David Brooks.....what are you thinking ????
Donald J. Trump is an embarrassment; as was Bill Clinton: as was Richard M.
Nixon..
There is no use trying to equivocate any top official who has NO moral core.
Think again...and ....again....and again...there is NO USE equivocating to
those who read your editorials....think David...and be true to yourself....
Try reading "If" by Rudyard Kipling....and I will remind you what I think
those who preceded you would ask...such as Harrison Salisbury or Jim Linen
did you know the....well guess what I did..know Linen and Bill Buckley./
and good manners count...that is moral values are expected of leaders no
matter WHAT political views they might have......so think again.
!!!!...so Marchons !!!
Donald J. Trump is an embarrassment; as was Bill Clinton: as was Richard M.
Nixon..
There is no use trying to equivocate any top official who has NO moral core.
Think again...and ....again....and again...there is NO USE equivocating to
those who read your editorials....think David...and be true to yourself....
Try reading "If" by Rudyard Kipling....and I will remind you what I think
those who preceded you would ask...such as Harrison Salisbury or Jim Linen
did you know the....well guess what I did..know Linen and Bill Buckley./
and good manners count...that is moral values are expected of leaders no
matter WHAT political views they might have......so think again.
!!!!...so Marchons !!!
11
Et tu, David?
12
David Brooks: complicit normalizer of corruption, graft, treason, sedition.
76
Ahhh, just a second, David. Just three short weeks ago, you were "a full-fledged member in the community of the agog" regarding Trump's presidency. You wrote: "The human imagination is not capacious enough to comprehend all the many ways the Trumpians can find to screw this thing up."
Now, in less than a month, Trump is a "pond skater" and the Threat Level is 3 or 4? Trump and Trumpism have changed that much since April 7? David, methinks you are as flighty as our Incompetent in Chief.
Now, in less than a month, Trump is a "pond skater" and the Threat Level is 3 or 4? Trump and Trumpism have changed that much since April 7? David, methinks you are as flighty as our Incompetent in Chief.
58
David Brooks would have made a wonderful clarinetist in the band on the Titanic, playing merrily as the ship went down. We had eight years of mere incompetency with Bush 43 and that gave us 9/11, two wars, the Katrina non response, and economic recession. We now have incompetence along with cruelty, greed, corruption and science denial. Mr. Brooks, stop being an apologist and start being an activist. You are the Neville Chamberlain of pundits.
94
what haberdashery are you writing Mr. Brooks?
Well, granted the level of threat he poses to the daily working of our country may appear to be limited but NOT when he is aided by a more pathetic bunch of Republicans. The latter have morally annihilated themselves and now they have a puppet of prince leading everyone else in his path to moral destruction. It is like a dollop of fungus on a stale piece of bread!
Well, granted the level of threat he poses to the daily working of our country may appear to be limited but NOT when he is aided by a more pathetic bunch of Republicans. The latter have morally annihilated themselves and now they have a puppet of prince leading everyone else in his path to moral destruction. It is like a dollop of fungus on a stale piece of bread!
19
Mr. Brooks, every second this con-artist and his huckster family continue to use the White House as their own personal money making machine, my outrage level will remain at 11, thank you very much.
111
Although Trump is less of a bombastic threat, his incoherence, arrogance, and inability to focus make him simply... stupid. Perhaps stupidity is better than tyrannical; we shall soon see.
21
Thin ice.
16
Grifters never change, Mr. Brooks. Do not normalize, rationalize or explain away a con man.
67
Interesting. Too bad you had to besmirch those lovely little water striders. They have a purpose on this earth. Trump does not.
David Brooks, great piece with unpleasant truths. You are coming along nicely. You even put climate change at the top of a missed agenda. I do worry though, that Trump is more than a pond skater, and I pray that you are right and I am wrong. As I wrote last week, reporting on the NYT:
Does he know? This is my question for President Trump, after reading Bill McKibben’s insightful op-ed in the New York Times, 4/23/17, titled, “The Planet Doesn’t Have Time for This.”
McKibben writes, “. . . we only have a short window to deal with the climate crisis or else we forever lose the chance to thwart truly catastrophic heating.” His essay should be required reading for all Americans, especially politicians.
Does he know? Does Donald Trump know that if he slows the fight to mitigate the worst outcomes of global warming , climate change, and increased population growth, there will be billions of people who become climate change refugees. Billions will probably die prematurely due to the dislocations and wars that ensue. Millions of plant and animal species will become extinct. Does he know that this is what he will be remembered for?
The rest of this post at InconvenientNews.wordpress.com
The NYT has two terrific, horrible news stories today about extinctions occuring now. The vaquita porpoises,A11, whales dying in the Atlantic, A13.
Does he know? This is my question for President Trump, after reading Bill McKibben’s insightful op-ed in the New York Times, 4/23/17, titled, “The Planet Doesn’t Have Time for This.”
McKibben writes, “. . . we only have a short window to deal with the climate crisis or else we forever lose the chance to thwart truly catastrophic heating.” His essay should be required reading for all Americans, especially politicians.
Does he know? Does Donald Trump know that if he slows the fight to mitigate the worst outcomes of global warming , climate change, and increased population growth, there will be billions of people who become climate change refugees. Billions will probably die prematurely due to the dislocations and wars that ensue. Millions of plant and animal species will become extinct. Does he know that this is what he will be remembered for?
The rest of this post at InconvenientNews.wordpress.com
The NYT has two terrific, horrible news stories today about extinctions occuring now. The vaquita porpoises,A11, whales dying in the Atlantic, A13.
23
Yes Mr.Brooks this is the exactly the kind of president Republican voters were looking for-rich, white, and stupid. Who can blame them for voting in one of their own?
32
This has to be the worst op-ed David Brooks has ever written.
Where has Mr. Brooks been this week? Did he fail to notice that our Dear Leader President congratulated an autocrat on winning a rigged referendum that gives him near absolute power over Turkey? Did he fail to notice that Trump threatened to pull out of NAFTA and then reneged on the very same day because the right person happened to walk into the Oval Office at the last moment to dissuade him? Did he fail to notice that Trump recklessly stated that a major conflict with North Korea is a very real possibility, which can really mean only one thing--nuclear conflict? Or that he doesn't even know which way his aircraft carriers are sailing? Or the crackpot tax plan he's submitted to Congress?
Are these developments in the mere course of a week, when added to the utterly mind-numbing litany of shocking occurrences that have taken place since January 20th, really Mr. Brooks' idea of anything less than a situation that continues to be totally alarming?
Where has Mr. Brooks been this week? Did he fail to notice that our Dear Leader President congratulated an autocrat on winning a rigged referendum that gives him near absolute power over Turkey? Did he fail to notice that Trump threatened to pull out of NAFTA and then reneged on the very same day because the right person happened to walk into the Oval Office at the last moment to dissuade him? Did he fail to notice that Trump recklessly stated that a major conflict with North Korea is a very real possibility, which can really mean only one thing--nuclear conflict? Or that he doesn't even know which way his aircraft carriers are sailing? Or the crackpot tax plan he's submitted to Congress?
Are these developments in the mere course of a week, when added to the utterly mind-numbing litany of shocking occurrences that have taken place since January 20th, really Mr. Brooks' idea of anything less than a situation that continues to be totally alarming?
56
"But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater —..."
So says Mr. Brooks. I say different. It's not hard for me to maintain outrage at a narcissistic pathological liar-racist-misogynist who gained office by pretending to be a populist, and who is trying to shaft his voters with every piece of legislation that he presents.
So says Mr. Brooks. I say different. It's not hard for me to maintain outrage at a narcissistic pathological liar-racist-misogynist who gained office by pretending to be a populist, and who is trying to shaft his voters with every piece of legislation that he presents.
39
"His foreign policy moves have been, if anything, kind of normal." Are you serious Mr. Brooks???
34
He lies on a daily basis, ridicules fellow citizens, encourages ignorance, etc., etc, and you find it hard to maintain outrage, yes? He drops runway busters for a ratings spike and feigns concern, yes? Tough to maintain outrage, I know. ?The tourette-level rapidity of his executive actions is easy to swallow and dismiss like a St. Joseph's pill, sure. On and on and on....Well, if he sparks a war in the Korean peninsula let us know how you feel.
25
Are columns like this the reason Brooks is no longer on the PBS Newshour?
14
I knew it was just a matter of time before the NYT's apologist for all things Republican would revert to form and become Trump's apologist.
26
Brooks, you are the poster boy for adolescent analysis, and that is being kind. Trump is not "adaptable", he is rudderless. Big difference, Popeye. if you don't think so, go sailing without a rudder. You'll soon be adapting a life preserver.
How do you keep your job? That is the real question.
How do you keep your job? That is the real question.
16
Just curious David. At what level is your outrage for his continued impulsivity and almost childlike maturity?
15
I have submitted several comments which you have not accepted. The possibility is that you send a notice to dilo19thhole@aol. I no longer use aol. I am now at dilo19thhole@gmail. I spend he winer months in the Dominican Republic but my permanent address is in New York. I hope this clarifies the situation.
1
Coming from David Brooks this is a pretty good smackdown of President Tweety.
1
that is of course unless he kills us all with World War III...
14
Another duachy pseudo political analysis by Brooke. He should be writing for the heritage foundation
15
Trump is not retarded, though he may well be one of our less intellectual presidents. He is learning. I think his supporters are learning, too, along with him. I surely hope he finally figures out that centrism is critical and finding ways to bring Republicans and Democrats is a must for him.
1
Well stated. Normalization of the personality is in process and behavior is moderating slightly, but this simply obscures the core dishonesty of the administration. Integrity doesn't exist and conflicts-of-interest are rampant in the administration. These foundational flaws undermine even the few good ideas that emerge from those in the administration who actually have knowledge and the competence to act upon it. My concern is that our nation gets lulled into thinking this behavior is acceptable. I wish the rhetoric on the extreme right and left would moderate. We need an executive with the dignity and self-confidence to bring people together rather than continuously playing to the fears and anxieties of "the base."
7
The danger Trump poses to the environment alone is worthy of outrage. His utter lack of competency, intellectual curiosity, empathy and shame is unprecedented, certainly in my lifetime. The only reason things are not even worse is because of activists who are mobilized to fight him and his posse every step of the way. Yes, he IS as bad as we thought he would be.
27
Trump is and always will be all about Trump. His ego pulls him around and his lack of world knowledge is still what it is. David may be correct in a way, as Trump today announced that being POTUS is harder than he thought it would be, in other words, he is now delegating power because he's sick of the job already. But he is delegating to the lost in the past wing of the GOP, the flat earth society trickle down voodoo economics crowd that is the opposite of what those who elected him wanted. His poll numbers prove it; Trump is a loser who unfortunately ran against a lady who people disliked almost as much as Trump. Wall Street may be happy, but middle America is not likely to be pleased as the next four years unfold. Unless his ego gets us into WWIII, in which case the 45th POTUS may be our last. I'm not feeling as vaguely optimistic as David is.
12
Trump's failures, his inability to actually achieve the things his braggadocio and bluster, and his deceitful promises claimed, is due more to chronic incompetence, his continuing inability to successfully manage on the scale the presidency requires. It would be false safety for 'the resistance' to let down our guard at this point however. As you point out, Trump is stumblingly, fumblingly and ineptly making more things happen the way he wants. In part by reducing his goals, even though he still talks the same 'big, huge, grandest ever' to start out, then retreats, settles, or accepts much less... but where he has the ability he has unilaterally reached deep to undermine the environment, immigrants, financial security, and many other protections for ordinary people that the federal government might provide. Trump's goal seems to be primarily to enrich himself and his cronies, and reward his wealthy supporters while doing as much as he can to keep his base voters in thrall as long as he can. He's deeply and strongly committed to running this con job as far as he can and taking as much as he can get out of the American people. The 'tax reform' that reads like a wish-list of wealthy dreams, a Santa list for the plutocracy, is of a line with his governing philosophy. The only thing that has saved our country from the direst expectations of 'the resistance' is that Trump and his minions lack the competence and understanding of governing to achieve what they want most.
12
I'm only seven years younger than Trump, so I grew up in the Television Age, too. I don't have a short attention span. I look at the bigger and more global picture. I can't pretend to be a mental heavy-weight, but I understand issues well enough. So if I can do it, why can't Trump?
14
If David Brooks is right, what is going to happen when Trump's "base" figures out that he is not delivering what he promised? His ratings from his "base" remain high, but that will change if David Brooks' predictions hold true. Bernie and Trump got a whole lot of people convinced that everything about government is bad. I worry that the two of them have primed the pump so that a smarter, more effectual--and therefore more dangerous--version of Trump emerges on the national scene.
4
Mr. Brooks does a wonderful job succinctly describing the person in the WH. Unfortunately, America's credibility is in serious jeopardy. As he stated on PBS Newshour this evening, the President's decisions on variegated topics seem to come from the last person who got three minutes of Trump's attention. In the long run, this condition does not really bode well for "We the People," including the stalwarts who continue to support him.
5
Brooks totally ignores the impact of Trump appointments. There's more to a presidency than the President. Some heads of state are figureheads. And appointees are often largely unaccountable, especially if the figurehead doesn't care to discipline his appointees.
8
David Brooks may not be in immigrant, a woman, a person of color, a student, or poor. I am also none of these things, so like Mr Brooks I am not directly affected by the Regime on a daily basis. But aside from the obvious issues of war and peace, the Regime represents an existential threat to the global ecology - not to imagine the health and safety of generations of Americans to come. It is easy to pollute, and very difficult to remediate the effects. One can easily imagine that in 5 years time we will need to spend a lot of money to pick up the pieces from the bull in the china shop, and we may find after another 10T of tax-cut debt that we have to raise taxes dramatically to do so if no one lends us the money.
17
I suppose if Trump is harmless, there's less blame to those lofty "conservative" observers who did not oppose the latent racism, corporate welfare and wrong-way income distribution of the GOP, all of which remain features of Trump's Presidency, along with constant lying which misinforms that large part of the electorate which can't or won't trouble with newspapers.
The most dangerous possibilities are still there, not only the finger on the nuclear trigger but the false rhetoric which permits all kind of injustice in America, not to mention the kinds implicit in current announcements by Jeff Sessions.
Whether Trump is a clown or a maniac (and there is no solid reason to think he is any less so of either), so-called "conservative" pundits, even the ones offended by him, still have Trump to answer for...and the damage he does to the hearts and minds of those who follow him.
The most dangerous possibilities are still there, not only the finger on the nuclear trigger but the false rhetoric which permits all kind of injustice in America, not to mention the kinds implicit in current announcements by Jeff Sessions.
Whether Trump is a clown or a maniac (and there is no solid reason to think he is any less so of either), so-called "conservative" pundits, even the ones offended by him, still have Trump to answer for...and the damage he does to the hearts and minds of those who follow him.
If only Trump's gold-encrusted reign were as innocuous as Brooks describes. Although he is not fulfilling his ridiculous campaign pledges, he IS rolling back regulations that safeguard our citizens from predation and quagmires. Trump and his minions are moving to deregulate--or under-regulate-- everything from our financial institutions to our food safety.
As our dear leader works eagerly to ensure the added enrichment of his family and wealthy cronies, we careen relentlessly toward a country by, of, and for corporations and plutocrats.
As our dear leader works eagerly to ensure the added enrichment of his family and wealthy cronies, we careen relentlessly toward a country by, of, and for corporations and plutocrats.
He's a pond skater all right...a pond skater in the middle of a high-level practice session for international-level pairs skaters, wearing second-hand skates, tearing up the ice, getting in everyone's way with his lack of comprehension of the technical rules AND the protocol for sharing the ice with others, and causing everyone to pray he doesn't do serious or even fatal damage if he tries to jump, spin, or God forbid, throw another skater. And there is nothing remotely amusing about watching any of it.
Mr. Brooks, the harm shall be from 1000 cuts. You are suggesting damage that at times shall be imperceptible as it occurs, but we should recognize that in the end it could be irreversible. We have seen a very recent example of this process with Ergodan in Turkey, only recently accelerated. We may not recognize the United States or our society as the calendar pages turn. I think the argument you make and the conclusions you have suggested are naive.
16
People who voted for Trump in 2016 were faced with a dismal choice - as were the people who didn't. I agree with Mr. Brooks that it's fruitless for Trump resisters to maintain a vigorous program of self-flaggelation because it is just too fatiguing and the very people who should be at 11, his supporters, will take quite a while for their epiphany. When they're at 11, things *could* really start happening. Of course, the ossified Democrats will not be ready with any plan, any big ideas, when that occurs, not with our titular head Obama doing a full Clinton and making Wall Street speeches.
1
Trump doesn't spend a lot of time, it seems, thinking about things. (Remember him blowing off those daily security briefings as a waste of time?). So do you think he might be prone to make snap decisions without doing a lot of analysis?
WWI started more or less by accident because everyone was just reacting to what everyone else was doing and not thinking about where it was all headed.
It's not too far fetched to imagine the U.S. and China being dragged into a major military confrontation over Donald Trump's 'Brinkmanship' with North Korea, or, even worse.
WWI started more or less by accident because everyone was just reacting to what everyone else was doing and not thinking about where it was all headed.
It's not too far fetched to imagine the U.S. and China being dragged into a major military confrontation over Donald Trump's 'Brinkmanship' with North Korea, or, even worse.
5
I disagree that Trump is inconsequential. Business as usual for both Trump and Obama means catering to the top 1% at the expense of the rest of us. Neglect of the 99% and allowing their quality of life to degrade has consequences.
1
First, it's easy to say some of those things when you are not a member of any population who stand to suffer, lose rights, etc. under the Trump administration. It's already begun, 100 days into this dumpster fire of an administration.
Are you, Mr. Brooks, going to be without health insurance, or the money to pay for medical care once Trump and the Republicans in Congress either kill Obama Care, or eviscerate it? I doubt it. I doubt you even know anyone who shall.
Is taking oversight of problematic police depts. going to affect you? Again, I highly doubt it.
Trumps budget, and basically all the Republican dream budgets, will kill essential services. For instance, affordable housing. I know people who are dependent on that program, it is vitally essential to them.
My undocumented immigrant neighbors are scared to death. I'm still in touch with immigrants to our nation who work in tech that I've been co-workers with in the past. Many are beyond concerned by the violence cropping up and the harassment they face. They are considering going back to the nations of their birth. These are people who have made lives here and love this nation.
Personally, I'm transgender and a woman. Both populations, as well as the wider LGBT community is under siege. I barely faced harassment before Trump. Now I face it, as in right in my face. Since he was sworn in I've been assaulted and twice sexually assaulted. Don't tell me that this administration is not a threat.
The prospect of war...
Are you, Mr. Brooks, going to be without health insurance, or the money to pay for medical care once Trump and the Republicans in Congress either kill Obama Care, or eviscerate it? I doubt it. I doubt you even know anyone who shall.
Is taking oversight of problematic police depts. going to affect you? Again, I highly doubt it.
Trumps budget, and basically all the Republican dream budgets, will kill essential services. For instance, affordable housing. I know people who are dependent on that program, it is vitally essential to them.
My undocumented immigrant neighbors are scared to death. I'm still in touch with immigrants to our nation who work in tech that I've been co-workers with in the past. Many are beyond concerned by the violence cropping up and the harassment they face. They are considering going back to the nations of their birth. These are people who have made lives here and love this nation.
Personally, I'm transgender and a woman. Both populations, as well as the wider LGBT community is under siege. I barely faced harassment before Trump. Now I face it, as in right in my face. Since he was sworn in I've been assaulted and twice sexually assaulted. Don't tell me that this administration is not a threat.
The prospect of war...
18
I suppose that, if you’re not one of the people who are going to have to live with the worst impacts of climate change, or someone who will have to spend their working lives paying off the deficit caused by Trump’s tax cuts, or one of the millions Trump would take healthcare coverage from, or one of the “dreamers” who were brought into the US as small children and are now being deported from the only country they’ve ever known, or one of the thousands who will die from preventable diseases as environmental standards are tossed out the window, or a member of one of the communities that depends on the NEA to support local arts, or a member of the LBTQ community who will be subjected to legalized discrimination, or a woman who will lose reproductive freedoms as a result of Trump’s Supreme Court pick, then sure, I suppose you could say Trump is fascinating to watch, but has little effect.
15
Mr. Brooks,
I don't see how you can distill the power of Trump's presidency to the energy of a pond skater. No far from it. Tell that to the ground forces, airmen and sailors who are truly in harms way of this "ratings drive" aka saber rattling as this "armada" now steams towards North Korea. Perhaps Trump has relayed through China to North Korea that this is all just a ratings game? One can only hope, but more than anything let's hope some front line soldier doesn't accidentally pull the trigger. The resulting carnage would be horrific.
What about the American families whose loved ones have been deported back to Mexico? These deportees paid taxes and their US citizen children now are motherless and fatherless.
Perhaps for you and your neighbors residing in the canyons of New York City, Trump's actions have no effect---no need for outrage; however, for our troops and their families, and families of deportees, and those whose voices were suppressed by Russian propaganda even the term "outrage" is inadequate, to say nothing of "pond skating."
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, we shall fight in the courts, we shall fight in the congress, we shall fight in our local governments, but we shall never surrender the republic, nor allow the dilution of our US Constitution. Far better men and women have sacrificed greatly for what we have today; we have successfully fought fascism and defeated it; the legacy of our forefathers compels us to act now, and act we shall.
I don't see how you can distill the power of Trump's presidency to the energy of a pond skater. No far from it. Tell that to the ground forces, airmen and sailors who are truly in harms way of this "ratings drive" aka saber rattling as this "armada" now steams towards North Korea. Perhaps Trump has relayed through China to North Korea that this is all just a ratings game? One can only hope, but more than anything let's hope some front line soldier doesn't accidentally pull the trigger. The resulting carnage would be horrific.
What about the American families whose loved ones have been deported back to Mexico? These deportees paid taxes and their US citizen children now are motherless and fatherless.
Perhaps for you and your neighbors residing in the canyons of New York City, Trump's actions have no effect---no need for outrage; however, for our troops and their families, and families of deportees, and those whose voices were suppressed by Russian propaganda even the term "outrage" is inadequate, to say nothing of "pond skating."
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, we shall fight in the courts, we shall fight in the congress, we shall fight in our local governments, but we shall never surrender the republic, nor allow the dilution of our US Constitution. Far better men and women have sacrificed greatly for what we have today; we have successfully fought fascism and defeated it; the legacy of our forefathers compels us to act now, and act we shall.
13
American corporations are not paying the 35% corporate tax. Their lawyers and accountants have worked their way around that for years. To lower corporate taxes only insure they pay nothing at all.
14
Dear Mr. Brooks,
I read your columns because they are well-written and almost always well-reasoned on points where reasonable people may disagee. This article, however, is a sore apology for a poor chief executive whose very fickleness and volatility, combined with all the constitutional authority of the president of the United States, makes him an ongoing Level 11 threat. There is no doubt in my mind that President Trump will continue fomenting division at home and abroad in alarming and very reckless ways.
I read your columns because they are well-written and almost always well-reasoned on points where reasonable people may disagee. This article, however, is a sore apology for a poor chief executive whose very fickleness and volatility, combined with all the constitutional authority of the president of the United States, makes him an ongoing Level 11 threat. There is no doubt in my mind that President Trump will continue fomenting division at home and abroad in alarming and very reckless ways.
5
I guess Mr. Brooks doesn't realize that Trump's environmental policies could be catastrophic for our planet. I think that, if nothing else (and there's a lot else), should be enough to justify an "Outrage Level 11".
12
As the saying goes: don't assume malicious intent when mere incompetence/laziness/indifference could be the cause. Incompetence may not be the sort of mustache-twirling evil movies teach us to fear, but historically it's produced things like unsafe working conditions (it use to be you weren't a real factory worker family until one of your kids got eaten by the machines), the Flint water crisis and all manner of problems.
2
Although usually thoughtful, this sounds as if David just watched some bad television "news" and decided "Hey, he hasn't actually started a war yet, but he is talking about slashing taxes on the rich again." And just like that, Trump is more-or-less your average Republican. Just a bit incompetent is all, but we can live with that.
I guess mainstream Republicans truly don't care about science, the environment, civil rights or rational economics. This is a sickness that goes way beyond the presidency.
I guess mainstream Republicans truly don't care about science, the environment, civil rights or rational economics. This is a sickness that goes way beyond the presidency.
12
"But as time has gone by, he has hired better people and has shifted power within the White House to those who are trying to at least build a normal decision-making process." Stop!! He has hired Wall Street vampires or corporate billionaires to put into place what they always have----power to the elite while ignoring the rest of us. Mr. Brooks, what is a normal decision-making process? The eradication of the EPA, the lessening of women's rights, the potential wiping away of public education, the tax give-away to the corporations, the diminishing of adequate and affordable health-care???? I agree that Trump is so far not dragging us into war, but that could be just around the corner. The Democrats and the Republicans make no attempt to hold him accountable for his behavior or his inability to govern in a way that would make most of us proud.
10
One can't help but wonder if Mr. Brooks has been wandering across the hall and comparing thoughts with Paul Krugman. Basically, both are saying the same thing: Trump in final analysis is spectacularly incompetent, and this might make him less than a threat to the well-being of the republic than if he were a more effective tyrant. It remains that someone so unqualified to lead a nation of several hundred million people, which is home to the brains if not all of the muscle of the world's financial system and which wields the greatest collection of military force in history, could still make an awful lot of trouble.
3
The pond--if it's just an ecologically balanced, tranquil little pond, who cares about the insect skittering on the surface. But our pond is drying up, filling up with garbage, flooding with debris from above. Specifically: we've been in an ecological crisis that threatens all of our ways of wringing a living from the Earth, from industrial farmers down to hunters and gatherers. The thing has got steadily worse, as Presidency after Presidency ignores it, denies it, or fails to convince Congress to do anything about it. Another four (or eight) years of skittering on the surface we cannot afford. We need at least a Good Scout to organize a trash cleanup and a Good Power Organizer to make the poisoners stop spewing their junk into the common waters.
And then there's the bulk of the population left high and dry by the owners of capital equipment, who see more profit in using robots than in hiring people to do work.
We need someone with serious boots to wade into the dirty waters, not a delicate creature skating on the surface.
And then there's the bulk of the population left high and dry by the owners of capital equipment, who see more profit in using robots than in hiring people to do work.
We need someone with serious boots to wade into the dirty waters, not a delicate creature skating on the surface.
2
It is true that progressives have turned it up to 11. But are these consolations truly consolation? We have a transactional, non-strategic, vacant president. It's just that the transactions have a new (changing, short-sighted) focus. Fine, let's turn the volume down to 9. What happens though when he figures out that simply bombing someone somewhere is the best way distract everyone once again from his strategically absent vision? Having said all this, in my opinion he has done nothing to persuade me that he is anywhere close to competent.
4
I appreciate the article but I'm going to disagree on one thing that wasn't mentioned. The man is a national embarrassment and does not reflect who and what America truly is.
Not to be snotty but I don't think the bulk his constituents get a chance to see the rest of the world but I have. Once while antiquing with my wife in Amsterdam the shop proprietor overheard our accents and presented us with a small brass trinket as a gift. We were astonished. He went on to say he had such high regard for Americans and our part in WW2 and he just wanted to say thanks in some way. We were both truly touched by his act of kindness.
Now I see Trump wants to charge a billion dollars for the use of our missile defense system in Korea. Another place I have been to a number of times. The idea that this narcissistic man might want to start some a war over there to take some heat off his Russian collusion bothers me greatly. South Korea is a beautiful place, vibrant and home to some of the most lovely people I have ever met. I dread the day when I have to go back to Busan or Amsterdam and look at my colleagues in the eyes and explain how this tv obsessed man became president of the free world. I am so ashamed.
Not to be snotty but I don't think the bulk his constituents get a chance to see the rest of the world but I have. Once while antiquing with my wife in Amsterdam the shop proprietor overheard our accents and presented us with a small brass trinket as a gift. We were astonished. He went on to say he had such high regard for Americans and our part in WW2 and he just wanted to say thanks in some way. We were both truly touched by his act of kindness.
Now I see Trump wants to charge a billion dollars for the use of our missile defense system in Korea. Another place I have been to a number of times. The idea that this narcissistic man might want to start some a war over there to take some heat off his Russian collusion bothers me greatly. South Korea is a beautiful place, vibrant and home to some of the most lovely people I have ever met. I dread the day when I have to go back to Busan or Amsterdam and look at my colleagues in the eyes and explain how this tv obsessed man became president of the free world. I am so ashamed.
