At what point do the nervous nellies on Wall Street start to cave to the thing the markets hate the worst? Uncertainty.
171
Power corrupts. In Trump's case, it's not corruption as much as enabling his insanity. But all the people around him who could be the controlling influences: Mike Pence, Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell, not to mention many in his cabinet -- these are the people who have now been granted a lot of authority for the first time, and they love it too much to stop the madman. When will someone draw the line and take him on?
214
This heinous despot allegedly raped a thirteen year old virgin the summer of 1994 at convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s house. According to her interview which in online for the whole world to hear; he made her wear a glove during the first round. Why in the world did she withdraw her lawsuit a few days before the election? This needs to be investigated to find out if there is any merit to this story.
237
If Sigmund were still around he would say that 'Trump’s dad, Fred, who was supremely aggressive and calculating, cool where Donald was hot, someone who believed the world was divided into killers and losers" is at the heart of the problem and that the behavior is rooted not in his being a "70-year-old 7-year-old' but a 70 y.o. 3 y.o. He's an enraged Oedipal stereotype.
130
Just great, another gift from the republicans, an incurious boy king promoted way above his capabilities. What could go wrong? The Republican Party should all be tried for treason.
303
Given her dislike of both Clinton and Trump, Ms. Dowd was in a no-lose situation for the 4 years after the election, assuming Bernie was waylaid. Lots of opportunities for vitriol for the next 4 years.
I'm beginning to wonder if there's any other topic the NYT's collection of pundits will find to opine about.
I'm beginning to wonder if there's any other topic the NYT's collection of pundits will find to opine about.
43
This is the Maureen Dowd I recognize. Where have you been?
I will echo one reader: Are your family members happy about voting for Trump?
I just hope that our democracy can withstand the antics of our current president.
I will echo one reader: Are your family members happy about voting for Trump?
I just hope that our democracy can withstand the antics of our current president.
233
Stand up. If you need a hand, take a hand. If you have a hand to lend, help someone to their feet. But, stand.
199
Strewn among the casualties of the week are people with mental illness. We have "Islamic terrorists" to blame for upsetting world order, but in the understandable bashing of Trump as mentally ill--whether it's true or not--we now demonize by association and ad hominem thinking people with a whole slew of mental and intellectual disabilities: autism, borderline personality disorder, sociopathy, mania...
It won't be long before people start labeling others they don't like after a quick perusal of DSMIV. I can't count the number of times I hear, "He's on the spectrum" as a descriptor for someone with "eccentric" behavior.
While I cringe at the president's every word, pout and smirk, I hope we can be kinder and more sensitive to the suffering of our fellow citizens with mental and emotional disabilities.
It won't be long before people start labeling others they don't like after a quick perusal of DSMIV. I can't count the number of times I hear, "He's on the spectrum" as a descriptor for someone with "eccentric" behavior.
While I cringe at the president's every word, pout and smirk, I hope we can be kinder and more sensitive to the suffering of our fellow citizens with mental and emotional disabilities.
168
Obama talked about "change." Mr. Trump is, so far, delivering change right from the get-go every day of his Presidency. There are phrases which describe talkers, such as "All hat and no cattle.", etc. Mr. Trump only needs one commonplace hat, the ubiquitous baseball cap worn by most of the American citizenry. Said cap reflects not only the national pastime, but the national personality, psyche and mood. And somewhere in his empire, he probably has plenty of cattle. His favourite, hamburgers, have to come from somewhere. Americans need, want and favour doers. After eight (8) years we were tired of the benchwarmer, Obama. Mr. Trump has taken the field and after four years we will assess his numbers, statistics, hits, runs, errors, era., wins and losses, et. al. He has come out swinging for the fences. Time will tell if he ranks as All-American.
24
Maureen, I think it's safe to say that you will not be receiving an invitation to have lunch at the White House anytime soon.
33
You own this, Mo. You went after the Clintons and Obama. Really?
289
It's hard to fathom how Trump didn't think Spicer's "defense" was "fiery" enough.
I've never been so shaken in my life after watching Spicer come out and basically order us to believe obvious, outright lies.
Short of throwing thunderbolts at the assembled press corps, I don't know how he could have seemed more "fiery", the man was absolutely unhinged.
But yes, his suit was ridiculous, which spawned that David Byrne giant suit meme on social media.
Trump knows the suit makes the man.
I've never been so shaken in my life after watching Spicer come out and basically order us to believe obvious, outright lies.
Short of throwing thunderbolts at the assembled press corps, I don't know how he could have seemed more "fiery", the man was absolutely unhinged.
But yes, his suit was ridiculous, which spawned that David Byrne giant suit meme on social media.
Trump knows the suit makes the man.
100
At this point we all know what trump is and how he will react. What the NYT's , the DEM's, the rest of the world, and people here with reason should talk about is how and why did he get elected so this can never happen again in our history!!!
44
Maureen , In the past you have been incredibly critical of HRC. Now here we are with Mr Trump. He is creating chaos and living lies. He is violating the ethics and spirit of our country. To me this is unbelievable. A president who just out and out lies. The republicans in congress seem just content to overlook such as it means they might get some of their legislation passed. But I can hardly believe that so many are willing to give a pass to a liar. Alternative fact my fanny. I hope you focus on the lies and the repressive policies. Lying will not make America great again. We were a pretty great country without the lies.
169
Maureen, congratulations on finally focusing on the subject that should have been your mantra for the past couple of years. You and your team need to dig deeper, report more frequently before the poison pill that is our President, swallows and our country dies.
95
Well, well. Trump's performance thus far is not news to the millions who voted against Trump in November. Those foolish enough to believe otherwise will watch along with the rest of the lunacy of President Trump play out.
We shouldn't forget the other side players in this dark tragedy. The Republican controlled Congress are set to do serious damage to the welfare to the citizens of this nation. An emotionally immature President and a Republican Congress determined to return to the politics of the Gilded Age will turn the US into a nation of paupers and beggars dependent on the the charity of a plutarchy.
We shouldn't forget the other side players in this dark tragedy. The Republican controlled Congress are set to do serious damage to the welfare to the citizens of this nation. An emotionally immature President and a Republican Congress determined to return to the politics of the Gilded Age will turn the US into a nation of paupers and beggars dependent on the the charity of a plutarchy.
149
One cannot help but chortle to watch our elites, faced with the Monty Python skit now playing in the White House to wildly alternate with alcoholic lability, from Col. Nicholson's epiphany in Bridge on the River Kwai: "What have I done?" to Col. Kurtz's "The Horror! The Horror!." If this first week of hilarious absurdity and pandemonium is any clue, the next four year's promises to be a hellride of epic delusion and destruction.
77
Like King Kong on the loose, Trump is going to wreck the status quo of D.C. collusions/corruptions, and then derail the train if incompetency. It's going to be messy. I hope he gets a lot done before he loses his grip and falls from the Empire State Bldg.
Nevertheless, this is fun to watch as the original Kong movie.
Nevertheless, this is fun to watch as the original Kong movie.
16
Maureen let's here from your all your smug family members who voted for Putin's puppet. I suspect your brother will be crawling under a rock to hide like all sorts of " non deplorable" Trump supporters. Thanks so much.
137
"Freudian obsession about whether the crowd on the Mall for his inaugural speech was as big as President Obama’s in 2009."
trump acts like a 12 year old spoiled brat who's had too much sugar but Ms. Dowd is as responsible for him being in the Oval Office as Czar Vlad and FBI Director Comey!
Actions have consequences!
trump acts like a 12 year old spoiled brat who's had too much sugar but Ms. Dowd is as responsible for him being in the Oval Office as Czar Vlad and FBI Director Comey!
Actions have consequences!
144
Your critical columns on Hillary benefited Trump greatly. Now you are sounding the alarm bells. Too late. Hillary's flaws pale in comparison to the man who now inhabits the most powerful office in the land. I am sure, however, he will provide you with plenty of ink.
173
I suggest D'Antonio read about the Narcissistic Personality Disorder if he wants to understand trump. The man running this show is Steve Bannon and Trump is doing exactly what Bannon wants. It covers his machinations in the background by diverting the press to Trump full time. There is very little written about Bannon and the Russians aren't talked about much which makes the cowardly republican party grateful because they have no desire to do an investigation.
57
And you can be proud, Maureen, that you helped make it happen.
165
In spite of every attempt Trump has made to prove himself to be unfit for office his blind loyalists still voted for him believing he was the man he had never shown himself to be. The question is; will the Republican Congress continue to enable this accidental impostor to continue to lead this country by enabling his incompetence, delusions, and dangerous personality disorder?
54
"Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life."
23
Honestly, I think he's a tad more clever --- he's appeasing the crazies who put him in office with his 60, 90, and 120 day bans, from, as others have noted, the countries where he doesn't do work. That should give him enough time to sow another crazy idea to keep them in his fold. Herding cats, right? Crazy ones at that!
25
7-year-old: Excuse me?
10
You should be very afraid, fellow Americans. The Republican are now 100% behind Trump's successful strategy of disruption & diversion by feeding continual outrageous lies to a compliant media - they control the 3 branches of the government and the Democrats are like deer in the headlights. Despite the lack of popular support, the minority, energized Republican base is all they need along with the gerrymandered districts. Don't count on the media to save you, they are just profiting from all of this - get out there yourselves to save your country.
88
We have no cabinet. Pence is a yes man. Bannon and Jared are running the country.
75
Ms. Dowd, I love your phrase "the high-chair king"!!
40
Democrats and the MSM are in over-drive, hysterical, and paranoid. Forgetting his disastrous first day in office and the "inauguration numbers" President Trump has done exactly what he promised when campaigning. His 90-day ban unfortunately included green card holders, but that mistake has already been rectified. Get over it. If you didn;t agree with his campaign rhetoric, you didn't vote for hm. If you did, he's proven himself to those who did. Interesting, how, in a matter of minutes...or is it seconds, how fast $oros dollar$ provided and managed to round up hundreds of people in some major cities to protest. Ahhh...the power of social media and $$$.
13
Richard Nixon famously said that "if the president does it, that means that it's not illegal." That didn't end so well, did it? We shall see, Donald.
105
It has only been one week since this clinically paranoid narcissist has taken office, yet it feels like a decade. There was a major anti-Trump protest on day two of his presidency and on then day eight he bans refugees which sparks protests at some of our airports. As the protests increase in size and volume; Bannon the anarchist, will push Trump to even more despotic actions. This is exactly what Bannon and the alt-right want. Total chaos and disruption is the goal of anarchists.
66
Ryan and McConnell fold like Sean Spicer suits.
49
Lets not under estimate or ignore the role the Democrats played in introducing a new oxymoron into the language-President Trump.Fielding an unelectable member of a Dynasty as the candidate, working hard, often covertly, to ensure she became the nominee, taking victory for granted without a clear platform and now, blaming the FBI and Russia for the outcome.A party still lead by geriatrics and sycophants blindly continuing to talk and write about issues millions of Americans have said they do not see as priorities.Depressing given how devastating the next few years could be.
25
How do the courts decide when defendants are competent to stand trial?
19
I've tried calling my senators and rep. None of their offices' answering machines is accepting messages... the slimy cowards.
So I went to Faxzero.com ~ where there's a link to each state's senators and reps. I faxed them all... it's free. Do it. You will have to confirm when FZ sends you an email, only then will the fax be sent. DO IT.
So I went to Faxzero.com ~ where there's a link to each state's senators and reps. I faxed them all... it's free. Do it. You will have to confirm when FZ sends you an email, only then will the fax be sent. DO IT.
62
Typically, adults wouldn't send children to the basement with matches to play with gasoline. But that appears to be precisely what (enough of) the electorate has done.
And as with the marriage of kids + matches, this can't end well.
And as with the marriage of kids + matches, this can't end well.
50
I'm trying. I'm really trying to accept the fact that we have this new president. What keeps ringing in my brain are all those people who wouldn't vote for Hillary because they didn't trust her.
109
We knew he was nuts all along. And prayers will not help! He doesn't have a character flaw. He's certifiably nuts. There is no need for a multi-billionaire to behave like him. One presumes he can have anything he wants, and now we've given him a country to play with. We have Falstaff as king of our country! A cowardly comedian!
68
So many protests, so little time.
Instead of wasting so much energy
"carrying signs and saying hurray for our side",
and being rewarded -if we're lucky-
with a ten second blurb on the news,
we should move en masse to the rust belt,
as both voters and community organizers,
armed with a large supply of WD-40
and not-so-common sense
Similar to the north-south moral migration of the Mississippi Freedom Summer.
Preaching to the choir feels good, but much more is needed to create change
Otherwise Trump's pseudo-populist lies and deceit will win the day again, and plunge us into an even darker night of despair and danger.
Instead of wasting so much energy
"carrying signs and saying hurray for our side",
and being rewarded -if we're lucky-
with a ten second blurb on the news,
we should move en masse to the rust belt,
as both voters and community organizers,
armed with a large supply of WD-40
and not-so-common sense
Similar to the north-south moral migration of the Mississippi Freedom Summer.
Preaching to the choir feels good, but much more is needed to create change
Otherwise Trump's pseudo-populist lies and deceit will win the day again, and plunge us into an even darker night of despair and danger.
28
There is so little left to be said to describe this person, although Ms. Dowd covers the field quite well. Trump is quite possibly our first VISIBLY completely mentally unstable president; he actively displays all aspects of his instability...they are not some hidden quirks that come out as "he talks to portraits" like Nixon, or other unknown issues that other presidents have had. These are open, wildly erratic actions of a person not in touch with anything close to reality; they are actions that, if left unchecked, will harm untold numbers of citizens around the world. We truly are in the most dangerous, potentially violent and destructive period in the short life of the US republic. This man must be contained, shut down and removed from office; at least then, we will be dealing with a more "normal lunatic", more of a sideshow compared to this epic failure. Trump voters must be so sad, but sadly many of them don't get it, either.
62
Trump lusts after attention, as do all malignant narcissists and borderline personalities, and a reality show presidency is his dream role. Being ignored is his hell, but he has succeeded in landing a role in which he cannot be ignored. He recognizes that he can now play with the world according to how he "feels" in any given moment. The Republicans may begin to resist his "show-time actions" eventually, but dont count on it. They value power more than their so-called principles. There already are groups forming in opposition to facets of his hatefilled reality show scripts, but to be massively impactful we must unite in our opposition. We cant deny him the attention he craves. The best we can do is unite to discipline this man-child through massive expressions of disapproval.
25
Why not demand of Congress to put a stop to it.
Why spend a column telling us what we already know
Why spend a column telling us what we already know
40
As a retired physician I am completely serious when I suggest Trumps' wild and erratic comments suggest frontotemporal dementia. It is a bit complex and people make mis-attribution for some statements to demagoguery or personality disorder. Being a demagogue or having a personality disorder does not protect one from dementia. A careful analysis shows that many of his statements are against his own interest and better fit impairment of executive function seen with frontotemporal dementia. It has been said his elocution is at a sixth grade level; and not a very bright sixth grader at that. His speaking at a sixth grade level, tweeting at a sixth grade level and emotionally responding at a sixth grade level demand explanation. Tapes of him at a younger age suggest superior language and cognitive function. In a 70 year old male, the likely diagnosis is frontotemporal dementia. If you think he is just dumbing down his communication for his base, then you would observe a shift in elocution dependent on circumstances-----and you don't. It is a critical question. The NYTimes should study earlier tapes with a few academic neurologists and compare. Republicans and democrats who care about the country need to unite and address this worrisome problem.
158
Everything in this column is accurate. Unfortunately, Maureen Dowd's unrelenting, unjustifiably negative columns about Hilary before the election, in my opinion, played a significant role in getting us into this catastrophe. By painting Hilary as a flawed human being, those columns provided fodder for those who wanted to vote republican but were having trouble dealing with Trump's flaws; if both candidates are flawed, then it's makes the choice about something other than character and qualifications. The columns may have also kept some who wanted to vote democratic from going to the polls. Criticizing Trump now is like a drop of rain in the ocean.
Marilyn Edelhoch & John Dawson, Columbia, SC
Marilyn Edelhoch & John Dawson, Columbia, SC
117
The good thing is that after Trump, the Republican party's cred will be non-existent...that is if our country (and the rest of civilization) doesn't go up in mushroom clouds.
28
Gee, I feel lost. It is hard to imagine a Maureen Dowd column that didn't insult Hillary Clinton. I thought I was reading someone else. Ms. Dowd does manage a criticism of Mr. Obama, but mostly sticks to the matter, or rather Mad Hatter at hand. One thing I would quibble about and that is our continuing reference to shows like Mr. Trump's as "reality", as in the phrase "reality star". If Pres. Trump's old show had had anything to do with reality, maybe he'd identify fantasy more readily. As it is, he seems committed to operating somewhere between the two in his presidency. The 53.8% of the voters who voted against him need to keep reminding him they are real.
58
I'm curious how you sister feels about him now. That would be a great piece to write. We all know the insanity that is Donald Trump. His rantings about his bigly crowd sizes. So large that they make up for his tiny hands. The reality is, he is leader of the free world and it is sending the majority of Americans into the streets and airports demanding a sane adult run this country.
29
Maureen, it looks like you are back in form, this is a good, well written column. For months while Hillary was running, I was worried that your misogyny--that little voice in your head that kept telling you that the first woman who was running for president, the one who spent her entire life devoted to helping children was really deep down an evil, corrupt, destroyer of worlds, might actually end up fooling people like you into voting for a man who was actually the real lunatic, and what do you know it happened.
68
In other countries, a man like trump would be installed in office by the military. In America, we're foolish enough to vote into office a man like trump, who avoided serving in the military, who likely has not paid federal taxes for decades, and who has used US bankruptcy law at least 6 times to bail out his own businesses.
42
At the risk of being snarky here, but Maureen, you should shoulder a bit of responsibility here. Your decades long animosity toward the Clinton's which boils over in your op-eds and certainly in your book, was one drum beat of garbage thrown at HRC. And it all added up, so the so-called swing voters sat on their hands rather than electing someone sane versus this nut case. The only good news for you is that you now have 4 or 8 years worth of material. Have fun at this country's expense.
104
My grandmother died in 1946 but she has somehow managed to communicate with Maureen Dowd. Grandma said, "the way you are at 7 is the way you will be at 70".
Who could have imagined that this bit of grandmotherly wisdom would someday be so vividly brought to life by a President of the United States.
Who could have imagined that this bit of grandmotherly wisdom would someday be so vividly brought to life by a President of the United States.
22
Narcissism + Demagoguery = Trump
James Fenimore Cooper stated in The American Democrat: "The demagogue is usually sly, a detractor of others, a professor of humility [not so in Trump's case] and disinterestedness, a great stickler for equality as respects all above him, a man who acts in corners, and avoids open and manly expositions of his course, calls blackguards gentlemen, and gentlemen folks, appeals to passions and prejudices rather than to reason, and is in all respects, a man of intrigue and deception, of sly cunning and management, instead of manifesting the frank, fearless qualities of the democracy he so prodigally professes.
The man who maintains the rights of the people on pure grounds, may be distinguished from the demagogue by the reverse of all these qualities. He does not flatter the people, even while he defends them, for he knows that flattery is a corrupting and dangerous poison. Having nothing to conceal, he is frank and fearless, as are all men with the consciousness of right motives. He oftener chides than commends, for power needs reproof and can dispense with praise."
James Fenimore Cooper stated in The American Democrat: "The demagogue is usually sly, a detractor of others, a professor of humility [not so in Trump's case] and disinterestedness, a great stickler for equality as respects all above him, a man who acts in corners, and avoids open and manly expositions of his course, calls blackguards gentlemen, and gentlemen folks, appeals to passions and prejudices rather than to reason, and is in all respects, a man of intrigue and deception, of sly cunning and management, instead of manifesting the frank, fearless qualities of the democracy he so prodigally professes.
The man who maintains the rights of the people on pure grounds, may be distinguished from the demagogue by the reverse of all these qualities. He does not flatter the people, even while he defends them, for he knows that flattery is a corrupting and dangerous poison. Having nothing to conceal, he is frank and fearless, as are all men with the consciousness of right motives. He oftener chides than commends, for power needs reproof and can dispense with praise."
8
Ok, I get it, humor is what we have left. I appreciate it, I do! And this is as good as ever Ms. Dowd, very funny. I wont lie to you, I cringe at the thought of being the target of your wit and perception. We, not literally, they-the Trump Trash, created this mess and we-the "liberal elite", have the responsibility to keep this rabid nut job from blowing up the world. If The Times is his thorn, then The Times must be relentless! Do not stop sticking it to him! And please, can somebody figure out whether mental illness can be utilized to remove a man from office for lack of fitness? Mania with delusions usually warrants weekly sessions with a psychologist. And at least one yearly visit to a psychiatrist for a mood stabilizer, if not an anti-psychotic. Keep pushing those buttons until he is so unhinged, his psychosis becomes undeniable and then me must figure out how to remove him for lack of fitness. I bet he doesn't sleep, send nasty tweets between 3 AM and 6 AM. Make him fear sleep, his disease will spiral out of control (I hate to be so mean but we have to get him out).
23
Same story. Different cast of crazy characters and greedy motivators. No more war. No more war. No more war. Enough.
7
"70-year old 7-year old." Yep, that pretty much sums it up. "It's hard to take your eyes off him." Kind of like watching a train wreck, don't you think?
21
Ms. Dowd, this column is about the man YOU supported for the Presidency, over Hillary Clinton.
112
Clearly, this most crafty salesman, now our man in Washington, took heed when P.T. Barnum stated that there's a sucker born every minute; the recent election proved there are still millions of 'em out there who happily swallow whatever snake oil DT is selling.
Too bad he did not heed Rudyard Kipling's advice to beware of the truce of the bear; that is when a ferocious bear strides up and appears to hug you like a long lost uncle, he's really softening you up for his next meal. Just wait, Vlad will crush DT when he sees the opportunity to eat him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Too bad he did not heed Rudyard Kipling's advice to beware of the truce of the bear; that is when a ferocious bear strides up and appears to hug you like a long lost uncle, he's really softening you up for his next meal. Just wait, Vlad will crush DT when he sees the opportunity to eat him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
26
I often disagree with Ms. Dowd (especially about the Clintons)
but she really nails Trump in this piece. very good job.
but she really nails Trump in this piece. very good job.
10
OMG! Que the Benny Hill music!
Dubya was just plain stupid enough that it was sad to see Cheney wheeling him around like an old hound in a wheelbarrow, then we had Obama who could could ride three bikes at one time playing a sonata. And now this, this mess of a personality and a person as our leader. Reeally scary.
What's the standard for intervention these days? What are the actual behavioral thresholds that would qualify professionals stepping in to help this poor man? Let's start defining the baseline behavior that would qualify The Donald for psychological intervention before we need it, just to make sure we all know when Pence needs to tap him out for his own good.
Dubya was just plain stupid enough that it was sad to see Cheney wheeling him around like an old hound in a wheelbarrow, then we had Obama who could could ride three bikes at one time playing a sonata. And now this, this mess of a personality and a person as our leader. Reeally scary.
What's the standard for intervention these days? What are the actual behavioral thresholds that would qualify professionals stepping in to help this poor man? Let's start defining the baseline behavior that would qualify The Donald for psychological intervention before we need it, just to make sure we all know when Pence needs to tap him out for his own good.
13
He''s certainly creating quite a bit of smoke and wild fires to distract Washington
politicians from slowly and methodically impeaching him ----they'd better pick up the pace,
politicians from slowly and methodically impeaching him ----they'd better pick up the pace,
11
George Bush must be breathing a sigh of relief---no longer to be known as the worst president in our history.
42
Of all the kinds of things that the times could use its editorial space for, this type of armchair psychoanalysis is perhaps the most useless. "Obama was aloof! Trump is mixing it up like a 7-year old!"
Dowd's columns exemplify the kind of childish personality-driven coverage that is largely responsible for getting us into this mess. I would respectfully suggest that the Times find those to write on their op-ed pages who have actual expertise underlying their opinions. This column is better suited to the arts section, along with the other theater criticism.
Dowd's columns exemplify the kind of childish personality-driven coverage that is largely responsible for getting us into this mess. I would respectfully suggest that the Times find those to write on their op-ed pages who have actual expertise underlying their opinions. This column is better suited to the arts section, along with the other theater criticism.
23
Since Ms Dowd spent much of her time over the last year prattling on about the failures of Hillary (and Bill) Clinton and, thereby, helping assure the election of the immature, nasty Trump, it's rich that she's now preening her wordsmith capabilities about how ridiculous this President is. She must like the view from the 80th floor of her ivory tower. Thanks, Maureen Dowd, for helping create the chaos that our country has to deal with now. Perhaps you should just go silent for a few years.
90
Ms. Dowd, What is inescapable is the fact that you implicitly supported this man early on his presidential campaign due to irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton. We all beget what we sow. Something to take away for you in your older days.
81
To Trump supporters and the Republican Party: just when do you think enough will be enough to satisfy your thirst for whatever it was you expected to get from this irresponsible irrational? That is, of course, besides what is on the front pages of newspapers around the nation and the world.
17
Enough of the "psycho" analysis... Where are the tax returns? Probably the easiest avenue to Impeachment unless he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue.
44
So these EO's are entertaining to be sure...but they are not much on substance, and are only messing with the GOP Congress by literally tying them to the fall-out from them and in particular this weekend; the Muslim ban. Congress cant sit by much longer while their Prez keeps making poor policy thru EO's. They need him to sign their stuff, not just sit by while he and Bannon (why is the Press leaving him out of this school yard mess?) muck things up.
100 days of ridiculous EO's is not going to move any needles on any initiatives. And sooner then later, the more practical in the Trump camp will see this, and start to grumble. And its likely a few on staff will resign.
But the most zealot, and ill-informed Trumplodites will stick by their man, till every wheel is long off the cart and its been dragged thru the mud for some time. They simply cant see any forest, nor any trees...unless Trump tells them where to look.
Wild child or crazy old codger...naive or foxy - Trump is all the above, but regretfully no one aspect appears to be in charge at any given moment. Its a too full cockpit, with too many pilots...with separate flight plans.
100 days of ridiculous EO's is not going to move any needles on any initiatives. And sooner then later, the more practical in the Trump camp will see this, and start to grumble. And its likely a few on staff will resign.
But the most zealot, and ill-informed Trumplodites will stick by their man, till every wheel is long off the cart and its been dragged thru the mud for some time. They simply cant see any forest, nor any trees...unless Trump tells them where to look.
Wild child or crazy old codger...naive or foxy - Trump is all the above, but regretfully no one aspect appears to be in charge at any given moment. Its a too full cockpit, with too many pilots...with separate flight plans.
5
Well done- Trump is simply mentally unbalanced. He is probably on some type of medication. He seems and acts bi-polar. Moves from one topic to another instantly, cannot remember what he says from the beginning of a sentence to the end of it. He has great hi-and low periods. Refuses to listen to the sound advice of others. Must have the continuous praise of others and lives in a very isolated world where reason and logic has no place. And all of this plays out right in front of his eyes and ears yet he ignors it all. He needs to be removed from office as soon as possible.
30
Only having Trump as President isn't funny.
Congress? Your mandated duty to protect us from an unfit President is your PRIMARY duty--so do it. With world-wide protests twice in his first week in office, Trump, the man who said no publicity is bad, he's feeling good. We--not so good.
His impeachment is only a matter of time, GOP, do yourself a favor and act like statesmen, not sycophants...toadies...lickspittles...apologists. Your "deer-in-the-headlights" expressions belie your statements of belief in Trump.
Congress? Your mandated duty to protect us from an unfit President is your PRIMARY duty--so do it. With world-wide protests twice in his first week in office, Trump, the man who said no publicity is bad, he's feeling good. We--not so good.
His impeachment is only a matter of time, GOP, do yourself a favor and act like statesmen, not sycophants...toadies...lickspittles...apologists. Your "deer-in-the-headlights" expressions belie your statements of belief in Trump.
32
“He is really a unique creature,” D’Antonio says. “He’s transfixing, riveting, really. It’s hard to take your eyes off him.”
And this is all that Donald Trump has ever wanted. HIs purported objective of making America great again is the trojan horse carrying his real objective: making Donald Trump even greater than the greatest country on earth. A megalomaniac with the emphasis on the maniac.
I only know one thing about your new president: he's in a great deal of pain and he really needs someone's help. Impeach him, commit him, and get him the help he needs. Save him, save America, save the world.
And this is all that Donald Trump has ever wanted. HIs purported objective of making America great again is the trojan horse carrying his real objective: making Donald Trump even greater than the greatest country on earth. A megalomaniac with the emphasis on the maniac.
I only know one thing about your new president: he's in a great deal of pain and he really needs someone's help. Impeach him, commit him, and get him the help he needs. Save him, save America, save the world.
34
I hope the president spends a lot of time reading these responses to Ms Dowd's editorial. Although he probably has Kellyanne do it for him, and she gives him "alternative facts".
24
I just can't take this opinion piece seriously.
First our President was an attention seeking clown who would never get anything done. Then he says he will build a wall between Mexico and US. He rockets to he top of the Republican ticket, meanwhile newspapers like the NYT says Trump has no chance to get the nomination.
Trump wins nomination. NY Times was wrong.
Then Trump is a misogynist who assaults women. He does not back down and continues to campaign on what got him the nomination. Newspapers like NYT says he has no chance at winning the Presidency
Trump wins the Presidency. NY Times was wrong.
Now we are early in the Trump presidency. And Trump is no longer just a clown, just a misogynist he's crazy and drunk with power! Can you believe it. the NY Times in covering Trump in 2015 and 2016 did not notice that Trump was certifiably CRAZY! It's an outrage why didn't the American public get told sooner? Why has the NY Times been withholding this critical news from the electorate???
The reason of course is because Trump really was not a clown (pretty capable man actually), not a misogynist (the most powerful woman in the world and PM of the UK just had a great Trump love at the White House, And Trump is not crazy.
If the NY Times was wrong about all the other things in 2015 and 2016 it's a good bet they are wrong now. Trump wins, I'm glad he is our President and I'm glad he's on America's side.
First our President was an attention seeking clown who would never get anything done. Then he says he will build a wall between Mexico and US. He rockets to he top of the Republican ticket, meanwhile newspapers like the NYT says Trump has no chance to get the nomination.
Trump wins nomination. NY Times was wrong.
