the nation are scrambling to address a series of hostile acts against minorities ...
Similar episodes have been reported at high schools, including one in Pennsylvania where a video circulated of students carrying a Trump sign and yelling “white power” as they walked down a hall."
So 2 get elected Trump lied 2 the naive, used indirect condoning of racism throughout the campaign and spawned a new generation of Hitler youth.
Good job Donald! PS-call me when the coal miners go back to their jobs.
What has the ignorance and hate in the heartland of America spawned?
Yesterday in the white house our next president had the look of a scared deer in the middle of the road; will he be able to turn back this blackness that has erupted?
1
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
I don't accept this. Not only accepting but *assisting* the spread of bigotry in order to help oneself is, at best, selfish.
I don't accept this. Not only accepting but *assisting* the spread of bigotry in order to help oneself is, at best, selfish.
1
"The job for the rest of us is to rebuild society"? Trump supporters tend to be conservative, middle income, white and 'evangelical'. They say the want to take 'America back'. They don't sound to me like a group that wants to share. America belongs to all of us. They want it just for themselves. How do you rebuild a relationship with somebody who wants a divorce and wants to take 3/4 of the shared property?
"The guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." Thank you O smug oracle David Brooks.
You are on the Right, aren't you (playing the clever heir-of-Buckley game on the radio with everyman E.J. Dione)? Maybe while Trump is bloviating you could get a job in the White House philosophizing with self-serving pseudo-intellectual gibberish—to make things more intelligible.
You are on the Right, aren't you (playing the clever heir-of-Buckley game on the radio with everyman E.J. Dione)? Maybe while Trump is bloviating you could get a job in the White House philosophizing with self-serving pseudo-intellectual gibberish—to make things more intelligible.
1
Your last line referring to tRUMP's future, short-lived presidency is probably very true.
Trump did the dirty work for the Republican leadership and they, very cunningly, used him.
It has been obvious for a very long time that the reason Republican leadership endorsed tRUMP (other than their obvious craveness) was that they knew they could force him out one way or another after his base appeal kept congress and won the presidency for them.
The leadership now can "reject" all the fRUMP said on the campaign trail(while still believing it) and enact their long-term, dismantling of social programs.
Trump did the dirty work for the Republican leadership and they, very cunningly, used him.
It has been obvious for a very long time that the reason Republican leadership endorsed tRUMP (other than their obvious craveness) was that they knew they could force him out one way or another after his base appeal kept congress and won the presidency for them.
The leadership now can "reject" all the fRUMP said on the campaign trail(while still believing it) and enact their long-term, dismantling of social programs.
At this point, Mr. Trump isn't as improtant as the Republican structure beneath him. His election gave voice to all the rascists, misogynists and xeophobes that now have a Congress and (soon) the Supreme Court to push through their agenda of turning back time.
Trump is completely out of his depth but the machinery behind him......it could be very ugly.
Trump is completely out of his depth but the machinery behind him......it could be very ugly.
1
Indescribable is the joy at watching the hand wringing and emotional wrenching of the beautiful people as they come to grips with just how detested and superfluous they all are. Keep it up - your denigrating of worried working people, your obvious disdain for opinions outside your ethically challenged bubbles, your patently hilarious and ignorant musings on issues you so clearly know nothing about. Soon, no subsidies for the trash you make. Audits of your personal and studio finances, donations and contributors. Revoking all hand gun permits you all secretly enjoy, and investigations of how you all pay your illegal immigrant servants. Turnabout is fair play and now, you will be forced to listen to OUR demands, or, you could all go back to summer stock and cheap, exploitive foreign filmmaking for scale. Delicious!!
3
The last sentence of Mr. Brooks article puts his judgement in doubt. He is still delusional about stopping the Donald.
4
“The disgusted posture risks turning politics into a Manichaean civil war between the alleged children of light and the alleged children of darkness.” Well David, as an educated man, you must know that such is the human condition. Remember “Gilgamesh?” How about “Beowulf?” Western culture’s earliest epics deal with nothing less than the struggle between “light” and “darkness.” Want something newer? Pick up your old copy of Niebuhr’s 1944 book of the same name. It may have taken us a while but “life finally imitates art” and if you think that the ascendant children of darkness will do anything other than hold onto to their newly acquired power with a desperation that will make drowning men look diffident, then you have truly missed the significance of Tuesday’s election.
1
You helped make this happen, Mr. Brooks. You should be hanging your head in shame and apologizing.
2
'Impeached within a year'?
What do you know that you'e not sharing with us?
Both Houses of Congress are filled with Republican cowards.
Trump owns them. He will remind them that he won in spite of their lack of support, not because of it. He'll 'primary' any of them that don't fall in line with his agenda.
Where will the necessary number of impeachment votes come from?
What do you know that you'e not sharing with us?
Both Houses of Congress are filled with Republican cowards.
Trump owns them. He will remind them that he won in spite of their lack of support, not because of it. He'll 'primary' any of them that don't fall in line with his agenda.
Where will the necessary number of impeachment votes come from?
4
As to your last sentence; from your lips to G-d's ears.
1
I wish you wrote this article in January because up until March, I was desperately hoping Michael Bloomberg would run. His fear was that a third party candidate might put Mr. Trump in power, but in turns out, his candidacy might have been the only thing that could have stopped it.
1
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Mr. Brooks, I hope you will eat those words someday. I admire your ideas and ideals. But, we don't need another failed presidency. My hope for a future stems from the paradox of the hard-nosed, bare-knuckle style of Lyndon Johnson who came from a southern, white supremacist tradition and turned into the great champion of civil rights legislation, that pulled our African-American citizens onto the road to parity and self-determined power .
Mr. Brooks, I hope you will eat those words someday. I admire your ideas and ideals. But, we don't need another failed presidency. My hope for a future stems from the paradox of the hard-nosed, bare-knuckle style of Lyndon Johnson who came from a southern, white supremacist tradition and turned into the great champion of civil rights legislation, that pulled our African-American citizens onto the road to parity and self-determined power .
"... designing programs to incentivize enterprise and removing regulatory barriers"
Philosophical question: why are regulations almost uniformly cast as barriers? Surely some regulations somewhere have done some good!
Philosophical question: why are regulations almost uniformly cast as barriers? Surely some regulations somewhere have done some good!
2
But you're wrong, David - and that has helped get us where we are. Democrats don't believe the things you ascribe to them, at least not the ones I know. We don't believe in closing the borders; we don't believe in statist control. We believe in open borders and free trade and a social safety net. Good wages and worker protections. All the things Republicans have been fighting against for years.
If you stopped and listened - you, of the global elite - you'd see that you have far more in common with Democrats than with Trump. Clinton (sort of) lost because she was identified with the very global elite you seem to think you're in. She is far more conservative than Donald Trump, who really isn't anything far as I can tell.
If you'd stopped and compromised, realized that what those people who have hijacked your party want is what the Democrats were offering, we wouldn't be here. Democrats do need to get their message out better and clean house, but when you have people who believe - truly believe - that Trump's policies will help the Wal*Mart worker on $9 an hour with no health insurance and uncertain hours - because that's what they've been told by Republicans for decades - there's little that we can do.
You can't talk to a person who so badly wants to believe in fairytales. You can't talk to people who think the earth is 5,000 years old. But you can exploit them.
And Trump and the Republicans have done just that.
If you stopped and listened - you, of the global elite - you'd see that you have far more in common with Democrats than with Trump. Clinton (sort of) lost because she was identified with the very global elite you seem to think you're in. She is far more conservative than Donald Trump, who really isn't anything far as I can tell.
If you'd stopped and compromised, realized that what those people who have hijacked your party want is what the Democrats were offering, we wouldn't be here. Democrats do need to get their message out better and clean house, but when you have people who believe - truly believe - that Trump's policies will help the Wal*Mart worker on $9 an hour with no health insurance and uncertain hours - because that's what they've been told by Republicans for decades - there's little that we can do.
You can't talk to a person who so badly wants to believe in fairytales. You can't talk to people who think the earth is 5,000 years old. But you can exploit them.
And Trump and the Republicans have done just that.
7
Of the million and one things said and to be said, o will say that DT has NO idea what he got himself into and that, yes, even he will realize that he is grossly unfit for the job.
Trump's victory is simply further proof that you can fool some of the people all of the time.
3
I think that David Brooks is spot on here. An Open/Social coalition is what is needed, and a ready made new line of political thought provides a framework upon which to build it: The so-called new Republicanism pioneered by scholars like Princeton's Philip Pettit and Britain's John Maynor.
Constitutionally, we need to move past contestation and towards deliberation.
Constitutionally, we need to move past contestation and towards deliberation.
If anyone wants a truly accurate analysis of what happened they should read Fredrik Deboer's commentary in the Chicago Tribune "Could Bernie Sanders Have Beaten Donald Trump" sorry I don't know how to provide a link. We can thank Hillary Clinton and the DNC for this truly horrendous outcome.
Mr. Brooks, your political dysphoria paved the way to this disaster. Your small group of conservative ideologues used poor white people, evangelicals, white supremacists, and Tea Party anti-federalists to forge a coalition that served to enrich corporations and limit social welfare programs. Your Republican party promised those voters change, but served your own ideological commitment to small government and trickle down economics. Your role in that movement was to deploy pop sociology while posing as a protector of the white working class. You are now aghast at the Frankenstein you built. This is your second call for a third party, even though you know that further fracture will empower Trumpism. You should admit that, while you are erudite, you have been wrong most of the time. Take some time off, forget about a third party, and come back ready to help the Democratic Party clean up this mess. We would welcome your support.
1
We already did open/open with the Bush Clinton Republocrats; time for something new. Time for some new NYT commentators also.
1
David you're still in shock, get over it, Trump won, Trump won. The USA survived 8 years of Bush Jr. so 4 years of Trump won't be that hard. Get out around David, get away from your inner circle, "misery loves company," talk to some Trump supporters, maybe you'll get a better feel for the country and come closer on your prediction in 2020.
2
Thoughtful comments as has become your usual in this strange time. As to the ideas about rebuilding some sense of community, take a look at an admittedly 'Democratic' perspective that could fuel productive and beneficial ways to move forward regardless of what may have been more reasonable 'Democratic' or 'Republican' viewpoints in more rational and calm times - https://theintercept.com/2016/11/09/donald-trump-will-be-president-this-....
Trump is the Republican puppet - led around the circus ring by the likes of Newt Gingrich and the failed candidates who he insulted and now we learn - the lobbyists and Wall Street. Face it cheering and jeering mobs - you were suckered in - in good wrestling tradition. How could a reality TV show end any other way? The Republicans will have deregulation and corruption on a full scale. Is there a role for Conrad Black?
... "the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year"? Another stupid prediction from the punditry. Every time you people say Trump will fail, he succeeds. How many times can you be proven wrong before you realize you are in the wrong business?
"Which is why I’ve been thinking we need a third party that is social/open. " Many of the disgusted (with both apparent alternatives, by the way) would likely enlist.
Mr. Brooks, you're closing point is the most interesting one. I have my own thoughts, but I respect your punditry...please elaborate on why you think he will be a one-year president
What happened to open/individual? Seems like the best choice.
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
That must be easy to write, when you don't fear for your life. I fear for my life, and the lives of my family and friends. These are dark times for black, Latino, Muslim, Asian, and LGBT people; Trump does not respect our right to exist, nor do many of his supporters. I am panicked because a white teenager, emboldened by Trump, might attack me and my boyfriend while we hold hands. It's already happening. David Brooks, your body is safe; mine, however, is not.
That must be easy to write, when you don't fear for your life. I fear for my life, and the lives of my family and friends. These are dark times for black, Latino, Muslim, Asian, and LGBT people; Trump does not respect our right to exist, nor do many of his supporters. I am panicked because a white teenager, emboldened by Trump, might attack me and my boyfriend while we hold hands. It's already happening. David Brooks, your body is safe; mine, however, is not.
1
Trump has gone 62 hours without an outrageous statement. Maybe there's hope.
The election is over, the people have spoken (at least through the Electoral College, which is our system and needs to be respected) and Donald Trump will be President. The Republicans ran the table--they saved the Senate for themselves, they successfully stonewalled the Garland nomination, and, to their own shock, they ended up with the big prize. Now, they can do whatever they want--and they will. If you like what the GOP has been saying for years they want (and what people like Sam Brownback have imposed in their states) then you will like what follows. If you don't, you might very well ask yourself just what the heck went on here and how you helped enable it. Don't expect that the winners here will give you a shred of anything you care about---because they won't.
We can analyze this to death, we can look at demographics, and polling cross tabs, and talk, as David Brooks does, of third parties and new approaches, That's just fine, but while we do that, the GOP is going to take our lunch and our dinner.
Now that you realize that, get off the canvass, shake yourself off, and start punching again. There's no shame in losing, no matter what Trump says. There's shame in no longer trying.
We can analyze this to death, we can look at demographics, and polling cross tabs, and talk, as David Brooks does, of third parties and new approaches, That's just fine, but while we do that, the GOP is going to take our lunch and our dinner.
Now that you realize that, get off the canvass, shake yourself off, and start punching again. There's no shame in losing, no matter what Trump says. There's shame in no longer trying.
1
Marie Antionette liberal elites kept on telling us to eat cake. We declined. We decided to eat their lunch.
4
The sad truth is that the many years of non-cooperation by the Republican congress has paid off. People got mad, they blamed Obama, and they rejected a Democratic president. Their evil plan worked. Why would they want to change anything? The playbook for the modern age has been written, and they are winning the game.
2
Of course it would too much to expect the NYT editorial board to honor America and those who made the ultimate sacrifice, on this sacred day. No, they'd rather fear-monger about what Trump will or won't do as our duly elected President. Sore losers and rabble rousers. I drove by a sign in central Florida yesterday that read: "Dear Deplorables: Thank You. Love, America"
2
David Brooks, I respect your opinion but it's people like you that soured Americans on the democrats on election day. The media in this country has deluded itself into thinking it more important than it really is. The last 8 years has seen it become a part of the Obama administration, not an impartial credible observer of that same administration.
1
Republicans could impeach him on their own during the next Congressional term, but they could only convict him with Democratic support. Why would the Democrats help them out?
1
Mr Brooks sounds like a sore loser and will be proven once again wrong in his predictions.(will he never learn?). Trump will govern forcefully and be very involved and will push all his plans that horrify Brooks so much and they will lead to wonderful results for our economy and security and religious liberties, contrary to Brook's dire predictions. Do not contradict Trump- he has been right EVERY time so far: he has predicted he will win by a landslide his 2nd term in 2020 and he will once again be right!,
2
The Piketty book about capital. That explains the deeper problem. That's what needs to be fixed.
1
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
We're accused of condescending to Trump supporters, but this quote explains it all. Anyone who thinks Trump can fix the problems Brooks describes here deserves my scorn. These people may face problems, but their biggest problem is intellectual laziness- an unwillingness to face today's reality, fit into a changing world. They just want someone to wave a magic wand and take them back to happier times, and if that can happen for them, then they don't care who gets hurt along the way. I have no sympathy for the "forgotten man".
We're accused of condescending to Trump supporters, but this quote explains it all. Anyone who thinks Trump can fix the problems Brooks describes here deserves my scorn. These people may face problems, but their biggest problem is intellectual laziness- an unwillingness to face today's reality, fit into a changing world. They just want someone to wave a magic wand and take them back to happier times, and if that can happen for them, then they don't care who gets hurt along the way. I have no sympathy for the "forgotten man".
4
My guess? After the next four years of incompetence, chaos and devastation Obama will get drafted to repair damages and get the country back on the road again. So, Barrack, enjoy your Hawaii family vacation, get rested and buff, and hold off on the memoirs until after your next term.
Dear Mr. Brooks,
I admired and respected you and your comments when you both realized and voiced that Mr. Trump's ideas and actions represented a McCarty moment. Yet your reporting and comments subsequently did not reflect the seriousness and urgency of the growing ill winds. For example, on the New Hour, after a presidential debate, you noted if one turns off the sound of the TV and view the interactions of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, one gets a visceral, perhaps more telling/accurate reading on the debate. If I turned of the sound on your discussion, I would have thought, with all the apparent joking, smiles and levity, that the "debate" was just fine. I think you also exhibited, uncharacteristic for you, "crude and ignorant condescension" toward Mrs. Clinton, e.g. she is not likable, cannot be trusted (this is the media's and Republican line but surely you could put it in context and put light on the truth), criticizing her for being heavy on policy and low on exciting rhetoric, not being a change agent (working to address global warming, helping provide more medical coverage for people, promoting more justice in the supreme court, etc. is not legitimate change?), etc. So to have a party that is "social/open," one needs to be open, an quality that, I think, you came up short on during the coverage of the campaign, given this was a McCarthy moment. To your credit, you did and still have important needed commentary to share. We all need to do better.
Thank you.
I admired and respected you and your comments when you both realized and voiced that Mr. Trump's ideas and actions represented a McCarty moment. Yet your reporting and comments subsequently did not reflect the seriousness and urgency of the growing ill winds. For example, on the New Hour, after a presidential debate, you noted if one turns off the sound of the TV and view the interactions of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, one gets a visceral, perhaps more telling/accurate reading on the debate. If I turned of the sound on your discussion, I would have thought, with all the apparent joking, smiles and levity, that the "debate" was just fine. I think you also exhibited, uncharacteristic for you, "crude and ignorant condescension" toward Mrs. Clinton, e.g. she is not likable, cannot be trusted (this is the media's and Republican line but surely you could put it in context and put light on the truth), criticizing her for being heavy on policy and low on exciting rhetoric, not being a change agent (working to address global warming, helping provide more medical coverage for people, promoting more justice in the supreme court, etc. is not legitimate change?), etc. So to have a party that is "social/open," one needs to be open, an quality that, I think, you came up short on during the coverage of the campaign, given this was a McCarthy moment. To your credit, you did and still have important needed commentary to share. We all need to do better.
Thank you.
2
Interesting, Mr Brooks, I said the same thing about Hillary Clinton in previous comments to the NYT. My opinion was, had she been elected, Hillary would have resigned for reasons of corruption or poor health within 2-3 years. In any event, that point is moot.
Listen, give the guy a chance. It does no one any good to run him so far down before he has really stepped into the White House as president. That's not fair either.
Listen, give the guy a chance. It does no one any good to run him so far down before he has really stepped into the White House as president. That's not fair either.
4
There's another solution readily available. If you live in a place where you now have proof that the majority of people don't share your view that every one deserves to be treated with respect, then go to a place where people have just voted for human dignity. Go from Red to Blue. Find a zip code where Trumpism was firmly rejected, (and I can assure they're not all wealthy gated communities) and make a new home for your children. Added advantage: these places have more employment opportunities and higher minimum wage
And at the same time you'll drain the big Red swamp of some of their best people.
And at the same time you'll drain the big Red swamp of some of their best people.
3
So we have to understand that angry white man. I think I do now. I am just that.
1
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
?
With that putrid little snark, you have sealed your fate, Mr. Brooks, as somebody who serious people no longer need to read.
