This is a brilliant analysis of Donald Trump. Your insight is spectacular, Mr. Blow. Thank you!
349
If and when things go wrong, Trump will tweet that it is Obama's fault. He undermined Trump and ruined his Great Plan. Don't blame Trump, Blame Obama. You know full well his followers will believe him.
194
I kind of hate to say it, but my biggest concern with Trump as President is how close his twitchy little fingers are to the BOOM button.
141
Trump Death Panels are even bigger and better than Palin Death Panels.
115
Trump is obsessed with Obama because he simply cannot accept a Black man's acceptance by the elite when he has been snubbed. Racism. SAD!
271
Help, I need somebody
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone, help
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I've never done before
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.
At least John Lennon was smart enough to ask for help, Trump, not so much.
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone, help
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I've never done before
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me, get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.
At least John Lennon was smart enough to ask for help, Trump, not so much.
99
Remember Sarah Palin's mythical death panels? How much will mortality and morbidity rates increase under the Republican's American Health Care Act?
105
March 9, 2017
The art of power deception in the great political arena; embraced by the master dealer our dear Chief in residence expectantly guides his team to be loyal to his rules - for the Trump Monarchy. That is the truth and the power to adjudicate is not fit to print.
Jja Manhattan, N.Y.
The art of power deception in the great political arena; embraced by the master dealer our dear Chief in residence expectantly guides his team to be loyal to his rules - for the Trump Monarchy. That is the truth and the power to adjudicate is not fit to print.
Jja Manhattan, N.Y.
32
I think there's more to his supposed ostracism than just his tackiness. He's a cheat and a liar.
221
Many so-called people of faith have put all their faith in Trump ,the Anti-Christ. And they have damned themselves, by doing so.
Despite their error, they can still redeem themselves by publicly rejecting Trump, his policies, and his party, and by calling for his resignation, removal or impeachment.
Despite their error, they can still redeem themselves by publicly rejecting Trump, his policies, and his party, and by calling for his resignation, removal or impeachment.
161
But Hillary had the email server.
84
Some decent leaders have been smart but coarse (Johnson), smart but plain (Truman, Carter), or smart but ruthless. Few outside Nero have been just plain crazy.
158
Holy scalding, Batman. The truths contained in this column sear like a third degree burn.
122
Lies and the lying liars who tell them. (Apologies to Sen. Franken.)
61
If there is such a thing as White Skyscraper Trash, Trump and his Family fit the bill. Only folks outside the environs of NYC could see anything of worth in this crew, and that is because they haven't had to live with the real truth about this clown.
Trump has always been a scam artist. He's pulled so many cons on folks here his name is synonymous with Buyer Beware. You never know what is real or fake with Trump. Maybe that is why he also can't discern the difference either. If it's at all critical of Trump, he'll deem it fake.
As another New Yorker of substance noted: " Trump is a poor person's idea of a rich person". Truer words could not be spoken.
DD
Manhattan
Trump has always been a scam artist. He's pulled so many cons on folks here his name is synonymous with Buyer Beware. You never know what is real or fake with Trump. Maybe that is why he also can't discern the difference either. If it's at all critical of Trump, he'll deem it fake.
As another New Yorker of substance noted: " Trump is a poor person's idea of a rich person". Truer words could not be spoken.
DD
Manhattan
289
The Trump supporters will get a taste of their own medicine if Trumpcare passes. Castor oil, anyone?
87
Scream. Rant. Scream. Cry after Trump. Try to make people forget that you were all on board for Hillary from the start, and helped nominate an unelectable candidate. Cry. Scream. Rant.
41
In his obsession with Obama, Trump is remarkably similar to Ricard Nixon, and his hatred of JFK. The Kennedy family was Eastern elite, Harvard, with an ease, polish and grace that Dick Nixon hated. Like Trump, he had a chip on his shoulder: Queens with Trump, Whittier, CA with Nixon. Nixon, like Trump, was always looking for conspiracies to "get" him.
141
As long as Republicans keep saying what their voters want to hear about guns and abortion, they don't care. The worse things get for them, the more rabidly Republican they will become.
120
The frightening thing about these last six weeks is that the Trump administration's "accomplishments" have done essentially nothing "for" people; but plenty "to" people. The Trump voters I've spoken to are quite pleased with the president's actions mainly because they are completely convinced they will benefit from these actions in some way. And given the utter superficially of Trump and company, all that may be necessary is providing a simple illusion, for which the president is famous. That's why he is where he is. Many of his most ardent followers blame the NYT (fake news) for insufficient coverage of the Bowling Green Massacre....good luck convincing them of anything.
161
The scariest part of this appraisal is that all the grossest images built up by this narcissist is what helped him succeed in the run for the presidency. Everything wrong with this guy so easily seen by the average person was caste as a desirable trait in 2016. And he dispatched the Republican's 16 opponents like ducks on a pond to get there.
Going forward, let's hope there's no other personality like him who runs for the presidency. Otherwise, our nation will never regain what we've lost with this man.
Going forward, let's hope there's no other personality like him who runs for the presidency. Otherwise, our nation will never regain what we've lost with this man.
77
Trump's goal is to be universally respected by the rich, which have kept him at arm's length, out of their private clubs and social circles, for good reasons. His last ditch prayer is to massively cut the wealthy's taxes and gut the programs that those taxes fund. The rest is sideshow.
72
Charles, Hillary spent all of her campaign time criticizing Trump - where did that get her? If you want to help the hapless Democratic party, I suggest you focus on getting that party to let go of the corporate apron strings and start advocating for working people.
A progressive Democrat won last November in a deeply red state by returning to the Democratic party's tradition of supporting working people and challenging corporate rule (Charles, we can forgive you for not being aware of this - your newspaper refused to cover Joe Maxwell's incredible victory in Oklahoma - a state where Hillary didn't even carry one precinct).
All the Democrats, devoid of power now from the local to the national level, have now are words, so they better make sure their words convey a message more appealing than, "at least we're not as bad as Trump and the Republicans".
Charles, we know that you're enamored of Obama, but until you start accepting that Obama's frequent capitulation to Republican austerity measures, such as freezing federal employee pay during the worst of the recession, helped fuel Trump's success, you are not doing the the party or progressive causes any favors.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democratic-party-future-rural_us_58b...
A progressive Democrat won last November in a deeply red state by returning to the Democratic party's tradition of supporting working people and challenging corporate rule (Charles, we can forgive you for not being aware of this - your newspaper refused to cover Joe Maxwell's incredible victory in Oklahoma - a state where Hillary didn't even carry one precinct).
All the Democrats, devoid of power now from the local to the national level, have now are words, so they better make sure their words convey a message more appealing than, "at least we're not as bad as Trump and the Republicans".
Charles, we know that you're enamored of Obama, but until you start accepting that Obama's frequent capitulation to Republican austerity measures, such as freezing federal employee pay during the worst of the recession, helped fuel Trump's success, you are not doing the the party or progressive causes any favors.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democratic-party-future-rural_us_58b...
26
Hell is where this country has been for the past 8 years. You are right about one thing though. This country simply cannot provide free healthcare to anyone who wants it. When did we become a nation of takers only?
20
Mr. Blow, we're looking for constructive suggestions for ways to resist and remove the so-called president, not oddly snobbish reiterations of the sad facts we already know. I don't think the fact that Trump will never be as suave, polished and well-groomed as yourself is terribly important right now.
19
It has been obvious from the start that the people likely to be hurt most by Trump are the people who support him. But the same can be said about Paul Ryan and the rest of his ilk.
47
It's worth remembering that Donald Trump's rise was fueled by five years of lies about where Obama was born.
89
Donald Trump's regulatory advisor, Carl Icahn, has the following mantra on the top of his facebook page:
"Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. Me, I make money studying natural stupidity."
Well, he certainly hit the jackpot with the American voter. That America fell for such a blatant con job makes me think we deserve a ticket to hell.
"Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. Me, I make money studying natural stupidity."
Well, he certainly hit the jackpot with the American voter. That America fell for such a blatant con job makes me think we deserve a ticket to hell.
63
I continue to be impressed with the beauty and articulation of Mr. Blow's writing. Were I still teaching composition to the young, I would use his columns to exemplify great rhetoric. And now, Mr. Blow delineates what so many of us had been feeling, the international embarrassment in our White House and his effects on our standing in the world, those Brits who urge Parliament to not invite him for a state visit which would require a formal dinner with the Queen so as not to embarrass her, and the vestiges of European aristocracy, tempered by modern times, who still value manners and integrity that is not restricted to the monied and titled only. I do recall after he finally stayed at the White House his observation that it was "elegant." I thought, though it proved momentary, that perhaps the glitz and glitter of his Manhattan duplex penthouse and the Mar-a-Loco Brothel, were facades to impress investors and construction foremen. But, alas, my hope was shattered.
My late mother, who was reared in the Deep South, with a grandmother who had had a large plantation that had to be abandoned after the War of Northern Aggression but who was educated before said war at the Sorbonne at a time when few women went to university, would, on occasion, made disparaging remarks about the "tacky nouveau riche!"' this from one who had grown up in genteel poverty. But I always loved her one description, as it played well with other southern labels, of the "rich white trash."
My late mother, who was reared in the Deep South, with a grandmother who had had a large plantation that had to be abandoned after the War of Northern Aggression but who was educated before said war at the Sorbonne at a time when few women went to university, would, on occasion, made disparaging remarks about the "tacky nouveau riche!"' this from one who had grown up in genteel poverty. But I always loved her one description, as it played well with other southern labels, of the "rich white trash."
38
I think an irony about this health bill is that it won't pass because it doesn't hurt as many people as conservatives think it should.
But, don't put too much faith the Trump's base complaining. All he has to do is convince them that the un-deserving are suffering more than them and they'll accept it.
But, don't put too much faith the Trump's base complaining. All he has to do is convince them that the un-deserving are suffering more than them and they'll accept it.
64
Instead of focusing on banning Muslims and expanding the military budget, why not spend that money on health care?
What Trumpcare will accomplish will be the untimely deaths of a 9/11 body count every month in this country once fully implemented. So much for Republicans focus on caring for Americans.
Maybe if the body count gets high enough, voters will finally realize the true cost of Trumpcare. I only hope that we still have a functioning country by then.
What Trumpcare will accomplish will be the untimely deaths of a 9/11 body count every month in this country once fully implemented. So much for Republicans focus on caring for Americans.
Maybe if the body count gets high enough, voters will finally realize the true cost of Trumpcare. I only hope that we still have a functioning country by then.
64
Mr. Blow's heartfelt anti-paean to Trump's, antecedents, capabilities, promises and now goods being delivered is very interesting but of basically no use - it is preaching to the converted; what is needed a running total of his proved falsehoods, switchbacks and shenanigans being published on twitter and other social media in a succinct punchy form that can be used to persuade independents and weaker supporters of Trump to rise to action. The members of Congress - both the House and Senate will seek shelter under the nearest available rock and desert and abandon Trump when their survival is at stake. So writing to them, calling them etc. is a good first step but if major newspapers and other sources of information publish daily on the front pages the number of lies etc. of the Trump Administration, then there is a constant reminder of the fakery and alternate facts of this bunch. For example, how many Jewish grave desecrations and bomb threats to Jewish organizations were there for #41, 42, 43 and 44 in the first year of their terms? How many provable falsehoods were the above responsible for in heir first year? Off the top of my head I can name at least name five for the #45 - Obama tapping his phone, size of his electoral victory, claiming to win the popular vote, the size of crowds at his inauguration, election being rigged etc. Come on NYT reporters, establish a clearing house for his and his admin lies and make it a page one feature. Lead for goodness sake.
128
But remember: if the Democrats like Clinton and Obama had not ignored many of the genuine concerns of modest-income voters, especially employment, we would not be dealing with Trump today. Focussing on his defective character is fine, but the real issues lie underneath.
34
Dear Mr. Blow: Have hope! The rusting Trump jalopy, with the faux Mercedes ornaments, is running out of bile as it careens down the road, recklessly smashing apart against the median. Its directionless driver, despised and rejected, will in due order abandon his rotting contrivance,desperately seeking the warm and familiar embrace of his own glorious, affirming ego. And America's nightmare, bad joke, and collective disbelief will mercifully come to an end.
35
Your comment to God's ears........
17
So beautifully written Charles. I will refer to this every time he called "presidential" "for the forgotten" and when the coal miners don't get their jobs back I'll refer them to this wonderful article.
Thank u!
Thank u!
33
Anyone who believed our president when he said the he would replace the ACA with a better plan just wasn't paying attention. A better plan that would include everyone with better coverage at a lower cost was never in the cards.
This is a man who lies as often as he breathes. He tells people what they want to hear when they want to hear it. But does he believe a word he says? He may. He is a mentally unstable person and he may truly believe the promises he makes. But whether he believes them or not doesn't make them so.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
This is a man who lies as often as he breathes. He tells people what they want to hear when they want to hear it. But does he believe a word he says? He may. He is a mentally unstable person and he may truly believe the promises he makes. But whether he believes them or not doesn't make them so.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
49
This is about the most concise and perceptive analysis of Trump that I've read. The sad thing is that half the population won't be able to see it.
15
Obama was quickly granted the thing Trump never had: upper-class acceptance and adulation.
It was not Obama they were adulating, it was themselves for putting him there.
It was not Obama they were adulating, it was themselves for putting him there.
9
President Obama is solely responsible for our country's high opinion of him. The majority of Americans respect his intellect, his grace under pressure, his empathy and his deep commitment to our country. The contrast with the current president could not be more stark.
34
Trump was always selling his supporters a lie, a perception that could never be obtained by him. They believed him because deep down they want to believe that America can become the European Christian America they dream of, with themselves finally atop the mountain. America has always been a land of emigrants, built and forged by emigrants from the "four corners of the world'. It's who we are, it's who we will remain. to be. Trump, like all hucksters, con artists and swindlers do, will fade away. Some Trump voters will pick up a little of the "street smarts" most New Yorkers have had with Trump and his ilk, learn from their mistakes and move on smarter and. Others will forever lament at what could have been if only the rest of us hadn't prevented Trump from giving it to them.
The rest of us will have to pick up the pieces left behind by Trump and the GOP and re-build, but with re-building comes a change to make improvements, to shore up our defenses, and ensure a better America than Bannon, Trump, Ryan and McConnell envision.
The rest of us will have to pick up the pieces left behind by Trump and the GOP and re-build, but with re-building comes a change to make improvements, to shore up our defenses, and ensure a better America than Bannon, Trump, Ryan and McConnell envision.
13
Very nicely put. Too bad it'll fall into the new normal of "fake news/reporting". In reality Trump is the expert of fake news because most of what he says, does, tweets, etc is actually fake.
Trump followers are excited and pleased that they now have a champion. It's a pity that they'll be just as disheartened with him, one day, as they have been for the last 30 years.
Trump followers are excited and pleased that they now have a champion. It's a pity that they'll be just as disheartened with him, one day, as they have been for the last 30 years.
9
Charles Blow is, once again, correct in his analysis of Donald Trump's actions and motivations. The difficulty Americans face is that the Republican leadership is all too willing to overlook his flaws and to use this president as a vessel to accomplish their goals. They are fully aware of his dishonesty, even to the point of disregarding his outbursts and personal attacks on them. They will tolerate Donald Trump as long as they can continue to use him as the Salesman in Chief for their agenda. Perhaps Trump does not know better nor simply cannot overcome his deficiencies. The GOP Leadership knows better. Sadly, they have chosen power over democracy and good governance.
30
Once he has cleaned the country of all vestiges of President Obama and lined the pocketbooks of the wealthy, what will he do? Let them eat cake I guess.
Just another small step away from recreating a Neanderthal society (apology given to their memory).
Just another small step away from recreating a Neanderthal society (apology given to their memory).
12
Essentially just another mean little performance by Mr. Blow. I have never seen so much fun being had by all. He and his anti President Trump audience seem to be constantly running around with their pants on fire proclaiming the end of the World while apparently having the time of their lives in doing so.
10
Trump richly deserves all the vitriol we can muster. He is a vulgar, crude, misogynistic, xenophobic, racist know-nothing of a man and the sooner he departs Washington the better for the U.S. and the world (including Canada :).)
47
The threat of Trump's instability to our government is real, but I think the rest of your article (particularly the first half) is a distraction. Not all working class people who come into money are tacky. Basing it on personal experience, I assume most are not. But the question is, how many more opinion pieces will there be to play the dozens with Trump? Let's keep our focus on the issues and avoid personal jabs (even if Trump doesn't). It's going to take focus to make sure he doesn't win again.
13
I to find Trump to be loathsome, but I also think he is not capable of doing any better than he has done, given his history and his current mental symptoms. He is so impaired that in a rational world, he would be removed from office due to inability to function as president. That the GOP embraces him and rushes to enact into law his absurd and damaging health plan is even more of an immediate danger. The Democrats and all people of good conscience should focus on offering alternatives to the GOP and Trump's cruel and damaging plans. Somebody should care about the Trump voters (as well as the rest of us), and it clearly will never be Trump himself or the GOP. The disaster of the Trump administration gives the Democrats an opportunity to describe plans that would actually be likely to work, to improve health insurance and care, the economy, etc. Somewhere in the Democratic party is someone (besides Bill Clinton), who could explain the solutions to ordinary folks without sounding too pointy headed and elitist. Offer help, not criticism, to the voters who made a bad choice. Some are already wondering why they believed the con man in the White House.
23
"Offer help, not criticism, to the voters who made a bad choice." YES!!!
19
And Trump has always been this way. Try reading two pieces from around 1990, "After the Gold Rush" (Vanity Fair, 1990, about Donald and Ivana's dreams of nobility and their eventual divorce) and "Trump Went Broke, But Stayed On Top" (Washington Post, 1992, about Trump's dumb luck in becoming too big to fail).
Here is the complete third paragraph from the former (enough to shock you since it was written 27 years ago):
"It was spring, four years ago. Donald and Ivana Trump were seated at opposite ends of their long Sheraton table in Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post’s former dining room. They were posed in imperial style, as if they were a king and queen. They were at the height of their ride, and it was plenty glorious. Trump was seen on the news shows offering his services to negotiate with the Russians. There was talk that he might make a run for president. Ivana had had so much publicity that she now offered interviewers a press kit of flattering clips. Anything seemed possible, the Trumps had grown to such stature in the golden city of New York."
Here is the complete third paragraph from the former (enough to shock you since it was written 27 years ago):
"It was spring, four years ago. Donald and Ivana Trump were seated at opposite ends of their long Sheraton table in Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post’s former dining room. They were posed in imperial style, as if they were a king and queen. They were at the height of their ride, and it was plenty glorious. Trump was seen on the news shows offering his services to negotiate with the Russians. There was talk that he might make a run for president. Ivana had had so much publicity that she now offered interviewers a press kit of flattering clips. Anything seemed possible, the Trumps had grown to such stature in the golden city of New York."
17
The roots of trump's dysfunction may be deep and psycho genetic, but blow wastes time and column space repeatedly harping on personality, dissing the outer boroughs, and presuming to know what "high society" approves of - as if the upper class is relevant here? (There's a great song in Evita about class pretensions when the ship of state is sinking.). All of that is irrelevant. What blow considers "odious" is irrelevant; he 's just a snob. Readers need civic information and fundamental analysis, not the daily drama rehashed into leftovers.
LBJ was considered boorish after the effete kennedys. On domestic issues, he was a Rock solid statesman who enacted more landmark legislation than the guy in the tennis sweater on his yacht. Go figure.
LBJ was considered boorish after the effete kennedys. On domestic issues, he was a Rock solid statesman who enacted more landmark legislation than the guy in the tennis sweater on his yacht. Go figure.
27
Thank you for your fine journalism, Mr. Blow. I walked door-to-door acquiring support for the ACA in 2009 and was so thrilled in 2010 when the ACA became law. Remember speaking with one of the Obama interns at the time about how sweeping and significant the legislation was. I was so proud of President Obama and the Democrats and the volunteers who corrected this delayed injustice.
For a good part of my working adult life as a white single female I had no health insurance. Surgery for a serious condition was delayed for years as a result of losing a job due to domestic violence AND due to living in a country that ties healthcare to employment (and not all employment).
My outrage at this band of (white) thugs is indescribable. You articulate what many of use--numb with rage and outrage--cannot.
For a good part of my working adult life as a white single female I had no health insurance. Surgery for a serious condition was delayed for years as a result of losing a job due to domestic violence AND due to living in a country that ties healthcare to employment (and not all employment).
My outrage at this band of (white) thugs is indescribable. You articulate what many of use--numb with rage and outrage--cannot.
70
Trump probably thought that he could outdo Obama's accomplishments in the first hundred days with his executive orders, the repeal of Obamacare, and of course a brilliantly successful military operation that would match, maybe even outshine Obama's operation against Osama bin Laden. That one must have been especially important to him since that Seal Team raid happened the day after his own humiliation at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and forced him to listen to everyone praising Obama for keeping his cool so well on the eve of a very dangerous military mission. Oh, and then there's the little matter that Obama was elected the first time with landslide majorities in the popular and electoral vote, and the second time with solid popular and electoral majorities. Trump will never be able to claim that, and he hates it. He'd rather try to rewrite photographically documented reality than accept it.
45
yes, exactly. He's the epitome of a con man. He's the perfect example that money does not buy class. However, I doubt if he realizes any of that. He's on one hand an egomaniac, on the other hand he's insecure. I haven't figured out how those go together.
And his followers, unfortunately, are clueless.
And his followers, unfortunately, are clueless.
38
I am sick of this. Let me explain it clearly. I do not care about Trump, his upbringing or his personal insecurities. I don't care if he was mistreated as a child, I don't care if he often wallows in self-pity and feels miserable. I care about the destruction he is wreaking on the country and how we can come together to stop him. That is what matters. This bizarre infatuation with his personal insecurities is a time wasting distraction.
84
Your best, most eloquent column ever. You need to be in contention for a Pulitzer for stating so well what we need to have voiced.
19
Trump sold the country a ticket to hell, and it seems most of the people who voted for him are enjoying the ride.
15
Charles you really nailed it this time. Thanks.
21
Mr. Blow, I am in total agreement with you. Thank you for your brave and honest commentary.
19
If you also make the comparison to purchasing an automobile on-line or in the showroom. Thinking you negotiated the best deal on a sleek and slick Tesla, but when after signing the contract and financing, are handed the keys only to discover what you bought was a refurbished YUGO...!
7
You continue to provide clarity and insights into the land mines of our current POTUS.
One day I want to look you in the eye and tell you straight up how much I - and millions of others - appreciate you Charles Blow.
One day I want to look you in the eye and tell you straight up how much I - and millions of others - appreciate you Charles Blow.
26
The "Liar in Chief" is just getting warmed up. With no one to stop him in his own party he now knows he can keep doing what he does best... make stuff up.
For the "LIC" it is a great feeling to know he can keep making stuff up! no need to listen or read... just make stuff up. So far it got him elected president... Why should he stop lying now???
For the "LIC" it is a great feeling to know he can keep making stuff up! no need to listen or read... just make stuff up. So far it got him elected president... Why should he stop lying now???
17
The Trump wave is not at all complex. We do not need think tanks analyzing HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED??? Trump is nothing more or less than a con man who tells people what they want to hear.
19
When the narcissistic balloon gets punctured, it won't be a pretty picture. The rage & potential for destruction will be tremendous. How much actual damage occurs will largely depend on whether those who realize they bought a ticket to hell instead of bliss will be willing to turn around or whether their follower mentality will keep them so fused with their leaders' fatal narcissistic vision that they are willing to go to 'hell' with him and create hell for countless others.
18
Perhaps it is all a plan. Have the system completely fall apart so the only rational solution is to establish as an emergency temporary single payer system, ie Medicare for all, which then becomes permanent.
Nah, there is no plan.
Nah, there is no plan.
4
Many of the voters Mr. Blow alluded to have chosen to set themselves on fire, driven by their hate or ignorance, or both. We shall see if this changes who they vote for going forward.
5
Agreed. Trump's cabinet can be seen as a group of people who would never invite him to dinner: generals in uniform and top bankers who would consider him outer boro rather than Manhattan.
But his voters? Losers, because they believed his con.
3 card monte man in a bespoke suit!
But his voters? Losers, because they believed his con.
3 card monte man in a bespoke suit!
10
A brilliant column today, Mr. Blow.
I guess if you cannot reign in heaven you reign in hell. That is the welcoming place for Trump, and of his own creation.
I would add further to his obsession with Obama that given Trump's background and family's practices he cannot accept that a black man could have achieved what he has without 'cheating'. Trump seems hell bent on wiping out every achievement of Obama's just to prove his own worthiness.
Trump is really just a pathetic child in a man's body. He would destroy Obama's reputation along with it.
Newsflash, Mr. Trump. You will never replace Obama in character or class. You are not presidential and no fake speech in front of congress will make it so.
Why is it that republicans seek to push us back in progress, hate the poor and wreck the economy and then a democrat has to step in and try to fix things again? They have their leader and maybe he will take them all to hell so the rest of us can have something to build on.
I have to admit I take comfort in knowing that Trump doesn't seem capable of enjoying anything and connects to nothing. Perhaps that is his own personal hell and lonely place indeed.
I guess if you cannot reign in heaven you reign in hell. That is the welcoming place for Trump, and of his own creation.
I would add further to his obsession with Obama that given Trump's background and family's practices he cannot accept that a black man could have achieved what he has without 'cheating'. Trump seems hell bent on wiping out every achievement of Obama's just to prove his own worthiness.
Trump is really just a pathetic child in a man's body. He would destroy Obama's reputation along with it.
Newsflash, Mr. Trump. You will never replace Obama in character or class. You are not presidential and no fake speech in front of congress will make it so.
Why is it that republicans seek to push us back in progress, hate the poor and wreck the economy and then a democrat has to step in and try to fix things again? They have their leader and maybe he will take them all to hell so the rest of us can have something to build on.
I have to admit I take comfort in knowing that Trump doesn't seem capable of enjoying anything and connects to nothing. Perhaps that is his own personal hell and lonely place indeed.
15
Very astute observation. When he couldn't fit in with the elites he decided to destroy everything they stand for. Now he's doing the same thing to americans.
9
An outstanding analysis of President Pinocchio.
Face it, he's simply a very lucky modern age snake oil salesman with the power and influence to destroy America.
The imbecile's children who elected President Pinocchio and other Republican's will watch these greedy maggots feed on the corpse of this great nation.
So sad.
Face it, he's simply a very lucky modern age snake oil salesman with the power and influence to destroy America.
The imbecile's children who elected President Pinocchio and other Republican's will watch these greedy maggots feed on the corpse of this great nation.
So sad.
14
But the impact of this ticket to hell will be made right by endless rhetorical blather about the restoration of freedom of choice, freedom from non-interference in the doctor-patient relationship, freedom from Medicaid coverage, freedom from sub-standard insurance coverage, freedom to avoid coverage at all.
But everyone will have access to the Cartier diamond necklace of health care. As for financing it? Don't bother me with details.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
But everyone will have access to the Cartier diamond necklace of health care. As for financing it? Don't bother me with details.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
3
Trump voters losing their healthcare? It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of folks.
17
Trump is gold plated trash. He always has been and always will be. In his quest for adoration and validation, he will go down in history as one of the most despised beings on the planet.
21
The question, to me, is not how to reach Trump supporters. Many are so determined to believe whatever he tells them (with help from Fox News and Breitbart) that they will never be convinced. The question is how to reach the 40% of eligible voters who stayed home on November 8th, especially in key swing states. (see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/voter-turnout-2016-elections/ for some specifics) Many people stayed home in the last election, especially young and minority voters, because they felt neither candidate cared for them or their interests. So, Democrats, how are you going to reach them? Forget the Trump die-hards, and let them die hard in a bed of their own making. Figure out how to motivate the millions who didn't vote to do so.
24
First the birther accusations that went on for several years preparing Trump for his decision to run for office of President. Next the smears against the accomplishments of Pres. Obama. Next his transition meeting in the Oval Office with the most generous and classy President Obama, resulting in Trumps remarks praising Obama for his advice and helpful transition period. His remarks about how much he liked the President. Now the real Trump emerges once again to accuse President Obama of a felony. And the beat goes on! The Trump voters have elected a parasite on the rest of the country. He is not fit for this most sacred and important office in the land. When will it end? He will have to pay the devil in the end and I predict the end is soon!
12
good as far as it goes...but rather than bemoaning the imposter, I think the more important issue is how, regardless of what we know, the Republicans are in collusion and obstructing special investigation, as if all this were a normal presidency rather than a constitutional crisis, and allowing the destruction of our institutions in support of the 1%
15
The "ticket to hell" is going to be a ticket to death for many Americans, most of them Mr Trump's voters.
Delivered to them by the so-called compassionate Republicans.
It saddens me immensely to witness the collective suicidal march of the gullible Trump voters, but it angers me even more profoundly to watch the national homicidal offensive that many in the Republican party are orchestrating in total impunity.
Delivered to them by the so-called compassionate Republicans.
It saddens me immensely to witness the collective suicidal march of the gullible Trump voters, but it angers me even more profoundly to watch the national homicidal offensive that many in the Republican party are orchestrating in total impunity.
191
Great writing--Edith Wharton would have loved this.
18
Donald Trump is a modern day snake oil salesman who has left collateral damage all over from his business dealings. He blames everyone else when he leaves the destruction behind (look at Atlantic City) and now the collateral damage will be us. He sells everyone on how he is going to make things great again (what he said in Atlantic City) and instead he leaves a path of destruction. He has blamed the city, the state or the construction teams for his past failures ... and now it's the FBI, the CIA and most recently the heads of our military for losing the life of a honorable Navy Seal. His past and present bahavior is consistent to who he is ...a despicable human being.
3
A still "Unvetted" President in Pretense, an "elected Servant" who Only
"Serves" Himself, the Normalization of the Abnormal, publicly and purposely, Trump's obscene presence has rendered the People Into a
Silent Voiceless Rage. The simple exposure of his Taxes and usual financial
"situation" have been successfully "withheld" as he wields his tongue in
His Vacuous dictation. As he would Tweet, "Sad....Sick".
"Serves" Himself, the Normalization of the Abnormal, publicly and purposely, Trump's obscene presence has rendered the People Into a
Silent Voiceless Rage. The simple exposure of his Taxes and usual financial
"situation" have been successfully "withheld" as he wields his tongue in
His Vacuous dictation. As he would Tweet, "Sad....Sick".
11
This column shows that Trump is a "known known" in Rumsfeld's famous phraseology. He is a clear and present danger to the Office of the President. Specifically, his presidential speech is not appropriate for the duties of the office. Trump is the prime carrier of a national political speech disorder currently driving all of us nuts (for example, tweeting that Obama hacked him). But Trump is doing this with the approval of about 80% of his followers. So we must understand both who Trump is and why his followers are so faithful. Personally, Trump is a narcissistic sociopath - a clever self-absorbed manipulator with a huge ego and anger issues. Politically, Trump is a transactional authoritarian who does not care about our government, the constitution, the public, the truth, and who disrespects social institutions such as science, the law and the press. He wants to replace our reliance on our social institutions with himself - he alone, he the maximum leader, he will fix what's wrong. Unfortunately, about one-third of the voters want the same thing - a strong man who will fix things, whom they can follow blindly, faithfully. We must reach out to these followers, figure out how to deal with them. We must also find ways to treat his political speech disorder, first with better speech of our own, second with prompt objection and contradiction to his unacceptable speech, and finally with containment (remove Trump speech from the Office of President).
18
"A Ticket to Hell"......I sure pray not. I pray that Mr. Trump will humble himself. Yes it has been said, "the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior", but I'm prayerful that Mr. Trump will change for the better even if that has to occur outside of the presidency. While I'm not minimizing the hurtful things that have been done, everyone has room for improvement.
I believe that greed has overtaken him and his ability to think rationally regarding anything that will not benefit him....tainted, yet Jehovah's hands are still outstretched. I would also like to see him open his doors more to people who disagree with him. I was happy to hear he met with Senator Graham, Cruz and Representative Cummings, but he will need to kick the cronyism to the curb and his myopic view of success. Yes, he has a lot of self inflicted wounds, but the people around him aren't helping the situation either.
Bottom line, what worked for him in business even the ugliness of his past, is disastrous for his presidency and our country. I want him to get a first class ticket to humility. To continue in pride is detrimental to him and America.
I believe that greed has overtaken him and his ability to think rationally regarding anything that will not benefit him....tainted, yet Jehovah's hands are still outstretched. I would also like to see him open his doors more to people who disagree with him. I was happy to hear he met with Senator Graham, Cruz and Representative Cummings, but he will need to kick the cronyism to the curb and his myopic view of success. Yes, he has a lot of self inflicted wounds, but the people around him aren't helping the situation either.
Bottom line, what worked for him in business even the ugliness of his past, is disastrous for his presidency and our country. I want him to get a first class ticket to humility. To continue in pride is detrimental to him and America.
7
Given the fact that #45 is a known racist, as was his father especially as it came to his rental policies in NYC, I'm sure it is particularly galling for him to know he doesn't measure up to his predecessor. No amount of money can make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
32
Based on his promises, Trump should have be at the front of the line opposing the Ryancare bill.
14
Mr. Blow, you nailed him. Tweetle-Dumb is the shopgirl's image of the rich, and if she's pretty, she'll get the honor of being groped by him. I still believe the truly rich work tirelessly for charity while the crassly rich work tirelessly for their favorite charity, themselves.
Where are those tax returns? They'll tell us how rich he really is? Why won't he release them? What is he afraid of, if he's so 'fabulous?" When will Americans see through the gold plated ego? The Tweetle-Dumb's bubble will have to burst some day - the sooner the better for our sake.
Where are those tax returns? They'll tell us how rich he really is? Why won't he release them? What is he afraid of, if he's so 'fabulous?" When will Americans see through the gold plated ego? The Tweetle-Dumb's bubble will have to burst some day - the sooner the better for our sake.