Then Trump is a misogynist who assaults women. He does not back down and continues to campaign on what got him the nomination. Newspapers like NYT says he has no chance at winning the Presidency
Trump wins the Presidency. NY Times was wrong.
Now we are early in the Trump presidency. And Trump is no longer just a clown, just a misogynist he's crazy and drunk with power! Can you believe it. the NY Times in covering Trump in 2015 and 2016 did not notice that Trump was certifiably CRAZY! It's an outrage why didn't the American public get told sooner? Why has the NY Times been withholding this critical news from the electorate???
The reason of course is because Trump really was not a clown (pretty capable man actually), not a misogynist (the most powerful woman in the world and PM of the UK just had a great Trump love at the White House, And Trump is not crazy.
If the NY Times was wrong about all the other things in 2015 and 2016 it's a good bet they are wrong now. Trump wins, I'm glad he is our President and I'm glad he's on America's side.
8
Gosh, Mo, none of this is a surprise to anybody who was paying attention during the campaign, which you might have done instead of slagging on Hillary Clinton 24/7.
157
We will all learn in this administration that Steve Bannon is more dangerous than Dick Cheney
104
OK, everyone now knows Trump is a narcissist who will never be loved by the "elites" he believes are reading your columns. But the real twisted soul is Steve Bannon, the devil on Trump's shoulder whispering, "Sign it, sign it." Curious minds want more dirt on Bannon and while you are at it throw some mud on Kellyanne Conway too. This triad, Trump Bannon Conway, are a psychiatrist's feast and the way to take down this trio is to humiliate them at every turn.
87
Ms. Dowd, you belittled Mr. Obama every step of the way. You could never walk in his shoes and know what it takes to rise above the swamp, ignore the never ending stream of brickbats, and focus on what is important for the country. You hurled innumerable invectives at the wisest and kindest man to grace the oval office and you tried, with your barbed pen and tart tongue, to diminish his luster. And when you tired of belittling Mr. Obama you revived your crusade against Mrs. Clinton, who, by all measures, was THE most qualified candidate for president. You indulged in repeated instances of false equivalencies between the current President and Mrs. Clinton. And now you pretend to be shocked by the pace at which Mr. Trump has unleashed his psychosis on us as a nation!!! Those of us who chose to do the right things for this country, with our votes as individuals and voices as a people, now watch in wretched dismay as the man you equivocated about takes a blow torch to all that is righteous and just about our country. So, please spare us the dime store psycho babble. Our country's problems are now much more severe, as are the world's, and your words have never been helpful or constructive.
244
That anyone could believe this man would behave any differently once in office than he did while campaigning is amazing. He is the Emperor With No Clothes. Always has been...always will be. It is wrong that someone who lost the popular vote.....our national right as citizens to voice our preferences.....could possibly be installed in the White House against those majority preferences. The Electoral College needs revamping....NOW.
50
The Shaker King - sent to Washington to 'shake things up' by millions of uncomfortable Americans who wanted everyone to share their discomfort. He will keep shaking things until one of them blows up. Let's hope for minimal collateral damage.
29
One of Trump's excuses for banning Muslims from our country is fear of creeping Shariah law. What we should be fearing is creeping Old Testament law pushed by the theocrats he has nominated for Cabinet posts and by the newly elected Vice President.
113
I think comparing him to a troubled 7 year old is a little 'off.' I have a 13-year-old student in one of my classes who reminds me of Trump almost each and every day - right down to the facial expressions. Student x does something out of line and immediately says it wasn't him. He tells other students they are 'such losers!' He very regularly disrupts other students' work and/or conversations to get them to shake hands and say hello. He grabs hold of the 'popular' kids while walking in the hall and tries to appear that they are best buds. This boy is only 13 - were trying; there's still hope for him ....
23
What really worries me is the coming quiet time, the lull in activity that is fundamental to any Presidency. It is in that time when Trump is most dangerous because of his insatiable need for media attention and national adulation. That is the most likely time he will really do something stupid and dangerous like send a bunch of kids into Syria to die in terrorist guerilla attacks.
24
You must be very proud of how you helped elect this horrible man. You have been one of the most strident voices on the left in creating the false equivalence between Hillary Clinton and Trump. Will you ever acknowledge your role and apologize for it or are you as narcissistic as Trump himself?
132
I bet if you went through old clips of Hitler talking to the Germans pre WW11 you would see some similarities to Trump. Both feel the need to be the best at everything even if they are not. They want to be surrounded by people who look and talk like they do and they will say ANYTHING tho get their way. The republican congress will be no better than Himmler and Goeran if they allow him to continue in his anti American rhetoric.
We know Hitler was crazy and it is pretty evident Trump is as well. The difference is they have mess for that now.
We know Hitler was crazy and it is pretty evident Trump is as well. The difference is they have mess for that now.
23
Well America, you got what you wanted. This pompous, entitled, phony, no-neck rich guy sold you a bill of goods and you bought it. Lock, stock and barrel.
I give him three months. By that time, someone will say something he doesn't like and he'll take his toys and go home.
If we're lucky.
I give him three months. By that time, someone will say something he doesn't like and he'll take his toys and go home.
If we're lucky.
44
"Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird." Really? not to the millions of Hillary supporters who knew this was waiting to happen all along. That #45 was going to be a disaster was there in plain sight for all to see. Except my be for some of the NYT op-ed columnists, who refused to see the obvious!
97
Trump is merely Bannon's "imperfect vessel" as previously descibed in a recent NYT's article. Trump is the Pequod, Bannon is the true Captain Ahab and the Whale is Obama's good works and Democracy. Our job is to make sure there is not an Alternative-Ending.
40
"...but he thrives in turmoil.”. Indeed, and this turmoil he has fomented personally and through his courtiers is further dividing this country into warring camps. Further, we are becoming, in some nations, the laughing stock, in others, a pariah that is to be ignored or feared.
In just a few short days he has damaged relations with one of our important trading partners and ignited the fires of religious, racial and national origin discrimination-possibly to the delight of conservative media talking heads and extreme right wing white supremacy groups.
I had hoped the adults in the White House could temper our 7 year old Presidential Apprentice, but, it is appearing there are no adults in the White House in an advisory capacity. They act as childish, and deranged (think "alternative facts" and the press is to stay silent) as the person they advise.
This reality television show starring our very own emperor who really has no clothes will cause huge damage, the best damage ever seen, it will be beautiful damage to our country.
In just a few short days he has damaged relations with one of our important trading partners and ignited the fires of religious, racial and national origin discrimination-possibly to the delight of conservative media talking heads and extreme right wing white supremacy groups.
I had hoped the adults in the White House could temper our 7 year old Presidential Apprentice, but, it is appearing there are no adults in the White House in an advisory capacity. They act as childish, and deranged (think "alternative facts" and the press is to stay silent) as the person they advise.
This reality television show starring our very own emperor who really has no clothes will cause huge damage, the best damage ever seen, it will be beautiful damage to our country.
216
"He’s transfixing, riveting, really. It’s hard to take your eyes off him.”
Same can be said of a train wreck. This time, though, we're on the train. Heaven help us all.
Same can be said of a train wreck. This time, though, we're on the train. Heaven help us all.
36
THIS is the best Maureen can do?!? After skewering and roasting Obama and both Clintons over the coals for years, her only response to Trump's tumult is to give him a soft nudge with a velvet glove?
Ms. Dowd, along w other NY media movers & shakers, such as Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski, helped usher their "friend" Trump into the oval by turning a blind eye to his pathology & meager intellect. They will pay a karmic debt for that action.
Ms. Dowd, along w other NY media movers & shakers, such as Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski, helped usher their "friend" Trump into the oval by turning a blind eye to his pathology & meager intellect. They will pay a karmic debt for that action.
83
Maureen,
After so many plate appearances without a hit, it looks as though you have finally found a new swing, or a new bat. I think it's time to wield it fast and furiously. The country is out of time.
After so many plate appearances without a hit, it looks as though you have finally found a new swing, or a new bat. I think it's time to wield it fast and furiously. The country is out of time.
18
You write this Ms. Dowd with what seems like some surprise. There is no surprise here -- Mr. Trump and his mental illness were on display for all to see throughout his immature and downright hateful campaign. Were Republicans (and especially your brother Kevin) thinking that was all theatre, or more likely I think they just didn't care -- win at any cost mentality? Well, they won, but what have they won -- the destruction of our country -- when America loses its humanity, what does it really have left. Mr. Trump is a humanity stealer and as Nancy Pelosi said after meeting with him and having to discuss (by him) the size of the crowd at his inauguration she "prayed for him and then prayed for her country." I have been praying for my country as well, but I, unlike members of Congress, who don't really stand to lose anything, I am closer to the edge of losing so much under such a dangerous liar who refuses (or can't mentally) see reality.
46
Maureen, do you realize that essentially by citing the top of the GOP food chain disparagingly you really are in fact calling the entire republican electorate as congenitally disfunctional and morally bankrupt?
Citing the big 3, Nixon, W and Cheney is only the tip of the iceberg, Ronnie was a naive naval gazer, HW despite the propaganda was no beacon and now we have the worst.
I know I'm painting with a broad brush but I can't think of any republican who is not manically childish and incompetent.
So what used to be a slow descent into the morass will now become a free fall. Will we have the opportunity in 4 years to elect a Clinton or Obama type (i.e. A Democrat) who will have the strength and temperament to rescue us from the shambles of what remains of the U.S.
Citing the big 3, Nixon, W and Cheney is only the tip of the iceberg, Ronnie was a naive naval gazer, HW despite the propaganda was no beacon and now we have the worst.
I know I'm painting with a broad brush but I can't think of any republican who is not manically childish and incompetent.
So what used to be a slow descent into the morass will now become a free fall. Will we have the opportunity in 4 years to elect a Clinton or Obama type (i.e. A Democrat) who will have the strength and temperament to rescue us from the shambles of what remains of the U.S.
31
Or is it all deliberate distraction? Let's get serious here.
While we were demonstrating at JFK yesterday, Bannon was appointed to the National Security Council. Are they playing us, giving us good juicy candy to keep our eyes averted in our silly pink hats and cardboard signs, while those in power quietly cement their absolute control? Trump may not actually be a narcissistic child, he may be a very good actor with very powerful friends and a well-crafted plan - which may indeed include these demonstrations.
While we were demonstrating at JFK yesterday, Bannon was appointed to the National Security Council. Are they playing us, giving us good juicy candy to keep our eyes averted in our silly pink hats and cardboard signs, while those in power quietly cement their absolute control? Trump may not actually be a narcissistic child, he may be a very good actor with very powerful friends and a well-crafted plan - which may indeed include these demonstrations.
382
I am surprised at the number of commentators of this piece that are blaming Ms Dowd for Trump's victory. I never realized Ms Dowd held so much power in her laptop. All she did was warn America that Mrs. Clinton could not win and she laid out the facts, not alternate facts (I love that Trumpism "alternate facts") as to why she could not win. The Trump voter does not care about these issues. They believe he is going to make America great again. I have to keep reminding my 3 brothers, that support this executive order on immigration and want the wall built, that if this order was put in place in the early 1900's we would not be here. We would be in the poor southern region of Italy.
10
Trump the president is the same guy as Trump the candidate, the ego maniac, the reality show barker and the petulant, spoiled child he has always been. No one should be surprised. Now we can only hope there are enough competent adults around him to prevent a disaster, but his preference for deferential crackpots is not comforting. Shame on his foolish supporters who understood so little.
15
He's worse than I thought he'd be. I recall the essay interview with Grover Nordquist, Politico. Yep, the "G.O.P.-E-Board-Faction" tainted with TeaPartiers and angry-whites-itus-wing got their numb-nuts to sign all the agendas they want---in public. Wonder what's going on behind the scenes? Cui Bono.
Time to send out the Bat Signal, alerting the Woodwards, the Bernsteins of yore (Nixon era) and of today to reveal DJT.
You're barely scratching the surface of what good you could do for your country, Mo. Do better.
Time to send out the Bat Signal, alerting the Woodwards, the Bernsteins of yore (Nixon era) and of today to reveal DJT.
You're barely scratching the surface of what good you could do for your country, Mo. Do better.
13
The liar in chief is the Thing we've always needed to test our resolve to cherish and defend freedom, justice, and human dignity. The reaction is good and will intensify. It's already the beginning of the end. I'm glad he's here for the Nation to undergo the final test of having the courage to expose all his lies, deceits, and dissembling, all of his crimes whatever they may be, and to run him out of office. Just like this, it begins.
14
He is the Molotov cocktail the nihilists wanted to throw into the middle of our government. He will either burn it down with us all in it or the fire department (The GOP) will come to rescue us.
12
"The former reality star who now denies reality rode the resentment of the aggrieved white working class to the Oval Office"
No Maureen...
What really happened was millions of sane and lazy people stayed home and did not vote because they could not believe Donald the most unqualified candidate in our country's history could ever receive enough votes to beat the most qualified candidate in this country's history .
If we could have a redo this coming Tuesday Hillary we would win by 20 million going away!
No Maureen...
What really happened was millions of sane and lazy people stayed home and did not vote because they could not believe Donald the most unqualified candidate in our country's history could ever receive enough votes to beat the most qualified candidate in this country's history .
If we could have a redo this coming Tuesday Hillary we would win by 20 million going away!
29
… and Chris Christie, his pathetic jester.
13
"The White House tends to bring out paranoia and insecurity."
I do not believe that The White House necessarily serves to bring out paranoia and insecurity, but rather it serves as an amplifier for the true personality and characteristics of the occupant.
The occupant of the oval office is plugged in and the volume is turned all the way up so that every little quirk, idiosyncrasy, minor personality trait, hidden psychologic thought, and inner most fear is being played at a sound level from the from the center of the world's grandest stage so as to be heard by all.
We have all seen President Trump's set list and have had a look at his sheet music, Maureen. There isn't a single decent song in his back catalog. (Seriously, can you name a single positive characteristic or personality trait of Mr. Trump's?)
Now just imagine the volume on his amplifier being turned all the way up.
I do not believe that The White House necessarily serves to bring out paranoia and insecurity, but rather it serves as an amplifier for the true personality and characteristics of the occupant.
The occupant of the oval office is plugged in and the volume is turned all the way up so that every little quirk, idiosyncrasy, minor personality trait, hidden psychologic thought, and inner most fear is being played at a sound level from the from the center of the world's grandest stage so as to be heard by all.
We have all seen President Trump's set list and have had a look at his sheet music, Maureen. There isn't a single decent song in his back catalog. (Seriously, can you name a single positive characteristic or personality trait of Mr. Trump's?)
Now just imagine the volume on his amplifier being turned all the way up.
210
For more years than I can remember, you wrote snarky columns against President Obama and against the Clintons.
You are minimizing Trump by infantalizing him. You did this for years with other presidents: you could not use their titles by referred to them as "Barry", etc.
Trump is not a tantrum-throwing child. He is a 70-year-old fascist bigot who is far more dangerous. His policies in the first week will kill about a quarter of a million Americans across the next few years by taking away the healthcare of more than 20 million people, including some of the most ill. One estimate is that 46,000 people per year will die. About 22000 women will die global from his abortion gag rule. Turning away refugees in desperate straits is like turning away the ship of Jewish refugees full of children who ended up killed in the Holocaust.
Stop trivializing serious matters with your cute little comparisons. People will suffer and die.
You are minimizing Trump by infantalizing him. You did this for years with other presidents: you could not use their titles by referred to them as "Barry", etc.
Trump is not a tantrum-throwing child. He is a 70-year-old fascist bigot who is far more dangerous. His policies in the first week will kill about a quarter of a million Americans across the next few years by taking away the healthcare of more than 20 million people, including some of the most ill. One estimate is that 46,000 people per year will die. About 22000 women will die global from his abortion gag rule. Turning away refugees in desperate straits is like turning away the ship of Jewish refugees full of children who ended up killed in the Holocaust.
Stop trivializing serious matters with your cute little comparisons. People will suffer and die.
60
Can he be impeached yet? The Republicans will surely help.
3
Maureen - are you sorry now, for helping to unleash this 7-year old monster on the world?
22
Nothing surprising considering what he is doing is exactly what he said in the run up for the office that he would do (and I fear far worse to come as he attempts to delegitimize media and replace it with the "alternate truth" Fox News and potus tweets). But Ms. Dowd, didn't you ignore most of that while writing soft articles on Trump, letting your brother explain Trump to us poor misguided readers, while at the same time targeting HRC in your critical articles about her. And now you seemed surprised? Really? I'm surprised you haven't complained about the Clintons in your article today.
22
Instead of taking some insider information and using it to broaden their knowledge of what is decidedly happening here, the commentors can't get their own neoliberal bias out of their revenge seeking heads. Mr. Jones. To cover this man, this new administration like a gossip coloumn is so very fitting - its like a poem- it hits you on the head but then leaves you standing there like a Bob Dylan poem. I would caution this set of liberals that Maureen is the one worthy of saying I told you so. Not yourselves.
She is one of the most gifted and skillful journalist pundits the progressives have ever had. If they could only get over themselves.
She is one of the most gifted and skillful journalist pundits the progressives have ever had. If they could only get over themselves.
2
Gee, Maureen, you spent so much time dissing Hillary when you should have been dissing Trump. Now you decide to point out Trump's flaws to those of us who saw them long ago.
51
So--Ms. Dowd--how's that snarky, unrelenting, decades-long Clinton bashing working out for you now?
56
Roughly half of America voted for this guy. They're thrilled with his first week in office. The other half is threatened. Welcome to America as it really is.
It took an over the top guy like Trump to put it all out on the table, expose America as it really is and has been for decades, even centuries.
Knowing your problems, your fears, your anxieties, etc is the beginning of dealing with them instead of blithely sweeping them under the carpet. So, no matter what you think of Trump, he's exposed Americans to the real America.
We can grow into a better society from his being elected. I just hope he doesn't blow up the world in week 2 of his delusional regime.
It took an over the top guy like Trump to put it all out on the table, expose America as it really is and has been for decades, even centuries.
Knowing your problems, your fears, your anxieties, etc is the beginning of dealing with them instead of blithely sweeping them under the carpet. So, no matter what you think of Trump, he's exposed Americans to the real America.
We can grow into a better society from his being elected. I just hope he doesn't blow up the world in week 2 of his delusional regime.
12
Trump.......Playing the media like a fiddle..... sooooo entertaining.....
6
Thank you so much, Maureen, for the 20+ years of Hillary bashing that helped to make this possible. Aren't you glad we didn't elect a girl that your high school clique didn't like? Better a President with the mental and emotional age of a toddler than (eeeewwwww) a NERD! BTW, Kirsten Gillebrand, who incurred your seething rage for getting the Senate seat that you thought was the divine right of Caroline Kennedy, is the only Senator who's had the guts to vote against Trump's godawful cabinet nominees. Ask the cool kids how to deal with this.
82
Maureen Dowd make it her business to tear down Hillary Clinton. It was a decades long obsession. She had a role in electing Trump.
51
The nightmare called Trump continues and the" Haterator" drinking, under-educated electorate that brought him into power march on like zombies.
One of them, a late-60's woman invaded a nice meal I was enjoying to tell her friends who didn't know who George Soros is said, "... he should be killed!"
Yes, Trump's victory has moved American politics in the direction of 3rd world death squads.
And the ignorance of their leader is passed onto decent people like the one's talking in another restaurant later in the week who prompted me to pick up my plate and move to another table.
They were swallowing the regurgitated line that "Hillary would have done nothing to stop those terrorists from coming into the country."
REALLY?
And the Trump zombie-speak wouldn't have been complete without the old standby line, "...and all those crimes the Clinton's committed."
Somebody cut me a break ... PLEASE!!!"
One of them, a late-60's woman invaded a nice meal I was enjoying to tell her friends who didn't know who George Soros is said, "... he should be killed!"
Yes, Trump's victory has moved American politics in the direction of 3rd world death squads.
And the ignorance of their leader is passed onto decent people like the one's talking in another restaurant later in the week who prompted me to pick up my plate and move to another table.
They were swallowing the regurgitated line that "Hillary would have done nothing to stop those terrorists from coming into the country."
REALLY?
And the Trump zombie-speak wouldn't have been complete without the old standby line, "...and all those crimes the Clinton's committed."
Somebody cut me a break ... PLEASE!!!"
19
He's not acting like a 7-year old, he's acting like a person who is mentally ill. Mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves or others need to be locked up. Start the chant.
30
Maureen Dowd: Didn't you help the egomaniac Trump get elected with all the vitriol you used against Clinton. Trump is a disaster, but in your case you got what you deserved.
40
I, myself, have read editorial after editorial and column after column about the dangerous lunatic in the White House. Pages and pages of written screeds, regretful opinions and multi-worded reportage are all a fruitless endeavor produced for readers who read.
Aye, there's the rub! Our president doesn't read!
Whaddya expect, America when you elect an anti-intellectual who "loves uneducated people" ?
Write on, the one who needs to probably won't read any of it!
Aye, there's the rub! Our president doesn't read!
Whaddya expect, America when you elect an anti-intellectual who "loves uneducated people" ?
Write on, the one who needs to probably won't read any of it!
10
Sarcasm does not influence the self-described narcissist Donald Trump. This chaotic, temperamental character who was elected by desperately uninformed, single issue voters is becoming more worrisome than ever. A primary example during the latest 24 hours is his inclusion of Bannon to regular National Security Council principal's meetings while at the same time restricting to "by invitation only" the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of National Intelligence. This is becoming more and more bizarre and Machiavellian as each week goes by. Since so-called leaders like the aspirational Paul Ryan and the highly money-influenced Mitch McConnell (opensecrets.org) seem inpotent or unwilling to interfere, it's time for the courts to protect our country.
13
And in the midst of his turmoil he hurts people, countless people. Keep talking, Maureen. Keep writing. Something has to stop him. He is hurting too many people.
2
He is not a 70-year-old man with the emotions of a 7-year-old. He is a 70-year-old man who has severe emotional problems and is sick. Totally and fully non-rational. I hope our country can survive this for four more years.
20
I am amazed out how the media is incredulous about and tries to rationalize Trump's behavior. He is mentally ill plain and simple. Welcome to the world of a narcissist where he is "the truth" and nothing else matters. We have people psychologically evaluated to determine whether or not they can stand trial. It would seem that practice would be more than appropriate here based on the fact that millions if not billions of lives will be effected.
13
Trump World is exhausting. One week into his presidency, and I am frazzled. If I weren't so afraid of what this deranged man might do (start WW3), I would check out and not pay attention.
23
I thought that some day I'll get over my anger at Clinton, Inc., the DNC, Krugman and The Times for shoving Hillary down our throats. Now I'm not so sure.
8
Yes, most of what people say about Trump is true. And the majority did not vote for him. But, here we are, with a new President, that mostly everyone has negative thoughts about. He will be here for four years. I have heard all I want to hear about this President's faults, but it goes on and on. Can we move on or is there nothing else going on in this world?
2
I wonder though, do his supporters and Republican officials believe with his latest immigration executive order, "he hit it out of the park?"
Picking a photo of dozens available to illustrate an article is a subjective judgment, so thanks NYT for the one in this op-ed.
Picking a photo of dozens available to illustrate an article is a subjective judgment, so thanks NYT for the one in this op-ed.
3
“He is really a unique creature,” No. Let's call a spade a spade. He is a malignant narcissist in medical terms. This is a dangerous personality disorder that can't be treated or controlled. Eventually, he will implode but not without doing a lot of damage first because he as surrounded himself with like minds. It is time to devise a strategy to get him out of office. Our only hope in the meantime is that our international allies understand that Mr. Trump has a mental illness and will ignore most of his antics until he is removed from office. We, the American people, need to realize we made a big mistake and get him out of office as quickly as possible.
23
I read Ms. Dowd throughout the election, and I saw her on talk shows. She wrinkled her nose at the President's opponent for non issues such as like-ability and pant suits. Governing-ability was secondary. Mr. Trump, as a media figure, is well known. His utter lack of government experience is well known. When a CEO takes over without experience, decisions often fall to trusted advisers. Trump may be impulsive, but he is mostly in over his head. This is not a reality TV show. His dependence on the likes of Bannon, his Cabinet picks, his need for daily stroking from supporters is frightening. His utter ignorance of the law is frightening. The Republican Party as led by Ryan and McConnell is equally frightening, and there is not a Republican patriot in sight. It's all about power, not all about country. Ms Dowd, can you picture Trump, Ryan, or McConnell willing to fight, sword in hand, for our liberty? It's not a wild child in charge, it is a team of bully's with the nuclear codes, a team of bully's choosing the Supreme Court, a team of bully's affecting your life, water, air, and the lives of your children. How good do those pantsuits look now?
74
"Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird."
Where were you during the election process? His actions at the "rallies" of his followers was not weird? Calling for violence? That is only one example. You don't find it weird that he brands everyone with a derogatory label? To you it is not weird that he perpetuated the BIG LIE that President Obama was not born in the United States?
Instead you sought to do as D'Antonio noted: you tried to mollify and accommodate him in your column and were transfixed with making sure that Clinton Triangulation failed. You got your wish: now live with it.
Where were you during the election process? His actions at the "rallies" of his followers was not weird? Calling for violence? That is only one example. You don't find it weird that he brands everyone with a derogatory label? To you it is not weird that he perpetuated the BIG LIE that President Obama was not born in the United States?
Instead you sought to do as D'Antonio noted: you tried to mollify and accommodate him in your column and were transfixed with making sure that Clinton Triangulation failed. You got your wish: now live with it.
41
Wild, he is, and he's only getting started! "Fasten your seatbelts!," said Bette Davis. Only this is a lot longer ride.
As long we believe that our own version of alternative facts is gospel... excuse, me, totally right and the other side, completely wrong, we're doomed to this new mania. We need to recognize our own role and responsibility for it.
Every initiative has some kernels of truth: we need to stop illegal immigration or change our own rules; we need to stop terrorists from entering our country; we need to stop the horrific number of abortions, we need to stop federal control of of K12 education; we need to fix ACA and stop calling it ObamaCare.....it goes on.
Remember the mythology of Pandora's box? It loosened upon the world a whilrwind of evils, but kept in place one: hope. Let's hope we can find a way. The resolution we all seek does not lie in hopeless handwringing.
As long we believe that our own version of alternative facts is gospel... excuse, me, totally right and the other side, completely wrong, we're doomed to this new mania. We need to recognize our own role and responsibility for it.
Every initiative has some kernels of truth: we need to stop illegal immigration or change our own rules; we need to stop terrorists from entering our country; we need to stop the horrific number of abortions, we need to stop federal control of of K12 education; we need to fix ACA and stop calling it ObamaCare.....it goes on.
Remember the mythology of Pandora's box? It loosened upon the world a whilrwind of evils, but kept in place one: hope. Let's hope we can find a way. The resolution we all seek does not lie in hopeless handwringing.
3
Ms Dowd, Interesting and accurate. What I find most informative in your article is a lack of both how we got here, and what we can do about it. The irony of your exclusion of any reference to how we got here, in the context of your past opinion pieces, is glaring. I sympathize with your omission of the what can we do part. The answers are not easy to come by. And please, don't simply say this is about those of us who did not support Trump "being smug". I have saved an article from Nov 8th, days after the re-election of George W Bush. Last sentence - "I am not smug. I suffer with everyone else, spiritually and economically. Smug are those who benefit from George W. Bush's mistakes". Sound familiar?
16
People are beginning to recognize that Trump is emotionally disturbed, a narcissistic sociopath who desperately craves constant approval and attention. As his fellow republican politicians approach their re-elections in 2018 they will not want to endanger their chances by being associated with his manic and toxic behavior. I would not be surprised if he does not complete his full term. At some point, as his campaign promises prove empty, even his most ardent supporters will abandon him.
Meanwhile we must all rally behind those who have the power to defend against his worst acts, a a good example being the judge in Brooklyn, NY who last night issued a legal stay against his unconstitutional anti-immigrant executive order, protecting the refugees who had been detained at major airports throughout the country.
In one short week, Trump's election has proven to be the worst mistake this country has ever made - an international embarrassment and a real danger to peace and security. I hope worldwide protests will continue.
Meanwhile we must all rally behind those who have the power to defend against his worst acts, a a good example being the judge in Brooklyn, NY who last night issued a legal stay against his unconstitutional anti-immigrant executive order, protecting the refugees who had been detained at major airports throughout the country.
In one short week, Trump's election has proven to be the worst mistake this country has ever made - an international embarrassment and a real danger to peace and security. I hope worldwide protests will continue.
22
Why are you whining now? You spent the last year or so bad mouthing and pointing out every imagined flaw of Clinton. You dragged her (and Bill) through every mud puddle you could find. You helped Trump get elected.. You should be happy and thrilled. But no.. now you are telling us what WE all knew . Trump REALLY is not fit to be president. He REALLY isn't normal What a shock. But not for us. Bye Maureen.. Your boyfriend doesn't like your paper (we do though) and he doesn't like you. You asked for it .... Now you got it.
49
Now Maureen, half the electorate, including your brother probably, thinks he's off to a great start. We owe you a debt for needling Hillary all these years. To think there'd be negotiations with Congress beginning right now over extending Medicare to 55-year-olds and solidifying Obamacare's status in the shadow of sham investigations over her private email server would be too much for our fragile democracy. You done good.
32
Tell your brother I said thanks a lot.
22
People are invoking their dusty high school reading lists, including Lord of the Flies and 1984, while hyperventilating with hyperbole about Trump's first week. This is the bitter harvest of eight years of imperial socialism courtesy of the community organizer who hobnobs with the rich and famous at exclusive getaways. They want to save the world at someone else's expense and they still don't grasp the lesson of November 8th.
3
LIBS MELTDOWN CONTINUES
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP
2
When I think of the years you spent snarking at the Clintons, especially Hillary, I can't help but think you deserve Trump. Sadly, the rest of us don't.
65
Mo's opinion doesn't matter as much does it — not so glib, not so funny, anymore.
21
Sorry, Maureen, but you are partially responsible for this debacle. Had you not been so blinded by your hatred of the Clintons and had dropped your snarky remarks against Hilliary, THE most qualified candidate we may have ever had, and exposed the Liar in Chief for what he--is a crazed, xenophobic, misogynist racist--maybe some of the more sane of trump's supporters would have done voted differently. We would be celebrating diversity and inclusion instead of garnering the world's disapproval.