12
I'm hearing a lot people say "We'll get through this. We'll survive." Some of us won't. Some already have not. - members of our military sent into battle through decisions made over dinner, innocent civilians in other countries bombed, people deported, people losing benefits.
7
Massive attack on the environment with explicit support for sale/plunder of public lands. Expedient removal of regulation to allow banks and other large corporations to take massive risks and be bailed out. A tax proposal that is so blatantly self-enriching that it can only be viewed as looting 98% of the US population, as if a thief forced each one of us out of hour homes and emptied them of valuables.
2
Why no mention of the Russian issues? or all the Russian supporters 45 has surrounded himself with? My dad used to say, "Where there is smoke, there is usually fire." In my 62 yrs. I've found that to be true. The red flags are waving everywhere, too.
3
This opinion could only be written by a member of the elite; someone who has lived with so much material comfort for so long, he has no feeling for the tremendous threat posed by even the most modest of Trump / Republican proposals. This is dangerous, conceited, self-centered and quite disgusting, not to mention insanely hypocritical, coming from a commentator who loves to extol virtue and generosity....
8
"But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
No, it isn't hard to maintain outrage. I urge you to try a little harder and to not become complacent. We can't afford it.
No, it isn't hard to maintain outrage. I urge you to try a little harder and to not become complacent. We can't afford it.
9
When considering Trump and the notion of simplistic Pond-Skating, and with Trump's 'First 100 Days Anniversary' due to arrive, it's perfectly clear our president showed up wearing roller skates. He's just unfit for the job of being president and being the President of the United States is not a position that affords more than one week of 'on the job training.'
3
Still at Level 11. Maybe twelve. Ineptitude is more dangerous than braggadocio.
Sit and have a talk with Timothy Egan or David Remnick. Or people who still feel they will lose their healthcare coverage. Or people who feel their West Coast cities will be bombed. Or people who fear there will be some sudden disruption of Trump's reign by political or military coup.
Ineptitude at the top doesn't make us breathe easier.
Sit and have a talk with Timothy Egan or David Remnick. Or people who still feel they will lose their healthcare coverage. Or people who feel their West Coast cities will be bombed. Or people who fear there will be some sudden disruption of Trump's reign by political or military coup.
Ineptitude at the top doesn't make us breathe easier.
10
Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to this republic. No amount of Republican sophistry can change the truth, which really is not as malleable as the GOP likes to believe.
7
I hope you're right about Trump's threat level, but I fear you are wrong. Getting his way once or twice will send him right over the edge again. He is, was, and will be unfit to be President.
5
Personally, what David Brooks writes here doesn't help when I lie awake in the middle of the night worrying about a war with North Korea, the next generations lack of good public schools, the destruction of the environment, tax cuts to the wealthy, nepotism in the White House, etc. No, I can't treat Trump as a normal Republican. Maybe I would feel that way about John Kasich, but he's a little crazy too. Let's find a smart charismatic Democrat and back him/her all the way!
5
He is unpredictable and dangerous. He is ignorant, and appeals to what's worse about Americans. To suggest that he's in any way acceptable as a leader of our democracy and values is, to say the least , disappointing. I teach students of all races, cultures , genders, and socioeconomic levels. Your words are destructive to them and deflates their hopes of a fair just future.
6
Wouldn't war with North Korea generate spectacular footage and great ratings? Seems like a no-brainer that that's the direction in which we are headed.
2
All I can say after reading this is that I hope Mr. Brooks got his 20 pieces of silver in advance, and counted it carefully before the conclusion of his deal. Then I hope he absconded with it before the most tremendous, clever deal maker ever, decided to renege, declare bankruptcy or sue.
3
David: This judgment seems a little premature. Get back to us in 44 months, if Trump hasn't triggered something utterly catastrophic to compound his ongoing campaign against the environment and the public interest.
1
You've been spot on for months, David Brooks, but now you're eyes are clouded by Republicanism. You may feel safer because you interpret current actions as more conventional, but I feel less safe having DJT in the White House than I've ever felt in my 70 years. His constant presence in the world creates pervasive anxiety throughout the world. There is nothing good happening in the White House or at any of the executive departments.
3
Many of us wondered how exactly David Brooks would extricate himself from the personal challenge of being a Trump critic and being a good Republican. Now we know. Brooks tells us: No worries, Trump is simply entertainment, and besides his administration closely resembles that of past Republicans.
So this how Brooks caves to Trumpism, not with a bang but a whimper.
So this how Brooks caves to Trumpism, not with a bang but a whimper.
9
Sorry, but the level of corruption, possible collusion with Russia by advisors, and constant use of the office to promote businesses is not minor news - it's worth keeping the dial at 11.
6
I dunno. He still has not adapted to the presidency enough for my taste. He thinks in 140-character segments, kind of ignores his press office, doesn't coordonate with his cabinet secretaries on policies and statements, and thinks he's president of his "base" and not the whole country. Just the tip of the iceberg, but there is hope. It sounds like he doesn't like the job, so a second term appears unlikely and for that I'm at a 10.5.
2
One cannot ignore the real damage being done by the incompetent, totally biased cabinet heads, especially justice, energy/environment, education, health and treasury, who are steadily undoing sensible policies and creating radical ones. President Trump cannot become the new normal just because he has "calmed down a bit." Look where he started!
3
We, as a country, are in the predicament we are in with this Trump nightmare, because the media, to a great part, have lowered the bar so low to accommodate this very lacking man. Too many people are making far too many excuses for him, and hanging on every thing he does and says. Couple that with the stupidity and the ignorance and the gullibility coming from his base supporters, the ones who elected him, and we have the worst, most unqualified person in our history sitting in the White House. We have no where to go but up. This man is destroying the country. He's useless, and we can no longer allow him to continue. This country deserves so much more than what Donald Trump has to offer. No more excuses for him. Hold him accountable, or we parish.
1
Not hard at all to maintain outrage at someone who has such power and chooses to use it for self-aggrandizement, self-enrichment, attacks on constitutional principles. attacks on the environment.. and a thousand other travesties.
2
I think they call this kind of thinking "complacency." It is certainly true that Trump is too inept a politician to pull off the crypto-fascist revolution many of us feared on Nov. 9, but he still has many of those ideas swirling around in that empty head of his. More worrying, though, is the danger of his ineptitude. The problems that got him elected - income inequality, hostility toward government, underemployment, the rise of the bots, etc. - are very real, and he has zero ideas to solve them. He runs his mouth, threatening this or that country, dreaming up tax schemes that will never happen, but there's nobody running the store right now. It's better than having the terror we imagined on Nov. 9, but it's still very, very dangerous, as we will all find when the first real external crisis hits.
3
Donald Trump definitely poses an opportunity for progress in the United Sates that few had dared expect.
After Barack the Player made sure all the MS-13 gang members that Central America could spare were silently imported against every law on immigration on the books, this new President has to watch as 13 people are murdered just on long Island.
Will this trail of blood make it into any of Mr. Obama's future autobiographies? Will those publishers also claim that Barack was born in Kenya as happened before?
For most of my life, people have suggested that ''they'' should just pick some guy walking down the street and make him President. Maybe that is what we're watching happen today.
But no American President has had half the country trained to hate him as has happened in the last year. Even Lincoln wasn't personally blamed by many on both sides for what transpired during the first American Civil War, a predecessor to what several progressive oligarch seems to be preparing for today.
Polling: 88% of Trump voters feel that the media really are the enemy of the American people today. That has never happened in any Western democracy.
After Barack the Player made sure all the MS-13 gang members that Central America could spare were silently imported against every law on immigration on the books, this new President has to watch as 13 people are murdered just on long Island.
Will this trail of blood make it into any of Mr. Obama's future autobiographies? Will those publishers also claim that Barack was born in Kenya as happened before?
For most of my life, people have suggested that ''they'' should just pick some guy walking down the street and make him President. Maybe that is what we're watching happen today.
But no American President has had half the country trained to hate him as has happened in the last year. Even Lincoln wasn't personally blamed by many on both sides for what transpired during the first American Civil War, a predecessor to what several progressive oligarch seems to be preparing for today.
Polling: 88% of Trump voters feel that the media really are the enemy of the American people today. That has never happened in any Western democracy.
Enlighten us, Mr. Brooks. What has happened in the past 100 days to convince you that Trump does NOT represent a unique and unprecedented threat to the republic? And that he is not a populist ethnic nationalist aiming to drag this country to an ugly place.
For the first time in generations we are now once again discussing the possibility of nuclear war. Is that another of Trump's accomplishments to which you and your ilk extend tacit approval?
For the first time in generations we are now once again discussing the possibility of nuclear war. Is that another of Trump's accomplishments to which you and your ilk extend tacit approval?
3
"Corporate tax rates are indeed too high."
Does this statement have any basis in fact? What is Brook's criteria for determining that they are too high? What should be the basis for the level too which he would drop them? Profits for many corporations are at record levels and the S and P 500 index reflects that.
Certainly more important however is the central message of this editorial: that as long as Trump remains inadequate, incompetent and irrelevant things will be okay.
Hasn't it dawned on Brooks that we have real problems as a nation and simply throwing sugar sculptures at them and allowing "corporatists" to run amok will not provide us with critical solutions.
I am afraid Brooks has thrust his cerebellum deeply underground. He should realize that the rest of his body will be immolated in the Nuclear War which may ensue.
Does this statement have any basis in fact? What is Brook's criteria for determining that they are too high? What should be the basis for the level too which he would drop them? Profits for many corporations are at record levels and the S and P 500 index reflects that.
Certainly more important however is the central message of this editorial: that as long as Trump remains inadequate, incompetent and irrelevant things will be okay.
Hasn't it dawned on Brooks that we have real problems as a nation and simply throwing sugar sculptures at them and allowing "corporatists" to run amok will not provide us with critical solutions.
I am afraid Brooks has thrust his cerebellum deeply underground. He should realize that the rest of his body will be immolated in the Nuclear War which may ensue.
1
The President of the United States is in over his head, with the hose running in a different direction from the fire under his feet. It's unquenchable. We are all hurt in his game and, I for one, will never play in his sandbox. He throws too much sand.
2
Has no one considered the potential consequences of every member of the senate getting on buses at the same time?
3
If we accept the solopcism that the Trump threat level now rests at 3 or 4 (and I don't, nor did I ever rate it at 11), it is because of the President's clueless ineptitude. The resulting chaos carries its own danger.
Is NAFTA viable or should it be dumped? Does China manipulate its currency or is it a crucial ally? Is NATO obsolete or is it the cornerstone of western security? Is the national debt a catastrophe or should it explode?
How many versions of "Trumpcare" must we endure before Trump simply drowns the ACA in insolvency? Will his one-page double-spaced tax proposal raise or lower middle class taxes? (We know who gets the bonanza.)
Some call this canny. Keep 'em guessing with the head fakes! In reality it is just confused, and confusion usually ends badly.
Is NAFTA viable or should it be dumped? Does China manipulate its currency or is it a crucial ally? Is NATO obsolete or is it the cornerstone of western security? Is the national debt a catastrophe or should it explode?
How many versions of "Trumpcare" must we endure before Trump simply drowns the ACA in insolvency? Will his one-page double-spaced tax proposal raise or lower middle class taxes? (We know who gets the bonanza.)
Some call this canny. Keep 'em guessing with the head fakes! In reality it is just confused, and confusion usually ends badly.
3
I hate to ask what might be a dumb question but who or what the "globe’s rural working classes?" Does it include Americans? The only working class I have experience with are city or suburban dweller blue collar or office clerk types. Could someone please enlighten me?
This is the Old Men of the Muppets in reverse. Instead of going from the show being great to awful, Mr. Brooks has gone from Trump being bad, to wait, he's better than we think. In three years, Mr. Brooks will be singing Trump's praises as one of the greatest Presidents, one that came a long way, even as healthcare collapses, inequality grows, and the international stage destabilizes further. Mr. Brooks must be one of those who would benefit from Trump's proposed tax plan and who views the "others" as undeserving slobs who just haven't worked hard enough. At least Richard Spencer voices overtly how much he likes his White privilege.
4
As a mother of a nine-year-old who has been ice skating for 5 years, I'm insulted that you would equate this president to ice skaters. It takes patience, perseverance, and courage to learn to be graceful on the ice.
With all due respect, Mr. Brooks, you obviously have never tried ice skating.
With all due respect, Mr. Brooks, you obviously have never tried ice skating.
4
David, maybe what you say is true, but it might apply better to a man on the street than the president of the United States.
Did you notice that Trump wants to break up the 9th Circuit Court because it hands down decisions he doesn't like? Isn't commandeering the courts what happens in countries run by autocrats and dictators? And you think he is moderating himself? Sheesh!
Did you notice that Trump wants to break up the 9th Circuit Court because it hands down decisions he doesn't like? Isn't commandeering the courts what happens in countries run by autocrats and dictators? And you think he is moderating himself? Sheesh!
2
He is not skating on the pond. That takes skill. He is slipping and sliding on his stocking feet, teetering and ready to fall at any given moment.
3
I recently sat at a diner in the deep Red congressional district of southern New Mexico, and for the first time in years I heard a table of old guys like me openly using the N word. The waitress chimed in and used the N word too.
This is a relatively mild expression of what Trump has unleashed.
This is a relatively mild expression of what Trump has unleashed.
2
It's early yet, the effects will be apparent soon enough.
1
"t’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
Little effect as they go? Dream on, David. In a couple of months (perhaps after a disastrous overseas misadventure or a smoking gun revelation of his own corruption) you'll once again be eating your words.
Little effect as they go? Dream on, David. In a couple of months (perhaps after a disastrous overseas misadventure or a smoking gun revelation of his own corruption) you'll once again be eating your words.
1
Trump is "one of those creatures . . . that have little effect"? Would that it were so, Mr. Brooks. While you acknowledge Trump's hostility to science, you don't seem bothered by the consequences. I refer you to Bill McKibben's most recent piece, "The Planet Can't Stand this Presidency." How can you be so sanguine?
2
With all due respect to Mr. Brooks, he can write columns like this because he's not going to lose his health care, be deported based on unfounded lies about immigrants, face discrimination because he is LGBT, or face any number of other adverse consequences because Trump is president. Nothing new to see there. The bigger concern to me is any attempt, even as facile as this one (as one poster aptly noted) to legitimize what is increasingly illegitimate should alarm us all. This is Trump's MO, after all: lull us into believing that, hey, he's not such a bad guy. To fall into that trap could not be more dangerous. It's sad to see someone as smart as Mr. Brooks falling for it.
5
Trump has never really spoken at length at what I would call a "thoughtful/intellectual" level.
Obama was way over the top on that, the pregnant pauses, weighing each word to first imagine how it would look on video or in print.
Not Trump. He is clearly a vacuous, empty vessel - the kinds that make the most noise, like a dog whistle. When you look closely, there's very little inside. We have cats, and the smallest one makes the most noise.
And of course Trump has no filters. He doesn't much care what anyone thinks about HOW he says something. He doesn't or can't complete simple, declarative sentences - much less put a series of sentences together into anything remotely close to deductive logic.
And I kind of like him for that. It's just really too bad that such an empty suit is POTUS.
Obama was way over the top on that, the pregnant pauses, weighing each word to first imagine how it would look on video or in print.
Not Trump. He is clearly a vacuous, empty vessel - the kinds that make the most noise, like a dog whistle. When you look closely, there's very little inside. We have cats, and the smallest one makes the most noise.
And of course Trump has no filters. He doesn't much care what anyone thinks about HOW he says something. He doesn't or can't complete simple, declarative sentences - much less put a series of sentences together into anything remotely close to deductive logic.
And I kind of like him for that. It's just really too bad that such an empty suit is POTUS.
2
Mr. Brooks, you have to be kidding. Just a simple review of almost all of the president's appointments indicates the degree of danger he poses. As a career educator, I'll focus only on the new Secretary of Education. If she has her way, tax money will be provided to schools with science curricula teach that the cosmos is less than 10,000 years old.
2
I am speechless with disgust. Brooks tells us to shelf our outrage. Mine grows everyday, is indeed unbearable at the sight and sound of this person who endangers the future of our country and indeed the world through his utter ignorance, greed, and vanity...global warming goes unchecked, public education is trashed, the arts and sciences are unfunded, health care returned to pre-ACA days, the Treasury is robbed blind, warmongering ensues, nepotism rules the WH...what else does David Brooks need to be outraged?
2
David, I don't find it hard at all to maintain outrage at President Trump. A President without convictions and knowledge and uninterested in helping Americans obtain healthcare, live in a clean environment, and obtain meaningful work in a global economy deserves our contempt and resistance. The big worry for me is what further damage will be done to our country when the 40% who support him realize they have been conned? Will they turn to even further right wing Fascism brought to them by an alternate reality sponsored by Fox news?
Are we watching the same thing, David Brooks?
Every day of this "mere" inadequacy brings new insult and injury. Communication via tweet, doggedly blaming Obama for everything ( I cannot recall a president so fixated on his predecessor), mangling healthcare, threatening volatile nations, supporting a frightening candidate in France, and, even today, professing such a hideous lack of understanding of what his job entails AND going after Senator Warren so offensively. (By the way, this list only scratches the surface.) This is not "inadequate." This is dangerous.
What makes it even more terrifying is how the GOPs in Congress follow him like the Pied Piper's rats. Not a single one in either chamber has the backbone to say, if I may mix fables, that the emperor has no clothes. I already grieve for the safety and integrity of our nation. Someone needs to right this grievous wrong.
Every day of this "mere" inadequacy brings new insult and injury. Communication via tweet, doggedly blaming Obama for everything ( I cannot recall a president so fixated on his predecessor), mangling healthcare, threatening volatile nations, supporting a frightening candidate in France, and, even today, professing such a hideous lack of understanding of what his job entails AND going after Senator Warren so offensively. (By the way, this list only scratches the surface.) This is not "inadequate." This is dangerous.
What makes it even more terrifying is how the GOPs in Congress follow him like the Pied Piper's rats. Not a single one in either chamber has the backbone to say, if I may mix fables, that the emperor has no clothes. I already grieve for the safety and integrity of our nation. Someone needs to right this grievous wrong.
4
It IS easier for people with talent, intelligence, decency and morals.
1
Mr. Brooks, I could not disagree with you more. I have watch your weekly rants on PBS and hailed you for your insight into this dangerous human being that we must call President. As, I believe, Dan Rather said You cannot "normalize" this president and his actions. So many distractions while our democracy and safety are threatened. 45 is still has dangerous as you have reported many times. It is you that has changed....he has exhausted your sensibilities. I am very sorry for that.
3
HA..just heard you David on NPR predicting Healthcare is certainly going to fail !
Trump and his lies are becoming a second nature to him , so anything he says seems fake until we move on to his next lies.
This is not even 100 days , four more years to go and probably eight ?
Trump and his lies are becoming a second nature to him , so anything he says seems fake until we move on to his next lies.
This is not even 100 days , four more years to go and probably eight ?
1
This little "pond skater" has his little fingers on the largest military arsenal in the world. And once he has evacuated his own family and close billionaire friends to a safe refuge, he wouldn't think twice about obliterating this nation. Well, that would certainly solve the rust belt and coal country problem.....in a flash.
Should we not be outraged that Trump thought being president of one of the most powerful nations on earth would be easier than the job he had before? You know, the job that involved selling his name to developments, hosting a reality TV show (please, can we stop calling him a 'reality TV star'?), and flitting around the world to play golf?
3
"...sort of fascinating to watch..."
Sort of fascinating to watch!
This can only be written by someone who will be relatively unaffected economically by the implementation of Republican supply-side policy circa 1984!
Sort of fascinating to watch!
This can only be written by someone who will be relatively unaffected economically by the implementation of Republican supply-side policy circa 1984!
4
No, David, corporate tax rates are not too high!
3
It's far too soon to relax about this. The Trump Administration has plenty of time to wreak catastrophe.
2
I note that today - on the eve of the First One Hundred Days benchmark - DT is shoveling out anti-environment and Obama era conservation rollbacks.
BP spill? A mere bagatelle....get over it.
Perhaps DT and his legions will point to these draconian, anti-environmental EO's as 'progress'. Right in time for tomorrow's Climate March.
Pure.Unvarnished.Evil
NOT my president
BP spill? A mere bagatelle....get over it.
Perhaps DT and his legions will point to these draconian, anti-environmental EO's as 'progress'. Right in time for tomorrow's Climate March.
Pure.Unvarnished.Evil
NOT my president
Seems like David is asking all of who remain very suspicious to just calm down. It's cool guys, DJT is just a regular republican.
Hey, he says, relax. DJT is only mildly incompetent and he's hired others--WHO may I ask? --who are helping him out...to do what?
I cringe to read DB these days because from where I sit I see underneath his words that he keeps trying to deflect from the part he played and continues to play in this current situation.
Why even today djt bemoaned, I miss my old life. I didn't realize being president would be so hard? Really? 100 days and over 1300 to go.
David, one day you, yes you, are going to wake up and look in the mirror and recognize and have to own up that you, yes you, played a significant role in getting the most incompetent (other adjectives may come to mind) president in American history elected in 2016.
Quit trying to hide from that truth. Own it.
Hey, he says, relax. DJT is only mildly incompetent and he's hired others--WHO may I ask? --who are helping him out...to do what?
I cringe to read DB these days because from where I sit I see underneath his words that he keeps trying to deflect from the part he played and continues to play in this current situation.
Why even today djt bemoaned, I miss my old life. I didn't realize being president would be so hard? Really? 100 days and over 1300 to go.
David, one day you, yes you, are going to wake up and look in the mirror and recognize and have to own up that you, yes you, played a significant role in getting the most incompetent (other adjectives may come to mind) president in American history elected in 2016.
Quit trying to hide from that truth. Own it.
4
I think there's a real danger in normalizing someone so inept and out of his league, someone who doesn't even bother disguising the back alley deals being done to enrich him, his family and his friends/PAC supporters. A pond-skater that skits into war with North Korea is not all that inconsequential; someone so vapid that the halls of government are empty because he can't understand the need, is far from harmless. Sure, it's funny when absolutely nothing gets done. Until we really NEED something to be done and done well. Then let's talk about your harmless little skater.
3
White non-urban Americans have proudly morphed into authoritarians—or more accurately, authoritarian followers. That is the problem. Their lust for dismantling democratic norms crystallized long before Trump arrrived. And even though Trump's creepiness might have diminished, you have no grounds for reassurance. Becauses the threat of authoritarianism looms larger than ever.
"The problem is that Trump has now changed and many of his critics refuse to recognize the change. He’s not gotten brighter or humbler, but he’s gotten smaller and more conventional. Many of his critics still react to him every single day at Outrage Level 11, but the Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4."
Mr. Brooks will never tire of apologizing for power, apparently.
Trump is currently playing nuclear brinksmanship with the unstable leader of a nuclear power, endangering the lives of 76 million Koreans on the Peninsula and the lives of hundreds of millions in neighboring countries while taking historical direction not from his own State Department but from the leader of China, Xi Jinping. Oh--and did I mention Trump just lost an aircraft carrier for five days?
--"...smaller and more conventional" ???
David Brooks, truly an apologist for all seasons.
Mr. Brooks will never tire of apologizing for power, apparently.
Trump is currently playing nuclear brinksmanship with the unstable leader of a nuclear power, endangering the lives of 76 million Koreans on the Peninsula and the lives of hundreds of millions in neighboring countries while taking historical direction not from his own State Department but from the leader of China, Xi Jinping. Oh--and did I mention Trump just lost an aircraft carrier for five days?
--"...smaller and more conventional" ???
David Brooks, truly an apologist for all seasons.
5
So, in other words, the Trump threat level has dropped from an 11 to a 4 because Trump has proven to be totally incompetent at getting anything done.
That makes me feel so much better !!!
That makes me feel so much better !!!
2
"The problem is that Trump has now changed and many of his critics refuse to recognize the change."
No, David; the problem is that you were a Trump critic when you thought that would be advantageous but now you're fully aboard the con-man's bandwagon, normalizing and excusing the most egregious behavior up to and including treason. You are truly a man without honor.
No, David; the problem is that you were a Trump critic when you thought that would be advantageous but now you're fully aboard the con-man's bandwagon, normalizing and excusing the most egregious behavior up to and including treason. You are truly a man without honor.
2
The only reason my 11 is down to 10 is the good work of resistors who are using their legal knowledge and democratic voices to limit the length of the beast's leash.
'Trump threat level has gone down from 11 to 3 or 4', only because the generals have taken over national security, dispatched Bannon, and given Trump a phony nuclear button to play with.
Brooks is divorced, so how does he have moral authority to talk about any subject? He doesn't have the persistence or moral self-restraint to have any credibility about anything - his only function is as an example of how society has degenerated.
So easy for you to say, you can afford to be laid back about this, but many are going to be hurt by this flailing "administration" and that will be outrageous until he is impeached, and even then, the nerve of these guys with that tax "reform" plan! Naked greed, naked racism, no more charades with this band of incompetents.
3
Mr. Brooks:
your day dreaming has become a day-and-night-mare...
you may require professional intervention in order to return to an actual reality.
DJT most recently praised Mr. Bill O'Reilly of all people,
one of his most admired buddies apparently;
and he is daily making war-thumping threats around the world.
this is somehow a "better" person?
or more of the same,
with the frightening addition of all of the powers of the Executive Branch at his ready disposal.
btw:
the corporate tax rates in the U.S. ranks 32nd out of 35 OECD member nations - - with an effective rate below 26%...
it would be most helpful if you would stop restating this fictitious malarky.
thank you,
and please note that wake-up time has now arrived.
2
Yes, I agree with all this comments. I think that his worshippers statement up to date is the one he made today concerning his realization that being President is more difficult than his "previous life". What was he thinking? Did he think that he was going to spend his days making those huge signatures on practically empty pieces of paper and showing those to us? Was he planning to eat huge, beautiful pieces of chocolate cake all day? No women to pinch?
Among other problems that we all know, he still has that Red Botton at his reach, doesn't he.
I hope that somebody competent is watching him at all times.
Among other problems that we all know, he still has that Red Botton at his reach, doesn't he.
I hope that somebody competent is watching him at all times.
2
Trump should have saved his slogan, “Make America Great Again” for the end of his presidency because that is exactly what we will have to do as his administration puts us on the edge of war in multiple places, ruins healthcare for many Americans, taxes the poor for the benefit of the rich, lets Wall Street run loose, angers our international friends, kisses the Kremlin, ruins our environment, refills the swamp with toxic friends, takes away some of our civil rights. Did I miss anything? Oh yes, and teaching our children you win by lying, cheating and being offensive to women. How do we pond skate over this?
2
Brooks beginning to normalize the machinations of Trump is dangerous. We haven't even scratched the surface of the Russian collusion story and that alone is sufficient to be at outrage level 11 until there are convictions and/or impeachment. Actually stunning that such a smart writer has now been conned by the Con Man in Chief!
2
No David. The only salvation to the democracy we still hold dear under Trump is to get out from under. This man must be impeached for his absolute use of his position to enrich himself and his family, practice the worst kind of nepotism, lie to every conceivable government body, not to mention the entire population, and, make us the laughing stock of the western and Eastern world.
1
Really, David Brooks? You feel better now that you believe the Administration's incompetence, which will likely prevent any progress being made, will also prevent Trump's team from taking the country careening off a cliff? Sorry, but I am still at Outrage Level 11 and am praying to get to a 3 or 4 before I have a stroke! I believe the presidency should be the highest manifestation of our ideals, not the basest. Trump called Sen. Warren "Pocahontas" again at an NRA speech today. I think we've hit bottom.
1
Donald Trump is a ticking time bomb. This very insecure bully is looking for a fight on his watch. The buffoon in Chief thinks he now has the authority to do whatsoever he pleases, despite the fact that he has been slapped down on several occasions already. The man is severely paranoid and he's bound and determined to prove what an Alpha Male he thinks himself to be. He's not alright now, and he'll not be alright in the future. He's damaged goods that doesn't have a clue what to do. He has no moral compass and is devoid of decency and empathy. A charlatan and a habitual liar. A ticking time bomb indeed.