18
Sadly, intellectual thought is wasted on this grifter, 3rd rate gameshow host. His blind, redneck base will follow him off a cliff. Which is where they are heading
27
Trump's base is not limited to a "redneck base", but includes others who have responded to one or two things that grabbed them psychologically during the long awful campaign. The seeds for discontent have been planted slowly for more than several decades. The disdain of select government programs (Welfare, health care, Medicaid, even Social Security and Medicare were targeted by Bush and others on the right); and the distrust of central federal control irked those who were more than willing to pollute water and air to make a profit. The Republican center sought to limit or reduce what they saw as government intrusion. Even today they argue for a free market health system, despite the realities. Can't forget T Party uprising demanding a signed promisie that Congressional candidates would not raise taxes, no matter what. Throw in the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the bluster that followed and the neo-con's determination that war was the answer. This followed by rise of ISIS becoming the preeminent terrorist threat. The great Recession (2008), the loss of manufacturing, the influx of immigrants, San Bernadino. The failed attempt by the Times Square bomber, the doubling down on gun rights, especially after the Sandyhook school and Virginia Tech massacres; the killings in movie theater and on the streets of our cities,and then the rise of Black Lives Matter. The scene was set and the lines were drawn, and now we have Trump. How do we recover?
3
Only one other man lost money in the Casino business, Moe Green.
11
A gilded President that is saving the electorate from The Bogeyman is exactly what a Trump supporter is looking for in Mr. Trump. They will be content with ObamaCare 2.0 (just so it's a "win") and they'll put up with a rickety fence in place of a "beautiful wall" and it will assuredly make it in the win column.
Watered down isn't isn't an issue with a Trump supporter. We live in an era of comic book cinema and bad boy internet billionaires, so why not a gilded President who is a paranoid liar who exclusively surrounds himself with paranoid white men. This plays perfectly to the white Texas anti-abortion country-clubbing Christian crowd while also appealing to the white guy and gal who feel that their jobs are being taken by "them".
I apologize for the overuse of "paranoid" and "white", but isn't this the pink elephant in the room, Mr. Blow? We're living through a WhiteLash that could easily last eight years and it won't be pretty. Every negative in your article is a positive for those that elected Mr. Trump. It shows that we live in a very sick environment and I'm scared to death.
Watered down isn't isn't an issue with a Trump supporter. We live in an era of comic book cinema and bad boy internet billionaires, so why not a gilded President who is a paranoid liar who exclusively surrounds himself with paranoid white men. This plays perfectly to the white Texas anti-abortion country-clubbing Christian crowd while also appealing to the white guy and gal who feel that their jobs are being taken by "them".
I apologize for the overuse of "paranoid" and "white", but isn't this the pink elephant in the room, Mr. Blow? We're living through a WhiteLash that could easily last eight years and it won't be pretty. Every negative in your article is a positive for those that elected Mr. Trump. It shows that we live in a very sick environment and I'm scared to death.
15
Great article and spot on. Mr. Blow understands the the shallowness of Donald Trump. I hope the Trump reads this and changes his way. Tall order, I agree.
8
Put McConnell, Ryan and their cohorts on their new ACA as a trial run. In fact, put the entire Congress on it and then perhaps they will have a little more understanding of what this will do to millions of their"fellow Americans".
12
I don't know what healthcare coverage Charles Blow has, most certainly a top of the line plan. I don't know why he doesn't take advantage of it's mental health benefits, as his Trump Derangement Syndrome is spiraling out of control.
His envy of Donald Trump's success is so pathetic, that you would think the management at the Times would insist he seek treatment.
His envy of Donald Trump's success is so pathetic, that you would think the management at the Times would insist he seek treatment.
15
On the contrary, sir, Mr. Blow is the sane guy in the room. The emperor has no clothes, and if Blow's analysis is too much for some, wait until your next government program is taken from those who find Trump wholesome. The time will come when Trump apologists will disconnect. The health care plan just might be the thing that unravels this administration.
12
Envy? Blow is accomplished, well liked and respected. He has worked for what he has. He surely doesn't envy Trump. I can't imagine what kind of pathetic loser would ever envy Trump.
17
The whole point here is that it's Trump's own class envy that led him to behave so badly, from the start. That's what made him such a figure of ridicule and contempt -- no amount of money or "winning" could buy him real class, and each new effort only served to display how utterly crass and crude he really is. No New Yorker who's been paying attention could possibly envy such a monster of envy. Maybe you didn't get that in Pennsylvania.
8
Nailed it exactly. Brilliant. Thank you Mr. Blow.
9
Cheesy used car salesman? Or Anti-Christ? What he promised is great - what he is doing is evil.
7
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" Proverbs 29:18 , Trump has no vision or hind sight and he and his cabinet are certainly not keeping the law.
NY liberal atheist
NY liberal atheist
8
45 knows his days are numbered...
8
Charles, your unique background contributes a vital element to the debate, without which it makes no sense: Trump cannot be understood if people shrink away from the language of good and evil. It is pitiful to watch journalists hang on to their sophisticated hats, and try to express existential crisis in words rendered impotent by lack of moral force. Ultimately, when all the elaborate analyses are done, a few battered surviving ideas remain. Cruel. Malicious. Malevolent. Mean. Contemptuous. Destructive. Bigoted. Greedy.
That these hellish impulses have been personified and placed in power is a disaster not to be adequately described in the polite discourse of the lecture room.
That these hellish impulses have been personified and placed in power is a disaster not to be adequately described in the polite discourse of the lecture room.
10
For all the merits of Mr. Blow's column, I strongly recommend readers to view its comments. Over and over, readers repeat the now common trope, echoed on cable news including CNN and MSNBC, that Trump's voters are a monolithic bloc of ignorant, poorly educated, underemployed residents of rural America. This is only partly true. In fact, many of those voters are affluent and excited about erasing a legislative and judicial legacy that dates from FDR, Eisenhower and even Nixon. Many of those voters have good jobs (for the time being), reside in metropolitan areas in all parts of the country and are fueled as much by xenophobia, misogyny, class prejudice and bigotry as they are by economic issues including rising health care insurance and "all those damn taxes." Similarly, many of these voters are aware that the current Presidential regime is fractured, compromised, corrupted and its leader increasingly unhinged. These voters are neither brain-dead nor impotent. Stay tuned.
14
I'm sorry but if you vote for someone with a fourth grade vocabulary who lies 70% of the time, your brain is either dead or on life support.
10
Thank you Mr. Blow for continuing to speak truth to power. Reading your acute and forceful opinions gives me renewed energy to persist and resist.
17
Mr. Blow's column is far too facile. It's easy to dig beneath the make-up and see the blemishes on any person. But a serious analysis of how Trump became President and why he attracted people is what we need now, not these "superficial sighs, the borders of our lives."
We need to look and see why Mr. Trump's candidacy was scandalized late, and then Ms. Clinton's after that (by the FBI Director). I'm not a conspiracy nut, just an observer of history. There are power-brokers who look at the various candidates and their programs, and decide which are to their liking or beliefs or are acceptable, and which not. Then the candidates ability to move the populace gets factored in, or more accurately, the ability to motivate a base of support for programs that may well not be in the interest of the very people who will vote for the candidate gets factored in.
"Populist" is too easy a description. What was fought out in the last election was a direction for the country. And this was too important a decision for the truly powerful (that 1%, a populist and errant term) to leave to those Mr. Blow calls Trump's supporters. That these power-brokers are modern-day Dr. Frankenstein's is an apt analogy. They can't control their monster.
We need to look and see why Mr. Trump's candidacy was scandalized late, and then Ms. Clinton's after that (by the FBI Director). I'm not a conspiracy nut, just an observer of history. There are power-brokers who look at the various candidates and their programs, and decide which are to their liking or beliefs or are acceptable, and which not. Then the candidates ability to move the populace gets factored in, or more accurately, the ability to motivate a base of support for programs that may well not be in the interest of the very people who will vote for the candidate gets factored in.
"Populist" is too easy a description. What was fought out in the last election was a direction for the country. And this was too important a decision for the truly powerful (that 1%, a populist and errant term) to leave to those Mr. Blow calls Trump's supporters. That these power-brokers are modern-day Dr. Frankenstein's is an apt analogy. They can't control their monster.
8
The 2016 election proved beyond reasonable doubt that the concept of relativity is fundamentally misunderstood by a majority of voters in states where it matters.
5
Excellent assessment. Thank you for this, Mr. Blow.
1
Seems to me the Trump-Ryan health bill is far more of a threat to Americans than terrorists. Some politicians are ponzi schemers, others are poker players, others approach life as a game of chess. Trump's game is three-card Monty - just try to not to get distracted. He is a walking chaos machine but Trump knows that people don't react until they are effected directly - Trump's voters won't understand the health care bill until they lose their healthcare and then it will be way too late.
17
When our urban youth are criticized for not behaving like the majority, the reason given is that they were raised in a fashion that precluded it, that's their culture, and we should not condemn them for their behavior. Mr. Trump, however, is called coarse and crass for doing the same thing. Interesting,
2
1) He's 70 years old, so nominally an adult.
2) He was raised with every advantage, unlike the "urban youth" that you reference.
2) He was raised with every advantage, unlike the "urban youth" that you reference.
17
It's become standard practice to absolve the Trump voters as being victims of circumstance, this time it's for being "leery of institutions and weary of the establishment." I don't hold with that view. You learn in this life. I lost money to a guy doing card tricks on a bus once, and once only. I moved my hand too slowly through a candle flame exactly once.
I believe that Trump voters are some combination of ignorant and viciously bigoted. (I know, hardly a revelation.)
Life got you on the ropes? That's when character will tell. And it did.
I believe that Trump voters are some combination of ignorant and viciously bigoted. (I know, hardly a revelation.)
Life got you on the ropes? That's when character will tell. And it did.
18
Yes, yes, yes…Donald Trump is a very bad person. He is a con artist, a thief, a liar, and a sexual predator. And he is too easy a mark for journalism. A better story is: what are we going to do about him? What are we going to do about addressing the fact that many of his supporters admire his behavior? In fact, one could argue that the con and the hustle, “the art of the deal,” is a fundamental part of the American ethos; it fuels the American economy. Too many Americans applaud people, like Trump, who can game the system to achieve the American Dream. If they could get away with it, they would do it too: off-shore accounts, outsourcing, tax loop holes, insider trading, and nefarious, convoluted financial products like derivatives – all maneuvers that create and protect wealth. The driving “moral” principle of our free-market economy is the maximization of profits – as in money, not social profit. The very purpose of the financial-business sector is to exploit people, to squeeze out profit at all cost – to “get away with it”; to hide in the jungle of legal and financial complexity; to make it at least “appear” legal. And if caught – settle out of court and write it off. Trump is just doing what the American system has taught him to do, just doing what has reaped him huge rewards. Until we are willing to address the environment and values that created Trump – values that by omission or commission we all share and tolerate – we shouldn’t be surprised that he exists.
9
One of your best pieces, Mr. Blow.
13
Very well said, Charles Blow
7
When he was asked about Michael Flynn's contact with the Russian ambassador, Donald said he didn't know anything about it. When he was asked who changed the Republican platform plank on Ukraine to be friendlier to Russia, Donald said he knew nothing about it. Neither story was true.
By actually during the campaign, Donald lies 74% of the time. Why would anyone take him literally or seriously? Ever?
By actually during the campaign, Donald lies 74% of the time. Why would anyone take him literally or seriously? Ever?
11
This article is pure poetry. "All guts and elbows.." It's like you know the guy. I was one of his bankers in the day (1990.) "Money-drenched messiah" sold them "a bill of goods."
10
The unvarnished truth. Thank you.
8
Nobody knew that being President could be so complicated...
9
Stick to the issues and make your points without all the mean-spirited personal remarks. Remember what Michelle says? "...We go high".
Go high.
Go high.
2
....Mr Blow we get it...you didn't vote for President Trump...you don't like President Trump...you will never like President Trump and if given the opportunity, you will vote against President Trump...how many times are you going to sing the same tune...
10
They are voting TODAY to get rid of the ACA.
Wake up. This is a dismantling of care for millions of people- that is why Mr. B is hollering.
Wake up. This is a dismantling of care for millions of people- that is why Mr. B is hollering.
10
I find your denial of being so freaking had by a con artist you didn't even vet to be far more remarkable than Charles Blow's contempt for your pet arsonist.
8
Until you listen up, jb.
19
A Shakespearean tale. A true and honest biography by Mr. Blow.
By the Doobie Brothers, 1970's singing group: "What a fool believes he sees
no wise man has the power to reason away"
By the Doobie Brothers, 1970's singing group: "What a fool believes he sees
no wise man has the power to reason away"
10
Please all, our "So Called" did not win in November!!! America lost. We have a failed institution, the Electoral College, that was instituted to prevent a person of the "So Called" character from becoming president.
9
The electoral college was designed to spread political power the length and breadth of the country and discourage mob rule by population centers to the detriment of smaller states and less populous areas.The arguments presented in this propaganda filled tabloid as to it being a "failed institution" are absurd and so much petulant caterwauling by know nothings that are a shame to actual lasting democracy. The smaller states will never abolish it, so will you whining fools please for God's sake shut your slobbering pie holes about it.
8
Wrong. The electoral college was actually designed, by compromise, to protect slavery, together with the original constitutional provision that a slave counted as three-fifths of a person for calculating how many representatives, and electors, each state would have (of course, a slave couldn't cast even 3/5 of a vote). We can agree the electoral college is a political reality that can't be changed now. Like all the other checks and balances, people end up viewing it as a success or failure based on which results they were rooting for.
No "argument" presented by a commenter makes the NYT anything at all simply by being published here. Your own writing style, though, "Winston," is at least as "propaganda-filled" and "tabloid" as anything else here.
The idea that "know nothings" are the ones complaining about Trump is also wrong, laughably so -- the real Know-Nothings were mainly concerned about protecting their jobs and opposed everything they thought threatened them, including immigrants, Catholics, and slavery itself. Bannon has acknowledged Trump supporters' similarity: “We’re the know-nothing vulgarians." (And, as a historical reference, he meant it.)
The main threat to "actual lasting democracy" is the election of irresponsible leaders by ignorant voters.
No "argument" presented by a commenter makes the NYT anything at all simply by being published here. Your own writing style, though, "Winston," is at least as "propaganda-filled" and "tabloid" as anything else here.
The idea that "know nothings" are the ones complaining about Trump is also wrong, laughably so -- the real Know-Nothings were mainly concerned about protecting their jobs and opposed everything they thought threatened them, including immigrants, Catholics, and slavery itself. Bannon has acknowledged Trump supporters' similarity: “We’re the know-nothing vulgarians." (And, as a historical reference, he meant it.)
The main threat to "actual lasting democracy" is the election of irresponsible leaders by ignorant voters.
6
"As many others have pointed out, he became the idiot’s image of an intellectual, the coward’s image of a courageous man and the pauper’s image of a prosperous man."
So true, so true. I could not say it any better.
So true, so true. I could not say it any better.
15
I have no doubt that Trump, Sessions and the Republicans are waiting until shortly before the 2018 mid-term elections to launch a full bore attack on voting rights in an attempt to suppress the votes of people who are likely to be non-Republicans especially in States that are swing States.
By 2018 we will definitely be living back in the 1950's and early '60's in terms of the right to vote.
By 2018 we will definitely be living back in the 1950's and early '60's in terms of the right to vote.
12
If the Electoral College isn't abolished before this travesty happens again, the US will burn down to ashes.
5
The attack is ongoing. Jeff Sessions and private prisons, since prisons are a substitute for Jim Crow since people of color got the right to vote. There are a range of voter suppression appointees, and don't forget Gorsuch. Have a look:
http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Democracy,_Voter_Rights,_and_Federal_Power
http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Democracy,_Voter_Rights,_and_Federal_Power
3
Trump captured a segment of the electorate because they resent and/or deplore the "elites" - those with education and wealth and a disproportionate influence on society. By continuing to have "outer-borough" manners and mannerisms, Trump set himself up to appeal to this group, despite his very elite wealth. They identify with him. This is why the recent flap over how he eats his steak played right into his hands. His administration has been a disaster so far, and absent impeachment, things will continue to go down hill. Trump voters got what they voted for, even though they didn't believe that was what they were getting. Unfortunately, they took all the rest of us along with them.
8
Yes, Trump is the poster-boy for tacky rich, and I have no doubt that his lack of acceptance by the social stratum he aspired to join helps fuel his boastful, in-your-face, behavior. Unfortunately, with many of his supporters under the delusion that he's "one of us," their cognitive dissonance makes it nearly impossible for them to see that their best interests are not driving Trump policies. By the time they feel the ramifications, I fear it will be too late and their protections, as well as mine, will be gone.
However, if a demagogue was going to be elected, we should thank our stars that it is tacky rich Trump. His baloney is ridiculously easy to spot, and his careless comments are easily tracked and refuted. How much worse for us if he was smart enough to work behind the scenes, if his wealth was used quietly to subvert government, purchase legislators, and enact legislation favorable to him and his cronies? How much worse for us if we didn't see him coming?
I give you Charles and David Koch.
However, if a demagogue was going to be elected, we should thank our stars that it is tacky rich Trump. His baloney is ridiculously easy to spot, and his careless comments are easily tracked and refuted. How much worse for us if he was smart enough to work behind the scenes, if his wealth was used quietly to subvert government, purchase legislators, and enact legislation favorable to him and his cronies? How much worse for us if we didn't see him coming?
I give you Charles and David Koch.
213
I give you Ted Cruz, too.
Thanks for providing a reason to be thankful for Trump. I could not possibly have imagined any.
Conspiracy theory: the conservatives put up Trump on purpose, because they knew he would be such a buffoon and such a disaster that even the libruhls would be grateful when they impeached him and installed Pence (who could never even remotely have gotten elected on his own).
Discuss.
Thanks for providing a reason to be thankful for Trump. I could not possibly have imagined any.
Conspiracy theory: the conservatives put up Trump on purpose, because they knew he would be such a buffoon and such a disaster that even the libruhls would be grateful when they impeached him and installed Pence (who could never even remotely have gotten elected on his own).
Discuss.
3
The thing is: NYC loves an outerboro striver on the make. But it can't stand assholes.
24
Being odiousness, coarse and crass is very distasteful and a national embarrassment but the fact that Trump hasn't the intelligence to plan and strategize anything is more concerning.
And to put it plainly, that half the people he has surrounded himself with are corrupt financial back room dealers with Russian connections the Times has barely tapped concerns me. The Times should get on the case of Department of Commerce sec. Wilbur Ross. Corrupt billionaire banker with connections to The BanK of Cypress, Russia, and Trump. Read the latest Bill Moyers newsletter.
And to put it plainly, that half the people he has surrounded himself with are corrupt financial back room dealers with Russian connections the Times has barely tapped concerns me. The Times should get on the case of Department of Commerce sec. Wilbur Ross. Corrupt billionaire banker with connections to The BanK of Cypress, Russia, and Trump. Read the latest Bill Moyers newsletter.
12
They should also never take their pens off bannon. He is the puppet master who is pulling trump's strings. Without him, trump would have imploded already.
6
Trump still lives in the TV age, however much Trump tweets. He watches some 6 hours of tv a day, like his followers.He seems to have watched too many episodes of "The Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous".
His followers were awed by his wealth and his "having his own TV show." Who knew Healthcare and the presidency were "so complex?"
Not the President or his followers, to our detriment.
His followers were awed by his wealth and his "having his own TV show." Who knew Healthcare and the presidency were "so complex?"
Not the President or his followers, to our detriment.
10
I admire Mr. Blow's having the sheer talent to capture the essence of this true American tragedy. I always find it cathartic to read his articles - antidotes to despair.
I've often wondered how the base - pun intended - are able to stomach the unimaginable gap between their lives and the lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous existence of President DT. Why don't they balk at, for example, the weekend escapes to Florida costing them millions? As you pointed out, the true supporters don't resent it, they just think he's rightly living the American Dream.
I've often wondered how the base - pun intended - are able to stomach the unimaginable gap between their lives and the lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous existence of President DT. Why don't they balk at, for example, the weekend escapes to Florida costing them millions? As you pointed out, the true supporters don't resent it, they just think he's rightly living the American Dream.
9
It no longer matters whether you're liberal, conservative, democrat or republican. What this boils down to is common humanity. We, and I mean every single one of us, have to recognize this sham for what it is- a complete desecration of the human values that have defined this country for the past 241 years. Mr. Trump gleefully refers to a revolution that catapulted him into office.
I suspect a second revolution is needed to dump him, Mr. Bannon and Mr. Cohen into the gutter; they've already dumped us there.
I suspect a second revolution is needed to dump him, Mr. Bannon and Mr. Cohen into the gutter; they've already dumped us there.
10
One of the commenters said: “many, if not a majority of rural voters, vote out of a sense that they are not getting their "fair share" from government” …. Unfortunately, from their point of view, that is understandable. What I have trouble understanding is how he also managed to “sell” many educated middle America folks.
All these disgruntled voters bought into the carney medicine man’s “vital elixir” - the trumpet himself – as the cure of all their troubles. But he, just like the carney medicine man, conned them all the way and then turned his back on them once he was elected, by surrounding himself with far right conservative millionaires, exacerbating the very problems he “promised” to fix.
Now a whole group of oligarchs are actually in control of the government, rather than just pulling the strings with their under-the-table money, and dismantling all the hard won progress we have made to date.
We’re tumbling down a rabbit hole like a bunch of mad hatters, following a carney medicine man, who has no idea what he is doing and who has given free rein to the mad hatters to roll back laws we have fought hard and long for, creating new hair-schemed ones of devastation that will pad their pockets and take from the rest of ours. I truly shudder to think how we will struggle through the next four years without losing a hundred years of progress.
All these disgruntled voters bought into the carney medicine man’s “vital elixir” - the trumpet himself – as the cure of all their troubles. But he, just like the carney medicine man, conned them all the way and then turned his back on them once he was elected, by surrounding himself with far right conservative millionaires, exacerbating the very problems he “promised” to fix.
Now a whole group of oligarchs are actually in control of the government, rather than just pulling the strings with their under-the-table money, and dismantling all the hard won progress we have made to date.
We’re tumbling down a rabbit hole like a bunch of mad hatters, following a carney medicine man, who has no idea what he is doing and who has given free rein to the mad hatters to roll back laws we have fought hard and long for, creating new hair-schemed ones of devastation that will pad their pockets and take from the rest of ours. I truly shudder to think how we will struggle through the next four years without losing a hundred years of progress.
5
All so very true, Mr. Blow. But I'm afraid we in the U.S. will need to travel to hell and hopefully back so that those folks who voted for Trump will finally understand why what he represents is so damaging. I say, let him - and his cowardly crew - fail and fail miserably. If anyone saves him or them - or even us as Americans - from the consequences of his nonsensical policies, the American public will not feel the pain it seems to need for it to back more intelligent solutions to our nation's issues.
5
Sadly reminiscent of his predecessor. All spin and deception, he cut a swath of devastation through the Middle East, the American heartland, the law, and race! Why do we continue to value style over substance? Our celebratory culture, perhaps.
2
Now this is what we expect from the Trump troll...the neat pivot to Obama; deflection to hide the inability to defend the indefensible.
14
Your post is deceiving.
Obamacare is actual healthcare. Trumpcare is a tax cut to the wealthy. Losing your healthcare is what is "a swath of devastation". Are you for real.
Obamacare is actual healthcare. Trumpcare is a tax cut to the wealthy. Losing your healthcare is what is "a swath of devastation". Are you for real.
11
Not just ardent supporters - who will continue, despite tons of evidence to the contrary, that Mr. Trump is their man and all critics are trying to sabotage his presidency! What about all the "regular" Republicans, educated, many affluent - they aren't finding any problems with this man. If they are, they're being awfully quiet! No. They just want the Republican agenda to be passed and want their conservative Supreme Court nominee to be appointed. Just holding their nose until the smell passes! But a lot of these people care about the environment, healthcare, education, animal welfare (why remove from the gov't website a helpful tool for determining animal abusers?) - so many things that are being decimated by the actions of this man and this Republican Congress. That is perhaps more disappointing to me then all the ignorant people who follow and support Trump.
7
I know many thoughtful, successful, educated Republicans who did not hesitate to vote for Trump, not nearly as much because of their enthusiasm for Trump as their utter disdain for "Hillary." So far, I suspect they are not particularly happy with Trump's behavior as president, but they are largely satisfied with his his choice for the Supreme Court, his cabinet, and his enabling of Republican leadership in Congress to pursue a long-denied conservative legislative agenda. I imagine they would not be traumatized if a scandal removed Trump and elevated Mike Pence, a reliable conservative on nearly all issues, who would certainly lead more diplomatically on both domestic and international fronts. But the reaction of Trump true-believers to his removal? That would concern me, to say the least.
124
Nathan Kvinge, there are many educated people who are all brains and no heart. Many have "book learnin'" but no common sense and some are just plain selfish. Mike Pence, who seems like a smart and educated man takes his marching orders from the Bible, go figure.
6
There can be no defense of the unvetted nobody that Obama was before he was elected. The reality here is that Trump is Obama's legacy. Obama remains a line in the sand for Americans, and Trump represents Americans who were intentionally pushed across that line.
4
No, If you voted for Trump, you own that vote, especially in Michigan.
The ACA is Obama's legacy and a lot of people even the goofs who don't know that it is Obamacare they have are happy to have insurance.
The ACA is Obama's legacy and a lot of people even the goofs who don't know that it is Obamacare they have are happy to have insurance.
7
Isuppose you could rephrase your inane post as "America go tired of winning so much, which led us to Trump".
4
Obama was unvetted????? What color is the sky in your world? And where are Trump's tax returns, speaking of being unvetted?
And what difference does being vetted make if 60 million Americans will vote for a self-admitted serial sexual assaulter, defrauder, mocker of disabled people, attacker of Gold Star families and US tortured POWs...
What is it you would want vetting to uncover if you're willing to ignore all of that?
And what difference does being vetted make if 60 million Americans will vote for a self-admitted serial sexual assaulter, defrauder, mocker of disabled people, attacker of Gold Star families and US tortured POWs...
What is it you would want vetting to uncover if you're willing to ignore all of that?
18
I Faulkner were alive he would realize that old Flem had finally made it.
2
The most brilliant analysis of Trump so far. All these thoughts have been rolling around in my head, but Charles brings them all together like no one else has. The NYT is embarked on its most important mission in history, saving the Republic. Keep up the good work.
8
True class escapes DT. All he knows are cheap, gaudy imitations.
He may be in the White House. But he's trashing it by his very presence.
He may be in the White House. But he's trashing it by his very presence.
8
I am convinced that trump asked Theresa May to be the first Foreign guest of his presidency to ask for an invitation to meet the Queen. It was all he could care about.
6
What’s happening in the U.S.A. is a cult phenomenon. Bcause Trump has shallow convictions, he is readily mesmerized by the strong personality of charismatic people, such as the likes of Jim Jones, Charles Manson, Benito Mussolini, or Steve Bannon. These folks get their high from manipulating people of high stature. They are adept at ululating in political glossolalia that even they themselves may not understand. When one of them gains unlimited access to him, hypnosis occurs. So Bannon did, and makes Trump do and say what he whispers in Trump’s ears. It’s a common enough occurrence in this country. The potential disaster is that in this case it occurs in a culture of denial and self-deception. Not one in his orbit realizes that the glaring problem is paranoid schizophrenia. One day, he may halucinate that the enemy is everywhere and is bent on destroying him. He could click the nuclear biscuit and as he plummets downward, he screams that his rating is fantastic. As in Dr. Strangetrump.
7
Sort of like the cult of Obama, where he was never wrong no matter what. Pretty sure that won't happen with Trump the press covers him to death and loathes him just the opposite of Obama.
2
Sadly, our liar in chief seems only interested in the reality he invents in the moment, not in the truth, and far too many people either believe him or see an advantage (I'm looking at you, Congressional Republicans, where's your conscience and/or your soul?) in enabling him.
He is wholly delusional, and he has the power to do a great deal. The news breaks almost every day about his corrupt profiteering, and his choices are bent on destroying everything that is good in our government.
At what point does the foul odor of absolute corruption and the dangers of corrupt power get to people enough to remove him from office. He is a destroyer, and his lies are legion.
He is wholly delusional, and he has the power to do a great deal. The news breaks almost every day about his corrupt profiteering, and his choices are bent on destroying everything that is good in our government.
At what point does the foul odor of absolute corruption and the dangers of corrupt power get to people enough to remove him from office. He is a destroyer, and his lies are legion.
14
Trump's supporters have such low expectations for their President Odd-Jabba because they have such low expectations of themselves. They have the aspirations of inmates-- to be fearsomely frightening to others, or weasally-sly, or flirtatiously wheedling. They know their lives will never be very successful. Many harbor the dark suspicion that they're not destined to die in bed, either. They use "party" as an action verb and recite mottos like "ride hard, die fast," 'cold dead hands" and "I'll drink to that."
If Trump stripped down in public to cloven hooves, a barbed tail and hair like a sleek orange pelt, wreathed in sulfur smoke, his supporters would applaud wildly. Of course he "sells them out," in the observable sense. So long as he's busy spreading his darkness everywhere, though, they wouldn't have it any other way. Trump could only sell out his supporters in a meaningful way by forsaking his Thunderdrome barbarism and presenting himself as just another pasty-faced brick in that bland Great Wall of Elitism that always seems to be between them and those beautiful Elysian fields they see hovering dream-like just the other side of their flat panel TV screens.
If Trump stripped down in public to cloven hooves, a barbed tail and hair like a sleek orange pelt, wreathed in sulfur smoke, his supporters would applaud wildly. Of course he "sells them out," in the observable sense. So long as he's busy spreading his darkness everywhere, though, they wouldn't have it any other way. Trump could only sell out his supporters in a meaningful way by forsaking his Thunderdrome barbarism and presenting himself as just another pasty-faced brick in that bland Great Wall of Elitism that always seems to be between them and those beautiful Elysian fields they see hovering dream-like just the other side of their flat panel TV screens.
9
This guy right here is the one of the reasons why Trump is president. This guy and his arrogance to everyone he doesn't understand is the reason why we are here. Thanks for getting Trump elected "OlderThanDirt".
3
Love that "they use 'party' as an action verb," Older.
But there's no way Trump could present himself as just another brick in the wall of elitism. He'd never be accepted by intellectuals, or the true upper crust, or anyone with good taste as belonging. He has to know that. And it's possible that his followers know that, too. And love him all the more for it.
But there's no way Trump could present himself as just another brick in the wall of elitism. He'd never be accepted by intellectuals, or the true upper crust, or anyone with good taste as belonging. He has to know that. And it's possible that his followers know that, too. And love him all the more for it.
2
Don the Con.
Time and Karma will deliver the final assessment....and something tells me it won't be pretty.
Time and Karma will deliver the final assessment....and something tells me it won't be pretty.
11
Excellent article! How do we get all the people who voted for that con-man to read this?
16
You can't be serious. Pieces like this written before the election by Blow, Krugman, and company pushed more people towards Trump then away from him. I thought everyone had finally figured that out by now.
4
If I may? How do we get them to read this and believe it!
3
One needn't go far to find out how wrong Blow is. Trump is prosecuting a successful war on ISIS and illegal immigration on the southern border is in decline. Plus jobs coming back and job growth. You only need to read the NY Times for confirmation.
Meanwhile, trying to clean up Obama's Obamacare mess is valiant on his part, but really he should just let it fall under its own weight.
So Trump is delivering some of the most important aspects of his agenda. I think Blow may want to get a new topic. He's been wrong so long, he doesn't know how to be right anymore.
Meanwhile, trying to clean up Obama's Obamacare mess is valiant on his part, but really he should just let it fall under its own weight.
So Trump is delivering some of the most important aspects of his agenda. I think Blow may want to get a new topic. He's been wrong so long, he doesn't know how to be right anymore.
8
You want no healthcare at all for many millions of us Americans, TL. You feel fine about unchecked pollition of our water and air by industry, TL. You have no problem with crumbling highways, dams, bridges, et al, TL?
And you see jobs coming back? What jobs? Job growth? In which industry?
You think there's such a thing as "illegal" immigration?
Stupe.
And you see jobs coming back? What jobs? Job growth? In which industry?
You think there's such a thing as "illegal" immigration?
Stupe.
3
I'd like to know where you get your information from.
The only success Trump has had in fighting ISIS is getting an American serviceman and several civilians killed.
And his plan on "Obamacare" may leave you stranded or paying more -- please, read about it.
The only success Trump has had in fighting ISIS is getting an American serviceman and several civilians killed.
And his plan on "Obamacare" may leave you stranded or paying more -- please, read about it.
6
Good column Mr. Blow.
The scary thing about this new administration is the systematic destruction of our government - at the hands of opportunistic, egotistical people with no moral compass. Our State Department is being run by a man with close ties to - and an affinity for - Russia who has discarded the majority of career non-partisan diplomats in a matter of weeks. This is not being done for the benefit of America but for his own benefit.
45 thinks he is in control but with no patience for details has left the running of the government up to Bannon - who has publically stated he want to destroy the American government. I agree with your statement of his, "overinflated vision of himself and his success." He is so self-absorbed he has no idea the extent to which he is being used...how utterly pathetic he and, by extension, his greedy, self-important grown children are.
The "leaders" in the house and the congress - again - those with no moral compass are using him to push through their 1% pleasing - who cares about ordinary Americans - agenda. The question is - when they get everything they want - will they be willing to "discover" 45's deep connections with Russia and his treasonous acts, pretend to be outraged, and begin impeachment hearings.
At the end of their work we will have - among other disasters - 1) a healthcare program that does little for the elderly, poor, or sick 2) no EPA, 3) a weakened department of Education, and 4) an eviscerated State Department.
The scary thing about this new administration is the systematic destruction of our government - at the hands of opportunistic, egotistical people with no moral compass. Our State Department is being run by a man with close ties to - and an affinity for - Russia who has discarded the majority of career non-partisan diplomats in a matter of weeks. This is not being done for the benefit of America but for his own benefit.
45 thinks he is in control but with no patience for details has left the running of the government up to Bannon - who has publically stated he want to destroy the American government. I agree with your statement of his, "overinflated vision of himself and his success." He is so self-absorbed he has no idea the extent to which he is being used...how utterly pathetic he and, by extension, his greedy, self-important grown children are.
The "leaders" in the house and the congress - again - those with no moral compass are using him to push through their 1% pleasing - who cares about ordinary Americans - agenda. The question is - when they get everything they want - will they be willing to "discover" 45's deep connections with Russia and his treasonous acts, pretend to be outraged, and begin impeachment hearings.