Mr. Brooks, you are not an intellectual, as somebody else here incorrectly describes you. You are a pseudo-intellectual, and I gleefully pronounce that word the way my friend Joe Owen used to pronounce it in college: starting with a "p". We were already then sneering and laughing at the pretentious little pontificators in our midst, and we could afford to (and still can): we were physics majors.
The hallmark of a pseudo-intellectual is that he/she starts with a preconceived notion of what ought to be and builds a "factual" theory based on it, working exactly backwards. Any interest in understanding the way the world actually is is absent. Difficult to understand but nevertheless observed phenomena are denigrated or discarded. You fully demonstrate that here.
In your world the earth is flat. It's amazing to me that already all those decades ago my friend Joe and I were right.
?
With that putrid little snark, you have sealed your fate, Mr. Brooks, as somebody who serious people no longer need to read.
Mr. Brooks, you are not an intellectual, as somebody else here incorrectly describes you. You are a pseudo-intellectual, and I gleefully pronounce that word the way my friend Joe Owen used to pronounce it in college: starting with a "p". We were already then sneering and laughing at the pretentious little pontificators in our midst, and we could afford to (and still can): we were physics majors.
The hallmark of a pseudo-intellectual is that he/she starts with a preconceived notion of what ought to be and builds a "factual" theory based on it, working exactly backwards. Any interest in understanding the way the world actually is is absent. Difficult to understand but nevertheless observed phenomena are denigrated or discarded. You fully demonstrate that here.
In your world the earth is flat. It's amazing to me that already all those decades ago my friend Joe and I were right.
2
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Did you pull that out of your "whatever?" He is an entertainer who is now on the world's biggest stage. I predict that his act will eventually repel most of (but not all of) his supporters when they awake to the reality that their lives aren't all that "Great Again" and that they have been conned. I fear that by then the damage will have been done: to the economy to our social fabric, to our international relations, and to the planet
It took eight years to climb out of the hole the last Republican dug for us and it looks like history has just repeated itself. But this time we have skipped the farce and gone straight to the tragedy.
Did you pull that out of your "whatever?" He is an entertainer who is now on the world's biggest stage. I predict that his act will eventually repel most of (but not all of) his supporters when they awake to the reality that their lives aren't all that "Great Again" and that they have been conned. I fear that by then the damage will have been done: to the economy to our social fabric, to our international relations, and to the planet
It took eight years to climb out of the hole the last Republican dug for us and it looks like history has just repeated itself. But this time we have skipped the farce and gone straight to the tragedy.
7
I still have not been able to process what happened to the degree that makes me feel somewhat normal. So that being said, I will continue to walk my four-year-old Golden out at the lake, where mind you, the air is clear and clean(no particulate matter similar to Delhi, which they say is like smoking 40 cigarettes a day,) it is remarkably quiet, (because all the summer-people are gone with their power boats in storage,) and the trees still have their colored leaves, (due to climate change I am told,) and the day-time temperatures are in the high 40s-low 50s here in the Champlain Valley (as we end what I have read will be the hottest year on record,) perhaps, just perhaps I will be able to develop a positive outlook, like you David were able to do in a few short days, as to what happened on 8 NOVEMBER 2016! Is this op-ed supposed to make us feel better?
2
As a citizen who strives to be educated, I crave knowing both sides of an issue; as a Democrat I greatly respect your informative, insightful ideas (I'm a big fan of yours, especially since you know how valuable moral character is!). In a future column, could you elaborate on your comment about what makes you think Trump will either resign or be impeached within a year. At this point in time, I'm left with the impression that Trump is Teflon-man--untouchable by anyone, ever.
60
What you are saying is that the Warren-Sanders party doesn't get that people have been left behind. Many of us knew exactly what was going to happen if we started bashing the non corporate white guys - they were going to feel emasculated and mad as hell. And that is exactly what the Clinton team did. Calling people "deplorable (s)" because they were backing Trump sealed this country's fate for awhile. I know a lot of guys who work hard, try and be the best husbands and fathers, but our culture lumps them into a loser category of white blue collar workers. We need those guys to make, build and and celebrate their skills. Now if they'd just let me help do some concrete finishing.....
34
Please don't mislead us with more false predictions Mr. Brooks, about Trump resigning or being impeached within the year. Haven't we all suffered enough because of prognosticators who never stopped to think they might be so wrong that they are assuring the opposite of what they are predicting? Oh, and by the way, it's "ascent", not "assent".
1
David, I think you (and the many other commentators in NYTimes) are still not recognizing that many that voted for Trump fall into "open" and "social" categories. One example is my cousin and her husband in northeast Ohio. They are educated and affluent immigrant physicians from India. They were absolutely sickened by how Clinton Inc. cut the legs out under Bernie and who knows what other aspiring candidates. This together with the media bias during the general elections (that even Clinton supporters like me could see) led to a level of disgust that they were willing to take the chance with a crackpot who is outside the system. There are many others falling into this demographic that will not admit to voting for Trump but did. if you want to define a post-Trump movement, don't forget to recognize this group!
1
The post voter data does not support you saying:" But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would stomach some ugliness, too."
the United States Elections Project show that there were 231,556,622 Americans eligible to vote, but 131,741,000 voted. That means that 43.2 percent didn’t vote, while 56.8 percent did. Trump’s razor-thin victories in Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania gave him the electoral vote lead needed to win the presidency. In Michigan 2,631,589 eligible voters stayed home.
Do we dare question this razor thin vote when the machines are owned by the 1% and we have no paper ballots to back it up.
Furthermore, in 1787 the Electoral College was setup by rich white male landowners - the Trumps of that day. Time to dump it and bring in a democracy - not the Banana Republic that we have.
the United States Elections Project show that there were 231,556,622 Americans eligible to vote, but 131,741,000 voted. That means that 43.2 percent didn’t vote, while 56.8 percent did. Trump’s razor-thin victories in Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania gave him the electoral vote lead needed to win the presidency. In Michigan 2,631,589 eligible voters stayed home.
Do we dare question this razor thin vote when the machines are owned by the 1% and we have no paper ballots to back it up.
Furthermore, in 1787 the Electoral College was setup by rich white male landowners - the Trumps of that day. Time to dump it and bring in a democracy - not the Banana Republic that we have.
I can understand fear and anger, the specter of joblessness and permanent decay motivating people to demand change.
I simply cannot understand how you get from that to believing Donald Trump will deliver change. Or to be more precise, deliver change that will help. There is no guarantee that blowing up the status quo will result in a change for *the better.*
Paul Ryan is still there, as is Mitch McConnell, ready to cut taxes on corporations and the rich so that we can privatize everything, and drain more wealth out of the public coffers and into the hands of a few. Trump has surrounded himself with people like New Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani. Yeah, they are a depository of brand new thinking.
We will definitely have change. Hold on, all you in despair over the loss of the middle class. You ain't seen nothing yet.
I simply cannot understand how you get from that to believing Donald Trump will deliver change. Or to be more precise, deliver change that will help. There is no guarantee that blowing up the status quo will result in a change for *the better.*
Paul Ryan is still there, as is Mitch McConnell, ready to cut taxes on corporations and the rich so that we can privatize everything, and drain more wealth out of the public coffers and into the hands of a few. Trump has surrounded himself with people like New Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani. Yeah, they are a depository of brand new thinking.
We will definitely have change. Hold on, all you in despair over the loss of the middle class. You ain't seen nothing yet.
2
David (and readers) you were so wrong. On NPR you predicted an easy Clinton victory. So, why don't you stop attributing base motives to people and listen?
I have several university degrees; for many of us there was an issue her supporters, especially Democratic officials, refused to honestly address-Clinton's behavior. We heard how she made a mistake, she apologized for her poor judgment. Enough! I know the law, you can't destroy evidence after you've been subpoenad. You can't do government work on an unsecured computer. You can't work for the government and a private foundation with work before the government. If everyone did this our society would not function!
There is a name for a country where people get rich in public service. There is a name for a country where the politically connected can flout the law: Argentina. The country spoke clearly-we don't want to live in Argentina!
If anyone had said, yes...she may have done illegal things and the rule of law must supersede other considerations and we support an impartial investigation and would support an indictment if it was recommended-but in the meantime he's too dangerous. We would have listened.
But instead you were smug. The thought of the rule of law being swept under the carpet, becoming a society where anyone can destroy evidence or compromise our security was more repulsive than Trump's childish behavior to millions of us whose support she desperately needed.
I have several university degrees; for many of us there was an issue her supporters, especially Democratic officials, refused to honestly address-Clinton's behavior. We heard how she made a mistake, she apologized for her poor judgment. Enough! I know the law, you can't destroy evidence after you've been subpoenad. You can't do government work on an unsecured computer. You can't work for the government and a private foundation with work before the government. If everyone did this our society would not function!
There is a name for a country where people get rich in public service. There is a name for a country where the politically connected can flout the law: Argentina. The country spoke clearly-we don't want to live in Argentina!
If anyone had said, yes...she may have done illegal things and the rule of law must supersede other considerations and we support an impartial investigation and would support an indictment if it was recommended-but in the meantime he's too dangerous. We would have listened.
But instead you were smug. The thought of the rule of law being swept under the carpet, becoming a society where anyone can destroy evidence or compromise our security was more repulsive than Trump's childish behavior to millions of us whose support she desperately needed.
2
Mr. Brooks, you write coherent and sensible words here, but honestly, the truth is that we will have one of the most disgusting, uninformed, narcissistic, incompetent, etc., etc. presidents come late January. And the truth is that too many Republicans could not bring themselves to vote for a Democrat despite her superior temperament and many other qualifications. And the truth is that Paul Ryan is singularly responsible for the debacle with which we Americans are now facing after he told all Republicans to vote for Trump. Trump does not deserve the generosity that is now being bestow upon him. We have learned that horrible behavior has no consequences and that good guys finish last.
And another thought. I remember how many, many times President Obama reached out to you Republicans and was scorned in one way or another. Remember when President Obama met with you and other Republican journalists? I believe that the meeting occurred at your home, Mr. Brooks, possibly before he was actually sworn in. What a shame that all the Republicans bought into Mitch McConnell's decree: Let's make President Obama a one term president by obstructing everything he tries to achieve even if it benefits the American public.
And another thought. I remember how many, many times President Obama reached out to you Republicans and was scorned in one way or another. Remember when President Obama met with you and other Republican journalists? I believe that the meeting occurred at your home, Mr. Brooks, possibly before he was actually sworn in. What a shame that all the Republicans bought into Mitch McConnell's decree: Let's make President Obama a one term president by obstructing everything he tries to achieve even if it benefits the American public.
4
" ... his main problem is going to be his own attention span, ignorance and incompetence."
Yes, that is my greatest fear.
But a close second is the people he will bring in to run things.
Yes, that is my greatest fear.
But a close second is the people he will bring in to run things.
4
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
You still don't get it. While Trump's bloviating, others will be unlocking the the treasury for the Koch bros. and the like.
This is the ultimate example of Will Rogers' depiction of a Republican president saying "OK, boys, the register drawer is open and I'm looking the other way. Help yourselves"
That's what this is all about.
Let the looting of America begin.
You still don't get it. While Trump's bloviating, others will be unlocking the the treasury for the Koch bros. and the like.
This is the ultimate example of Will Rogers' depiction of a Republican president saying "OK, boys, the register drawer is open and I'm looking the other way. Help yourselves"
That's what this is all about.
Let the looting of America begin.
1
"But if you were stuck in a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill, and then along came a guy who seemed able to fix your problems and hear your voice, maybe you would ..."
Um. All the once silent, now suddenly (and shockingly) vocal Trump supporters I know don't fit this bill. At all. I know dozens of them. They live in the SF Bay Area/Sacramento (some are scattered in other metropolis areas like Chicago and New Orleans), they have money/good jobs. Many are immigrants or children of immigrants - that is, European immigrants. And are all white, Catholic/Christians (for whom I think abortion was the key issue), would say average education (maybe community college, not all), definitely Fox-watching, and most tellingly, live in bubble communities where maybe the minorities they know/interact with are either rich, famous athletes they like to brag about via selfies or the Hispanics who do their landscaping. But these people are not their friends.
I'm white/Catholic, too, but the difference between me and all those I refer to above is that I got an BA and MA from excellent institutions, have lived in different cities in the U.S. and around the world, so my critical thinking skills and circle of friends has expanded. And I read and inform myself on issues 24/7.
If you ask me, it comes down to the three E's: empathy, education, enlightenment (ie, self-awareness), which many of the people I know who voted for him lack.
Um. All the once silent, now suddenly (and shockingly) vocal Trump supporters I know don't fit this bill. At all. I know dozens of them. They live in the SF Bay Area/Sacramento (some are scattered in other metropolis areas like Chicago and New Orleans), they have money/good jobs. Many are immigrants or children of immigrants - that is, European immigrants. And are all white, Catholic/Christians (for whom I think abortion was the key issue), would say average education (maybe community college, not all), definitely Fox-watching, and most tellingly, live in bubble communities where maybe the minorities they know/interact with are either rich, famous athletes they like to brag about via selfies or the Hispanics who do their landscaping. But these people are not their friends.
I'm white/Catholic, too, but the difference between me and all those I refer to above is that I got an BA and MA from excellent institutions, have lived in different cities in the U.S. and around the world, so my critical thinking skills and circle of friends has expanded. And I read and inform myself on issues 24/7.
If you ask me, it comes down to the three E's: empathy, education, enlightenment (ie, self-awareness), which many of the people I know who voted for him lack.
2
Good luck with third parties. The media will not let them survive and even if they do, history says they will be libertarian or green, led by lightweights who cannot overcome their ideologies for common sense politics.
1
To love America you must love democracy. To love democracy you must support your leaders, even if you disagree with them.
I support the President of the United States, thus I support President Elect Trump. To be clear, I voted Clinton (and was nauseated to do so), but I support the President of these United Stated. I disagree with President Obama on many issues, but he was and is still my President, and in a few months, Trump will be my President. I accept that because I love my country, and divided we fail.
The NYTimes has been my primary news sources for several years now, and Jon Stewart convinced me Fox News was for fringe lunatics, in an echo chamber of hatred. I have noticed myself drifting from center-right to center-left as a result. Maybe the reason we were all stunned by the outcome is we are standing in our own coastal urban-love-fest progressive echo chamber. Instead of asking what is wrong with Fox News viewers, we need to ask how our world view leaves the majority of the electorate look in from a cold outside (as you had started, David). What if the NYTimes has distorted my world view, and I need to take off and clean my increasingly PC liberal glasses to understand our democracy?
Our democracy will fail if we assume that the winning side is wrong, rather than starting with self-reflection to understand how my world view left the citizens of the red states outside looking in for so long.
I support the President of the United States, thus I support President Elect Trump. To be clear, I voted Clinton (and was nauseated to do so), but I support the President of these United Stated. I disagree with President Obama on many issues, but he was and is still my President, and in a few months, Trump will be my President. I accept that because I love my country, and divided we fail.
The NYTimes has been my primary news sources for several years now, and Jon Stewart convinced me Fox News was for fringe lunatics, in an echo chamber of hatred. I have noticed myself drifting from center-right to center-left as a result. Maybe the reason we were all stunned by the outcome is we are standing in our own coastal urban-love-fest progressive echo chamber. Instead of asking what is wrong with Fox News viewers, we need to ask how our world view leaves the majority of the electorate look in from a cold outside (as you had started, David). What if the NYTimes has distorted my world view, and I need to take off and clean my increasingly PC liberal glasses to understand our democracy?
Our democracy will fail if we assume that the winning side is wrong, rather than starting with self-reflection to understand how my world view left the citizens of the red states outside looking in for so long.
4
I like your analysis but don't think a third party is the solution.
I am terrified that he can be impeached or resign in a year. The alleged children of darkness will become angrier.
I am terrified that he can be impeached or resign in a year. The alleged children of darkness will become angrier.
"Horrific election result" is just the beginning. And as more and more people protest what a GOP congress and president do, repression will come. "Law and order." Crack down.
My husband grew up in a dictatorship. Will he now have to die in another? We now live in a state (WI) which is already a virtual dictatorship where laws are passed and signed in the dead of night. And soon comes the US Dictatorship.
As protests turn violent, I wonder how many agitators from the far right are causing the violence - with the objective of bringing about a Coup. How long before troops patrol the streets?
David, do you recall speaking and writing in favor of a Strong Man less about two years ago?
My husband grew up in a dictatorship. Will he now have to die in another? We now live in a state (WI) which is already a virtual dictatorship where laws are passed and signed in the dead of night. And soon comes the US Dictatorship.
As protests turn violent, I wonder how many agitators from the far right are causing the violence - with the objective of bringing about a Coup. How long before troops patrol the streets?
David, do you recall speaking and writing in favor of a Strong Man less about two years ago?
1
In noting Trump's ignorance and incompetence, you remind me of German general Strasser disparaging the "blundering" American soldiers in the movie Casablanca. French captain Renault reminded Strasser, "We musn't underestimate 'American blundering.' I was with them when they 'blundered' into Berlin in 1918."
1
As a liberal l didn't listen when they railed against the failing public school system. Just racism I said to myself. Now I am confronted with the reality. Our public school educated brethren elected this jack o lantern because they cannot/ will not think critically and cannot separate rhetoric from reality. They told me this was coming but I didn't listen.
2
Good luck with that. In every election, the young vote majority Democratic. Then they grow up, pay taxes, get jobs, and pay mortgages.
After that, they vote Republican, especially when they see their money being wasted on people that refuse to work as hard as they do. It's the natural progression. Look, I voted for George McGovern, Carter, and Obama, but when the message just is not heard or just plain ignored, a message must be sent to Congress that Your Job is Next, if you don't listen.
After that, they vote Republican, especially when they see their money being wasted on people that refuse to work as hard as they do. It's the natural progression. Look, I voted for George McGovern, Carter, and Obama, but when the message just is not heard or just plain ignored, a message must be sent to Congress that Your Job is Next, if you don't listen.
1
Well, as usual, Mr. Brooks is the only NY Times op ed writer who makes sense to me. Speaking as an American lost somewhere in the middle, while I detest Trump and all (we think) he stands for, I can't seem to hate the folks I know who voted for him. The Dems left the working class behind long ago, and now they're paying for it. Did anyone hear Hillary say the word "men", let alone "white men" at any point during the debates? I didn't.
I know many good people who voted for a bad man, and knew it, but did it anyway out of desperation. While the Democratic elite in Brooklyn and San Francisco fret about bathroom rights for a fraction of one percent of the population, a lot of people out here in the boonies worry about putting food on the table and keeping their kids off of heroin. These people didn't vote for Trump so much as they voted for someone who promised to shake things up. Their lives are not good and getting worse, and they know it.
I hope David Brooks is correct about a third party. Clearly Trump will purge the GOP, which leaves people like John Kasich with nowhere to go. I for one am ready for a centrist party that is serious about putting our nation back together. The Dems can go off to la la land, and the evangelicals can have their Party of God led by a narcissistic hedonist. All I want is someone who can speak to the vast number of us caught in the middle.