3
Donald Trump is President of the United States. It does not matter whether he is a pond skater or anything else. The people of this country elected a man who is completely devoid of morals. I will never accept him as my President. He is a con artist, reality show host, failed real estate broker, who figured out how to license his name. That is all he is.
3
Pond skater?
Well you got the first word and the first letter of the second word right, but other than that...
Well you got the first word and the first letter of the second word right, but other than that...
1
Less pond-skater and more leptospirosis if you ask me.
2
I know Mr. Brooks you carry the Republican flag and yes I know you try to be less than fanatical about your support.
But still, admit it, you are under the skin a Republican and your mind cannot help but grope for something you can say nice about this Republican branded disaster in the making. That's a human psychological phenomena; I can understand that predilection.
And if you were not posing as a real journalist I'd even forgive you this affront to reason and vigilance this column is.
Now I have to beg the readers to not entertain obscene premise of this column. Nothing good that Trump and his ilk might incidentally do will compensate for the overwhelming damage they will do if we don't fight them at every turn. The denigration of our Nation has commenced last 100 days.
I implore the 58% of us that don't ascribe to very limited very authoritarian Federal government that favors:
the rich,
old time States' Rights (States already primed to favor regressive policies),
fundamentalist religious shadings on social policies,
a mythical notion of frontier rugged individualism that ignores the realities of life and collective responsibilities to the group,
and a White Anglo-Saxon christofascist notion of superiority
to never normalize what now sits in the WH and holds the gavels of Congress.
They are not normal - they want a regression most of us rationally and objectively find abhorrent.
Vite this mess out 2018 and 2020.
But still, admit it, you are under the skin a Republican and your mind cannot help but grope for something you can say nice about this Republican branded disaster in the making. That's a human psychological phenomena; I can understand that predilection.
And if you were not posing as a real journalist I'd even forgive you this affront to reason and vigilance this column is.
Now I have to beg the readers to not entertain obscene premise of this column. Nothing good that Trump and his ilk might incidentally do will compensate for the overwhelming damage they will do if we don't fight them at every turn. The denigration of our Nation has commenced last 100 days.
I implore the 58% of us that don't ascribe to very limited very authoritarian Federal government that favors:
the rich,
old time States' Rights (States already primed to favor regressive policies),
fundamentalist religious shadings on social policies,
a mythical notion of frontier rugged individualism that ignores the realities of life and collective responsibilities to the group,
and a White Anglo-Saxon christofascist notion of superiority
to never normalize what now sits in the WH and holds the gavels of Congress.
They are not normal - they want a regression most of us rationally and objectively find abhorrent.
Vite this mess out 2018 and 2020.
1
If you are saying Trump is too small for us to worry about him, I’d like you to remember he — and only he — has his thumb on the nuclear button. He — and he alone — may just be small-minded enough to push it.
No.
No.
No.
If you think, for one second, that a man who is bent on corrupting the government of the US into something more like a petro-authoritarian state like Russia is not an existential threat because he is also an incompetent grifting buffoon, you are deeply, horrifically wrong. I would invite you to read contemporary accounts of your favorite historical monster. The ones I am familiar with mostly started as incompetent protofascist buffoons.
Even leaving that aside, Trump's constant mendacity is doing real harm to the international order.
So: no. Desperately wrongheaded, sir, with all due respect.
No.
No.
If you think, for one second, that a man who is bent on corrupting the government of the US into something more like a petro-authoritarian state like Russia is not an existential threat because he is also an incompetent grifting buffoon, you are deeply, horrifically wrong. I would invite you to read contemporary accounts of your favorite historical monster. The ones I am familiar with mostly started as incompetent protofascist buffoons.
Even leaving that aside, Trump's constant mendacity is doing real harm to the international order.
So: no. Desperately wrongheaded, sir, with all due respect.
4
Trump has not changed at all. He always was and always will be a sociopathic, incipient totalitarian. What is true is that the United States is not the Weimar Republic. It is revolting that Brooks wants to give Trump credit for the inherent strength of our culture and democratic traditions. He wants us to let up on this monster. I can think of nothing more foolhardy.
4
Are you familiar with climate change and North Korea? They render your entire argument about his benign incompetence completely moot. I live on the West Coast. I never worried about nuclear war before Trump was president, or at least not since 1983. Now I do, a lot. Wake up, David. These threats are very, very real.
2
He just likes the idea of being president.
1
David, David, David. Yours is but a whitewash...educated, even professorial, but nevertheless a whitewash. Your Trump threat level should remain at 11 even after the jokes grow stale and the tweets disappear. It has never been, and it will never be, about Trump's smallness. It is about a corrupt right in America that sold its soul to claim the Whitehouse and wrestle democracy from the people. Its about a traitor and those weaklings who willingly turn a blind eye. Sadly, yourself included.
1
Easy to see which direction Mr Brooks is headed. It's just a question of time before he joins the pro-Trump claque at Fox.
2
David Brooks is suggesting that we were all wrong about Donald Trump, there is nothing to fear in having a vindictive and inexperienced incompetent in the Presidency. Liberals are pantywaists for getting so upset over his idiocy, he's really not that scary at all. Sure, he can launch nuclear weapons, but he hasn't done that yet and sure, his tax reform can wreck the economy and increase inequality, but that is a small price to pay for real leadership in the Oval Office. I think that Brooks is having a hard time being the NYTimes token conservative under the Trump administration. It's tough to find redeeming features in Trump, but easy to criticize liberals for being too quick to take fright.
3
DON'T normalize Trump! His actions merit Outrage Level 11+. Have we gotten to the point that any day he doesn't blow up the world is a good day?
David,
You really need to get another job. Your desperation to normalize the abnormal is exactly the gas lighting goals of this administration. You are wrong about the threat this so called president poses to the country. If times were normal, you could write this stuff and we would just go on to the next article. But things are every bit as dire and dangerous as many people perceive.
This vulgarian president is already responsible for the death of people who would still be alive under a Clinton/Sanders or even a Cruz presidency. And more death is coming, from lack of health care, environmental pollutants, military policies and new military entanglements. More death from drug addition, poverty, hopelessness and anger.
Sadly, David, you are now part of the problem.
You really need to get another job. Your desperation to normalize the abnormal is exactly the gas lighting goals of this administration. You are wrong about the threat this so called president poses to the country. If times were normal, you could write this stuff and we would just go on to the next article. But things are every bit as dire and dangerous as many people perceive.
This vulgarian president is already responsible for the death of people who would still be alive under a Clinton/Sanders or even a Cruz presidency. And more death is coming, from lack of health care, environmental pollutants, military policies and new military entanglements. More death from drug addition, poverty, hopelessness and anger.
Sadly, David, you are now part of the problem.
1
Nice try Davy but, no cigar!
Mr. Brooks, you are unfortunately dead wrong. Trump's incompetency is all that is saving us from dictatorship. He is trying to defund Planned Parenthood, and has filled the stolen Supreme Court seat with an ultra conservative justice who will no doubt vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. As a white male, perhaps you don't find this outrageous and alarming, but I, and many others, do. He is deporting law-abiding immigrants, breaking families apart, and turning border patrol and ICE into Gestapo-like organizations. His policies are costing US universities good students, and seriously impacting the tourism industry. His policies are wreaking havoc with agricultural industries, as they rely on immigrants for many of the backbreaking jobs that Americans won't do. Perhaps your outrage numbers will increase when food prices soar. He is proposing tax cuts that will help the 1%, hurt the 99%, and blow a hole in the national debt the size of his ego. If even a fraction of his proposals make it through Congress, the poor and middle class in the US will suffer. As a rich white male, perhaps you don't care about income inequality, but I, and many others, do. As the Russia investigation slowly builds, I am terrified that Trump will try to distract the public by starting a war - North Korea seems to be the likely target. My outrage level is pinned at 11 and will stay there until this extremely dangerous, small-fingered vulgarian is out of the White House.
2
The spit take that occurs so frequently when I read Brooks with my morning coffee cup in hand came here: "But as time has gone by, he has hired better people and has shifted power within the White House to those who are trying to at least build a normal decision-making process."
Seriously? Jared? Ivanka? Spicer? David, you're trying to normalize this freak show?
Seriously? Jared? Ivanka? Spicer? David, you're trying to normalize this freak show?
5
To Mr. Brooks I can only repurpose a cogent question asked in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL: "What else floats on water?"
3
Forget Trump, most of us are fighting the GOP and their overlords. As a secular woman, my Outrage Level remains at 11. He let Radical Christian Sharia Mike Pence put Tom Price in charge of the ACA and women's rights. Jeff Sessions is the AG of the Confederacy not the USA. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are doing their best to ignore their oath to uphold the Constitution and stonewall the Russian investigations. And, don't get me started on the Supreme Court which will, narrowly, trash the wall between church and state and otherwise twist the Constitution. Trump is annoying and incompetent; but, the GOP is our focus when we resist.
5
If any 2-minute quote from DT were attributed to President Obama or Secretary Clinton, and I mean ANY quote, every Republican would have spared no expense of my tax dollars working to have them removed from office.
Every effort of the Democrats make that doesn't literally solve world hunger or reduce unemployment to zero by itself is considered a failure by the right.
We now have R's in the majority in all branches of Government and the best even the right-wing pundits can do is comment that their incompetence is an asset, that they could be more corrupt, and that it could be worse.
What a freaking joke the Republican party is...this op-ed is inching me from 11 to 12.
Every effort of the Democrats make that doesn't literally solve world hunger or reduce unemployment to zero by itself is considered a failure by the right.
We now have R's in the majority in all branches of Government and the best even the right-wing pundits can do is comment that their incompetence is an asset, that they could be more corrupt, and that it could be worse.
What a freaking joke the Republican party is...this op-ed is inching me from 11 to 12.
2
I'm not finding it particularly difficult to maintain outrage. Are you all?
5
David, David, David, clearly you need an intervention. You feel no threat mainly because you are a privileged white male and are too old to man a defensive position somewhere on the Korean peninsula. If you were unfortunate to be in such a bind, particularly a unit commanded by one of the Donald's sons - Donnie Jr or Eric - or even his favorite son-in-law, Jared, your position would be much different. David, if you had to worry about that, you'd have rethought your tone today concerning the angst so many of us feel about Trump and his band of grifters and incompetents.
3
I have never been so afraid of a president destroying our Democracy and the world. He has no empathy, diplomacy, intelligence, experience, etc. etc. etc. etc. The list of what he is lacking as a president and human being is endless. Who knew?
Not only is he the worst president ever, he is the least intelligent.
Judge him by what he does not what he says. Con men can convince you that grass is yellow. Do not believe anything he says.
God help us!
Not only is he the worst president ever, he is the least intelligent.
Judge him by what he does not what he says. Con men can convince you that grass is yellow. Do not believe anything he says.
God help us!
1
Speaking for myself, the early concern was not that Trump "was a populist ethnic nationalist aiming to drag this country to a very ugly place...a crypto fascist, aiming to undermine every norm and institution of our democracy."
My fear was that he clearly has no aim at all, other than to satisfy his very dark and consuming inner cravings, and that he had demonstrated a willingness to embrace any ideology (including populism, nationalism, and crypto-fascism), by any method (including violence, lies, or trolling), at any cost (including norms, institutions, and democracy) to appease his demons.
Nothing about the first hundred days suggests to me that the man has changed. He simply has not yet had the opportunity to use Threat Level 11 solutions to feed his desires.
My fear was that he clearly has no aim at all, other than to satisfy his very dark and consuming inner cravings, and that he had demonstrated a willingness to embrace any ideology (including populism, nationalism, and crypto-fascism), by any method (including violence, lies, or trolling), at any cost (including norms, institutions, and democracy) to appease his demons.
Nothing about the first hundred days suggests to me that the man has changed. He simply has not yet had the opportunity to use Threat Level 11 solutions to feed his desires.
YAY! He's merely inept! Now I can sleep at night!
1
What is this little effect you affect to praise, on the preservation of this planet?
He's not a pond skimmer, he's a tick. He latches on to a series of victims, and sucks their life blood, infecting everyone he touches. He is uniquely designed to do this and only this.
15
It's not hard to maintain outrage if one understands how badly this person is rending America. Shame on you, Mr. Brooks, for such a facile column.
62
As if we weren't already ripped right down the middle by arrogant and angry Barack with his wars on the police, the military, the religious, the patriotic, the capitalist, and especially the veterans.
Trump is simply cleaning up after a dedicated enemy of our country got through making a mess for the ages.
Trump is simply cleaning up after a dedicated enemy of our country got through making a mess for the ages.
I appreciate Robert Reich's response to this very column:
"Rubbish. Trump is the same pathological narcissistic sociopath he was when he entered office 99 days ago. And equally dangerous. Normalizing him – saying he’s really not so out of the ordinary and won’t really do anything terrible – is delusional thinking that's itself dangerous.
"A major reason why Trump hasn't done worse is Congress and the federal courts haven't let him. And a major reason they haven't let him is because you and millions of other Americans are mounting such an unprecedented resistance. Do not let the David Brooks of the world convince you otherwise."
"Rubbish. Trump is the same pathological narcissistic sociopath he was when he entered office 99 days ago. And equally dangerous. Normalizing him – saying he’s really not so out of the ordinary and won’t really do anything terrible – is delusional thinking that's itself dangerous.
"A major reason why Trump hasn't done worse is Congress and the federal courts haven't let him. And a major reason they haven't let him is because you and millions of other Americans are mounting such an unprecedented resistance. Do not let the David Brooks of the world convince you otherwise."
116
It's not really about the good these monkeys are incapable of accomplishing, though, is it? Consider the fact that there is only one person who can initiate a launch of America's nuclear arsenal, a person who knows nothing and doesn't care to. What's to like?
27
Beware of normalizing, Mr. Brooks: Kleptocracy (from Ancient Greek κλέπτης (kléptēs, “thief”), κλέπτω (kléptō, “steal”), from Proto-Indo-European *klep- (“to steal”); and from the Ancient Greek suffix -κρατία (-kratía), from κράτος (krátos, “power, rule”; klépto- thieves + -kratos rule, literally "rule by thieves")[1][2] is a government with corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) that use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political power. Typically this system involves an obsession with television ratings over state concerns and embezzlement funds at the expense of the wider population.
46
"Smaller"? He and his demented narcissism and his grifting complicit family and their treasonous indebtedness to Russia (and China) and his administration stocked with evil-doers and incompetents who want to wreck the US from the inside out - all portrayed as leaving "no lasting mark" and including virulent racist vote-suppressing private prison-stocking Sessions? You're enabling this desecration and the ruination of our democracy. Shame on you.
54
Why is this piece not reassuring?
31
Another member of the media normalizing Trump.
44
Hillarie Belloc:
The WATERBEETLE here shall teach
A sermon far beyond your reach:
He flabbergasts the Human Race
By gliding on the water's face
With ease, celerity, and grace;
But if he ever stopped to think
Of how he did it, he would sink.
The WATERBEETLE here shall teach
A sermon far beyond your reach:
He flabbergasts the Human Race
By gliding on the water's face
With ease, celerity, and grace;
But if he ever stopped to think
Of how he did it, he would sink.
7
"It looks like any Republican administration that is staffed by people whose prejudices were formed in 1984 and who haven’t had a new thought since."
Why then are you still a Republican, David Brooks?
Why then are you still a Republican, David Brooks?
36
Touché
Dear Brooksie - When you say "as time has gone by, he has hired better people...", who would those be, exactly? Jared and Ivanka, his son-in-law and daughter? He has hundreds of unfilled positions that he has nominated no one for - because he trusts no one outside the family. So, who are these better people?
47
We are at 12, Dave. You've not fooled anyone, guy.
26
The president is certainly more adaptable than you are, Dave. This is the same line of gab you were trying to lay on us back before the election. Trump's your man, Dave, a regular cut-tax, immiserate-the-poor, tough-on-certain-kinds-of-crime GOP bright-eyed boy. He's the result of your whole life's work. Why are you denying him now?
25
Wow, Brooks and I sure see things differently.
13
Mr. Brooks, is Mr. Egan hyperventilating is his column today? How high on your scale is the corruption aspect of The current administration?
14
"pond skater" is not quite right—his GOP-coordinated theft of Garland's Fenced Seat will have and has already had terrifying effects for decades to come (see: the Arkansas Execution Spree).
Nor is "pond scum" on the mark—that would be a grave insult to all the hardworking algae that *give* oxygen, not waste it.
Nor is "pond scum" on the mark—that would be a grave insult to all the hardworking algae that *give* oxygen, not waste it.
27
Every day people like Brooks forget what Trump did yesterday, reset their expectations and look for something presidential from this moron. Trump didn't go from an 11 to a 3 or 4 on the outrage meter. People like Brooks are just getting numb. For a better sense of how to view Trump over the long haul, read Adam Gopnik's comment in the New Yorker of April 21st. Gopnik has Trump's number, and we should be glad people like him refute the silliness from people like David Brooks. Brooks is suggesting that after 70 years of lying, cheating, greed, hatred, authoritarianism, ignorance, misogyny and selfishness this old satyr is capable of self-correcting. That is totally contrary to human nature.
33
David Brooks' initial reaction to Sarah Palin, after her first electoral debate as John McCain's running mate, was that she was a champion; she got glowing reviews from Brooks. Eventually he changed his tune.
But the event revealed that Brooks, despite his intelligence, has a serious double standard. Put an R after someone's name, thumbs up, a D...
The spin is a constraining trait, and one which this column seems to spring from.
But the event revealed that Brooks, despite his intelligence, has a serious double standard. Put an R after someone's name, thumbs up, a D...
The spin is a constraining trait, and one which this column seems to spring from.
4
Absolutely. If I had an Uncle Stan who was 70 years-old, and for all of his life, he had been demonstrably sexist, racist, ignorant, selfish, greedy, lying, corrupt, cheating, wife-beating, mocking and most miserably clueless man to walk the earth, would I expect him to suddenly see the light just because he had managed, by some accident of Fate, to attain some real power and authority? No, I would not. He would still be the same old sexist, racist, ignorant, selfish, greedy, lying, corrupt, cheating, wife-beating, mocking and miserably clueless Uncle Stan, only worse.
2
Wow.
Mr. brooks, while you and your rightist ilk might be content with having another clueless, born to privilege, draft dodging child in The Oval Office, we Americans are not and we will keep our outrage level cranked to 11 until the pretender either slithers back to his gaudy florida hermitage or is jailed for russian collusion.
Maybe you rightists define Patriotism differently than do we Americans.
Mr. brooks, while you and your rightist ilk might be content with having another clueless, born to privilege, draft dodging child in The Oval Office, we Americans are not and we will keep our outrage level cranked to 11 until the pretender either slithers back to his gaudy florida hermitage or is jailed for russian collusion.
Maybe you rightists define Patriotism differently than do we Americans.
33
Brooks---why have you ignored 45's North Korea threat of "it looks like we will be in a war"? I'm thankful each day i wake up alive cause it means no war here but then worry about looking at the news for fear Seoul has been nuked and millions are dead. Yeah some of what you say is true but no to thinking trump is marginally ok. Our future depends on constant vigilance to stop his terrible ideas.
21
David Brooks has chosen to minimize the real damage being done by the fact that we have a narcissistic sociopath in the office of the Presidency. The Trump family appears to be looting our treasury and using the office of the Presidency for their own selfish business agenda. The neocons (oh, I forgot----Brooks loves the neocons) are again directing foreign policy on behalf of the military contractors, beltway bandits, and warmongers. Neocon warmongering seems to make Brooks happy, for reasons that have never been understood by thoughtful voters. Tax Reform and Health Care Reform are nothing more than sorry jokes for Trump staff. Again, this seems OK by Brooks-----one of the 1% who apparently never worries about taxes or paying for health care. The looting of our treasury and damage to our international credibility has barely begun, but Brooks wants to paint an optimistic picture of an innocent bug on a lake.
(Alfred E. Newman) Brooks might have more appropriately called this column: "What, me worry?"
(Alfred E. Newman) Brooks might have more appropriately called this column: "What, me worry?"
29
"Sure, he’ll send out a pro-Le Pen tweet..." and that is okay with you David? Even moderate conservatives will turn themselves into pretzels for this guy.
23
"Don’t get me wrong. I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge, and who was interested in delivering real good to real Americans."
Oh no you don't. You had your chance but you went Hillary bashing with all of your other shameless buddies instead. You could have pointed out the obvious, that Trump was a lying, cheating, uninformed, fraud. He is a security risk for the whole planet.
Oh no you don't. You had your chance but you went Hillary bashing with all of your other shameless buddies instead. You could have pointed out the obvious, that Trump was a lying, cheating, uninformed, fraud. He is a security risk for the whole planet.
31
Come on Brooks - dismantling EPA, Paris Accords & offshore drilling protections is "of no consequence"? Appointing another religious conservative to SCOTUS is "skimming"?
Perhaps your fuzzy thing is what is wrong here.
Perhaps your fuzzy thing is what is wrong here.
24
Boy, are you ever making too many assumptions about the next 45 months based on the first 3.
12
Mr. Brooks,
Trump called the President of Turkey within a few hours (instead of waiting a few weeks) to congratulate him of his increased authoritarianism!
He welcomes another dictator Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, praising the hard-line leader for doing a “fantastic job” the White House. Trump told al-Sisi how they were so much alike! Imprisoning tens of thousands and using torture al-Sisi is the antithesis of a human rights activist!
Then Trump disses our second and third largest trade partners--Mexico and Canada!
Trump is making enemies everywhere--just not the majority of us here in the USA....but to dismiss the ONLY two countries on our borders in nuts!
And the corporate tax? You say the rates are “indeed too high?” NO large company pays 35% tax! In fact many pay none! Perhaps you could get in touch with Warren Buffett as he could give you the exact figures!
Trump called the President of Turkey within a few hours (instead of waiting a few weeks) to congratulate him of his increased authoritarianism!
He welcomes another dictator Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, praising the hard-line leader for doing a “fantastic job” the White House. Trump told al-Sisi how they were so much alike! Imprisoning tens of thousands and using torture al-Sisi is the antithesis of a human rights activist!
Then Trump disses our second and third largest trade partners--Mexico and Canada!
Trump is making enemies everywhere--just not the majority of us here in the USA....but to dismiss the ONLY two countries on our borders in nuts!
And the corporate tax? You say the rates are “indeed too high?” NO large company pays 35% tax! In fact many pay none! Perhaps you could get in touch with Warren Buffett as he could give you the exact figures!
19
And, along with Mexico and Canada, Angela Merkle was nearly persona non grata in the Trump White House. This is Bizarro World, not the United States.
1
"Don’t get me wrong."
Oh please - if one has to clarify what one has just gone on - and on - about,
perhaps one should start over.
Oh please - if one has to clarify what one has just gone on - and on - about,
perhaps one should start over.
15
I fear that this essay is Mr. Brooks' first real "pivot" from his previous aghast reaction to Trump's election. He has always been a Republican—an intelligent, though Conservative Republican— but still a Republican. Since his party's president hasn't started a nuclear war or optioned the Blue States to Russia yet, David Brooks can breathe a sigh of relief and claim that our nit-Tweet-chief has become quieter and humbler. Just like Terry Southern's Dr. Strangelove, David has taken his first (no doubt grateful) steps to "learning stop worrying and love the Trump." Oy!
15
Let's stop calling Brooks and his ilk conservatives, they are republicans pure and simple. They think, act, and vote as republicans while attempting to camouflage themselves in a cloak of moderation and avoid the condemnation they deserve to share with all the other so called "conservatives with whom you march in lock step. David Brooks, the emperor has no clothes and you can't manufacturer a suit for yourself or the great pretender.
Trump the political pond skater and Family violate many conflict of interest rules that normal run-of-the-mill federal employees get audited on ad nauseum. Besides the fact that Robert Redford's coming out of retirement to direct "All the Predidents' Aperetcheks," what do we all have to worry about?
4
I was indeed one of the outraged masses on the eve of Trump's inauguration. Fascism at the doorsteps, etc.
Without wholly dismissing such concerns (the current conduct of ICE and Customs officials is indeed out of authoritarian handbooks - but the press of course doesn't cover it, because it mainly impacts those at the bottom of the economic rung), I've been struck by the astounding ineptitude of this administration.
From substantial cock-ups like the mishandling of the travel ban and Trump care to more trivial matters like constant typos and misspellings misidentifying of world leaders, etc, the mediocrity and incompetence has been mind-boggling. The GOP Congress is in the same boat. They control both houses, but aren't able to pass substantial legislation, or indeed a budget. This is third-rate stuff, folks.
I do think this is incredibly damaging, though. We're already a pretty dumbed-down country. And now we've got full-on mediocrities running things. Seriously, can anyone think of a previous White House in which someone as dimwitted and bad at his job as Sean Spicer would be president's spokesperson? This isn't theoretical - we are smack in the middle of a precipitous national decline. I do wish our leaders would address this - it goes beyond ideology, it's about our competence as a country.
Without wholly dismissing such concerns (the current conduct of ICE and Customs officials is indeed out of authoritarian handbooks - but the press of course doesn't cover it, because it mainly impacts those at the bottom of the economic rung), I've been struck by the astounding ineptitude of this administration.
From substantial cock-ups like the mishandling of the travel ban and Trump care to more trivial matters like constant typos and misspellings misidentifying of world leaders, etc, the mediocrity and incompetence has been mind-boggling. The GOP Congress is in the same boat. They control both houses, but aren't able to pass substantial legislation, or indeed a budget. This is third-rate stuff, folks.
I do think this is incredibly damaging, though. We're already a pretty dumbed-down country. And now we've got full-on mediocrities running things. Seriously, can anyone think of a previous White House in which someone as dimwitted and bad at his job as Sean Spicer would be president's spokesperson? This isn't theoretical - we are smack in the middle of a precipitous national decline. I do wish our leaders would address this - it goes beyond ideology, it's about our competence as a country.
10
David, you're looking at this from 'inside the beltway' a perspective you bemoaned last year. Instead, consider the real damage and danger this man has unleashed beyond Washington - hate. Hate for all things not white, not straight: African Americans, Muslims, Latinos (still rapists?), Jews, LGBT persons, and anyone else who's 'The Other.' If his shifting DC power is waning, his ability to stir up hate is not, is it? Aren't men, women and children told to "go back to your own country" in public every day, if they're wearing a hijab or other 'non-white' clothing or speaking another language? Aren't walls being sprayed with hate paint? Aren't LGBT kids being bullied? Aren't synagogues being abused? Aren't assaults against black men and against women continuing? And aren't his 'campaign rallies' - reminiscent of Nuremberg - just as raucous in his attacks against the institutions that maintain our democracy: the courts, the press and legislative-executive-judicial separation of powers?
7
This is the problem. You're attempting to normalize him. He is anything but normal. NO normal!
11
There's a kernel of truth to this piece, but the math is seriously wrong. From 11 down to 4? By my count, we're still in the high 9's.
4
Pound skater or cockroach from a New York City sewer? WE all know he is a liar and a cheat. If Trump wasn't our president and leader of the free world I would not care that he is constitutionally incapable of telling the truth - but, he is and our markets, the value of our currency and our homes hangs in the balance. That's what keeps me up at nights . . . can we afford his kind of drama, trauma and wreckage? I'm holding me nose while writing this. Trump is not skating on water, sir . . .
9
Well, here comes the NORMALIZATION!
Whatever that improvement you may see, if the president is inadequate, then he deserves outrage 11.
Whatever that improvement you may see, if the president is inadequate, then he deserves outrage 11.
5
You're right, Mr. t is just another [harmless?] Republican.
1
"pastillage" Well, if nothing else, Dave gets an 'A' for allusion. The rest of it? Who knows. He may be right. Or not.
Apparently, our great nation is reduced to being glad that our president is merely venal and incompetent.
8
I wish I shared your optimism David. DT scares the bejesus out of me.
4
David, See Paul Krugman - Living in the Trump Zone.
6
"Don’t get me wrong. I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge, and who was interested in delivering real good to real Americans." ...You and America did....REMEMBER OBAMA!!! But Obama wasn't the right (FILL IN THE BLANK) for the GOP. And now we have a country led by someone, many of us would not have in our own homes. Thank you GOP, If the was any doubt in someones mind that the GOP votes party over America; we now have the answer.
12
Would it not be more accurate to label Don the Con a swamp skater? And a swamp of his own making, to boot.