At the end of their work we will have - among other disasters - 1) a healthcare program that does little for the elderly, poor, or sick 2) no EPA, 3) a weakened department of Education, and 4) an eviscerated State Department.
12
Once again, Charles Blow makes a sadly acute analysis of the invader of the White House. Sadly, we are all bearers of that ticket to hell whether we want it or not. The only thing that can stop this perilous juggernaut is for the people legally empowered to do so to grow a spine, pump up their courage and stand in its way. (Are you listening, congressional Republicans? Is anybody out there??)
12
Eyes so beady, voice reedy. He looks so seedy. Trump is greedy, but oh, so needy, yes, indeedy.
What's not to love? His mobs loves every bit of his fakey, fun-house tawdry schtick and we're stuck with them and with him. We being the world.
What's not to love? His mobs loves every bit of his fakey, fun-house tawdry schtick and we're stuck with them and with him. We being the world.
15
A memorable bit of rhyme. Thanks!
5
Thank you Mr. Blow. You hit the nail on the head. No need to say more. Thank you again. Great job.
10
Unfortunately, the sickest being sold snake oil isn't new. I will never understand how anyone could have voted for this person. How could anyone be so easily fooled?
16
The sad truth is that at its base, the philosophy of both Steve Bannon and Donald Trump is a kind of cynical anarchism flavored with narcissism. Disrupt, tear it down and lead the unwary into a vortex of dysfunction.
And the endgame for all this is frighteningly unpredictable. But it will not be pretty.
And the endgame for all this is frighteningly unpredictable. But it will not be pretty.
12
Trump has already delivered what his supporters wanted; the lunacy and sheer chaos of his Administration is immaterial to them. Trump makes hatred, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia acceptable again. It's OK to waste billions on a useless wall, even if it's only a monument to our racism. It's OK to ban people from six Muslim countries by fiat, even though it's hard to associate a terrorist attack on the US originating from any of those countries. As others have pointed out, none of the 9/11 terrorists would have been affected, nor is it beyond the means of a major terrorist organization to send terrorists through other countries. The anti-Islamic symbolism of Trump's executive order is far more important than complete absence of any improvement in domestic security. Trump's supporters don't care, or worse cheer, that his policies regarding undocumented residents fearfully mimic the actions of the Fugitive Slave Act of the 1850s or the Japanese Internment Executive Order of 1942. The problem isn't Trump and it won't go away when he slithers back under his rock. The problem is the millions of Americans who believe hate is more important than human progress and they are not going anywhere.
16
So much for pursuit of happiness.
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
5
I would sometimes see "litte donny" in Atlantic City with some heavyweight boxer in tow. White trash with orange hair. That, of course, was while he was stiffing and cheating his investors, his contractors and of course his wife. Immoral and unethical understate the pathology of this sociopathic narcissist. Let's hope for a shortened term not that Pence is an attractive option. But with Pence, we at least have a chance of surviving without a nuclear showdown. One can hope that donny loves pretzels and doesn't have W's good fortune and gag reflex.
8
If the most important requirement of a President's job is to protect the Constitution, then he has proven so far to be unable -- and perhaps unwilling -- to meet that requirement.
12
Bravo Blow, that column alone makes the price increase of my home delivery well worth the 20%.
15
And now The Donald is so jealous of President Obama he can't think straight.
Which plays right into the hands of his infamous inner circle of right wing fawners and flatterers telling him his hair looks fine.
Even when it blows kind of funny walking the lawn back from Mar-a-Lago to the White House he hates.
His zealous followers have no clue they are going to lose health coverage.
It will be his fault, but they will find someone to blame.
Old Trump's still trying to recover from the flack he received from saying he respected women as they marched saying how awful he is.
Which plays right into the hands of his infamous inner circle of right wing fawners and flatterers telling him his hair looks fine.
Even when it blows kind of funny walking the lawn back from Mar-a-Lago to the White House he hates.
His zealous followers have no clue they are going to lose health coverage.
It will be his fault, but they will find someone to blame.
Old Trump's still trying to recover from the flack he received from saying he respected women as they marched saying how awful he is.
10
Extracted from recent comments:
"Trump wants to make it hell on earth for all souls...."
"He has let slip the dogs of cruelty...."
"You can stab it with your steely knives but you just can't kill the beast."
C'mon, folks. There's nothing to gain by demonizing the man. Trump is now a full-time politician and it's best that we regard him as nothing other, because we know how to position politicians vis-a-vis ourselves and our government.
And try to ignore the tweets, which Trump creates solely to inflame and distract you from seeing the man behind the curtain.
"Trump wants to make it hell on earth for all souls...."
"He has let slip the dogs of cruelty...."
"You can stab it with your steely knives but you just can't kill the beast."
C'mon, folks. There's nothing to gain by demonizing the man. Trump is now a full-time politician and it's best that we regard him as nothing other, because we know how to position politicians vis-a-vis ourselves and our government.
And try to ignore the tweets, which Trump creates solely to inflame and distract you from seeing the man behind the curtain.
6
I don't see a man. I see only a preening fool who doesn't want to die and be forgotten.
9
Trump's best bet on health care -- make the new plan single player and call it "Trumpcare."
11
I wonder if the many who voted for Trump hate "the other side" so much that they would allow our country to fall into pieces rather than stop any horrendous things that he does to it.
Sad.
Sad.
16
Nihilists do not live to raise themselves up. They live to burn others down.
14
Ummm, yes.
2
Correct. But no surprises here and we should have been saying that a year ago or before.
And some of us did: https://medium.com/@Elamika/truth-or-dare-d8b5094b5903#.pc8gzzak7
And some of us did: https://medium.com/@Elamika/truth-or-dare-d8b5094b5903#.pc8gzzak7
4
You nailed it--this column should be shared with everyone!
15
Another perfect articulation of what has been happening to the country under this "president" !
8
The majority of white American women and men voted for Donald Trump. He won a majority of states, 31-19. This columnist likes to call Trump an outer-borough boy, but the fact is nobody knows where Obama came from or who he really is.
4
Are you saying that it doesn't matter that Trump lost the popular vote, that it only matters that he won the white vote and the Electoral College? If so, that would seem to indicate that the white vote is stupid and the Electoral College did not perform its intended function of counterbalancing the excesses of direct democracy.
To be sure, to a non-New Yorker, "outer-borough boy" doesn't mean much, but you have to agree that Trump is unbelievably tacky in ways that we associate with the insecurely rich. If that is linked to New York geography, so be it.
Your last remark is very Trumpian. Of course we know very well where Mr. Obama comes from and who he really is. But the Donald will spread his hands and shrug and say, "We just don't know." Poppycock.
To be sure, to a non-New Yorker, "outer-borough boy" doesn't mean much, but you have to agree that Trump is unbelievably tacky in ways that we associate with the insecurely rich. If that is linked to New York geography, so be it.
Your last remark is very Trumpian. Of course we know very well where Mr. Obama comes from and who he really is. But the Donald will spread his hands and shrug and say, "We just don't know." Poppycock.
2
2,864,974 more people (race unknown) voted for Hillary Clinton than for Trump. Add those who voted for other candidates, 7,804,213, and the total number who did not vote for Trump is well over 10 million. An arcane and antiquated quirk of our electoral system won Trump the Presidency. And geez, can't you come up with something newer than where-was-Obama-born? Oh yes, now he's tapping phones....
5
Monica - I see you are demonstrating your lack of a function cranial organ. In case you are wondering what that is, it is what would be in the empty space between your ears.
3
You touch on a much bigger problem than Trump, who will not be there forever. I was born in Argentina at the time of Peron's rise to power. In many ways a similar figure to Trump (much more intelligent, but equally crafty about playing up people's resentments), Peron, like Trump, turned the elite into enemies of the people. The result was that, since short of revolutions with gulagsor guillotines, no country can get rid of the economic, productive or cultural elites, they become aliens in their own countriy and turn their considerable resources into isolating/shielding themselves from the political system. Italy is another good example. In those cases, the elite's progress (through tax evasion, capital flight, etc) not only becomes independent of government, it does not encourage economic activity other than as a source of quick profit. Of course all cases are different, but I can't help worrying about Trump's similarity with other populists and their effects on their system of government.
9
Charles (Chuck) Blow,
What a cool name, Mr. Blow!
Your op-ed is an interesting piece and entertaining to read. I come with confirmation bias as do you, we're just on opposite ends of the spectrum.
It took me time to get to the truth and I realize it is going to take you time to get to the truth, but remain hopeful, you'll get there hopefully! It is tough to be objective in a subjective town. I am witnessing people selling out their minds and their souls in their own immersion that their unable to see the situation with a new perspective causing them to parrot whatever the talking heads are pushing for the day! In my opinion, that's CRIMINAL and it has no place at the table in America.
You are being immersed in propaganda and I don't think you know or even take a step back to analyze it. The truth will be revealed, hands down, for the whole world to see! We are in the greatest movement of all time in human civilization and unfortunately many will be left behind.
I reach out to you today and ask you to ask one question. Go in with an open mind and ask, "Reveal the TRUTH to me!" Really ponder, meditate on it, and wait until it is revealed to you. I guarantee it, the truth will show up!
Put aside all the bickering, complaining, and childish acts, until you are given the answer. How do I know this you might ask? Because I did it myself.
We are at a crossroads in human history and it's important to get to the truth!
What a cool name, Mr. Blow!
Your op-ed is an interesting piece and entertaining to read. I come with confirmation bias as do you, we're just on opposite ends of the spectrum.
It took me time to get to the truth and I realize it is going to take you time to get to the truth, but remain hopeful, you'll get there hopefully! It is tough to be objective in a subjective town. I am witnessing people selling out their minds and their souls in their own immersion that their unable to see the situation with a new perspective causing them to parrot whatever the talking heads are pushing for the day! In my opinion, that's CRIMINAL and it has no place at the table in America.
You are being immersed in propaganda and I don't think you know or even take a step back to analyze it. The truth will be revealed, hands down, for the whole world to see! We are in the greatest movement of all time in human civilization and unfortunately many will be left behind.
I reach out to you today and ask you to ask one question. Go in with an open mind and ask, "Reveal the TRUTH to me!" Really ponder, meditate on it, and wait until it is revealed to you. I guarantee it, the truth will show up!
Put aside all the bickering, complaining, and childish acts, until you are given the answer. How do I know this you might ask? Because I did it myself.
We are at a crossroads in human history and it's important to get to the truth!
1
Type your comment here
your point is? you're smarter than Charles? lol
your point is? you're smarter than Charles? lol
3
The Truth is that we have a Liar in the White House and it is up to some very active American citizens to limit the damage and to get these guys out.
3
We ARE at a crossroads: America has been purchased by Vladimir Putin. We're transforming daily into a sorry oligarchal satellite of New Soviet Union.
Rex Tillerson, decorated by Putin as a "Friend of Russia", also his partner in a Russia-Exxon oil company, now heads of the US State Department.
Putin blames the US State Dept for all the sanctions, internal protests, and other oppositions to his regime.
Rex Tillerson has proceeded to gut, dismantle and purge US State Dept staff and budget. The State Dept as we've known it--as Putin's known it--no longer exists.
Likewise the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency have been infiltrated by those least fit to oversee them.
The Affordable Healthcare Act, clean air regulations, taxes on the 1% most able to bare them.. all being dismantled.
God only knows how much of Putin's trillions is being used to break the will of any in our gov who might've been willing and able to oppose what's happening to this nation.
Is there one patriot left in this country who is willing to call sedition and treason by their names, put country above tax-free billions, and impeach this entire Putin-owned cabal?
Yes, Putin can enrich you all with wealth that will stay in your families for generations to come.
But where will you and all your decendants go to spend it, once your names are all written down in History as the authors of the fall of democracy as we know it?
Rex Tillerson, decorated by Putin as a "Friend of Russia", also his partner in a Russia-Exxon oil company, now heads of the US State Department.
Putin blames the US State Dept for all the sanctions, internal protests, and other oppositions to his regime.
Rex Tillerson has proceeded to gut, dismantle and purge US State Dept staff and budget. The State Dept as we've known it--as Putin's known it--no longer exists.
Likewise the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency have been infiltrated by those least fit to oversee them.
The Affordable Healthcare Act, clean air regulations, taxes on the 1% most able to bare them.. all being dismantled.
God only knows how much of Putin's trillions is being used to break the will of any in our gov who might've been willing and able to oppose what's happening to this nation.
Is there one patriot left in this country who is willing to call sedition and treason by their names, put country above tax-free billions, and impeach this entire Putin-owned cabal?
Yes, Putin can enrich you all with wealth that will stay in your families for generations to come.
But where will you and all your decendants go to spend it, once your names are all written down in History as the authors of the fall of democracy as we know it?
3
Was there a new point made by Mr. Blow today? If so, I lost it in the familiar diatribe. Right or wrong this repetition is lazy and tiresome. Journalism has given way to propaganda. I am disappointed that the Times continues to let Mr. Blow lose his temper every day and call it journalism.....
10
It's an opinion piece. He is a columnist.
14
I agree 100%. Charles Blow clearly survives on repeating himself in virtually every op-ed, and waiting for the adulation of his converts to roll in. Charles, it
takes no skill to constantly preach to the choir. Have
you ever tried to be more measured and possibly
convince those who are not already in your camp? If
so, I haven't seen it. I am no Trump fan but your
rantingd are so predictable, what do you feel you are
accomplishing?
takes no skill to constantly preach to the choir. Have
you ever tried to be more measured and possibly
convince those who are not already in your camp? If
so, I haven't seen it. I am no Trump fan but your
rantingd are so predictable, what do you feel you are
accomplishing?
5
I know you might not like to hear this, but Trump is exactly the kind of President the rest of the world expected Americans to elect. He is the ultimate caricature; loud, crass, rich, and obnoxious. He is the perfect example of an American stereotype that does not represent any American I know personally, but now unfortunately, represents your country on the world stage. Republicans will do everything to prop him up for the next four years, and unless the rest of America begins to see him as the rest of the world sees him, he will likely remain for next four as well.
9
Spoken like an elitist in a bubble.
7
Wrong!
1
It is sad when, people who are smart enough to not have vote for a cad like Donald Trump are what now pass for "elite" in America. Boy, has the right wing dumbed us down or what?
3
This has got to be one of the most ungainly sentences Mr. Blow has ever written - and it's certainly not for his prose that he was hired:
As he has done his whole life, Trump has sold those who follow him as some sort of money-drenched messiah a bill of goods, but this time the lie is likely to manifest in loss of life, as sick people lose coverage.
ON THE OTHER HAND, he's seldom written anything truer - and in its final few words - more stirring and trenchant!
We are a very polarized nation, and Mr. Blow has done his part to make us that way. By settling on Hillary way to early and way too uncritically, he contributed to our winding up with Mr. Trump for - heaven help us - almost the next 4 years.
Even now, Mr. Blow seems to focus on "bad politics" for most of his article.
It's only at the end that he remembers that Mr. Trump's pronouncements (and, for now, his unwillingness and/or inability to "get" healthcare - no doubt, he's never had to pick a plan, for example) are tantamount to his issuing the opposite of a grant of clemency to millions of Americans.
Simply put, he has condemned millions to die sooner than they would have had he not made REPEAL one of his 2 or 3 highest priorities.
Some will die this year, but since Congress has long recognized the value of taking a 10-year view, I think we can agree that many millions will die between now and 2027 who would have reached the latter date in good health were Obamacare allowed to survive - whatever its flaws.
As he has done his whole life, Trump has sold those who follow him as some sort of money-drenched messiah a bill of goods, but this time the lie is likely to manifest in loss of life, as sick people lose coverage.
ON THE OTHER HAND, he's seldom written anything truer - and in its final few words - more stirring and trenchant!
We are a very polarized nation, and Mr. Blow has done his part to make us that way. By settling on Hillary way to early and way too uncritically, he contributed to our winding up with Mr. Trump for - heaven help us - almost the next 4 years.
Even now, Mr. Blow seems to focus on "bad politics" for most of his article.
It's only at the end that he remembers that Mr. Trump's pronouncements (and, for now, his unwillingness and/or inability to "get" healthcare - no doubt, he's never had to pick a plan, for example) are tantamount to his issuing the opposite of a grant of clemency to millions of Americans.
Simply put, he has condemned millions to die sooner than they would have had he not made REPEAL one of his 2 or 3 highest priorities.
Some will die this year, but since Congress has long recognized the value of taking a 10-year view, I think we can agree that many millions will die between now and 2027 who would have reached the latter date in good health were Obamacare allowed to survive - whatever its flaws.
1
"Coarse and crass," but also cruel and corrupt.
Deluded Don has been a con man his entire life. It's an unmitigated tragedy that he now holds our highest office — an office he defiles 24/7.
He is the swamp.
His lies must be challenged, his corruption exposed.
Deluded Don has been a con man his entire life. It's an unmitigated tragedy that he now holds our highest office — an office he defiles 24/7.
He is the swamp.
His lies must be challenged, his corruption exposed.
9
Bravo....bravo......Mr Blow....nobody could say it better....every word you wrote is true....the guy is the worst possible entity that could befall america...add to all that you wrote the truth about Russia connection and the yellow clown is a total disaster..
The Republicans that are selling us to Russia and the voters that voted for the agent orange, are going to pay the price down the road...
Keep on writing and informing us dear Charles....we the people with love for this land are with you....
The truth is coming out and the buffoon is going soon.....we pray for this to happen....the conman is on the way out...
Keep writing Mr Blow....
The Republicans that are selling us to Russia and the voters that voted for the agent orange, are going to pay the price down the road...
Keep on writing and informing us dear Charles....we the people with love for this land are with you....
The truth is coming out and the buffoon is going soon.....we pray for this to happen....the conman is on the way out...
Keep writing Mr Blow....
6
Thanks, Mr. Blow, for this perfect description of Trump and his behavior. Please continue to provide us with close scrutiny of Trump, a person who should NOT be in the White House. I wish, and probably more than 50% of all Americans wish) that we could rid the White House of its current, DISASTEROUS occupant!
7
Mr. Blow, very perceptive column IMO. It appears to me as though what Trump has been seeking is to be accepted as one of the true elite, AND to be accepted as "smart." This may be the root of his issues with former Pres. Obama.
But I agree that Trump and Repubs in Congress are trying to sell a bill of goods. I don't want to feel sorry for those Trump voters who will lose coverage (and possibly get sick and die) if the "Trumpcare" bill or some similar bill version is passed. But somehow I do.
But I agree that Trump and Repubs in Congress are trying to sell a bill of goods. I don't want to feel sorry for those Trump voters who will lose coverage (and possibly get sick and die) if the "Trumpcare" bill or some similar bill version is passed. But somehow I do.
5
Check the similitude with this fAmerican fascist historian,graduate Magna cum Laude from Harvard ,Lothrop Stoddard .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothrop_Stoddard
Striking !
If Bannon claims influence from Julius Evola and Charles Maurras as his memtors ,Americans should look into their own history also .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothrop_Stoddard
Striking !
If Bannon claims influence from Julius Evola and Charles Maurras as his memtors ,Americans should look into their own history also .
1
This is the true death panel, writ large.
6
Much as it pains me to say it as I love my country, I'm starting believe that Trump Nation needs to reap what they've sown by losing their health care and seeing what's left of their safety net shredded. Only then will the scales fall from their eyes. Unfortunately we'll all go down with them — those of us who aren't multimillionaires and politically connected, that is. We are about to hit the hard reset button and hopefully the reboot leaves us intact. Eventually.
237
No, Trump Nation is all about narcissism. Things will go to hell, but Trumpers will always blame someone or thing else. They won't ever get it.
9
@ Vic Williams: unfortunately Vic the middle class has been losing ground for forty years, through both Repubican and Democratic administrations, that's what this election was supposed to be about , throw all the bums out, it may not turn out as expected but something has to change the inequality cannot continue to multiply without something really bad happening, we've seen it many times before and this time will be no different. Just to toss a fact into the conversation today's F.T. had an article about the two billion dollars spent by Wall Street to influence the campaign, it pains me to say it was equally split between Hillary and the various Republican Canidates. Our system is broken and corrupt Vic but as long as the players and a complicit media keep the masses at each other's throats rather than theirs nothing will change.
Sadly, Vic, we will probably have to end in the metaphorical gutter to finally realize how low we have sunk. I appreciate your concern for the collateral damage of the mistakes of many willfully ignorant among us, but that's the reality: It's the right of every American to be stupid. Sadly, we must respect that right, in spite of the damage it wreaks.
Education is the solution, a real one in the liberal arts, but, tragically, we seem to be allergic to it.
Education is the solution, a real one in the liberal arts, but, tragically, we seem to be allergic to it.
2
A very nice analysis, Mr. Blow.
9
Absolutely... and he is getting bigger to fail... and thats Trump's mantra and ace up his sleeve.
Once there were $900 million in personal debt... now American people have to support his lies and ineptitude because he is the most powerful worthless man on earth.
But Trump is owned by the American people's good faith... and they may take it away one of these days.
Once there were $900 million in personal debt... now American people have to support his lies and ineptitude because he is the most powerful worthless man on earth.
But Trump is owned by the American people's good faith... and they may take it away one of these days.
2
This piece is spot on. The implementation of the GOP healthcare plan is interesting. It won't be fully implemented until after the next presidential election cycle, so it protects trump and the GOP for trump's first term, giving them room to disembowel society further and sets up the next president, presumably a Democrat, for pain and failure beginning in 2020.
6
i have never heard it put better. Thank you Mr. Blow. This is brilliant and I hope people read it.
11
Great analysis! Could we also add in a dash of outlaw worship? A vote for Trump was like Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid jumping into the river.
4
What a total mental breakdown! Trump derangement syndrome is on full display by Mr. Blow today, totally blinded by resentment and without anything new to say, except he is still outraged that his view of America did not carry 270 Electoral votes in November. Perhaps it would be better if Charles just stopped writing until he got something new to say or figured out a new way to say "I hate Donald."? Is that scarily similar to Donald being well served by giving up Twitter until he can control himself? Maybe there is commonality between.... No, can't be.
2
The scary part is that folks like you are still drinking the Trump Kool-Aid. It makes no difference whether you are a D or an R; by any reasonable standard, this administration is incompetent, the worst I've seen in my long life.
9
Trump obviously is The Revenge of Class Dunces.
9
You're right, John - there is no commonality whatsoever between the rantings of Mr. Trump and the rationality of Mr. Blow. If you truly believe that Trump was elected legitimately, if you believe his actions are actually benefiting the country, if you believe his ego isn't getting in the way of good government, then you haven't been paying attention since November 8th. Sad.
2
Every politician since Moses has over promised and under delivered. If the focus is on health care then let's check your beloved Obama's record. Politifact says there were 37 instances where he (or a top admin official) said the infamous "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor" and/or "if you like your health care plan you can keep it". A blatant lie repeated at town hall meetings, in front of medical conventions full of doctors, and to the biggest suckers of all.... you, the news media.
2
Too bad Moses had to take the name of God in vain to win credibility for his other nine commandments.
2
Wow....what a whine.
keep repeating that distortion....someone might actually believe it.
keep repeating that distortion....someone might actually believe it.
5
Not only did everyone who ever bought any stock in any public Trump entity end up with nothing. But most unusually, all of the public buyers of mortgage bonds on any of the Trump casinos also ended up with zero recovery. That is almost unheard-of. In all other casino and airline bankruptcies publicly had mortgage bondholders had significant recoveries.
Every day it becomes increasingly clearer that the immutable laws of economics mean that unless the Republicans want to allow medical underwriting, that is where insurance companies can reject applicants with preexisting conditions, something very close to Obamacare must be retained.
Demand for medical care is inelastic. Controlling prices charged by doctors and hospitals via the use of monopsony like the rest of the developed world does is an anathema to Republicans. Monopsony, meaning "single buyer" is the flip side of monopoly. A monopsonist sets prices below free market equilibrium. It does not matter if there is an actual single payer or many buyers (or payers) whose prices are set by the government or by insurance companies in collusion with each other. see: Obamacare And Beyond: The Outlook For The Healthcare Sector. http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
As it is dawning on the Republicans, any system that does not explicitly control prices must have mandates and subsidies similar to those in Obamacare. Otherwise, most individual insurance policies would be far beyond the ..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4042715
Every day it becomes increasingly clearer that the immutable laws of economics mean that unless the Republicans want to allow medical underwriting, that is where insurance companies can reject applicants with preexisting conditions, something very close to Obamacare must be retained.
Demand for medical care is inelastic. Controlling prices charged by doctors and hospitals via the use of monopsony like the rest of the developed world does is an anathema to Republicans. Monopsony, meaning "single buyer" is the flip side of monopoly. A monopsonist sets prices below free market equilibrium. It does not matter if there is an actual single payer or many buyers (or payers) whose prices are set by the government or by insurance companies in collusion with each other. see: Obamacare And Beyond: The Outlook For The Healthcare Sector. http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
As it is dawning on the Republicans, any system that does not explicitly control prices must have mandates and subsidies similar to those in Obamacare. Otherwise, most individual insurance policies would be far beyond the ..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4042715
7
There is an old saying, you can't fix someone who mommy didn't hug enough...
For The Donald, it was probably father Fred, who forbid his mother from hugging him as a child, so as to toughen him up.
Sad, for The Donald. Now terrifying for the world...
For The Donald, it was probably father Fred, who forbid his mother from hugging him as a child, so as to toughen him up.
Sad, for The Donald. Now terrifying for the world...
8
The average Joe is the type of guy who never recognizes the con, can't admit mistakes, and blames everyone around him. His kids learn this too so it goes on and on, each generation grabbing all it can but losing most of it.
This characteristic, lack of introspection, gets reinforced by flashy sermons from money grubbing preachers and TV. Homer is a joke and he knows it bit "I'm not Homer" is the mantra of the Trump supported.
If it wakes up the 50% of citizens who don't vote it might be worthwhile but how many Flint water crisis and how many careers will be lost, plus will we nuke Iran or N. Korea or both before throw the republicans out?
This characteristic, lack of introspection, gets reinforced by flashy sermons from money grubbing preachers and TV. Homer is a joke and he knows it bit "I'm not Homer" is the mantra of the Trump supported.
If it wakes up the 50% of citizens who don't vote it might be worthwhile but how many Flint water crisis and how many careers will be lost, plus will we nuke Iran or N. Korea or both before throw the republicans out?
11
Donald Trump lied his way into activating the "inner imbecile" that has been cultivated by the whole Right-wing noise machine/echo chamber.
The Conservatives in my neighborhood are all quite abashed at the dismal job performance in DC under their aegis.
The Conservatives in my neighborhood are all quite abashed at the dismal job performance in DC under their aegis.
9
Another winner, Mr Blow! Trump the conman will go down as the cheap fraudster he has always been, the racketeer who has made millions from his victims then lost it by his legendary bad management....prompted his father many times to bail him out! This time he has his hands on the US Treasury, unlimited power and money in this tricksters hands that is going to disappear as fast as it comes in. I hope government has forensic accountants......we must get him out of the White House ASAP
4
FIRST DRAFT - 3:15am
April 30, 2017
"My fellow Americans, today marks the 100th day of my administration as your President. In that brief period I have accomplished more than my predecessor had in eight years of his administration.
Having accomplished my goal of making America great again in the briefest period in American history, I am prepared to return to my family business the now double-sized Trump organization, effective noon tomorrow, May 1, 2017.
Only 100 days . Think of it. How long did it take George Washington to win the Revolution or Abe Lincoln to defeat the Confederacy? (sorry, Jeff) The Great Depression, WWII, the Iron Curtain, trade imbalances, terrorist immigration. These three-plus months have seen the greatest successes of all time, believe me.
I say goodbye as you healthy and wealthy citizens proceed along the golden pathway to more American Greatness.
DJT"
(Steve, should I break this up into tweets or have Spicer read it from his podium? Also, what's my tee time & has Don King arrived?)
April 30, 2017
"My fellow Americans, today marks the 100th day of my administration as your President. In that brief period I have accomplished more than my predecessor had in eight years of his administration.
Having accomplished my goal of making America great again in the briefest period in American history, I am prepared to return to my family business the now double-sized Trump organization, effective noon tomorrow, May 1, 2017.
Only 100 days . Think of it. How long did it take George Washington to win the Revolution or Abe Lincoln to defeat the Confederacy? (sorry, Jeff) The Great Depression, WWII, the Iron Curtain, trade imbalances, terrorist immigration. These three-plus months have seen the greatest successes of all time, believe me.
I say goodbye as you healthy and wealthy citizens proceed along the golden pathway to more American Greatness.
DJT"
(Steve, should I break this up into tweets or have Spicer read it from his podium? Also, what's my tee time & has Don King arrived?)
3
That thin sliver of racism that exists in Trump must make it very difficult for him to accept the fact that a black man outshines him big time intellectually,socially and most importantly morally.
5
That sliver really isn't that thin. It's more like a two by four. He appealed to all the voters who have slivers, planks and logs of racism in their own eyes to elect him. Perhaps that's what he will collect to build the wall!
2
Trump learned the 5 B's of governing in kindergarten:
Bully
Brag
Bluster
Berate
Blame
Bully
Brag
Bluster
Berate
Blame
5
Charles, you are dead-on here. Born in Boston, where the Kennedy's held intelligence and a liberal arts education to be more important than money, I noticed a good reason why they held people like Trump in disdain. Who wants to invite a con man like a Trump to a party-he is likely to take something from your guests.
Decent conservatives like the Bushes realized this fact when they walked away from this election. On the other hand, rabid, stupid, idealogues are quite willing to party with him.
Decent conservatives like the Bushes realized this fact when they walked away from this election. On the other hand, rabid, stupid, idealogues are quite willing to party with him.
3
To this Idahoan and westerner, Mr. Trump seems just like every other stereotypical New Yorker- loudmouthed and crass. People here didn't vote FOR him, they voted AGAINST the other candidate, because she was ceaselessly disparaged by the media, slandered by the FBI, and unsupported by her party, the same guys who thought it would be a good idea to put that former governor- Beshear-Brashear? never heard of him- to speak after Trump and declaim "I'm a proud Democrat, but first, I'm a Republican...". That is the only reason Mr. Trump's in office, the breakdown and complete failure of what's left of the Democratic party.
4
I await the Democratic candidate who will say, "It's time for a president for all Americans." I think Hillary would have done a good job as president; I agree she was a terrible candidate. I also sadly agree that the Democratic Party completely flubbed every aspect of the 2016 election, starting with pushing a baggage-laden candidate over a beloved one. I am a Democrat because I can not be a Republican as that party is currently constituted.
1
To me, the scary thing is that by dismantling the administrative state (Bannon's explicit goal), they may be able to business enough to produce short term economic growth and thus thrive politically in the 2018 elections, possibly even 2020. There's a plausible scenario in which the negative repercussions of deregulation lag far enough behind that we are stuck with Trump and the unfettered republican congress for 8 years. It sad to say, but we have to hope for bad things to happen soon enough to head this off.
4
... and we pay for first class tickets, but get economy seats. That is how America will become "great again," just follow the Trump formula.
4
"The Pied Piper of pipe dreams"
Charles, you hit the nail on the head with that one! It conjures images of a creepy man in a white paneled van with the "best candy".
Charles, you hit the nail on the head with that one! It conjures images of a creepy man in a white paneled van with the "best candy".
9
"There was an opening for an outsider who knew how to work his way in";to clarify this thought, yes there was an opening for an outsider but thanks to Putin and the Russian mafia who financed him and in return he helped them launder money by selling units in his Soho property. This is how he managed to work his way in. Also thanks to Rusian interference in our election fake news was all over the Internet including on Facebook. Then of course to top it off Comey interfered just in case. So let's not give him too much credit.
4
The sorry fact is that all those Trump voters who will lose their insurance that is affordable because of subsidies, and who will probably use their tax credit to buy something other than health insurance (perhaps they will pay the electric bill or perhaps they'll buy a flat-screen TV), will still continue to vote for Republicans. Because, you know, Democrats are too liberal and welcome "those people."
1
Yes, we - the liberals or those who could distinguish between show and substance, knew all along what DT was/is. We did not buy the snake oil he was selling. What I cannot understand, much as I tried, is why did the people who voted for him believe him. This is a sincere question, and I would think those particularly in the Democratic party need to understand to avert such future disasters, for the nation.
6
We all toss around the term "elite" as though we all understand the word in the same way. But if the standard is money, and restrained, well-mannered money rather than gauche, bombastic money, there are plenty of "elites" who like what Donald Trump represents -- tax cuts, regulatory repeal, and further corporatization of American culture. Like the Koch brothers, for example, and those other moneyed folk who attend Koch gatherings and fund their PACs, think tanks and foundations. Or the Wall Streeters who'll reap big benefits from Mr. Trump and the Republican Congress. They may or may not socialize with Donald Trump, but I'm sure the like plenty of what's on offer from his administration.
1
You only have to be exposed to Trump's bombast for a couple of minutes to realize how insecure he is.
Nobody who is confident in their ability needs to tell you repeatedly how good they are, how wonderful and strong.
He's a ticky tacky, fat, old guy in a rumpled suit and mile-long tie, to distract from his fatness, who must have ticky tacky gold gilt on everything.
He is so impressive, he thinks, when he flies down to Mara Lego but thinks nothing of the people he disrupts, the flights diverted, the business lost. Thinks nothing of those he disrupts in NYC when he's in residence in his ungodly ugly tower.
I wonder how Mara Legos will fare when the sea rises.
I hate that he has taken over our national discourse and that I spend far to much time loathing him. But whether it's four years, or horrors, eight years, we will eventually be rid of him. Free at last. Let's just hope the country isn't a moonscape under rising seas by then.
Nobody who is confident in their ability needs to tell you repeatedly how good they are, how wonderful and strong.
He's a ticky tacky, fat, old guy in a rumpled suit and mile-long tie, to distract from his fatness, who must have ticky tacky gold gilt on everything.
He is so impressive, he thinks, when he flies down to Mara Lego but thinks nothing of the people he disrupts, the flights diverted, the business lost. Thinks nothing of those he disrupts in NYC when he's in residence in his ungodly ugly tower.
I wonder how Mara Legos will fare when the sea rises.
I hate that he has taken over our national discourse and that I spend far to much time loathing him. But whether it's four years, or horrors, eight years, we will eventually be rid of him. Free at last. Let's just hope the country isn't a moonscape under rising seas by then.