I know many good people who voted for a bad man, and knew it, but did it anyway out of desperation. While the Democratic elite in Brooklyn and San Francisco fret about bathroom rights for a fraction of one percent of the population, a lot of people out here in the boonies worry about putting food on the table and keeping their kids off of heroin. These people didn't vote for Trump so much as they voted for someone who promised to shake things up. Their lives are not good and getting worse, and they know it.
I hope David Brooks is correct about a third party. Clearly Trump will purge the GOP, which leaves people like John Kasich with nowhere to go. I for one am ready for a centrist party that is serious about putting our nation back together. The Dems can go off to la la land, and the evangelicals can have their Party of God led by a narcissistic hedonist. All I want is someone who can speak to the vast number of us caught in the middle.
4
don't forget his vice presidential pick. if mr trump leaves for any reason, we will jump out of the frying pan and into the fire with mike pence as president.
3
Brooks meaningless label 'social/open' actually is what a Sanders-Warren party would seek to achieve, trade agreements that value workers and the health of communities over corporate profits - something no trade agreement in recent decades has ever sought. David, you're still blinded by the shock of the primaries, do us a favor, take some time off and let everything from the last year sink in - then come back with some fresh (but more accurate) perspectives.
And you are wrong. Impeachment isn't likely given the imbalance in Congress and soon the Supreme Court, and as other have pointed out, Pence is worse - perhaps worse that Cheney ever was.
And you are wrong. Impeachment isn't likely given the imbalance in Congress and soon the Supreme Court, and as other have pointed out, Pence is worse - perhaps worse that Cheney ever was.
1
Will you stop pretending that there are not outright white supremacists in this country? There are! Plenty.
They exist in both parties. But the Southern Strategy has been in play since Nixon. The aristocracy has played the race card on whites since the founding. How else did whites deal with their poverty while competing with slave labor?
Come on, Brooks. Get your head out of the sand.
They exist in both parties. But the Southern Strategy has been in play since Nixon. The aristocracy has played the race card on whites since the founding. How else did whites deal with their poverty while competing with slave labor?
Come on, Brooks. Get your head out of the sand.
6
I, too, believe that Trump's worst nightmare was waking up as POTUS. As a relatively new citizen (2008) I'm embarrassed that our citizenry has made this preening ignoramus the leader of the free world. But, hey, when you read social media, look at TV shows, listen to rap music...we have elected the president we deserve.President Trump is a mirror of our cultural choices.
3
I have heard more than one commentator mention that he'd resign or be impeached within the year. Since resigning would make him into a loser, that doesn't seem likely. So, who's going to do the impeaching, exactly?
1
I've been thinking for a long time that we really live in a four-party system, not two. This individual/social and open/closed idea really supports that.
Individual/Closed - Donald Trump, Sarah Palin
Individual/Open - Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush
Social/Open - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
Social/Closed - Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren
This time, Closed won.
This explains how a Bernie supporter could actually vote for Trump just as easily as they'd have a hard time voting for Hillary.
Individual/Closed - Donald Trump, Sarah Palin
Individual/Open - Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush
Social/Open - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
Social/Closed - Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren
This time, Closed won.
This explains how a Bernie supporter could actually vote for Trump just as easily as they'd have a hard time voting for Hillary.
2
I read further condescension as in perhaps we should understand the "deplorable ones" and perhaps there were more "deplorables" than we think. Oh goodness, did we forget the white working class?
I read the assumption that Trump will only do well as long as he is left "to bloviate while are left to run the country . . ." and oh goodness " the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." Remarkable pessimism or perhaps optimism that America under a Trump Administration will fail miserably. I guess it depends on your point of view. But optimism in failure is bad for this nation.
I read the assumption that Trump will only do well as long as he is left "to bloviate while are left to run the country . . ." and oh goodness " the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." Remarkable pessimism or perhaps optimism that America under a Trump Administration will fail miserably. I guess it depends on your point of view. But optimism in failure is bad for this nation.
2
Second, we simply don’t yet know how much racism or misogyny motivated Trump voters.
How many of them still would of voted Trump if Trump had been a woman, or a person of colour?
How many of them still would of voted Trump if Trump had been a woman, or a person of colour?
3
The third party Brooks describes perfectly encapsulates President Obama's worldview. As a progressive, I fear a third party would only help the GOP, which is now Trump's party, by splitting the social progressive vote. Sanders and Warren are undoubtedly popular within the party, but I think it would be unwise for the party to look to 70-something year old Senators to regain power. We need their voices, but we need fresh faces more.
Gavin Newsom in California is someone to keep on your radar. He is smart, articulate, and has fresh policy ideas. The Democrats have electoral success when they run people like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama--younger, new or somewhat new to DC politics, and capable of inspiring. When they nominate creatures of Washington like John Kerry or Hillary Clinton, they lose.
Gavin Newsom in California is someone to keep on your radar. He is smart, articulate, and has fresh policy ideas. The Democrats have electoral success when they run people like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama--younger, new or somewhat new to DC politics, and capable of inspiring. When they nominate creatures of Washington like John Kerry or Hillary Clinton, they lose.
David- While I of course appreciate your analysis as always, the disconnect between us alleged enlightened elites and our country brethren is the folks from the country have failed to understand after those jobs of yesteryear left you need to retool and find something else or move somewhere else. Most of us yuppies, despite our modern amenities and seemingly endless student debt, have lost jobs in the tough, old fashioned, unforgiving way too whereby you walk in one day and management pulls you and your cohorts in one and one to gut the department and hand your a box to clean out your belongings. Of course it's romantic and nostalgic to hearken, but this person who bamboozled this rural electorate to come out in droves (which btw Hillary won the popular so the people actually did speak & someone will have to explain why in 2016 we still use the electoral college at another time) to vote for him to turn back the hands of time, will soon find out they have been taken Trump University style bigly. Even if they haven't, they shown themselves as the rubes we thought they were. Bringing back jobs (which he won't) in exchange for turning a blind eye and electing a soulless bigot is not a fair trade in my estimation. Even if he were too, the lengths he has gone and things he has said can not and will not be swept under the rug and now forgotten. He's the worst of us and so are the people who voted for him.
1
Lincoln shouldn't have separated the US into two countries. We weren't ready yet. But now we are . We'd get much more done, much faster living in countries with our own ideologies. Let them have their guns and all the things that go along with a constitution written by white male slave owners.
1
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
Considering how wrong every pundit have been this probably means the twenty second amendment will be repealed and Trump will serve till he's a hundred.
Considering how wrong every pundit have been this probably means the twenty second amendment will be repealed and Trump will serve till he's a hundred.
1
One can only hope and pray that the United States and the world at this time can take the disruptions and shocks to the mind, American ideals and goals, and all aspects of life that are occurring and will occur from the changes underlying and being brought about by Mr. Trump's election and the way the changes will be implemented.
Would Mr. Brooks' approach work? Probably not. How could the people who agree with Mr. Brooks come and stay together in such disparate, divided, vengeful times?
See the recent book by Anu Partanen "The Nordic Theory of Everything. In Search of a Better Life."
Would Mr. Brooks' approach work? Probably not. How could the people who agree with Mr. Brooks come and stay together in such disparate, divided, vengeful times?
See the recent book by Anu Partanen "The Nordic Theory of Everything. In Search of a Better Life."
1
So Mr. Brooks pines for the "social/open" third way between Trump and Sanders/Warren. Um, was that not basically the agenda of both Bill and Hillary Clinton and the whole DLC mindset they legitimized? I simplify here but no more than he does.
1. These people aren't deplorables, but they are willfully ignorant and resistant to fact. Where that comes from I don't know. But a significant fraction don't believe in evolution, don't believe in climate change, don't believe in experts of any kind. Maybe that is a pre-requisite for believing in miracles, because these views don't come from carefully weighing facts--because they don't believe in facts. The media fed this ignorance with conspiracy theories and hype that somehow kept alive Hillary-is-Satan--and made this nonsense equivalent to Trump's horror-show of inadequacies.
2. No, the Dems aren't social-closed, that's idiocy. You can talk all you want about multiculturalism somehow preventing integration into our society but its just not true. Come meet the people I know, in my neighborhood. What prevents integration is the affluent removing their children from public schools, not some girls wearing hijab.
3. Are you kidding? You're predictions--and ours--have been wrong all along. He won't be out of office in a year. He'll be re-elected and find a way to repeal the 22nd amendment. If he doesn't kill us all first.
2. No, the Dems aren't social-closed, that's idiocy. You can talk all you want about multiculturalism somehow preventing integration into our society but its just not true. Come meet the people I know, in my neighborhood. What prevents integration is the affluent removing their children from public schools, not some girls wearing hijab.
3. Are you kidding? You're predictions--and ours--have been wrong all along. He won't be out of office in a year. He'll be re-elected and find a way to repeal the 22nd amendment. If he doesn't kill us all first.
1
Wow, powerful and true piece! I'm still stunned by the vote and embarrassed to be an American living abroad. Most people I come across wonder about the education and basic dignity of Americans. We have lost our moral souls. How could it be that we treat this charlatan as anything other than what he is, a charlatan! That also goes for the group of charlatans that he's taking with him to the White House. We will never have respect for them as they have smut all over their faces and bodies...
I can't see Trump serving. The one indubitable prerequisite required to be POTUS is discipline. The most glaringly obvious quality Trump lacks.
I believe he'll either resign or be impeached for dereliction of duty. There is no way you can sequester this man, proven last night when he began tweeting again.
Nothing positive comes from his serving opposed to him resigning. He can quell the angry masses and come out as the hero rather than the archenemy.
The media knives have already been sharpened and he hasn't even been sworn IN yet. It's all downhill from this point onward. Trump could never withstand the microscopic scrutiny.
He's currently at the height of his game. He personally put an end to both the Clinton and the Bush dynasties. His bragging rights are indisputable. He can stand toe to toe with both these families and be the superior one. His brand is now officially worth billions.
Trump knows a good deal when he see's one. The GOP debt he is owed will become his greatest asset absolving him from everything. I can't fathom them not encouraging the same. Explaining the risks versus the rewards. Judging by Pence's demure attitude I believe this is in the works - under the guise of quelling the riots and anger.
Trump is all about winning - he'll go down in the history books as being the second greatest shock to the USA and perhaps the entire world - the first being 911. Why would he ever throw all that away for just the opposite? He knows he can't do this job.
I believe he'll either resign or be impeached for dereliction of duty. There is no way you can sequester this man, proven last night when he began tweeting again.
Nothing positive comes from his serving opposed to him resigning. He can quell the angry masses and come out as the hero rather than the archenemy.
The media knives have already been sharpened and he hasn't even been sworn IN yet. It's all downhill from this point onward. Trump could never withstand the microscopic scrutiny.
He's currently at the height of his game. He personally put an end to both the Clinton and the Bush dynasties. His bragging rights are indisputable. He can stand toe to toe with both these families and be the superior one. His brand is now officially worth billions.
Trump knows a good deal when he see's one. The GOP debt he is owed will become his greatest asset absolving him from everything. I can't fathom them not encouraging the same. Explaining the risks versus the rewards. Judging by Pence's demure attitude I believe this is in the works - under the guise of quelling the riots and anger.
Trump is all about winning - he'll go down in the history books as being the second greatest shock to the USA and perhaps the entire world - the first being 911. Why would he ever throw all that away for just the opposite? He knows he can't do this job.
2
Impeachment or resignation within in a year? Come on, David, that's the same kind of wishful thinking that made us liberal elitists and the corrupt media believe Hillary would win handily, would be a great president in spite of Bill and the e-mail stuff, and that Donald would disappear into his Tower and mope, emerging only for court appearances.
1
I apparently fall into the category of upper middle class and in white America besides. Selfishly I suspect that Donald's promise to cut taxes and make America safer AND stronger will be a good thing for ME.
The irony is that I voted for Hillary while out of work folks from Ohio and Pennsylvania belived Trump when he said he would get back their jobs,etc. As I drove the 60 miles to my summer cottage I saw huge numbers of Trump signs in front of extremely modest rural homes. I really question how Donald will help these people.
The irony is that I voted for Hillary while out of work folks from Ohio and Pennsylvania belived Trump when he said he would get back their jobs,etc. As I drove the 60 miles to my summer cottage I saw huge numbers of Trump signs in front of extremely modest rural homes. I really question how Donald will help these people.
1
Anyone with a whit of memory will recall that after the 2008 and 2012 elections Brooks along with his neocon pals were talking only of how to get Republicans back into the White House. NEVER was there a discussion of the flawed policies and bankrupt ideology of the American Right and NeoCons in particular.
This is the fruition of the Nixon Southern Strategy and Reagan pandering to the Moral Majority rabble. The KKK is even having a victory march this weekend in Alabama or one of those deplorable-rich states. But, the blame for Trump cannot be laid only at the feet of the Republicans. The real issue is that the two-party system is really two sides of one coin. Democrats through an equivalent moral and institutional corruption delivered one of the most vile and arrogant candidates to run for office in Hillary Clinton. Few Democrats could not have beaten Trump (Barbara Lee comes to mind), but the DNC being as utterly corrupt as the Republicans, and likely cheaper to buy, chose Hillary.
Hopefully the New Democrats will go the way of New Labor, and the Republicans can stay in Hell. And by the way David- Your party finally won the White House. Celebrate.
This is the fruition of the Nixon Southern Strategy and Reagan pandering to the Moral Majority rabble. The KKK is even having a victory march this weekend in Alabama or one of those deplorable-rich states. But, the blame for Trump cannot be laid only at the feet of the Republicans. The real issue is that the two-party system is really two sides of one coin. Democrats through an equivalent moral and institutional corruption delivered one of the most vile and arrogant candidates to run for office in Hillary Clinton. Few Democrats could not have beaten Trump (Barbara Lee comes to mind), but the DNC being as utterly corrupt as the Republicans, and likely cheaper to buy, chose Hillary.
Hopefully the New Democrats will go the way of New Labor, and the Republicans can stay in Hell. And by the way David- Your party finally won the White House. Celebrate.
1
I am left feeling betrayed by the Trump voters who, to find an outlet for their anger and a false god for their fears, are willing to trample the fine heart of this nation and endanger its future.
1
Does anyone really think that the GOP controlled Congress will be willing to put up with a loose cannon like Trump? Is he even a Republican? Not a chance, especially with the "real Republican" Mike Pence sitting in the wings.
I totally agree. Trump will be impeached in the near future, and the Republican Congress will absolutely line up to make it happen.
I totally agree. Trump will be impeached in the near future, and the Republican Congress will absolutely line up to make it happen.
Populism is supposed to be a warning sign, it is not supposed to win. The hyperbolic rants are supposed to excite the followers into believing something must be done even if the proposed solutions are impractical. If the ignorance and mean spiritedness actually win, then you have the dog that caught the car.
I have watched the greed and stupidity of the Republican cohorts since Reagan. Quit fighting it. Like the bad part in 2001-Space Odyssey let it fail. Like Jindal in Louisiana and Brownback in Kansas let them have the stage.
Let's see how close the "Evangelicals" really want to get to the end.
I have watched the greed and stupidity of the Republican cohorts since Reagan. Quit fighting it. Like the bad part in 2001-Space Odyssey let it fail. Like Jindal in Louisiana and Brownback in Kansas let them have the stage.
Let's see how close the "Evangelicals" really want to get to the end.
2
Sign me up for this movement! Thank you Mr. Brooks for challenging us to stay in learning mode with empathy, humility and curiosity instead of giving in to the same forces of anger and fear that created President Trump in the first place.
2
Trump ain't gonna quit. He's gonna love heralding every single success - no matter how slight - as the most impressive, monumental accomplishment since the moon landing, Hoover dam, and VJ day all rolled into one.
Get ready to see president Trump at endless photo ops of bridge openings, runway repairs, and pothole fillings. The press will cover it ad nauseam, republican politicians will fight to stand next to him on the stage, and his supports will absolutely eat it up.
Get ready to see president Trump at endless photo ops of bridge openings, runway repairs, and pothole fillings. The press will cover it ad nauseam, republican politicians will fight to stand next to him on the stage, and his supports will absolutely eat it up.
47
Trump is not wrong to ask why we do what we do?
It is extremely disingenuous to assume all his supporters were racists.
Everybody knows there is a system. A system where very few people can get this job. Trump broke it.
The system allows everybody in it to sound the same and discourages (or more like bans differentiation). You are republican, you should sound like small govt, no regulations, free trade, gun lover, strong foreign policy, and antiabortion. You are democratic, you should sound like diversity lover, friendly falsely foreign policy, antiabortion, govt helping people, free trade, some regulations, safety gun (wink), and so on.
If you ask any rep or dem why free trade, the answer is the same cause it is good for business...no critical thinking there.
If you ask them, why so much interference in the foreign world, again, same talking points, and no truth.
Trump, asked hard questions and mocked the talking points. Why US feels obligated to give so much money and assistance in military to the world, when racking up deficit? What happens if US pulls back foreign and interference for only 4yrs? How much money can it save to pay back its deficit?
Of course the answers to the above questions are known: we are involved in the world because we do not produce anything materially and still need to keep power by manipulating finances. but no politician will ever say that.
Trump did and added, he does not want to be involved in the world. He wants to build US now!
It is extremely disingenuous to assume all his supporters were racists.
Everybody knows there is a system. A system where very few people can get this job. Trump broke it.
The system allows everybody in it to sound the same and discourages (or more like bans differentiation). You are republican, you should sound like small govt, no regulations, free trade, gun lover, strong foreign policy, and antiabortion. You are democratic, you should sound like diversity lover, friendly falsely foreign policy, antiabortion, govt helping people, free trade, some regulations, safety gun (wink), and so on.
If you ask any rep or dem why free trade, the answer is the same cause it is good for business...no critical thinking there.
If you ask them, why so much interference in the foreign world, again, same talking points, and no truth.
Trump, asked hard questions and mocked the talking points. Why US feels obligated to give so much money and assistance in military to the world, when racking up deficit? What happens if US pulls back foreign and interference for only 4yrs? How much money can it save to pay back its deficit?
Of course the answers to the above questions are known: we are involved in the world because we do not produce anything materially and still need to keep power by manipulating finances. but no politician will ever say that.
Trump did and added, he does not want to be involved in the world. He wants to build US now!
13
I don't think he'll be gone within a year, no real reason to think so.
My biggest fear is that 1) he won't have a competent cabinet to feed him good stuff, because all reasonable and competent people have distanced themselves from him, and 2) He'll turn a blind eye to Putin and Putin will have a free Machiavellian run, which is the worst news for everyone in the world, the worst.
I'm honestly much less worried about America here than about the world. This presidency will affect foreign countries much more negatively than the US. For those who think this doesn't matter for America, it won't matter in the short run but it will matter greatly in the long run, long after the guy with the unmentionable name is gone.