56
This Executive action is bad enough preventing Muslim families from reuniting, interrupting students education in the US, disrupting business transactions and performance by detaining employees because of their religion. It gets worse when he hear Speaker Ryan supports the President's executive action. Still worse is what is not done by this executive action. Saudi Arabia. The majority of terrorists who flew planes into the WTC and Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia and by silence, President Trump must believe they are not Radical Muslim Jihadists Terrorists. Further, of greater concern than Wahhabi Muslim sect in Saudi Arabia from which Jihadism originates is protection of Trump properties in Saudi Arabia. Is this the conflict of interest many ethicists feared?
20
Estimated grade level needed to understand passage/inaugural address.
Trump inauguration speech
Automated Readability Index - 7.8
JFK 1st speech
Automated Readability Index: 11.8
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address
Automated Readability Index: 15.5
Automated Readability Index formula: 4.71 (#characters/#words) + (#words/#sentences) – 21.43 = ARI
Trump inauguration speech
Automated Readability Index - 7.8
JFK 1st speech
Automated Readability Index: 11.8
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address
Automated Readability Index: 15.5
Automated Readability Index formula: 4.71 (#characters/#words) + (#words/#sentences) – 21.43 = ARI
13
Nobody who was paying attention can be surprised by what has unfolded this week. What is truly shocking and deeply disappointing is the willingness of the GOP to descend into the abyss along with the President. Mentally unstable individuals such as Mr. Trump cannot do any real harm unless they are surrounded by enablers. Mr. Ryan and Mr. McConnell will not be treated kindly by historians.
14
We've got a reality TV personality in the White House - it comes with the good and the bad.
Almost half of America wanted him in, and half didn't.
We're stuck with him now - I look for good and bad things (hopefully not too bad) to happen.
D.C. is a swamp - lived there for 40 years - it really needs to be drained......we just don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater!
Almost half of America wanted him in, and half didn't.
We're stuck with him now - I look for good and bad things (hopefully not too bad) to happen.
D.C. is a swamp - lived there for 40 years - it really needs to be drained......we just don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater!
1
The column today resembles the notes that a psychoanalyst might place in file of one Donald Trump. Freudian indeed. Crowd size: I seem to remember a three week rant over hand size. And we all know the inference of that one.
How did we get here? It was the perfect storm. A country that believed by two thirds that we were headed in the wrong direction. The flip side being a rejection of the Obama years. A flawed democratic candidate and too many other things to mention. Take your pick. Anger fueled the demand for change.
I understood all of the above. I shared all of the above. But I could not bring myself to vote for Donald Trump. He was so obviously, not to all however, a egomaniacal narcissist. A clinical case. A rude and disgusting person to boot. An embarrassment to the country and the great minds that helped to shape it.
I'm convinced that this moron would fail the civics portion of the test to become a U.S. citizen. So power and money brought us this person. It was a choice between a congenital liar and a buffoon.
He's signing executive orders like imperial fiats. This is the La Grande Bouffe for him. The greatest elixir ever. Unbridled power in the hands of a jerk.
How did we get here? It was the perfect storm. A country that believed by two thirds that we were headed in the wrong direction. The flip side being a rejection of the Obama years. A flawed democratic candidate and too many other things to mention. Take your pick. Anger fueled the demand for change.
I understood all of the above. I shared all of the above. But I could not bring myself to vote for Donald Trump. He was so obviously, not to all however, a egomaniacal narcissist. A clinical case. A rude and disgusting person to boot. An embarrassment to the country and the great minds that helped to shape it.
I'm convinced that this moron would fail the civics portion of the test to become a U.S. citizen. So power and money brought us this person. It was a choice between a congenital liar and a buffoon.
He's signing executive orders like imperial fiats. This is the La Grande Bouffe for him. The greatest elixir ever. Unbridled power in the hands of a jerk.
7
Are you complaining Maureen ? Why? you got your man in
32
I just started perusing Ann Coulter's Facebook posts and twitter feeds to try to empathize with her cause. Ann is Donald's philosopher, full stop. She advocates for a wall, immigration bans, and characterizing the media as the opposition, just as Donald. So is the wall a bad idea? Is extreme vetting a bad idea? Is islam a threat to the USA? Is the NYT skewed? 61 million Donald voters might say yes.
That woman's march sauntering by Donald's window on Saturday a week ago were more a protest to the "manic but not depressive" nature of Donald's character; women and men in that march were, could it be said, above all afraid of Donald's scary, torch-throwing campaign sound bites and thoroughly insulting overbearing animalistic displays in television conduct, and, thus, want Donald to be gone in 4 years. Maureen, you seem to favor Donald more so than your nemesis Darth Cheney; is this because Trump may be far more daring? Is America First really a bad idea after all for the benefit of the happiness of 61 million voters, something America did previously enjoy by default for at least 100 or so years?
That woman's march sauntering by Donald's window on Saturday a week ago were more a protest to the "manic but not depressive" nature of Donald's character; women and men in that march were, could it be said, above all afraid of Donald's scary, torch-throwing campaign sound bites and thoroughly insulting overbearing animalistic displays in television conduct, and, thus, want Donald to be gone in 4 years. Maureen, you seem to favor Donald more so than your nemesis Darth Cheney; is this because Trump may be far more daring? Is America First really a bad idea after all for the benefit of the happiness of 61 million voters, something America did previously enjoy by default for at least 100 or so years?
3
Now we know how the citizens of North Korea feel, except that our loony leader can start WW III.
7
The best things Trump could do are:
1. Tell foreign leader-tweeters to keep their slimey noses out of American politics , such as attempting to inflame our nation's passions [Israel's Netanyahu] and hack/steal our elections [Putin].
2. Recognize the right of those who have lived continuously for thousands of years on Middle Eastern sand to have their own nation and have right of unfettered, equal access to the holiest religious shrines in the Holy city of Jerusalem.
Should he truly wish to protect the lives of Americans at home and our young soldiers abroad, he will do both of the above, recognizing that the only way to win those wars is to LISTEN, NOT Hurr-TRUMPhicate (thereby giving yet another spin to that Russian/Israeli-spun death spiral called the Middle East).
Muslims extremists are not going to go away —ever (and, in case you missed that here it is again:)
EVER!, unless they no longer have to be extreme to have any hope of resolution of the own deeply held Religious fervor
Yes.
That's going to be a tough/delicate/VERY long road.
And it will require something called “patience”. And a demonstrable commitment to something called “peace”. And A LOVE FOR MANKIND, among which examples are a commitment to equality for all, regardless of race, religion, language and customs, including, my dear, fellow, nattering nabobs: dress.
So here's what you do:
First Open Mouth, Remove Foot.
THEN ...
One foot at a time, Donald, dear.
1. Tell foreign leader-tweeters to keep their slimey noses out of American politics , such as attempting to inflame our nation's passions [Israel's Netanyahu] and hack/steal our elections [Putin].
2. Recognize the right of those who have lived continuously for thousands of years on Middle Eastern sand to have their own nation and have right of unfettered, equal access to the holiest religious shrines in the Holy city of Jerusalem.
Should he truly wish to protect the lives of Americans at home and our young soldiers abroad, he will do both of the above, recognizing that the only way to win those wars is to LISTEN, NOT Hurr-TRUMPhicate (thereby giving yet another spin to that Russian/Israeli-spun death spiral called the Middle East).
Muslims extremists are not going to go away —ever (and, in case you missed that here it is again:)
EVER!, unless they no longer have to be extreme to have any hope of resolution of the own deeply held Religious fervor
Yes.
That's going to be a tough/delicate/VERY long road.
And it will require something called “patience”. And a demonstrable commitment to something called “peace”. And A LOVE FOR MANKIND, among which examples are a commitment to equality for all, regardless of race, religion, language and customs, including, my dear, fellow, nattering nabobs: dress.
So here's what you do:
First Open Mouth, Remove Foot.
THEN ...
One foot at a time, Donald, dear.
4
maureen you should be ashamed of yourself. There was a startk choice, Donald or Hillary. Someone with your degree of sophistication could see the difference. You always bashed Hillary. Now look what we are left with. You NEVER see the bright side, always critical
Thanks for nothing
Thanks for nothing
34
It's called CLUSTER B PERSONALITY DISORDER ......look it up. A family member has the same symptoms and diagnosis.
14
It didn't just get weird when Trump entered the Oval Office it was weird before he was elected. What is even more weird is how so many could have voted for this intellectually-challenged adolescent and how many still approve of this psychopath who is trying to make himself look presidential, but is only looking like the unthinking fool he actually is. Our democracy will suffer for decades for this aberration, however long it lasts.
14
Imagine, people hoping to be kept "safe"... From their president, instead of By their president! "Stupid" showed up a lot earlier than I anticipated, but I knew it was going to... sociopath, sad.
12
Our Ayatollah and his fatwas
16
Why do people seem surprised this is how he is acting? He has always acted this way. A petulant rich child who always has to be the center of attention. I have so much pity for Melania. How can she stand it, oh yeah I guess she cant, she will be living in NY.
17
Yah, and how much Maureen have you contributed to this result over the past eight years with your carping about President Obama and your snide and vapid attacks on Secretary Clinton?
How much? As much as there is, as much as anyone has. You do not now get to escape your responsibility for this.
Like most of us, I get one vote and hardly any voice at al.
You have a megaphone and you have chosen over and over to use it to denigrate and demean those who provide decent, right minded, progressive and democratic leadership.
So be a woman and stand up and take your share of the responsibility for this because -- at the end of this and every other day -- it hardly is enough, not nearly enough, can never be enough just to turn your vituperative writing around and aim it at the pestilential creature who now occupies the White House.
How much? As much as there is, as much as anyone has. You do not now get to escape your responsibility for this.
Like most of us, I get one vote and hardly any voice at al.
You have a megaphone and you have chosen over and over to use it to denigrate and demean those who provide decent, right minded, progressive and democratic leadership.
So be a woman and stand up and take your share of the responsibility for this because -- at the end of this and every other day -- it hardly is enough, not nearly enough, can never be enough just to turn your vituperative writing around and aim it at the pestilential creature who now occupies the White House.
63
Keep asking for the tax returns instead of droning on about his ego. Tax Returns! Tax Returns!
25
I do worry about the additional danger to which Trump's reckless comments and actions expose our soldiers. If it were just a big mouth yapping for some people's entertainment it would be only distasteful. But what about many Muslims on the edge, or Iraqis who don't want their oil taken. What additional risks do the military and our citizens face because of this bloviator. He belongs in a straitjacket.
14
While Trump's personality and temperament have been on full display for all to see, I suppose it is possible that they may only be shining through Ms. Dowd's chronic Clinton cloud for the first time.
So while many see President Trump's actions as being perfectly consistent with his character, personality and history of actions, this would at least partly explain Ms. Dowd's shock at the speed with which things got weird (as if there were any other options given Mr. Trump's personality and the night and day differences between President Obama and Mr. Trump).
And how weird will things get? Well, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, the weird are about to turn professional.
But I think that there will be an even better gauge for the level in this instance, and we are seeing the first hint of it tonight in response to Mr. Trump's immigration ban: the courts are going to fight back. And I wouldn't be surprised if SCOTUS steps up to the plate bigly, with Chief Justice Roberts leading the fight.
Justice Roberts, a liberal. Then we will know it is really weird, but I honestly believe that Roberts knows the stakes and cares about his historical record, and he won't sit idly by and let there be catastrophic destruction under his watch.
So while many see President Trump's actions as being perfectly consistent with his character, personality and history of actions, this would at least partly explain Ms. Dowd's shock at the speed with which things got weird (as if there were any other options given Mr. Trump's personality and the night and day differences between President Obama and Mr. Trump).
And how weird will things get? Well, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, the weird are about to turn professional.
But I think that there will be an even better gauge for the level in this instance, and we are seeing the first hint of it tonight in response to Mr. Trump's immigration ban: the courts are going to fight back. And I wouldn't be surprised if SCOTUS steps up to the plate bigly, with Chief Justice Roberts leading the fight.
Justice Roberts, a liberal. Then we will know it is really weird, but I honestly believe that Roberts knows the stakes and cares about his historical record, and he won't sit idly by and let there be catastrophic destruction under his watch.
17
Ms Dowd has written a masterful piece! I love you! You are part of the refreshing NY Times that tell the news like it is. In the very best way........congratulations of joining the ranks of WE nasty women!
5
Thanks for finally having something nice to say about Obama. A little late.
25
Maureen is like many columnists lately...all working too hard to come up with the precise words or sentences that will magically capture what is President Trump. Just keep it simple: We have elected a lunatic, undisciplined and immature egomaniac to run the greatest country on earth.
31
it seems we have a nut case fpr POTUS. Are his deplorable followers equally delusional? going to be a long four years.
7
There must be some grown-ups in his inner circle who have devised a way to keep his finger off the nuke button. Please say there are.
6
Are there enough rodeo clowns available to keep him distracted for four years?
7
The Commander-in-Creep is behaving just as he did in the campaign, and carrying out the policies he advocated. This is what 62,000 million asked for.
Well, they're getting it. And so are the rest of us.
Well, they're getting it. And so are the rest of us.
10
TG for ACLU. And you.
Remember, Maureen, you have to own part of getting him elected. You couldn't stop your incessant criticisms of Hillary.
32
Clearly this man is a malignant narcissist. We have seen him enough in public to diagnose him but the problem for us is there is no cure. The republican leaders need to push him to the side and get on with it. If I had to pick my evil I would pick Pence over Trump any day.
7
Ms. Down, your family voted for this guy!
19
Trump is a coward, a liar, a cheat, and a bully. His party isn't far behind. Our national nightmare has just begun.
26
... And this guy carries THE BISCUIT around in his infernal pocket. He has caused more damage to national security in one week with his foreshortened Twitter fingers than Hillary Clinton did in her entire lifetime with her emails.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in today's Times, is reported Canada's policy to attract and fast-track overseas University students from everwhere toward Canadian citizenship, the better to capitalize on the inflow of cerebral power, cultural diversification and the inevitably consequent economic development.
This is what self-confident nations do, realizing that there's much less risk in putting out a welcome mat than in the sledgehammer of defensive paranoia. Unless Canada falls prey to inevitable American efforts to mold it in the image of our juvenile short-sightedness, it will own North America's future.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Meanwhile, elsewhere in today's Times, is reported Canada's policy to attract and fast-track overseas University students from everwhere toward Canadian citizenship, the better to capitalize on the inflow of cerebral power, cultural diversification and the inevitably consequent economic development.
This is what self-confident nations do, realizing that there's much less risk in putting out a welcome mat than in the sledgehammer of defensive paranoia. Unless Canada falls prey to inevitable American efforts to mold it in the image of our juvenile short-sightedness, it will own North America's future.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
15
You have no standing in this debate! Your family is part of the problem. I can't even read your article knowing that!
23
Oh, let's cut to the chase. Trump is nuts. Rich but nuts. How rich and how nuts we're not sure. He won't show his taxes, But he does show he can be more nuts than we imagined by the day. Often, many times a day.
With Trump in charge, the nation's future is in a world of hurt. So too the world's. We will likely survive Trump but not without damage. How much is yet to be determined. But how much will be very dependent on the GOP. He is, after all, a Republican. Their leadership gave their tacit approval to Trump,
When will the party leadership realize this is their madman and their mess to clean up? When will the rank and file demand it? Or will they?
We will see if there is any honor and patriotism remaining in the Republican ranks before this is over. And the flag-lapel-pin version won't be enough.
With Trump in charge, the nation's future is in a world of hurt. So too the world's. We will likely survive Trump but not without damage. How much is yet to be determined. But how much will be very dependent on the GOP. He is, after all, a Republican. Their leadership gave their tacit approval to Trump,
When will the party leadership realize this is their madman and their mess to clean up? When will the rank and file demand it? Or will they?
We will see if there is any honor and patriotism remaining in the Republican ranks before this is over. And the flag-lapel-pin version won't be enough.
24
and, isn't it great that we have a businessman in office who can develop and implement coherent , practical policies that cut thru all those cumbersome obstacles in government? This guy can't manage himself let alone our government. Time for the Board of Directors to step in and remove this CEO.
2
Maureen,
Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, etc., etc., etc. & ad infinitum.
Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, Brava !, etc., etc., etc. & ad infinitum.
So this is what a seven-year-old's version of the presidency is all about, just as it has been displayed in any number of cartoons, sit-coms, and children's stories: under some strange set of circumstances, a young child is elected president of the United States, and believes s/he has all the power in world and uses it to get everything s/he wants. The unfortunate part here is, where the actual child would sign executive orders declaring no school on Mondays and every Saturday as National Ice Cream Day, this one bans people he doesn't like and takes away health insurance from others.
Let us hope, therefore that this real-life child meets the same end as the fictional ones: someone with enough sense takes his crayons away from him.
Let us hope, therefore that this real-life child meets the same end as the fictional ones: someone with enough sense takes his crayons away from him.
1
Besides personal attention and enhancement of his "brand," I have no idea what this president wants. Too much random psychological speculation is a waste of time. Although I was initially willing to take a deep breath and see what happened, that window of attempted understanding has been slammed shut.
Child, narcissist, bully, menace, predator...whichever of the numerous descriptors that have been employed, he is not fit for the office he holds. He appears more prone to regression than growth. I will have to make due, for now, with respecting the office but not the man.
Here's hoping the ACLU and judge's actions are enhanced, and that most of the rest of his executive order on immigration is blocked. Would the SCOTUS uphold lower courts' actions to block Trump, without even bothering to hear the case themselves? I do not think this is the stuff of a 4 to 4 tie. This may become reminiscent of the court slapping down an over-reaching of FDR--and he had a much larger voter mandate than Trump. Given our current president with his 4th grade vocabulary, mendacious pronouncements and combative school-yard behaviors, it is hard to find clearer historical analogies.
Child, narcissist, bully, menace, predator...whichever of the numerous descriptors that have been employed, he is not fit for the office he holds. He appears more prone to regression than growth. I will have to make due, for now, with respecting the office but not the man.
Here's hoping the ACLU and judge's actions are enhanced, and that most of the rest of his executive order on immigration is blocked. Would the SCOTUS uphold lower courts' actions to block Trump, without even bothering to hear the case themselves? I do not think this is the stuff of a 4 to 4 tie. This may become reminiscent of the court slapping down an over-reaching of FDR--and he had a much larger voter mandate than Trump. Given our current president with his 4th grade vocabulary, mendacious pronouncements and combative school-yard behaviors, it is hard to find clearer historical analogies.
Why don't you ask your brother, Maureen, to explain Trump. I'm sure there are rationales that excuse the craziness.
The expectation that the Republican Congress will ignore Trump's behavior in order to implement that "agenda" is what worries me.
The expectation that the Republican Congress will ignore Trump's behavior in order to implement that "agenda" is what worries me.
10
Maureen - you carried out what seemed like a personal vendetta Hillary
Then you flirted with endorsing The Donald
As a very long time reader of The Times I would like to remind you that this paper is not just the paper of record for this great nation but a beacon on that shinning hill
Please find a way to write with more purpose, with a clearer head, and realize the consequences of your writing.
Then you flirted with endorsing The Donald
As a very long time reader of The Times I would like to remind you that this paper is not just the paper of record for this great nation but a beacon on that shinning hill
Please find a way to write with more purpose, with a clearer head, and realize the consequences of your writing.
17
The America we once knew is no more. The America we imagined is gone.
This once was a great nation not fearful of the world at large. We have made many mistakes, but we had a somewhat successful cleansing process whereby difficult truths were exposed and changes made. Now we have a cowardly Congress whose members mainly ask: what can we get from this president while he is there? There is little or no concern for fundamental values as long as the top items on the right wing's wish list get ticked off: cut taxes (forget debts), let American corporations go even more free to exploit the weak at every turn, attack good, functional social programs and, as always the case with Republicans, spend ever more on armaments, bombs, planes, drones and anything else the defense contractors can dream.
This immigration mess is the first big blow-up of the Trump presidency, but it is also a complete indication of more to come. Trump doesn't operate like someone who knows how government works and that was part of his appeal to millions; he was supposed to use his outsider status to shake things up (check) and take actions that others would avoid (check).
We are placing handcuffs on people who worked with the American military and who have gone through a long, difficult process to be approved to enter our country? People with valid visas in transit? This makes us look like a weak, fear filled nation and one whose policy prescriptions come from "the shows" rather than careful thought.
This once was a great nation not fearful of the world at large. We have made many mistakes, but we had a somewhat successful cleansing process whereby difficult truths were exposed and changes made. Now we have a cowardly Congress whose members mainly ask: what can we get from this president while he is there? There is little or no concern for fundamental values as long as the top items on the right wing's wish list get ticked off: cut taxes (forget debts), let American corporations go even more free to exploit the weak at every turn, attack good, functional social programs and, as always the case with Republicans, spend ever more on armaments, bombs, planes, drones and anything else the defense contractors can dream.
This immigration mess is the first big blow-up of the Trump presidency, but it is also a complete indication of more to come. Trump doesn't operate like someone who knows how government works and that was part of his appeal to millions; he was supposed to use his outsider status to shake things up (check) and take actions that others would avoid (check).
We are placing handcuffs on people who worked with the American military and who have gone through a long, difficult process to be approved to enter our country? People with valid visas in transit? This makes us look like a weak, fear filled nation and one whose policy prescriptions come from "the shows" rather than careful thought.
10
Your relentless attacks on Hillary and going soft on Trump epitomize the complicity of the press in Trump's ascension. "The Clinton Contamination" (July 10, 2016) was the nastiest, smear journalism ever. Move over Bannon.
According to you Ms Dowd, those emails were as serious as Judith's Miller's WMD that never were.
Have you ever considered that Hillary simply had normal political entanglements--nothing any man running for presidency hasn't had? What she does have is a respect for the rule of law, respect for democracy.
Instead you've aided and abetted a vile spirit out to undermine our democracy.
According to you Ms Dowd, those emails were as serious as Judith's Miller's WMD that never were.
Have you ever considered that Hillary simply had normal political entanglements--nothing any man running for presidency hasn't had? What she does have is a respect for the rule of law, respect for democracy.
Instead you've aided and abetted a vile spirit out to undermine our democracy.
34
Speaking of dead people on the voting roles......I wonder if Fred Trump is still a registered voter in New York.......any bets?
5
Fabulous! You've captured the "70 year old 7 year old" perfectly.
1
..."delicate ego..." understates it, I'm afraid. I'd use the word "fragile" for himself and in turn "dangerous" for the country.
4
Reminds me of the national discussion about mental illness...how do we spot true mental illness and when do we report our fears to the authorities 'cuz we fear he might hurt himself or others? In this case the mentally ill person is the Authority, protected by Republicans who salivate over their new-found power...Scary scenario...I think I'll move to Mexico.
5
Ms Dowd's critique? now proves only that she writes to fill a column, to earn a salary. Principle and conviction were never the foundation of her rants. She is as ACCOUNTABLE as all of the white working class (for is she not a white working person?) for the votes AGAINST HILLARY that contributed to the final tally for The Donald. Her commentary today is hypocrisy on steroids.
23
I agree with everything here except how you disparaged 7-year-olds.
10
Those who voted for Trump probably never read George Orwell. They should just for comparison's sake, because 2017 is going to be much worse than 1984. How our enemies are laughing and our allies cringing as this demented man-child destroyes our values and our country.
13
This is not just about Trump or his Presidency. It is a movement whose goal is to control everything. Gorbachev said it looks like there is going to be war. With the Generals in place, the Supreme Court in play and the Media and Democratic Party ineffectual the only hope is the protesters. The Conservative movement has tried to have prior protests not listed in school textbooks. It would be sad if these protesters who try to keep the light alive are not known to future generations. If a generation were to be raised with group-think it would be hard for them to understand what the truth is or to understand freedom of expression much less to fight for it.
7
I await Kevin Dowd's explanation of how I—as a member of the coastal elite—have earned "the tantrums, the delusions, the deceptions, the self-doubts and overcompensation" of President Trump.
14
where is Superman?
2
I think that after your disgraceful treatment of Mrs Clinton during the election.People are tuning you out. I am surprised that there are only 230 comments.
26
Impeach Steve Bannon
11
When can we wake up from this nightmare?
5
Quite possibly the first column Dowd has run in years without mentioning/trashing Hillary Clinton
49
Isn't it obvious that we have elected a mentally unstable individual to the highest office in the land? An office that controls an arsenal capable of rendering the world uninhabitable.
Even worse, he has surrounded himself with people who are trying to use this man-child to implement their own twisted agenda. Add to this a Republican Congress that will not stand up to him even as he trashes our country's ideals.
I believe that we are in for a very turbulent four years and that we may be a very different sort of country when all is said and done. God help us!!
Even worse, he has surrounded himself with people who are trying to use this man-child to implement their own twisted agenda. Add to this a Republican Congress that will not stand up to him even as he trashes our country's ideals.
I believe that we are in for a very turbulent four years and that we may be a very different sort of country when all is said and done. God help us!!
15
Right now we need some true heros in Congress. Men and women who are willing to put political calculations aside and put the very survival of this country and our democracy as their very top priority. This man has to go, and Congress needs to show him the door. If members of Congress can't dig deep and find it in themselves to put the good of the country ahead of their own political survival, then the public should find a way to help motivate them - it is our country, not theirs and not his.
8
The problem has always been that those of us (who do not consider ourselves conservative or republican ) have always been willing to criticize everyone. Republicans, for the most part, do not criticize their own and are nationally more united as a group than progressives, independents and free thinkers. Republicans are much more defensive and always willing to tow the party line, even when the party is led by LYING Trump.
We need to find a way to constructively criticize without having it used against us. We, who oppose LYING Trump, need to be more united and organized. Unfortunately, we need to learn from the Republican playbook.
We need to find a way to constructively criticize without having it used against us. We, who oppose LYING Trump, need to be more united and organized. Unfortunately, we need to learn from the Republican playbook.
9
It really is time, after only one tumultuos week, that the American people begin lobbying their representatives and senators to either invoke the 25th amendment, or getting the ball rolling on impeachment proceedings. His mental illness has been obvious to many for quite some time, but only in the past days, members of the press such as Ruth Marcus of WaPo are openly discussing the fact that he is mentally ill. An article in US News & World Report featured a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School describing him as having Toxic Narcissism, which is a graver form of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I know that Maureen Dowd likes to make things sound funny, "The seventy year old, seven year old"; but more prominent columnists need to start getting more serious and call it what it is MENTAL ILLNESS.
It is no small matter. As a private citizen, people could poke fun at Mr. Trump all they wanted without people suffering from his problem. Gary Trudeau did this brilliantly in his comic strip for years. His compendium of this, "Yuge" summed it all up. But it is now no longer funny, it is in fact extremely frightening.
I haven't seen spontaneous protests erupt in the US since Vietnam, as did the airport protests yesterday. If Congress does not act and act soon, the only recourse will be to take to the streets constantly. Is this what the Republican Party wants in pursuit of their agenda?
It is no small matter. As a private citizen, people could poke fun at Mr. Trump all they wanted without people suffering from his problem. Gary Trudeau did this brilliantly in his comic strip for years. His compendium of this, "Yuge" summed it all up. But it is now no longer funny, it is in fact extremely frightening.
I haven't seen spontaneous protests erupt in the US since Vietnam, as did the airport protests yesterday. If Congress does not act and act soon, the only recourse will be to take to the streets constantly. Is this what the Republican Party wants in pursuit of their agenda?
15
It is beyond exhilarating to read all the intelligentsia laments about what Trump is doing. He is doing what he said he was going to do, And the reality is that there is nothing the Dems can really do about it. Blame all the demons/outsiders you want, but most of non CALIYORKERS want to take back their country from those at the leftist extremes. That the NYTs has a lead story about "Transitioning" about sums it up
Are the people who voted for Trump thrilled with this? If so, Civil War II has officially begun. We may not see hundreds of thousands of people killed. Instead, however, we're witnessing the slow death of our beloved democracy.
Hopefully a Democratic Lincoln will emerge from the rubble. Soon.
Hopefully a Democratic Lincoln will emerge from the rubble. Soon.
13
It wasn't long ago that Dowd was meeting with Trump and writing cutesy commentary about him. One could imagine the two elderly redheads flirting, each thinking they'd won the other one over. Her readers turned on her like Trump turns on, well, anyone critical of his eminence. Her pen was silent for quite awhile.
It's time for her to apologize for the horrid way she treated the sane people in the race, Obama and Clinton. She trivialized them in her inimitable and snarky way. It wasn't funny then and it's really sickening now to think about what might have been.
It's time for her to apologize for the horrid way she treated the sane people in the race, Obama and Clinton. She trivialized them in her inimitable and snarky way. It wasn't funny then and it's really sickening now to think about what might have been.
47
Only two weeks in, and I'm already exhausted.
5
If we had a do-over, a rematch of the last election with what we know now, would the result be the same? Would the landslide for Hillary be huge? Would Hillary had won and this whole nightmare had never occurred if she had selected Bernie as her running mate? What would Maureen be writing about? And yes, you did not help the better candidate win, but you sure are funny to read.
4
Lord of the Flies seems fitting.
2
While some on his staff are keeping him distracted, Bannon is taking over.
12
Right on target, excerpt that in fact we were getting the crazy straight up from day one of the campaigning. There is nothing surprising or different about the first week's performance, unless one expected the craziness to stop once the election was over. If it is true that DJT knows what the New York Times is saying about him and is affected by it, then please, please, New York Times, keep it up! Speak -- relentlessly -- the unvarnished truth to all who will read and listen. That truth will be our protection and our salvation.
11
Nice of Ms.Dowd,who has lost her curveball,to tell us what most New Yorkers knew decades ago about the Donald. And let's not get too wound up in whether he deserves Mr.President respect. He ran a low blow campaign,he can take it now. As for all the Women who marched,it gave Brian Williams on MSNBC some unusual face time on Saturday.Gee,thanks. And Rachel Maddow is quickly becoming a nag on weeknights.Let's find some new folks to focus on like Ivanka and Jared and their deals.....
6
You don't test a man with adversity, you test him with power.
3
Let's see, ms. dowd, can you tell us just how many times you have dined with the trumps. I'm sure you have cordial chatted with his family at plenty of high-brow NY functions, no? You actually seem to have a lot in common with the cave boy.
21
Too little to late - many of us not of the pundit race knew Trump would carried through on his rabid promises to his crazed supporters. Beware of those who crave power. The Obama family which you despised rescued the country from a depression orchestrated by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove - yet the media attacked a man that made us whole - in every way. In all the frenetic activity of the last week the Cabinet was missing - the briefing ignored. And why did the US media not comment on Trump taking Prime Minister May's hand? A weird gesture - supposedly to help her down a ramp (on the walkway?). No man I know would do that to a colleague - instead he would offer his arm or take her elbow - but her hand? Maybe it was ignored because it was a reminder of other non- Presidential comments. I hope he will be briefed on protocol when meeting the Queen. The President is a man devoid of all social and ethical skills.