3
Thanks for a good overall insight on today's Trump. But I think the Outrage Level should be higher than 3 or 4. I'd put it at 8 based on Trump's ability to snap at any moment, issuing some directive that the Minions can't deflect, re-word or simply ignore. The Resistance (that's us) can't slip quietly back into the complacency of sleep, we need to remain alert at a level short of exhaustion and burnout.
4
To me, this sounds like an endorsment of the normalization of Trump, which I believe is as dangerous today as it was in November. Trump is mercurial and subject to dramatic change at any moment. It will become even more dangerous as his minions dig in and really start controlling government agencies. Let's not fall for the happy ending storyline, at least not yet.
13
Roll backs of environmental protections and their repercussions are at threat level 11. Our planet is fast approaching a point where it may not be able to recover. Mr. Brooks, I am disappointed that you have given the threat of global warming, along with the importance of protecting drinking water and the very air we breathe, such short shrift.
10
Please, people who love our country, don't stand by silent while Trump continues his idea of a reality-show presidency. Do not, as Mr. Brooks implies, accept what he does and says as even somewhat normal and of no effect.
We have to show the peoples of the world and ourselves that Americans WILL NOT PUT UP WITH what Trump has clearly demonstrated he is.
That became even clearer to me when a friend reported from a trip overseas she was shunned out of suspicion she may have voted for Trump. The majority of us who did NOT vote for Trump must show the world we still stand for sanity, our American values, and equality and fairness for all.
We have to show the peoples of the world and ourselves that Americans WILL NOT PUT UP WITH what Trump has clearly demonstrated he is.
That became even clearer to me when a friend reported from a trip overseas she was shunned out of suspicion she may have voted for Trump. The majority of us who did NOT vote for Trump must show the world we still stand for sanity, our American values, and equality and fairness for all.
13
This is pretty square on. Many of Trump's critics are so amped up they don't realize that an even more dangerous Trump is evolving- one that will continue to play to the racist and nativist beliefs of his followers but won't make any huge mistakes that frighten those who might quietly sympathize with those prejudices. Thus far he isn't in danger of losing any of the support that won the election but may be on track to gaining support based on his nationalistic message and his feckless incompetence at getting anything done which he can, with a straight face, blame on Democrats and sectarian elements of the republican party.
On the other side some seem to believe that a revival of the Bernie campaign, perhaps in the guise of Elizabeth Warren, is a good idea. If that McGovernesque candidate were to be married to the idea of "sanctuary cites" as a centerpiece of Democratic policy (along with some of Bernie's nuttier proposals such as free higher education paid for by taxpayers) then the makings for a landslide Democratic defeat in 2020 are in place.
The true danger of Trump is his empowerment of the darkest aspects of American society. The Democrats need to fight that not by diametric extremism but by rational economic policies directed toward getting everyone to pull in the same direction. If people believe that it isn't a zero sum game and everyone can benefit then the Democrats may get the country to move away from Trumps' siren song of national destruction.
On the other side some seem to believe that a revival of the Bernie campaign, perhaps in the guise of Elizabeth Warren, is a good idea. If that McGovernesque candidate were to be married to the idea of "sanctuary cites" as a centerpiece of Democratic policy (along with some of Bernie's nuttier proposals such as free higher education paid for by taxpayers) then the makings for a landslide Democratic defeat in 2020 are in place.
The true danger of Trump is his empowerment of the darkest aspects of American society. The Democrats need to fight that not by diametric extremism but by rational economic policies directed toward getting everyone to pull in the same direction. If people believe that it isn't a zero sum game and everyone can benefit then the Democrats may get the country to move away from Trumps' siren song of national destruction.
5
This writer seems to have forgotten that the Bernie campaign was able to raise an astounding amount of money mostly from small contributions from millions of people who were looking for the kind of changes that he was advocating. He was able to get the support of millions of voters who felt let down when the establishment wing of the the Democratic Party made sure that Hillary was the nominee. A lot of these people turned to Trump because they felt they were disenfranchised and together with the religious right, the racists and the anti immigration activists put him into the White House.
2
Problem is that Trump, even though shallow, ignorant, and short-sighted, still intends to undo some of the progress made in the last few years and thus can do great harm to the country and the world. Think climate change and nuclear proliferation.
One can argue that well meaning fools can do great harm if given power but it's also true that malevolent fools can do even more harm and that's what the U.S. now has as President.
One can argue that well meaning fools can do great harm if given power but it's also true that malevolent fools can do even more harm and that's what the U.S. now has as President.
False equivalence in the appearance of 'neutrality' is what got Trump into office in the first place. Any sane person can identify that Trump has authoritarian impulses. And the republicans are right there with him. We will never be able to get rid of the corruption and illiberalism if it takes root. We cannot afford to let Trump and the Republicans think that they have a mandate because the population is too complacent to fight back.
The Republican party wants to dismantle democracy. You don't need to look any farther than the stolen supreme court seat and other seats that republicans refused to fill during President Obama's term, blatant gerrymandering, and the aggressive attack on voting rights to see that they tend to hack away at democracy enough to entrench themselves permanently.
The Republican party wants to dismantle democracy. You don't need to look any farther than the stolen supreme court seat and other seats that republicans refused to fill during President Obama's term, blatant gerrymandering, and the aggressive attack on voting rights to see that they tend to hack away at democracy enough to entrench themselves permanently.
I'm sorry, Mr. Brooks, but your rationalizations aren't going to influence my opinion that failing Donald Trump is doing anything but failing our country, failing those who voted for him, failing everyone who put their trust in him, failing our global allies and trade partners, failing the environment, failing the future; failing virtually everyone and everything on this planet except for himself, his family, and his corporate holdings. There is no logic behind this man being seated in the Oval Office; my outrage will not diminish one iota for as long as he holds this position, and probably for long afterward as well.
8
Dysfunctional people work hard to achieve the opposite of whatever they set out to do, Mr. Brooks. FBI Director Comey has a grown-up demeanor, and he politicized the campaign investigations he set out to shield. Paul Ryan and other adult and intelligent members of the GOP set out to get rid of Obamacare and made it more popular. Trump sometimes talks like a 10-year-old, but he is just as dysfunctional when he sounds older. Whether he tries to do big outrageous things or small reasonable things doesn't matter. Dysfunction is president today. It's true that outrage won't fix it. But denial is just more dysfunction. Remember, like any addiction, it is progressive. Denial just gives it time to get worse.
1
For me the most shocking part of this American episode is that it might not end. So many people agree with Trump and praise his thoughtless actions. He insights great anxiety in caring Americans - those who care about their country and their families. The amount of anxiety among the vulnerable has increased to the breaking point. Trumps thoughtless actions are not acceptable and he should be impeached immediately even though the majority of the senate are Republicans.
I am so shocked at how many Americans back him. Perhaps they simply do not understand what he can do and it appears he will do. It means the end of civilization. The end! But already he has changed our lives profoundly. How can people not be aware? How can Congress be so blind -both sides. One by one we will drop off until only the completely stupid and selfish rich are left. And then they will be gone too because he is setting it up that way. Poisoned air and food until so many are gone the rest can not survive. Doesn't Trump realize he too as well as his family will be gone too?
I am so shocked at how many Americans back him. Perhaps they simply do not understand what he can do and it appears he will do. It means the end of civilization. The end! But already he has changed our lives profoundly. How can people not be aware? How can Congress be so blind -both sides. One by one we will drop off until only the completely stupid and selfish rich are left. And then they will be gone too because he is setting it up that way. Poisoned air and food until so many are gone the rest can not survive. Doesn't Trump realize he too as well as his family will be gone too?
3
I have relatives and in-laws who voted for Trump and I keep track of them on Facebook. They're white, married, employed, working-class, conservative, church-going, high school graduates and generally-speaking, they're nice folks. But they have not strayed from their pre-Trump stance of posting recipes and knitting tips, so either they are playing their politics very close to the vest, or they simply don't care.
Once again, Mr. Brooks realizes that Trump's actions won't really affect him too deeply, sighs and orders another martini. All those other folks who will lose their healthcare or disability benefits mean nothing to him. In his world they just lack the right lobbyists.
Mr. Brooks I would agree with you if were not at such a critical juncture for our country and planet.
When even the slightest turns can have dire consequences for the type of country we will be, and the habitable planet we leave to our children.
Firstly, turning to the fantasy of a past which never really existed as a vision for a future which will demand different skills from workers is shortsighted and a disservice to those struggling with the changes of a global economy, needing different skills, more education, and the understanding to work in an interconnected world. Promising 20th century manufacturing and 19th century mining jobs will benefit no one.
Secondly, he has made common cause with racists and bigots of many stripes,and is a misogynist all his own. From his selection of Sessions and Gorsuch, and his lily white almost all male cabinet. He proves in every photo op a world view woefully out of date. And one of the more glaring deficiencies of their mindset is how they fundamentally don't understand America's moral leadership role in the global community. We are not perfect, but we aspire to be better.
Thirdly, and much more frightening is burying they're heads in the quickly eroding sand. As President Obama realized, if the planet we live on becomes progressively less hospitable to our form of life, we have no where to go. We are now living in that rapidly closing window of a chance to do something about it.
When even the slightest turns can have dire consequences for the type of country we will be, and the habitable planet we leave to our children.
Firstly, turning to the fantasy of a past which never really existed as a vision for a future which will demand different skills from workers is shortsighted and a disservice to those struggling with the changes of a global economy, needing different skills, more education, and the understanding to work in an interconnected world. Promising 20th century manufacturing and 19th century mining jobs will benefit no one.
Secondly, he has made common cause with racists and bigots of many stripes,and is a misogynist all his own. From his selection of Sessions and Gorsuch, and his lily white almost all male cabinet. He proves in every photo op a world view woefully out of date. And one of the more glaring deficiencies of their mindset is how they fundamentally don't understand America's moral leadership role in the global community. We are not perfect, but we aspire to be better.
Thirdly, and much more frightening is burying they're heads in the quickly eroding sand. As President Obama realized, if the planet we live on becomes progressively less hospitable to our form of life, we have no where to go. We are now living in that rapidly closing window of a chance to do something about it.
8
I think much of what you have written here is correct, so far as the last few weeks have gone. The trouble is, even household abusers can try to change and promise never to do it again, until, they do. So I will withhold my judgment on the prospects of the president becoming a normal Republican for a while. In the meantime, I think Mr. Trump has given a powerful, unintended, lesson to all those who worship at the feet of the so-called makers, the job creators, and the rich industrialists. He has shown that you can be rich and successful and be a complete dope. Perhaps the next time someone like him runs, and there will be a next time, we won't hear people saying, "He's a great businessman so he can fix the mess in Washington." That could be a very good thing.
2
I agree with your diagnosis of what he is, but I fear our best are loosing their sense of outrage. If what he is or what says and what he does becomes our norm, not even impeachment will rid us of him. He will be with us for the duration.
2
Just because the past week has been less outrageous does not make the man innocuous. Disaster looms just around the corner. And why are the republicans so resistant to investigating the Russian connection? If there was nothing to find, I have to think they would be anxious to release the proof. This is bad, and it can only get worse.
4
The previous three presidents have ignored e North. Korea problem so that now the NK problem is harder.
Their nuclear program has advanced and their protector China is much stronger.
What should we do?
A) Give Trump some room to choose the optimal action.
B) scream at him so his options are very limited.
The preference here seems to be B).
I am afraid I do not fear Trump as much as I fear the people screaming at him.
Their nuclear program has advanced and their protector China is much stronger.
What should we do?
A) Give Trump some room to choose the optimal action.
B) scream at him so his options are very limited.
The preference here seems to be B).
I am afraid I do not fear Trump as much as I fear the people screaming at him.
1
I strongly disagree with Mr. Brooks on the threat level assessment. Trump has been ratcheting up the rhetoric with narcissistic despot in Asia who has nuclear weapons. The threat level couldn't be higher.
6
For a priveleged person like Brooks, or myself, Trumps foolishness doesn't seem too bad. However, for someone at risk of a family member's deportation, or being swept up in Sessions' war on drugs for a minor offense Trump is still terrible. For those of us who enjoy public lands the administration is also a risk-you can't undevelop wild lands. These are just a few examples.
3
Sorry, Mr. Brooks. Trump isn't a lightweight pond skimmer having little effect. He's more like a pipe that is spewing toxic pollution into the pond. He personally is cheapening the very idea of the Presidency and attacking the notion of objective truth and rule of law. His handlers are dismantling the ability of the Federal government to be a force for good in this country and around the world.
His toxic effects will be spreading further and further as long as his administration is in office, and will be poisoning the pond long after he's gone.
His toxic effects will be spreading further and further as long as his administration is in office, and will be poisoning the pond long after he's gone.
10
These are good observations but I am afraid they are too subtle to get across to the average Trump devotee. We need something in between Mr. Brooks's intellectualism and shouting, I fear that the ultimate remedy will have to be some sort of disaster that we would all like to see avoided.
1
Mr. Brooks, I never thought you would be one of those who would be vulnerable to Trump's propaganda machine. But this column indicates you have succumbed. As long as Trump, an immature adult who can't or is unwilling to think through the implications of his decisions, is in a position to influence and destroy our society, reputation, and, indeed, our planet I will be frightened. Given his first three months in office I would say my fear is unquestionably justified. Your reduced fear is not.
9
Mr. Trump is like an old vaudeville skit: outlandish boasts, a strange hairdo, some slapstick insults, and off to the wings. The boasts and insults may change but the act is routine. When performed too frequently it begins to make the vaudeville figure a recognizable clown, which seems to be what Mr. M is becoming as he jumps back and forth from one stance to another. Instead of making us great, Mr. M is rapidly making us ridiculous. Where are the impeachment demonstration flags?
3
It's quite disappointing that David's become an incredible hypocrite.
His hit to miss ratio has gone from acceptable to not. This clinging to Conservatism and Republicanism while both prove themselves failures day in and day out is stomach turning.
His underestimation of the harm being done by Trump is astounding. This was the column that made me lose respect for Mr. Brooks and I've disagreed with him vehemently at times in the past, but I'd never lost respect for him. Now? It's gone.
He'll let the authoritarians and Republican grifters run wild across the power structures of this country while chiding those of us who find that unacceptable instead of recognizing the cancer that is in danger of metastasizing.
His hit to miss ratio has gone from acceptable to not. This clinging to Conservatism and Republicanism while both prove themselves failures day in and day out is stomach turning.
His underestimation of the harm being done by Trump is astounding. This was the column that made me lose respect for Mr. Brooks and I've disagreed with him vehemently at times in the past, but I'd never lost respect for him. Now? It's gone.
He'll let the authoritarians and Republican grifters run wild across the power structures of this country while chiding those of us who find that unacceptable instead of recognizing the cancer that is in danger of metastasizing.
7
The resistance is what has made governing hard for Trump. He thought he could wave the magic wand and make things happen. He still can, with his executive orders that 'only a lazy President who cannot be bothered to lead the Congress and is always in a hurry to go play golf' (paraphrasing Trump's criticism of Obama) and inflict enough damage but he has neither the patience nor the ambition to learn new things, unless fed thru his favorite Fox anchors.
All said, I enjoyed this column even though it is overly optimistic.
All said, I enjoyed this column even though it is overly optimistic.
You seem to be saying, "Relax, because Trump is turning out to be not as bad a catastrophe as we thought he would be."
But you are still dealing with symptoms. Trump, at the moment, may not be at his most horrible, because he seems to be listening, for the moment, to people other than Steve Bannon. But he is still the guy with no principles other than love of self; no morals; no inner core; and no competence. So he could veer back from not-so-horrible to apocalyptic, at any moment. President Weathervane. Not reassuring, at all.
But you are still dealing with symptoms. Trump, at the moment, may not be at his most horrible, because he seems to be listening, for the moment, to people other than Steve Bannon. But he is still the guy with no principles other than love of self; no morals; no inner core; and no competence. So he could veer back from not-so-horrible to apocalyptic, at any moment. President Weathervane. Not reassuring, at all.
Corruption and incompetence are like the incoming tide: they leave flotsam and jetsam piled up on the shore at the high water mark. If nothing else, Mr. Trump and his administration are pushing the high water mark of foolishness, dishonesty, cruelty, hypocrisy, and graft further than ever before. That is a very bad effect to have on our country, Mr. Brooks. A deadly effect; and even a pond skater is capable of it.
If you really think Trump will have little effect you should think again. An obvious example of the damage he'll do: the destruction of the EPA will almost certainly end up killing some of our more vulnerable citizens as pollution standards are relaxed or removed altogether.
6
No effect, eh? Tell that to the undocumented folks who are living in fear, not going out of the house, not going to school, not going to the doctor, unable to live the productive lives they were leading until now--and for how long??
Tell that to the people living near the sources and potential sources of pollution that will be unleashed on the country.
Tell that to the retirees who will no longer be assured that their investment advisors will have to follow fiduciary rules and serve their interests instead of the advisors' interests.
Tell that to the rural residents whose right to obtain low cost nternet service will be eliminated.
What a blinkered view, David.
Tell that to the people living near the sources and potential sources of pollution that will be unleashed on the country.
Tell that to the retirees who will no longer be assured that their investment advisors will have to follow fiduciary rules and serve their interests instead of the advisors' interests.
Tell that to the rural residents whose right to obtain low cost nternet service will be eliminated.
What a blinkered view, David.
6
Don't take your eyes off the "pond skater". As he glides around the ice, he can still carve out a lot of destruction. He can slip. He can fall. He can bedazzle you with his moves, maybe even a triple axle or two. But God forbid his skate blade graze the nuclear button as he admires himself in the frozen pond's reflection.
2
One of Trump's policy decisions which is having great tragic effect is his order to ramp up deportation of undocumented immigrants, who have committed no crime and pose no danger whatsoever to our country.
Many of these children may never, ever be able to see their deported parents again. Tearing apart children from their parents for no good reason is incredibly cruel. In addition to the emotional turmoil, what happens when these children are suddenly rendered homeless, with no financial support, and all hopes for for higher education and a productive future shattered?
When obsessive worship of law and order is totally divorced from values of the human heart, the result is a waste land.
Also, at least 60% of agricultural workers in California are undocumented immigrants. Gringos don't want to want these physically exhausting jobs with low pay.
Vineyard owners in the Sonoma/Napa area are having an unusually difficult time finding workers to prune their grape vines, and this shortage may become acute during grape harvest season. Owners of vegetable farms and poultry processing plants may also struggle with worker shortages, due to the pervasive fear in Hispanic communities around the country of sudden deportation, often without due process.
Many of these children may never, ever be able to see their deported parents again. Tearing apart children from their parents for no good reason is incredibly cruel. In addition to the emotional turmoil, what happens when these children are suddenly rendered homeless, with no financial support, and all hopes for for higher education and a productive future shattered?
When obsessive worship of law and order is totally divorced from values of the human heart, the result is a waste land.
Also, at least 60% of agricultural workers in California are undocumented immigrants. Gringos don't want to want these physically exhausting jobs with low pay.
Vineyard owners in the Sonoma/Napa area are having an unusually difficult time finding workers to prune their grape vines, and this shortage may become acute during grape harvest season. Owners of vegetable farms and poultry processing plants may also struggle with worker shortages, due to the pervasive fear in Hispanic communities around the country of sudden deportation, often without due process.
1
David Brooks, you're giving far too much credit to Trump for the perceived changes. Like Obama mentioned regarding the difference between campaigning and governing, "this office has a way of waking you up to governing". I see little evidence he has grasped that concept. Still nonsense tweets, "open foot, insert foot", zero actual details on anything that matters, still ignoring conflicts of interest, his taxes will be left up to wiki-leaks to disclose (because the GOP Congress is spineless when it comes to investigating real crime on their side of the isle, Trump continues to ignore tough questions on all important issues - the mire mention of Michael Flynn, and he's lost in space / looking angry (as though the American people will be intimidated like his minions are on a daily bases). He can't outrun his dereliction of duty (although it was rich to see Spicer try to pin the vetting of Flynn on Obama - hint to Spicer - Obama fired Flynn for abuse of power). What happens when a president appoints a disgraced general / trader to become national security advisor, with unlimited access to our most vulnerable security information without vetting him, when he has illegally accepted money from Russia and Turkey to advance their agenda? Based on the accountability seen to date: Nothing!
2
So what does the president say?
He says “[t]here is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea.”
Loose cannon? Negative energy leadership style? How not to govern?
Reminder: He made this remark two days after senior members of his administration, attempted to tone down tensions with North Korea, saying the U.S. has remained open to talks.
Pond skating? The ice is melting...
He says “[t]here is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea.”
Loose cannon? Negative energy leadership style? How not to govern?
Reminder: He made this remark two days after senior members of his administration, attempted to tone down tensions with North Korea, saying the U.S. has remained open to talks.
Pond skating? The ice is melting...
Mr. Brooks,
My humble observation is that your closing word choice of a"little creatures ... fascinating to watch, but [having] little effect as they go", while published in a major newspaper with worldwide readership was intended for a certain pair of little ears.
Accurately and appropriately stated; and better, well targeted.
My humble observation is that your closing word choice of a"little creatures ... fascinating to watch, but [having] little effect as they go", while published in a major newspaper with worldwide readership was intended for a certain pair of little ears.
Accurately and appropriately stated; and better, well targeted.
Whether we are at DEFCON 2 or DEFCON 3, the sad fact is that a significant minority of Americans think this guy is as great as he says he is. They're at the stage where they create rationalizations for whatever he does, but as with the Vietnam war, until everybody realizes it was a mistake, nothing will get better.
2
"Trump has mostly switched from being a subversive populist to being a conventional corporatist."
No. Trump was never a subversive populist. He only played one on TV.
No. Trump was never a subversive populist. He only played one on TV.
3
Three stages of deflection from the average four year old or the average Republican:
1. It's not broken.
2. We didn't break it.
3. The guy that broke it is not a real Republican.
Actually, the average four year old is more honest than that.
1. It's not broken.
2. We didn't break it.
3. The guy that broke it is not a real Republican.
Actually, the average four year old is more honest than that.
4
This is an inadequate analysis. Granted that Trump has shrunk in many ways, the people surrounding him are still the same rich and powerful guys with hateful agenda that Trump spews, and they (the agenda and the Cabinet members et al) are the real danger. It is they and the Republican Congress that need the most probing and relentless scrutiny. Trump's job is to create messes, - and he's very good at it - which piled up, simply conceal one upon another how huge the mountain is of scandals, bad executive orders, and mean and demeaning statements. Trump is no less the crook or con man, and surrounded by a new brand of weirdly legitimate thug. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-scanda...
1
"Many of us Trump critics set our outrage level at 11."
But only after "we" voted for him, am I right?
But only after "we" voted for him, am I right?
Corporate tax rates are too high.
This seems to be the only thing Brooks likes about Trump,, but it's enough.
Enough of Brooks, he's glad to dismiss fascism if it includes a tax cut for corporations.
This seems to be the only thing Brooks likes about Trump,, but it's enough.
Enough of Brooks, he's glad to dismiss fascism if it includes a tax cut for corporations.
3
So now Trump can walk on water. He might accept that description. But it's incomplete: he also is a miracle worker, eh?
2
Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read "The buck stops here". This president seems to have a sign that reads "The buck stops in my wallet" and
another that says "I didn't do it, he did".
another that says "I didn't do it, he did".
2
I have been reading Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here." It's reassuring in that Trump is clearly not going to be a Buzz Windrip, despite having some of the characteristics. So - if you only consider the danger of a fascist takeover of the govt, then the threat is only a 3 or 4. But as many of the other commentators have pointed out, that is not the only threat that this administration poses.
1
Superb! Well-thought; well-written.
1
This column worries me. Trump just might take military action against North Korea to spite critics like David Brooks. Too bad then for the Asian peoples in neighboring countries. Oh, and since the U.S. economy is closely tied to the economies of South Korea, Japan, and China, an attack in their neighborhood will bring us to our knees too. Still, he will have proven that he is a big man.
1
Mr. Brooks, move to the Korean peninsula and then tell me that the "Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4". He is dangerously incompetent, who has surrounded himself with dangerous incompetence.
1
I just wonder if you would be as forgiving of a Democratic president? Why should we settle for a President that has no apparent policy for anything, who uses nepotism and corruption in every department? So this last two weeks he has backed off from some of his more radical decrees but when this does not make him popular he may turn back to them? This man has no business being President and should make us all lake any faith in the Republican party
1
Mr. Brooks,
The only thing that I can agree with in this article is your mention of "1984." I suggest that you might also have referenced "Animal Farm."
The only thing that I can agree with in this article is your mention of "1984." I suggest that you might also have referenced "Animal Farm."
1
. "Every policy initiative is actually just pastillage, those brittle sugar sculptures that you see atop fancy desserts that crumble and dissolve at first contact with reality."
And meanwhile the ineptitude and incompetency and bible belting mythos seep deeper -drip by drip - throughout the governing mythos. Rotting away the hard earned results and thoughtful progressive plans and actions of countless hard working hard thinking government workers throughout the Obama years
And then the floor collapses!
And meanwhile the ineptitude and incompetency and bible belting mythos seep deeper -drip by drip - throughout the governing mythos. Rotting away the hard earned results and thoughtful progressive plans and actions of countless hard working hard thinking government workers throughout the Obama years
And then the floor collapses!
1
A neophyte President who is being manipulated by people who are good at massaging his ego. Some of them have been paid by foreign governments. His children are his closest advisers and have used his office to further their business objectives. What could go wrong? I'm not over being terrified yet but glad to hear David Brooks isn't worried a bit.
13
Way too early to feel complacent about the Trump administration. It is true that so far Trump's shooting himself on the foot has not had dramatic consequences for the country. But the man is so far out of his depth that a major blunder remains a possibility. Every one is counting on the military to keep him out of foreign trouble, not a very comfortable position to be in. Domestically he will continue to try to undermine ACA and make life miserable for the undocumented. Remains to be seen what will happen with the removal of numerous regulations affecting the environment, work safety and financial institutions. A return of the financial fun and games that gave us the great recession is not out of the question.
19
Trump supporters will realize that the Establishment is back in power and that nothing will change except the propaganda, or they will not realize this; either could have bad consequences. This powder keg got us Trump, and if it is left to fester and fed more lies and false hopes, it may well erupt uncontrollably.
The anger will persist as long as the present level of inequality in income, wealth, and hope persists. It can be fixed for real by healing this inequality, which no one is sure how to do, or fixed temporarily and in appearance by such measures as finding scapegoats, destroying hated things, pursuing a politics of personality, and managing the message.
We face two problems for which the default is a descent into chaos: we are overtaxing nature, both by our sheer numbers and our preferred lifestyles (climate change and species dieoffs are symptoms of this); and we are allowing the effects of automation to make some of us superfluous and others rich. Four years of hiding from these problems except for publicity stunts is time that our descendants will bitterly regret losing.
Trump has shown himself absolutely incapable of the sort of insight needed to even see these problems, much less search for solutions. Republicans seem to have the same problem dubya had with the Iraq war: trying to win by projecting an image of winning powerful enough to conceal the reality. Many Democrats want to fix things by tweaking our current system. Chaos impends.
The anger will persist as long as the present level of inequality in income, wealth, and hope persists. It can be fixed for real by healing this inequality, which no one is sure how to do, or fixed temporarily and in appearance by such measures as finding scapegoats, destroying hated things, pursuing a politics of personality, and managing the message.
We face two problems for which the default is a descent into chaos: we are overtaxing nature, both by our sheer numbers and our preferred lifestyles (climate change and species dieoffs are symptoms of this); and we are allowing the effects of automation to make some of us superfluous and others rich. Four years of hiding from these problems except for publicity stunts is time that our descendants will bitterly regret losing.
Trump has shown himself absolutely incapable of the sort of insight needed to even see these problems, much less search for solutions. Republicans seem to have the same problem dubya had with the Iraq war: trying to win by projecting an image of winning powerful enough to conceal the reality. Many Democrats want to fix things by tweaking our current system. Chaos impends.
12
Brooks: Pond-Skater President
The usual epithets have been more or less worn out over the years. Plus , the NYTimes won't print them anyway.
But now - NOW - I know what to call the the next person who annoys me or threatens the future of the free world.
You stinkin' pond skater!
Perfect.
The usual epithets have been more or less worn out over the years. Plus , the NYTimes won't print them anyway.
But now - NOW - I know what to call the the next person who annoys me or threatens the future of the free world.
You stinkin' pond skater!
Perfect.