My biggest fear is that 1) he won't have a competent cabinet to feed him good stuff, because all reasonable and competent people have distanced themselves from him, and 2) He'll turn a blind eye to Putin and Putin will have a free Machiavellian run, which is the worst news for everyone in the world, the worst.
I'm honestly much less worried about America here than about the world. This presidency will affect foreign countries much more negatively than the US. For those who think this doesn't matter for America, it won't matter in the short run but it will matter greatly in the long run, long after the guy with the unmentionable name is gone.
1
College educated here. Way. Maybe too much. But, I don't condescend to the folks in Ohio, PA, Detroit, etc., who's local economies are hollowed out shells, etc. I just believe, as I have since Reagan was elected, that they've been bamboozled, lied to and yet again will be told that things are great even when they are not. The draining of the swamp will be the draining of economy. The data says things are better in many ways - jobs reports, etc., but things haven't gotten better enough for enough folks. So now Mr. Shoot from the hip is gonna blow things up. I hear Ross Perot's sucking sound in the distance. Jobs, economic stability, etc. are what's gonna drain. And where will frustration be unleashed? I predict Mexicans, gays, etc. And Donald will be unscathed, as he has been.
1
Don't worry so much about what to do next. This was an extinction event. Just because you don't see the immediate effects the day after doesn't mean we lived through it. America as we know it is over. Europe is probably over too. Who knows what the emerging new order of things will look like, or even if the planet will sustain future civilizations after we roll back EPA regulations and climate change accords. Phyllis Tickle and others have written of a coming upheaval in the order of western civilization on the same order of magnitude as the enlightenment. This is it.
3
David, you wrote "...a warning sign that there is some deeper dysfunction..."
The deepest dysfunction is that a (near) majority of Americans have lost their critical thinking skills and their ability to continuously improve both themselves and the systems of society. The end result we saw Tuesday is that these people felt it was better to destroy the system and build who knows what, from scratch. That almost never works.
The deepest dysfunction is that a (near) majority of Americans have lost their critical thinking skills and their ability to continuously improve both themselves and the systems of society. The end result we saw Tuesday is that these people felt it was better to destroy the system and build who knows what, from scratch. That almost never works.
5
Brooks should have come out early and strong for Clinton to prevent this mess. The fighter is the man in the arena, not the one carping from the sidelines.
On the DNC, the fact that Donna Brazile did the post mortem pep talk for the DNC - when she was exposed for passing on debate questions to Clinton's people (how on earth could she think email in the DNC would be secure?) - says the party is not changing. The DNC ran the same poor race that they did for Gore - completely out of touch - they made Clinton, a strong jobs growth and infrastructure-building candidate, look like a Beyonce/Jay Z groupie!
On the DNC, the fact that Donna Brazile did the post mortem pep talk for the DNC - when she was exposed for passing on debate questions to Clinton's people (how on earth could she think email in the DNC would be secure?) - says the party is not changing. The DNC ran the same poor race that they did for Gore - completely out of touch - they made Clinton, a strong jobs growth and infrastructure-building candidate, look like a Beyonce/Jay Z groupie!
1
Sorry Mr. Brooks but the plain fact is you are trying to explain away why the German people wound up with Adolph Hitler. It was their own fault.
The left behind losing and lost lives of Trump's voters in rural America, their opiate habits, all of it are first, last and always their own fault. No one can save them from themselves and like a lot who have believed in and voted for governments that have tried every kind of way to assist them, I am tired of caring about what happens to them. I'm done with voting to help people who are too ignorant to help themselves.
They voted for their own misery. I know longer care what becomes of them.
The left behind losing and lost lives of Trump's voters in rural America, their opiate habits, all of it are first, last and always their own fault. No one can save them from themselves and like a lot who have believed in and voted for governments that have tried every kind of way to assist them, I am tired of caring about what happens to them. I'm done with voting to help people who are too ignorant to help themselves.
They voted for their own misery. I know longer care what becomes of them.
5
Mr. Brooks, your last line says it all. In other words hope for quick change just like your "disanfranchised" voted for quick change under the Trump banner.
That way we will go back to our nice little life in short order.
You like symbolism. Here is some right down your alley.
Michelangelo took several attempts at the Pieta (These were the days when you could not run a simulation). In mid course, he realized that he needed to reevaluate and regroup. Hence came a succession of 3D marbled attempts where a genius was trying to bring life and humanity forth. The frozen pieces seem to capture the tension between the past (frozen habits) and the future (anticipation of freedom).
All the experiments are resting in a museum.
To move forward we have to first identify the problem. Barriers to light are the white nativists (stuck in the 50s with no changes needed, marbled-frozen so-called extreme conservatives/bigots/supremacists/...) and potentially the ultraliberals who want nothing but (blinding) light.
Trump is no Michelangelo, that is for sure. You cannot get a "thinking soul" out of a turnip. Hillary would have cobbled us up along.
In the meantime Trump Guliani Gingrich Christie Bannon and their roughneck henchmen feel like a demolition crew straigth out of a marble quarry.
That way we will go back to our nice little life in short order.
You like symbolism. Here is some right down your alley.
Michelangelo took several attempts at the Pieta (These were the days when you could not run a simulation). In mid course, he realized that he needed to reevaluate and regroup. Hence came a succession of 3D marbled attempts where a genius was trying to bring life and humanity forth. The frozen pieces seem to capture the tension between the past (frozen habits) and the future (anticipation of freedom).
All the experiments are resting in a museum.
To move forward we have to first identify the problem. Barriers to light are the white nativists (stuck in the 50s with no changes needed, marbled-frozen so-called extreme conservatives/bigots/supremacists/...) and potentially the ultraliberals who want nothing but (blinding) light.
Trump is no Michelangelo, that is for sure. You cannot get a "thinking soul" out of a turnip. Hillary would have cobbled us up along.
In the meantime Trump Guliani Gingrich Christie Bannon and their roughneck henchmen feel like a demolition crew straigth out of a marble quarry.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." This, from Brooks who denied Trump ever could ever get the GOP nomination, and who categorically denied that Trump would ever be elected.
Trump is just the current darling of the uneducated, low-info American right, which Brooks has long fostered, enabled, promoted. Trump's bigotry, racism, and misogyny are not new in the GOP or with Trump; he's peddled his lies and displayed his bottomless ignorance for a long time.
So, now Brooks tells us that Trump will either quit or be shoveled into limbo. Yes, Brooks believes in fairy tales. Trump won't quit. He may let others do the actual work, like the radical religious Pence, thick-skulled Newt, rabid Rudy, and Chris Crispy Creme, who altogether won't add up to one good brain.
And Trump won't be impeached because that would mean going against a GOP thug majority in Congress, the tea bag party contingent and the other know-nothings that live there. Why on earth should they impeach him when he says and believes everything they do, when he's their guy? The GOP bought the entire lot of Trump's crimes and misdemeanors already, with relish.
So, we must question Brooks worthiness as an opinionator and his repeated refrain about poor white guys who no longer have robotic jobs for life on good salary with benefits. They alone didn't elect Trump. The GOP's comfortable, ignorant, ill-informed, selfish mob did.
And the mob truly is deplorable.
Trump is just the current darling of the uneducated, low-info American right, which Brooks has long fostered, enabled, promoted. Trump's bigotry, racism, and misogyny are not new in the GOP or with Trump; he's peddled his lies and displayed his bottomless ignorance for a long time.
So, now Brooks tells us that Trump will either quit or be shoveled into limbo. Yes, Brooks believes in fairy tales. Trump won't quit. He may let others do the actual work, like the radical religious Pence, thick-skulled Newt, rabid Rudy, and Chris Crispy Creme, who altogether won't add up to one good brain.
And Trump won't be impeached because that would mean going against a GOP thug majority in Congress, the tea bag party contingent and the other know-nothings that live there. Why on earth should they impeach him when he says and believes everything they do, when he's their guy? The GOP bought the entire lot of Trump's crimes and misdemeanors already, with relish.
So, we must question Brooks worthiness as an opinionator and his repeated refrain about poor white guys who no longer have robotic jobs for life on good salary with benefits. They alone didn't elect Trump. The GOP's comfortable, ignorant, ill-informed, selfish mob did.
And the mob truly is deplorable.
1
The irony here is that the Democrats over the past several decades--certainly the Clinton and Obama administrations--have in fact been open/social. That's been the dominant strain in the party. After all, the Clinton administration promoted NAFTA, and the Obama administration has been promoting the TPP. So there's no need to found a new party. Brooks' description of the party as closed/social is a fear of what the party might become, not what it has been.
That fact, in turn, prompts the question: Why haven't you been a Democrat all along, David?
That fact, in turn, prompts the question: Why haven't you been a Democrat all along, David?
3
When the KKK is planning a celebration march in NC in December after the Electoral College vote- you know our country is in deep trouble. I am more troubled by the GOP controlling Congress than Trump at this point. Reproductive Rights, Gay Rights, and our caring for clean water, clean air- will be going out the window. Pence is worse than Trump. He wants to turn our country, along with the Tea Party into a Theocracy. I feel like we are entering the Dark Ages. It is a national nightmare.
4
There is zero chance Trump will be impeached and even if he were that leaves us with Pence, a guy who would look great in a pilgrim hat while sentencing witches to death.
3
It's this kind of attitude and inaction that has historically allowed all dictators to to gather power. No, this is not the time to extend the other cheek. We have taken enough punches on the chin. This is the time to push back and let them know we are not going to take their racism lying down. It is our time to roar back.
2
I'm trying to think of a candidate that was Social/Open. Someone who was strongly for early child education and also supported trade and open borders. Can't put my finger on it. Oh well, I guess time to start a new party right?
2
Glad to hear the obstructionist republicans and their not bigoted followers are now all about infrastructure spending. Guess the black president should have proposed that. Oh, that's right. The black socialist president did propose that. Go figure
2
Let's never forget that Hillary Clinton won half a million more votes than Trump. Every article should start with "Trump, who lost the popular vote...".
Unless we change our crazy electoral college system, this is going to happen to Democrats more and more frequently. The press needs to keep hammering on this.
Unless we change our crazy electoral college system, this is going to happen to Democrats more and more frequently. The press needs to keep hammering on this.
1
Why is Trump's election a surprise? For decades, Republicans have pushed themes of fear and terror and distrust. Remember Nixon's Southern Strategy? Or Erhlichman's recent confession that the war on drugs was a political effort to punish and suppress its enemies?
No, the party of law & order, family values, principles first have elected this..... May God have mercy on our souls.
No, the party of law & order, family values, principles first have elected this..... May God have mercy on our souls.
1
Mr. Brooks, perhaps you or others will provide specific details of what "programs to rebuild community, foster economic security and boost mobility" would look like, how they will accomplish these lofty objectives, and how they will be funded. Without these details, today's piece is a waste of column-inches.
I agree that Trump won't last four years. He's only been without Twitter for 2 weeks and he won't be able to keep up the telepromptered version of himself for very long. (Remember that teleprompters were bad before they were good, like so many of his views.) Most likely he will hire outside contractors to preside over the nation, go golfing, and then stiff them (like his father did my wife's stonemason grandfather) when they present him the bill.
1
Rich white Republicans fooled the populace into voting for their guy. Voters bought the lies and voted for a narcissistic racist misogynist. Instead the old white guys will run the show again, Trump will not follow through on his promises (let's face it, they were all unrealistic anyway), and the only people who will benefit is the old white guys.
Trump stepping down or getting impeached does not comfort me at all. Pence is dangerous, more dangerous than Trump. Be ready for Christian Sharia law.
Trump stepping down or getting impeached does not comfort me at all. Pence is dangerous, more dangerous than Trump. Be ready for Christian Sharia law.
2
My fear is on par with Brooks. Trump's ignorance will make him lean into others much more than previous presidents. He will fill his cabinet with alt-right, far-right, and establishment politicians. Playing to Trump's ignorance they will pull his strings like a puppet. People like Mitch Mcconnell will become luminaries for republican ideals, policies, and legislation. He will use Trump for his own agenda. The anti-establishment Trump will become the establishment's hammer.
David, start the Party. I'm in. If there are any rational people left who want government to be fiscally responsible, socially tolerant, and offer sound measures to keep us and the world safe, show them to me. I'll bet he first to sign up.
The Republican Party has been nourishing the ascent of the know-nothings for years. The Tea Party, Sarah Palin, climate-change deniers, Sean Hannity and Fox News ---- they thought, however, that they could just use them for their own ends while keeping them without real power. From that fertile soil grows the fascist, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, insulting, pugilistic bully Trump. The 50%+ of us who didn't consider him viable based that outlook on our belief that the majority of Americans did not share those values. "He's a strong leader," "he's more trustworthy," and now, "that was just politics, he doesn't really believe those things" --- the last statement is the one that we pathetically pin our hopes on. Our other hope is that, based on what we know about Trump, he doesn't really want to govern any more than he knows how to be a statesman. That's a sad hope as we have to fear for the individuals that he will rely on to do his governing for him. And now, the pigs are at the trough, as we say in the business world.
1
'After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year.' From your mouth into God's ear. But what can happen in a year? The end of the world as we know it. And actually, we have a pretty good idea of the misogyny/bigotry among Trump voters. There's those who are bigots and know and say they hate, there's those who are bigots but say they don't hate, and there's those who are bigots who don't actually hate, they just enable haters and hating. Among the enablers there are those who just vote and do ordinary stuff, mostly keeping quiet, there are those who organize and think they can keep control, and those who rabble-rouse and convert others to the ways and advantages of hatred. It takes a village, David Brooks, or, in this case, the Republican Party.
It was heartening to watch David Brooks on PBS. His body language and non-verbal cues were far more revealing than his words.
Fundamental questions are not asked in this essay though.
What will it take to force Trump and his cohort out of office ASAP? All polls must be examined for their extraordinary flaws or should we examine the computers in Florida, and Ohio? Why is James Comey still at the head of the FBI? If the outcome of the election is improbable, who believes that Trump is legitimate?
Trump insulted Obama with his groundless birther cult. Should he face inquiries about his genuine ties to Manafort and Carter Page and any linkage to Wikileaks/Assange?
Brooks plays the speculator when he should be warning his friends in the Republican Party that cooperation with Trump may be political suicide. He may be impeached and imprisoned and their loyalty to him may finally destroy the cabal that the Kochs and Adelson contrived.
Fundamental questions are not asked in this essay though.
What will it take to force Trump and his cohort out of office ASAP? All polls must be examined for their extraordinary flaws or should we examine the computers in Florida, and Ohio? Why is James Comey still at the head of the FBI? If the outcome of the election is improbable, who believes that Trump is legitimate?
Trump insulted Obama with his groundless birther cult. Should he face inquiries about his genuine ties to Manafort and Carter Page and any linkage to Wikileaks/Assange?
Brooks plays the speculator when he should be warning his friends in the Republican Party that cooperation with Trump may be political suicide. He may be impeached and imprisoned and their loyalty to him may finally destroy the cabal that the Kochs and Adelson contrived.
1
HRC spoke eloquently and movingly about people without jobs, with children who OD'd on heroin. And she knew politics well enough to actually do something about the problems. But the Trump voter either fell for the media's demonization of this highly qualified woman, or was just flat-out stupid, or it really was racism and misogyny that drove their vote.
2
This is a very revealing column. We already have a party that is "social/open"—that would be the Democratic Party. Nor is the GOP going to be made individual/closed by Trump, because it already is that way—that's what the 1% and 47% and Trump are all about. How interesting it is that David doesn't get this!
The press, the pollsters, and even Brooks himself, got the election wrong because they did not do the field work and refused to listen to any report that didn't agree with their biased thinking. Much of the US and indeed much of the world is fed up with big government, and for the first time in a very long while, someone has come along who says so out loud. We don't need a third party so much as we need leaders who actually put the good of the country ahead of trying to stay in office. And we need a press that actually listens to the public and writes about issues rather than listening to each other and saying things to please their government to keep their sources. The Iraq war and the housing bubble certainly made that clear but the press still doesn't get it. Going back to a government of, by and for the people is long overdue.
And we are stuck with the ultra conservative republicans whose policies have ruined the world over the last 40 years
2
The third party will hopefully learn from the mistakes of the Democrats and Clinton campaign, who abandoned the white working class voters.
According to articles in the NYT for example:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/politics/hillary-clinton-campaign.html
Mrs. Clinton was invited to "address a prestigious St. Patrick’s Day gathering at the University of Notre Dame....But Mrs. Clinton’s campaign refused, explaining to the organizers that white Catholics were not the audience she needed to spend time reaching out to."
From another NYT article on 11/10, I was astounded to learn that the Clinton campaign was so confident about Wisconsin that they had hardly run ads there.
Let us unite, be respectful to all, and most importantly be especially wary about the people who advise President-elect Trump. Not all who voted for Trump are deplorable racists and misogynists; they are not all asking that we stop caring for minorities and LGBTQ, they are merely asking the country to not ignore them, for this is their country too.
According to articles in the NYT for example:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/politics/hillary-clinton-campaign.html
Mrs. Clinton was invited to "address a prestigious St. Patrick’s Day gathering at the University of Notre Dame....But Mrs. Clinton’s campaign refused, explaining to the organizers that white Catholics were not the audience she needed to spend time reaching out to."
From another NYT article on 11/10, I was astounded to learn that the Clinton campaign was so confident about Wisconsin that they had hardly run ads there.
Let us unite, be respectful to all, and most importantly be especially wary about the people who advise President-elect Trump. Not all who voted for Trump are deplorable racists and misogynists; they are not all asking that we stop caring for minorities and LGBTQ, they are merely asking the country to not ignore them, for this is their country too.
1
Your party built this monster called Trump. Your party needs to take him down. The fox not only in the hen house. The fox owns the hen house.
America is in deep trouble. Our democracy is in peril. It is not time to form a movement. It is time to take action.
America is in deep trouble. Our democracy is in peril. It is not time to form a movement. It is time to take action.
2
Sorry, but right now I can only consider that anyone who voted for Trump failed the IQ test. It was an easy one: there was only one question on it, we had many months to prepare, and there were a huge number of hints for anyone who needed them. I'm sorry if that sounds Manichaean, and even sorrier that we failed.
Although I understand that there are many reasons that Trump supporters voted for him. I'm not as forgiving as Mr. Brooks. Whatever their reasons, they voted for a man knowing that he is obviously morally bankrupt. I fear that they just elected a fascist President and gave him both houses of Congress. Any damage he does, they own.
3
I sincerely hope David Brooks is correct when he closes with the thought that Trump will either resign or be impeached within a year. He looks like a deer in headlights. I don't think he expected to win, and I suspect he's every aware of his own total ignorance and inexperience in EVEYR matter he'll be called upon to deal with. Given his lack of requisite skills, his temperament, and the substance-free, reality-show lifestyle he's used to leading, it's hard to imagine him lasting very long in the Presidency.
1
A Republican Congress will impeach Trump? We can engage in all the political theory discussions we want, but people are being harassed today in the name of Trump's victory - actions need to be taken today to keep people safe. Any suggestions?