7
Blow: "He was a glutton for attention and adoration."
He not only "was" but continues to be "a glutton for attention and adoration." That is obviously one reason explaining his obsession with the popular vote and his lying about voter fraud depriving him of the popular vote.
He not only "was" but continues to be "a glutton for attention and adoration." That is obviously one reason explaining his obsession with the popular vote and his lying about voter fraud depriving him of the popular vote.
2
Your headline is wrong, It should be, "The Republican Party is the ticket to Hell".
1
Our Fake So Called President is the opposite of truth. He is professional wrestling, conspiracy radio, Fox News and the spawn of the Reagan administration's elimination of the Fairness Doctrine.
Mr. Blow, you've got Donald pegged! What I want to know is: why are the Republicans not investigating his ties to Russia, etc., because there are other very shady a state in Donald's many closets!
Republicans, must step up, or We, the People, will repeal them in 2018!
What Donald has done is treason!
Republicans, must step up, or We, the People, will repeal them in 2018!
What Donald has done is treason!
2
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your continual Trump analysis. Ever since 11/9, every pundit who has analyzed why Trump won have rushed over the unspoken reason: He is male. His opponent, female. Eight years of "tolerating" a black president was hard on many truculent Americans but then to vote for a woman -- well, that was a bridge too far. I wish you had simply added a sentence about this. If we continue not naming underlying sexism, then it will continue.
298
The organizers of the Women's March on Washington have been arrested. This country yet does not fully grasp the extent of the oppression of women. Thank heavens we are considering the nuances of racism now, and exposing it in deeper, and more profound ways. But misogyny and sexism? I hold little hope that we will overcome this in my lifetime, or even get to the place where we expose it as we are currently doing with racism. LGBT, POC, religious diversity, all of these are being addressed, fought for. But watch, because Congress is trying very hard to remove women's rights and relegate women back into the kitchen (a fantasy, since women have always worked), barefoot (impoverished) and pregnant (from rape or otherwise).
2
Michelle Bachman? Sarah Palin? Betsy DeVos? One just might define "underlying sexism" as failing to recognize that stupidity, greed, racism, paranoia, jingoism, and selfishness do not favor a particular gender.
2
Trump supporters need to Google "reprisals against Nazi collaborators" for a glimpse into their future. History has no sense of humor. Don't believe for a moment that anyone will forget.
3
The editor of the "New Yorker", David Remnick, said it best: The election of Donald Trump is a "national tragedy."
4
Charles, you continue to be my hero. Keep it up, please. We need you.
4
I wish I knew this before voting for him.
-Mike Pence
-Mike Pence
3
Combing a saying of P.T. Barnum and Pogo seems appropriate.
"We have met the sucker that is born every minute, and it is us."
"We have met the sucker that is born every minute, and it is us."
3
I will be happy to see the ignorant ones that voted for this crass buffoon lose everything in heath care costs...payback for their nasty ways.. Let this new "bill" pass and let them find out for themselves..Otherwise they will insist what he offered awas wonderful and amazing but the damed cupcakes and snowflakes ruined it!
I want them to reap what they have sown..sorry for the others but that's life..
I want them to reap what they have sown..sorry for the others but that's life..
3
Bingo. Every last word.
7
The old saw still rings true: for Trump, as with every salesman, sincerity is the key. If you can fake that, you've got it made. And apparently, enough people were taken in by his fakery to put him in the White House. And now, like most victims of con artists, they can either face the fact that they were conned, or they can dig deeper in and make it someone else's fault. Which do you think they'll do?
4
> He [Trump] upset social conventions.
Does anyone recall those frothy days when liberals and Leftists celebrated outsiders ,Mavericks, non-conformists and transgressives. Oh, where are you Melville, Salinger, Lawrence, Warhol, etc.?! Come back. Rescue us from The Consensus. We don't want to be assimilated. We don't want to end up like Peter Keating in _The Fountainhead_.
Does anyone recall those frothy days when liberals and Leftists celebrated outsiders ,Mavericks, non-conformists and transgressives. Oh, where are you Melville, Salinger, Lawrence, Warhol, etc.?! Come back. Rescue us from The Consensus. We don't want to be assimilated. We don't want to end up like Peter Keating in _The Fountainhead_.
Once again, Charles Blow has scored a direct hit! He has zeroed in on the specific traits and foibles of the president, explaining to us how and why he is the way he is, and why he succeeded in "fooling some of the people, some of the time." Thank you.
4
Mr. Blow as usual you are in your bubble! Good luck....the more you try and discredit the President the more his supports will support him
3
And clearly you are in yours.
3
“An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 6.3 million of the 11.5 million Americans who used the A.C.A. marketplace to buy their insurance last year live in Republican congressional districts."
In short, good. It's fitting the chickens come home to roost.
Trump supporters voted for an unqualified, erratic, dangerous con man. For making such an irresponsible choice, they deserve everything they're going to get from him.
In short, good. It's fitting the chickens come home to roost.
Trump supporters voted for an unqualified, erratic, dangerous con man. For making such an irresponsible choice, they deserve everything they're going to get from him.
4
There is a sick circular logic in all this. First a demagogue and his party of demagogues convinces a large percentage of Americans that government is rotten, politicians are all crooks, and nothing worthwhile will ever come from that direction. Then, a frustrated electorate gives them full control of the government they claim to hate in the hope of "fixing" it. The demagogues then use government for personal gain and the further enrichment of the very powerful and wealthy and meanwhile prove themselves dishonest, corrupt, and incapable of governing. A large percentage of the American people are once again frustrated by the failures of government and politics and decide that the demagogues were right. Hatred of government and political institutions grows, encouraged by the narrative of this government-hating party of demagogues. The process repeats itself.
4
Thank you Mr. blow for your column i enjoy the New York Times opinion articles in these dark times
3
Charles M. Blow, I wish you were our President! I am not fooling. My wife and I keep pretending Barack Obama is still our President. We are finding it hard to believe in Trump as anything but a court jester.
How could the same voters that put Obama in the White House, simulotaneously elect Republicans to a majority in Congress? And then they elect Trump? And they re-elect Republicans that were only interested in blocking the President they formerly elected!
Nothing makes any sense anymore to us, and as we are both Scotts by ancestry, are really considering moving back to the UK. The idiocy that is America today is frightening, and the prospect for WWIII grows more and more iminent, daily.
How could the same voters that put Obama in the White House, simulotaneously elect Republicans to a majority in Congress? And then they elect Trump? And they re-elect Republicans that were only interested in blocking the President they formerly elected!
Nothing makes any sense anymore to us, and as we are both Scotts by ancestry, are really considering moving back to the UK. The idiocy that is America today is frightening, and the prospect for WWIII grows more and more iminent, daily.
2
I wonder how all the out of work steel workers who voted for Trump will feel when they finally realize that just last week he signed another Presidential Proclamation stating that both the Keystone and Dakota pipelines were EXEMPT from his much ballyhooed lie about requiring US manufactured steel in their construction:
http://www.snopes.com/2017/03/07/keystone-and-dakota-pipeline-steel/
and
http://www.snopes.com/2017/03/08/keystone-russian-steel/
http://www.snopes.com/2017/03/07/keystone-and-dakota-pipeline-steel/
and
http://www.snopes.com/2017/03/08/keystone-russian-steel/
6
As a friend from Texas put it: Watching Trump wear the presidential seal is like seeing a ten dollar collar on a two dollar dog.
8
"The elites who had rejected Trump were now the rejected class. They were the 1 percent, the Wall Street barons, the manifestation of the evils of income inequality. This was the time for a populist."
Well, yes. Bernie Sanders supporters tried to tell everyone this, over and over, but the Establishment Dems did everything in their power to freeze him out, despite the tens of thousands of independents and millennials--key demographics--and working-class whites and people of every ethnicity and faith who turned out at his packed, lines-around-the-block-for-hours rallies. Despite the polls showing Sanders beating every single Republican by greater margins, sometimes significantly greater ones, than Secretary Clinton.
What is so dispiriting now is that we must all suffer under the rule of this unqualified, undignified, and unacceptable president, Mr. Trump, even as the centrist/neoliberal camps continue demonizing us and telling us to "grow up"; even as they spit on the left in general, and democratic socialists in particular, with moves like putting Tom Perez in charge of the DNC despite massive support for Keith Ellison.
Despite our being dead right about the political mood in 2016, the smearing and silencing continues. And we can't win: if we try to change the Democratic party from within and elect progressive candidates, they are "not real Democrats"; if we dare express a desire to vote for a third party or start a brand-new one, we are excoriated for "splitting the vote".
Well, yes. Bernie Sanders supporters tried to tell everyone this, over and over, but the Establishment Dems did everything in their power to freeze him out, despite the tens of thousands of independents and millennials--key demographics--and working-class whites and people of every ethnicity and faith who turned out at his packed, lines-around-the-block-for-hours rallies. Despite the polls showing Sanders beating every single Republican by greater margins, sometimes significantly greater ones, than Secretary Clinton.
What is so dispiriting now is that we must all suffer under the rule of this unqualified, undignified, and unacceptable president, Mr. Trump, even as the centrist/neoliberal camps continue demonizing us and telling us to "grow up"; even as they spit on the left in general, and democratic socialists in particular, with moves like putting Tom Perez in charge of the DNC despite massive support for Keith Ellison.
Despite our being dead right about the political mood in 2016, the smearing and silencing continues. And we can't win: if we try to change the Democratic party from within and elect progressive candidates, they are "not real Democrats"; if we dare express a desire to vote for a third party or start a brand-new one, we are excoriated for "splitting the vote".
9
The Democrats are obviously incapable of freezing out interlopers backed by dark money and volunteer professional political operatives out of nowhere. Bernie was never subjected to the full force of the Republican slime machine that has made the word "social" as reviled as the word "liberal".
1
Bernie--and the word "social"--was never subjected to the full force of the Republican slime machine?
You must inhabit a very different, and much smaller, corner of the Internet than I, sir. He was regularly and muscularly attacked, as were his supporters, for being a socialist (despite Bernie being just mildly left-of center by the political standards of Europe and everywhere in the world except here). He, and we, were labeled communists and America-haters not just by Republicans, but by supporters of HRC.
It was the same with the whole "Bernie believes in giving you Free Stuff and that's not American" même that was pushed by congressional Republicans AND some prominent centrist Democrats who shall remain nameless.
The whole "Bernie was never subjected to real scrutiny" line is an oft-repeated excuse by Dems who are largely coming to realize what a mistake it was not to recognize the populist sentiment going on and throw in with the passionate, enthusiastic Bernie supporters. Who, I might add, came very close to nominating this previously little-known senator from the small state of Vermont, who raised tens of millions of dollars from individual Americans, and didn't take a dime from Wall Street, banks, insurance, or other sources regarded as "elite".
You must inhabit a very different, and much smaller, corner of the Internet than I, sir. He was regularly and muscularly attacked, as were his supporters, for being a socialist (despite Bernie being just mildly left-of center by the political standards of Europe and everywhere in the world except here). He, and we, were labeled communists and America-haters not just by Republicans, but by supporters of HRC.
It was the same with the whole "Bernie believes in giving you Free Stuff and that's not American" même that was pushed by congressional Republicans AND some prominent centrist Democrats who shall remain nameless.
The whole "Bernie was never subjected to real scrutiny" line is an oft-repeated excuse by Dems who are largely coming to realize what a mistake it was not to recognize the populist sentiment going on and throw in with the passionate, enthusiastic Bernie supporters. Who, I might add, came very close to nominating this previously little-known senator from the small state of Vermont, who raised tens of millions of dollars from individual Americans, and didn't take a dime from Wall Street, banks, insurance, or other sources regarded as "elite".
1
There is another danger here, Trump has made promises that most rational people know he cannot keep: Best military in the world AND big, beautiful wall AND health insurance for everyone AND $ Trillion infrastructure spending.
We do not have the productivity to support this level of spending. Trying to ramp that productivity up runs into a demographics problem: The largest group of workers, the boomers, are now in their late 50's and older. Their days of high productivity are behind them, in addition they do not have the skills needed for today's economy and are unlikely to get that training.
If we pump that kind of money into the economy without the productivity to back it up and with export markets being closed to us because of Trump's protectionist policies, we will have an inflationary spiral that makes what happened in the 70's look like a mild breeze.
I realize it is still early, but it seems Trump's legacy will be two fold:
Political Chaos and a Blown Economy.
We do not have the productivity to support this level of spending. Trying to ramp that productivity up runs into a demographics problem: The largest group of workers, the boomers, are now in their late 50's and older. Their days of high productivity are behind them, in addition they do not have the skills needed for today's economy and are unlikely to get that training.
If we pump that kind of money into the economy without the productivity to back it up and with export markets being closed to us because of Trump's protectionist policies, we will have an inflationary spiral that makes what happened in the 70's look like a mild breeze.
I realize it is still early, but it seems Trump's legacy will be two fold:
Political Chaos and a Blown Economy.
1
But you said it yourself: they love him, because he is like them. They will stick with him when he doesn't deliver. As he said, he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave... As an outsider/loser myself there was an teensy part of me that was happy to see the winners lose, I admit it.
In our pursuit of STEM in education, something important is overlooked.
-- Character development and humanity.
Drama develops awareness of types of people, lives, and personalities.
Rhetoric develops precision of expression
Athletics develops determination and teamwork.
Music develops sensitivity and explores the range of emotion.
Art develops awareness of the challenges and limitations of expression.
Trumps' education seems to have by-passed these considerations.
He missed out on the part that says you need to earn them.
Not with a signature on a score card,
but by making them part of who we strive to be.
A whole person.
What sort education, ethic. or morality teaches
trash & burn, take no prisoners, and admit no guilt?
Presidents preside over others as the exemplar
and representative of our collective conscience.
Thank You -- Barack Obama (and Donald Trump) for helping us recognize the need for common decency in our nation's chosen leader.
-- Character development and humanity.
Drama develops awareness of types of people, lives, and personalities.
Rhetoric develops precision of expression
Athletics develops determination and teamwork.
Music develops sensitivity and explores the range of emotion.
Art develops awareness of the challenges and limitations of expression.
Trumps' education seems to have by-passed these considerations.
He missed out on the part that says you need to earn them.
Not with a signature on a score card,
but by making them part of who we strive to be.
A whole person.
What sort education, ethic. or morality teaches
trash & burn, take no prisoners, and admit no guilt?
Presidents preside over others as the exemplar
and representative of our collective conscience.
Thank You -- Barack Obama (and Donald Trump) for helping us recognize the need for common decency in our nation's chosen leader.
4
Donald Trump's trajectory brings to mind the story of The Ring of the Nibelungs. Based on Norse legends, it tells a story of gold stolen from the Rhine maidens, from which a ring could be forged the power of which would make its possessor the master of the universe. The hitch is that only someone who has foresworn love would be able to forge such a ring.
The maidens believe no one could be found who would pay such a price as to renounce love, but they underestimate the power of ambition. The ring is forged and brings death and downfall to all who posses it.
It seems to me we have encountered a man who is willing to renounce love in exchange for power. It won't turn out for him any better than it did for Wotan.
The maidens believe no one could be found who would pay such a price as to renounce love, but they underestimate the power of ambition. The ring is forged and brings death and downfall to all who posses it.
It seems to me we have encountered a man who is willing to renounce love in exchange for power. It won't turn out for him any better than it did for Wotan.
2
This is one column Trump won't be reading or Tweeting about from the New York Times.
2
Still defending free trade. Looks like they still haven't got the message.
Speaking to a student during office hours about her nursing major and the Affordable Care Act:
Me: What do you think about the new president's approval of the GOP "Repeal and Replace" plan?
Student: *Sighs, shakes head, looks at floor* Oh, I don't have time for Donald Trump.
Me: What do you think about the new president's approval of the GOP "Repeal and Replace" plan?
Student: *Sighs, shakes head, looks at floor* Oh, I don't have time for Donald Trump.
1
One look at the Chumps swoop-do was enough for me. This clown has bamboozled people by obfuscation, obstruction, denial and projection. sad thing is due to the lack of accountability and truthfulness by politicians of all stripes, many who voted for him refuse to look under the hood of this Edsel. They can no longer tell fact from fiction and have lost the ability to discern.
2
Thank you Charles. Please keep doing this. We need you to tell the truth.
4
Trump = Zelig.
2
The million $$$ question is: "When these GOP policies are enacted will those who voted for dtrump be able to acknowledge that they are being harmed by these policies AND that the GOP along with dtrump are responsible?"
3
"The elites who had rejected Trump were now the rejected class. "
Except for those on whom he has bestowed cabinet posts and other high offices, despite often blatant lack of qualifications.. If this isn't a pathetic bid for acceptance, I don't know what is.
I grew up among the working poor, and through education have managed to approach retirement with a 6-figure salary. I will never forget bristling at my (mostly absentee) mechanic father's conviction that class was tied inextricably to wealth. For him, it was an excuse for boorish behavior. I wonder what he'd say about Trump. I'm guessing Trump's wealth would be synonymous with "class," regardless of how he behaves.
Except for those on whom he has bestowed cabinet posts and other high offices, despite often blatant lack of qualifications.. If this isn't a pathetic bid for acceptance, I don't know what is.
I grew up among the working poor, and through education have managed to approach retirement with a 6-figure salary. I will never forget bristling at my (mostly absentee) mechanic father's conviction that class was tied inextricably to wealth. For him, it was an excuse for boorish behavior. I wonder what he'd say about Trump. I'm guessing Trump's wealth would be synonymous with "class," regardless of how he behaves.
Mr. Blow, thank you again. Please keep it up. The emperor has no class.
4
The next headline, in a bold zaps should read:
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE !!!!!!!
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE !!!!!!!
2
Dear Michelle and Barack,
We miss you.
Love,
America
We miss you.
Love,
America
11
Once again Mr. Blow, you are spot on. Our feeling during Trump's campaign and now remains that Pres. Trump doesn't so much care about access to NYC's elite, but rather to gain a seat at the Big Boy table, the Saudi-Family connections investment group, to of course rub elbows with Bush and Clinton families and peers, but more so to have access to making the real money and global status. Poor Donny just doesn't realize that there are two ways to make fools of ourselves, via deeds and words, both of which have exposed him as unrefined.
1
Donald Trump is the emptiest of suits living in his own highly edited version of a television reality show. Popularity and ratings success of reality television is often realized through manufactured extreme conflict and outrageous behavior as dictated and controlled by the loosely scripted action unfolding before the camera. The "no holds barred, say and do anything with no consequences," outrageous campaigner Trump reality show has graduated into the outrageous leader of the free world Trump reality show--only this time, the consequences are very real life and death ones. In this new, starker reality, results trump ratings, except in Trump's own twisted personal reality.
Image and explosive words are everything in Trump world. Denial, deflection and distraction are his fallback script to be used when disaster strikes and outcomes don't go his way, veering far off script. This is where we are now as Trump's reality has hit the wall of OUR very real and harsh reality. Denial, deflection and distraction don't deliver desirable results in our real world so it appears Donald J. Trump is out of scripts. The time to vote him off the island is quickly approaching. If there is any consolation for Donald Trump, the ratings for his series finale should be huge and historic.
Image and explosive words are everything in Trump world. Denial, deflection and distraction are his fallback script to be used when disaster strikes and outcomes don't go his way, veering far off script. This is where we are now as Trump's reality has hit the wall of OUR very real and harsh reality. Denial, deflection and distraction don't deliver desirable results in our real world so it appears Donald J. Trump is out of scripts. The time to vote him off the island is quickly approaching. If there is any consolation for Donald Trump, the ratings for his series finale should be huge and historic.
2
Of course we all know that there is nothing refreshing about the fool-in-chief. It is rather the evil smell of mendacity that emanates from this thoroughly deceptive, double-faced and mediocre man.
His handlers will soon run out of cogent arguments why Trump should be allowed to continue to bamboozle the American people and play the role of the liar-in-chief. There is still time to avert serious damage but the anxiety of a world-wide audience is growing.
The swamp he drained is now populated with two-legged alligators, sycophants, bootlickers and lackeys. Every society possesses them. Most of them are unexceptional in the competitive world of business but they all have received high marks in the habitat of Trumpism where mediocrity is mistaken for brilliance, Ben Carson being the worst example.
The ticket to hell ought to be reserved for Mr. Trump and his hanger-on crowd.
His handlers will soon run out of cogent arguments why Trump should be allowed to continue to bamboozle the American people and play the role of the liar-in-chief. There is still time to avert serious damage but the anxiety of a world-wide audience is growing.
The swamp he drained is now populated with two-legged alligators, sycophants, bootlickers and lackeys. Every society possesses them. Most of them are unexceptional in the competitive world of business but they all have received high marks in the habitat of Trumpism where mediocrity is mistaken for brilliance, Ben Carson being the worst example.
The ticket to hell ought to be reserved for Mr. Trump and his hanger-on crowd.
2
Wishing President and Trump (and ALL elected officials!) would remember that the truly GREAT leaders-- the ones who EARNED respect(and are remembered throughout History)-- are those who understand that have learned to be/or humble.
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former SELF." -Ernest Hemingway
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former SELF." -Ernest Hemingway
2
I was out to dinner last night. At the next table, I heard one of the three diners say, "Obama was wiretapping Trump." I won't go into the demographics of that table. That's all you need to know. Propaganda score: Trump 1, Truth 0.
3
Thank you for highlighting features leading to his shame which triggers his
narcissistic responses to those that threaten him.
narcissistic responses to those that threaten him.
3
"Donald Trump has sold his supporters — and by extension, this country — a ticket to hell."
The problem is that Trump wants to make it hell on earth for all souls ... just as Milton's megalomaniacal demonic 'mastermind' sought to do.
The problem is that Trump wants to make it hell on earth for all souls ... just as Milton's megalomaniacal demonic 'mastermind' sought to do.
2
Few people have recognized the real victory of Donald Trump. He has let slip the dogs of cruelty, freeing the seething human egos that make up our population from the ancient norms of civilized behavior that once kept us in check. Trumpublican "conservatism" consists of destroying everything liberals have built and crushing us under their jack-boots.
Maybe, in a world that has at least four times more humans than it can hold, this was inevitable.
Maybe, in a world that has at least four times more humans than it can hold, this was inevitable.
3
President Donald Trump reminds me of Tom Ripley, a fictional character created by the novelist Patricia Highsmith.
Mr. Blow's opinion piece will now be the main reference for my argument.
Paul Daigle
Mr. Blow's opinion piece will now be the main reference for my argument.
Paul Daigle
8
There have been many great Presidential characters in movies and on TV who have represented the best of what we would like believe our President could be.
Can you imagine a Trump-like president as shown by Michael Douglas in the movie "The American President"? Or a Trump-like character portraying Dave Kovic as the President we wanted in "Dave" played by Kevin Klien subbing for Bill Mitchell? On the other hand Trump would be perfect for Bill Mitchell! Can you imagine a Trump-like president rousing the world to independence as portrayed by Bill Pullman in "Independence Day" or with the integrity of Martin Sheen in TV's "West Wing"? Or with the grave concern of Morgan Freeman? Or even the action-president in "Air Force One" with Harrison Ford?
That Trump's president would be alien in any of these examples tells us how far he is from our idea of what we expect our President to be. Trump is the anti-President.
Can you imagine a Trump-like president as shown by Michael Douglas in the movie "The American President"? Or a Trump-like character portraying Dave Kovic as the President we wanted in "Dave" played by Kevin Klien subbing for Bill Mitchell? On the other hand Trump would be perfect for Bill Mitchell! Can you imagine a Trump-like president rousing the world to independence as portrayed by Bill Pullman in "Independence Day" or with the integrity of Martin Sheen in TV's "West Wing"? Or with the grave concern of Morgan Freeman? Or even the action-president in "Air Force One" with Harrison Ford?
That Trump's president would be alien in any of these examples tells us how far he is from our idea of what we expect our President to be. Trump is the anti-President.
4
Charles Blow's description of Donald Trump is right on the mark. Basically, Trump personifies the pent-up resentment of everyone who ever felt unaccepted by the educated establishment. There are legions of Americans who feel this way, and truth be told with good reason. They have had it with being led by the established elites, whether Republican or Democratic, it makes little difference. This in one phrase is the "tea party" that has now found its way into the White House. They are going to back their guy, and that gut feeling is not going to go away anytime soon. Let's see how long it lasts.
5
I agree with you 100%. What I and many others see as obnoxiousness, his supporters see as genuineness and rebelliousness. The truth is Trump seems to have been born with a couple of defects: to wit, he has no idea, none, of what true class is. True class is giving somebody else credit, and refusing to fight back against honorable people i. e. the Khans. It's the paradox that Trump cannot understand and never will: To be a bigger person, you have to stop trying to look big. It has the opposite effect. If somebody else praises you, good. You praising yourself, not good. Secondly, he isn't capable of true empathy. All he cares about is his own, his own money and his bloodline. That's it. Full stop.
7
The rubes won't know they are broke until they show up at the hospital and can't get care or they go to put grandma in the home and Medicaid won't help them. This is what they wanted, this is what they will get. I'm lucky I guess. I have overpriced employer based healthcare, my dad has a pension and medicare and wants nothing to do with long term care (he said he'll take care of that when it comes by throwing himself off a cliff)but my sister won't be so lucky. She's a business owner who finally had a policy that didn't have a 10,000 deductible and actually covered stuff. My son only has 1 year of college then he's off into the world. I've encouraged him to get his degree (in cyber security) and leave. He's decided working his butt off to pay for healthcare when he can go somewhere else with universal healthcare would probably SAVE him money so he can save for retirement. Am I the only one that is encouraging this?
5
Like Shakespeare's Macbeth Trump is increasingly paranoid. And in Macbeth the Porter compares Macbeth's castle with the gates to Hell. Trump falsely attacking Obama is like Macbeth attacking the good Duncan, Macduff and Banquo. Eventually all the Thanes turn on Macbeth and there is a revolution.
Also, Mar-a-Lago is starting to look like Hotel California, that Eagles song some think is a metaphor for Hell. "Tiffany twisted" with greed and gluttony sounds like Trump. And "You can stab it with your steely knives but you just can't kill the beast." Feels like a Mar-a-Lago party.
Also, Mar-a-Lago is starting to look like Hotel California, that Eagles song some think is a metaphor for Hell. "Tiffany twisted" with greed and gluttony sounds like Trump. And "You can stab it with your steely knives but you just can't kill the beast." Feels like a Mar-a-Lago party.
3
As awful as Nixon was, at least he was an intellectual and true conservative. Trump is a con man who is below his paygrade. The rednecks will adore him until they realize they've been bamboozled. Lets see if those jobs come back, Ya'all
9
"Donald Trump has sold his supporters — and by extension, this country — a ticket to hell." And they bought it, with gusto. I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for the "older and rural" (and all-white) Americans who embraced The Donald. Their anger, resentment and willful ignorance blinded them to what was obvious to the majority of American voters - Donald Trumps' ugliness and utter lack of qualification for the highest office in the land. And yet, with each day's new revelation, they hold him tighter. And when The Donald is gone (which I believe he almost certainly will be, by his own will or by Congressional action), will his supporters realize the error of their ways and turn to the liberal left? No, they'll turn to someone just as hateful, but with greater political skills.
7
What does sympathy have to do with anything? I voted for Clinton but will be just as negatively impacted as a trump voter if this anti-health care goes into effect. I dont have employer coverage and can only get insurance with the ACA. We need to stop this for Everyone's sake.
1
GOP denial of heath care will kill tens of thousands of Americans, far more than all the terrorist groups in the world.
7
I thought they were a terrorist group
1
I'm confused....
What has he actually done, other than talk alot???
What has he actually done, other than talk alot???
6
And to think that Hillary lost to this clown? Some of us enjoyed that enough to overlook all of his many flaws even though it clearly was not in the country's best interest. Shame on Hillary for being so despicable and shame on Wasserman-Schultz for rigging it against Bernie that lead to this mess.
As to delivering a better healthcare plan - forget it - unless we veer hard to one end of the spectrum or the other - either move to single payer or require true price transparency on a per operation basis - we're not getting a better system. Here's a thought that no politician will ever implement - how about gradually lowering the Medicare eligibility age by a few months every year? (Hillary might have suggested this but with no follow through) The insurers can still make boatloads on the Medicare Advantage plans, the aged get at least some coverage, and the load on the healthy gets significantly reduced as its the very oldest (60-65 years old) that put the greatest stress on the pools.
As to delivering a better healthcare plan - forget it - unless we veer hard to one end of the spectrum or the other - either move to single payer or require true price transparency on a per operation basis - we're not getting a better system. Here's a thought that no politician will ever implement - how about gradually lowering the Medicare eligibility age by a few months every year? (Hillary might have suggested this but with no follow through) The insurers can still make boatloads on the Medicare Advantage plans, the aged get at least some coverage, and the load on the healthy gets significantly reduced as its the very oldest (60-65 years old) that put the greatest stress on the pools.
2
Do you really think Bernie would have won? Trump would have demolished him as he did 17 in his own party.
1
@Chriva ~ Sure, blame this mess that men are making on the women.
1
True price transparency is not possible with medical care, and of course hospitals have no incentive to do it. The ACA was pushing them toward one-price care. Would that cover a simple operation that uncovers multiple cancers? A birth of an infant that needs to be in the ICU for a month? I just had a surgery that most people go home from in a day, some in two, some in a week. Some people have to go to a rehab facility instead of home. Medical care is unpredictable and complicated.
And of course you often don't exactly have time to shop around, or are unconscious at the time and rather unable. I could shop around, but I was hardly going to go to Mrs. McPherson's Knee Replacement and Storm Door Company for it. I shop for a car, generally a used one, based on price and needs and practicality. No one shops for health care that way even if they can.
And of course you often don't exactly have time to shop around, or are unconscious at the time and rather unable. I could shop around, but I was hardly going to go to Mrs. McPherson's Knee Replacement and Storm Door Company for it. I shop for a car, generally a used one, based on price and needs and practicality. No one shops for health care that way even if they can.
Another excellent, on-the-money commentary from Charles Blow. The idiot's idea of an intellectual, etc... Perfect!
5
When will the people who voted for this zombie understand that the heat and smoke is coming from his pants -- on fire? A more urgent question is, how are the unbridled lies reigned in? Is there not some way to make liars responsible? It seems that the more outrageous and ludicrous a statement is, the more it is believed by his zombies.
3
As I see it Donald Trump has shown he still fundamentally does not know how to lead with influence. Rather he rules with negativity and accusations. If he was a normal worker in a normal management position in a normal company he would have been fired. An HR department scared of being sued would would have exited him. What I simply do not understand is how the rest of our leadership allows this complete mockery of our country to continue.
3
For his base, to give up on him, is too give up on themselves...
7
Thank you for this incisive insightful comment. I have been trying to figure out why so many nice and intelligent people I know still support Trump. I think that it will be humiliating for many of them on so many levels when they finally come to terms with how frightful he is.
1
Professor Harold Hill has sold River City a boy's band. But it ain't playin', and isn't going to play, the Minuet in G.
1
He's still really popular with them, though. Polls tell us so.
Anecdotally, I check in every so often with some Trump supporters I know at work. They're very happy. Trump's doing everything he promised.
It's really amazing. One guy I know wants to retire early. His biggest concern is "getting rid of that Obamacare," which he thinks makes insurance unaffordable.
I wonder if the only way of getting these people's attention is to pass TrumpCare and then watch their premiums explode. That would be hurtful if not deadly to millions of people. But it might, *might* result in people turning to a single-payer model as the only way to fix the resulting problems (I hope).
Anecdotally, I check in every so often with some Trump supporters I know at work. They're very happy. Trump's doing everything he promised.
It's really amazing. One guy I know wants to retire early. His biggest concern is "getting rid of that Obamacare," which he thinks makes insurance unaffordable.
I wonder if the only way of getting these people's attention is to pass TrumpCare and then watch their premiums explode. That would be hurtful if not deadly to millions of people. But it might, *might* result in people turning to a single-payer model as the only way to fix the resulting problems (I hope).
3
It is like an addiction. Perhaps they do have to
"hit bottom " to come to terms with their poor choice of president.
"hit bottom " to come to terms with their poor choice of president.
I've been around this country for over 40 years, and it's painfully clear to me now, after Trump's "win," that election in America is rarely about policy, but mostly a popularity/reactionary vote.
Flashy, good-looking, actor Reagan won after people got tired of the pensive, quiet, seemingly slow-moving Carter. Flashy, young Clinton won after lackluster Bush, Sr. Dubya was supposed to be a good guy to have beer with and people liked that. Obama had the charisma and appealed to the people who were tired of how this country was moving, but not enough to ultimately overcome the race issue.
Trump is the ultimate statement of America's non-majority's desire to maintain the supremacy of white males at any price. Their desire to stay in power is so great that they are willingly overlooking everything, including the fact that this conman would hurt most Americans in some way or another. It's a sad state of affairs.
Flashy, good-looking, actor Reagan won after people got tired of the pensive, quiet, seemingly slow-moving Carter. Flashy, young Clinton won after lackluster Bush, Sr. Dubya was supposed to be a good guy to have beer with and people liked that. Obama had the charisma and appealed to the people who were tired of how this country was moving, but not enough to ultimately overcome the race issue.
Trump is the ultimate statement of America's non-majority's desire to maintain the supremacy of white males at any price. Their desire to stay in power is so great that they are willingly overlooking everything, including the fact that this conman would hurt most Americans in some way or another. It's a sad state of affairs.
4
The problem is that most Trump supporters will not even know that they are on that train to hell until they get there and are greeted by the orange man himself. After all the view out the windows will be nothing but Trump campaign posters spelling out how great it will be at the end of the line.
2
Trump has also bought himself a ticket to hell by all the suffering he has caused and will cause in the future.
Thank you for being so clear as to the Big Lie that is going to take the last breath out of decent poor Americans. So many politicians have no clue re the poverty that is the day to day experience of average Americans. Remember when gas went up to 3 or 4 dollars a gallon?. Men sold their watches to get to work. Now ,no watches ,no work left,not a penny in the pot. How can our government be so cruel and stupid. We all go down together.
1
Blow-
You are beginning to come across as obsessed or possibly jealous of the man. Your commentary, as usual, is rife with the hatred you have for the President. Believe me, he will do a far better job than your buddy Barack. As my kids will tell me - chillax!