22
If Trumps arrival brings some sanity to Maureen Doud we might call that small compensation for all the hell we are going through right now.
When there are sudden conversions like Maureen's I always fear there will be a backsliding. Lord, let this one be real!
When there are sudden conversions like Maureen's I always fear there will be a backsliding. Lord, let this one be real!
"If the last president was too above the fray, this one is the fray. We’ve gone from no drama to all drama, a high ethical standard to no ethical standard."
Admit it, Maureen. You miss Barry now that he's gone. But when ye was in office, week after week you hammered him over nothing, filing copy that amounted to empty column inches.
Admit it, Maureen. You miss Barry now that he's gone. But when ye was in office, week after week you hammered him over nothing, filing copy that amounted to empty column inches.
17
I agree with several readers' letters. It is time for the NYT staff to find the dirt, find the Russia connection, expose him as a near bankrupt fake businessman, find more women he has molested, get his tax returns, and stop lamenting about his mental illness. The latter gets us nowhere, its just fumes. Fumes of outrage won't get him out of office.
11
After all your Hillary and Obama bashing...are you happy now?
24
Not a note from Dowd that her jealousy and dislike of Hillary Clinton was at least partially to blame for the current state of affairs ... the spewing of bile in HRC s direction from Dowd fueled the dislike of HRC
18
The man is ill. And our country will suffer, is suffering, because of it. He has NPD. We all know it. We can see it. Every day he must be distracted enough by his aides so we can all get to tomorrow? Wow. That's some agenda there.
Somebody's got to stop him. Why haven't dozens and dozens of lawsuits been filed to try and stop him? He's not normal. He has a mental illness and that fact is not alternative. That fact must be dealt with soon. Or we all lose. Bigly.
Somebody's got to stop him. Why haven't dozens and dozens of lawsuits been filed to try and stop him? He's not normal. He has a mental illness and that fact is not alternative. That fact must be dealt with soon. Or we all lose. Bigly.
8
Everything described in Ms. Dowd's opinion piece about Donald Trump's personality disorder was obvious throughout the election process. Now his unbalanced, xenophobic ideas are coming to fruition. I can only wonder if Ms. Dowd, who so carefully placed herself on the fence throughout the election by denigrating Hillary Clinton with the same vigor she denigrated Donald Trump and by allowing her family to weigh in with their undying support of the psychopath we now call Mr. President, is satisfied with how she mishandled her opportunity as a opinion writer for the New York Times, to write rationally about the difference between a less than perfect candidate, H.Clinton, and a man who has the desire to control and dictate, D. Trump. Thanks Ms. Dowd, for your contribution to the situation we now face in our country.
20
Dowd loves crazy trump. Now she has something nasty to write about. While Obama was President her columns were stale, boring, and uninteresting.
6
Maureen must be in 7th heaven with this president she helped to elect. Her columns practically write themselves.
18
You're finally getting it right, Maureen. Your hatred of the Clintons blinded you to the deep disturbances quaking in Trump that are causing a rip in the fabric of our country and a rippling effect throughout the world. So why not go a step further and call on our country's leaders on both sides of the House and Senate to do the only rational act to occur since1/20/17: impeach this madman? Do it, Maura, for the sake of your family and others like them throughout the world while we still have a chance to dig out from under this avalanche.
18
Yeah, 7 year olds do not act so bizarrely as does trump.
He doesn't have dementia either.
He acts like a combo of psychopath and someone born with a TBI.
Either way, he is dangerous to all of us.
He doesn't have dementia either.
He acts like a combo of psychopath and someone born with a TBI.
Either way, he is dangerous to all of us.
8
The voice screaming for change in an established elite leadership order, an order which had become so blithe in disregard of average America, was pure and necessary. It reflects a need long ignored in almost Marie Antoinette-like fashion by that cloistered leadership class.
But it settled on the one representative it's increasingly clear is mentally ill. I do not know if there is a precedent in American history for removal of a mentally unstable President (with his minions and sycophants), but I predict that if this continues along its trajectory there will be one.
John~
American Net'Zen
But it settled on the one representative it's increasingly clear is mentally ill. I do not know if there is a precedent in American history for removal of a mentally unstable President (with his minions and sycophants), but I predict that if this continues along its trajectory there will be one.
John~
American Net'Zen
8
Guys you got clobbered, the Democratic party is in shambles,you lost 1000 seats nationwide during the Obama years,you don't have the house the Senate the White house you lost the Supreme Court for probably 2 decades or more,and all you can talk about is the guy who helped clobber you. It's all been smoke and mirrors for your party, you've been decived,and what do you do you put the same people back in charge,and you think Trump is the one with the problem
7
Just like most 7 year old's , apt to tantrums when not given their way, easily manipulated by the smarter kid and inexperienced in a rational adult world.
This is exactly what we have in #45.
This is exactly what we have in #45.
5
Ever meet someone with the manic kind of early dementia? They fill in the spaces with fantasy and illusion, and demand that all around either play their roles in that fantasy, or the dementia takes over and childish illogical behavior results.
Something wrong with Donald. Something really wrong with the Republican Party who put him into office, and something really, really morally wrong with the Republican leadership who aren't stopping his "wrongness".
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
Something wrong with Donald. Something really wrong with the Republican Party who put him into office, and something really, really morally wrong with the Republican leadership who aren't stopping his "wrongness".
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
24
Maureen, where were these pointed comments when it could have made a difference, BEFORE the election?
35
I DAY can't come too soon! we need to move this POTUS out NOW! He has already set us back in the world beyond repair.
13
Honestly, Maureen, you sound both surprised and annoyed. ... at what, precisely ?
21
La Dowd, as usual, is amusing. BUT, for the first time, we are feeling distinctly unamused. This is a man who didn't accept "intelligence briefings" as a candidate and remarked that "I'm highly intelligent." ??? Is there someone more dangerous than someone who has no idea there's something, anything, he doesn't know?
Well, yes, there is: a president who fits that description. No wonder Melania didn't move to Washington; where's the love in a White House whose walls are covered with mirrors, where all love is directed at Himself?
We can joke, but it's not a joke for people in this country with green cards, for foreign students, and for undocumented residents, especially the Dreamers. Who knows what irrational burst of egomania will prompt a new tweet to be printed on a GREAT BIG SHEET OF PAPER ("Beautiful!") and signed as an executive order?
Joke's on Trump voters. Joke's on the Electoral College rooted in giving slave states extra influence. Joke's on the world on the verge of frying.
And suddenly, just like that! Joke's over. One week and already a ratings disaster. Time for The Hook. Reruns of Goofy and the Duck, what's his name?
Well, yes, there is: a president who fits that description. No wonder Melania didn't move to Washington; where's the love in a White House whose walls are covered with mirrors, where all love is directed at Himself?
We can joke, but it's not a joke for people in this country with green cards, for foreign students, and for undocumented residents, especially the Dreamers. Who knows what irrational burst of egomania will prompt a new tweet to be printed on a GREAT BIG SHEET OF PAPER ("Beautiful!") and signed as an executive order?
Joke's on Trump voters. Joke's on the Electoral College rooted in giving slave states extra influence. Joke's on the world on the verge of frying.
And suddenly, just like that! Joke's over. One week and already a ratings disaster. Time for The Hook. Reruns of Goofy and the Duck, what's his name?
48
Mr Trump forces us to consider who we are as a society.
Each day I'm convinced we've hit bottom. But no.
Today's status: shameful.
Each day I'm convinced we've hit bottom. But no.
Today's status: shameful.
52
Amidst all of my despair I am pleased with one thing.
Maureen Dowd has finally figured out that Trump is sick and dangerous and is no longer writing playfully supportive puff pieces about him.
Look up narcissistic personality disorder in the DSM--it's all there to a degree I have not witnessed in years as a practicing psychologist. No wonder the billionaires are buying mansions in New Zealand.
Maureen Dowd has finally figured out that Trump is sick and dangerous and is no longer writing playfully supportive puff pieces about him.
Look up narcissistic personality disorder in the DSM--it's all there to a degree I have not witnessed in years as a practicing psychologist. No wonder the billionaires are buying mansions in New Zealand.
116
"But with President Trump, it’s all right out there — the tantrums, the delusions, the deceptions, the self-doubts and overcompensation."
Bingo ... he's going into narcissistic meltdown. Donald has declared war on reality -- and the question is how many toadies and sycophants will go along how far?
Sean and Kellyanne are his aging old-fashioned talking Ken and Barbie dolls, the one with the pull-strings -- they say "You're so smart." and "You are the greatest. Everything you say is TRUE."
Bingo ... he's going into narcissistic meltdown. Donald has declared war on reality -- and the question is how many toadies and sycophants will go along how far?
Sean and Kellyanne are his aging old-fashioned talking Ken and Barbie dolls, the one with the pull-strings -- they say "You're so smart." and "You are the greatest. Everything you say is TRUE."
65
Wild is a good adjective but feral is better.
62
Congress needs to step up, like yesterday, and put an end to all of this. They carped endlessly about Obama's executive powers. Now the Current Occupant is wielding executive orders like he is making selections for Chinese carryout. Congress needs to step up and be the balance on all of this.
Heh, Congress. Who am I kidding?
Heh, Congress. Who am I kidding?
103
Thanks for a great column. Your line about Trump being a "70-year-old 7-year-old" should be adopted as our national mantra.
41
He is the manic but we are the depressed. It's a new condition when you are in the minority but get elected.
61
Two things are becoming clear about this administration. One is that Trump is mentally unfit to govern. When left to speak unscripted, as he was at the CIA, he rambles on about himself: his crowds, his applause, how many times he has been on magazine covers. The other is that the actual power of the presidency is being wielded increasingly by Steve Bannon, who is quite simply a white nationalist. It is reported that Bannon and Steven Miller wrote not only Trump's apocalyptic inauguration speech, but also many of the executive orders that are being issued. These are being issued so hastily that it seems highly unlikely that there was consultation with any informed official as to their details. Tonight the Washington Post reports that Bannon has been named to the National Security Council. His ascendance to the very center of the presidency is the real story, and it is not being adequately reported.
85
He's the Florence Foster Jenkins of American politics, but without the laughs and affection of his audience, and without her love of the work she does.
15
Trump used to be like the crazy people on the subway screaming to some inner deity. Too crazy to engage with. You hope they'll soon get off.
But if they entered the cab to drive the train, we'd all want to get off. Maybe the cops will carry him away. Let's hope he doesn't ignore the signals and run into some other train. Let's hope there are automatic brakes to stop him.
But if they entered the cab to drive the train, we'd all want to get off. Maybe the cops will carry him away. Let's hope he doesn't ignore the signals and run into some other train. Let's hope there are automatic brakes to stop him.
21
Hopefully, his Majesty, King Donald the First, will notice that the chair he's sitting is not a throne before he does something truly disastrous.
13
Maureen, you forgot to mention Donald Jr. & Eric
His Uday & Qusay.
His Uday & Qusay.
47
Finally, a clear-eyed assessment, Ms. Dowd. Yet, surely, most of us haven't forgotten the blood on your hands from your Hillary-hating days, not to mention how you drooled all over yourself while fawning over this narcissist during the campaign.
YOU are one of the reasons we are stuck with him. While your current tune sounds sane, you helped to bring about the insanity. Shameful. Or, should I say, "Sad."
YOU are one of the reasons we are stuck with him. While your current tune sounds sane, you helped to bring about the insanity. Shameful. Or, should I say, "Sad."
210
Trump is not a child but a 70 years old with a severe personality disorder , a narcissistic personality disorder . His childish behavior imperils the nation . It is not strategy but mental illness .That is the reason for the tumultuous first week of his administration . You would not let a 4 years old drive a car . Impeachment may be the only solution . Let us not bury our heads in the sand . It is only going to get worse in the next 4 years .
72
This was very amusing and a nice start, but where have you been the last year, mars? All the mean-girl snarling towards Hillary Clinton gave fuel to
the book-burning bonfire. I expected better, but you must of had your
reasons. Can we kiss and make up??? You can do better. Please.
the book-burning bonfire. I expected better, but you must of had your
reasons. Can we kiss and make up??? You can do better. Please.
62
The day will come when Trump's court will be forced to confront the lunacy he embraces. We have already seen a series of acts that suggest severe mental illness, and there is nothing funny about that. We are in grave danger at this moment in time. Recently a colleague at the college where I teach said he voted for Trump because he, the colleague, wanted to stop "killing babies," meaning to end abortions. Living babies are about to die due to the Trump order against refugees. All who call themselves pro-life must own the blame for these imminent deaths of actual babies.
82
Miss Obama Maureen?
50
It's time for everyone (really, EVERYONE) to become Republicans and start voting in primaries. Only by some losing will this situation be brought under a semblance of control.
27
Maureen Dowd spent years savaging the sane candidate. And now that she and others have succeeded in electing the insane candidate, she can have a field day savaging him. Its a big win for Maureen Dowd. The rest of us, not so much.
143
Barry and Hillary, the objects of so much of your snark, are looking pretty good right now Maureen, are they not? KA
126
Dear Maureen,
How do you like me, now?
Hillary
How do you like me, now?
Hillary
110
Maureen, you spent the last few years attacking and undermining the person who might have beaten Trump. Words matter. Yours had an effect. You own some of this. Fix it.
156
Donald Trump is the poster child for The Peter Principle.
10
So, Maureen, it all comes down to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4
They're coming to take me away ha-ha...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4
They're coming to take me away ha-ha...
3
Maureen - you are so right on. However, I would say that Tweety Dumb is more like a 12-year old just hitting puberty. I think the NYT and CNN, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and others need to hold this sociopath responsible. What the media does during this pivotal point in our history will reverberate through history - you will set the tone for this county for the next 100 years.
You have Bannon telling the media to "keep it's mouth shut" - that the media is the enemy. See what's happening here? Be strong and active and stand together at press conferences.
This is such an important time. The press is our first line of defense against a tyrant - who is clearly emotionally and mentally unfit to lead a boy scout troup let alone the free world.
You have Bannon telling the media to "keep it's mouth shut" - that the media is the enemy. See what's happening here? Be strong and active and stand together at press conferences.
This is such an important time. The press is our first line of defense against a tyrant - who is clearly emotionally and mentally unfit to lead a boy scout troup let alone the free world.
15
Donald Trump is certifiable! He should not be President. Look at the mess he has created in only ONE WEEK! I plan to MARCH, Call my Congressmen, both Republican and Democratic to see what they are doing besides wringing their hands like the rest of the country. God save us from this NUT!!!
17
What more can you say about this man ?
He is a brute, callous, evil, dishonest, abusive, dangerous, infantile, ignorant,a cheat, crass, boorish, a swindler, ego-maniac, a braggart,and completely absorbed in his own self.
In my lifetime I have seen evil politicians but this guy is off the charts. There are just not enough words to express the contempt that he has earned.
He is a brute, callous, evil, dishonest, abusive, dangerous, infantile, ignorant,a cheat, crass, boorish, a swindler, ego-maniac, a braggart,and completely absorbed in his own self.
In my lifetime I have seen evil politicians but this guy is off the charts. There are just not enough words to express the contempt that he has earned.
35
We will not survive this abomination to our high office of presidency unless we resist so hard and so loudly and sue and be civil disobedience and harrsss our senate and house members daily with 5 calls every day. We must all do our part, now!
29
Thanks Maureen Dowd! As if you had nothing to do with helping that unhinged man win.
73
Perhaps he is just a man to be pitied.
6
Someone please get 45 his binkie and put him to bed in a hibernation time until his term is over.
8
Please, someone... ANYBODY... reassure me that enough moderate, sane Republicans will realize sooner rather than later that this mentally unbalanced man must be removed from office. Trump has gone even crazier over the course of his first eight days in office. and he's making the bull in the china shop look like the most polite customer on the block. A clear an present danger!
20
The image of the guy on a pogo stick is good, but Pres. Trump reminds me more of the Governor played by Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles.
9
Maureen. Having second thoughts about Clinton world yet?
Please keep us abreast of your conversations with the conservative members of your family. It'll be interesting to see at what point, if any, they develop second thoughts about their support for Donald Trump.
Please keep us abreast of your conversations with the conservative members of your family. It'll be interesting to see at what point, if any, they develop second thoughts about their support for Donald Trump.
35
So what's your point?
5
Meanwhile the idiot's unsecured phone represents more endangerment to the U.S. than any of those people detained.
18
Thank you Maureen Dowd for helping get Teump elected. Your year after year articles degrading Hillary paid off for you and your family of "deplorables" as you proudly spoke of last month.
Bet you thought that Trump being in the White House could never bring harm to you personally; you won a Pulizer Prize.
Well,think again as Kellyann Conway just tweeted not too long ago, "you have not seen anything yet"
Bet you thought that Trump being in the White House could never bring harm to you personally; you won a Pulizer Prize.
Well,think again as Kellyann Conway just tweeted not too long ago, "you have not seen anything yet"
61
The incompetent Maureen Dowd repeats in this article the canard that the North Vietnamese were seriously interested in peace in 1968 on terms that would have given a non-Communist government in the South a glimmer of a chance of survival, and that Nixon (and Henry Kissinger) were the agents who derailed this panacea. This is garbage.
Donald may be addicted to fake news but Dowd, like Christopher Hitches and numerous others, is apparently addicted to fake history.
Donald may be addicted to fake news but Dowd, like Christopher Hitches and numerous others, is apparently addicted to fake history.
6
This past week has been less like observing a new president assume the reigns of power and more akin to remotely watching a six year old, in a locked room with his baby sister, playing with a loaded gun. It's the same feeling of dread and helplessness, as you can only hope that an adult gets back home in time.
22
The Republicans have to invoke the 25th Amendment, by which a mentally deranged person can be removed from office and replaced by the vice-president.
I disagree with the views of Mike Pence, but at least he is a normal human being who will not hit the nuclear button in a childish rage.
I disagree with the views of Mike Pence, but at least he is a normal human being who will not hit the nuclear button in a childish rage.
14
OMG
7
Maureen, can you use your contacts at the Times to ask the Pew folks if a poll can be taken of those who voted in November to determine how many people who voted ABT (anyone but Trump) now wish they had voted for him, and how many who did vote for Trump would now vote for ABT or not vote at all. I, for one, would be very interested in seeing the results of such a study.
11
Trump is the litmus test of whether the US is too stupid to survive.
26
Maureen, oh Maureen...it was you who claimed to know this guy, private interviews and everything. Why, then, act surprised when he gets his undies in a bundle about anything? You encouraged this 7 year-old Twit and I'm sorely disappointed that you didn't see it coming. Didn't he ever give you a hint that revealed his deep hatred and thin skin? Shame on you! You might have helped.
77
No, Maureen, it wasn't Press Secretary Sean Spicer who offered the now infamous phrase alternative facts; it was Minister of Propaganda Kellyanne Conway's appearance on NBC with Chuck Todd that conjured up that Orwellian absurdity. Give Kellyanne proper credit because real facts matter.
43
This column is a portrait sketch of an unstable man who impulsively leaps from one crisis to another in a desperate effort to maintain control.
Control of both himself and of the press who talks about him and should "shut up".
I'm sorry to report that, from a psychological point of view, Trump's deterioration and decompensation is occurring must faster than I anticipated.
The stress of the presidential responsibilities and the inability to stop the press (read everyone) from talking about him is unraveling his psyche before our very eyes.
Those in a position to act including the vice president and newly appointed cabinet members need to make a running assessment of Trump's ability to perform his duties and meet together, including with the president, to decide what action should be taken.
These will be the first steps in resolving how the country can move forward!
Control of both himself and of the press who talks about him and should "shut up".
I'm sorry to report that, from a psychological point of view, Trump's deterioration and decompensation is occurring must faster than I anticipated.
The stress of the presidential responsibilities and the inability to stop the press (read everyone) from talking about him is unraveling his psyche before our very eyes.
Those in a position to act including the vice president and newly appointed cabinet members need to make a running assessment of Trump's ability to perform his duties and meet together, including with the president, to decide what action should be taken.
These will be the first steps in resolving how the country can move forward!
12
What a complete hypocrite Maureen Dowd is. After years of bashing and belittling President Obama and trashing Hillary Clinton while sucking up and laughing at trump, now this? Seriously? Why wasn't she writing these things during the campaign? Too little, way too late Maureen. You have zero credibility.
120
So when do impeachment proceedings begin?
20
I wonder if and when his hotels around the world get bombed?
21
"still it was stunning how fast it got weird". Really, Maureen? If you hadn't spent the last election cycle vilifying Hillary, emasculating President Obama and treating DJT as a naughty but harmless cad you would have realized how fast it could get this bad. Shame on you for playing The ingenue now that the damage is done. You should have known better. So tired of reading your column.
114
Yes, Maureen, you've got it right, as usual. Trump is like General Garcia, the hilariously eccentric dictator played by the great Richard Libertini in the movie "The In-Laws". Just don't say anything about his inaugural attendance.
5
I can't wait to hear how the scraggly, bleach blonde Propaganda Minister tries to explain this latest world wide embarressement.
27
God help us
12
The Republican strategy is working. While our attention is diverted by the antics of this clown - they're in the back room cleaning out the treasury. It's the same strategy that they used during the Reagan and W administrations.
I have a prediction: the next Democratic President will inherit either huge, historically high, deficits(like Clinton) or a financial crisis(like Obama). And they will then need to spend the first four years of his/hers Presidency cleaning up the mess with no possible way to implement a Progressive agenda.
I have a prediction: the next Democratic President will inherit either huge, historically high, deficits(like Clinton) or a financial crisis(like Obama). And they will then need to spend the first four years of his/hers Presidency cleaning up the mess with no possible way to implement a Progressive agenda.
30
God help us. But we all, including the press, should encourage the best part of his character. Encouraging good eduction, effective healthcare, national security, etc., is more important than playing gotcha. The stakes are too high.
1
Maureen's rundown of who does what for this President made me think that the last one had a roomful of people basically managing Mr. Obama's lies, whoppers, and polite falsities. But which group came up with the best end for a complete lie of his, the word ''Period.''
We learned that when Barack said that word, it meant he clearly knew that what came before never even had a chance of being true.
Just as Trump supporters know not to take seriously his off-the-cuff exclamation points, Obama supporters learned to never take anything Obama said in front of a crowd as true unless, a month or two later, it somehow turned out to be.
BUT, the guy gets results. He didn't even have to boost spending by a few trillion to start getting them. THAT marks him as a leader, even if progressives are forbidden from even thinking that.
We learned that when Barack said that word, it meant he clearly knew that what came before never even had a chance of being true.
Just as Trump supporters know not to take seriously his off-the-cuff exclamation points, Obama supporters learned to never take anything Obama said in front of a crowd as true unless, a month or two later, it somehow turned out to be.
BUT, the guy gets results. He didn't even have to boost spending by a few trillion to start getting them. THAT marks him as a leader, even if progressives are forbidden from even thinking that.
5
Let him have it Maureen . . . Trump was definitely right about one thing, we had a rigged election, more like a coup that started when the best president of my lifetime wasn't allowed to pick a Supreme Court Justice.
Now we have gutless Republican Party full of cowards kowtowing to the last educated and worst among us with a maniac in the White House.
The United States just became another banana republic with a buffoon masquerading as the President. It's sad, pathetic and laughable.
Now we have gutless Republican Party full of cowards kowtowing to the last educated and worst among us with a maniac in the White House.
The United States just became another banana republic with a buffoon masquerading as the President. It's sad, pathetic and laughable.
36
An unenlightening rehash of what we’re already painfully aware of. Any remedies are beyond Dowd’s interests. Trumpf is a goldmine for non issue columnists.
No candidate has ever been so perfectly suited to Dowd’s personality oriented punditry, devoid of useful content, tho fun to read. We need more than fun right now.
The country is in peril from a walking psychiatric syndrome. We need some op eds by mental health professionals. Or is that disrespectful of a US president? Could a psychiatric social worker live in at the WH, in case he gets further out of control--for our peace of mind? His family has acclimated to him, or they’d have escaped him long ago.
A wild child might not have gotten the means of ascent to our top position if main media and Dowd types had discussed actual issues, god forbid, in realistic terms of how the politicians affect our lives,
But instead we got infotainment---snide gossipy political celebrity power plays. Personalities magnified and issues affecting us ignored as uninteresting.
The pundits like Ms Dowd and other columnists are proud insiders, identifying with the powerful, or at least not opposing them much. At least not identifying with the citizen majority. No prestige in that.
As DT tweets out constant alarming stuff to deplore, the pundits will dish out shocking stuff to us for 4 years. As the cable news execs told us, DT may not be good for democracy but he’s sure great for profits. And for columnists.
No candidate has ever been so perfectly suited to Dowd’s personality oriented punditry, devoid of useful content, tho fun to read. We need more than fun right now.
The country is in peril from a walking psychiatric syndrome. We need some op eds by mental health professionals. Or is that disrespectful of a US president? Could a psychiatric social worker live in at the WH, in case he gets further out of control--for our peace of mind? His family has acclimated to him, or they’d have escaped him long ago.
A wild child might not have gotten the means of ascent to our top position if main media and Dowd types had discussed actual issues, god forbid, in realistic terms of how the politicians affect our lives,
But instead we got infotainment---snide gossipy political celebrity power plays. Personalities magnified and issues affecting us ignored as uninteresting.
The pundits like Ms Dowd and other columnists are proud insiders, identifying with the powerful, or at least not opposing them much. At least not identifying with the citizen majority. No prestige in that.
As DT tweets out constant alarming stuff to deplore, the pundits will dish out shocking stuff to us for 4 years. As the cable news execs told us, DT may not be good for democracy but he’s sure great for profits. And for columnists.
20
A Ego-maniac with a inferiority complex !!
14
Is Trump in charge, or is Steve Bannon? Bannon allegedly drafted the immigrant ban executive order without any input from the Justice Department or the INS. Moreover, it had just been reported that Trump signed an Executive Order yesterday, no doubt written by Bannon, elevating Bannon, past publisher of conspiracy theories and a white nationalist, to a regular seat on the National Security Council and DEMOTING the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence to an "as needed/invitation only" basis. With a stroke of the pen, our national security team has been politicized for the first time. Given that the NSC is led by Gen. Flynn, a noted conspiracy theorist, this does not bode well for our national security.
Ryan and other GOP minions had better step up to the existential threat that Trump/Bannon present.
Ryan and other GOP minions had better step up to the existential threat that Trump/Bannon present.
53
Maureen, some of us knew long before you did that Dick Cheney is a demented megalomaniac. It's his upper lip which seems to be curled into a permanent sneer, and makes him look like the Penguin to Adam West's Batman.
31
Well that sums it up for sure -thanks.
Are your siblings still in denial or are thy under the covers now with a flashlght like the rest of us sane people?
One is put in mind of H.L. Mencken: “As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Are your siblings still in denial or are thy under the covers now with a flashlght like the rest of us sane people?
One is put in mind of H.L. Mencken: “As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
59
l like the take here, mo says the things that indicate bite and that is where we need be. Biting this guy in anyway possible. Legal bite when we can, where is judiciary on laws already broken? How can selective prosecution not be an option when it's part of our history.. okay *sic* but what about it?
6
There may be a rogue White House staffer who is crazy-gluing caps on the pens. Bravo.
64
Oh my gosh, I hope so. Should we send packets of super glue?
2
A person is considered an idiot or irresponsible until he becomes powerful or extremely wealthy. He is then transformed into a riveting, complex individual worth of notice. Trump is a hustler whose financial success has given him an illusion of greatness. The very trait that a person charged with running a government cannot have lest he lead us to disaster.
139
Frank--Thing is, he's not that successful, just like he's not a president. He's been lying to himself, and everyone else, for 70 years.
1
Describing Trump as a mental, emotional, and psychological 7-year old must be incredibly offensive to all those 7-year olds who could run this country more capably.
1017
Paul R. Damiano, Ph.D - Greensboro, NC
To answer your question, "Yes, incredibly offensive".
My answer is DSM-V 301.81 & ICD-10-CM F60.81 as well as, 301.83 & F60.3
Don't you think we should get him into protective custody ?
I have called the Senators & Representatives in my state requesting that they initiate impeachment proceedings.
To answer your question, "Yes, incredibly offensive".
My answer is DSM-V 301.81 & ICD-10-CM F60.81 as well as, 301.83 & F60.3
Don't you think we should get him into protective custody ?
I have called the Senators & Representatives in my state requesting that they initiate impeachment proceedings.
2
I bet your alleged PhD was not from MIT, Caltech, Stanford, or the Dept of Economics of the U of Chicago.
More like a PhD in Education or in Social work. (a huge joke among serious academics), and that solely due to social promotion.
In
More like a PhD in Education or in Social work. (a huge joke among serious academics), and that solely due to social promotion.
In
And especially to those 7-year-olds who have already developed a moral sense.
4
The question is: are your family members happy about having voted for Trump?
690
Yes they are. The asylum has been taken over by the patients!
How about a mea culpa, Ms Dowd, for your not insubstantial part in bringing all of us to this dangerous place. It;s not a joke. Keep your snark to yourself.
1
It is not Trump. The social, racial, economic injustices of the past 40 years have led to the earthquake of the Trump election. All the money for affordable housing, improved public education, living wage, etc. has gone to turn millionaires into billionaires and transformed the military/industrial complex into a giant, bloated, wasteful, abusive system. If the election was the earthquake, we are the tsunami. Prepare to overwhelm.
"If the last president was too above the fray, this one is the fray. We’ve gone from no drama to all drama, a high ethical standard to no ethical standard."
Brilliant--captures in just a few words the essence of this horror show.
Brilliant--captures in just a few words the essence of this horror show.
327
AJ,
Disagree. It easy to pose you are above the fray, throwing bricks at both sides. Sorry, Obama was sane & level headed. Maureen is quite wrong! There is no equivalency between Trump & Obama. No curse on both their houses as Ms Dowd seems to believe. Obama is not a psychopath as is the Donald.
Disagree. It easy to pose you are above the fray, throwing bricks at both sides. Sorry, Obama was sane & level headed. Maureen is quite wrong! There is no equivalency between Trump & Obama. No curse on both their houses as Ms Dowd seems to believe. Obama is not a psychopath as is the Donald.