Where does the acceptance of the value of science fit in? Seems okay to accept the advice of a physician, but reject environmental science. Help me understand as you are really good at it. Thanks.
I saw your angst, your pain on election night on the only news channel worth watching on television and I felt the same David. It was a restless night as I went to bed before the calamitous electoral state fell and HIllary made that call in the early morning. You are, as always, profound and thoughtful in your analysis and hopefully prescient in the quick demise of Donald Trump as our chief executive, the man who cannot withhold things now from the American people as we will see the emperor in all his phantom regalia. It won't be pretty. But more importantly and seriously, this country does need a third, viable option, a party willing to move toward and embrace the challenge of colossal change. The third graders I subbed for yesterday demonstrate it as they grasp their Chromebooks and pull up their language arts and math assignments online, showing skills that boggle this Baby Boomer. That is hope that won't (unless there's another huge upset) be found in our new President.
" “Change It! Change It! CHAAAANGE IT!”" But it can't be changed - and so the "Coasts" are stuck with a president they abhor elected by a system - the Electoral College - which they consider to be unfair. And so Californians are facing a choice to secede; yes - secede and there is a determined effort under yescalifonia.org to gain momentum for this "Change."
Once upon a long time ago (the 60's) California was white bread America inhabited largely by decedents of European immigrants (San Francisco) and Okies (Southern Cal.) and it was representative of America. Now, at 48 million, it is a state populated largely populated by immigrants from Asia nations and Latin countries; many arrived as illegals and still do. As such it is now a state foreign to the rest of America. These newest Californians are Californians first and Americans second. They completely lack a quality know as "institutional memory." They have no grandfathers who fought in WWII - so they are weak on allegiance. They also are ignorant of Judeo-Christian value and belief and so they are agnostic at best, hostile to religion at worst. Along with a few other conclaves with similar formation (think New York City) they are outcasts to the rest of America.
And so I say - go go go yescalofrnia.org. Please - sometimes "leaving is best for all - now it's one of those times.
Once upon a long time ago (the 60's) California was white bread America inhabited largely by decedents of European immigrants (San Francisco) and Okies (Southern Cal.) and it was representative of America. Now, at 48 million, it is a state populated largely populated by immigrants from Asia nations and Latin countries; many arrived as illegals and still do. As such it is now a state foreign to the rest of America. These newest Californians are Californians first and Americans second. They completely lack a quality know as "institutional memory." They have no grandfathers who fought in WWII - so they are weak on allegiance. They also are ignorant of Judeo-Christian value and belief and so they are agnostic at best, hostile to religion at worst. Along with a few other conclaves with similar formation (think New York City) they are outcasts to the rest of America.
And so I say - go go go yescalofrnia.org. Please - sometimes "leaving is best for all - now it's one of those times.
Thank you for many of your insights here, but honestly, we just HAD your third party, and that was Barack Obama's two terms! Every single criterion you mentioned for that third party, it's exactly how he's tried to govern. But he was thwarted by the underlying structure of government, particularly the obstructionism of a hyper-partisan Congress.
So yes, maybe we need a third party, or maybe more parties, and then we'd go to a parliamentary system, of sorts. But actually, I think we need a bunch of constitutional amendments, and I'm ready to start marching to Washington regularly to get them. How about: change in congressional district assignment methods, so districts are regularly competitive and there's no more gerrymandering. And how about term limits. I could go on and on...
So yes, maybe we need a third party, or maybe more parties, and then we'd go to a parliamentary system, of sorts. But actually, I think we need a bunch of constitutional amendments, and I'm ready to start marching to Washington regularly to get them. How about: change in congressional district assignment methods, so districts are regularly competitive and there's no more gerrymandering. And how about term limits. I could go on and on...
I always find it fascinating when people use David Brooks like a punching bag. He is the critically endangered "moderate republican" that people constantly bemoan the loss of. Nearly all of his articles are about finding compromise with his liberal readership. The constant bashers expose themselves as nothing but the partisans they claim to deplore.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
As divisive and disrupting as Trump may be, keep in mind how many predictions have been wrong during the past 18 months. Mr. Brooks has made his share of errors. How do people know how to react without seeing what unfolds over the next six months? We need to be careful not to set the country on fire--this does not mean there should not be considered resistance.
I would bet a nice dinner--not at Manhattan prices--that Trump is not impeached within a year. He has a Republican congress at his back, even if there are serious internal divisions.
Democrats lost blue collar workers. We need to be careful about demonizing half our population. This is in spite of all Trump's visible flaws. We should be suspicious of predictions.
As divisive and disrupting as Trump may be, keep in mind how many predictions have been wrong during the past 18 months. Mr. Brooks has made his share of errors. How do people know how to react without seeing what unfolds over the next six months? We need to be careful not to set the country on fire--this does not mean there should not be considered resistance.
I would bet a nice dinner--not at Manhattan prices--that Trump is not impeached within a year. He has a Republican congress at his back, even if there are serious internal divisions.
Democrats lost blue collar workers. We need to be careful about demonizing half our population. This is in spite of all Trump's visible flaws. We should be suspicious of predictions.
1
Will Trump be alone and isolated because Ryan and McConnell desert him? Or because the American people do? One of those two things will happen in the first 6 months.
This is a temporary phenomenon, bad things can happen in the meantime but be ready to pick up the pieces and reestablish a competent and progressive coalition as David mentions. There will be voters ready to go back to sanity.
This is a temporary phenomenon, bad things can happen in the meantime but be ready to pick up the pieces and reestablish a competent and progressive coalition as David mentions. There will be voters ready to go back to sanity.
All is good, I am trying to spin the Trump win in a positive light, knowing the past is gone and wallowing in it is pointless.
Change is sometimes the best thing to happen, I hope Mr. Trump brings positive change for everyone, not just his uninformed followers, or his fellow aRepublicans, but all of us who must now exist within the USA until 2020 when we get a chance to either fix or promote the Trump experience
Change is sometimes the best thing to happen, I hope Mr. Trump brings positive change for everyone, not just his uninformed followers, or his fellow aRepublicans, but all of us who must now exist within the USA until 2020 when we get a chance to either fix or promote the Trump experience
1
Even the thought of Trump leaving office within his first year is cold comfort when considering the damage he will have wrought. Trump will surely appoint a far-right Supreme Court Justice right away; he will have a Cabinet staffed with incendiary figures like Giuliani, Bolton, Christie, Dannon; and Pence will be left President. The divisiveness of a Trump presidnecy may well outlive his time in the White House.
1
First reaction: yes, our best hope is that the 60 million or so Americans who thought they voted for Donald Trump as their president will actually get The Donald as their ribbon-cutter, first-ball thrower, wreath-layer, turkey-pardoner, and Ivanka Trump as their president.
Brooks started out pretty good claiming that dismissing Trump supporters as racists and xenophobes won't help. He then uses the exact terms to describe Trump and continue the high and mighty condescension he himself describes (correctly) that lead to Trump'a victory.
Here's the thing in my opinion. Trump supporters are "I'm not a bigot but I voted for one" . Does this make you a bigot too? It's interesting that in our white supremacist nation, we have a special dispensation for the white working class( didn't working class blokes of other races suffer from recession etc?). This allows us not to question why only one group happily bought trumps racist message. Oh, and we are also supposed to feel guilty that we failed to listen to their views. Now that I've seen what motivates them, I'm not at all surprised that we tuned them out.
Impeached within a year? And then comes Pence who is a far right wing Jesus lover with his followers in Congress willing to impose religion on all. Separation of church and politics? Republicans are out of touch with reality and will soon realize that the opposition is stronger than they believe. With their coming policies, violence will be rampant on the streets of America.
1
Mr. Trump is a bigot, to be sure. Someone who says he can’t get a fair judgment from a judge since the judge is Hispanic is undoubtedly a bigot. Someone who brags about grabbing women’s genitals is a misogynist. But the mistake of this newspaper and of the Clinton campaign was to focus on Mr. Trump’s words, and not his deeds. It’s as if we all just couldn’t get beyond the fact that he says these outrageous things, which prevented us from seeing that it’s part of the Trump “act” – a finely tuned show designed specifically to exploit people who have no hope, no money, and no job, and live in places the rest of us drive through or fly over. Are some of those people bigots, like Mr. Trump? Of course. But the rust belt rural counties of the Northeast and Middle West didn’t vote for Trump because everybody hates people of a different color there. They voted for Trump because their job got shipped to Mexico. Because they lost their houses and retirement pensions when Wall Street greed drove this country’s economy into the ground. Because they bought Trump’s narrative about himself--a guy who built an empire on hard work and an understanding of the business world who didn’t want to be President but felt no one was stepping up to protect the little guy. If this newspaper had spent more time upending this narrative and showing Mr. Trump’s hypocrisy and fraud, and less time being aghast at his crudeness, we might have won this election.
2
I will not live in a red country. The Republicans killed 100,000 innocent people in Iraq and spent $14 Trillion dollars doing it. Over the last 8 years they've blocked anything that didn't suit them. They residistricted in order to keep a grip on the House. They refused to consider they Suprememe court nominee in order to cheat the Democrats out of a fair chance and will now stack the court with more right-wing Justices. They are anti-American, soaked in money and their own sick need to control others. They make their own rules. They cheat, they block, but never have any answers. Cooperation does not enter their twisted self-serving minds. This is not America anymore. Karl Rove just got his "Permanent Republican Majority", the most un-patriotic thing I can imagine. To seek to dominate the other party on a permanent basis is a disgusting and sick idea. I will not be a Jew in Germany. The people in my life who supported this madness will have to live with it - but without me. I will not associate with anybody who is infected with The Fox News/ Hannity/ Limbaugh virus. They are a sick bunch. The FCC is quilty of allowing blatant propaganda to saturate the public airwaves - even though their website boldly claims that "News Distortion is a most heinous crime.." There will be no healing from this. This country has now been sliced into two pieces. Those who are willing to cheat to win, and those who aren't. Would Jesus have supported this madness? I think not.
1
i learned the new testament story not long ago. The story of the pharisee and the tax collector. The pharisee sat upfront in the temple feeling satisfied with themself, and oh, so very holy. The tax collector a deplorable profession merely confessed himself to be a sinner. That's a way of seeing this election. I was completely excited in 2008 when Obama was elected. It was my idealism. I am equally excited now for realism. I bath myself in the bipolarity on this view. The New York Times has become the Pharisaic Times. It is so in love with its own self-rightouesness. The Trump supporters basic plea is "we just want work". It is simple and humble like the tax collector. So, call me a bigot....Soy Yo.
1
Trump is a thing which came into recent political prominence by leading the birther conspiracy movement. To not acknowledge and accept this fact is to drastically distort the historical record. The thing surrounds itself with sycophants and like minded racists. Wake up.
1
In those communities who have been hard hit by industries moved abroad, jobs lost....as David put it "a jobless town, watching your friends OD on opiates, scrambling every month to pay the electric bill"
First question: was it that bad in those battleground states that flipped over to Trump, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida? A high unemployment, ODing, scrambling to pay bills?
Second question: how many of the people in those poor communities who voted for Trump had health insurance through Obamacare? Surely having health insurance takes some of the pain away from struggling economically. How are those people going to feel when not only has their job situation not improved (the jobs lost abroad will never come back) and on top of that, they lose their health insurance with the Republican's slashing of Obamacare?
First question: was it that bad in those battleground states that flipped over to Trump, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida? A high unemployment, ODing, scrambling to pay bills?
Second question: how many of the people in those poor communities who voted for Trump had health insurance through Obamacare? Surely having health insurance takes some of the pain away from struggling economically. How are those people going to feel when not only has their job situation not improved (the jobs lost abroad will never come back) and on top of that, they lose their health insurance with the Republican's slashing of Obamacare?
68
I understand Trump's problem with attention span and ignorance, the latter of which can be somewhat cured. But incompetence? Where does that come from? He's been at least as competent in his life's work as the current president and his opponent, if we are honest.
This Republican congress will not impeach him; they already love him. Resign is wishful thinking. And in any case, Mike Pence with his religious right agenda would do far greater damage to this country than Donald Trump ever could.
My advice to Mr. Brooks: Get real! Find a way to live this result - even if it means constructively opposing what you see as wrong. But let's get past the campaign blinders.
This Republican congress will not impeach him; they already love him. Resign is wishful thinking. And in any case, Mike Pence with his religious right agenda would do far greater damage to this country than Donald Trump ever could.
My advice to Mr. Brooks: Get real! Find a way to live this result - even if it means constructively opposing what you see as wrong. But let's get past the campaign blinders.
1
Agree with David Brooks completely, down to his bottom line: Trump will either quit or be impeached within a year. But what about all those Republican politicians who have gone along with him? And how, s a practical matter, do we get from the Trump world of D.C. to a better one based on all those communities (at least in the blue or purple states) where decency and social coherence are still alive?
The saddest thing may be that so many wealthy people voted for Trump. Everyone is defending the "deplorables" but how to defend what appears to be the wealthy's narrow self interest here.
"That crude and ignorant condescension is what feeds the Trump phenomenon in the first place."
That says it all.
That says it all.
What I haven't seen discussed yet is what happens when Trump refuses to divest, nominally giving control of his businesses to his kids but running them none the less while supposedly running the country. Can you say conflict of interest? I don't think he'll fare well, at the hands of either party, and will likely be gone sooner rather than later. There's also his pending legal problems which I bet he'll compound by trying to influence them illegally. Can a president plead ignorance?
I foresee very dark days in the future of our country no matter if Trump resigns or is impeached within a year. The damage that he has done to the social fabric of the country will last for a generation.
There could be a third party "...offering programs to rebuild community, foster economic security and boost mobility." Or there could be a revitalized FDR/LBJ Democratic Party on the domestic front.
The thought that Trump might "bloviate while others run" the government is concerning also. The "others" that surround Trump concern me just as much as he does: Palin, Gingrich, Christie, et al.
I am really having a problem trying to find anything at all positive. Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for reminding us that we can't learn when our minds are closed. I'll work on that concept for a while to see if I can make progress.
I am really having a problem trying to find anything at all positive. Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for reminding us that we can't learn when our minds are closed. I'll work on that concept for a while to see if I can make progress.
I get the anger and frustration my fellow citizens are feeling. We have not felt safe or financially confident since 9/11 happened. But electing Donald Trump to the presidency in these very troubled times is like hiring a frat-boy to do brain surgery on your child. The media, all the media has to do some serious soul-searching about how they are serving the country. I know there is plenty of money to be made out there with punditry, click-bait headlines, and catchy websites - but where does responsibility to the public come in? If something doesn't change about the way the public is educated about workings of this country, about what is truth and what are lies, we are doomed.
I think the current Vegas over-under on how long it takes Donald to realize that getting elected President is fun but being President is not is four months.
2
Dear David Brooks. You won. We lost. But the view from the Trump White House will be a chimera and we will never give up our optimism for our democratic values, the shining and brilliant legacy of President Barack Hussein Obama. Our divided country will never be united by the new President and his cohorts, the remoras like Rudy, Newt, Chris given Cabinet positions. Americans, we the no longer e pluribus unum people, have never elected a President so unprepared in every way to take on our Presidency. The chips will fall where they may.
we simply need a system where the individual who prevails in the popular vote wins. period.
1
great, you can call it the neoliberal party! Finally globalism will have a voice in politics for a change, and we'll make sure to add the word "compassionate" in front of it so that it will sound different than the last 30 years of centrist consensus on economic policy.
1
Perhaps if someone had informed Trump that, in adding the White House to his hospitality properties portfolio he was also going to be expected to lead the government, well, he may have declined the pursuit to begin with,
He looked like a deer in the headlights meeting with Obama today.
He looked like a deer in the headlights meeting with Obama today.
1
It seems to me that blaming uneducated disadvantaged white people for
Donald Trump's win is just an effort to let elite Republicans off the hook.
A minority of Americans voted for Trump and in trying to make sense of the shocking outcome, the wealthy, powerful and connected should be accountable too. They even knew he was lying.
Donald Trump's win is just an effort to let elite Republicans off the hook.
A minority of Americans voted for Trump and in trying to make sense of the shocking outcome, the wealthy, powerful and connected should be accountable too. They even knew he was lying.
Oddly enough, Mr. Brook's desired third-party sounds an awful lot like a Hillary Clinton led Democratic Party. I don't buy for a second though that the Sanders/Warren party would be social/closed. They might be okay with some protectionist measures but it's hardly their defining characteristic. Also, it's very misleading to suggest that Warren and Sanders are on the same page on economic issues.
1
Brooks: I especially like your last paragraph.
A more Sanders/Warren approach for America...modified to avoid isolationism and trade disputes seems to be the most immediate and attainable political change we can make for now. Millions already support their efforts and ideas. I suspect those ideas will look better and better as we get into the first (and hopefully last) year of the Trump presidency.
A more Sanders/Warren approach for America...modified to avoid isolationism and trade disputes seems to be the most immediate and attainable political change we can make for now. Millions already support their efforts and ideas. I suspect those ideas will look better and better as we get into the first (and hopefully last) year of the Trump presidency.
Climate change and nuclear weapons are the bookends to all the chatter that ends up saying very little...remember despite almost 70 years of research and study we are still confounded by the rise of Fascism and the holocaust even as at this very moment the German people, despite many efforts to contain any future drift toward unfettered nationalism, are now beginning to see their country waver again . Evolution may not be all it's cracked up to be, remember the dinosaurs lived for tens of millions of years, I doubt if we will get close.
David, I have been waiting since Tuesday night to read what you have to say about the elctions. Your column is not a disappointment but a very realistic and sane and humane thought for the future. President elect Trump made a pact with the devil when he said that he would NOT accept the results of the election, if Hillary won. The devil has come back to roost in his corner all ready as protesters have taken to the street, not accepting Trump's election as President of the US.
"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year."
I can see the former, but the latter requires high crimes and misdeanors. I find it unlikely that the Republican house will impeach and the Senate convict.
I can see the former, but the latter requires high crimes and misdeanors. I find it unlikely that the Republican house will impeach and the Senate convict.
1
Perhaps impeachment or resignation are bridges too far... but as Mr. Trump reneges time and again on the crazy promises he made and follows the well-worn path of traditional, mainstream, elitist Republican policies, the very folks who supported his seemingly Quixotic tilt at the establishment windmill will yet again be utterly disenfranchised and disappointed. And, if you thought they were angry before with a president they inherently despised, imagine how they'll react to having been fooled by their own boy, the side-show barker who will soon take up residence on Pennsylvania Ave.!
Or, perhaps they will simply fade away into the woodwork of their shuttered Main Streets, abandoned farms, and lowly mobile homes. Lied to and used shamelessly, and then forgotten once more.
Or, perhaps they will simply fade away into the woodwork of their shuttered Main Streets, abandoned farms, and lowly mobile homes. Lied to and used shamelessly, and then forgotten once more.
It's refreshing to be reminded from time to time why David Brooks is just so wrong. He hopes for Trump to get bored, while sitting at the center of the spotlight? He hopes Trump will not bother to do all the anti-Constitutional things he has said he would, and conveniently forgets his minions. And he hopes institutions will magically restrain Trump, although the people in those same institutions would wilt like flowers. Saying I told you so will not begin to recompense the damage from what is to come.