3
This article misses a crucial possibility: Trump only moderated BECAUSE of the resistance.
Without people setting their outrage to 11, and fighting-fighting-fighting Trump non-stop for the last 100-days, you'd have Flynn and Bannon running the country right now (with all their proto-fascist white supremacist leanings), a Muslim-ban in place (with a religious test for citizenship around the corner), and 24-million people losing their health insurance (not to mention possibly a shooting-war with North Korea).
(As it is we have deportation forces stalking the country, an upsurge in racist and antisemitic violence, and multiple wag-the-dog military strikes that portend quagmire and needless combat to come.)
When you've beaten off a rabid dog and it's skulking in the corner, most people don't have the instinct to say "aww, he's changed" and try to go pet it.
Without people setting their outrage to 11, and fighting-fighting-fighting Trump non-stop for the last 100-days, you'd have Flynn and Bannon running the country right now (with all their proto-fascist white supremacist leanings), a Muslim-ban in place (with a religious test for citizenship around the corner), and 24-million people losing their health insurance (not to mention possibly a shooting-war with North Korea).
(As it is we have deportation forces stalking the country, an upsurge in racist and antisemitic violence, and multiple wag-the-dog military strikes that portend quagmire and needless combat to come.)
When you've beaten off a rabid dog and it's skulking in the corner, most people don't have the instinct to say "aww, he's changed" and try to go pet it.
36
Totally wrong. When you continue to cry "WOLF!!" at "outrage level 11" every time Mr. Trump does something mildly wrong or moderately strange, the accuser loses credibility and energizes Trump's base (cf: Mr. Charles Blow). When Mr. Trump actually does commit a level 8-9 outrage or error, the accuser would have no credibility to effectively stop him. If this happens often enough, Mr. Trump will be a two term president. To effectively check Mr. Trump, the level of criticism must be proportionate to the level of the offence.
we are watching a cat watching laser beam
5
Trump -- not so much a pond-skater as pond scum. He is the flim-flam man worthy of the Grand Old Party of Knaves & Fools. The people who will be hurt the most are those who are his key base of support, and while some might feel they deserve what they get, their children certainly do not.
12
My sentiment and thought exactly
Sorry to disagree, but Trump has trouble getting a handle on anything over 140 characters. Even with his multi-tweets he loses track of himself.
7
There's that old saw - Do not ascribe to malevolence that which can be simply chalked up to incompetence, or unfamiliarity, or bureaucratic bumbling, or distraction, or...
Not that I think DJT will be viewed by history as better-than-average, but this reminder has strengthened my patience and hopefulness in so many situations.
Not that I think DJT will be viewed by history as better-than-average, but this reminder has strengthened my patience and hopefulness in so many situations.
2
Many people think that old saw doesn't apply in this case. And often it really doesn't apply. Often, people who do terrible things aren't consciously evil. They really think (by their own lights) that they're doing good, or don't care about the consequences.
Get over it and resist
He's more dangerous now. He's learned to control his outbursts, which has made citizens back down a bit. But he is the same person he always was. His legislation and executive orders will damage us more than his rhetoric.
13
Brooks: "Many of his critics still react to him every single day at Outrage Level 11, but the Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4." Trump's threat level is only a 3 or 4? Really? Let's see what that 3 or 4 includes. Multiple investigations into the Trump campaign possibly (probably) colluding to help Russia undermine the US Presidential election in 2016 to help favor Trump. Appointing a Cabinet where every Secretary or agency head actually wants to destroy the department they are in charge of, or at least severely hurt it (like the EPA or Attorney General). Undermining NATO, and weakening our relations with allies like Germany, France, Canada, Australia and Mexico etc. Threatening to pull out NAFTA , the Paris climate change accord and the Iran nuclear agreement. Dangerous saber rattling with North Korea that could lead to nuclear war. Possibly starting trade wars with China and Mexico, like the tariff on Canadian lumber. Still wanting to repeal the ACA so that 24 million people lose healthcare, Proposing a massive tax cut that could cost Trillions of dollars over the next 10 years that is not paid for with offsets. Rolling back financial regulations that protect us from another crisis like the 2007 meltdown. Rolling back environmental regulations to increase pollution, and approving the Keystone pipeline. Massive conflicts of interest, while still refusing to release his taxes. Did I forget anything? If this if only a threat level 3 or 4, I'd hate to see what a 10 looks like.
25
In essence, Mr. Brooks is arguing that Trump is harmless because he can accomplish very little.
This argument is flawed. The chief executive does need to be pro-active. My car can roll for a long time at highway speeds without any input to the wheel (and with cruise-control, the accelerator), but from time to time, some effective input is needed.
Trump has proven that unlike, say my 2 year-old granddaughter sitting on my lap while driving, he will not just yank the wheel and run us off the road. No, he is also not like my 3.5 year old granddaughter who will steer with care, and tell me to take the wheel if she feels it is too hard. Trump steers the ship of state somewhere between the skills of my 2 year old and my 3.5 year old. Unlike my 3.5 year old, he is unaware when he needs adult supervision, and is surrounded by fellow 3 year old's, many less capable than him.
The job Trump took is demanding. 11 may be too high a rating (or not), but a 9 is generous.
This argument is flawed. The chief executive does need to be pro-active. My car can roll for a long time at highway speeds without any input to the wheel (and with cruise-control, the accelerator), but from time to time, some effective input is needed.
Trump has proven that unlike, say my 2 year-old granddaughter sitting on my lap while driving, he will not just yank the wheel and run us off the road. No, he is also not like my 3.5 year old granddaughter who will steer with care, and tell me to take the wheel if she feels it is too hard. Trump steers the ship of state somewhere between the skills of my 2 year old and my 3.5 year old. Unlike my 3.5 year old, he is unaware when he needs adult supervision, and is surrounded by fellow 3 year old's, many less capable than him.
The job Trump took is demanding. 11 may be too high a rating (or not), but a 9 is generous.
6
Mr. Brooks, you are wrong. When you intimidate people, countries, treaties, insurance companies, people react out of fear, because it is human nature, there are real consequences to it. What about the environment, that is not ok, it is our kids future that is being destroyed, that is not ok.
10
Brooks is right on with respect to Trump. What got him elected was the image of being an alpha male who would insist and succeed in having things his way. Many Americans feel that the world domestically and globally is no longer theirs as it seemed to be half a century ago, that their are big constraints upon what Americans can do. Trump gave the impression that his persona was so large that he would change that. In reality, Trump never tried to be a great leader nor a great business leader nor anything besides a famous celebrity who enjoys projecting an image to which audiences react with enthusiasm. The part that requires learning a lot of important things necessary to lead a great nation, never seems to have interested him. Trump really is an average sort of person who ended up in a role that he fantasied about but never expected to have to fill and is not eager to do so, now.
2
Average?.......He couldn't pass a Jr. High School Civics test....
Brooks is, as usual, dead wrong. He writes:
Many of us Trump critics set our outrage level at 11. The Trump threat was virulent, and therefore the response had to be virulent as well.
The problem is that Trump has now changed...Many of his critics still react to him every single day at Outrage Level 11, but the Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4.
This in the face of the fact that Trump himself told the Washington Post that "I was all set to terminate" NAFTA, but had his opinion changed at the last minute by aides and foreign leaders, most especially by a map of the US that revealed such termination would hurt areas which largely gave him their votes.
That the president came within an ace of ending an enormously consequential program such as NAFTA should squelch any ideas that Brooks or anybody else has that his "threat level is down to level 3 or 4." This foolish, ignorant man remains a major threat to this country.
Many of us Trump critics set our outrage level at 11. The Trump threat was virulent, and therefore the response had to be virulent as well.
The problem is that Trump has now changed...Many of his critics still react to him every single day at Outrage Level 11, but the Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4.
This in the face of the fact that Trump himself told the Washington Post that "I was all set to terminate" NAFTA, but had his opinion changed at the last minute by aides and foreign leaders, most especially by a map of the US that revealed such termination would hurt areas which largely gave him their votes.
That the president came within an ace of ending an enormously consequential program such as NAFTA should squelch any ideas that Brooks or anybody else has that his "threat level is down to level 3 or 4." This foolish, ignorant man remains a major threat to this country.
9
This is written a day after Trump states that he intends to abolish the 9th Circuit because it issued (or rather a district court judge within the 9th's jurisdiction).
Ignores the thousands seized in ICE raids the last 3 months (millions of immigrants, illegal, legal, and naturalized citizens who feel threatened by Trump and his Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions).
And the devastation that will be inflicted on our environment as Trump and Pruitt render 130 years of Environmental and Conservation law "dead letters."
I will say this: Brooks is right, Trump is just a bit more extreme version of the radicalism, authoritarianism, and destructiveness of the Republican Party and Conservative Movement in general. Trump is the climax of this movement.
Ignores the thousands seized in ICE raids the last 3 months (millions of immigrants, illegal, legal, and naturalized citizens who feel threatened by Trump and his Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions).
And the devastation that will be inflicted on our environment as Trump and Pruitt render 130 years of Environmental and Conservation law "dead letters."
I will say this: Brooks is right, Trump is just a bit more extreme version of the radicalism, authoritarianism, and destructiveness of the Republican Party and Conservative Movement in general. Trump is the climax of this movement.
9
Applause for recognizing just how the limitations of this man have been leashed by both his family members and truly competent people who have wisely assumed some of the power...He prefers to strut around , patting himself on the back, rather than expanding his learning curve. HIs tweets continue to prove that deep thinking is well beyond him..While I cannot say he is harmless, because he most certainly is not, I can say that growing weary of his 24/7 neediness and not watching the latest drama on the news has become the new normal in this house.....It takes a lot of energy to actually care about his latest barrage of outrage and anger at whoever the enemy of the day may be. He simply has ceased to matter to many of us who want peace and quiet and dignity in our lives. I simply hope for the best and have ceased to count on our politicians to steady this boat. That is all any of us can do.
4
NOT all any of us can do....Resist Vote and demand his taxes......
It's how we ended the Viet Nam War...It's how we got Nixon to leave.
Political realities will make it inevitable.......McConnell wouldn't allow
anyone to threaten his position...and when it does.....Some
Republican will walk into trumps office and like Goldwater did with Nixon
explain that he goes or he is impeached.....
It is up to us to keep extreme pressure on craven Republi 'Cons' and their
insatiable need for power.....even at the cost of the country
It's how we ended the Viet Nam War...It's how we got Nixon to leave.
Political realities will make it inevitable.......McConnell wouldn't allow
anyone to threaten his position...and when it does.....Some
Republican will walk into trumps office and like Goldwater did with Nixon
explain that he goes or he is impeached.....
It is up to us to keep extreme pressure on craven Republi 'Cons' and their
insatiable need for power.....even at the cost of the country
2
"I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge".
The amusing thing to me about all the Trump hating apoplexy is that folks have forgotten the alternative that he beat. Ted Cruz.
That guy did have actual convictions and knowledge. And somehow I believe he would not have occasioned the paroxysms of hatred that have been directed against Trump. That's the guy that Brooks himself rooted for at the end.
However I like John Boehner's characterization of Cruz as "Lucifer in the
Flesh". I vastly prefer the Trump devil to that one, god forbid he'd gotten into office and been competent.
The amusing thing to me about all the Trump hating apoplexy is that folks have forgotten the alternative that he beat. Ted Cruz.
That guy did have actual convictions and knowledge. And somehow I believe he would not have occasioned the paroxysms of hatred that have been directed against Trump. That's the guy that Brooks himself rooted for at the end.
However I like John Boehner's characterization of Cruz as "Lucifer in the
Flesh". I vastly prefer the Trump devil to that one, god forbid he'd gotten into office and been competent.
3
Blaine.....This is your country you're talking about for God's sakes
not vanilla or chocolate.....or maybe it is vanilla and chocolate.....
how foolish of me.
not vanilla or chocolate.....or maybe it is vanilla and chocolate.....
how foolish of me.
Looks as if David is laying the first steps to veering towards a pro trump stance as so many Republicans and their cohorts have done or are doing.
8
I know exactly how long I can maintain outrage. I stayed outraged for 8 years of Reagan and 8 years of Bush. I'm outraged now and not breaking a sweat.
I do feel sorry for my friend on Medicaid who recently said "maybe Trump can come up with something better". Not a chance. She has hope. I'm stuck with knowledge of the probabilities and outrage.
I do feel sorry for my friend on Medicaid who recently said "maybe Trump can come up with something better". Not a chance. She has hope. I'm stuck with knowledge of the probabilities and outrage.
18
Brooks underestimates Trump's need for attention: it is pathological. The danger to the country is not Trump's staggering incompetence which is fixed in a bedrock of profound stupidity, but his willingness to say or do anything to command the spotlight. TO extend the Brooks metaphor, he needs to make a splash and we could all be swept away in the wash.
JL
JL
8
Someone who shoots from the hip had better be a good fast draw and a good shot. I have learned this much, David, that competence and kindness are qualities that mean U-S-A more than bombast and bombs. If our biggest strength is our military arsenal and not our discovery of the transistor or polio vaccine, then what have we got to call "exceptional? " I am embarassed that the best we can do is just think of our president as the first of the worst lot we have ever had. But thanks for trying to dispell doldrums.
5
Mr. Brooks swiftly went from erudite to mundane. Nothing about Trump will change in the next few years because the United States won't be here at the end of 2017. Another sellout.
"Don’t get me wrong. I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge, and who was interested in delivering real good to real Americans. But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
And that's exactly what he wants you to think.
And that's exactly what he wants you to think.
5
Not to worry.....I can hold a deep grudge until the cows come home.
2
Dear Mr. Brooks; May I suggest that you read the comments your piece has engendered . The man you write about is an existential threat to American democracy. The writer who has described this threat in excellent fashion is David Remnick in the May 1 2017 issue of the New Yorker. If anything is "over the top" it is your attitude about this man.
6
David, great article. Your spot on. I believe Trump is just another mediocre Politician.
3
Yes, but he is the brightest, handsomest, most intelligent, best endowed, richest, most influential, mediocre politician who has ever been since the beginning of Time. Bigly.
1
Most people are pretty much who they will always be as adults what they are at about age five, although some people do remake themselves, Trump is the same person he was decades, ago. That person loved to be a celebrity, so much that he did not bother to learn much about the businesses in which he was involved, he loved to see and be seen and just have fun. He had no strong convictions beyond a casual hedonism. Most of the stuff he said as a candidate were borrowed from stuff that he say in the mass media, stuff that his audiences wanted to hear, and wired together by unsubstantiated notions from sources like Bannon. He never was personally committed to any of it. Like the rich kid he has always been, he just hired somebody to give him a coherent if not very reasonable set of talking points. Trump has no inner strength except that he enjoys his life and places enjoying his life above all other considerations. He is unlikely to age like most Presidents because he is utterly indifferent to anything that does not affect his own person.
3
Hard to believe Brooks wrote this as Trump was proposing a tax "plan" to put more money into the pockets of the 1% who control 45% of the nation's wealth (while shafting everyone else), and was making a last ditch effort to deny 20 million people health-care coverage. One understanding of fascism is control of government by organizations of private industry. As Trump lowers taxes on the wealthiest, he advances the interests of the corporate state. Instead of peons pushing their plows for their overlords, in our neo-Feudal world, workers sit at desks making profits for the CEO class.
Everything Trump has done, or tried to do, advances this radical form of social and economic corporatism. He has not yielded at all, and he is much worse than even his most ardent detractors imagined. Thankfully he is too incompetent and ineffective to carry through on his "promises."
Everything Trump has done, or tried to do, advances this radical form of social and economic corporatism. He has not yielded at all, and he is much worse than even his most ardent detractors imagined. Thankfully he is too incompetent and ineffective to carry through on his "promises."
4
Oh My - David, I wonder what bubble you have been living in. I know it's not Breitbart or Fox, you're too upscale for that - but if you've been reading your own newspaper, the resistance is not, nor has it ever been - just about Trump. Do you honestly think we are blind to the destruction of adequate healthcare, -defunding panned parenthood, a budget that is a give-away to the wealthy is or will be only about a guy who doesn't even read. He's Dangerous, sure... but it's Pence, Trump's lobbyist/appointees, and the rest of the republicans that are why we're at an 11 and plan to keep it there. Hopefully there will be some kind of shift in 2018, even when the deck is stacked against us... #resistance.
7
In another place, another time, one might ask, "What have you been smoking, Mr. Brooks?" The idea that Trump has changed is optimistic, but unlikely. He bounces from one disaster to another but his finger remains on the nuclear button, sitting on ready.
2
I call them water-striders myself, and was always interested in how they managed to move so beautifully across the surface of water. But it is a good analogy; Trump doesn't have the focus, the principles, or the know-how to be a true zealot and perhaps he will be less of a danger to the entire earth. But he has surrounded himself with hard men who have bad plans for the earth and for our democratic system - - Kushner, Bannon, Cohn, and Pence -- and who knows what they will talk him into doing.
And as an aside, don't ever try to normalize 45 into a real democratic leader. He is a psychopath who is corrupting our government.
And as an aside, don't ever try to normalize 45 into a real democratic leader. He is a psychopath who is corrupting our government.
It's shocking that Brooks skates over the stink of corruption that hangs over the entire administration. From taxpayer supported trips to Mar-a-Lago (from which he personally profits) to publicly-provided security for his kids' business trips to failure to release his tax returns, and, most egregiously, his refusal to divest himself of his interest in the Trump Organization this administration is engaged in a stunning heist of the public treasury. Brooks manages to slough this off as mere hyperbolic raving from the far Left. For shame.
5
The question occurs to me: What is going to happen when we have an actual national emergency and most of the money has already gone to fund the Trump Organization? Eventually, there won't be anything left in the Treasury to help rebuild the coastal cities after they have been decimated by a series of worse Katrinas. There won't be anything left in the Treasury to help rebuild the cities in the fly-over states after they've been flattened by an increasing number of F-5+ tornadoes. There won't be anything left in the Treasury after brush-fires have blackened the western and southern states, followed by torrential rains and sweep-away flooding. And there won't be anything left in the Treasury to help those of us who survive a thermal-nuclear war. Will the rich people, including the Trump Organization, come to our rescue? Well, maybe Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffett, but otherwise, not very likely. And certain not the Trump Organization.
Facile. The threats are very real, whether through incompetence or criminality really makes no difference to the outcome. And you're a little quick to relegate the contest between right and wrong to the past tense. It's a constant. Has been a constant.
When you're dealing with flat-earthers drunk on power, that's not the time to let your guard down.
When you're dealing with flat-earthers drunk on power, that's not the time to let your guard down.
5
I basically agree with Mr. Brooks (strange to say.) Here's a strategic suggestion: how about us not reinforcing the Trump-supporter narrative of the beleaguered hero fighting against the liberals, and just react against the things he actually *does* rather than writing endlessly about how we despise what he *is*?
1
David, climate, education, Justice Dept. Trump is doing egregious damage to all. Scuttling net neutrality means even sharing information about all of this will be harder - and monitored! Look at our STEM grad student populations, our immigrant / refugee workers who are reliable employees. They are not coming back. Seems to my the ice is being drilled, by fossil fuel powered tools. Pun intended, nasty as it is.
12
You are chasing windmills, trying to find something positive in this dangerous administration. The White House has become the family palace. We don't know what his next step will be. "When we accept as normal that which is hateful to us, we are diminished". Rabbi Matalon, NYC.
"
"
Why do you normalize him?
15
"But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
Have your expectations sunken so low for this Oval Office occupant, that he is somehow palatable now that he's demonstrably ineffectual?
How hard is it to maintain outrage:
At a _President_ who blithely impugns other people's character with lies?
At a _President_ who represents the USA to the world as a land of intolerance?
At a _President_ whose Trump-First America is even more vile than an America-First nation?
At a _President_ who can please only his base and only by crushing application of his shoe on the necks of others?
At a _President_ who is more dangerous to Planet Earth than the Dear Leader Kim Il?
One should be no less outraged at the malignant 'Trump', simply because his attempts to harm others have so far failed to kill them.
Have your expectations sunken so low for this Oval Office occupant, that he is somehow palatable now that he's demonstrably ineffectual?
How hard is it to maintain outrage:
At a _President_ who blithely impugns other people's character with lies?
At a _President_ who represents the USA to the world as a land of intolerance?
At a _President_ whose Trump-First America is even more vile than an America-First nation?
At a _President_ who can please only his base and only by crushing application of his shoe on the necks of others?
At a _President_ who is more dangerous to Planet Earth than the Dear Leader Kim Il?
One should be no less outraged at the malignant 'Trump', simply because his attempts to harm others have so far failed to kill them.
16
Well, except for the enviromnment... He seems to be doing a monumental job of degrading the air, earth and water on this planet...
So, he isn't all that light on his feet after all....
So, he isn't all that light on his feet after all....
10
David you should consider apologizing you your readers for this display of Trumpian-level narcissism. Maybe for *you* at your age, gender, education level, income level, race, and religion, you can turn down your own Trump threat to level 3 or 4.
But what about Muslim Americans? Where should they be on the scale?
How about non-white Americans? What is an appropriate outrage level for Black Americans?
How about American women in the workforce?
How about poor Americans?
Legal Immigrants? Where should they be?
What about young Americans? The folks who will next steward the planet?
How about the brave men and women serving in our Armed forces, who must follow the orders of the commander in chief?
Really David you need to either get out of your house and meet some folks or stop writing about things that you clearly do not understand.
But what about Muslim Americans? Where should they be on the scale?
How about non-white Americans? What is an appropriate outrage level for Black Americans?
How about American women in the workforce?
How about poor Americans?
Legal Immigrants? Where should they be?
What about young Americans? The folks who will next steward the planet?
How about the brave men and women serving in our Armed forces, who must follow the orders of the commander in chief?
Really David you need to either get out of your house and meet some folks or stop writing about things that you clearly do not understand.
27
David, try this test.
Before you declare the "threat level" reduced, take the money out of your pockets, empty your bank account, and go live in an inner city or rural poverty hit neighborhood for awhile.
Their threat level remains off the charts with the scum in chief not just cutting and gutting life saving programs, but lying about it with a smile.
Your threat level will be low while you dine out in a nice D.C. restaurant.
The threat levels for others is more urgent and your class ignorance is showing.
Before you declare the "threat level" reduced, take the money out of your pockets, empty your bank account, and go live in an inner city or rural poverty hit neighborhood for awhile.
Their threat level remains off the charts with the scum in chief not just cutting and gutting life saving programs, but lying about it with a smile.
Your threat level will be low while you dine out in a nice D.C. restaurant.
The threat levels for others is more urgent and your class ignorance is showing.
18
I rarely read Brooks, but on occasion try, but I can't seem to get past the first few paragraphs. Here his judgment is again proved lacking. Trump, just yesterday, is gambling that he can out-bluff North Korea's irrational, man-child counterpart, with the lives of 100,000's at stake. I'd call this an 11 alarmer, David.
14
My thoughts exactly
1
He's the man we love to 'dislike.'
He is devoid of passion.
Passion does not necessarily mean hysteria, or rending your hair - both way beyond him.
But he might make SOME effort - just for appearances.
Anyway, that's ONE of the reasons why I 'dislike' him.
Always good to see I'm not alone.
He is devoid of passion.
Passion does not necessarily mean hysteria, or rending your hair - both way beyond him.
But he might make SOME effort - just for appearances.
Anyway, that's ONE of the reasons why I 'dislike' him.
Always good to see I'm not alone.
Thank goodness the people commenting have more sense than David Brooks has in this column. I have grown to respect Brooks but he really blew it this time. The readers generally see what's going on much better than he does. If you think either our outrage or our fear factor should be dialed down, you are sadly mistaken. Trump is a very dangerous man. Do not normalize him by asking us not to continue to be outraged. It is only through such passion that we may eventually be able to turn around this disaster for democracy.
12
It may be hard for you maintain outrage, Mr. Brooks, as a Republican. But I feel the impact in my health and sense of vulnerability every day. Trump is enabling destruction of the environment, corruption, racism, a blurring of church and state, and destabilizing the international situation--not because he cares about policy but, as Timothy Egan points out today, because he is busy enriching himself and his shameless family of kleptocrats. Part of the deal is that his friends get to do what they want to the rest of us. Mexican mothers who fled gang murders are dragged off and deported, leaving American children weeping and asking their mothers when are you coming home every night. Americans who have life-threatening conditions wonder if their health coverage will be taken away. Funds will be taken from public schools and given to religious schools. The list goes on and on. Maybe that's abstract to you. My brother's life was saved thanks to Obamacare. Maybe your life hasn't changed. Many others' lives have and will. I can say unequivocally that every day I grieve and rage at what Trump has done to us. Maybe, Mr. Brooks, in the new empathy-free America, you've lost your ability to appreciate the damage done to others and don't even see it.
11
Just a few weeks ago, appearing on PB,S David Brooks characterized Trump as is "deranged." Now he claims Mr. Trump's adaptability makes him less a danger to the Republic. On the contrary, Mr. Trump is that weight on the end of the pendulum and as it swings to dead center, he only appears to be "normal,"as it is only a fleeting point in swing-time; so, the rest of the time he will continue to be far from "normal." He is not conventional, he is Cuckoo.
9
This evaluation of Trump, and his supposedly more responsible conduct while in office, is like saying how fortunate we are to be sentenced to death by firing squad instead of by slow torture.
This president is unsafe at any speed. The fact that he has moderated some of his stances from unspeakable to deplorable shouldn't make us think that his presidency is in any way normal, or let us sleep easier at nights.
It's not Trump skating on a pond; it's all the rest of us, and we are on very thin ice. Frankly, I'll be pleasantly surprised if most of us are still alive at the end of three and a half years.
This president is unsafe at any speed. The fact that he has moderated some of his stances from unspeakable to deplorable shouldn't make us think that his presidency is in any way normal, or let us sleep easier at nights.
It's not Trump skating on a pond; it's all the rest of us, and we are on very thin ice. Frankly, I'll be pleasantly surprised if most of us are still alive at the end of three and a half years.
10
David tries to be real and honest, in his fashion, and I respect that. The Trump reversals, as David points out, are good news. But there is a deep conflict in our midst. it is, on one hand, the deep animosity that so many (myself included) feel for the very fact of this presidency -- contrasted by the abiding desire of so many Trump voters to believe in him as a right answer to so much that bothers them, multiplied by HRC-hate. Andrew Sullivan made a related point on Bill Maher back in October - saying essentially that you won't change a single Trump voter by insulting him or her. To admit they were wrong about something so important is going to be very hard. Only lasting, continuing failure and incompetence will change their views, and only slowly. An occasional "win" will delay that process. Our self-righteousness will delay it even more. A major Trump mistake could advance the ball, but might hurt millions. The damage the right will enact in the months ahead will probably be irreversible, such as limited, partial Medicare for future generations (once accomplished, you'll never get the votes to put the funding back). I wish I saw good answers here, but these are real people with real power, and a plan to use it. The press, and the people (yes, a majority), are all we have, and we have to be smart about that.
8
"Despite their thin and floaty appearance, the pond skater is actually a pretty aggressive predator, pouncing on insects that land on the water's surface."
-- a-z-animals.com
-- a-z-animals.com
7
An excellent critique, that actually sees the subject for what he is: little.
However, 'little' can still get very frightening when it's cornered.
However, 'little' can still get very frightening when it's cornered.
4
You're forgetting the real damage he has done to immigrants, and, in turn, to the communities they serve. Yes, the Muslim ban has been forestalled, but the increased policing of immigrants, and prosecution, has been doing extensive damage to many working people who are at the bottom levels of our economy and are only trying to hang on.
5
Where do you live? If anything he will become more dangerous as time goes by if he learns how to get anything done or actually makes an effort to pass some of his hideous legislations. What about the environmental issue for example? ..not a pressing matter? Or tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the deficit? ..on to another recession but potentially worse since we wont have any means of correcting it this time
There is so much more . ..the emoluments clause violations, nepotism, use of the office to promote his golf courses. All at tax payer expense.
The danger is greater now than it was then , the danger is that
he displays a bit of competence and actually manages to cause irreversible harm. To the environment, economy, international relations.
This is the time to get angriest.
There is so much more . ..the emoluments clause violations, nepotism, use of the office to promote his golf courses. All at tax payer expense.
The danger is greater now than it was then , the danger is that
he displays a bit of competence and actually manages to cause irreversible harm. To the environment, economy, international relations.