5
Just think: If the Democrats had run ANYONE but Hillary, that person would now be President. Thanks DNC.
200
Ben, the DNC supported Hillary but didn't run her, the voters did.
70
Sorry, Ben, Sanders was just a different version of Trump. He wa snot prepared to be POTUS. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Bernie did not win the DEMOCRATIC primary. He was never vetted and I think Putin would have had lots of fun with him.
4
She won 3 debates, is highly intelligent, served in numerous leadership capacities during her lifetime and raised $1B. No candidate could have won with Comey and Putin against them.
7
All very interesting Ms Dowd but what I am really interested in what your sister and brother think (since it was you who gave them a platform and allowed them to expose themselves - they do hate Hillary so) So is this loathsome man (all men talk like that I think your sister said) living up to their expectations? Exceeding expectations? I mean he has done a lot in his first week - starting with the CIA speech debacle and crowned by his Friday night EO stopping citizens of 7 countries in their tracks, barring already vetted refugees, separating families of legal permanent residents, and keeping students from returning to their studies. You might almost think that the policy was not thought through. What a surprise. So, what are they thinking, your brother and sister - Good job President Trump!? Perhaps your brother can write another gleeful column explaining to us us (again) what we don't get about Trump and his supporters (he must love the Cabinet picks, especially DeVos - what a winner.) Looking forward to their thoughts and help in understanding how things work.
1071
Here in Kentucky if you have any social interaction at all you will be in the company of Trump supporters. They are happy with him. They believe his fantasies about voter fraud, they believe he is a victim of media conspiracy. They are confident that the economy is about to grow exponentially. Its pathetic and frightening at the same time. Kevin is happy too, I'm sure.
1
While I think that you can't be blamed for your family you are born into, I have to say that I'm curious myself what brother Dowd has to say now. Maybe a family interview might be of interest to the broader audience, especially to families who are themselves divided because of this delusional man-baby.
1
Amen!!!!! Now what trumpets???
2
The enablement of Trump leaves no doubt that the US is just a suicidal nation of juveniles pining for the end of the world.
207
No doubt a sizable percentage of Trump's base hails from the end of times crowd. But the reality is narcissistic man-child was the misbegotten beneficiary of a deep seated and brooding resentment by the White working class that their entitled economic and political position in society was under threat by demographic changes. No better symbol was the reelection of an black man as President and the real possibility of a woman becoming President. They see there world being turned upside down. Along comes Trump promising them that he alone will turn the clock back. He will set things straight again, send those brown people packing, build a wall and ban Muslims from our shores. In short, racism, nativism and sexism have trumped common sense, if not reality itself, for a sizable number of American voters. Apparently the Republican Party, who was openly hostel to his candidacy seems to be on board with this maniac efforts to drive the Nation off a cliff.
1
You've shown us the truth in a sentence. Maureen Dowd wasn't able to expose it in an entire column.
Of course there is doubt. Haven't you been listening? More than half of the voters didn't choose him, and if that doesn't convince you, the demonstrations taking place around the country should.
Now we have a man as head of our national government who, because of his vain ego, believes in fake news and fabricated events with no evidence to support them, has gone into a rage when others disagreed with that belief, and used what power he had to harm and silence them. This man is now the leader of a world power, commander of the largest military there is, and controller of thousands of nuclear weapons. His words are falsehoods, his actions are erratic, his opinions are contradictory, and his decisions are illogical. He has shown no compassion to the downtrodden and no empathy for humanity. He has blocked scientific knowledge and investigation but rewarded ignorance, bigotry, and hatred. He has insulted and scorned our allies and praised our enemies. He has demeaned democracy and lauded dictators. He has asked for and received illegal aid from a foreign government in order to gain a high government office. He has criticized humanitarian aid, advocated war crimes, and overlooked atrocities. He has shown intolerance towards major religions and suggested crusades against them. He has mocked the disabled and bragged about assaulting women. He has abused his power to leer at naked children, disregarded social norms, and dishonored his marriage vows. His status in the world is one ridiculed and disparaged, and he generates fear, animosity, and contempt towards our country. Other world leaders do not trust him, nor do they respect him. This man is now our President.
487
He is all those things you say but he is not the one picking the fights, writing the orders or enraging his ego. Look around the puppet to see who is pulling his strings.
Focus the anger and disgust at them because they are the ones who need to be exposed and who need to be stopped.
The puppet masters hide because they can't stand the heat, unlike Trump who thrives on it. Make them sweat and maybe some of the insanity will be shriveled by the spotlight.
Dowd, get to work on the administration that is hiding behind Trump.
Focus the anger and disgust at them because they are the ones who need to be exposed and who need to be stopped.
The puppet masters hide because they can't stand the heat, unlike Trump who thrives on it. Make them sweat and maybe some of the insanity will be shriveled by the spotlight.
Dowd, get to work on the administration that is hiding behind Trump.
2
very well expressed
I can hear Trump supporters now: "Yeah...so, what's your problem?"
Who ever thought that the 'Lord of the Flies' would play out in reality. Our island of purgatory is now the United States And who has been crowned the Lord of the Flies? Our new boy president. Or perhaps we are living a demented version of 'Fantasy Island' It sure isn't the 'Love Boat'. . .
92
Sorry, but we already had 8 years of the 'boy' president. Trump is the British Army come to rescue the island.
1
Everyone needs to review the 25th amendment for what to do when a president is incapacitated (as Donald clearly is). It would mean Pence takes over, but he is probably deciding a lot of things already. And seems less likely to nuke other countries in a hissy fit.
101
Pence is scary, too, but at least he's not mentally ill. Far as I can tell.
1
True, Pence is less likely to use the nuclear codes in a fit of rage, but his ultra conservative religious agenda is just as frightening, especially for women and the LGBTQ community. There are too many like him in congress...Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz( the face of God himself, per his wife), Marco Rubio,to name a few, who would like nothing more than for the USA to become a Theocracy, a Christian nation, and put women and LGBTQ folk back where they belong, by turning the clock back 100 years.
1
No, but Pence will assuredly nuke womens rights to choose. And will assuredly support any extreme fundy xtian initiatives to roll-back Evolution sciences in High School curriculum's. Just watch...
1
Well Maureen, it Seems Hillary Clinton doesn't look so bad now. Thanks for all the Clinton bashing.
1108
Did Dowd prevent Hillary from campaigning in Wisconsin? Did Dowd twist Hillary's arm to give secret speeches to Wall Street?
1
No, Hillary is just as bad, if not worse. She just makes less of a show about it. Minion.
1
It was the voters who decided how to vote. If they are so easily brainwashed, whether by Russia or Maureen Dowd, then it's their fault.
1
The system of checks and balances is in the hands of Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who history will remember as two spineless excuses for men.
1129
Amen to that, ugly body and soul
You clearly can see that when looking into there empty faces
As long as they get their tax cuts for their donor class, they have shown that they are willing to go along with almost anything. Looking for virtue from these two is ridiculous. It's equivalent to expecting "good behavior" from Trump now that he's POTUS.
1
The disconnect, the discord, the schism, the aberrations and dissociations all stem from our misguided perceptions about Donald Trump. We wrongly think he is President of the United States. He isn't.
He is, forever in his own mind, King of America.
He is, forever in his own mind, King of America.
103
All true, but nevertheless, this has been the best week of Trump's presidency. It's all downhill from here.
So far he's been shocking without doing too much damage (except perhaps to immigrants). When he hits his stride, the damage will be awesome. Big, really big. Yuge.
So far he's been shocking without doing too much damage (except perhaps to immigrants). When he hits his stride, the damage will be awesome. Big, really big. Yuge.
94
The damage will be awesome . . .
“He is really a unique creature,” D’Antonio says. “He’s transfixing, riveting, really. It’s hard to take your eyes off him.”
You mean, like an impending train wreck?
What worries me most is how much of the world he'll try to take out as he collapses . . . that's scary.
“He is really a unique creature,” D’Antonio says. “He’s transfixing, riveting, really. It’s hard to take your eyes off him.”
You mean, like an impending train wreck?
What worries me most is how much of the world he'll try to take out as he collapses . . . that's scary.
Well, you had better hope so. Once your social warriors take over your party - see Minority Leader headaches - this country will eliminate traditional democrats in evey locale save those populated by anarchists - campus towns - or hyperventilated elites - hollywood, seattle, san franciso & new york city - or areas where english has been overtaken by an alien tongue - los angeles, denver, las vegas. The near future then is about 145 House seats and 38 senate seats - in short a permanent minority. We of the permanent opposition thank you.
1
Last last year I read Anna Lowenstein's biography of Nero "Morto de Artisto" in Esperanto (Which I believe has also been published in English). Nero's neurotic fears for his own adoration resembled Trump's. it will be interesting to see if Trump's ending will be similar to Nero's.
52
We can only hope.
2
Dear Ms. Dowd - I hope you are willing to accept responsibility for making this occur. All your attacks on the Clintons helped make this happen. Happy now?
741
All those attacks were justified.
1
Please! A deeply flawed candidate, the Democrat Party machine, Wasserman-Shultz, and a terribly run campaign that ignored the pain of the Fly-over States made this happen.
2
Yup! I used to love your writing Maureen but when you bashed "Barry" so often you became the last editorial writer I read instead of the first. Sure seemed like you preferred Trump to Hillary all along. And now you have an exciting person to write about. Humor everywhere. Laugh, chuckle, what an oaf you helped us get as president. You still know how to write but the funny has faded.
7
This presidency is already a case of hubris just begging for nemesis. Talk about the Greeks having a word for it.
47
It's become progressively more apparent (and terrifying) that this developmentally delayed man who's blinded by an insatiable obsession with himself and proving he's a winner should in no way shape or form have access to so much power.
For one thing, he doesn't sweat the small stuff--like details. For example the "Muslim" ban that's caught people responsible by surprise creating much chaos and humiliation. And there's little doubt that he hasn't an inkling regarding the complexities of the various orders he's signing. He signs them with abandon and with no consideration for consequences as if consequences don't even exist. Yet, actually for him, they weirdly don't. He's been able to get away with behavior that would have instantly brought anyone else to their knees. And that includes childish name calling, nasty tweets and bragging about being able to use women like objects, etc., etc.
Thus why should we be surprised that now in office he continues to do and say anything he pleases including turning norms and peoples lives upside down. He's a bull let loose in the global china closet.
The 25th Amendment addresses presidents who are unable to discharge the powers and duties of office. Does that include being psychologically unfit? It's at least something to hold onto during these insane times. But would his replacement be an improvement, or is this a damned if we do; damned if we don't predicament.
Regardless, it's an unsteady shameful time that will test our souls.
For one thing, he doesn't sweat the small stuff--like details. For example the "Muslim" ban that's caught people responsible by surprise creating much chaos and humiliation. And there's little doubt that he hasn't an inkling regarding the complexities of the various orders he's signing. He signs them with abandon and with no consideration for consequences as if consequences don't even exist. Yet, actually for him, they weirdly don't. He's been able to get away with behavior that would have instantly brought anyone else to their knees. And that includes childish name calling, nasty tweets and bragging about being able to use women like objects, etc., etc.
Thus why should we be surprised that now in office he continues to do and say anything he pleases including turning norms and peoples lives upside down. He's a bull let loose in the global china closet.
The 25th Amendment addresses presidents who are unable to discharge the powers and duties of office. Does that include being psychologically unfit? It's at least something to hold onto during these insane times. But would his replacement be an improvement, or is this a damned if we do; damned if we don't predicament.
Regardless, it's an unsteady shameful time that will test our souls.
127
Pence is the Christian right's Manchurian candidate. He's very predictable, less chaotic, but scary in his own right. Best defense against impeachment - a running mate who causes bi-partisan pause if considered for POTUS.
2
I'm not a bit surprised. That's why I voted for Hillary.
Geez, Maureen. Can't wait for the column where you tell us what your brother thinks about all of this.
146
We don't?
You do?
We know exactly what to "make of this."
You do?
We know exactly what to "make of this."
1
For twenty years or more I've looked to Maureen Dowd's columns for biting satire and a twist of surrealism.
And today all she provides is straight reporting.
I wonder how things are going over at the Onion?
And today all she provides is straight reporting.
I wonder how things are going over at the Onion?
37
Please stop. Sorry, this isn't an appropriate subject for irony, wit, sarcasm, metaphor or any other literary device. This isn't a cute or funny column despite the effort. No one with an ounce of intelligence is laughing. We're dealing with a seriously deranged and dangerous person in charge of our country and welfare.
360
Doesn't Maureen feel any shame at helping to elect him? She was the Queen of false equivalency. I hope Maureen and her sister are at least a bit queasy seeing the rise of Steve Bannon and the rapid decline of decency in the US.
451
Yes. And here's hoping Dowd is enjoying the eviseration of the free and legitimate press as thanks for her inexplicable emotional and irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton. When the free press is gone perhaps a job at Breitbart will magically open to Dowd. Or she could head over there now.
8
Ms Dowd spent a lot of time berating Obama for his absence of drama and engagement.
Now she's palpably nervous about Mr Trump because he could just as easily be called Dangerous Donald , Dramatic Donald or even Donald the Deranged ; take your pick. There are no adjectives of stability or tranquility.
Will she be as unforgiving of him as she was of his predecessor, whose calming qualities she almost seems to miss, even if she can't quite bring herself to say it? Not yet anyway.
Maybe when the turmoil deepens? It is only just one week, after all, even though it seems a lot longer.
Now she's palpably nervous about Mr Trump because he could just as easily be called Dangerous Donald , Dramatic Donald or even Donald the Deranged ; take your pick. There are no adjectives of stability or tranquility.
Will she be as unforgiving of him as she was of his predecessor, whose calming qualities she almost seems to miss, even if she can't quite bring herself to say it? Not yet anyway.
Maybe when the turmoil deepens? It is only just one week, after all, even though it seems a lot longer.
141
What we need now is a think tank of child psychologists devising subtle ways of pressing the buttons that make Trump self-destruct obviously, even to his supporters. The only down-side of that approach is that we'll get Pence come out from behind the puppeteer's curtain.
43
While walking in the NYC march I had a conversation with a lesbian who is more frightened of Pence than she is of Trump. I wonder as these few days have gone by if she is rethinking that assessment?
For my part, I'd take Pence in an instant to get Trump out of there.
For my part, I'd take Pence in an instant to get Trump out of there.
2
Trump will be gone within two years either through impeachment, ill health,resignation,or other means. By then,even his current supporters will be grateful for his demise,but the rest of us will have Pence who is worse in some ways. What a nightmare for America.
98
Pence was awful for Indiana. Don't wish that upon the country.
1
There are plenty of really awful US leaders at work in business, government, religion, cities, states, towns, and health care. The good news is that, usually, they do not last long due to the checks of boards of directors, voters, or employees. On occasion, with weak boards, these awful leaders bring the buildings tumbling down with them, and in companies and businesses, professional lives are ruined forever. The best employees leave first or are fired. All competence is seen as a threat, while lying to their subordinates, and boards of directors. Leader Paranoia breeds contempt, unhappiness, and destructive morale. It's quite the ride. After years of unchecked power, Republicans are skilled keeping power with the same fear, loathing, and lies. What Republicans did not quite understand was that Trump 's version of down is up is laced with unrelenting vanity, rather than sadism. It's unnerved their power center. Trump narcissism and Republican sadism are very different diseases and their sick Presidential start cannot be undone, or masked by power. The only cure is truth, departure, or courage. The longer all of these cures remain untouched, their conjoined disease will flourish within a nation weakened beyond recognition. We must replace our political health insurance as soon as possible.
34
“He is really a unique creature,” D’Antonio says. “He’s transfixing, riveting, really. It’s hard to take your eyes off him.”
------
Uh, no. He's disgustingly revolting. I would find it extremely easy if I never had to see or hear another thing about him for the rest of my life.
Time to give this crook the hook.
------
Uh, no. He's disgustingly revolting. I would find it extremely easy if I never had to see or hear another thing about him for the rest of my life.
Time to give this crook the hook.
128
"Disgustingly revolting" is spot on.
3
You can fool some of the people most of the time. At least long enough to get elected. But whether it's Watergate or waterboarding, eventually people figure things out. The rise and sophistication of fantasy news has helped buy time, but after just one week, we're already resorting to alternate facts to justify what's going on.
25
A lot of people will never figure it out. There was plenty of evidence prior to the election that Trump was not only unfit, but dangerous. As I type this, most Trump supporters are still making excuses for him.
2
Tump's obsession to veil Obama's larger inauguration gathering and his threats to investigate mass numbers of 'nonexistent' illegal voters are eerily similar to Humphry Bogart's 'Caine Mutiny' character Captain Queeg's strong determination to find doggone culprit(s) who ate the strawberries.
45
Someone please provide some steel balls for the Donald to roll around in his right hand to complete the scenario - and make sure they're small enough to fit.
1
so now that we the people have a demented President in the Oval Office, Miss Maureen, what can we do to get rid of him quicker than two shakes of a lamb's tail?
16
We've had numerous politicos bend the truth over the years. "Plausible deniability" was all the rage a few years ago. As long as it was "plausible" anything you said or wrote is not a lie. Eventually, over time, truth would be triumphant. Usually it was the result of some official investigation when one of the plausible deniers was called into court and put under oath followed by an aggressive cross examination. The threat of a perjury conviction with attendant jail time was enough to get them to be truthful. The sooner they get to a court of law, the better we all will be.
9
President Barack and Mrs. Michelle Obama both warned that being in the White House does not change one's fundamental character, but rather, it is impossible to hide from it under that brightest, hottest spotlight.
And one week into Trump's presidency, his basic character has indeed been magnified for the world to behold: duplicitous, bullying, self-centered, impulsive, self-satisfied, everything we got a window into during the campaign. No sign of maturation or that he will rise to the occasion.
And one week into Trump's presidency, his basic character has indeed been magnified for the world to behold: duplicitous, bullying, self-centered, impulsive, self-satisfied, everything we got a window into during the campaign. No sign of maturation or that he will rise to the occasion.
1423
Respectfully, you forgot the most important one: ignorant (and proud of it).
1
Trump's obsession with the size of his inaugural crowd isn't surprising. We elected an ADD middle-schooler. What's surprising and alarming is the media's obsessive obsession with Trump's obsession.
It's Trump, for heaven's sake. Do we think we elected a sane person?
It's Trump, for heaven's sake. Do we think we elected a sane person?
46
Maybe you feel sorry for your unremitting criticism of the Clintons who now look like the only sane ones.
126
Gosh Mo, I remember your full throated support for Hillary
Swell job, hon!!
Swell job, hon!!
135
Your relentless attacks on Hillary Clinton is partly to blame for this. When will you take responsibility for your actions?
243
OK, I am not a Trump fan [he frankly scares me], but other articles in this paper and in other media outlets over just the last week tell a very different story. Interviews of his supporters almost unconditionally are filled with love and admiration.
So not only do we have a President for the next four years in way over his pay grade, we seem to have a vast electorate that appears clueless about the damage being done at home and abroad. The Wild Child is our P.T. Barnum, promoting hoaxes almost hourly, with most of the executive actions he is signing [save the current ban on 7 countries which is beyond the pale] window dressing with no real actionable substance.
So not only do we have a President for the next four years in way over his pay grade, we seem to have a vast electorate that appears clueless about the damage being done at home and abroad. The Wild Child is our P.T. Barnum, promoting hoaxes almost hourly, with most of the executive actions he is signing [save the current ban on 7 countries which is beyond the pale] window dressing with no real actionable substance.
28
Ms. Dowd,
I disagree that Mr. Trump is a wild child, but believe that he's in need of some immediate medical intervention. His incessant need to be the center of attention coupled with his fixation on good looks indicates his lack of maturation is not a personality flaw, but perhaps a medical issue. I'm no psychiatrist, but his tantrums and refusal to see his wrongs while pointing out the smallest slight of him demanding apologies instead of issuing them, reveals a troubled man who is incapable of leading at this time. Instead of ridiculing him, we need to contact our representatives and encourage them to begin an inquiry regarding his mental capacity to handle the office he now leads. Our Constitution made provisions for situations like this, so why are the majority of Republicans on mute pertaining to our President's behavior? Are policy issues more important than our domestic tranquility? Are many of them so blind and judgmental that they are willing to put religion over "all people were created equal?" The hypocrisy and thirst for power at any cost is nauseating. The blind leading the blind, brood of vipers, hypocrites. Can they not see what is right in front of them? Had President Obama behaved in this manner, they would have started the impeachment process Day One. Government officials can not be partisan as it pertains to issues of National Security. For the safety of our President and our country some high ranking government official must take the lead on this.
I disagree that Mr. Trump is a wild child, but believe that he's in need of some immediate medical intervention. His incessant need to be the center of attention coupled with his fixation on good looks indicates his lack of maturation is not a personality flaw, but perhaps a medical issue. I'm no psychiatrist, but his tantrums and refusal to see his wrongs while pointing out the smallest slight of him demanding apologies instead of issuing them, reveals a troubled man who is incapable of leading at this time. Instead of ridiculing him, we need to contact our representatives and encourage them to begin an inquiry regarding his mental capacity to handle the office he now leads. Our Constitution made provisions for situations like this, so why are the majority of Republicans on mute pertaining to our President's behavior? Are policy issues more important than our domestic tranquility? Are many of them so blind and judgmental that they are willing to put religion over "all people were created equal?" The hypocrisy and thirst for power at any cost is nauseating. The blind leading the blind, brood of vipers, hypocrites. Can they not see what is right in front of them? Had President Obama behaved in this manner, they would have started the impeachment process Day One. Government officials can not be partisan as it pertains to issues of National Security. For the safety of our President and our country some high ranking government official must take the lead on this.
46
An actual crisis will emerge soon.
44
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to complain that Trump is crazy.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to be shocked by Trump's rapid creation of chaos.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to say "Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird."
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to be surprised that Trump has wasted immense resources on foolish things like "crowd size", bragging, gloating, and stroking his own ego.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to complain about Trump's lies.
You don't have the moral right because you have spent years painting Hillary Clinton, a bold, responsible, controlled, experienced, intelligent, tough woman as Satan's Spawn, who didn't deserve to have a single flaw or error forgiven because she happens to love Bill Clinton.
You don't have the moral right because when you weren't shredding Hillary in this space, you were shredding President Obama, a decent, honorable, intelligent, self-controlled, humorous, fine President without even a WHIFF of scandal in 8 years, as if he, too, was Satan's Spawn.
You don't have the moral right because you spent the last 18 months playing down Donald Trump's obvious selfish, self-centered, shallow, crude, classless immaturity and penchant for lying instantly, constantly and absurdly.
You did your part, Maureen, to put this catastrophe in the White House. You don't have the moral right to complain or say "But I didn't know!" Yes, you did. Because we all did.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to be shocked by Trump's rapid creation of chaos.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to say "Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird."
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to be surprised that Trump has wasted immense resources on foolish things like "crowd size", bragging, gloating, and stroking his own ego.
No, Maureen, you don't have the moral right to complain about Trump's lies.
You don't have the moral right because you have spent years painting Hillary Clinton, a bold, responsible, controlled, experienced, intelligent, tough woman as Satan's Spawn, who didn't deserve to have a single flaw or error forgiven because she happens to love Bill Clinton.
You don't have the moral right because when you weren't shredding Hillary in this space, you were shredding President Obama, a decent, honorable, intelligent, self-controlled, humorous, fine President without even a WHIFF of scandal in 8 years, as if he, too, was Satan's Spawn.
You don't have the moral right because you spent the last 18 months playing down Donald Trump's obvious selfish, self-centered, shallow, crude, classless immaturity and penchant for lying instantly, constantly and absurdly.
You did your part, Maureen, to put this catastrophe in the White House. You don't have the moral right to complain or say "But I didn't know!" Yes, you did. Because we all did.
720
Oh so well said! Thank you.
6
That was well said ! I have gone from loving Maureen decades ago to dreading her comments on Obama and then Hillary. I don't even recall any full throated Bernie approval either. No Maureen was too interested in positioning herself as part of the IN crowd. I feel like now Maureen is so IN that her ideas are OUT.
6
Amen. And, Maureen, for much of last spring and early summer, you virtually acted as his Boswell, fawning, on his every deranged utterance as if he were some kind of oracle. You thought he was cute, because he was rich and powerful. Nope, you don't get to complain. Not now, not ever.
8
I don't want to hear about it Maureen. You hated on Hillary for years. Now enjoy Trump. You helped put him in the White House. Hypocrite.
330
“Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird.”
Ms. Dowd it got “weird” when Trump declared Obama was not born in the USA and “sent a team of investigators.” “You’ll never believe what they are finding!” That was 2011.
It got weird when Trump talked with Howard Stern and agreed that his daughter was a “beautiful piece of a$$” in the 1980s and 1990s.
You Ms. Dowd were one of the last people to see how utterly mad this person was as you were allowed into his lair of framed magazine covers, sports memorabilia--the pretend world of a five year old.
The rest of us knew he was nuts for a long time now.
Ms. Dowd it got “weird” when Trump declared Obama was not born in the USA and “sent a team of investigators.” “You’ll never believe what they are finding!” That was 2011.
It got weird when Trump talked with Howard Stern and agreed that his daughter was a “beautiful piece of a$$” in the 1980s and 1990s.
You Ms. Dowd were one of the last people to see how utterly mad this person was as you were allowed into his lair of framed magazine covers, sports memorabilia--the pretend world of a five year old.
The rest of us knew he was nuts for a long time now.
273
Maureen, why doesn't the NY Times consult experts in the field of psychology and psychiatry about Trump? What is his affliction, exactly?
=========================================================
My own take is that Trump has a learning disability, LD, which prevents him from putting things in PERSPECTIVE. He just jumbles facts and ideas, together and then he reacts at the gut level.
My fear is that without an understanding of who Donald Trump really is, the nation will keep suffering, endlessly, for the next four hears.
So, please, NY Times consult with the experts on Trump's mania, now.
=====================================================
=========================================================
My own take is that Trump has a learning disability, LD, which prevents him from putting things in PERSPECTIVE. He just jumbles facts and ideas, together and then he reacts at the gut level.
My fear is that without an understanding of who Donald Trump really is, the nation will keep suffering, endlessly, for the next four hears.
So, please, NY Times consult with the experts on Trump's mania, now.
=====================================================
11
Sorry, Ms Dowd, but you asked for this. Not long ago I read your book "Are Men Necessary?", which concludes with the most vicious anti-Hillary (against both Clintons, for that matter) chapter that I'd ever seen. And then you brought the same themes into many of your columns. What had Hillary done that was so bad? I could never figure it out, but you really dislike her. You mocked President Obama - "Barry," you called him. Now he's a great statesman.
From what you've already written, you're perfectly happy with the "wild child" now in the White House. Actions have consequences, and you have helped to put that pathological liar into the White House.
From what you've already written, you're perfectly happy with the "wild child" now in the White House. Actions have consequences, and you have helped to put that pathological liar into the White House.
308
Well spoke, St. Paulite. In addition to Dowd, a good deal of mainstream media wrote false equivalencies until the last two weeks of the campaign. Against Trump's patently obvious defects, we read that Clinton meeting with a well-to-do friend cast "shadows" and "doubt" (shadows in what sense? whose doubts?) over her campaign. One headline (can't remember if it was the Times or WaPo) asked whether Clinton's pantsuits could be considered smarmy. (Kudos to Paul Krugman for point out the foolishness his own paper's coverage of the campaign.)
The press's behavior baffles me. I'd wager a guess that somehow feeling balanced lets reporters and editors feel "oh-so-sophisticated" and helps them advance their careers. Providing meaningful context and trying to provide sound judgment, even if under the pressure of a deadline, seem to have fallen by the wayside, at least until shortly before the election. Is it the money chase? Status? The desire to come off as wise at cocktail parties?
Still, it's a bit encouraging to see that the reporting has shifted back toward substance. Pity that didn't happen in time to prevent the damage that's coming. As you rightly remind us, St. Paulite, actions have consequences.
The press's behavior baffles me. I'd wager a guess that somehow feeling balanced lets reporters and editors feel "oh-so-sophisticated" and helps them advance their careers. Providing meaningful context and trying to provide sound judgment, even if under the pressure of a deadline, seem to have fallen by the wayside, at least until shortly before the election. Is it the money chase? Status? The desire to come off as wise at cocktail parties?
Still, it's a bit encouraging to see that the reporting has shifted back toward substance. Pity that didn't happen in time to prevent the damage that's coming. As you rightly remind us, St. Paulite, actions have consequences.
2
Maureen Dowd could not stand Obama. Has Trump made her job great again?
95
As one private U.S citizen, I would like to apologize to the rest of the world right now for the revolting, exclusionary and racist actions of this Electoral College-elected president.
82
He's a natural with the crowd. Despite our advancements, democracy functions in a crowd. He's hit all the correct hot buttons and they're all correct bar the tax cut for the rich. The average man sees this. Plus they love a warrior. I laughed out loud at the description of him 'being the fray'.
4
Yes, nothing says warrior like dodging the draft like a coward!
5
Mo, you are the reason I subscribe to the NY Times! Uncommonly objective, you are thorough in your research and never waiver from the truth, much to the dismay of your NY Times readers.
Happy New Year.... the ominous Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times"; ecco siamo qui.... we are here.
America has chosen to empower a megalomaniac with it's future. One short week, the consequences of our choice has riveted the world. Already we find ourselves blindly following "orders" at our points of entry, clicking our heels and saluting. Deja vous 1933-1945. We too will be held accountable for our chosen "leader".
Happy New Year.... the ominous Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times"; ecco siamo qui.... we are here.
America has chosen to empower a megalomaniac with it's future. One short week, the consequences of our choice has riveted the world. Already we find ourselves blindly following "orders" at our points of entry, clicking our heels and saluting. Deja vous 1933-1945. We too will be held accountable for our chosen "leader".
10
The freak show at the White House rolls on. The solipsistic, torture aficionado, Donald Trump, has managed to alienate and anger millions around the world in just a week. His high priestess of propaganda, Kellyanne Conway, twists every question into some false equivalency involving Obama or Hillary, while she chants alternative facts and casts a spell on the truth. In the meantime the poster boy for the "banality of evil", Steve Bannon, slinks around the West Wing, conjuring up ways to soil the presidency, and smudge the Constitution.