You are beginning to come across as obsessed or possibly jealous of the man. Your commentary, as usual, is rife with the hatred you have for the President. Believe me, he will do a far better job than your buddy Barack. As my kids will tell me - chillax!
2
We are all running out of adjectives to describe this man. Most of America is in a mood as if trying to survive a hostage situation. He's quite simply a defective human being, one with a unique ability to bring out the worst in all those who surround him.
4
Oh, I dunno . . . Trump seems OK. Anything else keeping you up at night, Mr. Blow?
1
The Ignoramus in Chief is way out of his depths. And we will all suffer for it. Trump has debased and degraded the office of the President.. Dictatorships and evolving Strongmen regime states are watching him closely for "what works". In truth, he has no playbook. He is more Idi Amin Dada than anything we have ever seen. Or likely to see again. Nauseating is the word that comes to mind when I think of him waltzing around the Whitehouse, in a rage, open terry cloth Trump monogrammed robe, remote controls in each hand, two cell phones tied around his neck ready to blast off some 140 character stupidity when it comes into his skull.
From the very start our leaders we have continually moved the country forward. Maybe not easily and not without conflict, and disagreement, but we have evolved. Until now.
We have made progress and change on civil rights, women's rights, voting rights, equal pay, worker's compensation, child labor, climate change and education. That work isn't done. Not by a long shot.
Most importantly, though, we ended the terrible institution of slavery. Recovery from those days has been slow but steady. In a modern context, I equate healthcare reform right up there with ending slavery. Blood was spilled to accomplish that change. Now, giving people assistance with healthcare insurance will free them from the shackles of illness and early death now and for countless generations to come. The ACA was that start. The work must go on and Trump stopped.
From the very start our leaders we have continually moved the country forward. Maybe not easily and not without conflict, and disagreement, but we have evolved. Until now.
We have made progress and change on civil rights, women's rights, voting rights, equal pay, worker's compensation, child labor, climate change and education. That work isn't done. Not by a long shot.
Most importantly, though, we ended the terrible institution of slavery. Recovery from those days has been slow but steady. In a modern context, I equate healthcare reform right up there with ending slavery. Blood was spilled to accomplish that change. Now, giving people assistance with healthcare insurance will free them from the shackles of illness and early death now and for countless generations to come. The ACA was that start. The work must go on and Trump stopped.
1
A Bigly great true story. Sad!
1
Spot on. I grew up a little behind Trump in another of the forgotten boroughs, Staten Island. Manhattan was a fat- off dreamscape, a place back in the 50s to 80s that was unkind and fear- filled for the bridge and tunnel crowd. It took shirking of the angry second class citizenship to fight for a place in the Manhattan universe. Trump desperately wanted to be accepted by Gotham, but he was too pace- proud to humble himself and to change.
Trump, patron saint of the misinformed, will continue to maneuver and pitch his brand regardless of what happens around him. His faithful will continue to believe him because not to do so would mean admitting that they made a mistake, something that they are loath to do. Ultimately the phenomenon of Trump proves one thing and one thing only, P. T. Barnum was right.
1
Yeah, but that group of 6.3 million is *invested* in Trump. Like the 5 year olds who get caught with their hand in the cookie jar their response is "No - my hand wasn't in the cookie jar," in other words, they will deny reality, even if loss of health care means they die unnecessarily. Trump is their man, and they lack the maturity and courage to admit they were wrong.
1
When a country's people are too ignorant to even act in their own best interest let alone the country's best interest it is doomed. It is not only Trump that is leading the way to hell, it is the Republican Party. Trump is just coarser and less refined.
I had thought that there might be a small streak of true populism in him and that he wouldn't support the Republican health care bill. However when he supports a bill so totally opposite of what he promised it is obvious that he has contempt for even his supporters.
I had thought that there might be a small streak of true populism in him and that he wouldn't support the Republican health care bill. However when he supports a bill so totally opposite of what he promised it is obvious that he has contempt for even his supporters.
298
He does not care about health care, was not a part of drafting it and will just accept it. Same will go for vouchers for Medicare and cuts to SS. He cares about business deals, getting revenge and having people adore him.
1
Maybe he's too stupid to realize the Plan wasn't as he'd predicted.
1
This is a strikingly accurate profile of Donald Trump. Charles Blow captures both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of our new President.
A majority of Americans regret the 2016 presidential election result, and by the end of this year, the way things are going, that will have become an overwhelming majority. Republicans are vigorously protecting President Trump, but they will soon be forced to scurry for higher ground.
We have yet discovered the extent to which Donald Trump has damaged the United States, although involvement of his associates and surrogates in helping the Russians to tilt the U.S. campaign playing field is virtually certain.
Many of us believe that, if a full and fair investigation occurs, we will also learn of the laundering of money which originated in Russia to infuse needed cash for business operations of Trump companies. There may be violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and, most importantly, agreements to look the other way when Russian expansionism occurs.
Unlike President Trump, we will not yet make any accusations. We frankly stress that we have nothing more than suspicions of dark, illegal behavior beyond the Russian email hacking. Suffice to say, however, further news of the Trump-Putin connection is not likely to be good news.
A majority of Americans regret the 2016 presidential election result, and by the end of this year, the way things are going, that will have become an overwhelming majority. Republicans are vigorously protecting President Trump, but they will soon be forced to scurry for higher ground.
We have yet discovered the extent to which Donald Trump has damaged the United States, although involvement of his associates and surrogates in helping the Russians to tilt the U.S. campaign playing field is virtually certain.
Many of us believe that, if a full and fair investigation occurs, we will also learn of the laundering of money which originated in Russia to infuse needed cash for business operations of Trump companies. There may be violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and, most importantly, agreements to look the other way when Russian expansionism occurs.
Unlike President Trump, we will not yet make any accusations. We frankly stress that we have nothing more than suspicions of dark, illegal behavior beyond the Russian email hacking. Suffice to say, however, further news of the Trump-Putin connection is not likely to be good news.
2
Wondering if the real experiment is to turn our government into a 21st century business?
Mr. Blow's article describing Trump can be summarized by one of Trump's favorite words: Trump is a, "fake".
2
Ezra Klein had an interesting video of interviews of people in Kentucky and the sign up for the ACA. Some folks had insurance for the very first time in their lives. They knowingly traded their own in-hand health insurance for Donald Trump's lies to them about "it will be cheaper, It will be better". 85% voted for him. One guy was astounded that premiums could and did go up and was angry at Obama for that. One woman who was thankful that her breast cancer was diagnosed through Obamacare despised Obama so much she had to separate the man and his project to hate him properly. What can you say about folks like this?
So here we are again. The GOP told by the Koch Bros to get rid of health insurance for American people and by God, they are trying to do just that. You cannot cure whatever this is- it is a soul-deep ignorance and hatred of the truth.
So here we are again. The GOP told by the Koch Bros to get rid of health insurance for American people and by God, they are trying to do just that. You cannot cure whatever this is- it is a soul-deep ignorance and hatred of the truth.
5
Hope the NYT and other media, highlight and hammer Trumps's promises vs results. What he said vs what he actually does. And please stop calling social security an entitlement. Our paychecks show deductions not entitlements,
4
His most ardent supports can die in the streets. Euthanasia as antidote for stupidity.
1
Trump is the modern political system equivalent of climate catastrophe. All of his policies- each uniquely harmful- serve to weaken the state, demoralize the people and humble them into a weakened submission. The sum total of these have a cascading effect- and accelerate the death of Liberal Democratic institutions.
Once Trump and his henchman succeed in wrecking the economic well being of the state and weakening its institutions...they will continue the Hitler approach of taking the spoils, fully consolidating power and killing off what's left of the Democracy in pursuit of war. A war against Islam perhaps- long overdue in their sick minds
What ever your critique- anti-fascist, socialist, de-colonialist, pro-immigrant, pro environment, anti-racist, inter-sectional, pro feminist- you are the only thing that stands in the way of oblivion. Which is why you absolutely must be united.
Once Trump and his henchman succeed in wrecking the economic well being of the state and weakening its institutions...they will continue the Hitler approach of taking the spoils, fully consolidating power and killing off what's left of the Democracy in pursuit of war. A war against Islam perhaps- long overdue in their sick minds
What ever your critique- anti-fascist, socialist, de-colonialist, pro-immigrant, pro environment, anti-racist, inter-sectional, pro feminist- you are the only thing that stands in the way of oblivion. Which is why you absolutely must be united.
3
So when Trump's supporters lose their healthcare, are they going to believe Trump telling them that he's not responsible; it's the fault of Hillary, Obama, Mexicans, ISIS, anyone with an accent, the entire intelligence community, and Arnold's poor ratings on the apprentice?
3
We can hope that the rubes who voted for this clown become his biggest victims. The people who didn't vote deserve what's coming too. Too bad the damage will not be confined. to them.
3
Thank you for your article! it is spot on! Trump is a loser. Unfortunately for all of us, we lose too.
4
For those 6.3 million voters unfortunately the ACA provided no coverage for stupidity.
2
Let's not forget and add to Mr. Blows opinion article Mr. Trump is a nouveau riche; no ethics but finance oriented lifestyle. Difficult to lead our younger generation to a better deserved life.
Thank you Mr. Blow.
Thank you Mr. Blow.
1
Great article as Republicans fighting for worst possible WEDONTCARE Bill. Whatever psychoses this silver-spoon silver-tongued devil suffers from are apparently invisible to a large portion of our citizenry, a bi-product of antipathy and anger.
He would rather be loved than hated, but rather be hated than ignored. His amoral mercenary staff are just building their résumé to work for other morally impoverished people or organizations. Most of them were highly critical of Trump before they artificially fell under his spell.
Trump has no credibility because he keeps crying, "Wolf! Blitzer!"
He would rather be loved than hated, but rather be hated than ignored. His amoral mercenary staff are just building their résumé to work for other morally impoverished people or organizations. Most of them were highly critical of Trump before they artificially fell under his spell.
Trump has no credibility because he keeps crying, "Wolf! Blitzer!"
2
THE AIR WE BREATHE AND THE WATER WE DRINK, the planet for heaven's sake. Doesn't Donald care about the earth his grandchildren will inherit? And what about his cronies, other white OLD men, don't they have grandchildren they care about? All the money they have and the money they'll make profiteering as part of the Trump administration won't be worth much if they can't breathe the air.
2
"In New York City’s elite social circles, Trump was persona non grata."
Sensible. What is there to like or, admire?
Sensible. What is there to like or, admire?
2
This article was not intended to be about the ACA. It is more about the deregulation and deconstruction of our government and our country which has commenced and we are at great risk. No more discussions as to weather this potus is mentally fit, or that he can govern. Each day that he remains in office, he is putting all of us at greater and greater danger. His last Saturday's tweet regarding pres. Obama's wiretapping him should be the last straw. We need no more tweets or information to know that all of us are in danger from this dangerous man. He must be stoped there is little doubt in my mind about this and there shoukd be little question our representatives. He is the ticket to hell!
And let's face it, the color of his skin ensures that noone will ever question his birthplace - even if they question everything else about him.
To paraphrase the nanny in "Being There", when she sees Chance the Gardener with the President;
"This shore is a white man's country."
To paraphrase the nanny in "Being There", when she sees Chance the Gardener with the President;
"This shore is a white man's country."
Of course, there IS a way Trump can, in one fell swoop, redeem himself and actually deliver on his seemingly bombastic assertion that, to quote from Charles Blow's article,
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump said. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” People covered under the law “can expect to have great health care. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”
It's called single payer.
Of course, it will never happen due both to Trump's deep seated psychopathology and to the GOP's power-drunk, ideologically driven intransigence.
Instead, along with all the other wounds and perils of Trump's madness, we'll get more health care hell as well.
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump said. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” People covered under the law “can expect to have great health care. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”
It's called single payer.
Of course, it will never happen due both to Trump's deep seated psychopathology and to the GOP's power-drunk, ideologically driven intransigence.
Instead, along with all the other wounds and perils of Trump's madness, we'll get more health care hell as well.
For the record: I AM NOT A TRUMP SUPPORTER!
Now, with that said, I read all that you wrote and I ask, tell me something I don't know?
Trump has been doing this since the start of the campaign. He has proven he is a habitual liar time and time again. Anybody who has paid attention to the affairs of STATE over the last decade or over their life time knew the nonsense he was spouting during the election could never happen in the way he promised. Yet still he was elected.
What you media people have to figure out is continually 'beating a dead horse' by going over this stuff does nothing. His followers don't care anymore, if they ever cared, about his shortcomings. That's why he can continue his lying even as President and though everybody yells and screams about it. His people are vested in him and will follow him anywhere. Even to Hell with the ticket he sold them!!!
And the crazy thing is all the while they will continue to agree with him on how GREAT the trip is and how they could use a little more warm weather.
Mr. Blow I know you are a opinion page guy and I like and respect your column but, right now, at this moment in time, the only way to impress me is some deep investigative reporting that finally confirms the Russian Dossier! When you have that please give me a call!
Now, with that said, I read all that you wrote and I ask, tell me something I don't know?
Trump has been doing this since the start of the campaign. He has proven he is a habitual liar time and time again. Anybody who has paid attention to the affairs of STATE over the last decade or over their life time knew the nonsense he was spouting during the election could never happen in the way he promised. Yet still he was elected.
What you media people have to figure out is continually 'beating a dead horse' by going over this stuff does nothing. His followers don't care anymore, if they ever cared, about his shortcomings. That's why he can continue his lying even as President and though everybody yells and screams about it. His people are vested in him and will follow him anywhere. Even to Hell with the ticket he sold them!!!
And the crazy thing is all the while they will continue to agree with him on how GREAT the trip is and how they could use a little more warm weather.
Mr. Blow I know you are a opinion page guy and I like and respect your column but, right now, at this moment in time, the only way to impress me is some deep investigative reporting that finally confirms the Russian Dossier! When you have that please give me a call!
3
Trump won the Republican nomination because he was a real phony not a phony phony like the rest of them.
However, I don't think we truly know why he was actually elected. However, flukes do sometimes happen!
However, I don't think we truly know why he was actually elected. However, flukes do sometimes happen!
1
While the intentional distractions, of what The Donald Twittered last, plays on. And the focus on "his base" continues, the real damage continues...
Big questions about Russia remain. Beyond what the Russian interference meant to our elections, what is happening right now? Who wins with a weakened US State Department?
The State Department, next to our military, has been a beacon to the world, is being deconstructed piece by piece. Budgets will be slashed. Roles are not being filled. Sec Tillerson (the most decorated American in Russia, because of the Big Oil intersection?) has not spoken with the press. 60 year daily press briefings, are now rare. Legacy knowledge, contacts, and back channel relationships are being cast aside.
The insights to this wicked web that is being woven, are inside his tax returns. They will provide insight into how big real estate and money laudering is interlaced. For The Donald, it could inextricably link him - financially - to this web of Russian connections.
The truth must be found. No matter how messy it will become, finding the truth, will be a great proof statement on the integrity of our Democratic system.
Big questions about Russia remain. Beyond what the Russian interference meant to our elections, what is happening right now? Who wins with a weakened US State Department?
The State Department, next to our military, has been a beacon to the world, is being deconstructed piece by piece. Budgets will be slashed. Roles are not being filled. Sec Tillerson (the most decorated American in Russia, because of the Big Oil intersection?) has not spoken with the press. 60 year daily press briefings, are now rare. Legacy knowledge, contacts, and back channel relationships are being cast aside.
The insights to this wicked web that is being woven, are inside his tax returns. They will provide insight into how big real estate and money laudering is interlaced. For The Donald, it could inextricably link him - financially - to this web of Russian connections.
The truth must be found. No matter how messy it will become, finding the truth, will be a great proof statement on the integrity of our Democratic system.
1
Where is the movement to impeach Trump? I'll be eager to contribute money to that cause. He must be eliminated from the office of President totally. We cannot stop with ranting about his ridiculous promises and boasts but removed from office ASAP. It is time for the Republicans to mount a palace coup and get him out. That's the challenge ahead for the GOP. Step up McCain, Graham and other real Americans in the party. Do your sworn duty to protect and defend the constitution of the United States.
1
Trump supporters will find a way to blame their losses on Obama. Wait and see. I read right-wing rags like the Daily Mail as well as the New York Times. The US comments in the Mail that are pro Trump still blame everything on Barack Obama. The hatred for Barack Obama is irrational. It has to be racist. I can't think of another explanation. I know that the Daily Mail itself isn't even considered acceptable as a source for Wikipedia, but the comments are sometimes interesting.
And they are going to max out their credit cards to board the train.
I always enjoy your column, especially because you have Trump pegged. He has the mentality and behavior of a child, which is very dangerous in a leader, never mind a president. He understands little about how the world works and thinks he can just bluster his way through everything. He's finally finding out that he can't, and his leadership-by-bombast will have disastrous consequences for this country over the next four years, if he lasts that long. I pray that he doesn't. But an even bigger concern in my mind is why so many people recklessly voted for such a horrible and demonstrably unqualified candidate. This is the bigger problem in my mind, because even when we're rid of Trump, they're still out there voting. Will they learn anything from this?
Sorry Charley. Nice article, however, you're beating a dead horse. The task at hand is no longer identifying how shallow and poor a leader Trump is, how he is taking us to hell, etc. That has been clearly established by his words and actions. The true issue I'd like to see focused on now, that may determine the very fate of our democracy is in identifying a sensible alternative and unifying message that brings Americans together in love and selflessness vs the hate Trump brought with him into office. Unfortunately the current democratic party looks poorly equipped to mount a winning opposition. I implore you and your journalist colleagues to help lead the charge of unity toward a victorious resistance.
1
Having spent a great deal of my life living in rural Wisconsin, and trying repeatedly to explain to the people living there that voting for republicans was costing them their future, they continue to do. University of Wisconsin political scientist Kathy Cramer pointed out in her book "The Politics of Resentment" that many, if not a majority of rural voters vote out of a sense that they are not getting their "fair share" from government, that somehow big cities that are full of darker complected people are taking advantage of the system. Make no mistake, large parts of rural America are dying a slow death, some due to inevitable changes in demography and the economy. But, in large part rural America is complicit in its own destruction, supporting politicians who cut aid to local schools, rural infrastructure and the like. One of the things Obama-care did was to support rural health care through subsidies to offset the higher costs of delivering health care in rural areas. It is likely that the Trump-Ryan plan will lead to the closure of rural hospitals and clinics, and further deterioration of quality of life. The best and the brightest will continue to flee, those who remain will be those with the fewest options, stuck in a landscape with even fewer options other than working on a factory farm or in an extractive industry. In the end, rural Trump-Ryan supporters will get what they voted for, and they will get it good and hard.
415
What? maybe you were so busy listening to yourself talk when you were in Wisconsin that you failed to notice that Obama carried the State in 2008 and 2012. Wisconsin tried democratic leadership at the national level and to use your words "they got it good and hard".
Maybe you fail to remember the economic condition of the country in 2008. The OP's point remains. It will be worse for rural America under Trump.
Of that, there is no question.
Of that, there is no question.
1
The news media enabled Trump to sell his "ticket to hell" by giving him air time and newspaper space whenever he made one of his outlandish speeches, sometimes even excusing them as political rhetoric. Now they cry "foul" against his policies. There is a lesson (for which we Americans will suffer) that responsible rather than sensational journalism is one of the foundations necessary to save the values of our country.
1
You must have a low opinion of the 50 percent of Americans that voted for Trump. Clinton won only 500 of 3500 counties in the country. Even Malcolm X didn't hate his fellow Americans as you appear to. We are the oldest existing constitution in the world. Think about that!
1
The other sad reality, is that his base - even those who don't believe, or grasp, what will happen to them - still relish eveything about him...
2
Most of us with common sense know Old Yeller is an utter failure.
His crazy tweets are distracting, but the real problem is that he is also a tool being used by Steve Bannon and Vladimir Putin for the destruction of our democracy. Consider his jealousy tweet that Barack was listening to his phone calls and then the quick follow-up of CIA Wikileaks.
A coincidence?
Go to The Nation dot com and read the chilling story: "The Ways to Destroy Democracy." I apologize in advance to those who will lose even more sleep after reading it.
His crazy tweets are distracting, but the real problem is that he is also a tool being used by Steve Bannon and Vladimir Putin for the destruction of our democracy. Consider his jealousy tweet that Barack was listening to his phone calls and then the quick follow-up of CIA Wikileaks.
A coincidence?
Go to The Nation dot com and read the chilling story: "The Ways to Destroy Democracy." I apologize in advance to those who will lose even more sleep after reading it.
2
I hear you Charles but Trump supporters do not care about any of those things; most are ashamed to have a need for any entitlements and they hate anyone who reads their news or uses their education to try to help people in new ways. They are accustomed to living hard and have a cowboy mentality. They are self loathing and are willing to sacrifice the health of all (including themselves) so that they can live an outdated form of the American dream from 50 years ago. They do not want to help far off neighbors, other races or people they can't see. Many who will be most hurt most are corporate people in polluting industries who believe that the rapture is coming and that the biggest issues facing the US is illegal immigration and abortion. They want to have high paying jobs without education and they do not want to pivot when necessary. They want to have their thirsty-two ounce coca-cola but they don't want to pay the bill. To them none of this matters anyway because when the rapture comes they are going to heaven and who cares what happens to the earth. Hard to compete with the afterlife promise of heaven or an unlimited supply of virgins.
"No matter your politics, Trump’s first weeks in office have been a disaster..."
No question about the disaster part, but not even close on the rest. Trump supporters think he's doing a great job. We're still quite a way from acknowledgment by the Trumpistas that the emperor has no clothes.
No question about the disaster part, but not even close on the rest. Trump supporters think he's doing a great job. We're still quite a way from acknowledgment by the Trumpistas that the emperor has no clothes.
This article makes some good points. There is a certain aspect of Trump as anti-establishment and "common" that conservatives like myself appreciate.
But framing the piece as though we were duped into voting against our own best interests is both insulting and false.
Corporations have been playing nations off against one another and manipulating market conditions since before there was a United States. The corruption of the East India Company was one of the biggest agitating factors that led up to the Revolutionary War. The world's biggest corporations and media organizations are global entities, not American ones. Unfettered globalism isn't the best thing ever, Mr. Blow, and a little nationalism is not the worst.
America has done a great thing in recent decades, creating trade policy that has advanced billions of people in the world out of abject poverty.
But now these countries are transitioning from being humanitarian investments, to being legitimate competitors in the global marketplace. It's time for us to stop treating these countries like our economic offspring, and start treating them like peers.
It's also time for reasonable liberals and conservatives to stop insulting one another over false conflicts, and stand together to solve our real problems. Solving problems is not a team sport.
Best regards,
But framing the piece as though we were duped into voting against our own best interests is both insulting and false.
Corporations have been playing nations off against one another and manipulating market conditions since before there was a United States. The corruption of the East India Company was one of the biggest agitating factors that led up to the Revolutionary War. The world's biggest corporations and media organizations are global entities, not American ones. Unfettered globalism isn't the best thing ever, Mr. Blow, and a little nationalism is not the worst.
America has done a great thing in recent decades, creating trade policy that has advanced billions of people in the world out of abject poverty.
But now these countries are transitioning from being humanitarian investments, to being legitimate competitors in the global marketplace. It's time for us to stop treating these countries like our economic offspring, and start treating them like peers.
It's also time for reasonable liberals and conservatives to stop insulting one another over false conflicts, and stand together to solve our real problems. Solving problems is not a team sport.
Best regards,
Trump is the emperor with no clothes and health care is only one aspect of that multifaceted circumstance. Unfortunately, the people who cannot see this truth hold in contempt those who can, in obeisance to their emperor and his minions. Since Trump is intent on rejecting science and accelerating climate change, nothing else he does will matter. He will doom us with his catastrophic and destructive attack on the environment. That will be much more costly than complying with regulations because we will have to pay recovery costs for floods, droughts, hurricanes and increased disease.
2
When Ryan gets his Demolition of Healthcare bill signed, his revocation of all rules restraining predatory financial practices accomplished, his gutting of safety net for the bottom of society done, assorted gifts to the fossil fuel lobby delivered, and the obligatory Republican tax breaks for the rich accomplished, then and only then, will they be happy to get rid of Trump as their signing dummy. The pendulum may swing back. But then it will be too late. America, as a liberal Democracy will be over. It will be too late to stop climate change, if it isn't already. The dis-education of the voting populace will be complete and growing as Fox and Beitbart etc continue to build their bulwark against reason and science. As the applecart of disintegrating societies around the world flounder into chaos, and swarming mass migrations lead to starvation, genocide, and war, the short-sighted 1% running this country will claim it was Obama's fault, and there will be plenty of brainwashed idiots to believe them.
5
So...under Trumpcare people will get "health care" just like people who went to Trump University got an "education"
6
I never cease to be amazed at just how well Charles Blow deconstructs Trump for me. His every column, for me, just nails Trump dead on. He writes with such clarity and precision. I was a successful senior level financial executive in the commercial real estate industry and venture capital business and Trump came to my attention in the mid 1980s as a real estate investor. I was involved with a group of high net worth investors who purchased a great deal of commercial real estate in the early 1990s industry implosion. Trump of course was a well known quantity at that time as a charlatan and a con to those who were serious players in the industry. His Art of the Deal book was a comic book to professionals. All hustle and smoke and mirrors and he burned many lenders who have since avoided dealing with him. Charles has captured the essence of this man and his entire career. He has been essentially a carnival barker his entire life and has left no stone unturned in his life long pursuit of borderline and some not so borderline illegal dealings. Thanks Charles, you are a welcome voice to calling this man out for what he is and has always been. Intelligent people have long seen him for the con he is.
4
Thank you to the DNC and the NYT for endorsing a truly flawed Clinton for president.
You guys were so out of touch. Sanders was the one to endorse but no... the die had been cast for us.
Now stop your belly aching and grit your teeth and get tough. It's only about four years until we get a chance to climb out of this fettered and festering cesspool we find our selves in. The time will pass slowly, but indeed it will pass.
You guys were so out of touch. Sanders was the one to endorse but no... the die had been cast for us.
Now stop your belly aching and grit your teeth and get tough. It's only about four years until we get a chance to climb out of this fettered and festering cesspool we find our selves in. The time will pass slowly, but indeed it will pass.
1
I believe Mark Twain said this: "It is much easier to fool someone than it is to prove to that someone that he/she has been fooled."
Lots of folks were fooled during this last election.
Lots of folks were fooled during this last election.
3
You articulate the "elusive obvious" perfectly, Mr. Blow. Trump wanted to be embraced and admired. He is, but from the world of grifters. This is why he is insecure, self-loathing and ignorant. He can't turn away from a mirror that casts a warped version of himself
Trumpism is trumpery.
no doubt trump is an ongoing disaster, but he can hardly be blamed if the 'folks' were so stupid/gullible/uninformed that he convinced almost half those who voted for his lies and crassness.
1
As a previous dictator reportedly said, "so shall it be writen, so shall it be done." Hooe his followers tweet him well.
His statement about poor Melania, that she "was always the highest quality that you will ever find," as if she were a mink coat or a sports car, screamed nouveau riche to me. And he can't see that, and never will.
1
Charles Blow states it perfectly! It must be hard to keep up this level of intensity but please know that your efforts are appreciated. Posted your column to my FB page.
Never before has a sitting U.S. President and his administration had the kind of criticism we now read and hear daily - such as Blow's eloquent appraisal. It is the sort usually reserved for a shady, blustering used car salesman. Sadly and quite frightening for the future of America, these reviews are well deserved. To ensure the continued vibrancy of our democracy a vigilant free press will and must prevail - even when either cameras are not allowed or a highly respected reporter like Andrea Mitchell is ushered out of the room, her questions posed to Tillerson pointedly ignored and unanswered and with no small degree of smiling contempt.
1
Overselling and underperforming is Donald Trump 's calling card. The reason he was unable to get the votes of urban America is that this person frequently appears in every urban dwellers' life . In rural America , your word is your bond. In urban America , there is always one more sucker to swindle so the Trumps of the world can prey without consequence.
If enough Trump voters are hit where they live by losing effective access to health care, the prospects for the 2018 elections will be better. If this results in more Democrats in congress (the Democrats being a party that has to improve itself as well), then other Trump policies will also fail. Someone said "Worse is better," and I reluctantly believe that in this case, the worse plan will be the better one in the long run, because losing health care will be the last straw for many vulnerable voters.
As ever con man knows, including President Trump, the key to manipulating people is to appeal to their sense of superiority to take advantage of a challenge created by the con man. The fundamental desire to prove “I am right and you are wrong” is the Achilles' heel we all have that makes us vulnerable to those who would manipulate us.
Trump’s lies and promises are the bait to create the interest for his opponents to feel superior by proving him a clown, a liar, an idiot, or an evil threat. Those same lies and promises for his believers allow them to feel superior to their perceived idiots, liars, and evil threats. Both adversaries and supporters thus work together to create the con man’s worldview from which he benefits. One might say a good con man could intoxicate his audience, whether for or against, to all reinforce his image.
The entertainment industry uses this human failing that all news even bad news is good reinforcement of the public image they want to sell.
We may hope that this truth is forever made so clear and absolute by President Trump that in the end we will be more knowledgeable so as to preserve our freedom from our human weakness that believes we are superior to our fellow citizens
Trump’s lies and promises are the bait to create the interest for his opponents to feel superior by proving him a clown, a liar, an idiot, or an evil threat. Those same lies and promises for his believers allow them to feel superior to their perceived idiots, liars, and evil threats. Both adversaries and supporters thus work together to create the con man’s worldview from which he benefits. One might say a good con man could intoxicate his audience, whether for or against, to all reinforce his image.
The entertainment industry uses this human failing that all news even bad news is good reinforcement of the public image they want to sell.
We may hope that this truth is forever made so clear and absolute by President Trump that in the end we will be more knowledgeable so as to preserve our freedom from our human weakness that believes we are superior to our fellow citizens
Kinda sounds like the Beverly Hillbillies are in the White House, golden drapes, scotch tape on the tie, and all. But the Beverly Hillbillies were decent people who had a lick of common sense, even if they were "tacky rich". Their decency and common sense were the foil to the pretensions of their wealthy elite neighbors. Where is the decency now? Where is the common sense?
3
The whole thing is falling apart validating the old saying: 'You get what you paid for.'
No man is an island, Charles. I assume you know the rest of it. We're all complicit. Now, we get to sleep in the bed we've made. With the Donald.
A very incisive column Mr. Blow. It prompted me to reconsider the complaints of so many of Trump's supporters. They say they are not respected and are looked down upon by the educated elites. These supporters appear to be largely thin-skinned, white males who scapegoat brown-skinned people for causing their own financial failures in life. In doing so they mirror Trump's insecurities as described by Mr. Blow and others.
If Trump's supporters think they will somehow gain respect because they have elected a complete buffoon, one of their own as president, or that he will "make America great again" (whatever that means), they will be sorely disappointed. If anything, the ongoing painfully laughable failure of his presidency will bring them greater disrespect. Of course they will blame anybody and everybody but themselves for his failures, just as their leader has blames the press, intelligence community, Democrats, his own advisors and appointees, and Obama for the debacle the Trump presidency has clearly become.
If Trump's supporters think they will somehow gain respect because they have elected a complete buffoon, one of their own as president, or that he will "make America great again" (whatever that means), they will be sorely disappointed. If anything, the ongoing painfully laughable failure of his presidency will bring them greater disrespect. Of course they will blame anybody and everybody but themselves for his failures, just as their leader has blames the press, intelligence community, Democrats, his own advisors and appointees, and Obama for the debacle the Trump presidency has clearly become.
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> [Trumnp] blames the press, intelligence community, Democrats, his own advisors and appointees, and Obama for the debacle the Trump presidency has clearly become.
Maybe Trump took, "You didn't build that," to heart.
Maybe Trump took, "You didn't build that," to heart.
The only conciliation I have is knowing that even though I may pay more for my
health care, his supporters will suffer and die because of either being gullible or racist.
But they will suffer and be dead either way.
health care, his supporters will suffer and die because of either being gullible or racist.
But they will suffer and be dead either way.
1
Trump is just a symptom of a disease. The disease are his followers - classless, crude, narrow-minded, ignorant - and most importantly, proud of being so! A poor person cannot be blamed for being poorly schooled but they can - and should - be blamed for hating those who are. How did "elite" become a dirty word? How did ignorance become a matter of pride? How did inability to think critically become a badge of honor? I am through with being concerned about the millions in rural America who will go without health care when ACA is repealed. Out of spite and hatred for "liberals", they voted for death for their children - let them have it. My only concern is with young college graduates and urban entrepreneurs whose life will be complicated if they cannot strike out on their own for fear of losing health insurance. But if the replacement offers enough tax refunds for this part of the population, I am not going on the barricades to defend those who hate me and all I hold dear.
1
While too many on the "left" (not all) were too self-involved to engage the supposedly "stupid, uneducated Palin-Trump so-called redneck" folks, the right wing was busy in block clubs, churches, sports leagues and community groups -- not just preaching, but offering marriage counseling, youth programs, free food and other ways of engaging folks (yes, often tainted with religious bigotry and racism). It is not a question of "doing things for people and then they will like you." It is a question of working together with people so that they will TRUST you.
This will not be easy to reverse. It will take some of the elitists -- and yes there is a lot of elitism among liberals -- it will take them fully respecting that deep inside many of the confused Trump supporters (and many of them are confused) are people looking for answers -- not some stupid stereotype of a supposedly stupid white uneducated person. Of course, NEVER concede to racism or misogyny -- be clear and strong in opposition. But find a way to separate the person from the dangerous, self-destructive ideas. It is not easy. It is not easy. It will take engaging people as individual people and recognizing them as equal in core even if we must be uncompromising in putting forward the ideas. Or some can choose to live in a self-satisfied liberal bubble, basically doing what the right wing does, but much less successfully.
This will not be easy to reverse. It will take some of the elitists -- and yes there is a lot of elitism among liberals -- it will take them fully respecting that deep inside many of the confused Trump supporters (and many of them are confused) are people looking for answers -- not some stupid stereotype of a supposedly stupid white uneducated person. Of course, NEVER concede to racism or misogyny -- be clear and strong in opposition. But find a way to separate the person from the dangerous, self-destructive ideas. It is not easy. It is not easy. It will take engaging people as individual people and recognizing them as equal in core even if we must be uncompromising in putting forward the ideas. Or some can choose to live in a self-satisfied liberal bubble, basically doing what the right wing does, but much less successfully.