This is the time to get angriest.
12
I actually agree with Mr. Brooks here. I know a lot of people who are still ready to detonate with anger at anything Trump does. I used to be one of them. It's just too hard to keep up that level of outrage, though, and it is bad for my health. I just hope we get through these 4 years without him breaking anything beyond repair.
I also recognize that Congress can act as a significant check on Trump's power...if they choose to do so. To that end, I spend more time writing and calling my Congressman and Senators.
I also recognize that Congress can act as a significant check on Trump's power...if they choose to do so. To that end, I spend more time writing and calling my Congressman and Senators.
2
Jim's wife
The latest research indicates that sea level rise will be much worse than previously predicted--up to 10 feet on the California coast. And Trump just opened up more offshore areas to drilling. There is nothing more dangerous for the world than what Trump is doing about the environment. Oh--
maybe nuclear war??
The latest research indicates that sea level rise will be much worse than previously predicted--up to 10 feet on the California coast. And Trump just opened up more offshore areas to drilling. There is nothing more dangerous for the world than what Trump is doing about the environment. Oh--
maybe nuclear war??
4
Once again, Mr. Brooks tries to make up a reality that is off the mark.
Trump himself has indeed proved to be all bluff and bluster, with no discipline or vision beyond trivial self-aggrandizement. But he's no harmless lightweight pond-skimmer. He and the people around him are causing enormous damage to the country and the presidency.
It's true that he's proven to be unable to persuade anyone to do anything, but the people who are handing him executive orders to sign, are hobbling and dismantling the Federal government and the progress that it's made over the last 25 years.
And it's only a matter of time before his Supreme Court appointee(s) tip the Court to rule in favor of the Muslim ban and against sanctuary cities and the rights of women and minorities. Across the world, Trump's macho posturing will result in strengthening of our rivals and further misery for millions of people who have heretofore benefited from American aid programs and moral leadership.
And Trump is cheapening and corrupting American idea of the Presidency. He's destroyed the concept of the Presidency as a sacred office of public service, and turned it into a scheme for the benefit of himself and his family. And perhaps most bizarre, is the flood of blatant brazen lies the Trump and his people put out every day. This is not a small matter. Other serious commentators have warned about the destruction of the very notion of objective truth and its replacement by pure demagoguery.
Trump himself has indeed proved to be all bluff and bluster, with no discipline or vision beyond trivial self-aggrandizement. But he's no harmless lightweight pond-skimmer. He and the people around him are causing enormous damage to the country and the presidency.
It's true that he's proven to be unable to persuade anyone to do anything, but the people who are handing him executive orders to sign, are hobbling and dismantling the Federal government and the progress that it's made over the last 25 years.
And it's only a matter of time before his Supreme Court appointee(s) tip the Court to rule in favor of the Muslim ban and against sanctuary cities and the rights of women and minorities. Across the world, Trump's macho posturing will result in strengthening of our rivals and further misery for millions of people who have heretofore benefited from American aid programs and moral leadership.
And Trump is cheapening and corrupting American idea of the Presidency. He's destroyed the concept of the Presidency as a sacred office of public service, and turned it into a scheme for the benefit of himself and his family. And perhaps most bizarre, is the flood of blatant brazen lies the Trump and his people put out every day. This is not a small matter. Other serious commentators have warned about the destruction of the very notion of objective truth and its replacement by pure demagoguery.
1
Appropriate to reduce level of outrage - from 11 to 3 or 4 - at PT himself, 100 days in? Perhaps. But how to react, now, to 62+ million PT voters who were anything but outraged, apparently in one of two ways.
They either bought into the PT persona, presentation - and all that went with it - which, by Mr Brooks' own reckoning, warranted break-the-meter outrage earlier.
Or, probably more insidious, those who never bought into it, but accepted the package anyway, anticipating some other, unarticulated set of policies and/or method of implementing them, say, as indicated by what's transpired in 100 days. (But what specifically did this group anticipate would happen when they cast their ballots?)
The latter group is well symbolized by PT's own identification of those supporters who would vote for him even if he were to commit homicide publicly on 5th Avenue.
But reactions to PT voters aside, for the moment, the question for this observer is what is the appropriate reaction to where the country is now which, even in Mr Brooks' view, warrants 3 or 4, a not inconsiderable level of outrage. Where we are now is imo well-described in Mr Douthat's "It Could Be Worse."
Maybe just a difference of opinion as to degree of outrage. For me, 7-8 seems about right.
They either bought into the PT persona, presentation - and all that went with it - which, by Mr Brooks' own reckoning, warranted break-the-meter outrage earlier.
Or, probably more insidious, those who never bought into it, but accepted the package anyway, anticipating some other, unarticulated set of policies and/or method of implementing them, say, as indicated by what's transpired in 100 days. (But what specifically did this group anticipate would happen when they cast their ballots?)
The latter group is well symbolized by PT's own identification of those supporters who would vote for him even if he were to commit homicide publicly on 5th Avenue.
But reactions to PT voters aside, for the moment, the question for this observer is what is the appropriate reaction to where the country is now which, even in Mr Brooks' view, warrants 3 or 4, a not inconsiderable level of outrage. Where we are now is imo well-described in Mr Douthat's "It Could Be Worse."
Maybe just a difference of opinion as to degree of outrage. For me, 7-8 seems about right.
Trump's backing off from stupid, untenable policies is nothing more than a Pavlovian response. It does not mean that the dog or the ignorant, unprincipled, greedy politician has become more thoughtful. It may mean that future outrages may be tempered and will attempt to perpetrate their outrages in ways that might cleverly circumvent laws and public scrutiny.
Evidence needed? Look at what his Executive Decrees and Memos are doing to the environment in the name of cynical constituency building. Anyone who believes that destroying and polluting the environment by ignoring coal mining depredations will bring back the coal industry for instance can line up with Brooks if they want. But please use some of the time you save from not having to become well-informed to read how thousands of coal miners with serious physical problems including a particularly virulent and life ending form of black lung disease may lose their health support owing to GoP intransigence.
Evidence needed? Look at what his Executive Decrees and Memos are doing to the environment in the name of cynical constituency building. Anyone who believes that destroying and polluting the environment by ignoring coal mining depredations will bring back the coal industry for instance can line up with Brooks if they want. But please use some of the time you save from not having to become well-informed to read how thousands of coal miners with serious physical problems including a particularly virulent and life ending form of black lung disease may lose their health support owing to GoP intransigence.
5
Mr. Brooks, you did not even mention the fact that your nations esteem in the eyes of the rest of the world is approaching junk bond status. This slide in esteem cannot be easily reversed and will take time and much effort to rebuild. The longer your nation takes to jettison this clear and present danger to your citizens and the rest of the civilized world the harder the task to turn it around. The clock is ticking Mr. Brooks.
5
Seems to me that David Brooks thinks that if he starts working to ratchet down the outrage, fewer Democrats will show up for next year's interim election and the Republicans will hold onto Congress.
4
President Trump isn't ice skating, he's in the back room counting his money. As long as his presidency helps to swell his bottom line (Ivanka's deals, hotels filled with foreign functionaries, Putin paying off whatever he needs to pay to keep Trump happy with being pro-Russia and who knows what else) he won't be making too much of a stir.
Of course, Trump may have settled down for now, but who knows what strange mood in the future will lead to unnerving actions that can put us all in danger.
Of course, Trump may have settled down for now, but who knows what strange mood in the future will lead to unnerving actions that can put us all in danger.
Really? The threat level is a 3 or 4? Give me a break. The Resistance movement is overly zealous? Ha! Without the resistance movement, lawmakers would have pushed through a repeal of ObamaCare that left millions out in the cold. Without the resistance movement, lawmakers wouldn't have heard from constituents daily to back off of the anti-immigration efforts/tactics that included all Muslims, rounding up undocumented individuals off the streets etc or paying for the stupid wall with tax payer funds. Without the resistance movement, sanctuary cities would not have been created, or threats to pull out of NATO been averted, or any of a number or ridiculous, regressive and inhumane actions taken place. We weren't able to stop the installation of Betsy DeVos or many other cabinet members who lack not only experience but sanity to run their departments with the welfare of the citizenry as it's focus. We have an oil man in charge of State, we have a private school supporter in charge of Education, we have the head of the EPA denying climate change, a Sec. of Treasury who thinks helping the rich is the way to better this nation's economy, we have executive orders rolling back protections of individual privacy on the internet, and many many other issues that threaten to destabilize our country and lower our "approval ratings" around the globe. The threat is a 3 or 4? Not in the book of many around this country who continue to make their voices heard!
"These critics hyperventilate at every whiff of scandal in a way that only arouses skepticism."
Whiff?! And the ambitious Mr. Chaffetz is really resigning from Congress because his foot hurts.
Whiff?! And the ambitious Mr. Chaffetz is really resigning from Congress because his foot hurts.
The fact that that Trump's most dangerous impulses have been thwarted by democratic safeguards should not make anyone less wary or scared of the danger of this administration. If not for the courts blocking his actions on immigration, sanctuary cities, etc. and the democrats blocking on healthcare, taxes, and the rest, we'd already be living under a totalitarian kleptocracy. He's still working to undermine liberal democracy, truth, and accountability at every turn. We'd be fools to let our guard down now.
6
Cant understand what David is saying.
Trump has not changed for 70 years.
Trump gets high grades for selling fear.
All his efforts and presidential pushes are those that please his base, or himself. Forget whats good for our nation.
Its amazing to me that him and his loyalists contiue to sell his health care, with our a clue as to whats in it.
Trump has not changed for 70 years.
Trump gets high grades for selling fear.
All his efforts and presidential pushes are those that please his base, or himself. Forget whats good for our nation.
Its amazing to me that him and his loyalists contiue to sell his health care, with our a clue as to whats in it.
3
Typical Republican response: "Trump isn't so bad, thus Republican's aren't so bad." This articles isn't an opinion; it's a Republican trying to save himself and his party from ruin.
6
Here's the real issue: Donald Trump ran for president to boost his brand, not actually win the presidency. I believe the president is fully aware of how ill-suited he is for the job and just "skates by" on the surface to avoid being exposed.
The USA will be A-O.K. with a shallow leader as long as things stay relatively stable for the next four years, but the world is full of landmines these days. Any number of events outside of our control could unfold that would call for real leadership. Don't expect much good to follow when your leader in time of crisis is vapid, ill-tempered, and ignorant of the world around him.
The USA will be A-O.K. with a shallow leader as long as things stay relatively stable for the next four years, but the world is full of landmines these days. Any number of events outside of our control could unfold that would call for real leadership. Don't expect much good to follow when your leader in time of crisis is vapid, ill-tempered, and ignorant of the world around him.
1
This is a good evaluation of Trump. He is indeed a "fake President" skimming along the pond doing media events, but having no real effect on the actual policymaking in his administration, which is being done by grownups who, in the main, are growing in competence. His supporters don't seem to mind -- yet -- but the penny has already dropped with some who voted more with their head than their heart. What this portrait does not emphasize enough, however, is Trump's extreme malleability. He has no true north, and no real substantive knowledge. Foreign leaders have figured this out and know not to take anything he says seriously. What they do, however, is flatter him whenever they want something, and then "brief" him on their views, which he often adopts without further thought. Xi did this successfully at Mar-a-Lago, and it's the reason why we should never let Trump in the same room with Putin. He'll go in there, and an hour later emerge as a good little Russian. I also continue to be concerned about Trump's continued physical and mental decline. He walks with a stoop, is obese, gets no exercise (riding in golf carts doesn't count), and his diet is terrible. Increasingly, one sees a vacant look on his face, and when he reads those executive orders, one gets the impression that he is seeing them for the first time (maybe he is). He is just not as sharp now as he was on the campaign trail. This is a bad sign for a President who still has nearly four years to go.
We could all use a little more humor, and you have delivered it. Thank you.
I can't see how the threat level has fallen; I have dreams about nuclear war for the first time in my life, and I see how every group of people not entirely comprised of white men is threatened in tangible ways, and I wonder if our planet can withstand four years of his environmental policies. I do not feel safe, I feel terror deep inside me that I can't find a way to escape.
However, perhaps you've done us a favor with this article. Calling the President a political pond skater is, no doubt, a great way to get him to tweet about the "failing" New York Times and go off on some other rant about his own greatness, and perhaps it will distract him for a little while and that distraction will prevent him from starting a war or taking away someone else's rights or removing environmental protections for a few minutes or days. I can only hope.
However, perhaps you've done us a favor with this article. Calling the President a political pond skater is, no doubt, a great way to get him to tweet about the "failing" New York Times and go off on some other rant about his own greatness, and perhaps it will distract him for a little while and that distraction will prevent him from starting a war or taking away someone else's rights or removing environmental protections for a few minutes or days. I can only hope.
2
Character matters. Having a liar and a con-man as a President drags down the institution of the Presidency into the mud. If a leader is a bad role model, what does that say to young people? Having a bad leader running the most powerful nation on Earth is a recipe for disaster. Sure, nothing may happen, if we are lucky, but the chances are that he will be challenged by circumstances and he will make bad decisions. It is foolish to be lulled by his obvious incompetence.
1
Many of them reacted to Trump’s shocking election victory in the fall with the view, which was justified at the time, that Trump represented a unique and unprecedented threat to the republic. He was a populist ethnic nationalist aiming to drag this country to a very ugly place. He was a crypto fascist, aiming to undermine every norm and institution of our democracy.
seriously we are still at an 11, or maybe even 12. not 3 or 4. rubbish. Brooks should retire.
seriously we are still at an 11, or maybe even 12. not 3 or 4. rubbish. Brooks should retire.
1
So the pond skating charlatan who is grossly incompetent and unstable slightly modifies his behavior while trying to deflect an FBI investigation and we are supposed conclude that he's no longer dangerous? And that change is supposed to be warranted based on the pointed but small sample of 100 days of abject failure marked by destructive adolescent behavior mixed with incomprehensible statements in interviews and speeches. Somebody better check their morning coffee. Check and see if it has been switched to Cool-Aide.
It is not hard at all to keep being outraged. I am - and I don't have to work at it at all.
Stop trying to normalize this horribly abnormal situation.
Stop trying to normalize this horribly abnormal situation.
3
So, change tactics because they have been effective? Thanks but no thanks.
Many thumbs down. Disappointed in you. This man is a danger, a menace, and a pathological liar. I'm too embarrassed to refer to him as anything more than 45.Quit while you are ahead.
2
Never forget that he is a con man, flim flammer, and above all a habitual liar so don't believe what you think you see. The damage he will do to the environment, people seeking refuge, the businesses that rely on trade, and anything emanating from the Justice Department will be around long after the ice melts.
1
Tax rates are indeed too high ? You base this on what, Mr Brooks ? The record corporate profits ? Here are some companies that are laughing their way to the bank as tax loopholes allow them to pay no tax:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/03/07/27-giant-profita...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/03/07/27-giant-profita...
2
Interesting to contrast this Panglossian or willful exercise in denial - with Brooks one can never be quite sure - with Pankaj Mishra's more sobering meditation elsewhere in today's Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/america-from-exceptionalism-t...®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
1
I found Mishra's ruminations a little Trumpian. Like Donald, Pankaj seems enamored with the greatness of the '50s. The former, with an American ethos that has outgrown itself, the latter with a social criticism in search of a subject. Nihilistic Exceptionalism vs. Intellectual Solipsism. What a choice.
1
". . . Trump has mostly switched from being a subversive populist to being a conventional corporatist. His administration-defining motif now is being pro-business."
Trump was a pro-business corporatist (i.e., neo-fascist) all along, but he had to make a convincing populist appeal as his strategy for winning votes from ordinary working people, who are the majority of voters. He was pretending to be a friend, a false friend, to people who are far beneath his class, and it worked like a charm.
Trump was a pro-business corporatist (i.e., neo-fascist) all along, but he had to make a convincing populist appeal as his strategy for winning votes from ordinary working people, who are the majority of voters. He was pretending to be a friend, a false friend, to people who are far beneath his class, and it worked like a charm.
13
Leave it to a dyed-in-the wool conservative to find ways to put lipstick on this pig. Trump remains a major threat to our economy, our national security and our democracy. That he is grossly incompetent and can't organize a two car parade doesn't mean he can't start a nuclear war with North Korea or rob the national treasury or destroy our national parks and the environment or kill Big Bird. Mr. Brooks, you defy reason in your Trumpian apologia.
20
There must be two Trumps, I don't recognize the one you are writing about.
5
David,
Read your Timothy Egan's column in your paper posted today. It gives a balance to your rather slick article.
Read your Timothy Egan's column in your paper posted today. It gives a balance to your rather slick article.
5
Please, give Flynn immunity and let him testify.
1
Fifty years ago when the USA was looking to the future and we were stuck in the past the bete noir of the the Canadian literary establishment Irving Layton wrote "What power ignorance that makes your possessors seem so strong."
America needs at least ten voices shouting Layton's words. Layton was no liberal and ignorance has many homes. Yes Trump is a danger but McConnell, Ryan, Pelosi and Shumer are equally dangerous and it is 2017 and we need an army of Obamas to escape the hellhole of ignorance.
Let us start with August 15 1971 and Nixon abrogation of Bretton Woods when any idiot with the money and influence could become an international money maven.
America needs at least ten voices shouting Layton's words. Layton was no liberal and ignorance has many homes. Yes Trump is a danger but McConnell, Ryan, Pelosi and Shumer are equally dangerous and it is 2017 and we need an army of Obamas to escape the hellhole of ignorance.
Let us start with August 15 1971 and Nixon abrogation of Bretton Woods when any idiot with the money and influence could become an international money maven.
2
• Many of us Trump critics set our outrage level at 11. The Trump threat was virulent, and therefore the response had to be virulent as well.
“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness”
~ SAMUEL BECKETT
I'm board with D.T. and the 'exceptional' U.S.A.
Worth reading in today's NYT:
• New York Firefighters Say a Final Goodbye to a Brother in Blue
• Obituaries: Benjamin R. Barber and Martha Lavey
• An Arkansas Community Looks for an Execution to End Its Ache
• United Airlines Reaches Settlement With Passenger Who Was Dragged Off Plane
• Mass Die-Off of Whales in Atlantic Is Being Investigated
• Bill O'Reilly and the Revenge of Chick Lit
"That's all folks!"
Now, put your paper down, spread it out and 'wrap the fish'.
“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.” ~ EDWARD ABBEY
“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness”
~ SAMUEL BECKETT
I'm board with D.T. and the 'exceptional' U.S.A.
Worth reading in today's NYT:
• New York Firefighters Say a Final Goodbye to a Brother in Blue
• Obituaries: Benjamin R. Barber and Martha Lavey
• An Arkansas Community Looks for an Execution to End Its Ache
• United Airlines Reaches Settlement With Passenger Who Was Dragged Off Plane
• Mass Die-Off of Whales in Atlantic Is Being Investigated
• Bill O'Reilly and the Revenge of Chick Lit
"That's all folks!"
Now, put your paper down, spread it out and 'wrap the fish'.
“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.” ~ EDWARD ABBEY
2
Trump appears to be heavily dependent on the congress for domestic policies and the military for foreign policies. Maybe, David sees this as a good thing. I certainly don't.
I general, the GOP policies appear to be cruel to the poor and elderly and the military is overly militaristic.
I general, the GOP policies appear to be cruel to the poor and elderly and the military is overly militaristic.
3
I said back in November, Trump's incompetence may save us--if it doesn't kill us first. History shows us that would-be strong men who are failing have a propensity for going to war to puff up their image and rally the less-thoughtful patriots behind them. With Trump's TV mindset, I'm sure he would imagine that a war could be wrapped up in a one-hour episode, or at most a five-episode mini-series, with him emerging as the triumphant hero.
1
The threat of a devastating event happening is now heightened and now we don't have two minutes to midnight but seconds. King Trump is not rational and definitely delusional. Now we have two delusional leaders with the finger on The Weapon, the nightmare our founding fathers realized when they designed the Constitution is happening, thus the reason for the division of power. Too bad this is not a SNL skit then we can all laugh. Alas, it is not.
3
I like David Brooks, but hasn't he spent the last year-plus poo-pooing Trump and suggesting that critics are overreacting? I understand the benefits of staying calm in an urgent situation. But this commentary and the attitude it expresses seems more like aloofness than wisdom. But I wonder what exactly it will take for Mr. Brooks to *feel* and fully comprehend the threat Trump and pro-Trumpists represent to this country?
4
"the real danger is everyday ineptitude"
On the contrary, that is Trump's saving grace. His inability to get legislation passed on zombie Trumpcare , funding for the border wall and, I predict, his self serving tax plan is the the most encouraging part of his presidency.
On the contrary, that is Trump's saving grace. His inability to get legislation passed on zombie Trumpcare , funding for the border wall and, I predict, his self serving tax plan is the the most encouraging part of his presidency.
3
I have a number of objections to Mr. Brooks’ evaluations here. I’ll pick just one to respond to. In order to be non-threatening to other countries would require those countries to risk not taking Trump at his word. Are we to believe that other countries are sophisticated enough to parse that out for themselves? (think Kim Jong Un here)
1
As things now stand we need to be more worried about the Trump's cabinet than Trump himself. I was initially horrified at Trump, but now I'm more worried about Betsy DeVos, Jess Sessions, the supreme court and what's going to happen to the EPA.
3
Problem numero uno: Over the course of his (hopefully) only term of office the chances are good that The Donald will have the opportunity to fill at least two more US Supreme Court vacancies. With the Republican senate employing the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster of judicial nominees, this means that The Donald and the current radical Republican Party will have a shot at fundamentally reshaping the Supreme Court. In that event, this pond skater will have a huge effect, and it will not be good.
2
I disagree. He is an existential threat to institutions, credibility and simple decency. He is capable of massive damage and pain and we must be vigilant.
6
I disagree that Trump will have little effect. True, in some areas he may not be as damaging as we feared - being held in check by other forces - but he threatens major setbacks in the areas of environment and conservation.
5
So glad to read the many comments here as the column nearly took my breath away. Normalizing crazy does not lessen the danger, I would propose it increases the danger.
Outrage level? I'm with those who are keeping it high- not great for my blood pressure, but the future is at stake here.
Outrage level? I'm with those who are keeping it high- not great for my blood pressure, but the future is at stake here.
4
Mr. Brooks, denial is a very powerful defense.
And it looks like it got the best of you.
For our democracy to survive and actually recover from the dehiscence we are witnessing, we need the civic, political and moral courage to keep our eyes wide open, not the vacuous solace of denial.
And it looks like it got the best of you.
For our democracy to survive and actually recover from the dehiscence we are witnessing, we need the civic, political and moral courage to keep our eyes wide open, not the vacuous solace of denial.
6
One can only hope that the "little effect" of Trump applies equally to you Mr Brooks. I shake with rage at Outrage Level 89 for your easy dismissal of the damage this man is doing.
Though maybe I've got you all wrong & this is an attempt to stir the pot; reminding us that the cost of normalizing this man's clownish ineptitude blinds us to the dangers of the swampy waters he has soaking in.
Though maybe I've got you all wrong & this is an attempt to stir the pot; reminding us that the cost of normalizing this man's clownish ineptitude blinds us to the dangers of the swampy waters he has soaking in.
5
Maybe the threat posed by a totally ignorant and authoritarian wannabe president has declined somewhat, but the fact that he has already appointed a Koch brothers/Federalist Society-approved justice to the Supreme Court who will continue to misinterpret the constitution for another generation means that the damage he's already done is substantial and lasting.
But even more troubling is the effect this president has had on the institution once known as the Republican Party. They once stood for for something: family values, fiscal conservatism, the illusion, at least, of a commitment to honesty, personal integrity, compassion for the less fortunate and the public good.
In a mere 100 days they have all become Trumpublicans. Enablers and purveyors of greed, corruption, incompetence, dysfunction, xenophobia, misogyny and a foreign government's meddling in our elections.
David Brooks' advice? "Don't worry, be happy."
But even more troubling is the effect this president has had on the institution once known as the Republican Party. They once stood for for something: family values, fiscal conservatism, the illusion, at least, of a commitment to honesty, personal integrity, compassion for the less fortunate and the public good.
In a mere 100 days they have all become Trumpublicans. Enablers and purveyors of greed, corruption, incompetence, dysfunction, xenophobia, misogyny and a foreign government's meddling in our elections.
David Brooks' advice? "Don't worry, be happy."
5
Trump may be a "pond skater" to Mr. Brooks, but the problem is that his true believers think he WALKS ON WATER. With enough evidence in, the fact that 96% of his voters would vote for him again is a sign that we have a bigly American problem.
I believe Brooks' expression of accommodationist sentiments about Trump are entirely wrong-headed. The damage that Trump is doing to America appears to be lasting and deep.
He is permanently harming the American order by destabilizing our knowledge base. His constant expression of conspiratorial theories, and his denunciation of science, the media, and the judiciary, are a path of destruction that is creating lasting damage to our democracy.
Brooks' essay is completely opposite of my own intution. When Trump was elected I thought he was a clownish gadfly. I thought of Trump as a cartoon character created by television. Trump and Pence seemed like "Rocky and Bullwinkle." I thought America was mostly looking for a good laugh.
I thought most of his voters were along for the ride as a national protest against government ineptitude. I thought that we would point to his obvious lack of pants, giggle, and move on. My Outrage Level after his election was a 4. I was outraged that someone so boorish about women could win the vote of ...women. But I was not surprised by his election because of the ineptitude of his oppostion.
Now, my Outrage Level is at 9. He is far more dangerous that I thought last November.
I believe Brooks' expression of accommodationist sentiments about Trump are entirely wrong-headed. The damage that Trump is doing to America appears to be lasting and deep.
He is permanently harming the American order by destabilizing our knowledge base. His constant expression of conspiratorial theories, and his denunciation of science, the media, and the judiciary, are a path of destruction that is creating lasting damage to our democracy.
Brooks' essay is completely opposite of my own intution. When Trump was elected I thought he was a clownish gadfly. I thought of Trump as a cartoon character created by television. Trump and Pence seemed like "Rocky and Bullwinkle." I thought America was mostly looking for a good laugh.
I thought most of his voters were along for the ride as a national protest against government ineptitude. I thought that we would point to his obvious lack of pants, giggle, and move on. My Outrage Level after his election was a 4. I was outraged that someone so boorish about women could win the vote of ...women. But I was not surprised by his election because of the ineptitude of his oppostion.
Now, my Outrage Level is at 9. He is far more dangerous that I thought last November.
6
Sir!, You wish we had a President with real convictions and knowledge, etc. Are you kidding? That is the only kind of President we should have. We are losing our values right there in the White House. He is a liar and a fraud and he is dangerous to our standing in the world. I worry every day for what we are losing and for the division in our society. I long for a Congress who cares enough about our values instead of their power plays. I long for the best statesman to fill the office of the greatest idea for Democracy ever devised.
David Brooks, your eternal optimism will get you and us in trouble. Trump will eventually show his true narcissistic colors and do something so outrageous that you can't normalize it. He is dangerous and unpredictable. That is not a recipe for peace or posiive diplomacy.
Take off your rose colored glasses and look at what the Republican party is. They will not rein him in, they will not confront his foolish and ill timed tweets. What will it take to give them the courage that a group of them had when it was clear that Nixon was in real trouble and they finally told him that it was time to go home?
Take off your rose colored glasses and look at what the Republican party is. They will not rein him in, they will not confront his foolish and ill timed tweets. What will it take to give them the courage that a group of them had when it was clear that Nixon was in real trouble and they finally told him that it was time to go home?
3
Maybe it's like a 15 round fight and the first rounds haven't been that consequential. trump is adapting to the ring and is not that smart of a fighter but that doesn't mean that the fight is over. Brooks, writing for the New York Times, surely knows that you don't let your guard down in the early rounds. The fact that his last column jabbed with the Jane Addams punch indicates that we are at just the beginning. You have to watch out for this American president. There are signs that all might not be as well as Brooks thinks. The campaign, which wasn't that long ago, saw hatred and ugliness used at unprecedented levels. It's latent now, but it hasn't gone anywhere.
"Don’t get me wrong. I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge, and who was interested in delivering real good to real Americans. But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
Well,If you happen to be blind this ridiculous attempt at metaphor may mean something. Unfortunately, the "effects" of the--I would not say outrageous, just ignorant-- actions that Trump has taken and is taking everyday, are resonating in the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world.And if by chance his criminally cruel idea for health care and tax gifts to the already bloated rich, including himself and his personal set of groupies, ever get into actual law the "effects" will be pain ten fold for more millions of us.