51
Maureen Dowd has been unique in her high-profile vendetta against the Clinton family for years. For her to lament the dangerous irrationality of Donald Trump is like James Comey declaring that Trump's possible Russian connections were too politically charged to publicize in the months before the election. Hypocrisy is a word that fits. Maureen, you made your bed. Go lie in it with your fellow New Yorker.
158
The man is a clear and present danger. The civilized world must tonight be recoiling in disbelief and horror. The country that they always saw as the anchor in a world of uncertainty has elected a mad man. The Republican party could stop their tin pot strongman, but where good people see shame they see opportunity, opportunity to achieve their long held dream to shape the country in their image. The Democrat establishment appears weak and impotent - where is the outrage? It might well be that the courts are our last, best hope of stopping the illegal acts of this administration before the situation slides into the chaos and violence that we saw in the '70s.
20
I think the chaos and violence that is coming will be far worse than that of the 70's. And I, as an old woman now, will be happy to participate in it.
1
I was trying to put some clever words out there in response to this article, but the only word that I found clever was "scary". A 70 y.o. 7 y.o.: or is it the other way around?
Mr. Trump is not your run of the mill case of arrested development. It seems to me he is seriously mentally ill. And instead of being helped by his loved ones, he is being used by the Republican Party to advance their agenda while people are distracted with Trump chaos. As despicable as his actions are, the mother part of me can't help it but to think about what the heck happened to this human being during his childhood, who did this to him... What a sad, sad life. Can't imagine the nightmare it must be to be him so full of anger, hate and unquenchable need for approval....so wanted to be loved, liked and admired only to be so despised.
36
You had all better figure out a way to report the news, and fast! he's speaking directly to the country via Twitter, bypassing any filter. He has the White House Press Corps acting like a pack of puppies running to him for treats every time he mans a microphone. He's about to make the elite WHPC obsolete by opening up equal time to the reporters Scarsdale Penny Saver and the Iowa Farm Report. Finally, not for nothing, but the NYT did report that Hilary Clinton would win by a 90+% margin.
16
Dowd needs to 'up her game'. She made her reputation on nasty, highly personal takedowns of politicians. Occasionally entertaining. But, while snarky comments about the 70 year old 7 year old may get a few laughs over drinks, but they do not measure up to the seriousness of the situation. All journalists of this new era, especially those privileged to be a NYT columnist, should be aware that history is looking over their shoulder. Dowd seems happiest when she's got a good 'hate' on, as with the Clintons. But we're in a very dark season now, and the old tricks just don't cut it. Nor did this column.
86
Ms. Dowd - I hope you will pause for a moment and think about all the crude and nasty comments you made disparaging President Obama and Mrs. Clinton in the past 8 years.
Life may not have been fair to you at several levels - but it was columnists like you who tore into Obama and Hillary and created a greater rift in the electorate by mocking them. I feel sorry for YOU and the values you gave up just to get your numbers in.
Life may not have been fair to you at several levels - but it was columnists like you who tore into Obama and Hillary and created a greater rift in the electorate by mocking them. I feel sorry for YOU and the values you gave up just to get your numbers in.
167
Thank you Maureen for seeing the truth of Trump and printing it. It is not so good to hang around with a crazy man or worse suck up to him for unless you are really strong the malady is catching. Kelly Ann Conway on the PBS news Hour under grilling from Judy Woodruff looked like she was haunted and this is only after a week of Trump having keys to his new asylum.
Perhaps James Mattis who Trump has deferred to on torture having seen a life time of PTSD sufferers and faced the horror of war is the only one who may stay intact morally. Pray that this is so for he may be the only one who can talk Trump down from playing with his new Nuclear toys.
Perhaps James Mattis who Trump has deferred to on torture having seen a life time of PTSD sufferers and faced the horror of war is the only one who may stay intact morally. Pray that this is so for he may be the only one who can talk Trump down from playing with his new Nuclear toys.
8
Trump fits the definition of a SOCIOPATH .... One who lies to get his own way, with little or no regard for the rights and feelings of others. His LYING is very focused, to get his OWN Away. Textbook sociopath.....and very different from a compulsive liar, who does not know better and simply lies out of habit.
17
Trump acting straight up crazy is nothing new -it's the defining, all encompassing measure of who he is. A fundamentally dishonest, unreasonable and ignorant crack pot now conducting the most profound and demoralizing act of malicious incompetence in the history of the Presidency. He'd made it clear beyond all reasonable doubt who he was during the campaign and this fact failed to discourage 63 million citizens from voting for a lunatic. Now the spineless Republican leaders in Congress and a sycophantic inner circle are abetting the madman while wearing their nervous smiles. of contrived ignorance.
15
And we elected him---what a terrible, terrible mistake.
6
Don't blame me, I voted for Hillary and I'm sick of being blamed for this man. But I do get to suffer along with the rest of you.
3
When are you all going to understand...Your're all:
> Playing checkers to his chess...
> Bringing knives to a gunfight - he even owns the corrals...
Mo, one simple question...
How many of your cubs and mentees have told you, over the past couple of months, how glad they are to be "out of the closet" as the opposition party to Trump...
How unencumbered they are, by not having even to make a show of objectivity...
How many times have you tried to tell them how they're burning through a 200-year inheritance and legacy - and how it's all going to be gone, within two years...
I can tell you - almost to the day - by which it's all going to be gone...
A couple of days before November 6, 2018...
Mark the date on your calendar...
"The media is the opposition party" is up there with "Ring around the collar", as a Madison Avenue classic...
Adjacently..."The media is the message"
Whether snarky columns with a glimpse of talus...
Or pre-printed notepads of blank executive orders...
(like in the picture)
PS - in case you all need a decoder ring...Until he gets his...
> Cabinet and next level all confirmed
> Next and second SCOTUS picks confirmed
> 1st-100-day several pieces of landmark legislation through...
He's going to be like this...
Except some days will be worse...
> Playing checkers to his chess...
> Bringing knives to a gunfight - he even owns the corrals...
Mo, one simple question...
How many of your cubs and mentees have told you, over the past couple of months, how glad they are to be "out of the closet" as the opposition party to Trump...
How unencumbered they are, by not having even to make a show of objectivity...
How many times have you tried to tell them how they're burning through a 200-year inheritance and legacy - and how it's all going to be gone, within two years...
I can tell you - almost to the day - by which it's all going to be gone...
A couple of days before November 6, 2018...
Mark the date on your calendar...
"The media is the opposition party" is up there with "Ring around the collar", as a Madison Avenue classic...
Adjacently..."The media is the message"
Whether snarky columns with a glimpse of talus...
Or pre-printed notepads of blank executive orders...
(like in the picture)
PS - in case you all need a decoder ring...Until he gets his...
> Cabinet and next level all confirmed
> Next and second SCOTUS picks confirmed
> 1st-100-day several pieces of landmark legislation through...
He's going to be like this...
Except some days will be worse...
8
I wonder if Maureen is regretting her unceasing efforts to discredit Hillary Clinton. May this be a lesson for the media: you have great power to sway the minds of American voters. In the case of Trump, you created a monster and that monster is now President.
113
"I wonder if Maureen is regretting her unceasing efforts to discredit Hillary Clinton."
Naw, regret is an emotion manifested in the reflective, not in the "oh-so-sophisticated."
Naw, regret is an emotion manifested in the reflective, not in the "oh-so-sophisticated."
4
And now that immutable law of unintended consequences will hit the tea party infused GOP in the face. They elected a narcissistic and unfit man-child, with a very short attention span. Now we are witnessing the carnage of our rights in the dawn of a new fascist state. Is that what the Republican Party intended?
Elections can have bad consequences, particularly where the low information and gullible voters prevail. Brace yourself for impact.
Elections can have bad consequences, particularly where the low information and gullible voters prevail. Brace yourself for impact.
24
Yes, “the White House tends to bring out paranoia and insecurity”. But also animal cunning. Keep a sharp lookout for that.
A case in point - when Retired General Jim Mattis was sworn in as Defence Secretary, Trump was careful to make him complicit in the Muslim ban. He wound up the swearing-in ceremony by walking Mattis over to a desk and have him stand behind him as he signed the executive order. A classic authoritarian tactic, recorded on film, against a man perceived as a bulwark against Trump’s follies and extremism.
A case in point - when Retired General Jim Mattis was sworn in as Defence Secretary, Trump was careful to make him complicit in the Muslim ban. He wound up the swearing-in ceremony by walking Mattis over to a desk and have him stand behind him as he signed the executive order. A classic authoritarian tactic, recorded on film, against a man perceived as a bulwark against Trump’s follies and extremism.
32
Too little, too cute, too late. Even for such a ripe tomato as 45, there's no laughs left in the splat humor once reserved for your tossing column. This one, unlike your button-down skewering of President Obama, is the unbuttoned real-deal, more to be feared than laughed at.
Satire and metaphor are dull and ineffective paper swords against this heavyweight major league threat to what we so proudly once hailed as a waving beacon of welcome and hope.
We now need a writing that goes beyond bland theater prop and cuts quickly to the bone with steely nerve to call the danger what it is and render it subdued while it still can be.
Whose rapier wit will deflate such a large and dangerous creature?
Satire and metaphor are dull and ineffective paper swords against this heavyweight major league threat to what we so proudly once hailed as a waving beacon of welcome and hope.
We now need a writing that goes beyond bland theater prop and cuts quickly to the bone with steely nerve to call the danger what it is and render it subdued while it still can be.
Whose rapier wit will deflate such a large and dangerous creature?
30
Shut up, Maureen. You spent years trashing Hillary Clinton out of sheer spite and personal distaste. You're part of what brought us to this point.
175
Maureen, dear. You hated Hillary with a passion and now we have Trump. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
125
As a liberal elitest who lives in Oklahoma -- my state gave Mr. Trump the third highest percentage vote-- I have started carrying 4 x 6 index cards in my car so I can leave notes of encouragement and solidarity under the windshield wipers of cars with pro-blue bumper stickers such as "He's not my president" and "Friends don't let friends vote republican." It's my one-person underground movement. It's something to do while hoping that the unfolding weird albeit expected events are serving to pull the rubber band back on the slingshot for an unprecedented launch in a new direction for the next few election cycles.
Ms. Dowd, I look forward to Saturday nights for -- among other reasons -- your column. Keep it coming.
Ms. Dowd, I look forward to Saturday nights for -- among other reasons -- your column. Keep it coming.
13
How do those of us who saw Trump's mental illness long before the election forgive our deluded fellow Americans for inflicting him on our country and our families?
28
Thanks Maureen for your small but UNEQUIVOCAL role in making "Trump President" possible.
What happened to you Maureen? Was your hatred against the Clintons so big that didn't let you see what you now clearly see? This is what happens when column writers let her emotions -rage in this case- dictate what to write.
If it is any consolation we would like to thank you for not having a President who set up an illegal server while serving as Secretary of State!
God forbid!
What happened to you Maureen? Was your hatred against the Clintons so big that didn't let you see what you now clearly see? This is what happens when column writers let her emotions -rage in this case- dictate what to write.
If it is any consolation we would like to thank you for not having a President who set up an illegal server while serving as Secretary of State!
God forbid!
73
As the oldtimers in the day would say: The boy isn't right in the head.
The world (minus Russia) weeps for America.
The world (minus Russia) weeps for America.
21
I fervently pray that there are a few sane, ethical, reputable men around Trump who will prevent the man from unleashing a few nuclear warheads just to show people he means business. With all that Trump has done in just one week, it looks like he is surrounded by enablers, men too drunk with power to deal with the unfolding horrors.
There is one man and a few women on the Supreme Court who are the only ones with sufficient authority at this point to checkmate the idiot president. That may change soon.
We are in a national nightmare!
There is one man and a few women on the Supreme Court who are the only ones with sufficient authority at this point to checkmate the idiot president. That may change soon.
We are in a national nightmare!
18
It seems that the damage Trump will do the U.S. will be both immediate and will last for decades. A quick thought, though, for that poor kid Baron—a name the equivalent of gaudy gilt mirrors—who must endure Trump not only as a president but as a father, too. And this modern-day Holden Caulfield can't even sneak away!
8
Writing about Trump's minor son is out of bounds, unfair and mean spirited.
3
Trump is not fit to be President - America's reputation is going down the drain. He should be impeached, but then we would have Pence the Evangelical Trojan horse to deal with along with all the Republicans who created this mess in the first place.
22
Trump is the mindless child encouraged by his enabling mother (Kelleyann Conway) to do and act in any way his troubled, spoiled mind spontaneously dictates. He lives through the power of others ("kick him out"), and thrives emotionally when in the company of people with the kind of physical, fearless power he so lacks. (Gen. Mattis, etc.) His almost comically delivered threat to "punch" a protester in the mouth, knowing full well he has never punched anyone anywhere in his entire life, had as much sound effect as his wimpish comeback to Joe Biden's quip about taking him to the wood shed. His admiration of Vladimir Putin is borne in part from Putin's persona of being tough; but more so from the fact that Putin has a legitimate reputation for actually BEING tough. (Judo expert, KGB)
Trump?...just a wanna be, whose diminutive psyche impedes his ability to assume the requisite dignity and charge of the most powerful country in the world.
God PLEASE bless America.
Trump?...just a wanna be, whose diminutive psyche impedes his ability to assume the requisite dignity and charge of the most powerful country in the world.
God PLEASE bless America.
10
Maureen, how can you complain? You are one of the reasons Trump is president. Your personal and very unprofessional venom towards HIllary Clinton over the years helped do her in. You made your bed, lie in it.
106
Clyde us right -- but djt will always pick a fight. However -- and let me say that I have written to a number of NYT columnists about this -- there is a way to reach into the heart of this madness: get a message to the women of the world to find a leader (it's been a week since the marches!!) and reach out to the first lady. Ms. Dowd, get a hold of your colleagues, and have a pow wow with them, and all of you have lunch with Ms. Gates, and Ms. Obama, and others interested in resetting the system, and figure out how to reach the lady in blue. (Goal: replace President's Day with a World Peace and Equality Day -- tick, tock -- through a social media campaign). Who knows, it might actually work! Thanks!
1
Maureen Dowd writes of Trump, "Still, it was stunning how fast it got weird."
Not it's not, Maureen. It was clear as daylight that this was a madman and a fascist. Yet you, Maureen, helped put him in the White House. You tormented the supremely qualified and responsible Hillary Clinton for months and years.
You did this, Maureen! You need to pologize for helping this madman become president!
Not it's not, Maureen. It was clear as daylight that this was a madman and a fascist. Yet you, Maureen, helped put him in the White House. You tormented the supremely qualified and responsible Hillary Clinton for months and years.
You did this, Maureen! You need to pologize for helping this madman become president!
119
Ms. does had nothing "nice" to say about Barack Obama.
Writing about Donald Trump may be more exciting for her. Crazies give a lot more subject matter than the sane.
Writing about Donald Trump may be more exciting for her. Crazies give a lot more subject matter than the sane.
14
Looks like Maureen's got her groove back. First column I've been able to get through in ages. However, now I'm even more nervous about whatever this thing is living in the White House.
22
So what do we know so far?
We know that he is not normal; we know that he is intent on dominating other nations and people; we know that he speaks a strange language basically limited to 140 characters consisting of lies; we know that he admires dictators, craves power, condones torture and is not above stealing other people’s oil; and we know that he has the capacity to make promises, common ordinary decency and tax audits disappear.
So where do we go from here?
Cue theme music from The X-Files.
We know that he is not normal; we know that he is intent on dominating other nations and people; we know that he speaks a strange language basically limited to 140 characters consisting of lies; we know that he admires dictators, craves power, condones torture and is not above stealing other people’s oil; and we know that he has the capacity to make promises, common ordinary decency and tax audits disappear.
So where do we go from here?
Cue theme music from The X-Files.
32
Welcome back Maureen. I thought all was lost. Trump has definitely gone off script. No one knows when Tweety Bird is being serious, semi serious, just trying something on for size, inarticulate, explosive, clownish, Falstaffian, or just plain not interested. So far it's been just plain weird. Now he has all of his staff ( hysterical campaign reminders) with their Alternative Fax Machines trying to keep up with this hot mess. And the only thing missing from Kellyanne Conway's heavily made up head s a change slot to start the recording. Tweety Bird must be worn out come sundown. Time enough to flop on the couch, unbutton the top button the slacks, loosen the tie, grab the remote, scan the channels for stuff to react to, and order in a pizza from a soon to be deported delivery boy.
18
There really is nothing more to say about Donald Trump. We need no more evidence of his unfitness for office, nor his manifest danger to our country
For the next for years, we must fight him and survive him.
For the next for years, we must fight him and survive him.
73
Trump is not a "child", he's a fat, bald 70-year-old man playing dumb games with our country and our lives. And "wild" has a connotation of natural and free-spirited. This is a man who has no respect for the natural world and whose spirit is so shackled to need and greed that he is a hater of the freedoms our Constitution guarantees the citizens of the country he is supposed to have pledged his life to protect. Not wild child, more like the crazy old man who yells at you when you put your candy wrapper in his trashcan as you walk by.
146
Thank you for this well-written article. But at least we know Trump is crazy. Its the others that unnerve me, including Pence and that whacko Bannon. They both have a definite agenda. Of course, Pence is going to approve what The Donald does. He has his eyes on the White House, and is waiting for Trump to get impeached. Pence would probably bring back the Crusades if he could.
I wonder if The Donald picked the horrible Pence on purpose, to safeguard himself against possible impeachment.
I mean come on, do you really believe these two honestly like each other????
Its all a show.
Between Trump and Pence, I suspect Trump is the least of two evils.
Or is he? This time, next week, he might be fiddling around with the nuclear codes, kind of like a kid playing on his X-box controls.
I wonder if The Donald picked the horrible Pence on purpose, to safeguard himself against possible impeachment.
I mean come on, do you really believe these two honestly like each other????
Its all a show.
Between Trump and Pence, I suspect Trump is the least of two evils.
Or is he? This time, next week, he might be fiddling around with the nuclear codes, kind of like a kid playing on his X-box controls.
40
trump picked Pence because his name was not longer than his and it looked better on the posters and signs. When I saw his list of possible VPs, I noted this and sure enough, we got five letters- Pence. Mystery solved.
1
'Hello, earthlings. Peace be with you in these troubled times. We are coming to save you, so do not fret. Only we can help you now, and we will take him away for you. All you have to do is get him onto the landing pad we are preparing next to that House of White. We have doritos. We have womyn dolls of unsurpassable loveliness. He will want to come to us."
25
I've been browsing through the NYT today, searching for the "Fake News".
Our President tweeted that accusation today in a petty revenge tweet that resembled the work of a 7 year old, including a typo.
Not having any luck here, where's the fake stuff?
Our President tweeted that accusation today in a petty revenge tweet that resembled the work of a 7 year old, including a typo.
Not having any luck here, where's the fake stuff?
16
If there's an award for Op-Eds, somebody should put this one on the list, in fact, just give give Ms. Dowd the prize now.
Chillingly incisive...and better late than never.
Chillingly incisive...and better late than never.
16
We need someone like this occasionally. Democrats are really good at sharing, and Republicans are good at making mean tough decisions. Both factors are an important influence overall for the country. It goes back and forth every few years.
1
Trump has no knowledge of history, America's place the world, international cooperation or the importance of diplomacy. His crazy narcissistic vision is to remake the United States in his own image (because of course he is just the best). Thus, his actions so fa have been to make the country as ignorant, bullying. self-aggrandizing, and mean spirited as he is. The problem is other countries are not small time contractors that he can sue, push around and stiff out of money. Just because you're big and strong doesn't mean others will sit back while you demean them and crash their economies.
This is what you get when you elect an unhinged narcissist to the highest office in the world. I think the Doomsday Clock people were optimistic. I would have put the hands at 30 seconds to midnight.
This is what you get when you elect an unhinged narcissist to the highest office in the world. I think the Doomsday Clock people were optimistic. I would have put the hands at 30 seconds to midnight.
85
Read The Tin Drum, the 1959 book by Gunter Grasse about a child born in 1924 in the Free City of Danzig. At age three he decides to throw himself down a staircase, thereby stunting his growth. He remains a petulant manipulative ahole child for his entire life. Interpreted by some to be a depiction of a hitler child.
It's a great read, interpreted excellently from German. Trump is Oskar, the petulant angry vindictive man child who never grows up.
By the way, am I the only one who's commenting on these threads who is expecting a knock on my door by trump's SS?
It's a great read, interpreted excellently from German. Trump is Oskar, the petulant angry vindictive man child who never grows up.
By the way, am I the only one who's commenting on these threads who is expecting a knock on my door by trump's SS?
80
Just like the Devil. King of Chaos. But like MLK said "“Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good.” How long will we let this "wild child" do his vitriolic stuff? How many will do nothing?
53
Congrats to Ms. Dowd, Mr. Sulzberger, Mr. Baquet, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Apuzzo, Ms. Chozick, and all the rest of the gang at the Times. You finally beat a Clinton! After only 25 years of nonstop attacks! Huzzah!
I'm sure that, whoever the opposing candidate was, everything will turn out just fine. After all, who could be worse than a Clinton?
I'm sure that, whoever the opposing candidate was, everything will turn out just fine. After all, who could be worse than a Clinton?
317
You have it half-right. First the NY Times crowd helped destroy Bernie Sanders, a decent human being who knew how to counter Trump's right-wing populism with humanitarian populism. Bernie would have beaten Trump in the wink of an eye. Then they turned on Hillary using exaggerations and omissions about what the intelligence community knew about Russian involvement in the Trump campaign. The Times churned up readership by stoking emotions and doubts. Putin is laughing.
2
Unfortunately Maureen, "it's not [quite] all out there." Donald Trump is a massive narcissist (aka megalomaniac) whose every act and achievement must support his disturbed vision of immense grandiosity and self-importance. So, his inaugural crowd had to be the "largest ever" and he really had to have won the popular vote when you cast out the fraudulent Hillary votes. This is the disturbed world The Donald inhabits where he craves adulation and lashes out at all who would not give it to him such as the "dishonest media." He is a man without empathy who will denigrate and destroy others--Muslims, Mexicans, the media--to inflate his insecure sense of sense and gain the approval of his rabid base and enabling Congressional Republicans. We now have a mentally unstable man who has succeeded in gaining control of the Emerald City. And we anxiously await the feminine innocence of Dorothy who find courage, heart, and intelligence to expose The Donald as an old man projecting fake news about his deformed and demented self and all others who would challenge him.
65
So glad that Ms Dowd now recognizes that Trump is an existential threat to our nation. What took her and the rest of the media so long? That's right, they had a job to do pillorying Clinton for carelessness.
359
The CEO of a private company—who was probably used to being surrounded by fawning yes men and doting family members—gaslights and insults his way into the leadership of the world’s most powerful public office, which is also the most scrutinized job on the planet. What could go wrong?
Not that Trump was a reclusive in his previous private life. In fact, he was just the opposite – a reality TV star, who craved the limelight and got a lot of it and more. But back then he could control his media access and use his influential position to seek the kind of exposure that he wanted. Now, he is in an even more powerful position but unfortunately cannot actually control the media, as he would like to? So he is making a cardinal blunder of making the media his enemy – it didn’t work for Nixon and it is not going to work for Trump.
Even more baffling is Trump’s daily parade of a captive press corps “dragged into these executive order signings.” After a constant drumbeat by conservatives about Obama’s “imperial presidency,” their leader is signing executive orders like they are going out of style? What happened to Congress—that coequal branch of government—will it actually pass laws to sustain Trump’s royal decrees?
Finally, whatever happened to free markets – the inviolable crux of conservative doctrine? Trump drags in business CEOs everyday and badgers them to build in America. He undermines free trade and immigration – this certainly isn’t your father’s or even Reagan’s GOP!
Not that Trump was a reclusive in his previous private life. In fact, he was just the opposite – a reality TV star, who craved the limelight and got a lot of it and more. But back then he could control his media access and use his influential position to seek the kind of exposure that he wanted. Now, he is in an even more powerful position but unfortunately cannot actually control the media, as he would like to? So he is making a cardinal blunder of making the media his enemy – it didn’t work for Nixon and it is not going to work for Trump.
Even more baffling is Trump’s daily parade of a captive press corps “dragged into these executive order signings.” After a constant drumbeat by conservatives about Obama’s “imperial presidency,” their leader is signing executive orders like they are going out of style? What happened to Congress—that coequal branch of government—will it actually pass laws to sustain Trump’s royal decrees?
Finally, whatever happened to free markets – the inviolable crux of conservative doctrine? Trump drags in business CEOs everyday and badgers them to build in America. He undermines free trade and immigration – this certainly isn’t your father’s or even Reagan’s GOP!
22
With someone like Trump at the helm, the burden of the country shifts to the opposition. The democrats have been historically wimps. Spineless people holding office, who can be bought by big money as soon as its dangled in front of their noses. The democrats collectively were not able to defend Obama through the years, he had to go it alone. Now, when the time for the opposition to glow and blossom, these same democrats (except a few like Bernie and Liz Warren) will talk their Pelosi talk, Schumer schmooze and flash their toothless smile to the public. No spine and no teeth to show.
26
Trump may well be mentally ill, but it's the Republicans in the House and Senate who, with very few exceptions, are truly immoral. They have sold their souls for the illusion of power and for the fleeting feeling of being on the president's good side. Pence's toadying change of heart, his decision to go with Steve Bannon rather than those escaping the horrors of war, is despicable. All will one day regret their actions and will have to help with Trump's removal from office. But why don't they begin now?
73
I always sensed that this man was crazy—for many years. What I'm curious about is who are the people who failed to see this. What or how do we understand his voters? How do we describe the motive for their support? That, I don't get.
31
I have to think/believe that many of the Republicans can't stand this man-child with an ego as big as a watermelon and are just waiting before beginning impeachment proceedings. Am I silly? I'd like to think/believe that the Pubs would rather have Pence as the president and get tRump and his lackeys (Bannon and Flynn, especially) out of the oval office. Am I silly or naïve?
7
Wow. "The fact that the press corps is captive in the White House and can be dragged into these executive order signings is, for him, like mainlining heroin." Terrific imagery. Among your most biting columns ever, Maureen.
I think that those of us who were aware that he was nuts during the election still know he's nuts. And those of us who think this is all testament to the fact that there's a new sheriff in town who doesn't follow the rules and will therefore be more effective at getting things done will continue to ignore or forgive his lies and lunacy.
We must find the sweet spot between documenting the falsehoods and inappropriate behavior, and staying focused on reporting the destructive acts that have already begun to undermine our country. We can't allow him to distract us from the atrocities with his dog and pony show.
The headlines must always reflect his policy; the lunacy belongs farther down on the page and in columns like this.
I think that those of us who were aware that he was nuts during the election still know he's nuts. And those of us who think this is all testament to the fact that there's a new sheriff in town who doesn't follow the rules and will therefore be more effective at getting things done will continue to ignore or forgive his lies and lunacy.
We must find the sweet spot between documenting the falsehoods and inappropriate behavior, and staying focused on reporting the destructive acts that have already begun to undermine our country. We can't allow him to distract us from the atrocities with his dog and pony show.
The headlines must always reflect his policy; the lunacy belongs farther down on the page and in columns like this.
14
Many people draw a line between Trump's personality and his policies. Some argue that we should ignore his personality and focus on policy.
I don't see a clear division. Trump's policy seems to be mostly the product of his personality. It reflects the same personal obsessions, the desire to punish others, the knee-jerk emotional reactions unsupported by rational thought, the refusal to listen to new information, the rewarding of those whom he perceives as loyal.
People treat Trump as an unpredictable enigma when he is the most transparently shallow person I've ever seen. He is not some mastermind excecuting a strategic plan to trick you into ignoring his policy by saying crazy things. He doesn't have to do that. It's all out in the open. He just is that crazy.
And the craziness in the man is the craziness in his plan.
I don't see a clear division. Trump's policy seems to be mostly the product of his personality. It reflects the same personal obsessions, the desire to punish others, the knee-jerk emotional reactions unsupported by rational thought, the refusal to listen to new information, the rewarding of those whom he perceives as loyal.
People treat Trump as an unpredictable enigma when he is the most transparently shallow person I've ever seen. He is not some mastermind excecuting a strategic plan to trick you into ignoring his policy by saying crazy things. He doesn't have to do that. It's all out in the open. He just is that crazy.
And the craziness in the man is the craziness in his plan.
39
At this juncture, I think fair minded people will agree that Trump is unstable, both mentally and politically. Yes, he is dangerous, but what concerns me, are the collaborators and hangers on who empower Trump, and the vast millions more who accept this man as a legitimate leader. Constant lying and fabrication of alternative facts; insulting allies; rattling trade war sabers; palling around Putin and his ilk; the alarming midnight tweets; and now unconstitutional and immoral targeting of refugees fleeing from the chaos that we unleashed when we set the Middle East ablaze in a hunt for non existent WMD. How can people accept this? How can people not be appalled?
78
I could never understand why my "right wing" friends would concern themselves with our nation's De Minimis and inane, transgender bathroom issues until this editorial. Now I see, they were only a ploy to distract the voting public from the real issue- a transhuman, White House one!
As perfect and entertaining as your writing is, a deranged and ugly man sitting in as POTUS, is symptomatic of something gone seriously wrong.
Many don't see this, especially those that are doing well in this "ZIRP" driven economy, but a pathology is afoot. I only hope we don't end up experiencing him tweeting, et tu Putin?
Anything is possible!
As perfect and entertaining as your writing is, a deranged and ugly man sitting in as POTUS, is symptomatic of something gone seriously wrong.
Many don't see this, especially those that are doing well in this "ZIRP" driven economy, but a pathology is afoot. I only hope we don't end up experiencing him tweeting, et tu Putin?
Anything is possible!
13
Why weren't you complaining about this before the election. I'm just a single voter, but I saw this coming. Instead you did your best to tear down Hillary Clinton over the absurd issue of her emails which ironically is now a problem for Trump. Well, better late than never, but you and the rest of the media could have spared us this horrific spectacle. I'm finding it very hard to forgive.
300
When will the "aggrieved white working class" grow tired of Trump's high drama of manipulative antics? Probably when they realize that the $25 billion boarder wall was a solution looking for a nonexistent problem, only resulting in higher prices for imports. Probably when Obamacare is repealed and it's replacement isn't fantastic as Trump had promised. Probably when the inclusiveness of all religions into our social fabric will be seen as the essence of American exceptionalism.