If we think it is bad now, just wait for 2018, when Democrats have a large number of seats to defend, the all-Republican Congress has gotten rid of the Voting Rights Act, Republican-controlled State legislatures have gotten rid of early voting, and gerrymandering has been taken to the max.
The deplorable leaders of the GOP, Tea Party, etc. won't be going away any time soon.
The deplorable leaders of the GOP, Tea Party, etc. won't be going away any time soon.
Both Obama and Clinton were your dynamic of social/open and Clinton lost. I've been a Democrat all my voting life and have always been social/open. Unfortunately the country and the world is choosing closed, and for those of us who know history, good outcomes are not abundant.
The touchstone of Donald Trump's was an attack on what he calls "political correctness," something he says he has "no time for," something that he describes as "the big problem" in this country. I'd like to see him and those who would war against political correctness explain the difference between political correctness and the golden rule.
I get the individual/closed call on the Trump reign. What I don’t get is your call on the Democrats. Social probably. Closed, well hardly a clue.
As for the Third Party, social/open by your reckoning, where is there evidence of any such political genesis, either a burgeoning movement or credible leadership?
Finally, your final call, “…the guy (Trump) will probably resign or be impeached within a year.” This seems a desperate dodge from reality.
As for the Third Party, social/open by your reckoning, where is there evidence of any such political genesis, either a burgeoning movement or credible leadership?
Finally, your final call, “…the guy (Trump) will probably resign or be impeached within a year.” This seems a desperate dodge from reality.
How do we do this, David? Seriously! Tell me how we do this! I agree with everything you are proposing (and have felt this way for some time, as a social liberal and fiscal conservative who believes in immigration and free trade). I can only hope that a third party emerges, since I completely agree that the current two are going to be pushed ever more towards their respective extremes.
I think David is on to something important. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are now going to have to redefine themselves in dramatic new ways. The direction David suggest they are likely to take Makes sense to me. If that is true then it is time for a third party that is open and social and I think that just could save America. Thanks David for at least a vision for how we might work our way out of this misery.
We need a third party for so many reasons. We're headed for coalition-style governing. I don't belong in either of the current two parties. I am a progressive, and don't want to pay $1000 for an iPhone (Democrat/Trump/GOP), live in neo-Nazi police state (GOP), be in constant wars (Democrat/GOP). The two party system has left most of us out in the cold.
1
I heard an excellent interview with Ralph Nader the other day. Among his good points: We have to get rid of the electoral college. It was put in place because our founding fathers didn't trust the people and wanted an anonymous elite group to have the final say. (This is the 2nd time in 16 years that the Democrats has won the popular vote and lost the presidency and this is the only democracy in the world where that could happen.) This would free up people to vote for a third party without having to calculate whether or not they live in a safe red or blue state -- so that their last choice doesn't end up governing their first one. Your vote would count the same no matter where you lived; we would finally have something resembling "one man, one vote".
He also brought up all of the issues that were not brought up in the campaign -- because they are issues that the vast majority of Americans agree on so that they are no use to the candidates who are simply interested in pitting one side against the other. Does anyone think that terrorists should be able to buy guns? Particularly "well organized" ones? That the CEOs of corporations found stealing from the American people should get off scot free? That anything should be "too big to fail"? That the Pentagon, by far the biggest consumer of our tax dollars, should be by law immune from any audit or accountability to congress?
He also brought up all of the issues that were not brought up in the campaign -- because they are issues that the vast majority of Americans agree on so that they are no use to the candidates who are simply interested in pitting one side against the other. Does anyone think that terrorists should be able to buy guns? Particularly "well organized" ones? That the CEOs of corporations found stealing from the American people should get off scot free? That anything should be "too big to fail"? That the Pentagon, by far the biggest consumer of our tax dollars, should be by law immune from any audit or accountability to congress?
Mr Brooks' four-cell matrix is interesting and insightful but it leads to an incorrect characterization of the Sanders-Warren movement. The definition of 'closed' ('protective trade, closed borders, a withdrawn foreign policy and ethnic separatism') is too broad. Yes, many of us are opposed to so-called 'free trade' and to excessive militarism but we embrace immigration and a society that is both diverse and inclusive.
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous." The President of the United States is, among other things, the head of state. To the world and to ourselves he represents America. And the words he chooses and uses matter. What he says, how he says it, and to whom he says it matters - a lot. It is, therefore, this imagery that he will project, the imagery of what America stands for - in principles, in words, and in deeds. It all goes on the record. To paraphrase American football coach and Hall of Famer, Bill Parcells, "you are what your record says you are". Like it or not, as head of state as representative of America to the world, Donald Trump will be perceived as who we are.
I think it is important to remember that this Republican party has blocked every attempt by the Obama administration to initiate economic growth and to address the inequality within our society. I remember jobs programs that were ignored and the stonewalling of most every proposal to make things better. Saying that the Democrats ignored the white working class doesn't quite make sense when considering the last eight years of Republican malfeasance. If the public trust is eroded then look no further and please let's not flagellate ourselves for being educated. David, I love reading your columns and I would like to read your thoughts on the demographic of the 18-25 year old vote when viewed as an electoral map. Perhaps a good place to start your new party.
1
"The disgusted posture risks turning politics into a Manichaean civil war between the alleged children of light and the alleged children of darkness."
Well, I don't know, Mr. Brooks. The last time I actually saw someone make fun of a person with a severe limp was fifty years ago, when I was about twelve, and a kid laughed and whooped and pointed at one of the mothers of another kid. It could be that she had had polio; her hobble was pronounced.
Even then, I was astonished and embarrassed. The boy was about my age, maybe a little older. He didn't know better, I guess.
For a seventy-year-old man to imitate a cripple for the amusement of his audience -- and for that audience to be amused -- I think are good grounds for disgust.
Has there ever been such a lout elected to the highest office of our land?
Well, I don't know, Mr. Brooks. The last time I actually saw someone make fun of a person with a severe limp was fifty years ago, when I was about twelve, and a kid laughed and whooped and pointed at one of the mothers of another kid. It could be that she had had polio; her hobble was pronounced.
Even then, I was astonished and embarrassed. The boy was about my age, maybe a little older. He didn't know better, I guess.
For a seventy-year-old man to imitate a cripple for the amusement of his audience -- and for that audience to be amused -- I think are good grounds for disgust.
Has there ever been such a lout elected to the highest office of our land?
A third party will split the opposition to Trumpism and give it strength. What you see in most countries with authoritarian regimes is that, to the extent that there is an open opposition movement, it is fragmented and ineffective. You will see that Trumpism will promote your third party in subtle or even not so subtle ways. They will work on divisions within the opposition, and they may even at some point fund it, as some authoritarian movements elsewhere have done.
In many ways this is a highly perceptive analysis with a good idea for a new party alignment. But it is horribly marred by its last 2 sentences. These show that Mr Brooks has not escaped the thought bubble-wishful thinking of the intelligentsia as to Trump. He is not going away: he has identified a great mass of forgotten and disrespected Americans. He is their champion. Now, of course, he has to perform and deliver real benefits for them. Easy to talk about, hard to do. IF he can't deliver sufficiently he may well be a one-term President.
We have the right to be angry. I am angry and disappointed in my friends that voted for such a dangerous man and his policies, especially his bigotry. And my anger will last for awhile. Then I will use it as fuel and turn it towards what I can do to help prevent damage and protect those who will be hurt by his policies. But right now, I am very angry.
"The Democrats are probably going to ....... close off integration with hyper-race-conscious categories and close off debate with political correctness." So, David, as I read this the road to integration is to be less direct in demanding the inclusion of those who have been on the edges of society since the country's very beginnings and the way to open up debate is to abide the incivility of those who would demean their fellow citizens. Huh?
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"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think."
***********
Wishful thinking. There will be far too much involved for Trump to resign. His not disclosing his tax returns or his business dealings means there is vast room for conflict of interest in knowing what others do not.
He will not resign because he is incapable of saying that anything he did wasn't a good choice, and resigning would appear to make him a 'loser.' It will never happen.
As to impeachment, I do not believe that the GOP congress would even think of such a thing, much less act upon it. They have a president who will do things that benefit them personally and their bank balance by cutting taxes etc., and one does not cut the teats off the cow and still expect milk.
***********
Wishful thinking. There will be far too much involved for Trump to resign. His not disclosing his tax returns or his business dealings means there is vast room for conflict of interest in knowing what others do not.
He will not resign because he is incapable of saying that anything he did wasn't a good choice, and resigning would appear to make him a 'loser.' It will never happen.
As to impeachment, I do not believe that the GOP congress would even think of such a thing, much less act upon it. They have a president who will do things that benefit them personally and their bank balance by cutting taxes etc., and one does not cut the teats off the cow and still expect milk.
As an American, I never thought that I would remotely have this nervous, unsettling feeling in regards to what one man at the top can do with power in his hands. For the first time, I feel a need to get involved to protect our democracy. This is so beyond any other presidential transition. Beyond normal republican-democratic divisions. This approaches scary on a bunch of levels. No matter what you thought of Hillary, she was stable and safe. Never dangerous. He is completely unpredictable, we are in uncharted waters and I'm so profoundly disappointed in those Americans that did not understand this and put him on us. I so hope your last line is correct Mr. Brooks and we can get back to more normal political discourse.
Mr. Brooks is right to point out the folly of dismissing all Trump supporters as ignorant bigots. The numbers in the midwest suggest there were a significant number of voters who went for Trump that went for Obama in 2008 and/or 2012. This election highlights how the Democrats have become weak on what was once their strongest suit--economic populism.
Donald Trump used the Republican Party and its voters to satisfy his narcissistic need for attention and power. There's a quote from 1998 going around the Internet in which he denigrated Republican voters, said they were gullible and boasted that he could lie to them and and they would believe it. The fact is, we have no freaking idea what this man is going to do. He is a loose cannon who could go any which way. The best indicator of which way he'll go is whether or not it will feed his insatiable appetite for attention and power.
Beyond the oft-cited jobless men in small cities or towns, let's not forget that plenty of very wealthy people supported billionaire Donald Trump - wealthy people who sought to ensure right wing policies to protect their wealth.
People like Sheldon Adelson, Peter Thiel, Chris Christie etc and millions of unknown but affluent people
People like Sheldon Adelson, Peter Thiel, Chris Christie etc and millions of unknown but affluent people
1
Ross, the problem with Trump being impeached is that that puts Pence in the White House and I believe he could be worse for the country than the Trump. Tromp does at least have some moments when he drifts toward actibg like humane. Pence is one of those fundamentalists who believes only in the Old Testament with a side of Corinthians — the part where women's role is to be subjected to thir husbands.
The problem with the Democrats is that the "Social" aspect of the party did not include the average white male. They have been moved to the back of the line behind everyone else. There is a great deal of animosity built up within those who do not see the idea of "white privilege" so often touted by liberals. They see it as a need to level the playing field. Harvard is beyond their reach. They are more likely to attend a state school or trade school.
2
There is so much here about trading or not trading. How about making stuff; as in manufacturing. That is how wealth is created. Germany trades, but they make stuff people want so the trade is, on balance, going out. Sure less labor is used now for making stuff but the challenge for policy makers is to distribute that created wealth so we don't have a few haves and a bunch of have-nots.
BTW, Germany's trade isn't free with their 18 or 19% value-added tax being a de facto tariff.
BTW, Germany's trade isn't free with their 18 or 19% value-added tax being a de facto tariff.
Mr. Brooks is right that our future is very close. I never believed Mr. Trump wanted to serve as president, only that he wanted the adulation of winning the campaign.
The press failed by underreporting on Mr. Pence, who will almost certainly be the incumbent in 2020. Impeachment takes time, but President-elect Trump's resignation could happen in the blink of an eye. Watch out!
The press failed by underreporting on Mr. Pence, who will almost certainly be the incumbent in 2020. Impeachment takes time, but President-elect Trump's resignation could happen in the blink of an eye. Watch out!
Do not think Trump empire would be alive and well if its founder had so little moral strength that he would resign or face impeachment within a year.The man has the diet of a Mormon: Doesn't smoke, drink, take drugs, doesn't touch so much as a cup of coffee with caffeine. All he has is his work, his empire, his family and his self esteem.Who would impeach him-- a word that in French is translated as "mise en accusation,"and simply means to bring charges--since GOP controls both Houses, and he has the support of what Maurrassians call "le pays reel,"working class folk, small farmers, tradesmen and businessmen, as opposed to "le pay legal"of Clinton and her well off friends who have always looked down on us, but who now have received a "bonne gifle"in the form of a resounding electoral defeat.Plethoraof Trump signs on lawns of rural and small town America should have sent a message to the liberal elites who delighted in mocking and ridiculing us who r at the bottom of the hill, but they were so fond of laughing at us as if we were "retards," losers that they took their own desires for reality.All we have ever wanted was respect and empathy from the other side.
"his main problem is going to be his own attention span, ignorance and incompetence"
Wrong- his main problem in governing is going to be his lack of empathy. Without that, there will be much anger and possibly violence.
Wrong- his main problem in governing is going to be his lack of empathy. Without that, there will be much anger and possibly violence.
1
I don’t fear what Trump will do. I fear what Ryan, McConnell et al. will do… privatize Social Security, Block grant Medicare, eliminate the Affordable Care Act and undermine and destroy environmental regulation and protections, and all to increase the percentage of wealth going to the top.
4
The Democrats had another FDR in Senator Bernie Sanders.
What the Dems need is a new party shed of all its "elite" officials and super delegates who knew more than their intelligent constituents out beyond the Beltway where the same rich and powerful fund both parties.
There were millions of Democrats who looked at Sanders, his remarkable campaign, his message and the vast enthusiasm of his supporters, and saw a way forward toward an America that worked for all its citizens.
However, the Democratic Party and its officials from shore to shining shore had their own officially-anointed candidate, a queen of the status quo, and anyone who got in her way was the enemy. They mocked Sanders and those who believed in him, dismissed him and --when he started winning caucuses and primaries-- shouted shrilly for him to get out of the way.
I am waiting for abject apologies from Debbie Wasserman Schultz and that crowd. I suspect I will be waiting a long time.
What the Dems need is a new party shed of all its "elite" officials and super delegates who knew more than their intelligent constituents out beyond the Beltway where the same rich and powerful fund both parties.
There were millions of Democrats who looked at Sanders, his remarkable campaign, his message and the vast enthusiasm of his supporters, and saw a way forward toward an America that worked for all its citizens.
However, the Democratic Party and its officials from shore to shining shore had their own officially-anointed candidate, a queen of the status quo, and anyone who got in her way was the enemy. They mocked Sanders and those who believed in him, dismissed him and --when he started winning caucuses and primaries-- shouted shrilly for him to get out of the way.
I am waiting for abject apologies from Debbie Wasserman Schultz and that crowd. I suspect I will be waiting a long time.
1
The Dark Tower lives. Mordor advances.
He's on some sort of charm campaign now, but it won't last. He already broke out with an ineffably insane tweet about 'paid protesters'. You and everyone else must realize he is building a rationale for declaring protests illegal, not protected speech? Then comes muzzle the press. Then comes the jailing of opposition. Day after inauguration he will come out swinging 'alt-right'.
He's on some sort of charm campaign now, but it won't last. He already broke out with an ineffably insane tweet about 'paid protesters'. You and everyone else must realize he is building a rationale for declaring protests illegal, not protected speech? Then comes muzzle the press. Then comes the jailing of opposition. Day after inauguration he will come out swinging 'alt-right'.
1
Similar to how other people constructed buildings and then Trump put his name on it, why should we expect anything different than the construction of the government by others with Trump then simply placing his name on it ? He knew nothing of how to construct buildings and he certainly knows nothing of government building.
Even with its petulant ending, this argument strikes me as thoughtful and well constructed. We do need a new way of governing. The rest of the argument leads to the question, who will champion this movement? Who can actually run for President and mount a credible and winning campaign? As far as I can see, that person, that candidate, has not yet come forward.
1
My metric is the poor latch key child on the Southside of Chicago. How do we enable the brilliant child there engage themselves in learning? How do we enable the unusually social child there lead her friends through difficult times? How do we help the musical child there find an instrument and learn the notes? How do we give all of these children hope that the future is worth growing up to?
Mr Trump's voters are well aware that their lives will get worse. They know he will not do anything to stop their pain. If they had wanted help, they would have rejected the Republican congress. So why would they vote the way they did? Occam's Razor suggests the obvious answer. They will be free to scapegoat and abuse the weak and powerless with impunity. Especially women and minorities. Their relative status vis a vis those people will be preserved. They are afraid to identify and attack the real threats to their lives, but as long as there is a down group that they can vent their fears and frustrations on, they will be happy. It was a clear, coldly rational, conscious decision.
2
The statement by Brooks at the end of his column that Trump "will probably resign or be impeached within a year" shows that Brooks is completely detached from reality.
Nothing in Trump's past indicates he is likely to give up the power and prestige of being the President.
Similarly, nothing the GOP has done since Reagan was elected indicates that the GOP is likely to treat seriously any legal violation committed by a GOP President, much less impeach a GOP President.
Nothing in Trump's past indicates he is likely to give up the power and prestige of being the President.
Similarly, nothing the GOP has done since Reagan was elected indicates that the GOP is likely to treat seriously any legal violation committed by a GOP President, much less impeach a GOP President.
2
"We" need to build a new party? Who is "we"? Brooks speaks for the Bush wing of the GOP, no one else. What will Bush Republicans do now? Most will probably go along with a Trump administration, or at least with some of its initiatives, while remaining silent about those they can't stomach. GOP voters are with Trump, and without the voters they have no power. Few if any will leave the GOP to attempt to form a new party. I doubt any Democrats will do that. There are few who don't recognize that the center-left economic ideas of the Clintons have failed. The Clintons and Obama never came up with any effective policies for erasing the negative economic effects of international trade and new technologies because American-style capitalism doesn't allow for such things; the center-left crowd has never been willing to think outside the box of American-style capitalism. It's time for them to admit they were wrong and accept new leaders.
To resign would be to admit failure and Trump would never do that.
Impeachment and removal from office by a Republican Congress, hardly likely.
No, I am afraid that the country will have to suffer through four years of a Trump administration, oppose it as effectively as possible when it is wrong, and just pray that a nuclear catastrophe does not occur.
Impeachment and removal from office by a Republican Congress, hardly likely.
No, I am afraid that the country will have to suffer through four years of a Trump administration, oppose it as effectively as possible when it is wrong, and just pray that a nuclear catastrophe does not occur.
2
Brooks has argued for self-actualization and the belief that individuals should all pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Why doesn't this apply to the white working class? They're in loser towns with no economies and drug addiction problems -- so why don't they just fix it or move away? That's what Republicans have been saying to minorities for decades. But white people are victims for whose perspectives (of bigotry, fear, and racism) we should show tolerance because their lives are miserable. If only we showed tolerance to everyone.