1
There's very little more to be said about Trump, the man, the billionaire, the populist. He is a failure in each of these endeavors and continually castigating him for these faults does no one any good any more. It might make us feel better but it will not change the situation we are living with: the destruction of the social safety net and the evisceration of the regulatory government agencies. That can only come from Congress and it will never happen in a Republican dominated political environment. I believe they've always had a "plan B". Wait for the proper time and replace him with one of their own...Pence. I don't think it will be through an impeachment trial because it would take too long and probably implicate other members of the leadership in "colluding" to forestall the "Russian collusion" investigation. They will use the Article 2 provision...in essence declaring Trump "non compus mentis". That will take care of him, but we will be left with the majority of his advisors and cabinet. What to do about them? Perhaps most important...what to do with the millions of Trump's base who will look at the outcome as a conspiracy propagated by the "enemies of the people" (the press) and the liberals. We still have a big underlying problem in this country that we haven't yet begun to address.
3
Rhetorically, the points of argument do not point to the final metaphor. What's Hell got to do with it. Perhaps better, referring to an earlier point of origin...'a non-existent bridge to Brooklyn.'
I concur with this piece. I'd add, though, that as responsible as the President is foe setting this in motion, it's the Congress that has members who must be held accountable. If Paul Ryan is as passionate about this new law, perhaps he should be the first casualty in a throw the bums out movement. And, oh, people, remember that these members of Congress get free healthcare for life. So why should they care what happens to their constituents? The ones who keep electing them? "Sad".
2
I can foresee Trump having a great deal of trouble giving up the Presidency in four or eight years. He will have difficulty with the role of ex-President.
3
We will be dying of radiation poisoning brought about by his closeness to nuclear weapons if his term lasts more than six months. Kim Jong Un has his number and the little twerp is spoiling for a fight.
Talk to Ryan and McConnell. Along with many others, they stood by mute while the train wreck happened.
3
Good analysis about Trump, but we should give the conman some credit for knowing most politicians are empty suits and daring to challenge them, people loved it. His real estate developer background also gave him first hand experience dealing with blue collar workers. He had learned how to speak their language, project authority and demand loyalty..
That said, I wish Mr Blow spends less time writing about the conman and more about the Resistance and good people in the world. Don't let him suck all the energy out of us.
That said, I wish Mr Blow spends less time writing about the conman and more about the Resistance and good people in the world. Don't let him suck all the energy out of us.
1
Yes, this is all true, and terrible, but could we focus on Russia? On Russian influence and intervention in our election? Please, could we discuss all the meetings Trump's people had with the Russians, during the campaign and afterward?
We know about his personality and crassness and coarseness. Take it to the next step. It's just the kind of personality that would sell America's soul to the Russian devil.
Please, write about the way Trump/Tillerson have fired every single career diplomate at State, stripping our nation of the pros who served for years and presidents of both parties. Why?? We have a gutted State Department and Trump wants to further cut its budget about 30%. Why? Who profits, America or the Russians?
Stay with this story, please. Yes, of course the people who voted for him will lose their health insurance. Is that "news"? We all knew it before one vote was cast last November.
But while you're writing about tickets to hell, examine who was really behind the sales pitch.
Remember that Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. That she probably would have won, period, without the Russians and WikiLeaks.
We may have a Russian puppet in the White House, as well as Secretary of State. Can't write about this presidency anymore as if it is, or ever was, a fairly conducted, and fairly, won race.
Trump was never smart enough to get elected on his own steam. So who helped, and why?
Who wins with a nation of sick and dying Americans without health care?
Us? Or them?
We know about his personality and crassness and coarseness. Take it to the next step. It's just the kind of personality that would sell America's soul to the Russian devil.
Please, write about the way Trump/Tillerson have fired every single career diplomate at State, stripping our nation of the pros who served for years and presidents of both parties. Why?? We have a gutted State Department and Trump wants to further cut its budget about 30%. Why? Who profits, America or the Russians?
Stay with this story, please. Yes, of course the people who voted for him will lose their health insurance. Is that "news"? We all knew it before one vote was cast last November.
But while you're writing about tickets to hell, examine who was really behind the sales pitch.
Remember that Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. That she probably would have won, period, without the Russians and WikiLeaks.
We may have a Russian puppet in the White House, as well as Secretary of State. Can't write about this presidency anymore as if it is, or ever was, a fairly conducted, and fairly, won race.
Trump was never smart enough to get elected on his own steam. So who helped, and why?
Who wins with a nation of sick and dying Americans without health care?
Us? Or them?
5
All of this is known to us who lived in NYC in the 1970s and 1980s, especially those who sought contributions from the Trump Organization for worthy civic charities. The Trump family was never known for their generosity or serious compassion; they were out for one thing: adulation. And money. That he now portrays himself as a man of the people is just ludicrous. He is a man of "gimme what I want, I deserve it" and nothing more.
6
One of the best critiques of who Trump really is!!!
5
The sad thing is, the Republican's in the House and Senate and his loyal supporters are greasing the skids for this train wreck to hell. Lets hope when it crashes and burns the phoenix of a new and better day will rise from the ashes. It is the only way his supporters are going to learn who he is, they are commuted to ignorance and the Republican party doesn't care who he is just as long as he does what they want him to do. The real Devil in your story is the Republican party, not Trump, he is just a useful idiot doing the Devils work like Narcissus's mirror.
3
But don't forget, the firewall is the Republican Party. Feel better now, America? They won't just make life better for the 1%.... They'll do the right thing for us all.
The key life struggles suffered by the majority of the American people mostly stem from the Republican party's unbridled greed and allegiance to their donors, none of which ever jibes with better lives or environment.
Trump, now come along and, having proved he can break through their lockstep style, and manage their greed to help the American People live better lives, he chooses to be a villain, rather than the hero by backing this horrid American Death Care plan, they've so hastily proposed.
They need some serious political accountability whoopass to be laid upon them immediately, if not soon.
Trump, now come along and, having proved he can break through their lockstep style, and manage their greed to help the American People live better lives, he chooses to be a villain, rather than the hero by backing this horrid American Death Care plan, they've so hastily proposed.
They need some serious political accountability whoopass to be laid upon them immediately, if not soon.
1
Your article describes Trump's gaudy decorating style, (gold plated fixtures, the dripping gold drapery, and Louis XIV furnishings). As you discussed his tastes and his outsider identity, it occurred to me -- Trump has been using Russian decorators for years! Putin's and Trump's furnishings could be swapped as identicals. I think this is further evidence of his being propped up by the Russians -- for years. Follow the Louis XIV trail. It will take you to Vlad. :)
It's going to take a lot for Trump supporters to have a change of heart. For NYT readers, he has already supplied ample evidence that he is completely out of his depth, unprepared, and woefully unsuited for the position he now finds himself in. On the other hand his base, seems to be quite pleased--he's "shaking things up".
Even more worrisome is the fact that his antics have commanded so much attention, that they take attention away from, and effectively normalize the GOP agenda:
1) lower taxes on the richest corporations and individuals
2) privatize any and everything
3) shred our already tattered safety net
4) abolish anything resembling a regulation
5) lower taxes some more
6) keep America stupid (the GOP loves the ignorant every bit as much as Trump does--the only difference is that Trump says it loudly and proudly)
7) make certain the undeserving have a hard time obtaining health care
Although a tiny handful of GOP legislators express minor disapproval from time to time, Trump is providing excellent cover for their dreams.
Even more worrisome is the fact that his antics have commanded so much attention, that they take attention away from, and effectively normalize the GOP agenda:
1) lower taxes on the richest corporations and individuals
2) privatize any and everything
3) shred our already tattered safety net
4) abolish anything resembling a regulation
5) lower taxes some more
6) keep America stupid (the GOP loves the ignorant every bit as much as Trump does--the only difference is that Trump says it loudly and proudly)
7) make certain the undeserving have a hard time obtaining health care
Although a tiny handful of GOP legislators express minor disapproval from time to time, Trump is providing excellent cover for their dreams.
3
I appreciate your article and it is right on target. Where is the outrage from the media about a white billionaire who had everything growing up going after the last President? First he questioned his birth and now accusing him of a crime. Total injustice here.
1
Blow can Pine and stomp his feet all he wants, but all the name calling and conjecture in the world won't change the fact that Mr. Trump was elected by the of the people of the United States.
He my president and the president of every American reading this paper today, make no mistake.
So, liberals can continue to work themselves into a lather for the next four years, and probably eight, while we, the Republicans look in and smile.
Enjoy your time-
He my president and the president of every American reading this paper today, make no mistake.
So, liberals can continue to work themselves into a lather for the next four years, and probably eight, while we, the Republicans look in and smile.
Enjoy your time-
2
aaaaaaaand that's your point? We won. What did you win? That's the point of this article. Yes you won but what did you really win? You're still standing there saying...."ha ha, we won!!!" Even when you and yours don't have what you thought you would have, will you still be reveling in the victory?
2
I was a hold your nose and vote for HRC voter.
I am not in a lather because a democrat is not in office. What concerns me is we have pathological liar,grifter, sexual predator who now can also add multiple treasonable offenses to his resume.
That my good man is what has me in a lather!!
I am not in a lather because a democrat is not in office. What concerns me is we have pathological liar,grifter, sexual predator who now can also add multiple treasonable offenses to his resume.
That my good man is what has me in a lather!!
3
Although I agree with Blow's thesis, this is another example of the press criticising DJT but at the same time acknowledging that he is a legitimate president. DJT lost the popular vote by three million and I am covinced that a great majority of our dumbed down electorate know that absent Russia and Comey, HRC would have won in a landslide. Both DJT and HRC thought the same thing on election night, prior to the news of the outcome.
As a result of this fiasco, the USA is on the brink of a collapse of our democracy. Examining the rise of other despots, every action, including cabinet appointees, point in this direction. This is the real story and only the press and other media should make an exerted effort to inform those people who have the ability to understand what's happening and hope that a large enough segment of the other side, get the memo.
As a result of this fiasco, the USA is on the brink of a collapse of our democracy. Examining the rise of other despots, every action, including cabinet appointees, point in this direction. This is the real story and only the press and other media should make an exerted effort to inform those people who have the ability to understand what's happening and hope that a large enough segment of the other side, get the memo.
1
Yes, Mr. Blow, you are right and the orange buffoon did sell the ignorant, the bigoted and the greedy a bill of goods. The only winners in his game are the top 1% of the greedy. The God that Trump prays to is the same one that P.T. Barnum did. It is sad for our country and we do have to recognize that we are not, if we ever were, a great country.
1
One bright spot, if these older, rural Americans can no longer afford healthcare perhaps they won't be around to vote for him again in 2020. I call that a win-win.
2
Kudos to Damon Winter. This otherworldly photograph is perfect.
1
TrumpCare = Death Panels for poor, lower middle class and elderly Americans. I guess Republicans think if they all die, America will be great again.
1
Donald Trump, more and more, reminds me of Pinocchio. The wooden puppet who had always wants to be a real boy, and yet, all hat he became as the world's most hated (you know the other word) Donkey!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
1
So true; he's always presented the world his true colors; honestly, I blame the hapless rubes who have fallen under his carney spell and are now taking us all down into this pit of circus-like despair.
1
Donald Trump is to business as Nick Saban is to college football (sort of). Both have been wildly successful in their original fields of endeavor. But as Saban crashed when he tried to carry his philosophy to the NFL so Trump has crashed when he took his shtick to the White House.
The difference? Saban realized he was not suited for the NFL and returned to the college ranks and has been very successful.
Trump's massive ego will not allow him to come to the same realization.
The difference? Saban realized he was not suited for the NFL and returned to the college ranks and has been very successful.
Trump's massive ego will not allow him to come to the same realization.
1
How to translate this article into words the "ardent supporters" can take on board?
No, Mr. Blow, the "establishment", including major media - which is owned nearly exclusively by the same Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/ Radical Religion Good Old Boys' Party/ Cabal - SOLD The Con Don, just as they are now selling OUR America to the highest bidders.
Right now it's Putin and the BIG money masters the Robber Barons created in China. Their concept of the "new one-world order" works only for them.
Perhaps the hundreds of millions of Americans who actually love and value true democracy will have the courage to stop this attempted chapter of HIStory. WE, The Good People of America - together, led by women - are the only ones standing in their way.
NOW is the time.
Right now it's Putin and the BIG money masters the Robber Barons created in China. Their concept of the "new one-world order" works only for them.
Perhaps the hundreds of millions of Americans who actually love and value true democracy will have the courage to stop this attempted chapter of HIStory. WE, The Good People of America - together, led by women - are the only ones standing in their way.
NOW is the time.
3
Before going to hell, Trump will rot in a prison to pay for his treasonous collusion with Russia. A special prosecutor is needed immediately.
2
Even when they finally notice their health insurance is gone, Trump supporters will hang on. They love the guy, there's no denying it. He could burn down their houses and they'd love him. Why? I don't know. I'm 64, and I don't remember any politician in my lifetime that was so revered, not even Reagan. I think Trump could even take away their Social Security, Medicare and veteran's benefits and they'd still love him (which is a good thing, because those programs are in Paul Ryan's cross hairs). Why they have chosen Trump is a mystery, but they will cling on regardless.
3
One thing that you should give him (yes to that guy to whom the article is about) was his skillful use of twitter.
At the beginning it was a very effective weapon but because his overuse and misuse now his effectiveness is eroded mainly because his credibility is near to zero.
Blaming the past administration to cover his own blunders and to distract attention about his love fest with Russians was the last drop.
Now what I see is a very dangerous psychopath that does not care about the consequences of his own acts and sick of power and attention man that could bring a whole nation down to prove his points....and still nobody in his own party is brave enough to denounce him.
History will be implacable with them.
At the beginning it was a very effective weapon but because his overuse and misuse now his effectiveness is eroded mainly because his credibility is near to zero.
Blaming the past administration to cover his own blunders and to distract attention about his love fest with Russians was the last drop.
Now what I see is a very dangerous psychopath that does not care about the consequences of his own acts and sick of power and attention man that could bring a whole nation down to prove his points....and still nobody in his own party is brave enough to denounce him.
History will be implacable with them.
1
"The forgotten shall be forgotten no more" he said. Perhaps we are to believe those he is now scrapping like so much kitchen detritus were never forgotten, so it's perfectly acceptable that they now will be. This is all about the man's complete lack of integrity.
Yet another fine and honest appraisal of the sociopath in the WH from one of the best columnists in the business. The way I see it is, at this point, the majority of venal spineless Republicans are just as responsible as Trump for the "ticket to hell". History will hold this racist dark-hearted treasonous party above country mob led by the likes of the smarmy Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell accountable and it won't be pretty.
1
This is the best description of Trump and his cons I have ever read. I think this is also why our society is in deep peril. Trump is the biggest con perpetrated on a society in my lifetime. The scary part is the American institutions in Government and the Judiciary that allows this con to be perpetrated. It is simply white privilege at it's worst and the price will be too big for all of society.
3
Yes it's a ticket to hell because Trump is the devil in disguise. I still can't believe people and pundits bought the Presidential act during the Congressional speech. I didn't and Trump proved his true self again just days later with his ridiculous morning tweets. With pitchfork and devil horns showing again.
2
Some people question, research then use intellect and common sense to find the truth.
Other people need to be hit over the head with the truth.
Trump supporters - the frying pan is coming.
Other people need to be hit over the head with the truth.
Trump supporters - the frying pan is coming.
1
You hit the nail on the head!
Donald is stuck in adolescence. Has not developed beyond that period where self-gratification is everything.
But lets not digress. Russiagate is the only thing that needs attention. Benedict Donald must be outed.
But lets not digress. Russiagate is the only thing that needs attention. Benedict Donald must be outed.
Prediction: Trump will be forced to resign or be impeached. Otherwise assassination is likely. He's grossly ignorant and lacking intelligence. But his repulsiveness and incompetence virtually assure us of his doom.
3
My son says the biggest mistake he has ever made was to vote for Trump. I wonder how many other people now feel that way.
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Google Trumpgrets for some postings on second thoughts
1
"Tacky rich" is the correct term--and a wonderful one--for Trump and his team. They seem to take their cues from Sylvia Miles, of whom it was said, "She would even come to the opening of a door." Her Oscar-winning role was as an again kept woman in "Midnight Cowboy."
I couldn't help but think in this way when I saw what the current Mrs. Trump and First Daughter wore to the address to Congress last week.
As icing on the cake, the Chinese granted Trump a style mark on "Trump Escorts." As my late mother would say, this is appropriate for a nafkadickeh family.
I couldn't help but think in this way when I saw what the current Mrs. Trump and First Daughter wore to the address to Congress last week.
As icing on the cake, the Chinese granted Trump a style mark on "Trump Escorts." As my late mother would say, this is appropriate for a nafkadickeh family.
2
Little donnie would not be possible without;
1) A Robert's court where money = free speech, and racist voter suppression only happened 40 years ago.
2) Roger Aires - and that propaganda team at Fox "news"; where the faux news gets cut-up into talking points for the intentional ignorant to repeat.
3) Koch industries; who have attempted to dismantle hundreds of years of legal precedence.
4) The national Republican party; A cult of zombie zealots whose raw hatred of anything different has inspired the mob culture of anti-everything.
5) The russian government for helping these faux conservatives embrace their true destiny...greed.
This was an illegitimate election, but we have moved to crimes against humanity. The red dragon is a traitor and an enemy of truth.
1) A Robert's court where money = free speech, and racist voter suppression only happened 40 years ago.
2) Roger Aires - and that propaganda team at Fox "news"; where the faux news gets cut-up into talking points for the intentional ignorant to repeat.
3) Koch industries; who have attempted to dismantle hundreds of years of legal precedence.
4) The national Republican party; A cult of zombie zealots whose raw hatred of anything different has inspired the mob culture of anti-everything.
5) The russian government for helping these faux conservatives embrace their true destiny...greed.
This was an illegitimate election, but we have moved to crimes against humanity. The red dragon is a traitor and an enemy of truth.
4
Thank you! This is a great synthesis, and even an empathy builder. I have Trumpers in my family. They're the GED crowd. They work hard, watch sports, are loyal to their families, and feel an affinity to this guy who lies to them daily. They are also the folks who thought they were going to get rich off their Beanie Baby collection, bought Glen Beck's gold, get suckered by televangelists, and filter their hate through Jesus. Since the election, they've mostly stopped paying attention. They have no idea what is going on.
4
I have to say Charles that your statements echo my thoughts on 45 to a T. They also bring to the forefront the reason he was chosen by a large percent of the population to go into office. Your description of the "elites" he has always attained to be part of are seen as distant and condescending "haves" who do not listen to or care about the 97% who are not. Greed is the law of the land now as evidenced by his leaving it to the Repugs to govern. Whether he is a charlatan made no difference to the folks who have never had a real voice and see themselves as being taken for a ride. In the trunk. They are not wrong. In my mind it is desperation and fear and as long as leaders like HRC and others, who wear their entitlement on their sleeves are presented as choices to lead the 97%. I know she would have done much good, but her actions spoke volumes. I fear we will end up with despots like 45 and the current power mongers in control of the government moving forward if this does not change. I know that there are many very wealthy people who do many many good deeds with their money and influence. But they are not on the front page. In the end, Democracy is messy but so is life. We need real courage and honest leadership instead of the games that sowed the foul, poisonous crop we are now being forced to choke down. I am missing the trunk right now because I feel like I am sitting on top of the car with Romney's dog. Sorry Maureen, but it fit.
2
I used to pity Trump voters, then I wanted to understand them better, but now, after 6 weeks of horrific statements, hate crimes, and families torn asunder, all I can think on reading that they'll be hit hardest by the repeal of ACA and the rest of the "shift-money-to-the-1%" policies, is GOOD. Let the fools suffer. If I could twist the knife myself I would do it at this point, on behalf of the dying planet.
5
45 is a self-loathing immigrant's son who constantly brings to mind the character Cipolla from Thomas Mann's 1929 novella Mario and the Magician.
The plot summary in Wiki notes: "Cipolla may well represent the mesmerizing power of authoritarian leaders in Europe at the time —he is autocratic, misuses power, and subjugates the masses in an attempt to counterbalance his inferiority complex by artificially boosting his self-confidence."
The plot summary in Wiki notes: "Cipolla may well represent the mesmerizing power of authoritarian leaders in Europe at the time —he is autocratic, misuses power, and subjugates the masses in an attempt to counterbalance his inferiority complex by artificially boosting his self-confidence."
5
The comments are reassuring, as like-minded readers worry along with me.
When I do stray out of my comfort zone, I am appalled that Trump supporters are cheering his actions, gleeful that he is disrupting the traditions of our government. They applaud when he demeans the office of President and behaves as they would. As P. T. Barnum said, 'There's a sucker born every minute.' Certainly, it is so true, if someone like Donald Trump can become President. I weep for us all, when I'm not gnashing my teeth.
When I do stray out of my comfort zone, I am appalled that Trump supporters are cheering his actions, gleeful that he is disrupting the traditions of our government. They applaud when he demeans the office of President and behaves as they would. As P. T. Barnum said, 'There's a sucker born every minute.' Certainly, it is so true, if someone like Donald Trump can become President. I weep for us all, when I'm not gnashing my teeth.
1
That is spot on,well said. Sharing now.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/09/dont-let-establish...
Hello Charles, you might want to read this. Clearly just kissing up to the same old establishment forces is not going to cut it as a resistence movement.
Hello Charles, you might want to read this. Clearly just kissing up to the same old establishment forces is not going to cut it as a resistence movement.
Mr. Blow, in our America, not everyone is smart, courageous and rich. There is a lot of people who are idiots, cowards and poor. Your kind of mentality is one of the reasons Trump is sitting where he's at.
Great article. I'm reminded of the decades of grossly exaggerated yet obviously conflated infomercial pitches for exercise equipment, cooking gadgets and miracle hoses/wrench sets/grout cleaner you name it. Cheaper! Better! Incredible! But wait, buy now and get TWO!! Our president's outrageous, baseless claims that defy reality do indeed appeal to the same people that fall for hucksters on TV who promise that their product, and their product ALONE, will help a poor fool finally lose weight, avoid frustration, finally get that household chore conquered. Scary stuff, these times in which we're living. One man lacking critical thinking skills or a basic understanding of how the biggest democracy on earth works can ascend to power not based on capacity, but only on self-imagined grandiosity.
America, how do you like your miracle gadget now?
America, how do you like your miracle gadget now?
4
Donald Trump is undoubtedly the dumbest person to ever set foot in the White House, and that includes tour groups. And the people who voted for him? Even dumber than that
3
Trump must be called out on every lie he has told and continues to tell. When will the Dems start to run tv commercials showing what Trump said and now what has happened? The footage is there for the taking. He says black is white, up is down and yes means no. How dare he slander his predecessor?
Such tv time must run in tandem with your devastating columns to put the nails in the coffin of this presidency.
Such tv time must run in tandem with your devastating columns to put the nails in the coffin of this presidency.
2
Many Trump supporters would gladly have their heath care shredded if "those undeserving people" will also loose their benefits. Sad.
4
Exactly. Indeed, one of the many NYT commenters here likes to rage in CAPITAL LETTERS about how her premiums have gone up and her deductible is immense and blames it on "Obamacare". Instead of rightly placing the blame for this on the Republicans who demanded that the insurance companies write those parts of the ACA, that individual and so many others continue to cling to their willful ignorance about the facts.
And they actually believe that the Republicans will come up with something that will help them. But as long as those who have "no personal responsibility" are tossed aside, that is A-OK.
And they actually believe that the Republicans will come up with something that will help them. But as long as those who have "no personal responsibility" are tossed aside, that is A-OK.
I am not sure his supporters were sold on anything Mr. Blow. They were just voting their resentments. Their selection and elections have consequences. Fortunately we have them quite frequently in this country.
1
A conman so taken with satisfying his monumental ego he doesn't realize he has become a simple stooge for puppet masters in the White House and perhaps in Moscow. Keep demanding to see his tax returns, keep hammering him on the emoluments clause, keep connecting the dots to the Russian connection and lets get rid of this travesty before it's too late. If Congress won't do it perhaps the generals will, or do we have to wait for Trump to nuke North Korea, sign a formal alliance with Putin or annex Mexico?
6
Our president is a grifter and con artist who hoodwinked many in this country. How many will publicly express remorse about their support and admit they were conned?
8
I'm convinced, that I'll end up in hell, if in fact it really does exist when I'm dead and gone. If that turns out to be the case, I hope I run into Donald Trump because I'm sure he'll be there also. When I meet him I'm simply going to punch him the mouth and thank him for being such a wonderful and caring person.
4
I suspect all NYT readers share your bridled rage.
It's foolhardy to assume our boor-President's ignorance precludes masterful manipulator. It plays into his hands i.e. inflames his base, when we don't acknowledge rare positives (some of his Cabinet picks have been surprisingly competent, and Gorsuch is not only extremely qualified, but could surprise everyone with his independence).
We need to stop making this personal. Make the strong arguments against poor policies AND THEN BROADCAST THE CASE TO TRUMPLAND (and then follow-up with progress reports of failed policies). Trump must be made to wear his failures because he's a masterful obfuscater. Stop chasing the squirrels! And praise the few positive things he does; fairness WILL erode some support from the middle.
FEDERALISM (stealing from GOP playbook) can undermine every backward policy he passes. For example, climate change reversals. Let the Blue States take up the slack to satisfy the Paris agreement; inevitably the pendulum will swing back leaving Red States to pay Blues (a carbon tax). And Reds will only find themselves 4 years further behind, deeper in the hole. Clean energy is the inevitable winner, because there's $ in it. Healthcare? While human suffering will be sad; Blue States will find a way to navigate around any cynical Republican plan. Red States' poor/middle class will suffer, but they (and others of conscience) need to vote for a humane state. Federalism can trump Trump.
It's foolhardy to assume our boor-President's ignorance precludes masterful manipulator. It plays into his hands i.e. inflames his base, when we don't acknowledge rare positives (some of his Cabinet picks have been surprisingly competent, and Gorsuch is not only extremely qualified, but could surprise everyone with his independence).
We need to stop making this personal. Make the strong arguments against poor policies AND THEN BROADCAST THE CASE TO TRUMPLAND (and then follow-up with progress reports of failed policies). Trump must be made to wear his failures because he's a masterful obfuscater. Stop chasing the squirrels! And praise the few positive things he does; fairness WILL erode some support from the middle.
FEDERALISM (stealing from GOP playbook) can undermine every backward policy he passes. For example, climate change reversals. Let the Blue States take up the slack to satisfy the Paris agreement; inevitably the pendulum will swing back leaving Red States to pay Blues (a carbon tax). And Reds will only find themselves 4 years further behind, deeper in the hole. Clean energy is the inevitable winner, because there's $ in it. Healthcare? While human suffering will be sad; Blue States will find a way to navigate around any cynical Republican plan. Red States' poor/middle class will suffer, but they (and others of conscience) need to vote for a humane state. Federalism can trump Trump.
6
"There are two kinds of class in this world, first, and no." ~Sam'l Goldwyn
11
I agree with all of Mr. Blow's sentiments. However, I disagree with the assertion that, "the legend of Trump, the one most rigid in his own mind, is rubbing up against the harsh reality of presidential politics." Unfortunately -- and with deep frustration -- what we are learning is that, under our current system of government, even when the majority of Americans are against his disastrous policies, a dangerous and ignorant president can in fact avoid harsh realities. The only question in my mind now is, what are we going to do to change this?
7
Trump's ostentation is a reflection of Trump's fragility which is at odds with a seemingly massive ego. However, his personality flaws are not what has kept Trump out of New York's elite social scene. Rather, it is the simple fact that virtually all A-List events are organized around some form of philanthropy. Trump is simply too greedy to give any of his money away. He believes that poorer people have a character flaw and he doesn't intend to subsidize them.
I am reminded of a piece on PBS' Frontline. A California farmer beset by the worst drought in centuries voted, along with his wife, for Trump because he does not subscribe to climate change. Hillary came to the valley and told them the truth; climate change and increasing population were going to make matters worse. Trumo told them what they wanted to hear. The farmer saw Trump's grift as a message of hope. What's it going to take for those folks to accept the fact that Trump cannot make it rain?
I am reminded of a piece on PBS' Frontline. A California farmer beset by the worst drought in centuries voted, along with his wife, for Trump because he does not subscribe to climate change. Hillary came to the valley and told them the truth; climate change and increasing population were going to make matters worse. Trumo told them what they wanted to hear. The farmer saw Trump's grift as a message of hope. What's it going to take for those folks to accept the fact that Trump cannot make it rain?
11
Trump has offered up zero plans of his own with respect to health insurance. Zero. The Republicans (who never had a plan of their own either until now), kept waiting for Trump to actually do something on health insurance, and when he didn't, they were forced to concoct something on their own. Once the Republicans came up with their plan, which was not only infinitely worse than ObamaCare but fulfilled none of Trump's campaign promises for better, cheaper health insurance for all, Trump started applauding, and has apparently now decided it's time for him to wade into the mix by strong-arming wavering Republicans into signing onto the bill. Can't imagine what he's telling/promising those people.
The saddest part of this health insurance fiasco is not that Trump voters will be losing their health insurance, but that they will be convinced by Trump, McConnell, Ryan, et al. that the Republican "plan" is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Democrats will then sit back in wonder as the Trumpaholics buy into this groupthink and never waiver in their support for our so-called president and his enablers in Congress.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are all drowning in first-class tickets to hell.
The saddest part of this health insurance fiasco is not that Trump voters will be losing their health insurance, but that they will be convinced by Trump, McConnell, Ryan, et al. that the Republican "plan" is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Democrats will then sit back in wonder as the Trumpaholics buy into this groupthink and never waiver in their support for our so-called president and his enablers in Congress.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are all drowning in first-class tickets to hell.
6
I volunteer at an agency that serves low-income clients. What will happen with the people who don't have Affordable Care Act insurance or any other health insurance. is they'll be able to to get emergency room care only. Hospitals will be required to treat and stabilize, but that will be all. Meanwhile the rest of us will pay for it as our hospital costs go up to pay for it. A lot of trump voters who lose their health insurance are just going to die. But they'll blame it on Barack Obama. Even though the Affordable Care Act was actually based on a Republican model.
Not sad at all!! They voted for him they deserve 100% what's ahead. You can't fix stupid.
“Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are likely to be hit the hardest ..."
So what? He'll blame it all on Obama and Clinton and the liberal elite, and his followers will believe their Leader when he cries "Why is everyone picking on me?".
So what? He'll blame it all on Obama and Clinton and the liberal elite, and his followers will believe their Leader when he cries "Why is everyone picking on me?".
6
Every sentence in this column hits the mark. Trump is riddled with profound and crippling envy. Envy consumes him. His envy is so powerful he is driven to deny reality and deny his target's very identity, like he did with Obama. He is driven, obsessed, with making everyone pay for his feelings of persecution. He has had an ever expanding inferiority complex ever since he grew up in mid 20th century Queens, on the outside, where the style of the day was mafioso tacky. As a teenager he started looking over at Manhattan and itched to hang with the cosmopolitan crowd. He wasn't admitted and he got angrier and angrier. And like a lot of people with this level of pure unmitigated envy, his response was to become a bully, a rich bully. He bullied small and now he bullies big. He is a miserable soul who has become, at 70, a two year old version of a raging tyrant.
15
I agree with your comment. Well said
The con-man-in-chief thinks he is making us safer...that might be the biggest con of all. Look at his closest circle-- Bannon. Priebus, his daughter and his son-in-law...these are the people who are advising him on North Korea?!Looking forward to another flurry of tweets this weekend as he gets all of his "information" from Breitbart and Fox....oh, I feel real safe....NOT
Yes, one should be open-minded to the other side, but when the other side is nonsensical AND dangerous, it's not worthy of a moment of consideration and legitimacy.
Mr. Blow, keep up the great work...we need you.
Yes, one should be open-minded to the other side, but when the other side is nonsensical AND dangerous, it's not worthy of a moment of consideration and legitimacy.
Mr. Blow, keep up the great work...we need you.
8
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
– William Shakespeare
– William Shakespeare
324
His plan is to use our government to further build his brand. His sons are doing the legwork for a Trump Tower in every city worldwide. His failure to divest is impeachable.
Between today and next year at this time, it will be clear the road to impeachment is the House of Representatives. We may see a House blood bath in the 2018 elections. I am working on that.
http://thegovernmentinexile.com
Between today and next year at this time, it will be clear the road to impeachment is the House of Representatives. We may see a House blood bath in the 2018 elections. I am working on that.
http://thegovernmentinexile.com
2
Agreed! CB would do even better to take the last third of this article and promote it as widely as possible. All my life. I've seen the reactions of "have-nots" to the powers that govern them. Some just get on with life, believing that whoever rules, their own lot remains the same. Others shake virtual fists at power. I believe that the latter tipped the victory to Trump. They thought they were shaking up DC, but didn't realize that the Bannon factor actually represents the power to destroy the Republic. Were Trump just another plodding GOPer, we could look forward to undoing his damage in four years’ time. But with the structural changes to taxation, the military, and above all, to the SCOTUS, it would take a cataclysmic resistance to restore the old American Republic.
1
Mr. Blow, your mythological allusions to hell are quite apt to describe the minions of Mephistopheles and crew.
Let's look at the tale of Theseus and the rash Pirithous, constantly in trouble, who wanted to see if Theseus [Putin] was as great a hero as he was said to be. When he heard that Theseus [Putin] was pursuing him, he wanted to see who was the better man. Impulsive as ever, Pirithous cried out, "I will submit to any penalty you impose; you be the judge.
Now let's rename the tale to Putin and the rash Trump, constantly in trouble, who wanted to befriend Putin, so the two go to the underworld out of hubris to steal the election and to undermine the faith in American democracy.
Putin and Trump both sit on the Chair of Forgetfulness that Hades proposes, yet Putin gets away scot free while Trump is stuck on that seat for all eternity because it was he who gave away our country to the enemy. At least, if there are any fair and impartial justices that is the punishment befitting Trump for having colluded with our adversaries out of his sick and evil mind.
Let's look at the tale of Theseus and the rash Pirithous, constantly in trouble, who wanted to see if Theseus [Putin] was as great a hero as he was said to be. When he heard that Theseus [Putin] was pursuing him, he wanted to see who was the better man. Impulsive as ever, Pirithous cried out, "I will submit to any penalty you impose; you be the judge.