20
We didn't stop Trump from being elected. We were quite confident he would lose the election. If we could not stop him then, how are we going to stop him now? Who is going to stop him? Right now he holds all the cards, and has his fellow right wing Republicans in his pocket. How quickly they fell in line once he was elected. He is moving swiftly ahead to make this country the fascist dream of white nationalists and the KKK. This is not the country it was a week ago. One week is all it has taken to push us over into the abyss that was yawning before us the day after the election. One week. What will this country be like this time next year? Will we even be standing? Lest we forget, there are those nuclear weapons at his disposal. It is very dark in this country right now. The only thing that is giving me hope, is the unity and purpose shown by the marchers all over this country and the world last Saturday. We have to take that moment and build on it and be stronger together. It is all we have right now.
74
I wish the NYT would limit its Trump coverage to ONE front page story and one op-ed/editorial per day, thus depriving Donald of the publicity he so desperately craves. Instead of freely feeding his insatiable ego/insecurity, stop writing endlessly about him, publish no photos of him, turn off the tv cameras, and shut off the microphones. Watch him, like any toddler, go into total meltdown mode!
And Maureen, you must hold yourself complicit in the election of this monstrosity with your aggressive Hillary bashing columns and softball interviews with Trump as a candidate. How do you plan to make amends?
And Maureen, you must hold yourself complicit in the election of this monstrosity with your aggressive Hillary bashing columns and softball interviews with Trump as a candidate. How do you plan to make amends?
249
Well, Maureen - thanks for finally condemning Trump without watering it down by including a paragraph on your contempt for the Clintons mid-column. Thank god that's over. You and your colleagues would do well to provide more updated coverage since this piece was clearly written yesterday and does not reflect the latest development in Trumpistan: the inclusion of people with Green Cards and dual citizenship in the Muslim ban. And yes, Paul Ryan it is a Muslim ban, even if it is not comprehensive. One feels a sense of urgency, Maureen. The time for clever jokes is over. Please relay the message to your colleagues. This is getting very, very serious now.
230
Donald Trump is doing to America and its democracy what Isis and Assad did to the ancient city of Aleppo, with its priceless ruins.
52
I always love Maureen's equal-opportunity snark. Of all the NY Times' opinion writers, she alone delights in taking down both sides. It should be an interesting 8 years!
8
I once been told that it's easier to deal with young soldiers as their perception of the world is black and white, the good and then bad. Trump stuck in some pre-maturity syndrome. Like kids he sees the world as black and white where he plays the angel against the evil forces. Like kids doesn't see grey. He is in a cheap Hollywood movie where the bad guys are plotting to attack the planet and he is the protagonist that will be the savior. Unfortunately life is not Hollywood movie and resemble more complicated European movie with no definite good and bad. He is a child maneuvered by adults. We need the adults to wake up but they are too busy destroying the economy and the social structure of the society. The kid doesn't bother them right now.
21
It was amusing, and somewhat scary when Trump was a candidate living in his own imaginary world. Now that he is President, he is forcing us to live in his world, and it's a nightmare.
50
He's into chaos. That's what he does. It's up to the Congress, the Courts and the Press now. By the way, there are those of us that knew Nixon and Cheney were malignant. It didn't take years to figure it out. I just hope those that pushed this person along, people with something to lose, like Hannity, Scarborough etc., lose their shirts in the process, because they deserve it.
121
If the Press is going to be an effective Opposition, it needs to start thinking a bit more strategically. Why are Pence, Bannon, Conway and Preibus getting a free ride in all of this? Shine some light on the dark forces feeding the beast; defending the team and shifting the klieg lights will make Trump even crazier. (Note: don't bother with the likes of McConnell and Ryan, they long ago passed Trump in shameless dissembling.)
187
We had an egomaniac, cold-hearted, racist, misogynistic candidate so why is anyone surprised by his actions. A power hungry delusional individual can only cause trouble if others stand by and allow it. Donald Trump is a childish man surrounded by sycophants or perhaps just psychos.....
49
Dowd almost normalizes his craziness and that is not funny. DT is a loose cannon and cannot determine fact from fiction. He has no moral compass (Epstein) and is making the world a more dangerous place. He is dividing this country.
He did not win the popular vote and a majority of America do not want him in the White House. It would be funny if this was a company but we are talking about the leader of the free (for now) world. His behavior and actions are not normal.
I hope that Republican senators and congressman look out for their country over their party. Every single day DT is in office, the world is a more dangerous place.
He did not win the popular vote and a majority of America do not want him in the White House. It would be funny if this was a company but we are talking about the leader of the free (for now) world. His behavior and actions are not normal.
I hope that Republican senators and congressman look out for their country over their party. Every single day DT is in office, the world is a more dangerous place.
63
How does one make a comment about this description of such a mentally ill and malevolent personality? Heaven help us all, and bless America and the world.
24
You'll forgive me if you've seen this posted to earlier columns by me, but it remains one of the most relevant observations about our current predicament that I've come across. And it was written 84 years ago:
"The world will not forget the weird psychological effect of the Prime Minister of Prussia [Hermann Goering] shouting at a prisoner supposed to be receiving a fair trial, “You wait till I get you outside” like a very low-class schoolboy threatening what he would do out of school. That sort of thing simply does not happen amongst civilized people: not even when they are very wicked people. How anybody can see such lunacy dancing in high places, in the broad daylight of political responsibility, and have any further doubt about the sort of danger that threatens the world, is more than I can understand."
G. K. Chesterton, November 23, 1933
"The world will not forget the weird psychological effect of the Prime Minister of Prussia [Hermann Goering] shouting at a prisoner supposed to be receiving a fair trial, “You wait till I get you outside” like a very low-class schoolboy threatening what he would do out of school. That sort of thing simply does not happen amongst civilized people: not even when they are very wicked people. How anybody can see such lunacy dancing in high places, in the broad daylight of political responsibility, and have any further doubt about the sort of danger that threatens the world, is more than I can understand."
G. K. Chesterton, November 23, 1933
87
Unfair to seven-year-olds! My granddaughter is seven and is much more mature and thoughtful than DJT. I think you meant "four-year-old" -- four is an age when many kids are VERY LOUD and out of control -- and, yes, self-centered. Completely natural developmental stage which is soon outgrown in most children.
42
To think that Trump dared call President Obama an amateur who cost the US credibility.
Far from making the world respect us so much more, Trump is showing himself to be an overall fool and Putin's tool.
We need the real adult back in the oval office.
Far from making the world respect us so much more, Trump is showing himself to be an overall fool and Putin's tool.
We need the real adult back in the oval office.
55
Ms. Dowd, you've actually known Trump for YEARS. In what way is he different than he was when you were a Metro Desk reporter for the Times? He's simply more well known and, by dint of being President, far more powerful and dangerous.
Knowing this, you were still writing columns pretending to be charmed by him, while always appalled by all things Clinton right up until the BillyBushBus tape emerged.
You did all Americans a grave disservice by holding back what you knew about him until it was manifestly too late. It was already too late once he accepted the nomination at the Convention.
You, and his hometown NY Times, should have been telling the world about his very well known record here in NYC as soon as he declared.
Like Lady Macbeth, you will never thoroughly cleanse your hands.
Knowing this, you were still writing columns pretending to be charmed by him, while always appalled by all things Clinton right up until the BillyBushBus tape emerged.
You did all Americans a grave disservice by holding back what you knew about him until it was manifestly too late. It was already too late once he accepted the nomination at the Convention.
You, and his hometown NY Times, should have been telling the world about his very well known record here in NYC as soon as he declared.
Like Lady Macbeth, you will never thoroughly cleanse your hands.
328
Rather than "Make America Great Again," a more fitting Trump slogan would be "Size Matters." Trump used a debate stage to talk about the size of his, um, hands and campaign time to talk about the size of his crowds. He lied about the size of his electoral victory by claiming to have won "by a landslide." And Trump kicked off his presidency with pettiness about the size of his inaugural crowds vs. President Obama's.
Give Trump one score for size, though - no new President has commanded the size of the demonstrations against him, at home and abroad, as what we saw last weekend.
Give Trump one score for size, though - no new President has commanded the size of the demonstrations against him, at home and abroad, as what we saw last weekend.
52
The warning signs were there at the start of his campaign. America has unleashed a malignant narcissist, a pathological liar with no critical thinking skills. Only id, id and more id, shored up by propagandists and despotic twitterstorms. Needlessly vindictive, not an ounce of diplomacy or empathy within him. His corrupt-crony administration and fascist inclinations are appalling and dangerous for our country―and the world. This is not normal.
56
Trump has indeed proven to be a Petulant Adolescent President and there are no signs that the so-called "pivot" will ever happen. At 70 he is who he is. Expect to be embarrassed for him and by him on a constant basis. He will be on multiple screens at least once a day. The press pool at his beckon call while the media tries to sort out what to cover. Yup. It's gonna be a long four years. If we make it that long.
19
I've often disagreed with either Ms. Dowd's arguments or her tone, but I believe today's column will be remembered as a powerful warning to people who value the democratic process within our republican form of government.
9
“he wants the elites’ approval and is always enraged when he doesn’t get it.”
I never knew I was an "elite" until this election. Coming from a blue collar background and working my own way through a higher education, I can only shake my head and wonder at the surge of willful ignorance embraced by so many Americans about their chosen leader.
It's not a matter of looking down on anybody so much as shrinking back in horror from what this country is becoming.
I never knew I was an "elite" until this election. Coming from a blue collar background and working my own way through a higher education, I can only shake my head and wonder at the surge of willful ignorance embraced by so many Americans about their chosen leader.
It's not a matter of looking down on anybody so much as shrinking back in horror from what this country is becoming.
1483
Trump is a kid from Queens NY and has always wanted to be from Manhattan where are the "elites" in society reside. He wanted to be accepted by the Rockefellers, Astors, the Roosevelts of society and they turned their noses up to him (and still do). So he built gaudy buildings in Manhattan that scream: "Look At Me". Still the social elites look down on him. He tried to gain entry into an exclusive club on Long Island, The Maidstone Club, but he was rejected, so he bought his own golf clubs. He is, the the vernacular: "A Wannabe"
3
"It's not a matter of looking down on anybody so much as shrinking back in horror from what this country is becoming."
Could it be that this country "has always been," rather than "is becoming," this way?. The brilliant, flamboyant, mad Trump has merely provided courage to the cowards who were always under various rocks. And we have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing our rust-belt citizens to suffer unrelieved the outcomes of globalization and automation while their patience ran out while their anger increased at the ridicule heaped on their gender, race and religious faith. We might have acted in their behalf if for no other reason than the realization that they can vote.
Could it be that this country "has always been," rather than "is becoming," this way?. The brilliant, flamboyant, mad Trump has merely provided courage to the cowards who were always under various rocks. And we have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing our rust-belt citizens to suffer unrelieved the outcomes of globalization and automation while their patience ran out while their anger increased at the ridicule heaped on their gender, race and religious faith. We might have acted in their behalf if for no other reason than the realization that they can vote.
1
Liberals are so much more endearing when they are the opposition party, imploring the government to take their advice. When they take power -- as the last eight years -- they become haughty, self-righteous, autocratic demagogues -- "elites", if you will.
1
From the Guardian. - the Atlantic magazine asked eminent primatologist Jane Goodall to assess Trump, and the reply was clear. “In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals. In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/donald-trump-bully...
It is spot-on describing the behaviour of those around him.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/donald-trump-bully...
It is spot-on describing the behaviour of those around him.
56
The office is not going to make this man. You have to have something to work with. Trump is a stream of consciousness with no thought to consequences for actions taken. At 70 years of age your personality is fixed, and if you aren't mature by then, you aren't ever going to be. All he is concerned with is having his ego stroked. All he could talk about in front of the wall of honor for the fallen heroes at the CIA was himself.
He has cruelly, and abruptly closed our borders to people coming from seven mostly Muslim countries (while sparing Saudi Arabia of course) in some cases preventing people from rejoining there families here. Not even people of vital importance to this country are being spared, scientists, Arabic interpreters, it makes no difference. Chaos globally at airports has ensued. I am certain that other nations will be re-thinking their relationship with us. I have no idea what will happen to those families torn apart by this action.
Trump is already wielding power as if he were king, and the Republicans are not going to stop him. Paul Ryan welcomed what Trump did when he closed our borders to certain people. Now our policy is white Christians first. The founding fathers are spinning at warp speed in their graves.
Fascism is now quickly descending upon us. I honestly do not know what options we have to combat this other than to keep demonstrating, not let the march for human rights be quelled, and pray the ACLU has deep pockets (we can help with that).
He has cruelly, and abruptly closed our borders to people coming from seven mostly Muslim countries (while sparing Saudi Arabia of course) in some cases preventing people from rejoining there families here. Not even people of vital importance to this country are being spared, scientists, Arabic interpreters, it makes no difference. Chaos globally at airports has ensued. I am certain that other nations will be re-thinking their relationship with us. I have no idea what will happen to those families torn apart by this action.
Trump is already wielding power as if he were king, and the Republicans are not going to stop him. Paul Ryan welcomed what Trump did when he closed our borders to certain people. Now our policy is white Christians first. The founding fathers are spinning at warp speed in their graves.
Fascism is now quickly descending upon us. I honestly do not know what options we have to combat this other than to keep demonstrating, not let the march for human rights be quelled, and pray the ACLU has deep pockets (we can help with that).
60
70 or 7?
Excellent question.
So let's see his birth certificate. And, while we're at it, his tax returns.
Excellent question.
So let's see his birth certificate. And, while we're at it, his tax returns.
107
Welcome back Maureen Dowd. For a while I was genuinely worried that Ms Dowd was going to sheathe her poison pen for good after her favorite nemesis Hillary Clinton was trounced by the current occupant of the Oval Office, President 45. What a relief it is to know that Maureen Dowd is back and meaner than ever. Whew!!! It's reassuring to know that Ms Dowd will be regaling her legions of devoted readers with fresh material aimed at taking down a new First Family as only a nasty woman can.
It's nice to know that there's life after Hillary Clinton after all.
It's nice to know that there's life after Hillary Clinton after all.
4
The base, the foundation, for all this may be built on our deep seated resentment of, suspicion of, and even hatred for the "other." It may explain how he gets away with things that would sink any other human on the planet. The media, the "opposition party," dismisses this fairly routinely. It may be what undergirds his support, however, and may explain the cheering for what Mr. Trump is "wildly" and "erratically" doing. It may be why he could shoot someone, as he himself said, and no one would care. It would not make a difference and the hundred disqualifying things he has done and probably will continue to do has not weakened and will not weaken his support. In the face of such strange and dangerous behavior, it cannot just be about economic complaints. And it isn't about conservatism. This is not what conservatives, true conservatives, believe. Do other Republican leaders harbor these resentments, however? Is there anything, anyone, that can stop him? Democrats could take back the House were it not for gerrymandering. I don't think they can get it back but even if they do, it's still two years away. If a Democrat was doing all this, that Democrat would be impeached in short order. Why not Trump? Is it what lies underneath? Building a movement on resentment and hate has lots of historical precedence. It has proved to be very successful and lethal and happy endings are rare.
22
This emperor has no clothes. Soon, his people, his base will realize what's happening and will no longer bow and pray to the neon God they made.
32
It is time to "brand" the new president as iTrump, always adding the "i" prefix for illegitimate.
He gave us all the nasty labels for his opponents, at least this "brand" is true.
He gave us all the nasty labels for his opponents, at least this "brand" is true.
30
Ms. Dowd: shouldn't you be relieved right now that the Clintons aren't in power? Given your maniacal obsession and distaste for Hillary, you'd penned a series of pieces last year where you alternately fawned over and negged Trump - refusing to believe he was the monster he was being made out to be. Remember when...?
No? Here's a helpful passage to jog the memory from your appropriately titled column: "Chickens, home to roost". (March 5, 2016).
"
HERE’S why the Trump campaign is wicked fun: I watched Donald Trump in New York for decades, as a bachelor swanning, a party fixture mingling, a master of bling and bluster.
I went with him on his art-filled plane in 1999 as he dipped his toe in the presidential pool and saw him shyly approach his first political rope line, even as he bragged that other candidates didn’t draw as many cameras or have a supermodel by their side... Watching him morph into a pol in real time and wriggle away from the junior-varsity G.O.P. chuckleheads trying to tackle him is hypnotic. He’s like the blond alien in the 1995 movie “Species,” who mutates from ova to adult in months, regenerating and reconfiguring at warp speed to escape the establishment, kill everyone in sight and eliminate the human race.
"
Now that lives of millions are being upended, you can finally wake up, hop on the jet and see whether other celebrity friends of yours may also be gaining weight due to stress eating Oreos and Hostess Cakes - now, that would be really distressing...
No? Here's a helpful passage to jog the memory from your appropriately titled column: "Chickens, home to roost". (March 5, 2016).
"
HERE’S why the Trump campaign is wicked fun: I watched Donald Trump in New York for decades, as a bachelor swanning, a party fixture mingling, a master of bling and bluster.
I went with him on his art-filled plane in 1999 as he dipped his toe in the presidential pool and saw him shyly approach his first political rope line, even as he bragged that other candidates didn’t draw as many cameras or have a supermodel by their side... Watching him morph into a pol in real time and wriggle away from the junior-varsity G.O.P. chuckleheads trying to tackle him is hypnotic. He’s like the blond alien in the 1995 movie “Species,” who mutates from ova to adult in months, regenerating and reconfiguring at warp speed to escape the establishment, kill everyone in sight and eliminate the human race.
"
Now that lives of millions are being upended, you can finally wake up, hop on the jet and see whether other celebrity friends of yours may also be gaining weight due to stress eating Oreos and Hostess Cakes - now, that would be really distressing...
204
You just omitted Trump`s intense jealousy of Hillary Clinton .
Trump won the election to become the President yet he can not get over the fact that Mrs. Clinton won close to three million popular votes.
But the teetotaler man child has proven to be heartless seen that Travelers who work for US find door to U.S. closed after executive order .
Ruthless is this man who brags about having a big heart when it fits.
Trump won the election to become the President yet he can not get over the fact that Mrs. Clinton won close to three million popular votes.
But the teetotaler man child has proven to be heartless seen that Travelers who work for US find door to U.S. closed after executive order .
Ruthless is this man who brags about having a big heart when it fits.
36
It is plain that many Americans deem a nonstop tantrum by a spoiled brat quite representative of themselves and perfectly normal.
84
How many times must the same facts be recited in opinion pieces? We know full well that Trump and his goons are ignorant and dangerous but what, Miss Dowd, do you propose is done about it? Have you a clue? I'm just a bystander but it makes me afraid for the future of our children and grandchildren that elected representatives in both parties in the United States are standing idly by. Let's hope they are simply giving him enough rope to hang himself. What your President does has international ramifications and we all know what happens when you elect a rogue (looking at George Bush, the younger). And don't look to us for help. Theresa May's visit last week was intended to give credibility to her Global Britain approach in the Brexit debacle she is creating. Instead it was as a national embarrassment for Britain, a desperate attempt to bolster her flagging standing here. It failed. We are about to shoot ourselves in the head when we leave the EU falling further in to irrelevance and May invites Trump to Buckingham Palace. God save the Queen from that final indignity.
88
Well Luettgen, considering you seem to admire someone who's personality is that of a psychotic narcissist, essential insane We also have to wonder about your mental health.
Trump's behavior i described almost word for word in the DSM-5, a personality disorder that shows him to be what the average person calls a nut, except that since he has money, it is considered eccentric. You and the great majority of his supporters have several of the same symptoms. Trumps reality is that of a schoolyard bully who has to have his way. He is a sociopath, no conscience, believes he is right despite any evidence to the contrary, and is emotionally unstable, has tantrums if he does not get his way.
We all find it difficult to understand your obsession with trying to evade reality, I think of you as a character in the Ayn Rand novel, the Fountainhead, Ellsworth Toohey.
Trump's behavior i described almost word for word in the DSM-5, a personality disorder that shows him to be what the average person calls a nut, except that since he has money, it is considered eccentric. You and the great majority of his supporters have several of the same symptoms. Trumps reality is that of a schoolyard bully who has to have his way. He is a sociopath, no conscience, believes he is right despite any evidence to the contrary, and is emotionally unstable, has tantrums if he does not get his way.
We all find it difficult to understand your obsession with trying to evade reality, I think of you as a character in the Ayn Rand novel, the Fountainhead, Ellsworth Toohey.
365
He's probably watching TV right now, looking at the crowds chanting against his Executive Order and thinking "look what I've done," with a proud smile on his face.
126
Much better straight up than cut with vermouth or some sweetener. No ambiguity at all. Wait until he has Le Pen and Wilders and Grillo to play with. The meritocratic elite is done for globally. Too much complacency, too much shrugging of shoulders when everyday problems of ordinary people come up. Nothing to be done, it's just market forces. The next G-20 meeting is in Shanghai, can't be bothered. Big things to do. Well the next G-20 meeting ought to be in Allentown, or Erie or Gary. Maureen, you at least listened to your brother, you're aware of the contempt that flows both ways. The choice now isn't Trump or Hilary it's Trump vs Sanders or even farther out. The elite don't do well either way.
19
Detractors in Britain refer to him as "President Snowflake," using a term prefered by the alt-right for a rich, spoiled elite. It fits.
263
Now we know what happens the lunatic runs the asylum.
430
When masochists are the body of the asylum, sadists rule it.
5
And it has only just begun.
3
To the Trump believers:
I am a scientist; truth and objective reality are very important to me. I accept as fact what I can see with my eyes and verify with experiments and knowledge. These issues about crowd size and voter fraud aren't about liberal versus conservative viewpoints; it is about reality versus fantasy. The fact that a President and his followers cannot tell the difference due to their fanatical ideology is a serious problem for our country.
There is no such thing as "liberal reality" or "conservative reality" in this world; gravity is real regardless of your politics. To blindly follow a demagogue and never question him is the mark of a religious fanatic. For example, if you want to follow him off a cliff because he told you that there is no such thing as gravity, then go ahead. The problem here is that your "savior" is forcing all of us, believers and nonbelievers, to follow him because he is also the leader of the country we, all of us together, live in.
I believe in gravity -- if I drop a rock, it will fall. I have seen it with my own eyes. That is objective reality and not a political viewpoint. The reliable media are trying to tell everyone that there is such a thing as gravity because it is an objective fact. If enough of you will stop believing in "alternative fact" and quit following a delusional messiah, we can keep everyone from falling off that cliff. The choice is yours: work with us to make America better, or follow a madman to our mutual oblivion.
I am a scientist; truth and objective reality are very important to me. I accept as fact what I can see with my eyes and verify with experiments and knowledge. These issues about crowd size and voter fraud aren't about liberal versus conservative viewpoints; it is about reality versus fantasy. The fact that a President and his followers cannot tell the difference due to their fanatical ideology is a serious problem for our country.
There is no such thing as "liberal reality" or "conservative reality" in this world; gravity is real regardless of your politics. To blindly follow a demagogue and never question him is the mark of a religious fanatic. For example, if you want to follow him off a cliff because he told you that there is no such thing as gravity, then go ahead. The problem here is that your "savior" is forcing all of us, believers and nonbelievers, to follow him because he is also the leader of the country we, all of us together, live in.
I believe in gravity -- if I drop a rock, it will fall. I have seen it with my own eyes. That is objective reality and not a political viewpoint. The reliable media are trying to tell everyone that there is such a thing as gravity because it is an objective fact. If enough of you will stop believing in "alternative fact" and quit following a delusional messiah, we can keep everyone from falling off that cliff. The choice is yours: work with us to make America better, or follow a madman to our mutual oblivion.
10
We should impeach him on grounds of insanity. Trump us a malignant narcissist. We must stop him before he destroys America.
1022
Yeah, except that Pence wold be a lot worse.
4
Does that mean that the millions of real jobs he manages to create should all go away when you impeach him for not being a smooth talker?
He's already spooked our country's sworn enemies more than the last one even dreamed of doing.
He's already spooked our country's sworn enemies more than the last one even dreamed of doing.
I agree. Unfortunately, impeaching Trump would be a temporary fix. We would still have to contend with his cast of characters better known as "his cabinet", plus Congress.
3
Honey, I'd rather have a wild child than a Donald Trump. He is worse than any wild child I've ever seen. He is uncontrollable, paranoid, uncooperative, vain, whiny, obnoxious, and that's on a good day. If he were a toddler we could put him down for a nap and hope that that would remedy most of the less desirable actions. However, he is a 70 year old man who is way too accustomed to getting his own way by running over people who say or do things he doesn't like. People were impressed by him and his straight talk. His straight talk is more about himself than it is about the nation. It's about what he wants, not what America needs. Then again, the GOP has spent decades telling us that the needs of the 1% outweigh the needs of the 99% so he's just what the GOP prescribed.
1120
Trump as President is an employee of the people. He needs to be suspended with pay and referred to an employee wellness program. In all likelihood the recommendation will be for a psychiatric inpatient stay.
Let's make the referral before it is to late.
Let's make the referral before it is to late.
5
The problem is we have an anarchist, a doublespeak dark lady, a Putin lover and two GOP No-Nothings directing our man-child president, a gruesome power-hungry group bent on only pushing their own screwed up agendas forward. It's beginning to look like our government is being overthrown from within - no revolution needed.
It's no wonder 1984 is sold out at Amazon. And to those true believers who voted for our little kid leader, this Orwell quote is food for thought and a remarkably apt argument against the poor me, victim-hood excuses - “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices”
It's no wonder 1984 is sold out at Amazon. And to those true believers who voted for our little kid leader, this Orwell quote is food for thought and a remarkably apt argument against the poor me, victim-hood excuses - “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices”
2974
1984 being sold out at Amazon reminds me of all the people in Britain who Googled Brexit and European Union after voting to get out of the EU - a bit late, don't you think?
10
Yes, but what about the majority who did not vote for this psycho? Do we have to go down with the deplorables who voted him in? Yes, we probably do because the GOP are happy as clams to finally enact their hateful anti safety net legislation. Trump doesn't read, but he loves to sign his name in bigly letters. He would prefer a crayon, but a sharpie will do.
11
Trump just gets off on proving what ludicrous suckers other people are.
6
The big question is, will those Trump voters like those profiled in the Times a day ago finally realize just what a threat he is to them too?
Der Goppenfuhrer is finally showing just what a narcissist he is. He fits description of a mentally ill personality to a "T."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others' feelings. People affected by it often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or about their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of situations."
According to the DSM-5,
Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from others
Fixated on fantasies of power, success, intelligence, attractiveness, etc.
Self-perception of being unique, superior and associated with high-status people and institutions
Needing constant admiration from others
Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others
Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain
Unwilling to empathize with others' feelings, wishes, or needs
Intensely envious of others and the belief that others are equally envious of them
Pompous and arrogant demeanor
Der Goppenfuhrer is finally showing just what a narcissist he is. He fits description of a mentally ill personality to a "T."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others' feelings. People affected by it often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or about their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of situations."
According to the DSM-5,
Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from others
Fixated on fantasies of power, success, intelligence, attractiveness, etc.
Self-perception of being unique, superior and associated with high-status people and institutions
Needing constant admiration from others
Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others
Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain
Unwilling to empathize with others' feelings, wishes, or needs
Intensely envious of others and the belief that others are equally envious of them
Pompous and arrogant demeanor
983
To continue, by the definitions of mental health professionals we have a nut in the white House. A certified insane pathological freak.
But what is just is bad, are his admirers. We seem to have a large number of the citizenry that admire such people. Reading the Times article yesterday about Trump supporters, they exhibit many of the same characteristics. For them it was all about me, me, me, such as the person with the maple syrup business complaining about having to meet health and safety standards.
As David Brooks wrote, this the politics of cowardice. Notice that this Islamic country ban, excludes countries where Trump has business interests, this is in fact, a corrupt practice.
But what is just is bad, are his admirers. We seem to have a large number of the citizenry that admire such people. Reading the Times article yesterday about Trump supporters, they exhibit many of the same characteristics. For them it was all about me, me, me, such as the person with the maple syrup business complaining about having to meet health and safety standards.
As David Brooks wrote, this the politics of cowardice. Notice that this Islamic country ban, excludes countries where Trump has business interests, this is in fact, a corrupt practice.
883
Yeah, why can't compulsive narcissist Trump be more like Obama whose powerful intellect convinces himself he deserves a spot on Mt Rushmore, does his final days victory lap proclaiming all his great accomplishments to his progressive Left worshippers as he left office -- notwithstanding an economy that never made it out of the 2% range in economic growth (this past year is under 2%) while jobs continued to bleed out of the country due to unchecked outsourcing, an utterly disastrous foreign policy that among other things has emboldened a fanatical theocracy in Tehran to threaten the entire Middle East, put them on the path to nuclear weapons in ten years time, allowed Russia and China to ride roughshod in the Mideast, Ukraine, and the South China Sea respectively, all the while figuring clever reasons to do nothing while 500,000 people were murdered in Syria and millions of refugees fled to Europe destabilizing the continent and fostering a resurgence of the Far Right there. Oh, and a health insurance plan that is distinguished by double-digit premium increases, stratospheric deductibles on anything remotely affordable, while provider networks are gutted due to escalating costs. Ah, the joys of sobriety.
1
The horrifying thing, to me, about Trump getting elected was realizing all the small-minded, selfish people we have in this country--not just the white nationalists and Republican Tea Partiers.
The excuse that not all Trump voters are racist etc is beside the point-- the fact is that they were willing to vote in a racist, proven con-artist, intellectual light-weight and admitted molester.
There is no "persuading" such people to use logic and facts.
Time to forget about them, stop venting about Crazy Trump, and harness all the media and lawyers we can get to get him, McConnell and Ryan out of there.
The Women's March was a great start. We need next a Women's Stampede to the voting booth in 2018.
The excuse that not all Trump voters are racist etc is beside the point-- the fact is that they were willing to vote in a racist, proven con-artist, intellectual light-weight and admitted molester.
There is no "persuading" such people to use logic and facts.
Time to forget about them, stop venting about Crazy Trump, and harness all the media and lawyers we can get to get him, McConnell and Ryan out of there.
The Women's March was a great start. We need next a Women's Stampede to the voting booth in 2018.
41
"the resistance is growing"
It is not. It is critical to realize this.
Those who hated Trump still do, their outrage rising to a demented shriek. They are going into a frenzy.
But they are not carrying more with them. They are driving many of them off.
There are conventions, with reasons for the conventions. The honeymoon period is a time when people form their own conclusions. They want that breathing space, not for him but for themselves to consider.