2
Anybody who has a view from Trump tower should get out. In Toronto this week the Trump Tower was approved for bankruptcy and the courts indicated the owners will be sued for investment fraud and conspiracy. It has also been approved to go after Trump himself for among other things collusion. Add to that Trump holdings around the world have just become the most prized of terrorist targets and Toronto would do well to remove the deplorable name from the top of the tower immediately.
The social/open candidate in this past election was Hillary Clinton. She advocated the same social/open policies which were an economic success under her husband's administration and which have aided the successful recovery during the past eight years under Obama. We don't need a new, 3rd party with the same platform. We just need people (such as you, Mr. Brooks) to recognize which side truly represents their values.
The Democratic Party and President Obama had much more to offer those seduced by Trump but were systematically blocked by the GOP Congress. Just read through the pile of legislative proposals sent by Barack Obama which Boehner and Ryan refused to even consider. The people with whom the Trump voters should be angry sit in the House and Senate where their stated aim was to defeat our President. The party of "no" is the one that needs to go.
Trump's working-class supporters are going to pay higher taxes and get less social services than ever. The upper-middle class that is so appalled by this turn of events won't really be affected, at least not financially. Now that is irony.
I live in the bubble of New York and the Trump supporter I know from my work? She lives in Virginia, earns quite a bit of money, and her great grandparents were slave owners. So please don't tell me these people are jobless and desperate. Those crowds at the Trump rallies sure didn't look like the people you are describing. I went last night to the rally outside Trump Tower and it consisted entirely of people in their twenties who are terrified. And then Trump tweeted that they protestors are paid professionals. I left fearing for America's future.
Have always been a reader of Brooks, including his books, and admire his thinking. Don't always agree and was amused during the Bush years as he struggled and twisted himself into a pretzel trying to find something to defend in his chosen party. I sense that again. The GOP, in power, is in no way "small government". Small-minded is more like it, as they will strive to impose religiously motivated draconian ideology on the rest of us and intrude into our lives. Trump may be a buffoon, but that buffoon is choosing ideologically driven nut jobs to run his administration. They will wreak havoc in ways that Trump will either not understand or never bother to take the time to understand. That said, Brooks is right that something is afoot in the population and right now I don't know of anyone who understands it well enough to lay the groundwork towards healing.
The Republican Party sees this election as a mandate, but the mandate is for the party of Trump [whatever that means] and not the Republican Party. The Republican leaders that endorsed and distance themselves from Mr. Trump may have noticed the daggers are out and not to show their back, but are going to continue prostrating to Mr. Trump in the hope they can still cling to their power. Yes, this will be different, but a third party? Maybe, with Republicans controlling all branches of government, there is no one else to blame.
When the smoke clears the underlying reality will remain that the right wing agenda had a plan and it's working as is still a work in progress. The Amercan Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has waged a decades old jihad to turn states legislatures and executive offices red ("all politics is local"). All they needed was a morally deficient candidate who would say and do anything to gin up the angst of the seething underbelly of America and they found their man in a con whose favorite bedtime stories were texts of Hitler's speeches (My New Order) with lessons on how to work up a mob.
The dems brought a knife to a gunfight. When we grow a set (get a gun), and not until then, will we ever stand a chance.
The dems brought a knife to a gunfight. When we grow a set (get a gun), and not until then, will we ever stand a chance.
I've been reading comments on social media by people who voted for Trump in an effort to understand. Common threads among people who voted for Trump who are of the middle class-with-jobs variety: evangelical Christians for whom the prospect of overturning Roe v Wade is paramount; general disgust with what is perceived to be the cultural rot brought on by liberals and all their judge-y PCness; and a belief that the "takers" are a bunch of freeloading leeches. Of course these "takers" have darker skin and ethnic sounding names.
I sure would like to believe that DT will be gone within a year but I am feeling hopelessly pessimistic about the future of America and the world today.
I sure would like to believe that DT will be gone within a year but I am feeling hopelessly pessimistic about the future of America and the world today.
1
I think that Mr. Brooks is holding on to an unhelpful assumption in mixing "ethnic separatism" with the other elements of his "closed" axis. I've read elsewhere the notion that part of Trump's message was a classic law-and-order campaign. Given that, it would follow that under a Trump administration borders not be closed, but that the rules for entry and exit that exist for those borders be enforced.
"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
But who are the "others?" Mitch McConnell? Paul Ryan? The freedom caucus? The tea party? The evangelicals? I'm afraid, Mr. Brooks, the next four years will be an absolute crime spree.
What can one do? Well, I, for one, will ask my congresswoman and senators, and all Democratic congresswomen and men and all Democratic senators to vote no. No matter what the bill is. Vote no! Whomever the nominee is. Vote no! I have no interest in legitimizing Donald Trump as president. I have no interest in legitimizing the destructive ideals of the current membership of the Republican party. I will be 57 years old on Tuesday. I've waited 8 years for some kind of compromise from the Republican side of the aisle. I can wait for 4 more. Vote no!
But who are the "others?" Mitch McConnell? Paul Ryan? The freedom caucus? The tea party? The evangelicals? I'm afraid, Mr. Brooks, the next four years will be an absolute crime spree.
What can one do? Well, I, for one, will ask my congresswoman and senators, and all Democratic congresswomen and men and all Democratic senators to vote no. No matter what the bill is. Vote no! Whomever the nominee is. Vote no! I have no interest in legitimizing Donald Trump as president. I have no interest in legitimizing the destructive ideals of the current membership of the Republican party. I will be 57 years old on Tuesday. I've waited 8 years for some kind of compromise from the Republican side of the aisle. I can wait for 4 more. Vote no!
2
Certainly not all Trump voters were racist or misogynistic, and were simply duped by a con man that, like the republican platform of the last 20 years, was easy to see through. But, of course it's also true that all racists and misogynists were ardent supporters of Trump.
1
I watched the PBS coverage while both you and Stuart Stevens looked just as crestfallen as the democrats when it was clear that Trump won the presidency. I think that Stuart Stevens had it right - Trump won because he has unleashed the worst feelings that people have about the social and demographic changes in our society. I'm a progressive Democrat (another story), but I come from white working class roots, and my family all voted Trump. To listen to them talk about why is to listen to people try to use the logic of "we need a change" and "we need more jobs" to rationalize the emotional gut-level choice that they really made based on racial animosities - they have economically struggled for many years, but I have heard them blame reverse racism and Obama over and over again for their problems. Bear in mind that my Trump voting family are current and retired public sector workers who have union jobs, public pensions, social security, and healthcare insurance through their government employer or medicare - all things that will be under attack by a Republican administration. However, acting on those feelings of racial and social aggrievement by voting for Trump made them feel good, made them feel like they were sticking to that black man who does not know his place, made them feel like they were standing up for 'their' people, even if they will not openly admit these things. This was a triump of white tribalism, which is a moral challenge that we as a nation must now face.
1
He will not be impeached for anything short of outright treason by a Republican Congress. He won't resign, because then he'd be a "loser" - anathema to him. Plus in either case I am not comforted much by the thought of President Pence.
The more realistic question is whether we'll be better off 4 years from now than we are today. I doubt it, especially if the Republican-run government over-reaches, which it is likely to do. But I'd be happy to be wrong.
The more realistic question is whether we'll be better off 4 years from now than we are today. I doubt it, especially if the Republican-run government over-reaches, which it is likely to do. But I'd be happy to be wrong.
1
While Pence seems like an adult he will not be an improvement on Trump by much. He hates the fact that women have choices with their lives. He wants to be back in the 1950's when women were pregnant and in the kitchen instead of having a mind of their own, working and making their own decisions about their bodies. Before birth control and abortion rights. He scares me as much as Trump. Why do these men care so much about fetuses when they care nothing about fully grown people?
Some thoughts
The democrats abandoned the lower middle class and poor to chase big bucks. Looking for a champion they fastened on Trump. The Dems lost their soul and picked a candidate that perfectly reflected the big bucks ethos, hence the loss.
Women can and will win the White House when one runs who believes in service to the entire nation, not just the elite and herself.
I agree that we should take this time to recast our politics. The parties are fundamentally broken and the idea of service, leadership and civility has been lost.
The democrats abandoned the lower middle class and poor to chase big bucks. Looking for a champion they fastened on Trump. The Dems lost their soul and picked a candidate that perfectly reflected the big bucks ethos, hence the loss.
Women can and will win the White House when one runs who believes in service to the entire nation, not just the elite and herself.
I agree that we should take this time to recast our politics. The parties are fundamentally broken and the idea of service, leadership and civility has been lost.
The reason people are so sad is because those doing all the right things seem to be losing. Trump did not spend his entire life helping people. He spent his life dedicated to greed. His foundation was a sham. He used hate to win an election. If we continue to show our children that doing the wrong thing is the path to winning, what a terrible future we have in store for us.
1
"the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year". This forecast is not a sunny one. It will leave Pence in charge, a Theocrat and puppet of the 1/4% who will stack the Supreme Court with ideologues and concur in carrying out most of the Ryan-McConnell plans to implement voodoo economics, remove government regulations and assistance to the unfortunate, and repeal Obamacare.
1
The third party of which Mr. Brooks speaks seems like what the Democratic Part once tried to be. Though they over-promised and often offered failing and overly expensive idea and programs. FDR, JFK, and LBJ had the right ideals and sometimes the best ideas. I would like to imagine that Trump is not really just a Pence or a Ryan, but something better. In any case I would not turn the county's future over to isual Rewpublican suspects without a fight.
Sure blame it all on condescension of the educated class. It's because the tolerant class "condescended" the intolerant class, the intolerant class grew ferociously determined to take it out on the tolerant class. David Brooks, you are not a member of the tolerant class, but from the blinkered-vision class. Those of us who live in our skins, of color and difference, do know, see and feel, that racism has been a prime motivating factor behind the rise of Trump. This is not to claim that every single voter was motivated by racism, but the overall pattern certainly was and will remain for god knows how many years into the future, bigotry. Let's face it.
You are right, Mr. Trump has no ideology, or at least has hid it in the red meat he tossed his followers at his rallies. It will be revealed in the people he chooses to actually run the government and conduct foreign policy. If he goes with the rabid right that he surrounded himself with during the campaign, we will know. If he chooses skilled professionals who are interested in progress, we will also know. Giuliani, Christie, Gingrich, Bannon and Bolton will certainly send a signal that he intends to make a sharp right turn. We will see.
Well agreed.
The Republican establishment agrees, too, apparently. Mitch McConnell cautioned that they do not have a mandate. Clinton won the popular vote, but our nation is in a state of emotional wreckage we would like to blame on the vicious campaign run by Trump. Only now are we willing to admit that vicious campaign was simply the head of a serpent that was born in pain in our heartland.
Our people are hurting, and Trump offered succor to the miserable in a form that was in striking contrast to what we have all seen before. The bald fact that he cares for no one but himself - is not even at issue because it's well understood.
His line to black voters: "What do you have to lose?" is meant for all of America. The sentiment is - well, I'm a flawed person seeking to enrich himself at the expense of the political system and America's faith in our institutions - but heck, you're getting zilch from us now, and some of you may actually benefit from the scraps that drop off, so give it a whirl.
We have trivialized a great nation, because we believed Trump when he told us that the greatness of America did not come from within each of us as citizens: that we were by virtue of our citizenship - already great - but that our nation and thus each one of us was a failure and bankrupt and the answer was to come to him for a job.
Half of us hurt so much, we believed him. We would have believed anything.
The Republican establishment agrees, too, apparently. Mitch McConnell cautioned that they do not have a mandate. Clinton won the popular vote, but our nation is in a state of emotional wreckage we would like to blame on the vicious campaign run by Trump. Only now are we willing to admit that vicious campaign was simply the head of a serpent that was born in pain in our heartland.
Our people are hurting, and Trump offered succor to the miserable in a form that was in striking contrast to what we have all seen before. The bald fact that he cares for no one but himself - is not even at issue because it's well understood.
His line to black voters: "What do you have to lose?" is meant for all of America. The sentiment is - well, I'm a flawed person seeking to enrich himself at the expense of the political system and America's faith in our institutions - but heck, you're getting zilch from us now, and some of you may actually benefit from the scraps that drop off, so give it a whirl.
We have trivialized a great nation, because we believed Trump when he told us that the greatness of America did not come from within each of us as citizens: that we were by virtue of our citizenship - already great - but that our nation and thus each one of us was a failure and bankrupt and the answer was to come to him for a job.
Half of us hurt so much, we believed him. We would have believed anything.
We saw the man in action before and during the campaign. "Trump being Trump". The chilling reality of what will come is -- he already has an enemies list.
“Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.” 0marosa Manigault
“Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.” 0marosa Manigault
This article is difficult to wrap my head around and covers a lot of ground. The third party (I agree that there needs to be one, probably a 4th and 5th) described here is the party of President Obama (and to a slightly lesser extent, HRC)! Warren and Sanders were not leading, President Obama was. Which POTUS has been more open/social? Who has been more open, kind, hopeful and optimistic? It was rejected, denounced and scoffed at by an obstructionist party in Congress and the Senate. The last 8 years has been shameful dereliction of duty and responsibility. But they are now ready to get to work, and fast. This hypocrisy is supported and cheered by MANY.
I believe Mr Brooks is correct that not all who voted for Mr Trump are racist, sexist, xenophobic bigots or even believe in those things, but the fact that they are able tolerate those attributes to the level PROUDLY displayed indicates a truly stunning, and in my opinion frightening, lack of empathy, respect and basic human consideration for others. How utterly dehumanizing and sad. And it is being displayed today. Extreme views (and I mean extreme) are making strides out of the shadows emboldened by the rhetoric and hate displayed over the last year 8 years.
I find very little hope in him being limited never mind resigning or being impeached. He is being touted as having a mandate and unifying the Republican party by the so called 'moderates' of the party.
It leaves me sad and pessimistic - a bad combination.
I believe Mr Brooks is correct that not all who voted for Mr Trump are racist, sexist, xenophobic bigots or even believe in those things, but the fact that they are able tolerate those attributes to the level PROUDLY displayed indicates a truly stunning, and in my opinion frightening, lack of empathy, respect and basic human consideration for others. How utterly dehumanizing and sad. And it is being displayed today. Extreme views (and I mean extreme) are making strides out of the shadows emboldened by the rhetoric and hate displayed over the last year 8 years.
I find very little hope in him being limited never mind resigning or being impeached. He is being touted as having a mandate and unifying the Republican party by the so called 'moderates' of the party.
It leaves me sad and pessimistic - a bad combination.
Yes we do need a new political party in America and the Trump election has given us that chance. The opportunity is with those of us who fled the Republican Party when it was hijacked by the far right but backed away from the Democrats when Hillary was nominated. Personally, I am not afraid of Bernie, and you too casually dismiss him. His message has an important place, as do his followers, in any new political party. I do not think a new winning political party can evolve without the progressiveness of Sanders. Any new party without him would be vanilla and uninspiring to the next generation of voters and leadership. Ironically, few pointed out that Bernie's platform offers more specific relief for blue collar workers and families than any of the Trump rehetoric. The main stream media missed that in its rush to support Hillary. If Bernie Sanders had won the nomination it is my belief he would defeated Trump. He would have been inspiring in his message. Unfortunately, Hillary was not.
Mr. Brooks: Your thinking is exactly right about the need for a third party, and you might as well take a leading role in forming it. As you are on record for not supporting Trump, you are going to be looking in from the outside of this administration. He is known to be a very vindictive man.
There are many other people who are all in the same boat: all of the "Never Trump" Republicans, the massive and growing number of Independents, and more than a few Democrats that are not going to be comfortable with the inevitable lurch to the left of their party in the aftermath of this defeat. There may actually be a potential majority of the electorate that could get behind such a new party.
Our system is not really designed for three parties, but there is nothing engraved in granite that says that the Republicans and the Democrats must forevermore be those two parties. Just ask the Federalists and the Whigs.
There are many other people who are all in the same boat: all of the "Never Trump" Republicans, the massive and growing number of Independents, and more than a few Democrats that are not going to be comfortable with the inevitable lurch to the left of their party in the aftermath of this defeat. There may actually be a potential majority of the electorate that could get behind such a new party.
Our system is not really designed for three parties, but there is nothing engraved in granite that says that the Republicans and the Democrats must forevermore be those two parties. Just ask the Federalists and the Whigs.
I admit I grew up and became a liberal. I've worked for and with conservatives over the years and have great admiration for their dedication to principals that are bedrock to our communities, and for their love and dedication to their communities. I still think of myself as liberal. So how has David Brooks become my favorite? I am trying to read his book Road to Character, but I find myself rereading each chapter over and over because there is so much meaning in his words. Still I think of my self as liberal. Maybe I should think of myself as social/open?
I agree with quite a lot of this commentary, but isn't the social/open system exactly what Obama has been trying to do for the past 8 years? But with obstruction by the GOP, including moderates, the programs that would help those most hurt by globalization weren't funded. And forget about any immigration reform, etc. How does Brooks think a third party would accomplish what Obama couldn't?
1
I have been reading a lot from many different sources about how the voting broke down. Almost without fail they all say the same thing, "it just isn't about racism, sexism, misogyny, etc. " Trump is a candidate that rose quickly thru the ranks by questioning President Obama's birth certificate. This is racism and should have been disqualified from day one. It was not. Then onto immigration and banning Muslims. To me, if you were on that band wagon, you at least like the neighborhood where racism resides.
I find it disgusting and don't have much empathy.
Voting has consequences (or non voting as the case may be), and it sickens me that Trump will be our next President, but as horrified as I am about the results of this election, not to mention my own state of Missouri, I would still rather be on the right side of dignity.
I find it disgusting and don't have much empathy.
Voting has consequences (or non voting as the case may be), and it sickens me that Trump will be our next President, but as horrified as I am about the results of this election, not to mention my own state of Missouri, I would still rather be on the right side of dignity.
"the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year.". with a republican controlled congress? extremely unlikely. it will probably take the 2018 election to produce a congress that will impeach. as for resignation, not at all likely.
Let's deal with the situation we actually face.
We simply have no idea how long Mr. Trump will remain in office.
We can't be sure if the many suits against him will be allowed to go on, now that he is President-elect, We don't know how much of an increase there will be in hate crimes. We can only imagine how much damage will be done to old coalitions around the world.
Republicans have no program that's salable on its merits. So they won on hatred and fear instead. We don't know how much they will use it to maintain power.
Mr. Trump has suddenly tried to look Presidential. We don't know how long this pose will be maintained...or if there's anything actually behind it other than his love of the con.
Those who oppose what Mr. Trump has shown himself to be, therefore, must be on guard.
Because none of us knows what's coming or how destructive it could be. We simply don't know.
We simply have no idea how long Mr. Trump will remain in office.
We can't be sure if the many suits against him will be allowed to go on, now that he is President-elect, We don't know how much of an increase there will be in hate crimes. We can only imagine how much damage will be done to old coalitions around the world.