Now let's rename the tale to Putin and the rash Trump, constantly in trouble, who wanted to befriend Putin, so the two go to the underworld out of hubris to steal the election and to undermine the faith in American democracy.
Putin and Trump both sit on the Chair of Forgetfulness that Hades proposes, yet Putin gets away scot free while Trump is stuck on that seat for all eternity because it was he who gave away our country to the enemy. At least, if there are any fair and impartial justices that is the punishment befitting Trump for having colluded with our adversaries out of his sick and evil mind.
1
Get over it! He is the US President, he is not going away. He played Washington's game and won. Are you just going to cry about it for four years?
No, we will continue to dissent and protest; if we learned nothing else from the right wing during the Obama years; we llearned that crying wil get you nowhere; and being unwilling to stoop to the mindless obstructionism of the republicans, (because, after all, country SHOULD come before party), we shall continue the effort to KEEP America great, with an eye on the future, instead of lusting to return to the past.
2
Trump has taught this children and extended family well - it's ALL about PR.
His adult kids, in interviews, speeches and statements reveal they are as dumb, clueless and vapid as the Kardashians. Their prior image, to the sane, was of pampered dilettantes, enabled by name and money, but the intense spotlight of the presidency reveals them to be con artists and grifters just like their father,
courting power and money.
His adult kids, in interviews, speeches and statements reveal they are as dumb, clueless and vapid as the Kardashians. Their prior image, to the sane, was of pampered dilettantes, enabled by name and money, but the intense spotlight of the presidency reveals them to be con artists and grifters just like their father,
courting power and money.
4
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke
On Point. No one had yet deginef him with such a succinct and precise analysis of his beginnings and how he was able to connect with a major part of the uneducated and crass people of our society by being one himself, in order to obtain support. You were so accurate in your comparison of his deal- making operandi and the way he sold Americans on goods he cannot deliver.
If only the Dems had put forth someone, heck, only decent, this nightmare would simply be a bad dream. Hillary and hubris has doomed us all.
One must assume you are speaking of the hubris of those on the far left who worked so hard to advance the ridiculous notion that 'Hillary' was as bad or worse than Trump. Trump's deplorables thank you for your support.
1
Hey it's not his fault he's president. He said everything possible to not get elected but the more outrageous he was and the more he lied the more people loved him. Now that he's president his minions think he's doing a great job. They'll never admit it was a mistake to for him because republicans don't admit their mistakes. It's part of their DNA. We are now a nation divided and the prognosis of uniting anytime in the near future is bleak.
4
While Donald John Trump was naturally born to white male wealth, power and privilege in New York City then nurtured as a heathen hedonist pagan I have no idea where his soul is bound for eternity.
Because I was born and raised black and poor on the South Side of Chicago in the African Methodist Episcopal Church by a single mother and I am a product of the Chicago Public Schools K-12 I have no idea what Donald Trump's life was and is like.
But I recall the admonitions "to judge not lest yea be judged and found wanting" and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Yet I note that Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey managed to rise without Donald's privileged royal beginnings. They all look mighty human morally emotionally and mentally complicated and flawed and mortal to me.
Donald Trump lacks the acting, political and governing experience and talent of Ronald Reagan. Trump does not have Reagan's gift for racist, xenophobic and misogynist rhetorical euphemism. Reagan was for state's rights in Mississippi, conjured a "Cadillac- driving Chicago welfare queen", imagined " a strapping young buck waiting to buy steaks with food stamps" and speculated that Dr. King was "a communist". Yet Reagan is a Republican Party saint who prophesized that America could cut taxes and increase spending on entitlements and the military because neither deficits nor debt matter because we are Americans. That is akin to going to Heaven without dying or living a moral life.
Because I was born and raised black and poor on the South Side of Chicago in the African Methodist Episcopal Church by a single mother and I am a product of the Chicago Public Schools K-12 I have no idea what Donald Trump's life was and is like.
But I recall the admonitions "to judge not lest yea be judged and found wanting" and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Yet I note that Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey managed to rise without Donald's privileged royal beginnings. They all look mighty human morally emotionally and mentally complicated and flawed and mortal to me.
Donald Trump lacks the acting, political and governing experience and talent of Ronald Reagan. Trump does not have Reagan's gift for racist, xenophobic and misogynist rhetorical euphemism. Reagan was for state's rights in Mississippi, conjured a "Cadillac- driving Chicago welfare queen", imagined " a strapping young buck waiting to buy steaks with food stamps" and speculated that Dr. King was "a communist". Yet Reagan is a Republican Party saint who prophesized that America could cut taxes and increase spending on entitlements and the military because neither deficits nor debt matter because we are Americans. That is akin to going to Heaven without dying or living a moral life.
2
That photo is either ghostly or ghastly. I can't decide which, but it is a wonderful reflection of the black v. white we get from Trump daily.
Former President Obama is revered by most Americans and the world. A few more months ofTrump and he'll be beloved. As Mr. Blow states, it is Trump who is persona non grata in the real circles of power and "old money," as my New Yorker parents used to call it. So his issues horrific lies about Obama, since that Kenya thing just didn't stick unless you never made it past the 4th grade.
The only thing more frightening than Trump is the thought of Mike Pence (the anti-choice, poison the earth, anti-everything Bannon minion) actually in charge with HIS tiny hands and glossed lips on the nuclear button while calling his wife "Mother."
Former President Obama is revered by most Americans and the world. A few more months ofTrump and he'll be beloved. As Mr. Blow states, it is Trump who is persona non grata in the real circles of power and "old money," as my New Yorker parents used to call it. So his issues horrific lies about Obama, since that Kenya thing just didn't stick unless you never made it past the 4th grade.
The only thing more frightening than Trump is the thought of Mike Pence (the anti-choice, poison the earth, anti-everything Bannon minion) actually in charge with HIS tiny hands and glossed lips on the nuclear button while calling his wife "Mother."
4
thank you Charles.........clear and inciteful --the message is clear here.
"Inciteful" ha ha. great word choice. Yes Charles Blow does incite hate, resentment, and division. A far as "insight"... not so much
"Sean Spicer, told reporters, “There is no reason that we have to think the president is the target of any investigation whatsoever.” Mr. Spicer’s statement, which he read from a sheet of paper that was handed to him at the end of his briefing . . ."
-- "1984" meets "Idiocracy"
-- "1984" meets "Idiocracy"
3
Trump is the Bernie Madoff of politics. A con man, pure and simple.
And so the "hell" referenced in your title is our everyday life for the next four years, unless any of the few avenues for removing a president becomes possible. That, however, requires direct evidence and GOP backbone, neither of which is yet materializing.
In a saner world, Obamacare would be considered Stage I of an ongoing bipartisan effort to provide the basic human right of affordable healthcare to as many citizens as possible, hopefully everyone someday. Nobody expected it to be problem-free, and it is not. Something as complicated as healthcare clearly needs to be an ongoing work in progress, but since the ACA equates to an Obama accomplishment, the GOP cannot stomach any part of it. Rather than study it, identify areas of concern, problem-solve and propose solutions, they are like the kindergarten bully who has to kick over the tower of blocks built by other kids just because they can.
And Trump, so bizarrely ignorant that he actually said in public "Who knew healthcare could be so complicated?" is completely unequipped to assist. He has punted the whole mess to Congress and when they obviously cannot produce a 'great plan that covers everyone and costs less' he can just blame them, and move on to his next three card monte victims.
And so the "hell" referenced in your title is our everyday life for the next four years, unless any of the few avenues for removing a president becomes possible. That, however, requires direct evidence and GOP backbone, neither of which is yet materializing.
In a saner world, Obamacare would be considered Stage I of an ongoing bipartisan effort to provide the basic human right of affordable healthcare to as many citizens as possible, hopefully everyone someday. Nobody expected it to be problem-free, and it is not. Something as complicated as healthcare clearly needs to be an ongoing work in progress, but since the ACA equates to an Obama accomplishment, the GOP cannot stomach any part of it. Rather than study it, identify areas of concern, problem-solve and propose solutions, they are like the kindergarten bully who has to kick over the tower of blocks built by other kids just because they can.
And Trump, so bizarrely ignorant that he actually said in public "Who knew healthcare could be so complicated?" is completely unequipped to assist. He has punted the whole mess to Congress and when they obviously cannot produce a 'great plan that covers everyone and costs less' he can just blame them, and move on to his next three card monte victims.
5
While I agree one hundred percent with everything Mr. Blow writes, I think it's worth pointing out that it was liberals who gave us Donald Trump in the first place. They put him on the cover of their magazines and newspapers, as if his financial excesses and marital shenanigans were of interest or instructive in some way. They also put him on "The Apprentice," where viewers could watch him debase and exploit their fellow Americans. They invited him on their talk shows and legitimized him to the public.
The problem for those of us who oppose Mr. Trump is the sick-making fact that he is indeed president. In order for us to make it through the next four years with our sanity intact, columnists such as Mr. Blow will have to offer us articles that are much more constructive or inspirational. People like me are still in pain about the election, and articles such as this one are blows--no pun intended--to the gut.
I don't think I can survive four years of this.
The problem for those of us who oppose Mr. Trump is the sick-making fact that he is indeed president. In order for us to make it through the next four years with our sanity intact, columnists such as Mr. Blow will have to offer us articles that are much more constructive or inspirational. People like me are still in pain about the election, and articles such as this one are blows--no pun intended--to the gut.
I don't think I can survive four years of this.
2
If by liberals you mean those on the left who didn't vote for Hillary, you are correct. Otherwise the media did a fine job of exposing him for the person he is, often by simply replaying his own words. Liberalism takes critical thinking. Voting for Trump, not so much. As for those who couldn't vote for the democrat nominee "because it would be the same either way", what say you now.?
Has "W" sent him a Thank you note yet? Because compared to the Trumpster Bush starts to look like a brilliant politician.
4
I am certainly not going to point this "fact" out to readers/commenters, because I have been traveling, and doing other things that take me away from spilling over the digital NYT, but, IMHO, there are several regular commenters who appear to me to be absent from commenting, who in general have been extolling the potential virtues of a Trump presidency. And I miss that. And I miss the replies as well. I cannot begin to express how I am feeling about what has happened in this country since Inauguration Day 2017. I think to myself, "we have reached a new low, and then the next day, BAM, a new low." It makes me want to travel more. Or drink. Or take the dog for longer walks. Or kill myself.
4
Mr. Blow, I look forward every week to your columns because they so accurately and eloquently express my angst and outrage. Today's column is no exception. My only question is: Why do we need a ticket to hell? We're already there.
5
Exactly Mr. Blow, Trump has always chafed at being considered a "B&T Grifter" (bridge and tunnel outer borough Barbarian), but, he has also exulted in it, and what "cemented his reputation" was using the mob ("Tony" Salerno and Paul Castellano) to deliver his "ready-mix concrete" to build his eponymous monument to tacky in place of a landmark he defiled (the original Bonwitt & Teller). It turns out that among the other 'corners cut' in Trump's first "success as a builder" was foregoing the salaries of the non-union Polish demolition workers. In other words, from his beginnings Trump has been scorned as an amoral 'punk' with contempt for the law, succored by the poisonous breast milk of his family lawyer, Roy Cohen, in a philosophy of a defiant defamatory 'attack first is the best defense' tactic that we see playing out pathetically and destructively to the detriment of our whole nation today.
The "landmark" that Trump is defiling today, is what the Alt.Right is contemptuously referring to as "the Deep State," the institutions that provide and protect our laws and constitutional democratic republic. Trump is defiling our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Nation of Laws, while doing his best to destroy our Department of State, and Department of Justice, and to what end? Simply to obstruct and obscure his guilt as the worst and most contemptible traitor and villain in the history of the United States. You've come a long way "Donny."
The "landmark" that Trump is defiling today, is what the Alt.Right is contemptuously referring to as "the Deep State," the institutions that provide and protect our laws and constitutional democratic republic. Trump is defiling our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Nation of Laws, while doing his best to destroy our Department of State, and Department of Justice, and to what end? Simply to obstruct and obscure his guilt as the worst and most contemptible traitor and villain in the history of the United States. You've come a long way "Donny."
7
Charles, you may be just a bit premature in declaring everything Trump has done a disaster.
What may be shocking to you is that he actually is working to fulfill the campaign promises he made. I know you would never expect that from a candidate like Hillary, so you are confused.
Have a little patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.
What may be shocking to you is that he actually is working to fulfill the campaign promises he made. I know you would never expect that from a candidate like Hillary, so you are confused.
Have a little patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.
1
Your comment might more accurately reflect on how rapidly Rome fell. It might further observe how quickly Trump will facilitate the fall not only of the U.S., but of humanity generally and all life forms that have had the misfortune to inhabit earth along with us.
2
No but we are in hell in less than 2 months. Talk about fast track!
2
What has Trump done that isn't a disaster?
His "working to fulfill campaign promises he made" is a lot like a plumber with a hammer; lot's of noise and fury; with nothing getting accomplished.
And to borry from your analogy, the Roman Empire wasn't destroyed in a day...and it has yet to come back.
His "working to fulfill campaign promises he made" is a lot like a plumber with a hammer; lot's of noise and fury; with nothing getting accomplished.
And to borry from your analogy, the Roman Empire wasn't destroyed in a day...and it has yet to come back.
Trump has sold his supporters a ticket to hell, but I bet most will go right back and vote for him again in four years. That's the problem with this country.
8
Over at the Hill it's being reported that if Trumpcare doesn't pass the unqualified clown says he will blame the Democrats. Why doesn't the surprise me?? Because at no time in his life has he ever taken responsibility for anything!!!
7
Why Trump? Too many people hated Hillary more than they love our country.
7
Charles Blow, you write it all so perfectly. I especially love the use of the past tense: gives me the sense I hope to have one day very soon of looking back on this ugly presidency. The reality TV show shoild quickly get to the "you're fired" part. The scene as Trump is filmed crying in the taxi ride from the White House will get great ratings. Sad!
8
Mr. Blow, you give Donald Trump way too much credit. He is not some evil genius ripping off the rubes. He is a profoundly STUPID man. Every time he opens his mouth, he proclaims his lack of intelligence--loudly and unashamedly. Not only does he know next to nothing about good government, he doesn't WANT to know. He wears his ignorance as a badge of honor. To him, learning, curiosity, intelligence, and scientific inquiry mark people as "not real Americans." His bluster and bragging and near-constant lying are daily evidence that he doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Every day he remains in office damages the country--irreparably. He needs to be impeached NOW. #NotMyPresident #RESIST
22
This is one of the best article I have read about this dude. Hats off to you.
16
The TRUMP VOTER CHECKLIST:
1. Last November - Remove one of your cherished guns from rack, thrilled that President Obama didn't get his hands on it.
2. Proceed to polling place. Shoot self in foot.
3. Cheer at the "victory."
4. Go to hospital to have injured foot treated.
5. Discover you've lost your Obamacare and can't get help.
6. Blame Obama.
1. Last November - Remove one of your cherished guns from rack, thrilled that President Obama didn't get his hands on it.
2. Proceed to polling place. Shoot self in foot.
3. Cheer at the "victory."
4. Go to hospital to have injured foot treated.
5. Discover you've lost your Obamacare and can't get help.
6. Blame Obama.
39
So, "not only would prices MOST LIKELY RISE" but millions of people "would be AT RISK OF LOSING COVERAGE." This is speculation, not an argument. And "no matter your politics," Trump's first weeks have been "a disaster." Of all the nerve! Disaster is the view of Mr. Blow and his side; it is not remotely the view of my side. I was not sold, much less over-sold. I haven't a ticket to hell. I have two post-graduate degrees (one in journalism, Mr. Blow, from Newhouse, Mr. Blow). I live a quiet life. I eat vegetables and do yoga and (re)read classic literature---Dickens, Eliot, the incomparable Thos. Hardy. I not only voted for the president; I also volunteered for him. But you sell a picture of me, Mr. Blow, a picture that is false in every particular.
20
Good thing you do Yoga to help keep you brag about your 'journalism post- grad. degree' and I hope it keeps you in the zen mode. I am doing yoga twice a day now, one before bed so I can clear all of 'disasters' of the day out of my mind. Never in my life I felt so uncertain about the values of our country and our society. I hope you can go to bed every night with the clear conscience!!! SAD
5
Should people respect you because you were no sucker, but knew precisely what he is? How proud are you that your guy is taking health insurance away from millions, despite all that he otherwise promised? That your man puts a reality-denying, polluter-collaborator in charge of environmental policy? Are you pleased that he may have taken many millions of dollars from the cronies of a killer across the sea, or are you so confident in his integrity that you see no need to investigate his dubious dealings, or are you proud to have a shady strongman running our country to make things the way they outta be?
8
You are the exception.
1
Thanks for the enlightenment Charles, but you lost me when you wrote "accountability is demanded'. By whom? Certainly not by his co-conspirators, certainly not by the public. The problem in our country for the past 4 decades is the true lack of accountability. Politicians going to jail? Wall Streeters going to jail? The courts and administration are being stacked to favor the rich. Crime pays well for them. Sorry, there is NO accountability to speak of.
268
"The courts and and administration are being stacked to favor the rich." That's the very type of rhetoric this populist charlatan used to get elected. But whaddaya know- he was the wolf in sheeps clothing. You're onto something here, Phil. Everyone is reading 1984 again, but mandatory reading should be an old Grisham novel, "The Verdict". What once was dismissed as cynicism has become our nightmare reality.
1
Just ask the folks in Flint Michigan. Soon it will be the Great Lakes, all of our rivers, the air and anything within 300 miles of a major chemical factory or coal mine. How many people will suffer from lack of social services support? Our leadership has lost all sense of humanity and understanding of service to the welfare of the people that they are charged to represent.
1
Nixon, was the brown suit to John Kennedy's navy blazer. He never felt that he could compete in the same social circles. That obsession of insecurity affected the country then as it does now with Trump. However, Nixon was intelligent and had an attention span. Perhaps Trumps end will parallel Trumps.
7
We know Trump is a disaster and don't need a laundry list of reasons. We need to get the corporate hands off Congress and get some action on the real problems that gave Trump this audience, and that has populated Congress with corporate puppets instead of representatives of the people.
11
Let us be precise in the words we use about the Donald.
Using the word "billionaire" has no basis in fact and so should have no place in this newspaper.
The word "billionaire" is a fundamental aspect of Trump's myth about his "success." It should not be repeated.
When a man willingly sends six real estate projects into bankruptcy it strongly suggests that a) he ain't the businessman he purports to be, and b) he needed the cash. Which further suggests a billionaire he ain't.
We know that his exposure to Deutsche Bank was something like $750 million in loans last year. For him to be a billionaire the equity in the properties he owns would have to be $1.75 billion.
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Just like I don't buy into the myth that everything he touches turns into gold. The guy inherited huge money when his father died. That's where it came from, by and large is my guess.
He lives lavishly. Good for him.
Please, let's not propagate the myth about the man when we shouldn't be.
Using the word "billionaire" has no basis in fact and so should have no place in this newspaper.
The word "billionaire" is a fundamental aspect of Trump's myth about his "success." It should not be repeated.
When a man willingly sends six real estate projects into bankruptcy it strongly suggests that a) he ain't the businessman he purports to be, and b) he needed the cash. Which further suggests a billionaire he ain't.
We know that his exposure to Deutsche Bank was something like $750 million in loans last year. For him to be a billionaire the equity in the properties he owns would have to be $1.75 billion.
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Just like I don't buy into the myth that everything he touches turns into gold. The guy inherited huge money when his father died. That's where it came from, by and large is my guess.
He lives lavishly. Good for him.
Please, let's not propagate the myth about the man when we shouldn't be.
7
And there you have it--Charles Blow with the most succinct and accurate description of this blowhard, lying carnival barker that has ever been written. Bravo.
6
The founders put impeachment in the system to eliminate the alternative Europe had employed for millennia. How the strip club patrons that seem to be the Secret Service kept Obama in one piece for eight years is beyond me.
Will we get a new national holiday, will it start with a party or the flag at half staff, and can we last until 2018? 2020 is unthinkable.
The next phase, when he figures out he can, will be Wag the Dog.
Korea? The Mid-east?
Oh, and as a 61 year old no ACA is a death sentence should I get sick, and I for one am not going to go quietly.
Will we get a new national holiday, will it start with a party or the flag at half staff, and can we last until 2018? 2020 is unthinkable.
The next phase, when he figures out he can, will be Wag the Dog.
Korea? The Mid-east?
Oh, and as a 61 year old no ACA is a death sentence should I get sick, and I for one am not going to go quietly.
6
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
Words are more powerful than any weapons. My hope is that more of us will be like Mr. Blow to use our words to save our democracy. By saying nothing, evil triumphs. I've never been a group joiner or activist of any kind in my almost sixty years, but I love my country and treasure the freedoms we enjoy enough to join a local political group and a national one too. Keep writing, and keep fighting the good fight with our powerful words.
Words are more powerful than any weapons. My hope is that more of us will be like Mr. Blow to use our words to save our democracy. By saying nothing, evil triumphs. I've never been a group joiner or activist of any kind in my almost sixty years, but I love my country and treasure the freedoms we enjoy enough to join a local political group and a national one too. Keep writing, and keep fighting the good fight with our powerful words.
6
This column tells us that "no matter your politics, Trump's first weeks in office have been a disaster . . . ." Would that it were so. At least twice this week I've read articles in which Trump voters in various parts of the rust belt were interviewed about their boy. They generally think he's "doing wonderful", as one man in an Ohio McDonald's breakfast club said.
Russia? They don't care. Protests? A bunch of crybaby sore losers. Jeff Sessions? He's a nice man and those mean Democrats should let him do his job. Sure Trump's start is a bit rough, but he's doing great things and they feel better already knowing our country is in such good hands.
These good folks all shared that they listen to Rush and watch Fox News.
I'm hoping they are interviewed again when they lose their health insurance.
Russia? They don't care. Protests? A bunch of crybaby sore losers. Jeff Sessions? He's a nice man and those mean Democrats should let him do his job. Sure Trump's start is a bit rough, but he's doing great things and they feel better already knowing our country is in such good hands.
These good folks all shared that they listen to Rush and watch Fox News.
I'm hoping they are interviewed again when they lose their health insurance.
6
Obama was quickly granted the thing Trump never had: upper-class acceptance and adulation. - I have maintained that Trump's MO is profound envy of Obama. He desperately wants to be the man that Obama is but is unwilling to do the work on himself to become that man. Instead, he seeks to trash Obama's legacy with his willful ignorance and vileness. He thought that his reality president stunt would bring him the acceptance and adulation he craves. Instead, he is confronted daily with the fact that the majority of people in this country and probably the world loathe him.
6
How do I get off this train? I didn't purchase a ticket.
That's really the definition of hell for half of this country. We didn't vote for the man and have been forced onto a train with a reckless untrained engineer.
I just had no idea how quickly he was going to take us over the cliff! God help us all.
That's really the definition of hell for half of this country. We didn't vote for the man and have been forced onto a train with a reckless untrained engineer.
I just had no idea how quickly he was going to take us over the cliff! God help us all.
5
What's not to like. In almost 18 months of campaign Trump's voters had a good look at him. They liked mostly the qualities denigrated by Mr. Blow. Thus, it was a conscious act of these voters to select him as their Manly Man president.
So, no surprise that after taking the office this Manly Man is still wildly popular among his base, no matter how incompetent. Good bye facts, welcome the world of alternate reality.
So, no surprise that after taking the office this Manly Man is still wildly popular among his base, no matter how incompetent. Good bye facts, welcome the world of alternate reality.
2
Once again, Mr. Blow is left at the station, the station of fear and division. He sends his catcalls of derision and distortion down the rails hoping others latch on to his crusade of contempt. From the Russian ruse to repeal and replace remonstration, his axe remains sharp to chop at the latest tweet, hitting nothing, hurling another airball. Now he waxes weirdly about elites and status in another unfocused rant to ridicule and reduce.
It is past time to drop the words of harm and champion the challenges ahead, building bridges and creating dignity and respect for all.
It is past time to drop the words of harm and champion the challenges ahead, building bridges and creating dignity and respect for all.
2
Nice word salad; it isn't easy to string so many words together, untethered to any sort of reality. A far more deft use of language than employed by the average troll; you sir, have truly earned your nickel.
1
Alliterate much? Neo-Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativity" to the n-th degree?
1
At the end of your article you state that "this time the lie is likely to manifest in loss of life, as sick people lose coverage". I want to shake people who support this plan. PEOPLE WILL DIE.
5
Voters weren't born yesterday. Politicians make unbelievable promises routinely to get themselves elected. See Di Blasio and the acceleration of the NYC homeless population that he promised would decrease.
I didn't vote for a Trump but at least I see why people did. It wasn't that anybody was believing a word he said. For most it wasn't racism either.
It was mass cynicism.
Take 10% racism. 10% nihilism. 80% cynicism. Sprinkle with alcohol and opioids and voila! A fruitcake President. Baked to perfection.
I didn't vote for a Trump but at least I see why people did. It wasn't that anybody was believing a word he said. For most it wasn't racism either.
It was mass cynicism.
Take 10% racism. 10% nihilism. 80% cynicism. Sprinkle with alcohol and opioids and voila! A fruitcake President. Baked to perfection.
7
The kind of character assassination that marks the first half of this article is counterproductive to its intent. It disappointingly comes within an inch of calling the president a hillbilly in an expensive suit. How does that serve--except to make people angry. But the second part of the article is insightful since, above all, President Trump is a salesman. And salesmen are not known to behave ethically. They're interested in the bottom line, and they do what is necessary to achieve it. Seen in this light, many of the President's stratagems become clear, as Mr. Blow points out. But the mud-slinging is not persuasive.
3
"Mud-sloinging" implies a lack of truth. What in Mr. Blow's depiction of Trump and NY 'society' is false? It opens a window into what might possibly be helping to shape Trump and his his policies; you may subscribe to a different theory, if so, you should offer it as a counterpoint. An outright dismissal with no reasoning is, as you say, "not persuasive".
Thanks, Charles, for telling it like it is. You are the antidote to the headlines.
5
Well, I don't know about a ticket to hell, but I'd guess a extended slide into obscurity. Actually this is a repeat of past history but people never seem to see it coming. A lot is based on bad economic policy, especially post WWII. Boom/bust mentality vs long term stability with solid fundamentals. Makes current politicians look good. Greed. But the electorate is the bottom line. Donald Trump IS America.
3
You got it so right, Charles. They wouldn't even allow him to marry in that society!!!
9
He certainly was the choice of the luddy-duddy voter. The mooncalves and jabbernowls. Not nearly half of the voting public, but we all will suffer for their choice. The Guilded Snack Cake rules. The rusty old factories will not reopen, and the poverty-stricken will get sick and die. You are correct, sir. He is our ticket to hell.
8
Mr. Blow, You have defined the problem. Well done. You have also succeeded in making clear the urgent need for a definitive solution.
7
More than his overselling and all that you wrote, I am concerned that he will eventually go full bully and try to out-do the other bully leaders of the world. That would certainly go beyond any obsession he has with President Obama. The groping hand has that hand on the nuclear code. Full bully, full obsession, full denier, and little old me, full of fear. Never stop, Mr. Blow. Boy, do we need you....
8
You got most of it right, but let's not get too Freudian with Trump with his obsession with Obama. Basically, he hated him because Obama was African American. If Obama was a white guy born in Hawaii none of that whole birther thing would have occurred.
16
Promises of "access to health care" certainly is not health care. Do our politicians believe we are all idiots? Nice balance in the new healthcare law: lower taxes for the rich and less healthcare for those who need it most...
6
Yes, I don't disagree. What does it say about our families, neighbors, colleagues, fellow Americans who voted for him and still support him? The fact that this man is in our Oval, what does it say about all of us Americans? We are missing the point if we focus on only hyperventilating about Trump. He is merely the tip of iceberg. The iceberg itself is the Republican Party and the American people who like what Trump is serving up.
5
With about 100k disaffected, un- or under-informed voters didn't sweep Trump to victory. More of an ooze.
I am beginning to believe, that short of an outright, undeniable act of Treason, we are stuck, as too many conservatives enjoy the power - however ephemeral - and they are willing to sell what little, if any, souls they have for it.
So I think success, as measured by enormous tax cuts for the rich, an entire dismantling of the ACA and/or other social nets and destruction of the environment with the resulting harm landing on those who voted for Trump harm is the only way out. I care little for their price as it is their folly. I ache over the harm to those undefended.
I am beginning to believe, that short of an outright, undeniable act of Treason, we are stuck, as too many conservatives enjoy the power - however ephemeral - and they are willing to sell what little, if any, souls they have for it.
So I think success, as measured by enormous tax cuts for the rich, an entire dismantling of the ACA and/or other social nets and destruction of the environment with the resulting harm landing on those who voted for Trump harm is the only way out. I care little for their price as it is their folly. I ache over the harm to those undefended.
5
You mention many areas where Trump is going to do things that will hurt the
citizens of this country. There is another area that he is destroying that is
critical to the health and wellbeing of citizens now and in the future. The
environment is under attack and he has eliminated the EPA as an agency
that will deal with the deadly aspects of climate change. Ironical that he says
he wants to protect America and yet his actions do just the opposite. We can
only hope that his insanity will be limited to four years.
citizens of this country. There is another area that he is destroying that is
critical to the health and wellbeing of citizens now and in the future. The
environment is under attack and he has eliminated the EPA as an agency
that will deal with the deadly aspects of climate change. Ironical that he says
he wants to protect America and yet his actions do just the opposite. We can
only hope that his insanity will be limited to four years.
3
Charles, I have no problem with Mr. Trump's "most ardent supporters" getting hit the hardest. To paraphrase the Bible, a book they love but obviously never read, "They have sown the wind. Let them reap the whirlwind."
3
As usual this is awesome Mr. Blow.....
Exceptionally well written and perceptive piece from Charles Blow even by his own high standards.
I would only add that older working class and poorer Americans will be hit the hardest (as well as the sickest among us) and these have generally been among the more ardent supporters of Trump and Republicans. The ironies of the last election continue to multiply.
I would only add that older working class and poorer Americans will be hit the hardest (as well as the sickest among us) and these have generally been among the more ardent supporters of Trump and Republicans. The ironies of the last election continue to multiply.
2
Excellent! Right on target.
2
I hate to tell you this Charles but "high society " decamped from the New York as well as the Palm Beach stage some time ago. The Astors, Rockefeller, Kennedys, Vanderbilt and Ford have long since been replaced by the Schwartzmann, Kravitz and Trump crowd whom no one would consider anything other than the very rich, media seeking wannabees they are, most of whom have made their fortunes by destroying companies and lives unlike the previous generation who left us with a framework for a nation in manufacturing , shipping, railroads, the basics upon which America built a middle class and was once the envy of the world. I have been a part time resident of Palm Beach for fifty years(my profession dictated it) so I consider myself an authority as I knew many of the old guard personally due to the nature of my business and yes I did on occasion get my knees underneath the dining table. So you're wrong Charles, Trump is right in there with the Icahns and all the Stevie's who now connote New York and Palm Beach Society. I know it's sad but the reality is these people have the money and unlike polite society of the past who shunned media attention the newbies have P.R. People to keep their faces on the society pages, they aren't going away. They really are a metaphor for just how far we have fallen,from a nation on the rise thanks to the men of commerce and industry at the time to angry, insecure men now intent on destroying everything that came before.
6
Mr. Blow,
You've finally exposed your own class biases in a way that is indisputable. You're all over racism, sexism, xenophobia, but you've obviously got a huge blind spot when it comes to class, as does the left generally. It's the one bias that's politically correct. So Trump is tacky? Maybe he has plastic flamingos on his lawn? Why not come out and say he's all dressed up but he's still white trash? Your analysis--that his behavior and attitudes are due to the fact that he cannot belong to the club you belong to--is specious and hollow, and you should be ashamed.
You've finally exposed your own class biases in a way that is indisputable. You're all over racism, sexism, xenophobia, but you've obviously got a huge blind spot when it comes to class, as does the left generally. It's the one bias that's politically correct. So Trump is tacky? Maybe he has plastic flamingos on his lawn? Why not come out and say he's all dressed up but he's still white trash? Your analysis--that his behavior and attitudes are due to the fact that he cannot belong to the club you belong to--is specious and hollow, and you should be ashamed.
2
Trump was born into a wealthy family. This column basically describes crass behavior, not white trash behavior as you state.
1
Mr. Blow,
You can write beautiful verses railing against Trump and agitate all you want, but please just remember that you did your best to derail the candidacy of the only candidate that could have beaten Trump in the election. Your words fall flat till you apologize to Bernie Sanders. Let me remind you: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/opinion/campa...
You can write beautiful verses railing against Trump and agitate all you want, but please just remember that you did your best to derail the candidacy of the only candidate that could have beaten Trump in the election. Your words fall flat till you apologize to Bernie Sanders. Let me remind you: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/opinion/campa...
1
Why can't we just accept the likely fact that he's mentally insane?
I used to think he was just playing the crowd and narcissistic but, underneath it all, was somewhat grounded in reality. I'm starting to believe, however, that he truly believes his own bull.
Neither scenario is good and, in fact, quite frightening. What happens when one night he insists not that Obama tapps (intentional!) his phone but rather than Canada is hurling missiles our way??
I used to think he was just playing the crowd and narcissistic but, underneath it all, was somewhat grounded in reality. I'm starting to believe, however, that he truly believes his own bull.
Neither scenario is good and, in fact, quite frightening. What happens when one night he insists not that Obama tapps (intentional!) his phone but rather than Canada is hurling missiles our way??
3
A special GOP sponsored message for the economically disadvantaged and vulnerable and the struggling middle class- Why Republican/Trump healthcare?
"Because You're So Not Worth it."
"Because You're So Not Worth it."
2
This column describes why Trump and Bannon want to destroy the elite power structure in the USA, just like lenin did in Russia. Lenin had a similar reason for his hatred of the elites. Trump's supporters may be disappointed with the Trumpcare plan, but will stick by Trump since they also feel that the elites are looking down on them. My one puzzle is that Trump's cabinet are members of the elite Wall St structure. How does Trump come to terms with this contradiction?