They don't react well to demented shrieking that they are *stupid* and fools if they don't agree completely right now, now, NOW.
Many are not ready from the very outset to declare the man they did just elect to be illegitimate, insane, and utterly incompetent, and that they were fools to select him, demonstrating only that they were stupid.
And I'd like some actual evidence that the NYT has it within its power to reach into the deepest well of Trump's needs just by its stories of disapproval.
It is not. It is critical to realize this.
Those who hated Trump still do, their outrage rising to a demented shriek. They are going into a frenzy.
But they are not carrying more with them. They are driving many of them off.
There are conventions, with reasons for the conventions. The honeymoon period is a time when people form their own conclusions. They want that breathing space, not for him but for themselves to consider.
They don't react well to demented shrieking that they are *stupid* and fools if they don't agree completely right now, now, NOW.
Many are not ready from the very outset to declare the man they did just elect to be illegitimate, insane, and utterly incompetent, and that they were fools to select him, demonstrating only that they were stupid.
And I'd like some actual evidence that the NYT has it within its power to reach into the deepest well of Trump's needs just by its stories of disapproval.
48
What else can you do except report on the daily chaos?
3
The dimwit sycophant Spicer and Herr Goebbels/Bannon declared the war on last week in case you missed the news. There are very few people for whom there is a period of calm waiting now to determine what we've just done and see if it's something we can live with. And, in other news just in, the majority of us didn't vote for the diapered tantrum thrower.
15
In fact, there is no need to read the NY Times anymore. You know every article, editorial, and op-ed will state that Trump is a fool, Hitler, demented, nothing he proposes could possibly ever work and so on. So why do I need to spend so much time reading all this if it's all a forgone conclusion anyway? Just to watch the dust bounce? Why not put on some good music instead to use the time I would have once allocated to reading the NYT's articles?
By the way, taking about the media. if the reader had relied totally on the NY Times as primary news source, he/she would know those dastardly Israelis announced they will now build 2500 new apartments in East Jerusalem -- though conveniently unstated by the Gray Lady (now in color) within an existing housing bloc even the Arabs know they would never get in any peace agreement. However, the reader would also not at all know those same dastardly Israelis announced this week they Israel will begin taking in Syrian refugees -- 100 orphaned Syrian children who will be placed in Arab-Israeli foster homes and be made citizens of Israel. The NYT reader would also not know that Israeli surgeons just successfully completed a revolutionary new technique to restore horribly damaged faces by replacing and restoring the entire lower jaw of a Syrian Arab whose lower half of his head was totally blown off by a bomb near Aleppo. So glad we can rely on the NY Times for our source of truth in this benighted age of Trump and alternate reality.
By the way, taking about the media. if the reader had relied totally on the NY Times as primary news source, he/she would know those dastardly Israelis announced they will now build 2500 new apartments in East Jerusalem -- though conveniently unstated by the Gray Lady (now in color) within an existing housing bloc even the Arabs know they would never get in any peace agreement. However, the reader would also not at all know those same dastardly Israelis announced this week they Israel will begin taking in Syrian refugees -- 100 orphaned Syrian children who will be placed in Arab-Israeli foster homes and be made citizens of Israel. The NYT reader would also not know that Israeli surgeons just successfully completed a revolutionary new technique to restore horribly damaged faces by replacing and restoring the entire lower jaw of a Syrian Arab whose lower half of his head was totally blown off by a bomb near Aleppo. So glad we can rely on the NY Times for our source of truth in this benighted age of Trump and alternate reality.
5
Limited time for TV - meetings start at 9AM. Is there anything else that a POTUS might do like, oh, say, read intelligence reports? Gees, I was only the pastor of a mid-sized church before I retired, but I read the NYT and was in MY office by 7:45 - no time for Matt Lauer etc.
493
Sorry, but reading is out of the question for President Trump. He doesn't even want to read his Executive Orders when he signs them. The man has stated in the past that anything beyond a page or two long is too much so a ten to twenty page intelligence briefing is going to bore the toddler-president to tears even if it is laden with espionage and spies and treacherous goings on.
18
"The fact that the press corps is captive in the White House and can be dragged into these executive order signings is, for him, like mainlining heroin."
Trump may be a teetotaler, but he's an addict through and through. What I can't figure out is how the man got to where he is. Nobody in their right mind would tolerate such an obnoxious, self-absorbed boob.
And yet, there he sits, reveling in what he construes to be unlimited power. So far, he's getting unlimited tolerance from the compliant GOP only too eager to push as many EOs under his nose for photo ops. The more the merrier.
But at some point, when they realize there's a price to pay, and enough Americans get fed up with the care and feeding of Donald, they might change their tune.
And then, if you think you've heard a loud noise coming out of Washington, think again. This past week will seem like a whisper, once our feckless Congress finally sees that for every action, there is a commensurate action.
What goes up must come down.
Trump may be a teetotaler, but he's an addict through and through. What I can't figure out is how the man got to where he is. Nobody in their right mind would tolerate such an obnoxious, self-absorbed boob.
And yet, there he sits, reveling in what he construes to be unlimited power. So far, he's getting unlimited tolerance from the compliant GOP only too eager to push as many EOs under his nose for photo ops. The more the merrier.
But at some point, when they realize there's a price to pay, and enough Americans get fed up with the care and feeding of Donald, they might change their tune.
And then, if you think you've heard a loud noise coming out of Washington, think again. This past week will seem like a whisper, once our feckless Congress finally sees that for every action, there is a commensurate action.
What goes up must come down.
1039
And I'm beginning to question his alleged teetotalling.
10
Obviously there are plenty of people who are out of their minds.
2
Your wordsmithing skills are on high display here Ms. Dowd. I only wish that you had used them to skewer djt earlier. Some of your lines that elicited rejoinders:
“Those who go into the Oval Office with chips on their shoulders and deep wells of insecurity, like Nixon, W. and Donald Trump, are not going to suddenly glow with self-assurance….” And now we have a tweeter-in-chief who is gorging on lay potato chips and doritos while proclaiming the elegance of the White House.
“The former reality star who now denies reality rode the resentment of the aggrieved white working class…” Except realty “stars” are really unreality stars and djt epitomizes the disconnect.
“It’s hard to take your eyes off him.” Like it’s hard to avert one’s eyes from a train wreck.
“Those who go into the Oval Office with chips on their shoulders and deep wells of insecurity, like Nixon, W. and Donald Trump, are not going to suddenly glow with self-assurance….” And now we have a tweeter-in-chief who is gorging on lay potato chips and doritos while proclaiming the elegance of the White House.
“The former reality star who now denies reality rode the resentment of the aggrieved white working class…” Except realty “stars” are really unreality stars and djt epitomizes the disconnect.
“It’s hard to take your eyes off him.” Like it’s hard to avert one’s eyes from a train wreck.
244
To see Maureen Dowd, who did everything she could to thwart Hillary Clinton due to her personal hatred of Clinton, lament what she helped bring about to such an extent is either the most ironic thing ever, or the most hypocritical.
I can't decide which.
I can't decide which.
3341
Your confusion starts with your assumption that Hillary would have been better, that Dowd ought to have helped put Hillary in that office.
33
@Mark - Not sure if this "[Ms] Dowd ought to have helped put Hilary..." is what @Chrisptopher said
15
@Bos: Thomason's Clinton hatred is the source of his confusion, as he's demonstrated repeatedly, most recently with this post.
96
From the DSM-5:
Symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder(Formerly megalomania)
The definition of NPD states that it comprises of a persistent manner of grandiosity, a continuous desire for admiration, along with a lack of empathy. It starts by early adulthood and occurs in a range of situations, as signified by the existence of any 5 of the next 9 standards (American Psychiatric Association, 2013):
A grandiose logic of self-importance.
A fixation with fantasies of infinite success, control, brilliance, beauty, or idyllic love.
A credence that he or she is extraordinary and exceptional and can only be understood by, or should connect with, other extraordinary or important people or institutions.
A desire for unwarranted admiration.
A sense of entitlement.
Interpersonally oppressive behavior.
No form of empathy.
Resentment of others or a conviction that others are resentful of him or her.
A display of egotistical and conceited behaviors or attitudes.
I think Trump might be batting 1000?
Symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder(Formerly megalomania)
The definition of NPD states that it comprises of a persistent manner of grandiosity, a continuous desire for admiration, along with a lack of empathy. It starts by early adulthood and occurs in a range of situations, as signified by the existence of any 5 of the next 9 standards (American Psychiatric Association, 2013):
A grandiose logic of self-importance.
A fixation with fantasies of infinite success, control, brilliance, beauty, or idyllic love.
A credence that he or she is extraordinary and exceptional and can only be understood by, or should connect with, other extraordinary or important people or institutions.
A desire for unwarranted admiration.
A sense of entitlement.
Interpersonally oppressive behavior.
No form of empathy.
Resentment of others or a conviction that others are resentful of him or her.
A display of egotistical and conceited behaviors or attitudes.
I think Trump might be batting 1000?
713
He is batting 1000 on the NPD scale-but America has stuck out with him
3
Add to that the delusional thinking-- I asked another mental health professional if she thought that DJT believed his own lies, and she said yes--and that was before last week! We have seen signs of excessive rumination over crowd size, as well as falsehoods (alternate facts??) about illegal voting. As was said by Bill Maher, DJT is complete Id with no Ego or Superego to keep the Id in check. We have a spiteful 5-year-old who has frequent temper tantrums as the leader of the free world.That the Congressional Republican leaders appear content to allow this to go on brings to mind a quote from the suddenly popular 1948 novel by George Orwell, "1984". “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”
God have mercy on all our souls.
God have mercy on all our souls.
20
Sorry--old news.
We know the diagnosis! Now what’s the treatment!
We know the diagnosis! Now what’s the treatment!
6
Sane people are likely to agree with your assessment, Ms Dowd, except President Trump is in part of the media making.
They were transfixed alright. They would hang on to his every tweet while he was the birther Trump. Whether it was entertainment or good business - CBS CEO Moonves once said Donald Trump may be bad for America but very good to CBS - nutty accusation should have belonged to National Enquirer and not mainstream media. Yet, mainstream media chased it like they wanted to beat Faux News, Drudge & Breithart to it. So now everyone suffers.
But Mr Trump is smarter than you think. Those EOs are cost free to him. Like Hugo Chavez, it is a cheap way to motivate his base. If they stick, they will satisfy his deplorables. If not, then he could blame it on Congress and his enemies. Roy Cohn would be proud. But if this keeps up, many lives will be ruined, perhaps a lot more than that of the Red Scare.
Finally, maybe columnists like yourself have a hand in it too. Look, even now, you still try to drag President Obama into the mix. Saying Mr Obama trying to mollify him and accommodate him day by day doesn't make sense. Mr Obama had more important things to do than to launch a vendetta against birther Trump. As the POTUS, Mr Obama had to extend the courtesy to the POTEUS whether he likes it or not. That is the role and dignity of the president. On the other hand, journalists seemed to be AWOL in many instances until it is too late.
They were transfixed alright. They would hang on to his every tweet while he was the birther Trump. Whether it was entertainment or good business - CBS CEO Moonves once said Donald Trump may be bad for America but very good to CBS - nutty accusation should have belonged to National Enquirer and not mainstream media. Yet, mainstream media chased it like they wanted to beat Faux News, Drudge & Breithart to it. So now everyone suffers.
But Mr Trump is smarter than you think. Those EOs are cost free to him. Like Hugo Chavez, it is a cheap way to motivate his base. If they stick, they will satisfy his deplorables. If not, then he could blame it on Congress and his enemies. Roy Cohn would be proud. But if this keeps up, many lives will be ruined, perhaps a lot more than that of the Red Scare.
Finally, maybe columnists like yourself have a hand in it too. Look, even now, you still try to drag President Obama into the mix. Saying Mr Obama trying to mollify him and accommodate him day by day doesn't make sense. Mr Obama had more important things to do than to launch a vendetta against birther Trump. As the POTUS, Mr Obama had to extend the courtesy to the POTEUS whether he likes it or not. That is the role and dignity of the president. On the other hand, journalists seemed to be AWOL in many instances until it is too late.
1077
By the way, we have seen that Muslim Ban movie. Just look at landlord Trump's rental track record. So people using logic to say why ban Syrians and not Saudis based on terrorism threat are way off the mark. To be clear, their logic makes sense but they neglect the history of the man.
83
President Obama did not have to extend any courtesy whatsoever to Mr. Trump during the transition. However, Mr. Obama is a class act and, despite his chosen candidate was not elected, chose to be gracious in both time and attitude.
I doubt we will see Mr. Trump leave the presidency so graciously when his time comes to depart the Oval Office for the last time.
I doubt we will see Mr. Trump leave the presidency so graciously when his time comes to depart the Oval Office for the last time.
20
We're talking about YOU, Maureen.
5
Ever since Trump met with the Times shortly after his election, and mentioned that anyone could call him EXCEPT Maureen because she’d been so mean to him (when she hadn’t been that mean AT ALL), Mo has been incrementally raising the bar of what she’s willing to say. I suppose that’s still FAR better than Charles Blow, who’s ready to declare secession of the NYT from the rest of America and get Bull Run III started.
But if you want down-market photos of Donald Trump, you really need to come to the Times. I’ve mentioned this to Wm. A. Galston, the WSJ’s liberal token pundit, and offered to mediate for really GOOD photos (for a reasonable fee).
I knew in 1968 (at age 13) that Nixon was blowing up the Paris Peace Talks with his Chinese vamp: if Maureen didn’t, then she must have been too preoccupied getting ready for that first season at Catholic U. of Amurka. I still cheered when Nixon won, and am still miffed that I was born too late to ever have voted for him (despite the fact that it was HE who got the voting age dropped to 18).
Maureen’s even now using the pejorative “overcompensation”, channeling a debate night and hand-size. THIS is likely to get a certain POTUS seeing red, and calling Sulzberger to discuss what can be done to get her banished from D.C. to America’s only REAL city of importance.
The world’s, and life’s, natural state is turmoil. We finally have a president who understands reality for what it really is, revels in it … and actually is pretty good at it.
But if you want down-market photos of Donald Trump, you really need to come to the Times. I’ve mentioned this to Wm. A. Galston, the WSJ’s liberal token pundit, and offered to mediate for really GOOD photos (for a reasonable fee).
I knew in 1968 (at age 13) that Nixon was blowing up the Paris Peace Talks with his Chinese vamp: if Maureen didn’t, then she must have been too preoccupied getting ready for that first season at Catholic U. of Amurka. I still cheered when Nixon won, and am still miffed that I was born too late to ever have voted for him (despite the fact that it was HE who got the voting age dropped to 18).
Maureen’s even now using the pejorative “overcompensation”, channeling a debate night and hand-size. THIS is likely to get a certain POTUS seeing red, and calling Sulzberger to discuss what can be done to get her banished from D.C. to America’s only REAL city of importance.
The world’s, and life’s, natural state is turmoil. We finally have a president who understands reality for what it really is, revels in it … and actually is pretty good at it.
18
Sounds like you are beginning to accept a form of nihilism in order to justify Trump to yourself. Morality doesn't matter, only chaos is real, all that matters is the will to power over chaos.
There have been others with such ideas and justifications.
There have been others with such ideas and justifications.
43
Piffle. I voted for Hubert.
2
Revels in not understanding the Constitution
25
Were it not for the citizens' resistance movement, I'd be in total despair. As Maureen says, the silver lining to rump is that we saw him coming, we see "it" happening here, and we are resolved..
No wonder Tweety was all a-flutter about the "massively" meager crowds on his Special Day. No doubt he envisioned one of his Nuremberg campaign rallies magnified a thousandfold, in total thrall to the poison he offers: a designer hybrid of oratorical angel dust and crack cocaine. To the extent that he ever even had a mandate, it is based not on democracy, but on Mob-ocracy.
Without The Crowd, he hasn't got a chance.
And so he frantically Tweets and lies and signs one outrageous order after the other. His days are numbered, because he hasn't harnessed a pliable hive-mind. We can only hope that when his reich does inevitably collapse, his Party will go right down with him.
Gustave Le Bon (who influenced Freud as well as Hitler and Goebbels) wrote in the late 19th century that throughout history, appearances have always played a more important political role than reality. And:
"A crowd is only impressed by excessive sentiments. Exaggerate, affirm, resort to repetition, and never attempt to prove anything by reasoning."
But unluckily for Trump, The Crowd reading as well as marching. Orwell's "1984" is a born-again bestseller. Even Hannah Arendt's weighty "Origins of Totalitarianism" is doing a brisk business.
And poor old President Tweety tawt he taw a bunch of puddy cats.
No wonder Tweety was all a-flutter about the "massively" meager crowds on his Special Day. No doubt he envisioned one of his Nuremberg campaign rallies magnified a thousandfold, in total thrall to the poison he offers: a designer hybrid of oratorical angel dust and crack cocaine. To the extent that he ever even had a mandate, it is based not on democracy, but on Mob-ocracy.
Without The Crowd, he hasn't got a chance.
And so he frantically Tweets and lies and signs one outrageous order after the other. His days are numbered, because he hasn't harnessed a pliable hive-mind. We can only hope that when his reich does inevitably collapse, his Party will go right down with him.
Gustave Le Bon (who influenced Freud as well as Hitler and Goebbels) wrote in the late 19th century that throughout history, appearances have always played a more important political role than reality. And:
"A crowd is only impressed by excessive sentiments. Exaggerate, affirm, resort to repetition, and never attempt to prove anything by reasoning."
But unluckily for Trump, The Crowd reading as well as marching. Orwell's "1984" is a born-again bestseller. Even Hannah Arendt's weighty "Origins of Totalitarianism" is doing a brisk business.
And poor old President Tweety tawt he taw a bunch of puddy cats.
529
We need to catch up with Trump and stop him. All this criticism is great, and accurate, but it does nothing to get rid of Trump. So, is the point to change people's minds about Trump? People already know what a turd Trump is and how incredibly unknowledgeable he remains. He doesn't seem to know what POTUS does. Yet those same people, the ones who voted for him, are OK with his current status. Stupid and ignorant. In other words, even if he were to be told the facts, he wouldn't have a clue what they mean or how to use the facts. He is the definition of incompetence. This country needs serious help.
17
Brtter be part of that resistance before it gets dangerous ...which I predict will be real soon... I marched... Join us because the March was just the first thing .. You can't just leave it to other people.... because it's the NUMBERS
7
"Every revolutionary ends up either by becoming an oppressor or a heretic".
Albert Camus
Albert Camus
2
Ms. Dowd. You had better have more than this in your quiver. One more laborious recitation of Trump's craziness does little to stop him or quell the generalized anxiety that is overwhelming this nation or help anyone for that matter. This is when you and the other Times opinion writers need to sharpen your pencils. Find the smoking gun. A couple of young reporters at the Post once took down a corrupt regime, it's time again....
2576
Yes, exactly, Clyde. Ms Dowd did her ugly part to get him into power so now she has the responsibility to bring him down. I always loved her witty sarcasms and clever word plays that twisted the tails of the mighty. Now it all sounds so weak, puny, and limp. She really has to ramp up her style, take it to another level to challenge the insanities of the Leathery Tangerine.
48
I think she's pretty happy her friend Donald won. Her heart isn't in savaging him.
20
Dowd isn't an investigative reporter. She never pretended to be. Your spite towards her satire is unwarranted.
3
The Emperor's new clothes do not fit.
And we are barely done with the first week.
Those waiting for Trump to calm down and act "presidential" have a long wait ahead of them.
Many of us in here have mentioned numerous times that Trump may be mentally ill.
While our new president may not be clinically insane, how disturbing is it when the man gives a televised interview with a news anchor from ABC and states unequivocally that not only were there 5 million ballots cast by illegal voters, but that EVERY one of those votes went to his opponent?
We have never had a situation like this in the 228 year history of our Republic.
I'm afraid Chico Marx was correct: "There ain't no sanity clause".
Not in America, 2017. The lights have gone out on Broadway.
And we are barely done with the first week.
Those waiting for Trump to calm down and act "presidential" have a long wait ahead of them.
Many of us in here have mentioned numerous times that Trump may be mentally ill.
While our new president may not be clinically insane, how disturbing is it when the man gives a televised interview with a news anchor from ABC and states unequivocally that not only were there 5 million ballots cast by illegal voters, but that EVERY one of those votes went to his opponent?
We have never had a situation like this in the 228 year history of our Republic.
I'm afraid Chico Marx was correct: "There ain't no sanity clause".
Not in America, 2017. The lights have gone out on Broadway.
1921
This will end like Captain Queeg on the witness stand, babbling about strawberries.
33
As one Billy Joel fan to another, I can certainly appreciate the irony of your final comment. Perhaps "Miami 2017" was more prescient than even Mr. Joel thought.
So... what CAN we do now?
So... what CAN we do now?
1
I look forward to the news each day with a mixture of eager anticipation and dread. Ironically, the good days start with the president doing something incredibly stupid. As long as he keeps digging a hole, the hope is that eventually he’ll fall in.
The thing that troubles me is that he might accidentally say something that is mildly not crazy. This will make people start to wonder if he’s becoming normal, because people tend to grade on a curve. And what a curve! Black holes bend space less than the president’s brain. The curve is so pronounced that if he said one plus one equaled two, people would say, ah, he’s moderating.
Some say that the way to deal with a loony leader is to stick to the facts. Let him rant, but calmly strike back with reality. Discredit what he says. Take the high road while he slogs through the mud. But that’s no fun. When he says ridiculous things, he should be ridiculed in return.
The Times should run a daily column titled, “More on the President.” He wouldn’t get the joke, and it would be a great place to list his dubious deeds. It would read like an old David Letterman Top Ten List.
Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segments had him asking simple questions to the general public, with hilarious results. Our president seems to be one of those people on the street, with as much knowledge of politics as a farm animal. It would be a shame to take him seriously when everything he says is a joke.
It's just too bad that the joke’s on us.
The thing that troubles me is that he might accidentally say something that is mildly not crazy. This will make people start to wonder if he’s becoming normal, because people tend to grade on a curve. And what a curve! Black holes bend space less than the president’s brain. The curve is so pronounced that if he said one plus one equaled two, people would say, ah, he’s moderating.
Some say that the way to deal with a loony leader is to stick to the facts. Let him rant, but calmly strike back with reality. Discredit what he says. Take the high road while he slogs through the mud. But that’s no fun. When he says ridiculous things, he should be ridiculed in return.
The Times should run a daily column titled, “More on the President.” He wouldn’t get the joke, and it would be a great place to list his dubious deeds. It would read like an old David Letterman Top Ten List.
Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segments had him asking simple questions to the general public, with hilarious results. Our president seems to be one of those people on the street, with as much knowledge of politics as a farm animal. It would be a shame to take him seriously when everything he says is a joke.
It's just too bad that the joke’s on us.
1237
Trump should just be shunned.
27
It's not a joke. This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, and he ain't fooling around, he means it. He believes he won by a landslide, his crowds were bigger, his executive orders are legal and they won't start a war or inspire ISIS. He believes the media are corrupt and a bunch of liars, except for Fox, and possibly Breitbart. Bill Maher got it just right with his recent bit about equating Trump's executive orders with a child's paintings, and his wanting to put them on the refrigerator.
NT mag had a great piece http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-aides-cant-stop-blabb...
that everyone should read, if they're not yet certain Trump meets all the criteria in the DSM for a bull goose looney. He makes all the characters in "Dr. Strangelove" look sane. One might argue he fell from the cuckoo's nest, on his head. However you parse it, the man is certifiable, how much damage will he do before the powers that be realize it, and do something about it? He's not merely an embarrassment, he's a real and present danger to world peace. You have to realize he's just getting started, once he fully realizes the extent of his power, his fragile ego and need for retribution will know no bounds. If they don't stand up to him soon what will they do when he reaches for the red button because someone dissed him? Maybe Alec Baldwin could take over, he's never been president, but he played one on TV.
NT mag had a great piece http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-aides-cant-stop-blabb...
that everyone should read, if they're not yet certain Trump meets all the criteria in the DSM for a bull goose looney. He makes all the characters in "Dr. Strangelove" look sane. One might argue he fell from the cuckoo's nest, on his head. However you parse it, the man is certifiable, how much damage will he do before the powers that be realize it, and do something about it? He's not merely an embarrassment, he's a real and present danger to world peace. You have to realize he's just getting started, once he fully realizes the extent of his power, his fragile ego and need for retribution will know no bounds. If they don't stand up to him soon what will they do when he reaches for the red button because someone dissed him? Maybe Alec Baldwin could take over, he's never been president, but he played one on TV.
42
I look forward to your commentary everyday. This one was special.
"The thing that troubles me is that he might accidentally say something that is mildly not crazy." So true. Actually, I think this happened for a micro second last week, but was quickly overwhelmed by the usual, or maybe it was one of his minions who gave me that impression? There are so few of these moments.
"The thing that troubles me is that he might accidentally say something that is mildly not crazy." So true. Actually, I think this happened for a micro second last week, but was quickly overwhelmed by the usual, or maybe it was one of his minions who gave me that impression? There are so few of these moments.
7
The doomsday clock, indeed, is ticking so much faster that it now suffers from arrhythmia from the rash actions Trump is taking, and then having to roll back in part or in whole.
Trump sent out a Holocaust memorial message and managed to forget mentioning Jews, their deaths, and anti-semitism. What baffles is that his so-called consiglieri weren't there to catch the faux-pas.
He's even become so confident in his new presidential superpowers that he's deemed the NYT faux news after getting into a tiff with CNN. I guess he figures having Fox, and now NBC's Megyn Kelly in his corner, will suffice... NBC, maybe in an attempt to curry favor with our new leader, applied a fresh coat of white paint and booted Al Roker and Tamron Hall off the Today Show's third hour to make way for Megyn.
Everything Trump has touched, so far, he's botched. On immigration, halting all entry for what seemingly is a very specific group of foreigners, is turning out to be a very wide net that catches both people who've loyally been serving out nation, people whose work our academy of motion pictures wants to recognize, and many of those H1-B visa holders whose services corporate America is so hungry for.
It won't be long now, The Drumpf will manage to turn everyone against him. Well, almost everyone. We can presume he'll always have Vlad.
--
www.rimaregas.com
Trump sent out a Holocaust memorial message and managed to forget mentioning Jews, their deaths, and anti-semitism. What baffles is that his so-called consiglieri weren't there to catch the faux-pas.
He's even become so confident in his new presidential superpowers that he's deemed the NYT faux news after getting into a tiff with CNN. I guess he figures having Fox, and now NBC's Megyn Kelly in his corner, will suffice... NBC, maybe in an attempt to curry favor with our new leader, applied a fresh coat of white paint and booted Al Roker and Tamron Hall off the Today Show's third hour to make way for Megyn.
Everything Trump has touched, so far, he's botched. On immigration, halting all entry for what seemingly is a very specific group of foreigners, is turning out to be a very wide net that catches both people who've loyally been serving out nation, people whose work our academy of motion pictures wants to recognize, and many of those H1-B visa holders whose services corporate America is so hungry for.
It won't be long now, The Drumpf will manage to turn everyone against him. Well, almost everyone. We can presume he'll always have Vlad.
--
www.rimaregas.com
338
Paul Ryan, who, in October was standing up to Trump, folded in less than a day. He famously said about banning Muslims:"that is not conservatism."
Yeah, right!
http://www.rimaregas.com/2017/01/how-quickly-they-fall-in-line-paul-ryan...
Yeah, right!
http://www.rimaregas.com/2017/01/how-quickly-they-fall-in-line-paul-ryan...
307
Expect to see a tRump version of Pravda and Izvestia real soon.
7
Rima--take a close look at your state flag. Just underneath the bear are the words Republic of California. Republic of California has such a lovely sound to it doesn't it?? Why should California stay part of a nation governed by the likes of Donald Trump as president? Maybe you should devote your considerable energy to making California an independent Republic once again. Just imagine the possibilities. Maybe your dream of a truly egalitarian country can finally come true at long last. Sounds like a plan.
You should vote Yes on Calexit,
You should vote Yes on Calexit,
4
The petulance and grand-standing are assuming the predicted epic proportion, but since actual lawyers aren't pre-screening a lot of the new Executive Opinions that arrive almost as regularly as each new Tweet, the man-child will wind up with egg on his face - but the damage will have been done.
The problem is, you can clean up after a real 7 year old, but cleaning up the generations of U.S. global good will and reputation that are being shattered with this 70 year old's hammering out tweet-storms and EOs can't be done with a roomba. Quite a lot of it is irreparable.
Who will step into the vacuum that's being created by America in DJT fantasy land abandoning so much ?
But hey, as long as the GOP's Pence-Ryan-McConnell triumvirate along with the Freedom Caucus's Mick Mulvaney at OMB:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/opinion/an-extremist-holding-the-purs...
get to run things and they get a troglodyte at SCOTUS, it's all good :(
The problem is, you can clean up after a real 7 year old, but cleaning up the generations of U.S. global good will and reputation that are being shattered with this 70 year old's hammering out tweet-storms and EOs can't be done with a roomba. Quite a lot of it is irreparable.
Who will step into the vacuum that's being created by America in DJT fantasy land abandoning so much ?
But hey, as long as the GOP's Pence-Ryan-McConnell triumvirate along with the Freedom Caucus's Mick Mulvaney at OMB:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/opinion/an-extremist-holding-the-purs...
get to run things and they get a troglodyte at SCOTUS, it's all good :(
253
"and they get a troglodyte at SCOTUS"
The Supreme Court started at five members, and they did a fine job of defining the nation in very big cases like Marbury vs Madison.
They don't do that much work anyway, maybe 200 cases each year, each of them with a huge support staff to do the real work.
Let's wait until they are down to four, and need a new fifth member. That might take awhile.
In the meantime, we have a lot of things to settle, before appointing more Justices.
The Supreme Court started at five members, and they did a fine job of defining the nation in very big cases like Marbury vs Madison.
They don't do that much work anyway, maybe 200 cases each year, each of them with a huge support staff to do the real work.
Let's wait until they are down to four, and need a new fifth member. That might take awhile.
In the meantime, we have a lot of things to settle, before appointing more Justices.
31
mark - Agree the Dems should adopt the same strategy the GOP'ers have had since Scalia died; just say ' no ' until there is opportunity to appoint both a conservative and a progressive Justice.
110
His behavior is predictable if you acknowledge the fact that he has a narcissistic personality disorder. He will not become more "presidential." This is who he is. And we the people elected him.
21