This naive streak of sentimentality that you harbor, David, is seriously interfering with your vision.
Well,If you happen to be blind this ridiculous attempt at metaphor may mean something. Unfortunately, the "effects" of the--I would not say outrageous, just ignorant-- actions that Trump has taken and is taking everyday, are resonating in the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world.And if by chance his criminally cruel idea for health care and tax gifts to the already bloated rich, including himself and his personal set of groupies, ever get into actual law the "effects" will be pain ten fold for more millions of us.
This naive streak of sentimentality that you harbor, David, is seriously interfering with your vision.
2
Brooks wants the outrage to be "proportionate" but is unable to offer a single unequivocally redeeming act by this president over the past 100 days to support his argument that Trump's critics overreact. When a "political pond skater" is not a little creature that flits, but a 900 pound noise-making, chest-pounding gorilla -- trust me -- whatever he crashes into along the way WILL be affected.
3
If he's a pond skater, the ice is very thin by now. Its getting warmer, faster, and its melting--and when he breaks through, he could take much of the rest of us down with him. That's the only part of this metaphor I can buy into....
2
It takes a whole lot of privilege to see Donald J. Trump as no big deal, threat-wise. Brooks sees it that way because unlike the less privileged, he'll never feel the effects of a Trump presidency.
3
I disagree with you completely, David. The trump threat level is not at level 11. It has just risen to level 15. He is in command of an aircraft carrier which is a very complex powerful but huge vessel. I.E., the U.S.A. executive branch. Well, he thinks he is in control of his own yacht cruising in whatever directions he chooses. But he does not understand the differences between the aircraft carrier and his yacht. And he has no one who can effectively help him to run the aircraft carrier either. Even with competent officers next to him at the bridge to offer him sound advices, he probably won't be able to take them because of his vanity or ignorance. Hmm, given that he likes to run the ship with "executive orders", anyone would want to wager that he won't order to send a strike air group to show the perceived enemy how great our military might is; or just to show off his control of the ship in unfamiliar territories before it runs aground? No, he is not a pond-skater. A pond-skater is a weak opportunistic feeder. He is opportunistic but he is not weak. He is in command of power. Watch out diligently.
1
The only thing correct about this piece is comparing Trump to an insect. Cockroach would be the better analogy though....or brown recluse or carpenter ant or killer bee or anything other than a benign pond skater.
A pond skater who might destroy the Paris accord, sell of our national lands and gut the EPA is more than pretty bad.
1
Wow, Mr. Brooks. You sound almost complacent. I find that position untenable -- even for a "mild" conservative in light of the people Trump has surrounded himself with: a sea of older white men -- okay, some not so older, merely incompetent -- whose most communicated goals and actions taken to this point include upending civil society, irreparably harming the earth and undoing human rights. As a jumping off point.
If Trump is skating on a pond, he is doing so because he has left uncaring, unskilled, rather heartless plutocrats in the warming house who have sent him outside while they count their gold and scheme to make the world a more menacing, lethal and difficult place for those who cannot pas through anything in their lives, especially if they are women, not white and Christian and care about anything other than having gilded objects around themselves.
Just because Trump arrived in the White House by lying about everything and threatening to take apart the country (aided by Democrats in disarray in disarray, denial, deafness and ignorance) -- and hasn't been able to live up to his menacing, lurid, despotic promises doesn't mean that anyone should feel good about an administration attempting to destroy the most important principles most Americans hold dear, even if they didn't realize it before this election -- no matter what party defines their political beliefs.
If Trump is skating on a pond, he is doing so because he has left uncaring, unskilled, rather heartless plutocrats in the warming house who have sent him outside while they count their gold and scheme to make the world a more menacing, lethal and difficult place for those who cannot pas through anything in their lives, especially if they are women, not white and Christian and care about anything other than having gilded objects around themselves.
Just because Trump arrived in the White House by lying about everything and threatening to take apart the country (aided by Democrats in disarray in disarray, denial, deafness and ignorance) -- and hasn't been able to live up to his menacing, lurid, despotic promises doesn't mean that anyone should feel good about an administration attempting to destroy the most important principles most Americans hold dear, even if they didn't realize it before this election -- no matter what party defines their political beliefs.
His incompetence is our best protection but he will still do a lot of damage. We must be vigilant because the Republicans will do their best to squeeze in outrageous acts against the common man to please their puppet masters.
1
Utter and complete tripe. Nonsense. He is dismantling government, pure and simple. The biggest threat to civilization is wealth inequality, he is feeding it raw meat and steroids. And weath inequality has never been corrected withou violence, death and huge disruption.
Expect a nuclear war, and he will be outfoxed by many of our enemies, he is incapable of thinking past the end of his nose.
And there are three supremes over 80. This is not going to end well.
I've never had a very high opinion of your work, I will no longer bother to read it.
Expect a nuclear war, and he will be outfoxed by many of our enemies, he is incapable of thinking past the end of his nose.
And there are three supremes over 80. This is not going to end well.
I've never had a very high opinion of your work, I will no longer bother to read it.
1
Oh, it isn't hard to maintain outrage for the pond skater. Too simple and shallow is this analogy. When American lives are at stake because of a president who behaves and speaks like a child, we need to ramp up the outrage. He is a loose cannon with no previous experience with thinking before speaking. With every irresponsible tweet or declaration, ALL of us are at risk. Don't get complacent, Mr. Brooks. Please.
I don't disagree with your analysis of Trump. I had noticed it myself. I no longer need to watch the late night comics to lower my stress level. He is just an old guy who doesn't really have the stamina to go full on fascist. Thank goodness. I wish there was a way for him to honorable go back to being a real estate guy. He would be happier and we would also.
I wish you didn't feel you have to trash the opposition so much. I myself cannot just relax into bad government. The planet is heating up and its a crisis. I can't forget that and pretend it is just another regrettable thing. The natural world used to be a source of strength to me. I would look at is as the enduring background to my life. It would be there when I was gone. I no longer believe that and Trump's incompetence is not just bumbling but existentially lethal.
I wish you didn't feel you have to trash the opposition so much. I myself cannot just relax into bad government. The planet is heating up and its a crisis. I can't forget that and pretend it is just another regrettable thing. The natural world used to be a source of strength to me. I would look at is as the enduring background to my life. It would be there when I was gone. I no longer believe that and Trump's incompetence is not just bumbling but existentially lethal.
2
"one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go."
Mr. Brooks, how sanguine of you. My view is that Trump has defecated on our political process and desecrated the office he now occupies. The harm he has already done is incalculable. The United States will likely recover but the process is going to be long and arduous.
Mr. Brooks, how sanguine of you. My view is that Trump has defecated on our political process and desecrated the office he now occupies. The harm he has already done is incalculable. The United States will likely recover but the process is going to be long and arduous.
2
The "Pond-Skater" is going to find the ice growing thinner and thinner, and hopefully, this totally inept and joke of a President will fall through the cracks. The longer this aberration stays in office, the worse things will get.
Donald Trump is an insult, and is fouling the office he holds. He doesn't deserve the respect or the honor that goes with the office of President of the United States of America. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment.
Donald Trump is an insult, and is fouling the office he holds. He doesn't deserve the respect or the honor that goes with the office of President of the United States of America. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment.
Mr. Brooks, you are smart enough to know that what you are writing is at best an apologia for Trump and at worst hogwash. Just because Trump is a shallow and superficial man does not mean he can't do lasting damage to this country. Foreign leaders now know he is a completely malleable individual who obviously spend no time learning anything from the permanent staffs of the U.S. government. That does not make us safer or more secure. On domestic issues, he has no depth either and is driven by an insatiable desire to be popular, a combination that can wreak great harm.
No, Mr. Brooks, we still must be alarmed that Trump is president - and we must be especially vigilant when people as intelligent as you begin to purr that everything's going to be okay.
No, Mr. Brooks, we still must be alarmed that Trump is president - and we must be especially vigilant when people as intelligent as you begin to purr that everything's going to be okay.
"Trump has mostly switched from being a subversive populist to being a conventional corporatist."
There was NO populist Trump , only a con to get some votes. His objective has always been due to his mental sickness as identified in the DSM-5:
Symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder(Formerly megalomania)
The definition of NPD states that it comprises of a persistent manner of grandiosity, a continuous desire for admiration, along with a lack of empathy. It starts by early adulthood and occurs in a range of situations, as signified by the existence of any 5 of the next 9 standards (American Psychiatric Association, 2013):
1/ A grandiose logic of self-importance.
2/ A fixation with fantasies of infinite success, control, brilliance, beauty, or idyllic love.
3/A credence that he or she is extraordinary and exceptional and can only be understood by, or should connect with, other extraordinary or important people or institutions.
4/A desire for unwarranted admiration.
5/A sense of entitlement.
6/Interpersonally oppressive behavior.
7/No form of empathy.
8/Resentment of others or a conviction that others are resentful of him or her.
9/A display of egotistical and conceited behaviors or attitudes
When you look at the above criteria for NPD, where you only need to exhibit 5 of the 9 standards for this disease, Trump hits every mark.
David read up on it.
There was NO populist Trump , only a con to get some votes. His objective has always been due to his mental sickness as identified in the DSM-5:
Symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder(Formerly megalomania)
The definition of NPD states that it comprises of a persistent manner of grandiosity, a continuous desire for admiration, along with a lack of empathy. It starts by early adulthood and occurs in a range of situations, as signified by the existence of any 5 of the next 9 standards (American Psychiatric Association, 2013):
1/ A grandiose logic of self-importance.
2/ A fixation with fantasies of infinite success, control, brilliance, beauty, or idyllic love.
3/A credence that he or she is extraordinary and exceptional and can only be understood by, or should connect with, other extraordinary or important people or institutions.
4/A desire for unwarranted admiration.
5/A sense of entitlement.
6/Interpersonally oppressive behavior.
7/No form of empathy.
8/Resentment of others or a conviction that others are resentful of him or her.
9/A display of egotistical and conceited behaviors or attitudes
When you look at the above criteria for NPD, where you only need to exhibit 5 of the 9 standards for this disease, Trump hits every mark.
David read up on it.
1
Excuse me, but this man/child is not a political pond skater, he can't even skate! It's very easy to maintain my outrage at this fool for what he is doing, and will do, to our country.
At 75 I thought I had seen it all but I know I haven't seen anything yet. Very sad! Horrifying!
At 75 I thought I had seen it all but I know I haven't seen anything yet. Very sad! Horrifying!
"But it’s hard to maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater — one of those little creatures that flit across the surface, sort of fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go." He is not a little creature, he is the President of the Free World. He is rolling back EPA rules and climate change initiatives with Executive Orders. He is frightening our allies with his unhinged declarations. And it is only 100 days! And yes, he is mind numbingly inept. Lives will be altered by this, Mr. Brooks and it isn't cute.
I must say I do not agree he has normalized himself.
This morning I was shocked that despite being advised by substantial generals, he was still being provocative about North Korea, started picking on South Korea, and seems all over the map on trying to act like the tough guy.
He just throws out threats, and fights with our allies. Warning of a "major, major conflict" with Korea????
This is way too provocative.
Clearly he is war mongerer in chief and a belligerent militant aggressor.
He has not toned it down, and remains impulsive, unpredictable, and prone to bullying nations and corporations.
These kind of articles bother me. He has not magically become presidential.
He talks in absurd superlatives that tell us nothing. He still is covering up his ties to Russia as evidenced how he's handling the Flynn documents.
Nothing has changed at all.
I am disappointed, Mr. Brooks.
This morning I was shocked that despite being advised by substantial generals, he was still being provocative about North Korea, started picking on South Korea, and seems all over the map on trying to act like the tough guy.
He just throws out threats, and fights with our allies. Warning of a "major, major conflict" with Korea????
This is way too provocative.
Clearly he is war mongerer in chief and a belligerent militant aggressor.
He has not toned it down, and remains impulsive, unpredictable, and prone to bullying nations and corporations.
These kind of articles bother me. He has not magically become presidential.
He talks in absurd superlatives that tell us nothing. He still is covering up his ties to Russia as evidenced how he's handling the Flynn documents.
Nothing has changed at all.
I am disappointed, Mr. Brooks.
This this sounds like Ross Douthats "It Could Be Worse" column.
Seriously? Conservatives are trying to normalize "merely inadequate" and that is something that I will never, never accept.
Try, just try putting that shoe on the other foot and tell me what the response would be if the Russian links and the conflicts of interest happened in a Hillary administration. I can tell you: we'd already have President Kaine.
Seriously? Conservatives are trying to normalize "merely inadequate" and that is something that I will never, never accept.
Try, just try putting that shoe on the other foot and tell me what the response would be if the Russian links and the conflicts of interest happened in a Hillary administration. I can tell you: we'd already have President Kaine.
3
Mr Brooks thinks it's all fine now that the President is only acting like an incompetent Republican rather than an out-and-out sociopath.
Mr Brooks ignores, as he has from the moment the President announced his candidacy, that the party for whom this column and its author has endlessly shilled, created President Trump, just as it created candidate Trump. Trump's incompetence was winked at by the GOP, first under the assumption he couldn't win the nomination, then with the assumption they could just do whatever they wanted and he'd sign off on it.
Your party, Mr Brooks, is the real underlying danger. Your party thinks denying millions of people healthcare so that billionaires can pay lower taxes is OK. Some of them even think it is 'Christian'. Your party thinks climate change is not real. Your party thinks that clean air and drinkable water is just an excuse to burden business. Your party is slavishly devoted to an economics agenda that has failed every single time it has been tried. Your party thinks women's uteruses are the property of the state. Your party has openly courted racists for almost fifty years.
Your party, and you with column after column of tut-tutting about the Democrats, created Donald Trump and put him in the White House.
To blithely say that he is actually not as bad as we thought he'd be and shrug it off does not relieve you of your complicity.
No rest. No shrugs. The future the GOP wants is grim and excludes most Americans.
Resist.
Mr Brooks ignores, as he has from the moment the President announced his candidacy, that the party for whom this column and its author has endlessly shilled, created President Trump, just as it created candidate Trump. Trump's incompetence was winked at by the GOP, first under the assumption he couldn't win the nomination, then with the assumption they could just do whatever they wanted and he'd sign off on it.
Your party, Mr Brooks, is the real underlying danger. Your party thinks denying millions of people healthcare so that billionaires can pay lower taxes is OK. Some of them even think it is 'Christian'. Your party thinks climate change is not real. Your party thinks that clean air and drinkable water is just an excuse to burden business. Your party is slavishly devoted to an economics agenda that has failed every single time it has been tried. Your party thinks women's uteruses are the property of the state. Your party has openly courted racists for almost fifty years.
Your party, and you with column after column of tut-tutting about the Democrats, created Donald Trump and put him in the White House.
To blithely say that he is actually not as bad as we thought he'd be and shrug it off does not relieve you of your complicity.
No rest. No shrugs. The future the GOP wants is grim and excludes most Americans.
Resist.
1
This what happens went ignorance, greed and hate are honored.
2
"His foreign policy moves have..... exercised some restraint on North Korea." I guess you spoke too soon David, this morning he was imagining "all out war". I've yet to hear that from a President, going back to Ike.
1
"Dpn't get me wrong. I wish we had a president who had actual convictions and knowledge, and who was interested in delivering real good to real Americans."
We did have just such a president for the eight years prior to January 20, 2017.
We did have just such a president for the eight years prior to January 20, 2017.
1
Why, oh why, must Mr. Brooks continually mislead on the critical issue of taxes? First, he must be aware American corporations are awash in cash, as never before. Second, the tax rate has little to do with actual taxes paid, and if Mr. Brooks doesn't know it he certainly doesn't deserve his position.
It is time for the editors or someone else to refuse to print misleading cant such as that. If Americans heard the truth ("Profitable corporations paid U.S. income taxes amounting to just 12.6% of worldwide income in 2010." AFTF) instead of the 35% rate nonsense, these ridiculous tax plans would be laughed out of existence. Mr. Brooks should be held accountable. Opinions are one thing, lying (because that is what it amounts to) is quite another.
It is time for the editors or someone else to refuse to print misleading cant such as that. If Americans heard the truth ("Profitable corporations paid U.S. income taxes amounting to just 12.6% of worldwide income in 2010." AFTF) instead of the 35% rate nonsense, these ridiculous tax plans would be laughed out of existence. Mr. Brooks should be held accountable. Opinions are one thing, lying (because that is what it amounts to) is quite another.
2
I am not sure if hundred of thousands would agree that Trump is ineffective...
the deported mother of a disabled child
the women soon dying from defunding health clinics
those living on a stream polluted with coal run-off
the harried taxpayers poorer from paying for Trump's street closings and golf
the voters turned away from the polls
the thousands of soon-to-be unemployed EPA technicians
the ACA subscribers paying ever-higher medical and insurance bills
the frightened people of Seoul
the dead soldier and civilians in Yemen, and 200 more in one stray bombing
the insulted people of Mexico, Canada, Australia and Germany
the 63 million worried sick about their economic and security prospects
those injured or killed by new hate crimes
I don't know why Trump thinks his job is hard, he made all of these mindless grotesqueries look so easy, fun even. And it took far less than 100 days.
the deported mother of a disabled child
the women soon dying from defunding health clinics
those living on a stream polluted with coal run-off
the harried taxpayers poorer from paying for Trump's street closings and golf
the voters turned away from the polls
the thousands of soon-to-be unemployed EPA technicians
the ACA subscribers paying ever-higher medical and insurance bills
the frightened people of Seoul
the dead soldier and civilians in Yemen, and 200 more in one stray bombing
the insulted people of Mexico, Canada, Australia and Germany
the 63 million worried sick about their economic and security prospects
those injured or killed by new hate crimes
I don't know why Trump thinks his job is hard, he made all of these mindless grotesqueries look so easy, fun even. And it took far less than 100 days.
Trump hasn't changed a bit. Brooks seems to be letting his guard down, truly dangerous with a guy like Trump. He has no core convictions. He is easily influenced by some tweet or Fox news opinion or even the last person he has listened to.
1
I'm embarrassed that David Brooks has stooped to normalizing Donald Trump. What is normal about a President and purported "leaders of the free world" who embraces nepotism, corruption, secrecy and conflict of interest; degrades the rulings of experienced judges when they don't agree with his aggressively anti-immigrant and racist agenda; eviscerates the State Department and the EPA; disparages the conclusions of scientists who warm us of the geo-political and economic costs of climate change; and would happily reverse the gains that women from reproductive rights to equal pay.
I know a class of 5th graders who understand better than David Brooks that benign indifference is the same as approval.
I know a class of 5th graders who understand better than David Brooks that benign indifference is the same as approval.
Brooks is trying very hard to say something positive about Trump's candidacy and presidency, but he's holding on by his fingernails, and many
republicans have already dropped off.
Let it go, David, and tell it like it is: We
have a stupid pathological liar for a
President, and one can only hope that the few sane heads left in Congress will save us from the approaching disaster.
republicans have already dropped off.
Let it go, David, and tell it like it is: We
have a stupid pathological liar for a
President, and one can only hope that the few sane heads left in Congress will save us from the approaching disaster.
Donald Trump is not "normal", never has been "normal", and never will be "normal". To offer any argument against this is to fall into his world of fallacies. Brooks helped spawn this so-called president and he owns him lock, stock, and barrel.
Sorry Mr. Brooks, you missed it this time. Trump is no pond skater, he is a big splashing alligator in the swamp. GOP leaders are taking advantage of his lack of actual convictions and knowledge. His egocentric bluster with the world - friends and enemies alike - endangers our planet. His ineptitude would be cute if he wasn't the leader of the free world.
What's the matter, David? Can't stand the thought of the next 1300+ days living the script of a horror movie, so you stick your head in the sand?
This is NOT a normal presidency and nothing you or any other pundit says will make it one. Every day we are one step closer to an existential crisis, whether you are willing to recognize it or not. It only takes one dropped match to start a fire - or one incompetent misstep to ignite a world-wide conflagration.
The only way we'll get rid of this creep and his crew of incompetent, corrupt grifters and sycophants is to keep the heat on - high. And that isn't difficult while reading this kind of breezy, apologist fare.
This is NOT a normal presidency and nothing you or any other pundit says will make it one. Every day we are one step closer to an existential crisis, whether you are willing to recognize it or not. It only takes one dropped match to start a fire - or one incompetent misstep to ignite a world-wide conflagration.
The only way we'll get rid of this creep and his crew of incompetent, corrupt grifters and sycophants is to keep the heat on - high. And that isn't difficult while reading this kind of breezy, apologist fare.
Brooks does a good job trying to pass off his early misreading of Trump. However, most of those to whom he spoke knew all along that he was, perhaps, a bombastic, self-aggrandizing boor, but not a bigoted, racist misogynist, and that he spoke truths missed or hidden by the PC members of the political and media class, such as Brooks himself. It remains to be seen whether Brooks will be eating his current words on Trump a few years hence, but he apparently has not learned his lesson.
Wrong Mr. Brooks he's an incompetent swamp-skater who's capable of doing a "tremendous" amount of damage. Especially with foolish Republican congressional members backing him. He may be in a sort of remission right now, but the cancer is still very much present. This is not a time to back off, or wait and see. Far too much is at risk.
Written by somebody who's never been sexually harassed our had his whatever grabbed. Trump is an affront to me and millions like me. My outrage will remain until he is gone and you Mr. Brooks will obviously never understand it.
It is unfortunate that Donald Trump is too young or too stupid to understand that there are NO SMALL NUCLEAR wars. Any conflict with nuclear weapons will involve, dircetly or indirectly, the entire world. Either directly or through multi-years of radioactive fallout. There will be NO WINNER !!!!
The less effect he has, the better off the country will be.
3
It's Brooks vs Krugman again at the Times. I'd say Krugman won the day. Krugman's sense of reality seems to be based on, well, reality, not an ice cream high. Brooks gives us a naive, feel-good overview that passes for wisdom. Open your eyes David, not your heart - that part's OK. d. trumps's presidency likely means the lives of most Americans will get harder with each passing year. On the international front, China's rise will likely accelerate; they already seem to be the only adult in the room. Too bad such fluid writing is wasted on such pollyannaish ideas.
10
Sorry David, but youre all Trumpublicans now, and I dont trust what anybody who has no respect for the truth has to say. Not true hes less dangerous than we thought at "outrage level 11". Just because the sheer incompetence of this dumpster fire of an administration cant stop shooting themselves and their ultra right wing, corporatist Trumpublican agenda in the foot, doesnt mean we can lower the outrage level. The danger with North Korea, the hidden connections and obligations to Russia, Flynns crimes, all the lies, and the cryptofascism, is all still there. You just dont care, because like all Trumpublicans, youre just waiting for your tax cuts.
4
I encourage Mr. Brooks to read Paul Krugman's editorial. It is lucid and analytical. Is it an "11"? I don't think so. Not quite. But neither does it gloss over the amount of damage this child in the white house has alredy done to the US. Shame on Mr. Brooks. He's becoming a trump apologist.
11
(His wife, retired Professor of English)
Why assume that incompetence and fascism are incompatible?
This man has no principles and no inhibitions, as the campaign showed, against the vilest anti-Antisemitism, the crudest fear-mongering, and the most vulgar predation on women.
You don't have to be deeply, satanically evil to skate us right into a war in Korea or break up harmless Mexican-American families.
Why assume that incompetence and fascism are incompatible?
This man has no principles and no inhibitions, as the campaign showed, against the vilest anti-Antisemitism, the crudest fear-mongering, and the most vulgar predation on women.
You don't have to be deeply, satanically evil to skate us right into a war in Korea or break up harmless Mexican-American families.
7
Sorry David, a thousand times "no". The vile con man got his position through treason - you know that Flynn's 'story to tell' is about Trump. When people suggest immunity, it is because they have a bigger fish to offer the authorities.
We are not going to let go of our outrage until he is out of office. Sorry to disappoint you.
We are not going to let go of our outrage until he is out of office. Sorry to disappoint you.
7
The self-congratulatory tone of this column is appalling. Mr. Brooks hasn't supported the idea of a president interested in delivering real good to real Americans since he landed on the NYT op-ed page. His blinkered support of GOP policy initiatives belies his new-found distaste for, inter alia, tax plans that are sugar sculptures--what else does Paul Ryan put together? Keep patting yourself on the back, Mr. Brooks, for being an early Trump critic--it's your lone moment of critical sanity in decades.
5
Wrong. There are unabashed racists and bigots shaping policy in the White House and implementing it at the Justice Department. There are climate-change deniers at the EPA. And incompetents -- at best -- sprinkled across the rest of this administration. What else could that be, but a threat to our nation itself?
7
Sorry, David, but this is perhaps your worst, and most dangerous column ever. Fortunately, as I read through the comments this morning, hardly anyone is taking you seriously. Shame on you for normalizing this monster and trivializing his dystopian effect on our beloved nation.
10
Evidently David has never heard of the "butterfly effect."
3
Humble?? Until this bratty little man-child lets go off his Twitter addiction like some attention starved teenage celebrity, he will never be more than the snake oil selling infomercial that he is.
N. Korea, David? Trump's statements this morning.......12.
5
Even Brooks, who presents himself as a "rational" right winger, is unable to produce a column without sneering at the "unhinged left, etc. etc." He shares this twitch with Rush, Sean, Ann Coulter et al.
"These days a lot of the criticism seems over the top and credibility destroying. The “resistance movement” still reacts as if atavistic fascism were just at the door, when the real danger is everyday ineptitude."
No David--the danger is greater and more imminent than you allow. Mt "hyperventilation" is not only about incompetence, it's about:
not only turning a blind eye to climate change, but an ongoing argument that the work of thousands of reputable scientists is "a hoax"
Trump's gleeful dismantling of worker safety regulations--a fait accompli
his withdrawal of global funding for women's health care and his threat to do the same here in our "homeland"
his war on immigrants
his undoing of a century of protecting federal lands and creation of national parks so that we can drill, baby drill--a childish and willful slap in the face to those who would mitigate climate change......a slap in the face with the same intellectual rigor as the "rolling coal" idiots
a propensity to be true to Republican principles that you share--cut taxes for the rich, followed by a deficit catastrophe. followed by "we have to cut entitlements"
Trump has already done great harm. In just 100 days--more will follow. But in your world, opposition is always "unhinged".
"These days a lot of the criticism seems over the top and credibility destroying. The “resistance movement” still reacts as if atavistic fascism were just at the door, when the real danger is everyday ineptitude."
No David--the danger is greater and more imminent than you allow. Mt "hyperventilation" is not only about incompetence, it's about:
not only turning a blind eye to climate change, but an ongoing argument that the work of thousands of reputable scientists is "a hoax"
Trump's gleeful dismantling of worker safety regulations--a fait accompli
his withdrawal of global funding for women's health care and his threat to do the same here in our "homeland"
his war on immigrants
his undoing of a century of protecting federal lands and creation of national parks so that we can drill, baby drill--a childish and willful slap in the face to those who would mitigate climate change......a slap in the face with the same intellectual rigor as the "rolling coal" idiots
a propensity to be true to Republican principles that you share--cut taxes for the rich, followed by a deficit catastrophe. followed by "we have to cut entitlements"
Trump has already done great harm. In just 100 days--more will follow. But in your world, opposition is always "unhinged".
5
"Little effect"?!?!? How about climate change as an enduring effect? And what about lifetime tenure on the Supreme Court?? You are usually so careful, David, about what you say but you really blew it this time.
3
But at least he's not that Socialist Obama.!!!!!
1
I suppose an article like this was inevitable. The media warming to a threat that hasn't materialized (totally, anyway) and assuming the danger is past. Get it into your heads - the threat is ver much still there.
3
Hey Brooks, open your eyes. Maybe the reason Trump hasn't been as horrible as anticipated is BECAUSE of the intense resistance he has engendered. And despite his lack of effectiveness and the obvious pressures pushing him towards normality, he is still an awful hate filled ignorant man.
5
The NTY actually is quite despicable! Here's a reply comment I made:
It's the scientific method that's at risk as long as scientific skepticism is denied. My logic is impeccable (as is my language and structure.)
And here's what they printed:
It's the scientific method that's at risk as long as scientific skeptisim is denied. My logic is impeccible (as is my language structure.)