2
no, better yet, how does trump's supporters come to term with this contradiction? or better yet, do they even care?
1
The Trump supporters are motivated by rage: their present position in life, their vision of the future, and their false memories of the past. I believe Trump has a more nuanced grasp of these notions. But I really do not know.
Apparently Mr. Blow considers himself one of the elite who disdains the President.
However, there are those who believe the President can accomplish much. The left opposes everything for the sake of hate and not principle; they spit in the eye of anything that might make the President successful.
Where then, Mr. Blow, is the righteousness found in your editorials?
If we go to Hell, will the left be driving the bus, following Google Maps to the destination on the route they planned?
As for the ACA, it has been stated that the plan offered is not the final plan, but the one needed to get phase 1 through the reconciliation process. It is fair to ask what's in the other 2 phases and get an answer.
But the constant belittling of the President is unbecoming to this paper and does not move forward anything but gridlock and chaos. Unless that is what you are trying to achieve, you accomplish nothing but status quo.
With an offer to cooperate, Dems can help themselves and Americans. They can improve legislation, better programs, create jobs and maybe save lives. Or they can do what they accused the right of for 8 years, obstruction.
If hate is what you desire to create, then hate is what you'll get. Is that your desire Mr. Blow?
However, there are those who believe the President can accomplish much. The left opposes everything for the sake of hate and not principle; they spit in the eye of anything that might make the President successful.
Where then, Mr. Blow, is the righteousness found in your editorials?
If we go to Hell, will the left be driving the bus, following Google Maps to the destination on the route they planned?
As for the ACA, it has been stated that the plan offered is not the final plan, but the one needed to get phase 1 through the reconciliation process. It is fair to ask what's in the other 2 phases and get an answer.
But the constant belittling of the President is unbecoming to this paper and does not move forward anything but gridlock and chaos. Unless that is what you are trying to achieve, you accomplish nothing but status quo.
With an offer to cooperate, Dems can help themselves and Americans. They can improve legislation, better programs, create jobs and maybe save lives. Or they can do what they accused the right of for 8 years, obstruction.
If hate is what you desire to create, then hate is what you'll get. Is that your desire Mr. Blow?
3
Well why not, he hates himself.
1
The article begin by accusing Trump of overselling and ends by describing health care reform as a "ticket to hell". Who is overselling?
1
But the emails, don't forget the emails!
A constitutional law professor, a renown southern scholar whose specialty is chronicling Dr. Martin Luther King's leadership during the civil rights movement, told me on the eve of the election: I do not feel the Bern, and I abhor the Clintons, therefore...
Sad isn't it?
A constitutional law professor, a renown southern scholar whose specialty is chronicling Dr. Martin Luther King's leadership during the civil rights movement, told me on the eve of the election: I do not feel the Bern, and I abhor the Clintons, therefore...
Sad isn't it?
It's sad, but people like him may not make the same mistake again. It's all we can hope for.
1
"Who is he?" I demanded. "Do you know?"
"He's just a man named Gatsby."
"Where is he from, I mean? And what does he do?"
"Now YOU're started on the subject," she answered with a wan smile.
"Well,--he told me once he was an Oxford man."
A dim background started to take shape behind him but at her
next remark it faded away.
"However, I don't believe it."
"Why not?"
"I don't know," she insisted, "I just don't think he went there."
*
What we have is a Gatsby we couldn't have dreamed up, until we did.
"He's just a man named Gatsby."
"Where is he from, I mean? And what does he do?"
"Now YOU're started on the subject," she answered with a wan smile.
"Well,--he told me once he was an Oxford man."
A dim background started to take shape behind him but at her
next remark it faded away.
"However, I don't believe it."
"Why not?"
"I don't know," she insisted, "I just don't think he went there."
*
What we have is a Gatsby we couldn't have dreamed up, until we did.
1
"No amount of money or success could completely rid him of the odiousness of being coarse and crass." That's a good start on describing the man who is creating the most odious swamp in Washington that anyone could imagine. Let's add narcissist, bully, and sexual predator to help round out the picture. Thank you again for pulling no punches when it comes to describing the man who is currently defiling the office of POTUS.
4
If the final version of the new healthcare law is and will be so odious, why not sit back and watch it fail. Then you can hoist another great candidate to support when the victims of Trump's hate, bigotry and amateurish attempts at being President, rise up?
Then, finally, Mr. Blow will have to write about another facet of The Resistance.
Then, finally, Mr. Blow will have to write about another facet of The Resistance.
1
Hell will look like Paradise once Trump - Bannon - Miller are through wrecking our country.
2
Excellent piece by Mr. Blow. It appears that, even with his lying and grandstanding, and appealing to racism and xenophobia, the only way that Trump was able to push through in the electoral vote was through treasonous collusion with Russia, implemented by his staff and approved by Trump himself. This may be the worst, the most dangerous, the most humiliating moment in American history.
8
"As many others have pointed out, [Trump] became the idiot’s image of an intellectual."
That comment is remarkably similar to an observation by Paul Krugman that Newt Gingrich is the stupid man's idea of what a smart man sounds like.
The clever ability of Republicans to pass themselves off as being smarter than they really are is amusing. Perhaps, though, it says even more about the gullibility of Republican voters.
That comment is remarkably similar to an observation by Paul Krugman that Newt Gingrich is the stupid man's idea of what a smart man sounds like.
The clever ability of Republicans to pass themselves off as being smarter than they really are is amusing. Perhaps, though, it says even more about the gullibility of Republican voters.
9
All of this and super smart white nationalist Steve Bannon covertly insinuating his agenda on the country by playing to Trump's vanity. We're cooked.
3
Atop Mr Blow's list we can add too much time spent in front of screens that offer a distorted version of reality. Mr Trump is a "TeeVee" version of a boss and successful businessman. He offers showmanship, encouraging the notion that there's someone backstage pulling levers or ropes that fool the audience. The screen image now offers the anchor of CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley, asking on air whether it's fair to ask whether the President of the US has a problem with rationality! (Wed, Mar. 8) Whatever DJTrump's personal psyche may be, whatever the roots, it has exploded into a public health crisis of an undetermined magnitude.
4
I agree but take umbrage at the notion that every 'everyman' , whatever that is, has taste similar to President Trump. I'm not even sure it should be called taste. I guess I fall into the Everyman category as my father worked for the Post Office and I work for a local water authority but I find his tacky, gaudy style repulsive. I also feel you should come right out and say the term "white trash taste" instead of dancing around it with euphemisms as I feel that's what you were shooting for. I also believe if Trump had this style and manner of behavior but was African American this article wouldn't have been written but then again he wouldn't have been elected. Before anyoneattacks me as a racist for pointing that out I voted for Obama twice and reluctantly for Hillary.
It's funny, I was thinking the same things this morning. Trump, at his core, is a con man. As illustrated here, he is a superficial idea of what he pretends to be, and his only real skill is bombast and self promotion at the expense of everything and everyone around him.
He is not cut out to be President. That was manifestly obvious to the majority of the American people prior to the election, but it is undeniable now. Trump's administration has been a catastrophe, and we are not even two months in. He is just as impulsive, ignorant, and ill-tempered as we feared, and he has staffed his administration and cabinet with incompetents, wackos, and yahoos. The worst of the worst. Just seeing Trump in the Oval Office seems viscerally wrong.
Now, he and the Republican Congress are taking a chainsaw to healthcare. First, the ACA, and if Paul Ryan's sadistic dreams come true, next up will be Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Meanwhile, we have bomb throwers and saboteurs running the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Transportation, and State.
It makes me angry and sick. It makes me fear that future stability and opportunity is being siphoned away, and this after those lush and robust years of George W. Bush and the economic meltdown he left Obama with.
My hope is that the American people have finally woken up, now that their livelihoods and stability are on the line, too. Let's hope we all remember that in 2018 and 2020.
He is not cut out to be President. That was manifestly obvious to the majority of the American people prior to the election, but it is undeniable now. Trump's administration has been a catastrophe, and we are not even two months in. He is just as impulsive, ignorant, and ill-tempered as we feared, and he has staffed his administration and cabinet with incompetents, wackos, and yahoos. The worst of the worst. Just seeing Trump in the Oval Office seems viscerally wrong.
Now, he and the Republican Congress are taking a chainsaw to healthcare. First, the ACA, and if Paul Ryan's sadistic dreams come true, next up will be Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Meanwhile, we have bomb throwers and saboteurs running the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Transportation, and State.
It makes me angry and sick. It makes me fear that future stability and opportunity is being siphoned away, and this after those lush and robust years of George W. Bush and the economic meltdown he left Obama with.
My hope is that the American people have finally woken up, now that their livelihoods and stability are on the line, too. Let's hope we all remember that in 2018 and 2020.
2
The answer to Trump's acceptance problem is simple.......$, money cannot buy Respectability, Class or Good Manners - three things Trump sorely lacks
How ironically fitting that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is going out of business just as our contemporary P.T. Barnum is tweeting from the White House. As Mr. Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute.
The show goes on with another grifter barking us into the tent.
The show goes on with another grifter barking us into the tent.
2
Mr. Trump is many ways is very much like Nixon. A successful man who suffers from a deep complex of inferiority, and like all such people, he feels a constant need for attention and recognition. Thus his tweets, his boasting, his exaggerations, his vengefulness, and his gold-plated life. He is a very sad person.
We can only pray that he values his life as much as anyone and will not blow up the planet in his quest for attention.
We can only pray that he values his life as much as anyone and will not blow up the planet in his quest for attention.
This article, though well intentioned, is exactly what's wrong with the Trump opposition; an utter lack of understanding of Trump supporters
I spend a good amount of time tweeting with them because I believe communication, rather than op-ed pieces in The Times, will lead to far more understanding. Examples:
A woman said she despises HRC because she didn't divorce Bill after the Lewinsky scandal broke. But when I reminded her that Trump carried on an adulterous affair in the tabloids while his children were young, it didn't seem to bother her at all.
Last night, Brietbart posted an article regarding strong sales of Ivanka's clothing line. Commenters (some of which are bots) tweeted that they buy her stuff and love it. And when I pointed out to them the irony of supporting Trump's American first policy while buying made-in-China Ivanka products, then I became the enemy.
There's only one way to ever possibly rid ourselves of Trump. Something disastrous has to happen e.g. millions of Trump supporters losing healthcare or a recession timed close enough to elections.
Or maybe if Oprah runs.
To a Trump supporter, there are no failures. They love him and are extremely passionate in their devotion. Things like the striking down of Ban 1.0 are seen only as evidence of criminally corrupt Obama remnants working to take him down at any cost.
I spend a good amount of time tweeting with them because I believe communication, rather than op-ed pieces in The Times, will lead to far more understanding. Examples:
A woman said she despises HRC because she didn't divorce Bill after the Lewinsky scandal broke. But when I reminded her that Trump carried on an adulterous affair in the tabloids while his children were young, it didn't seem to bother her at all.
Last night, Brietbart posted an article regarding strong sales of Ivanka's clothing line. Commenters (some of which are bots) tweeted that they buy her stuff and love it. And when I pointed out to them the irony of supporting Trump's American first policy while buying made-in-China Ivanka products, then I became the enemy.
There's only one way to ever possibly rid ourselves of Trump. Something disastrous has to happen e.g. millions of Trump supporters losing healthcare or a recession timed close enough to elections.
Or maybe if Oprah runs.
To a Trump supporter, there are no failures. They love him and are extremely passionate in their devotion. Things like the striking down of Ban 1.0 are seen only as evidence of criminally corrupt Obama remnants working to take him down at any cost.
270
Unfortunately the disaster has already happened sir. It's name is Donald Trump.
If anything, your experience engaging with Trump supporters demonstrates that there is no reasoning with them, and that facts don't matter.
It's quite puzzling, then, that you find fault with the Trump opposition, claiming "an utter lack of understanding". I'm not sure your experience is unique at all, and the fact that Trump supporters operate in the realm of alternate reality isn't the fault of those who oppose Trump.
It's quite puzzling, then, that you find fault with the Trump opposition, claiming "an utter lack of understanding". I'm not sure your experience is unique at all, and the fact that Trump supporters operate in the realm of alternate reality isn't the fault of those who oppose Trump.
1
Your comment proves that the opposite is true. These people (a minority of our population) cannot be argued with or convinced, so why bother? Strategically I think the democratic party needs to focus on how to successfully bypass these people and build a stronger base that will get out and vote 100% of the time. I live in the great and successful state of CA. We have a few trump enclaves, most of them in economically depressed areas run by white republican males. (no coincidence these areas suffer while most of us thrive) I would not spend a moment of my precious day trying to convince them to vote for a dem! All I can hope is that their economic woes and beliefs do not affect the ability of CA to do great things.
2
Trump supporters feed on anger, hate, fear and lies. They are blind dogmatists who will never change, and they will destroy all that is good and right about the nation. Trump has arisen from the GOP's political Hades to pillage and desecrate all that is good America. His enablers include Faux News, Hate Radio, Inc., the worst of the 0.01%, and the likes of Ryan and McConnell. We should all fear for our children's future, their chance for a better and decent life hangs in the balance. Thank you Mr. Blow for not being afraid to inform the public of how terrible, how destructive the Trumpists and their GOP enablers are.
3
This is the "downside", if you will, to living in a democracy. Elections do indeed have consequences. The consequences here are that people will suffer, some will die and some will be driven to the gates of hell. If the folks who voted for him suffer, then they will hopefully never fall for this kind of false hope promised to them by an autocratic ignoramus. The Russian connection will eventually sink him - there's way, way too much of it laying around for journalists to pick up. It will grow like a garbage dump - at first not visible and not affecting the smell of the air around you. It will grow and grow until it cannot be ignored. Finally, someone will close down the garbage dump and make it a golf course - covering the ugliness of our refuse with soft, green grass and signing birds. Eventually, with time, nobody will remember the garbage dump and see only the beauty of a plush green landscape. Underneath, however, will be the detritus of our human condition - sociopaths like Trump.
I agree with everything your op ed says. What I would like to comment on is the accompanying picture. We need to stop displaying images of DT. There are images of him EVERYWHERE. It plays into his megalomania to see them everywhere, like Chairman Mao or Kim Jong Il, not to mention turning the stomachs of your loyal readers. It reinforces his infantile notions of his own greatness -- there is no such thing as bad publicity for a man like this. Your art department could spend five minutes on photoshop and create an image of a burning ticket, for instance. Thanks!.
Hell, indeed.
Absolutely NOTHING the proponents of the current legislation have said has anything remotely to do with ensuring MORE Americans, NOT fewer, have affordable health insurance. Why? Because that is NOT the mission of the Republican lead government. ALL, repeat all, they want to do is give more and more and more tax gifts to the wealthy. If it weren't for the mainstream media, these liars, who get 100% free, 'premium" health insurance because they work for "US," would continue to get away with their deceptive practices. What I don't get is how they can all believe they are "servants of the people." Listen carefully for what you will not hear: "...under our bill, (a), MORE Americans will have insurance, (b), with reasonable/affordable premiums and deductibles. $10,000/year for premiums (individual) and $5,000 deductibles are NOT legitimately part of "affordable health insurance coverage." They lie. They get away with it. They get re-elected.
Absolutely NOTHING the proponents of the current legislation have said has anything remotely to do with ensuring MORE Americans, NOT fewer, have affordable health insurance. Why? Because that is NOT the mission of the Republican lead government. ALL, repeat all, they want to do is give more and more and more tax gifts to the wealthy. If it weren't for the mainstream media, these liars, who get 100% free, 'premium" health insurance because they work for "US," would continue to get away with their deceptive practices. What I don't get is how they can all believe they are "servants of the people." Listen carefully for what you will not hear: "...under our bill, (a), MORE Americans will have insurance, (b), with reasonable/affordable premiums and deductibles. $10,000/year for premiums (individual) and $5,000 deductibles are NOT legitimately part of "affordable health insurance coverage." They lie. They get away with it. They get re-elected.
Trumps' boorish, adolescent, narcissistic behavior was not just blatantly obvious to New Yorkers. World Citizens all over the planet have been clearly aware of his dishonest, self-centered, gluttonous vision. Why did he win the election? SEXISM and RACISM. Sorry folks, it wasn't just poor rural folks who voted for him. RICH... UBER RICH Republicans contributed their votes to this fiasco. WHY? The only thing worse for them than having to tolerate an African-American as President of the United States was facing a competent woman as POTUS. Look at the facts... well educated people who KNOW Climate Change is real were willing to stick their heads in the sand, blame immigrants for their job loss and believe that building a giant wall (that someone else was going to pay for - HA) was going to jumpstart the economy. Many Americans can't absorb more than 120 characters at a time these days. They can't even write a complete sentence, let alone read an in-depth article. Trump is a PUPPET. The men behind the curtain include Bannon, the Koch Brothers and Vladimir Putin. They spread false propaganda everywhere about immigrants, women, public education, health care to creating villains everywhere to incite fear and paranoia. And they succeeded. WHY? Because too many Americans succumbed to RACISM and SEXISM. Tolerance? Out the window. We are in a MESS and it is going to take ALOT of WORK to REBUILD. But we don't have to accept a Ticket to Hell. We must RESIST.
1
Trump Train all the way! When will the entitlement sucking mob realise they've been co-opted with their own tax dollars. Been gong on so long you might think it's natural. It isn't. This isn't unique to USA either. Canadians love taxing themselves into the next century. Drain the tax swamp and the life time enablers of "good enough", "everyone wins" and "not your fault." Build infrastructure to lay down bedrock for excellence, there will be top level performance, and you own the accountability. Small business lives and dies on this. Why tolerate anything less?
Charles, if you mean by "a ticket to hell," a Putin-friendly, totalitarian Trump Oligarchy, you're absolutely on the mark. The now clear pattern of contact and collusion (as in weakening an anti-Russian plank in the Republican platform) along with unrelenting attacks on the "so-called" "dishonest media" and the judiciary are all aimed at transforming our democracy into a strongman autocracy. Similar Trump attacks on the intelligence agencies first denying any Russian involvement in the election and more recently for exposing the lies by ousted National Intelligence advisor, Michael Flynn, and Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, about their contacts with high-ranking Russian officials are meant to keep the truth from coming out. With Congressional Republicans enabling the Trump Administration, we are well on our way down the slippery slope to hell.
1
Mr, Blow, you are spot on. Yet, readers of your column know this. In fact, pretty much every newspaper in the country endorsed Hillary over Trump because Trump is a well-known con artist and huckster, yet it didn't seem to matter. The question is: how do we communicate Trump's moral, ethical, and intellectual bankruptcy to not only his supporters, but general run-of-the-mill Republicans whose mantra seems to be "stand by your President"? Republicans are a part of my life (family and outer-circle friends), and I try to engage with them on this to no avail. Must we hit bottom as a country for Trump supporters to realize what they voted for?
1
Who but trump would show up at a charity event for a nursery school that serves children with AIDS, dance with the kids, take the stage for the photo-op, all the while PRETENDING to be a donor to the charity.
Someone should make a list of every low down, sneaky, selfish, self-absorbed thing a human being could do...I bet trump would get a check mark beside every scenario.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy...
Someone should make a list of every low down, sneaky, selfish, self-absorbed thing a human being could do...I bet trump would get a check mark beside every scenario.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy...
Wishful thinking Chuck, wishful thinking...
Spot on Mr. Blow! Sadly, his supporters are bedazzled by his shiny objects, rendering them incapable of refection or reasoned discourse about the Charlatan you've so precisely captured. Trump is ego, excess, and dement personified, a comic book villain in waiting. I just pray his spell over his minions wears off before his childlike attention is drawn to the red button.
1
Trump personifies the old adage, "you don't have to be smart to know how to make money, you just have to know how to make money".
Each and every day, throughout the day, our democracy must continue to breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. That is how we are going to survive this hellish nightmare starring 45.
Our democracy is a living, breathing organism. It has weathered storms in the past -- from Jefferson using lies and sneakiness while fighting Adams, to Vietnam Nam, to Watergate, to MonicaGate, and even to W sending our young men and women into a hellish, never-ending war based on phony "evidence," while those around W profited enormously.
It is agonizing to wait for these colossal blunders to pass. But they do. And the Ruin of 45 will pass, too. None of us is sure yet how that will happen, but it will.
So just breathe in. And breathe out. As we've always done.
Our democracy is a living, breathing organism. It has weathered storms in the past -- from Jefferson using lies and sneakiness while fighting Adams, to Vietnam Nam, to Watergate, to MonicaGate, and even to W sending our young men and women into a hellish, never-ending war based on phony "evidence," while those around W profited enormously.
It is agonizing to wait for these colossal blunders to pass. But they do. And the Ruin of 45 will pass, too. None of us is sure yet how that will happen, but it will.
So just breathe in. And breathe out. As we've always done.
243
Who now is going to check the air quality as you breathe in and breathe out?
2
To continue with your respiratory analogy, American democracy has just developed lung cancer.
1
I disagree Scott, this one feel different. The mainstream press is being excoriated not just by trump, but by his Believers. The powerful right-wing media continues in their adulation of him. We already see our great institutions (the State department, our public schools) being plundered and destroyed-- by the gatekeepers who should be managing them. These cannot be rebuilt instantly, when he is gone. The uneducated and provincial people who mostly comprise his voters, are being given out-sized attention by what should be the opposition party-- the democrats-- while so-called elites are marginalized and even made fun of.(scoffing at California for instance) I for one, find your prescription of waiting till its done to be a fools errand.
2
Unfortunately, as was recently pointed out by a guest editorial writer, many working-class Americans (especially white men) are prepared to endure Hell if they can only ensure that the poorest, most vulnerable in society get hit worse. Even though the majority of the unemployed poor are white, a disproportionate number are people of color. Trump's real promise is to "stick it to America's most vulnerable "others" --the jobless poor, Muslims, African Americans, Latinos and Muslims-- proving in a Macho style throwback to John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson that he is the man, that he has the power to shove his bigoted and destructive policies down the throats of liberal-elites." That promise is for many of his supporters more important than their own economic prosperity, which is why they love nothing more than to see expressions of impotent contempt from members of the intelligentsia such as Charles Blow. For now.
2
Literary Critic
How in the world do you know my neighbors? You described them perfectly. Trump voters, extraordinaire!
I live in what used to be an average "middle class" tract home neighborhood. Cookie cutter stucco frame houses.
Since the Wall Street caused Great Recession, most houses still "appear" OK to passers by.
But we who live here see the tow trucks almost every week, as they cruise though looking for our neighbors vehicles.
Vehicles that were used for "Title Loans" that are in default.
Amazing, isn't it?
When lower income people make bad financial decisions affecting only their own lives, they lose their car and house.
When the top 10% of wealthy Americans made extremely bad financial decisions in the mid 2000's, they lost nothing.
And their intentional bad bet cost Trillions of dollars in lost income for the rest of America.
That must be what is meant by "American Exceptionalism".
How in the world do you know my neighbors? You described them perfectly. Trump voters, extraordinaire!
I live in what used to be an average "middle class" tract home neighborhood. Cookie cutter stucco frame houses.
Since the Wall Street caused Great Recession, most houses still "appear" OK to passers by.
But we who live here see the tow trucks almost every week, as they cruise though looking for our neighbors vehicles.
Vehicles that were used for "Title Loans" that are in default.
Amazing, isn't it?
When lower income people make bad financial decisions affecting only their own lives, they lose their car and house.
When the top 10% of wealthy Americans made extremely bad financial decisions in the mid 2000's, they lost nothing.
And their intentional bad bet cost Trillions of dollars in lost income for the rest of America.
That must be what is meant by "American Exceptionalism".
1
Every President sigh executive orders their first week in office. It is not a indication of success. If you listened to The Con throughout the campaign do you really think that he is the mastermind of these changes. When did The Con suddenly began to care about any of the issues that face anyone who is not in the 1%. No, if there is anyone who has been success in destroying the country piecemeal it's President Bannon and company. Con is not booksmart so it unlikely suddenly he's developed a Phd mentality to understand what's being put in front of him to sign. The man behind the pen is Bannon. One of the events Blow didn't bring out was the FAILED raid in Yemen where 1 Seal was killed and last count 57 men, women & children were killed-1 8 year old girl was an American citizen. Trump wasn't even in the Sit Room. Twitter records him tweeting at the time of the raid. CIC-blamed the failure of the raid on the JCS-now that is the only consistency in The Cons behavior the world will ever see. The I'm not to blame gambit. Or the It wasn't my fault, they wanted to do it really bad. That's the real Donald Trump. The man who people felt was such a successful businessman that he could run a company but they failed to see that he'd filed for bankruptcy 4 times. US banks would no longer give him a loan so where does he go--Russia. Follow the money. Follow Rachel Maddows investigate reporting on MSNBC.
1
Charles.
The first half of this column should save Trump thousands of dollars in therapy bills: not that he would ever submit to therapy regardless of cost.
A good honest assessment of the bases for Trump's multiple insecurities.
Borrow a ton of cash, be as ostentatious as possible, spray everything in gold paint, switch arm candy every few years: 'Whalla! I'm rich!'
The first half of this column should save Trump thousands of dollars in therapy bills: not that he would ever submit to therapy regardless of cost.
A good honest assessment of the bases for Trump's multiple insecurities.
Borrow a ton of cash, be as ostentatious as possible, spray everything in gold paint, switch arm candy every few years: 'Whalla! I'm rich!'
2
Mr. Blow, one of the best things about your columns is the quality of the comments that they elicit. So often a brilliant continuation of the ideas you put forward. Keep us thinking and talking. Words upon words might triumph.
6
When his supporters start burying their dead they might begin to see things differently.
Then again they will probably fall back on "Blame Obama".
Trump told us who he was over and over again. Some people are just willfully deaf.
They voted for the strong man with the glass jaw and thin strange tinted skin.
Then again they will probably fall back on "Blame Obama".
Trump told us who he was over and over again. Some people are just willfully deaf.
They voted for the strong man with the glass jaw and thin strange tinted skin.
4
Take a deep breath, Charlie! Your readers can see your blood pressure reading is off the chart this morning. Back off a bit. Reflect. Take another deep breath.
Remember the old Mafia Motto, "Don't get mad. Get even."
Or, model what you seek from others, Don't go stark, raving mad! You don't want a ticket southbound yourself, do you?
Remember the old Mafia Motto, "Don't get mad. Get even."
Or, model what you seek from others, Don't go stark, raving mad! You don't want a ticket southbound yourself, do you?
1
Very good piece on what trump was all about in NY, especially in the 80's. One thing I would add is his brother and especially his ex sister in law Blaine were very much accepted into the upper tier of NY society. That must have driven him and Ivana crazy.
This man craves acceptance and adulation. And is not going to get it. It is going to a bitter four years for him. For us? We will lose our minds!
This man craves acceptance and adulation. And is not going to get it. It is going to a bitter four years for him. For us? We will lose our minds!
2
Trump is buying into Bannon's "deconstruction" bigly. Thanks, President Bannon.
2
Very insightful and accurate. The one thing you're missing is that there are two kinds of bogus sales people. Some of them recognize that they are not the person that they're selling; others believe every word that comes out of their mouth. The second kind are psychotic.
Trump certainly believes whatever he says or tweets at the moment. That's why he so dangerous.
Trump certainly believes whatever he says or tweets at the moment. That's why he so dangerous.
Trump did not have kind words for Obama before the election--let's recall the hateful "birther movement" and the constant criticism of Obama taking in a round of golf once in a while (funny how much time Trump spends on the golf course now.) But right after the election, the relationship sweetened when Obama met him with an extended hand and a serious talk about the issues Trump would be facing when he assumed office. That graciousness won Trump over for a time. Now, of course, Obama is on the outs with him because Breibart or Fox News told Trump that Obama tapped his phones. That's not a nice thing Obama did! Obama is a "bad (sick)" guy now. Of course, latest developments indicate that there has been no known surveillance of Mr. Trump.
What Trump wants is validation, pure and simple. He asks for validation by flaunting his wealth, starring in a reality TV show where he can say "you're fired!" and generally acting like a big shot to let everyone know he's a big shot. But all he really gets by way of validation is kudos by sycophants.
The Trump mantra is this: "I must win but you must also lose, and you must lose bigly to make my win look even bigger than it is." So he'll just say anything to get the cheers, and if he can't or won't deliver on his promises he'll blame it on the mess Obama handed to him. Life is simple for the Trumps of the world. He won't suffer; the rest of us will.
What Trump wants is validation, pure and simple. He asks for validation by flaunting his wealth, starring in a reality TV show where he can say "you're fired!" and generally acting like a big shot to let everyone know he's a big shot. But all he really gets by way of validation is kudos by sycophants.
The Trump mantra is this: "I must win but you must also lose, and you must lose bigly to make my win look even bigger than it is." So he'll just say anything to get the cheers, and if he can't or won't deliver on his promises he'll blame it on the mess Obama handed to him. Life is simple for the Trumps of the world. He won't suffer; the rest of us will.
1
One of the main reasons Don the Con doesn't want to release his tax returns is that they would show he is not as rich or successful as he claims. Another myth he has created is that he was the CEO of a "real estate empire". The truth is that he headed a "mom and pop" organization and lacks the executive skills or experience to run a large organization. How many people work in Trump's HQ in NY. My guess is that the total headcount is around 50 to 75 people. That's it. Maybe less. And, of course, everyone who worked for him was a total sycophant and never confronted him about his lies. During the campaign he was hardly ever held accountable for the crazy stuff he said. Must be jarring to him to now have the press holding him to account.
Those who resist this cheap charlatan should not gloat. Right now it's looking a lot like Spain in 1936.
A local protest favoring sanctuary-city status had a counter-protest by white men, in Trump hats, carrying well tricked-out AR-15s. I know my guns; these boys ain't unemployed, formerly middle class factory workers.
We don't need stylish black uniforms or well-laundered brown shirts to see what is happening. The Lumpenproles supported earlier fascists. Now we will soon see, this hot summer, how well our institutions resist this ticket to hell.
Someone on one side or the other will fire a first shot, and then all bets are off for our safety and our democracy's next few generations.
A local protest favoring sanctuary-city status had a counter-protest by white men, in Trump hats, carrying well tricked-out AR-15s. I know my guns; these boys ain't unemployed, formerly middle class factory workers.
We don't need stylish black uniforms or well-laundered brown shirts to see what is happening. The Lumpenproles supported earlier fascists. Now we will soon see, this hot summer, how well our institutions resist this ticket to hell.
Someone on one side or the other will fire a first shot, and then all bets are off for our safety and our democracy's next few generations.
1
There once was a leader quite charming
With a style and bearing disarming
Next, one who offended
To hell he descended
Ofttimes causing feelings alarming
With a style and bearing disarming
Next, one who offended
To hell he descended
Ofttimes causing feelings alarming
1
This is a sharp summary of Mr. Trump's history, and his character (oiled, sleazy, grabby, macho, cheating, greedy, shallow, dishonest, desperately gilded).
But it doesn't explain why millions of Americans voted for the man to become President.
Who are they?
All those voters who seek religious control over pregnant women whom they've never met. All the voters who don't much like gays. All the voters who smile when they see a big flapping Confederate flag. All the voters who are disturbed to hear people in restaurants speaking languages they don't understand. All the voters who trust they are descended from true, American pioneer stock since their skin is pale and they sunburn easily. All the voters who dislike paying out their hard-earned wages, for taxes, to support lazy alien bums (welfare queens, Mexicans, Aaa-rabs, etc.)
And yes, many of these voters fail, or refuse, to acknowledge that their own rivers, land, air, their children's education, their civil rights, local theatre, wages, healthcare, and health insurance depend, in part, on federal taxes and robust federal regulatory agencies.
What cha' gonna do?
Donald Trump is not our most awful problem. He is not the crowned king of this new era ... though he appears to be, because he's so loud and ugly.
He is a symptom of the problem.
But it doesn't explain why millions of Americans voted for the man to become President.
Who are they?
All those voters who seek religious control over pregnant women whom they've never met. All the voters who don't much like gays. All the voters who smile when they see a big flapping Confederate flag. All the voters who are disturbed to hear people in restaurants speaking languages they don't understand. All the voters who trust they are descended from true, American pioneer stock since their skin is pale and they sunburn easily. All the voters who dislike paying out their hard-earned wages, for taxes, to support lazy alien bums (welfare queens, Mexicans, Aaa-rabs, etc.)
And yes, many of these voters fail, or refuse, to acknowledge that their own rivers, land, air, their children's education, their civil rights, local theatre, wages, healthcare, and health insurance depend, in part, on federal taxes and robust federal regulatory agencies.
What cha' gonna do?
Donald Trump is not our most awful problem. He is not the crowned king of this new era ... though he appears to be, because he's so loud and ugly.
He is a symptom of the problem.
2
"The elites who had rejected Trump were now the rejected class. They were the 1 percent, the Wall Street barons, the manifestation of the evils of income inequality. This was the time for a populist..."
Of course the irony of this is that the people in his cabinet are the 1 percenters and seem to be supporting policies that would benefit those very people and increase income inequality.
But, speak to Trump supporters and you will find that they reject this conclusion. Trump is treated as their savior. Anything you might say is only because you hate him, are mad because your side lost, or you are brainwashed by the "fake" news media. I'm not sure they will ever blame Trump for selling them false promises--they will somehow come up with a reason to blame "liberals.'
Of course the irony of this is that the people in his cabinet are the 1 percenters and seem to be supporting policies that would benefit those very people and increase income inequality.
But, speak to Trump supporters and you will find that they reject this conclusion. Trump is treated as their savior. Anything you might say is only because you hate him, are mad because your side lost, or you are brainwashed by the "fake" news media. I'm not sure they will ever blame Trump for selling them false promises--they will somehow come up with a reason to blame "liberals.'
4
Come on, Charles. The pinata has been beaten for so long that it is on the ground and all the candy long gone.
Where are the stories about the symptoms of malignant narcissism and what the diagnosis means in raw terms for the citizenry when their top elected official is the poster boy for the disease?
Where are the stories about the symptoms of malignant narcissism and what the diagnosis means in raw terms for the citizenry when their top elected official is the poster boy for the disease?
So much articulate hot air. Trump never had much use for the "inner sanctum of New York high society". He was much to busy making money, billions in fact. Considering he is a novice politician, he is doing pretty good. The author is renewing his season ticket to the N.Y. high society with this "piece".
1
".....and impotent." Ouch!
2
The truest description yet of Donald J. Trump.
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