Republicans have no program that's salable on its merits. So they won on hatred and fear instead. We don't know how much they will use it to maintain power.
Mr. Trump has suddenly tried to look Presidential. We don't know how long this pose will be maintained...or if there's anything actually behind it other than his love of the con.
Those who oppose what Mr. Trump has shown himself to be, therefore, must be on guard.
Because none of us knows what's coming or how destructive it could be. We simply don't know.
So here we are. David Brooks vilifying Donald Trump, and intimating that his supporters are a bunch of ignorant idiots that should be "better understood" even though he has basically cast them as barely literate pigs; and the sad, sad reason that he and all his comfy ilk didn't manage to keep their status quo elitist party going.
Brooks writes, "Trump’s bigotry, dishonesty and promise-breaking will have to be denounced. We can’t go morally numb. But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his assent."
Brooks completely ignored the real reason for Trump's rise which is his gooey ivory tower, and all those that dwell in it as the expense of the nation's well being. Neither Brooks nor his vast network of Clinton supporters cared an iota about the Clintons' corruption or the fact that they were the ultimate Grifters. All Brooks and the establishment liberals ever wanted were to keep stuffing themselves at the same table - doing "fun things" to keep themselves there, while the rest of America was forced to look on. And establishment liberals didn't like Sanders either, for the same reason. He was a threat to their sloth. Clinton supporters would have seen this country to ruin. It's not the Trump supporters that we need to fear. I supported Sanders, and watched Brooks and smug establishment liberals do nothing but make fun of him. Well, it looks they didn't have the last laugh after all, thank goodness.
Brooks writes, "Trump’s bigotry, dishonesty and promise-breaking will have to be denounced. We can’t go morally numb. But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his assent."
Brooks completely ignored the real reason for Trump's rise which is his gooey ivory tower, and all those that dwell in it as the expense of the nation's well being. Neither Brooks nor his vast network of Clinton supporters cared an iota about the Clintons' corruption or the fact that they were the ultimate Grifters. All Brooks and the establishment liberals ever wanted were to keep stuffing themselves at the same table - doing "fun things" to keep themselves there, while the rest of America was forced to look on. And establishment liberals didn't like Sanders either, for the same reason. He was a threat to their sloth. Clinton supporters would have seen this country to ruin. It's not the Trump supporters that we need to fear. I supported Sanders, and watched Brooks and smug establishment liberals do nothing but make fun of him. Well, it looks they didn't have the last laugh after all, thank goodness.
1
Your last sentence surprises and frightens me. Yes, it is possible that Trump will blunder egregiously or his past will catch up to the present.
But this "future" is as bad or worse, as Mike Pence is a dangerous religious fanatic who wouldn't set America back 50 years - he would set it back to the Dark Ages. Pence is homophobic, irrational, anti-science and horribly bigoted. He's just not as crude and ignorant as Trump.
I think I prefer Trump. He might blow the world up because he mistakenly employed the nuclear codes when he thought he was tweeting. But Pence would blow up the world because of his "moral" certainty and confidence that the righteous will enjoy eternal bliss.
But this "future" is as bad or worse, as Mike Pence is a dangerous religious fanatic who wouldn't set America back 50 years - he would set it back to the Dark Ages. Pence is homophobic, irrational, anti-science and horribly bigoted. He's just not as crude and ignorant as Trump.
I think I prefer Trump. He might blow the world up because he mistakenly employed the nuclear codes when he thought he was tweeting. But Pence would blow up the world because of his "moral" certainty and confidence that the righteous will enjoy eternal bliss.
1
It will be easier for the Democrats to pivot over the next 4 years than people think. Trump's voters fell prey to the Republican line that government and immigrants are to blame for their economic woes. In fact, it's corporate power and big banks that are to blame. If Democrats can reach out to Trump's rural electorate, acknowledge their pain, and then reframe the narrative about who is to blame, a liberal Presidential candidate can ascend in 2020.
Trump was right: The election was rigged.
But so is any election that leaves the voter with a binary choice between two incompatible extremes, while completely eliminating rational and moderate discourse and logic.
We need a third party that is built on these principles and when you are going to found it, count me in!
Democrats and Republicans alike are unable to bring together this great country to implement the changes we must to save this planet and mankind.
But so is any election that leaves the voter with a binary choice between two incompatible extremes, while completely eliminating rational and moderate discourse and logic.
We need a third party that is built on these principles and when you are going to found it, count me in!
Democrats and Republicans alike are unable to bring together this great country to implement the changes we must to save this planet and mankind.
The liberal educated class (of which I count myself a member) needs to look long and hard at our elitism. It's as though we forgot that to get a college education now, you have to be rich or be willing to become impoverished. To live in a neighborhood where fresh food is sold, you have to be rich. To advocate for fairness and a healthy climate and healthcare for all--you pretty much have to have to be or safely live among the affluent and educated. We, the educated, do not advocate for the poor or uneducated. We feather our liberal caps with well articulated concern for those whose lives we're safe from. Suddenly we feel unsafe. Let's look at why. Let's not gloat or recriminate. Let's not wallow in shock. Let's look at our own part in the conditions that got us here.
1
These simple dichotomies only take us so far. When we have trade agreements with provisions for intellectual property and investor-state dispute settlement, the language of open and closed trade is insufficient.
1
Ah, the most hopeful thing I've heard after this election--The guy
will probably resign or be impeached within a year. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the witch hunter general, Mike Pence, as president. And the creatures that Trump is lurching towards assisting him govern. Probably because they won't betray his utter ignorance of the process.
I agree that Republicans who are sane need to grow a pair and split from the party into a moderate, centrist coalition--where they might have worked well, with say, a Hillary Clinton....
You might start that trend by outing yourself, David. I would have voted for a lot of people--a Bloomberg/ Warren ticket, Hillary and Warren, Biden and Kasich, but this????
As AI replaces the jobs of the Forgotten Man, government will have to provide the economic support and infrastructure of purpose and meaning that make life possible. Otherwise, people will rise up. It is a pretty Socialist or common sense idea. The Koch brothers will distract us from this with bread and circuses as long as they can, but eventually, it will have to happen.
will probably resign or be impeached within a year. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the witch hunter general, Mike Pence, as president. And the creatures that Trump is lurching towards assisting him govern. Probably because they won't betray his utter ignorance of the process.
I agree that Republicans who are sane need to grow a pair and split from the party into a moderate, centrist coalition--where they might have worked well, with say, a Hillary Clinton....
You might start that trend by outing yourself, David. I would have voted for a lot of people--a Bloomberg/ Warren ticket, Hillary and Warren, Biden and Kasich, but this????
As AI replaces the jobs of the Forgotten Man, government will have to provide the economic support and infrastructure of purpose and meaning that make life possible. Otherwise, people will rise up. It is a pretty Socialist or common sense idea. The Koch brothers will distract us from this with bread and circuses as long as they can, but eventually, it will have to happen.
44
Two words America: Rob Ford
Canadians saw this coming long before Brexit. Trump followed the Ford playbook to a tee. And, like Ford, he will now begin his time in office with cautious optimism only to later implode when it turns out that he is incapable of governing.
The good news is that the blowing up of Fordian/Trumpian promises, while it will not move the 30% of core "low-information" voters, will drive away the 20% of reasonable voters who are conservative but not willing to have the wool pulled over their eyes twice. The 46th President will end up being truly great as a result.
Canadians saw this coming long before Brexit. Trump followed the Ford playbook to a tee. And, like Ford, he will now begin his time in office with cautious optimism only to later implode when it turns out that he is incapable of governing.
The good news is that the blowing up of Fordian/Trumpian promises, while it will not move the 30% of core "low-information" voters, will drive away the 20% of reasonable voters who are conservative but not willing to have the wool pulled over their eyes twice. The 46th President will end up being truly great as a result.
2
I suspect there will be lots of people writing here that Mr. Brooks and Republicans like him are to blame for Trump and that anything he writes is hypocritical. That just isn't true, any more than Hillary Clinton or the media is to blame.
There are three categories of blame only: first and most importantly, the 60 million morally and intellectually impaired people who voted Trump into office; to a lesser extent, the tens of millions who chose not to vote or voted for a protest candidate; and people like me who voted for Clinton but didn't work to get her elected.
We all knew who Trump is. America chose him anyway. Chances are, he or someone like him could have been voted in as a Democrat. He exposes and champions an ugly underside of the American spirit that has been there for a while and must be acknowledged.
Now it's up to decent people everywhere to mitigate this disaster by fighting his mean-spirited initiatives and fighting to remove him from office.
There are three categories of blame only: first and most importantly, the 60 million morally and intellectually impaired people who voted Trump into office; to a lesser extent, the tens of millions who chose not to vote or voted for a protest candidate; and people like me who voted for Clinton but didn't work to get her elected.
We all knew who Trump is. America chose him anyway. Chances are, he or someone like him could have been voted in as a Democrat. He exposes and champions an ugly underside of the American spirit that has been there for a while and must be acknowledged.
Now it's up to decent people everywhere to mitigate this disaster by fighting his mean-spirited initiatives and fighting to remove him from office.
Never have I felt more worry and concern for my country, not even on 9/11 and the days following. Right now, ironically enough, my hope is with Donald J. Trump and Chef Justice John Roberts. They are the two men standing between America and a complete takeover by a conservatism that would be a horror for women, Muslims, Blacks, children, the infirm, the disabled, and the educated. And I'm not too sure Trump and Roberts will stand against the onslaught or join with it.
Let's hope President Trump (what awful words to type!) is not removed from office. Imagine a President Pence backed up by Ryan's House, McConnell's Senate, and a Scalia-style Supreme Court. This is but the beginning of a possibly very long national nightmare.
Already I'm considering adopting the practice of thousands of women in Indiana by reporting on my periods every month to Vice-President Pence. Lord knows, I don't want to be punished for a possible miscarriage mistaken for a (gasp!) abortion. And thinking of slippery slopes, isn't an unfertilized egg a possible human life?
Let's hope President Trump (what awful words to type!) is not removed from office. Imagine a President Pence backed up by Ryan's House, McConnell's Senate, and a Scalia-style Supreme Court. This is but the beginning of a possibly very long national nightmare.
Already I'm considering adopting the practice of thousands of women in Indiana by reporting on my periods every month to Vice-President Pence. Lord knows, I don't want to be punished for a possible miscarriage mistaken for a (gasp!) abortion. And thinking of slippery slopes, isn't an unfertilized egg a possible human life?
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Great ideas. But first we have to get rid of, or bypass the electoral college. We need to elect the President via popular vote. Whatever the founding fathers had in mind when they created the electoral college, it is now obsolete and works against our principle of "one person, one vote." We the direct election of the president, there is a better chance for a third party. Please speak to this in a future column.
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I had always explained my Republican affiliation to the various, suitably appalled liberals by saying that the GOP, for all its faults, was the party of aspiration and the Democrats, for all their virtues, were the party of envy.
But envy seized control of the Republican Party this year and managed to prevail on Tuesday. If Trumpism goes unchallenged within the comlacent Republican leadership, as seems all too likely to happen, I like Brook will soon find myself a man without a party.
But envy seized control of the Republican Party this year and managed to prevail on Tuesday. If Trumpism goes unchallenged within the comlacent Republican leadership, as seems all too likely to happen, I like Brook will soon find myself a man without a party.
David Brooks' years of defending the indefensible coming from the GOP makes him pretty lame as a pundit. He's supported so much GOP nonsense and idiocy he lacks credibility. And here again, he gets it wrong. Same old smarmy, unctuous blather. Just go back to sleep is his usual message.
But I say unto you: wake up. This election is a danger not just to the USA but the whole world. Trump will do away with what environmental protections we have in place, reverse all the decisions Trump made, and had proposed a climate change denier for the EPA.
I've cited one issue but on most every issue Trump is ideologically wrong, wrongheaded, and dangerous to democracy. The idea, put about by people like Brooks, is that the GOP would bring us back to the (supposedly) safe, stable 1950s when white people ruled, but in their fatal attraction to bullies and demagoguery, much of it coming from the religious right gave Trump the path to this debacle. Brooks is part of the problem and always has been, despite the nonsense he spews about ethics. Ethics means critical thinking and facing reality, something Brooks avoids at all costs in favor of pap.
But I say unto you: wake up. This election is a danger not just to the USA but the whole world. Trump will do away with what environmental protections we have in place, reverse all the decisions Trump made, and had proposed a climate change denier for the EPA.
I've cited one issue but on most every issue Trump is ideologically wrong, wrongheaded, and dangerous to democracy. The idea, put about by people like Brooks, is that the GOP would bring us back to the (supposedly) safe, stable 1950s when white people ruled, but in their fatal attraction to bullies and demagoguery, much of it coming from the religious right gave Trump the path to this debacle. Brooks is part of the problem and always has been, despite the nonsense he spews about ethics. Ethics means critical thinking and facing reality, something Brooks avoids at all costs in favor of pap.
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I'm still having trouble understanding how the "social/open" party that David Brooks has been advocating in his recent columns is much different from the Democratic Party. I agree that progressives cannot hope to regain control of the government simply by attacking the worst tendencies of those who supported Donald Trump, i.e. the bigotry, sexism, and racism. But it seems to me that the biggest problem Mr. Brooks has with the Democrats is their choice of nominee. So those of us who thought Hillary Clinton was an excellent candidate will not be swayed by these ideas.
I really think most of the coastal elite throw the bigotry and misogyny card because it is an easy cop-out to demonized Trump and helps them avoid looking at why a large portion of the electorate voted for him. And shockingly, they are scared to admit that they have exactly the same level of racism Trump does. The elite don't mix with urban blacks or Hispanic illegals (except as landscapers or restaurant wait staff), making it really really easy to advocate for them with no proverbial skin in the game. They recoil from Trump because they see too much of themselves and want to hide it.
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First haters, take a look at the scoreboard and show some respect for the other 50 million people who voted for Trump. Next, take a look in the mirror. You were beaten by a candidate who took on the political establishments of both parties, who endured a continuous flow of scorn and ridicule from the media, ran a campaign on a shoestring with much of his own money and, as somebody who had never held a government position, whopped a cadre of professional politicians, pundits, experts pollsters, etc. That looks like the heart of a champion to me. Get over it losers !
Since voters have rejected both the conventional Republican Party and the neo-Liberal Democratic Party we obviously need an alternative. Sanders and Warren represent the best chance we have to change our political course and eventually repair the great damage that the Trump Presidency will do to our country. You are wrong that the "Sanders-Warren party" will be "closed". I don't think they want to close off trade, withdraw from the world or become obsessed with PC. They will not have a following if they do.
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"After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year." This provides me no comfort - the looting of our country by the lobbyists, the chaos from lack of governance, and the destruction of our robust economy will take a generation to recover from. I cannot forgive the voters who sent America into bankruptcy - though I accept the responsibility to fight to open their eyes.
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Third parties can wait David. Our children are taking to the streets because they feel that their future is in peril. Minutes after the "cordial words" at the White House, Trump's fascist imagination of paranoia and nostalgia reasserted itself in a typically belligerent tweet asserting that the protesters are "professionals" who are "incited by the media." Trump brackets reality for his supporters who revel in his intolerance and bigotry because they recognize the same qualities in themselves. Trump's promises are illusions. Yet, the more reality threatens to shatter these falsehoods, the more violent will be the urge to maintain them. That's the future that you reference as "closer than you think."
It isn't xenophobic to ask why 11 million people are in this country illegally and the leaders of the country don't really care. It has unfortunately poisoned many peoples views on legal immigration, especially skilled which this country needs. This country has been acting as a relief valve for poverty and overpopulation in Latin America. But working class Americans have paid a price for that and globalization and that message just got heard loud and clear.
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"If he’s left to bloviate while others are left to run the country and push through infrastructure plans, maybe things won’t be disastrous."
Right, our best hope was that he will rely on competent people with integrity.
But that didn't last long. From CBS this morning: "President-elect Donald Trump has selected a climate skeptic, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Myron Ebell, to lead his Environmental Protection Agency transition team."
Right, our best hope was that he will rely on competent people with integrity.
But that didn't last long. From CBS this morning: "President-elect Donald Trump has selected a climate skeptic, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Myron Ebell, to lead his Environmental Protection Agency transition team."
Mr. Brooks says that Mr. Trump will probably resign or be impeached within a year -- that is exactly the kind of fey attitude that lost the establishment this election.
Slowly we come to realize that Mr. Trump is on to something. And that when he wants somethinghe gets it -- probably his means and methods are often unpalatable, but he has gotten things done in his life, he is a doer.
So perhaps the best thing is for everybody to choose some issue where they agree with Trump, and try to be constructive about that.
To emphasize the positive is wise. To harp on the negative only gives it strength.
Slowly we come to realize that Mr. Trump is on to something. And that when he wants somethinghe gets it -- probably his means and methods are often unpalatable, but he has gotten things done in his life, he is a doer.
So perhaps the best thing is for everybody to choose some issue where they agree with Trump, and try to be constructive about that.
To emphasize the positive is wise. To harp on the negative only gives it strength.
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What this country needs is no parties whatsoever, not more.
Can you imagine an election in which no parties existed? All the candidates throw their hat in the same ring and make their cases for their vision of leadership for the country, as varied or similar as they may be. They all debate their ideas, together, so we can all hear the full range of thought. Let the people come to their own conclusions without the constraints and divisions by the myth of "two" approaches to politics and leadership. Get rid of the "us" vs "them" dynamic and reinforces all of us choosing from all of them.
If our species survives, this is the way to elect leaders. But, that's a big if.
Can you imagine an election in which no parties existed? All the candidates throw their hat in the same ring and make their cases for their vision of leadership for the country, as varied or similar as they may be. They all debate their ideas, together, so we can all hear the full range of thought. Let the people come to their own conclusions without the constraints and divisions by the myth of "two" approaches to politics and leadership. Get rid of the "us" vs "them" dynamic and reinforces all of us choosing from all of them.
If our species survives, this is the way to elect leaders. But, that's a big if.
Let's be honest here. People did not vote for Trump. They voted against a corrupt, dysfunctional Washington establishment. They are angry at not being heard unless you are a lobbyist or special interest group bearing reelection campaign funds. Here in Pennsylvania, millions of dollars were spent on a senate job that pays $174,000!a year. Trump certainly is not the answer. Americans voted for Trump out of frustration with a corrupt democracy but they will be sorely disappointed. If West Virginia coal miners believe Trump will bring coal back, or mid-westerners believe he will bring old school manufacturing jobs back, I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell them. It will be interesting to see what they think of Donald Trump in two years, if he is still president.
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I have been reading all the commentary on the blindness of the Democrats with regard to the pain of the white working class and i agree wholeheartedly. I always thought Hillary was the wrong candidate and voted for her unenthusiastically. But why is no one talking about the fact that we may have just experienced a bloodless coup? I have never considered myself a conspiracy theorist but today's Washington Post reports that there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. Add to that the quite strategic email dumps probably engineered by Russia as well as the FBI disaster. Do we really have a Democracy anymore?