It's the scientific method that's at risk as long as scientific skepticism is denied. My logic is impeccable (as is my language and structure.)
And here's what they printed:
It's the scientific method that's at risk as long as scientific skeptisim is denied. My logic is impeccible (as is my language structure.)
Also, they break up critical arguments (when adverse to their bias), e.g. to this idiotic comment: “There are no bona fide skeptics on this issue.” they censored my reply: “And just what does denying that you need skeptics make you? Answer: a pseudo scientist.”
This piece has the whiff of "famous last words."
3
Brooks, you have got to be kidding. Or you've got to be ignored. One or the other.
This so called president must never be allowed to normal. If people in your line of work do not see the direct connection between him and despotism, if not fascism, and do not keep the public informed about that connection our democracy is over.
If people like you in your line of work just want to focus on something else because the outrage meter is stuck on 11 then perhaps you should find a new line of work.
Remember that in a fascist state reporters are generally out of work and in prison.
This so called president must never be allowed to normal. If people in your line of work do not see the direct connection between him and despotism, if not fascism, and do not keep the public informed about that connection our democracy is over.
If people like you in your line of work just want to focus on something else because the outrage meter is stuck on 11 then perhaps you should find a new line of work.
Remember that in a fascist state reporters are generally out of work and in prison.
3
Mr. Brooks:
Can't wait for your column on Satan's reformation. Give the devil his due?
Can't wait for your column on Satan's reformation. Give the devil his due?
4
Brooks is right about the man -- a rudderless, pathetic little worm bereft of human empathy -- but it's no cause for relief, and certainly not for celebration. We're stuck with an evil idiot, and our nation is dragged down farther with every tweet from this twit.
5
Mr. Brooks, you are just another apologist for Trump.
7
This is another effete scribble from Percy Dovetonsils ensconced in his ivory tower whilst clutching his threadbare conservative teddy bear and convincing himself that everything out there wrought by the abjectly corrupt Republican establishment and this vile president is benign. What a cozy little bubble you live in, David.
3
"Parts of the Trump economic policy agenda are pretty good — corporate tax rates are indeed too high."
Maybe on paper but in reality they're very low. The proof is that Wall St. has had a very tepid reaction to Trump's proposals, likely because a 15% rate would actually increase what they pay now.
Maybe on paper but in reality they're very low. The proof is that Wall St. has had a very tepid reaction to Trump's proposals, likely because a 15% rate would actually increase what they pay now.
2
There is still plenty that can go wrong with the Trump approach to just about everything. The problem is that he is threatening all of the time. We don't really know if he needs Congressional approval to destroy NAFTA, or whether he needs approval to diminish the size of some of the national monuments, or what he needs for much of his one-man wreaking crew agenda. He shoots first and asks questions later; we just don't know if he is going to hit anything.
1
According to Mr. Brooks, we should dial back our outrage over Trump from 11 to 3 or 4. Such a position regards Trump’s overall incompetence with a certain degree of relief and acquiescence. Two days ago, Ross Douthat, in his op-ed “It Could Be Worse” argued that Trump wasn't as bad as Douthat's worst fears about him. At the 100 days mark, the NYTimes' two conservative pundits have been busy trying to normalize the occupant of the White House.
I will admit to a certain degree of Trump fatigue. The daily lies, and reversals and posturing wear one down, but then I am reminded of everything that is at stake. Last week I was in Hong Kong as Trump was making noises about the U.S. relationship with China, and staking out actions to contain the threat of N. Korea. First came his climb down from the errant position that China was a currency manipulator. Then came his claim that the USS Vinson carrier group was heading to N. Korea. Except it wasn’t. It was an unnerving week, watching this man stumble across the world stage.
It is often said that Americans get the politicians they deserve. In that case, it might indeed be appropriate to set the outrage level at 3 or 4 and take our lumps. However, the damage Trump does extends far beyond his flailing domestic agenda; the rest of the world does not deserve Trump. Viewing him from across the Pacific, it was clear to me that this man is a global menace. For the sake of the planet, my outrage will stay at 11.
I will admit to a certain degree of Trump fatigue. The daily lies, and reversals and posturing wear one down, but then I am reminded of everything that is at stake. Last week I was in Hong Kong as Trump was making noises about the U.S. relationship with China, and staking out actions to contain the threat of N. Korea. First came his climb down from the errant position that China was a currency manipulator. Then came his claim that the USS Vinson carrier group was heading to N. Korea. Except it wasn’t. It was an unnerving week, watching this man stumble across the world stage.
It is often said that Americans get the politicians they deserve. In that case, it might indeed be appropriate to set the outrage level at 3 or 4 and take our lumps. However, the damage Trump does extends far beyond his flailing domestic agenda; the rest of the world does not deserve Trump. Viewing him from across the Pacific, it was clear to me that this man is a global menace. For the sake of the planet, my outrage will stay at 11.
2
Ah, but anyone who knew Trump when he was just a NYC figure of amusement knew he was bluster and fake competence (fake billionaire,too). The real risk always was the likes of Ryan and McConnell, and the extremists that Trump enables, or has anointed in Cabinet positions, to trash anything we know as good and progressive governing. We can only hope for incompetence and pond-skating. So let's not play down the determination of the enabled while being amused at the antics of our ambivalent, part-time President.
Not even "sort of fascinating to watch"--a phrase I would personally reserve for a mildly grisly car wreck. My take is that "merely inadequate" in the Presidency is more dangerous than nefarious intent, especially when "merely inadequate" is equally descriptive of both branches of Congress and the newest Supreme Court judge. I couldn't do any of their jobs, but that's supposedly the virtue of representative, rather than direct, democracy. The least we can do is seat competent people in governmental positions and we haven't done that. "Merely inadequate" doesn't cut it--the executive branch is corrupt, whether it's less competent than we expected isn't the point. I remain a member of the (non-hyperventilating) resistance.
Tax cuts for Trump, GS execs, and corporations are ideas that (almost) all Republicans can agree on. Spending cuts on science, health, arts and culture is a bit more divisive. However, after drastically cutting government revenues, the naysayers can probably be made to go along based on "fiscal responsibility".
I'm afraid I have to disagree with Mr. Brooks' revision of the threat level posed by Trump's regime.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with Mr. Brooks' revision of the threat level posed by Trump's regime.
1
I can only hope that the pond skater is oblivious to the change of season and the thinning of the ice.
3
I wait with bated breath for the day this "pond-skater" finds himself on that piece of thin ice in which there is no hope of survival.
5
We are wrong to think of him as a pond skimmer with little effect. He's already had a tremendous effect on just how low the bar has been set. Even if we get through these four years without any major incident (doubtful), eventually we will get somebody in the White House who can move legislation. And if their ideology is similarly reactionary, we must be extremely careful to not fall into saying, "Well at least he's not Trump!"
1
Trump is corrupt, a grifter, a fraud, and a liar.
He talks like a populist but is governing as a corporatist and the conflicts of interest are everywhere. A complicit smirking cabinet and a silent congress complete the crime.
TrumpCare and Trump tax reform are perfect examples of his true agenda. Stay vigilante and continue to resist. He is worse than we thought.
He talks like a populist but is governing as a corporatist and the conflicts of interest are everywhere. A complicit smirking cabinet and a silent congress complete the crime.
TrumpCare and Trump tax reform are perfect examples of his true agenda. Stay vigilante and continue to resist. He is worse than we thought.
"Trump’s tax plan is being treated as an actual plan, but it is just a sugar sculpture — 100 off-the-top-of-the-head words on a piece of paper, grappling with no hard issues and with no chance of passing in anything like the current form."
Close David but no cigar. His tax plan is an opening offer. It's way more than he expects to get and it only covers the parts he truly cares about. To put it in terms liberals can understand. If Obama had started negotiations on health care reform with single payer as his opening offer, he probably could have gotten the public option.
"These days a lot of the criticism seems over the top and credibility destroying. "
This is the understatement of the year.
Close David but no cigar. His tax plan is an opening offer. It's way more than he expects to get and it only covers the parts he truly cares about. To put it in terms liberals can understand. If Obama had started negotiations on health care reform with single payer as his opening offer, he probably could have gotten the public option.
"These days a lot of the criticism seems over the top and credibility destroying. "
This is the understatement of the year.
David, your observations are mostly right, but your conclusions are wrong wrong wrong. The real and lasting damage Trump is doing to the country and the world -- politically, economically and morally -- is more existential than transactional. He is killing the essential thing that supports human civilization: trust. It's heartbreaking.
2
Hope you are right ( "have little effect as they go".) However, as it was the case with Reagan my expectations are for big losses. We have not yet fully recovered of Bush's Iraq war. The costs of a new one may become unbearable.
2
I agree that Trump is mostly a spent force domestically. But I am still very worried about the harm he could do on the international stage. He has already exacerbated the situation in Korea, to the extent that we have to rely on the good sense of Kim Jong Un to avoid a war - a horrible war that we could well lose. That's not good.
Little effect? The US is now on record as opposing any effort to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Scientists and technology workers who previously would have come to this country are going elsewhere because of the obvious tone of hostility toward foreigners. Coal companies are now free to dump mine waste in Appalachian streams. The Supreme Court is poised to force taxpayers to directly subsidize religious schools. The Justice Department has stopped trying to combat voter suppression and race-based policing. We could stop right there and this would still be one of the most destructive presidencies in US history.
1
This does not make me feel any better. I don't see much of a difference in risk between a competent pilot who likes flying directly into bad weather and a pilot who doesn't know how to fly.
4
I'm saddened and disappointed by David's column today. The regulations that 45 has signed (apparently without reading them) will cause irreparable harm to the environment. Two of the greatest gifts we can give to future generations are clean air and clean water. That does not seem to be a priority for 45. There is still a great need for the resistance to combat his ignorance.
Mr. Brooks, I respect your opinion and you may well be correct in your assumptions. Nonetheless, he remains now, as at the start, totally incompetent. Additionally, one can't discern day-to-day what he means to do by what he says, the one factor in his makeup that minimally makes him a politician.
2
Another great column from DB. However, Trump's problem with Russia falls outside of the "incompetent" and "corporatist" criticisms. With any luck, Trump's poor performance will put to rest the fantasy that America should be run like a business or that corporate leaders are best suited to run the country.
Wrong.
Do not disqualify all businessmen or corporate leaders or argue that they are perhaps not best suited to run the country. There are hundreds who are. Do not judge them all by the poor performance of the one who, from all the available evidence, is not the best of them, but the worst.
Do not disqualify all businessmen or corporate leaders or argue that they are perhaps not best suited to run the country. There are hundreds who are. Do not judge them all by the poor performance of the one who, from all the available evidence, is not the best of them, but the worst.
Sadly, Trump has already damaged our democracy forever. His refusal to divest from his business conflicts, lack of financial transparency, nepotism and the vast business conflicts surrounding his family "advisors" has transformed the presidency from the leader of the free world to an entrepreneurship in search of profits and our democracy into a kleptocracy. His refusal to follow basic norms in those regards waives such standards for his successors.
His ignorance opens the door to rule by syncophant. Some of the Royal courteriors may be competent, some self interested, some I'll informed. Either way, Trump has lowered the standard we expected from our elected leader, that is, a person knowledgeable in foreign and domestic policy or at least able to absorb knowledge and lead.
At one time we may have feared that Trump was a racist, war mongering lunatic. The mark he will leave as the result of his disinterested leadership will be legislation and regulation (or lack thereof) and governance in favor of Wall Street, big business, the wealthy, the polluters and science deniers. The world may not be find it's end in a nuclear war, but the damage of Trump's whimpering will be difficult to reverse.
His ignorance opens the door to rule by syncophant. Some of the Royal courteriors may be competent, some self interested, some I'll informed. Either way, Trump has lowered the standard we expected from our elected leader, that is, a person knowledgeable in foreign and domestic policy or at least able to absorb knowledge and lead.
At one time we may have feared that Trump was a racist, war mongering lunatic. The mark he will leave as the result of his disinterested leadership will be legislation and regulation (or lack thereof) and governance in favor of Wall Street, big business, the wealthy, the polluters and science deniers. The world may not be find it's end in a nuclear war, but the damage of Trump's whimpering will be difficult to reverse.
1
And don't get me wrong, David ....... I am, like Donald J., 70 years old. My grandparents got a public education up to, but not including, the fourth grade. I also watched the marvel of television, etc. I am a Vietnam vet. I have two Master's degrees. I regard life as episodic only in the sense of the Sphinx's riddle. I have learned from history and personal experience that arrogance coupled with ignorance leads to a bad end. Add power to that mix, and disaster, misery, and tragedy result.
There are no "alternative facts" in the case of POTUS. He is dangerous enough given his infantile personality, but in order to buttress his own benighted hubris, he has appointed advisers and cabinet members who seek only to thwart and abolish the nature of the Public Trust.
I ceased foaming at the mouth over Trump when it became evident how dangerous his simplistic brinkmanship is. Monstrous damage will soon be done to the environment because of irrational greed. The citizenry will suffer in every way while the wealthy luxuriate in bespangled insouciance. And all the while the world keeps turning until it becomes too "complicated" to control and more -- or all -- of our "blood and treasure" is squandered.
There are no "alternative facts" in the case of POTUS. He is dangerous enough given his infantile personality, but in order to buttress his own benighted hubris, he has appointed advisers and cabinet members who seek only to thwart and abolish the nature of the Public Trust.
I ceased foaming at the mouth over Trump when it became evident how dangerous his simplistic brinkmanship is. Monstrous damage will soon be done to the environment because of irrational greed. The citizenry will suffer in every way while the wealthy luxuriate in bespangled insouciance. And all the while the world keeps turning until it becomes too "complicated" to control and more -- or all -- of our "blood and treasure" is squandered.
5
Mr. Brooks, with all due respect, this is the same president who could easily get us involved in a war with North Korea, either through careless late-night tweeting or to divert us from the Russia investigation--I wouldn't put it past him. His presidency still possesses a grave threat to global stability. There is nothing banal about that.
1
Yesterday I was on my way to work on I-5 in Oregon and saw a group of Hispanic people standing next to their van on the side of the road looking on as the occupants of three ICE vehicles with lights flashing conducted their enforcement action. Pond skimmer? Not for these folks. And not for me. It was upsetting seeing these farm workers getting their lives turned upside down.
3
I don't often agree with Mr. Brooks, but I think he's hit the nail squarely this time. Sometime during the last month or two I traded in my outrage for a sense of bemusement, as I watch him slowly knot the rope from which he will hang himself.
I could agree with most of this, were it not for climate change. Trump's perverse and ignorant approach to climate could end up creating more devastation than anything else his administration "accomplishes" -- even more than Gorsuch, and that's saying something. Unless Trump reverses himself on climate, his risk to the nation and the world will remain an 11.
This is Brooks at his worst. The suggestion that Americans are wrong to be fiercely vigilant because Trump has been ineffective at passing his terrible legislation is moronic. A president of the United States who rejects facts, lacks the intelligence or curiosity to make thoughtful decisions, flits manically from one issue to the next with no grounding philosophy to guide him, is a present danger to the United States and to the World.
It may be hard for Brooks himself to "maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater," but it's not at all hard for people who live outside Brooks' ivory tower and will actually be hurt by Trump's policies. Don't expect progressive outrage to die down. This president and his supporters are, at best, spectacularly wrong-headed. They need to be resisted and thwarted every single hour of every single day. There are 1,360 days left in the Trump presidency. As Churchill said, "we shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
It may be hard for Brooks himself to "maintain outrage at a man who is a political pond skater," but it's not at all hard for people who live outside Brooks' ivory tower and will actually be hurt by Trump's policies. Don't expect progressive outrage to die down. This president and his supporters are, at best, spectacularly wrong-headed. They need to be resisted and thwarted every single hour of every single day. There are 1,360 days left in the Trump presidency. As Churchill said, "we shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
1
Trump has begun to realize that he is not CEO with ability to change the world by executive order. He has to compromise in matters that are far more complex and have far more special interests than anything he encountered in real estate scams. His skills don't work and he's become like a pinball in a 1950's arcade game with a memory of only the last obstruction he bounced from.
The world is far to complex a place to tolerate the leader of the strongest country on earth. We can't tolerate a president who has no actual convictions and knowledge, and whose only interest is self aggrandizement.
The world is far to complex a place to tolerate the leader of the strongest country on earth. We can't tolerate a president who has no actual convictions and knowledge, and whose only interest is self aggrandizement.
Don't disagree with your basic point but I would add that the intense public pressure may be a major contributor to the Trump we now see
Mr. Brooks writes at the outset, “You’ve got to give him credit — Donald Trump is a lot more adaptable than many of his critics.”
Well there is a fine line between adaptable and flaky. In an interview with Reuters Thursday, President Trump warned, “There's a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea, absolutely.” If any other U.S. president had made such a comment, our markets would have immediately tanked but they appear to have brushed off the remarks as the usual Trumpian hyperbole.
As we have all seen, Donald Trump tends to speak in superlatives – everything in his view is either the best or the worst, there is no middle ground. It’s hard to imagine Trump as a poker player or even a deal maker. Case in point, yesterday his opening bid was to “scrap NAFTA,” but barely a few hours later after speaking with the Canadian Prime Minister and the Mexican President, NAFTA was given yet another lifeline. Again, the markets barely noticed because it was Trump, who is no longer taken seriously by financial institutions – even his once-in-a-generation tax plan (or lack of it) unveiled Wednesday drew little market reaction.
The bottom line, Mr. Brooks, is we cannot afford to have a president, “who is a political pond skater… fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go.” Because if the most powerful man in the world cries wolf once too often, the consequences can be disastrous when we least expect them.
Well there is a fine line between adaptable and flaky. In an interview with Reuters Thursday, President Trump warned, “There's a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea, absolutely.” If any other U.S. president had made such a comment, our markets would have immediately tanked but they appear to have brushed off the remarks as the usual Trumpian hyperbole.
As we have all seen, Donald Trump tends to speak in superlatives – everything in his view is either the best or the worst, there is no middle ground. It’s hard to imagine Trump as a poker player or even a deal maker. Case in point, yesterday his opening bid was to “scrap NAFTA,” but barely a few hours later after speaking with the Canadian Prime Minister and the Mexican President, NAFTA was given yet another lifeline. Again, the markets barely noticed because it was Trump, who is no longer taken seriously by financial institutions – even his once-in-a-generation tax plan (or lack of it) unveiled Wednesday drew little market reaction.
The bottom line, Mr. Brooks, is we cannot afford to have a president, “who is a political pond skater… fascinating to watch, but have little effect as they go.” Because if the most powerful man in the world cries wolf once too often, the consequences can be disastrous when we least expect them.
1
I'm sorry you've been suckered so.
It's been one hundred days, and only maybe fifty of them dominated more by incompetence than malevolence. Any turn toward the positive is simply too new to be valid, especially for a man whose campaign was a straight four hundred days of horror.
It's been one hundred days, and only maybe fifty of them dominated more by incompetence than malevolence. Any turn toward the positive is simply too new to be valid, especially for a man whose campaign was a straight four hundred days of horror.
Has Trumped achieved all that I feared he might do? No, but Mr. Brooks makes the foolish assumption that the current outcome was preordained, and not a direct result of the hard work of people on the left and center. Trump and the GOP was forced to deal with the fact that a lot of people do like ACA and a clean environment. I agree that everything that Trump does is not worthy of a DEFCON 1 response, but this is not a man who can be trusted to do the right thing and must be watched at all times. Just look at his tax proposal this week and how it is a complete giveaway to HIMSELF. Mr. Brooks is busy deluding himself that Trump is a "normal" GOPer, but that is like saying a rattlesnake is a normal snake. You can't turn your back for 1 minute with this snake in office.
1
If you do not maintain outrage and insure that this man is convincingly repudiated by the electorate next time round, then you reduce the office to his level permanently, and the decline picks up momentum.
I wait with bated breath for the day this "pond-skater" finds himself on that piece of thin ice in which there is no sign of hope or survival.
2
Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution each and every day. This is benign, minor incompetence??
2
Brooks, normally brilliant on Trump lately, has let me down bigly here. He ignores 1. the dangerous war provocations, which seem to casually taunt N. Korea to use nuclear weapons. He's like a little boy saying "I dare you. I double dare you." All of us paying attention to the guy worry about war in a way we havne't since the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2. His very suggestive, very creepy Putin love and Flynn fear/protectiveness. No matter what others near him say about Russia, Trump seems pathologically afraid of criticizing Putin himself. And his stenuous stalling on the Russia probe makes everyone wonder about what he's up to 3. The financial corruption. His administration , among other things, is a monehy-making scheme for Trump, Inc. There's no denying this. Brooks has ignored all this.
David is whistling in the dark, hoping those bumps in the night will go away of their own accord. Also, this column is simply his personal attempt to minimize his own responsibility in creating these matters.
1
Enough, Mr. Brooks. You carried water for a dishonest and dysfunctional Republican party for years. They, and you, own Donald Trump's presidency. Making a case that he's not all THAT horrible may ease your guilt, but the truth is that you owe the American people an extended and humble silence.
His Executive Orders on global warming are not "less substantial". They are devastating especially to our children and grandchildren. If Trump is a "political pond skater", he better be careful since the ice is melting under him.
"Only God and the stupid do not change." And, to what extent, the citizen in question still does not achieve that status which he believes belongs to him among the most exalted deists.
1
Hello? What about Sessions and the abandonment of consent agreements to reduce police brutality? What about DeVos and the attack on public schools? What about the sellouts on Keystone Pipeline and national parks and monuments? The gag orders on EPA staff? The naming of a corporate shill to the Supreme Court? … I could go on and on. Wake up, David, and smell the corruption, the stench of a democracy rotting away.
David, I fear you've been normalized. I don't really care that he backs down when confronted. I do care that he surrounds himself with incompetence, and is more morally elastic than anyone to ever hold the office. He's an unconvicted criminal, and the fact that most of the machinations are now on the down low doesn't change a thing.
1
Sadly, David Brooks is not paying attention. Sessions is probably the most dangerous attorney general since the 1950s. The war on drugs? attacking sanctuary cities? deporting immigrants, all of this Trump's doing. Then there is the decimation of the EPA, attacking national parks and monuments by perhaps allowing mineral and oil extraction? The apparent white supremacists -- Miller and Bannon - are still roaming the corridors. DeVos? A complete disaster. Healthcare proposals? Disasters. Attacking the judiciary? UnAmerican and probably unconstitutional. Then there's the apparent coming war with North Korea. #Resist.#ImpeachTrump
2
A mere "political pond skater", having "little effect as they go"? Mr. Brooks, may I remind you, as you seem to be gripped with a shocking amnesia, that the subject of this piece is the President of the United States, directly responsible for the lives and wellbeing of 350 million souls, if not those of our planet. How on earth could you trivialize the role this person occupies, and the profound effects his mere words, let alone actions, can have. Your casual, throw-away "Don't get me wrong" concluding comment only deepens the embarrassing hole you have deeply dug for yourself. As a intellectual, you leave me perplexed.
Trump the pond skater. Trump the pastillage. Trump the water strider.
No. No. No.
Trump the rocket launcher. Trump the mother of all bombers. Trump the man/child with his finger on the button for at least four years.
No. No. No.
Trump the rocket launcher. Trump the mother of all bombers. Trump the man/child with his finger on the button for at least four years.
Except he will enable the GOP and all of their terrible ideas with the stroke of a pen. Anyone with half a brain knew all along the man is a stooge. That alone is an indictment of the American electorate.
From bans on immigrants to threats to go to war with North Korea to repealing NAFTA. Trump is still a dangerous liar.
1
Wow, David, you are getting no love here today. Deservedly so. You know the one about the lobster or frog or whatever in the pot, not knowing he's boiling to death until he's dead? Or, death by a thousand cuts? That is these United States under Trump. A family ripped apart here. A stream polluted there. A Trump administeration lawyer arguing that being caught in a lie is enough to permanently lose your citizenship (that would be richly funny except it isn't). Border patrols at state borders (not touching Canada or Mexico, interior states) questioning occupants of cars about their citizenship. You see where I'm going...the Trump administration sneaks destructive acts in the back door, low exposure, people saying 'well, that isn't as bad as the other thing'. The outrage level must remain staked at High Alert.
We've seen this before:
donald is Commodus.
Jared is Cleander.
Ivanka is ?Lucilla.
Mar-a-lago is Lanuvium.
Commodus remained popular with the army and the commoners though judicious handouts (huge military spending) and public spectacles (rallies).
According to Gibbon, this reign marked the beginning of the end. Let's hope we are not compelled to repeat history again.
donald is Commodus.
Jared is Cleander.
Ivanka is ?Lucilla.
Mar-a-lago is Lanuvium.
Commodus remained popular with the army and the commoners though judicious handouts (huge military spending) and public spectacles (rallies).
According to Gibbon, this reign marked the beginning of the end. Let's hope we are not compelled to repeat history again.
3
So it turns out the pilot flying our plane is not an evil hi-jacker. He is just grossly incompetent. Thanks for putting things in perspective, Mr. Brooks.
1
trump took on the office, and the office is crushing trump
Please refer to Timothy Egan's piece today. The danger is more than just "everyday ineptitude"
1
You forgot to mention that Trump and most of his staff and former staff are in contact with and beholden to Putin and Russia.
3
Trump arrived as a human cannonball in the pool of political swimmers.
Since then, he has paddled around, lots of talk, not much splash anymore.
However, once a cannonball, always loose. It has been just 100 days, and I get the sense he's not happy to continue as those have. Expect him to do something very Trump, rude and crude.
Since then, he has paddled around, lots of talk, not much splash anymore.
However, once a cannonball, always loose. It has been just 100 days, and I get the sense he's not happy to continue as those have. Expect him to do something very Trump, rude and crude.
4
Mr. Brooks is missing the (Hahaha) ELEPHANT in the Room!
It is precisely because POTUS has no "attention span" besides his moment-to-moment rating on Fox News;
precisely because his "interests" (such as they are) can be contained in simple "rape-pillage-destroy" for personal gain (Winner take ALL) philosophy;
precisely because he has zero control of the childish ID inside that teensie unformed brain leaning towards dementia at his advanced age;
precisely because all of his thoughts are expressed in a poor third-grade manner and spelling - as this appears to be his full level of education and understanding of the world at large and government complexities;
precisely because his team and campaigners may have conspired with Russians to undermine our democracy;
(PART I).
For all these reasons, he should not be allowed to be seen as faintly "normalized" by anyone concerned about our Country, the Constitution and Governance.
I give you a D- on this one, Mr. Brooks!
It is precisely because POTUS has no "attention span" besides his moment-to-moment rating on Fox News;
precisely because his "interests" (such as they are) can be contained in simple "rape-pillage-destroy" for personal gain (Winner take ALL) philosophy;
precisely because he has zero control of the childish ID inside that teensie unformed brain leaning towards dementia at his advanced age;
precisely because all of his thoughts are expressed in a poor third-grade manner and spelling - as this appears to be his full level of education and understanding of the world at large and government complexities;
precisely because his team and campaigners may have conspired with Russians to undermine our democracy;
(PART I).
For all these reasons, he should not be allowed to be seen as faintly "normalized" by anyone concerned about our Country, the Constitution and Governance.
I give you a D- on this one, Mr. Brooks!
6
Sorry Mr. Brooks your column is very sorry. Donald is not a populist or a fascist of this I am certain. He is a habitual liar who lies about everything great and small as we have all seen and heard these last 100 days. This is the only consistent thing about Donald that we can say about him and you never mentioned his lying in your column. What kind of person lies as much as he has? Would you pal around with a guy like that? He's The POTUS and in my book that makes our president a liar and therefore a fraud. Who can that be overlooked? How can that be good for the American people. Before you wheel out conservative theories and take the moral high ground first explain how a president who lies all the time is good.
4
No matter how ineffectual Donald Trump may seem at the moment, it would be foolish and perilous to take him any less seriously. Far from being a pond skater, he is more like the person who does a cannonball into the pool with his clothes on: he looks like an idiot but we all get drenched. The resistance must continue in full force.
6
Seriously, David, do you actually believe what you wrote? Trump a "political pond skater"? More like tempestuous toddler with a hand grenade.
8
Reading Brooks' disgusting apologia, I'm reminded of the old bromide about the frog residing in a pan of slowly heating water.
To read DB mocking those of us who have been despondent since November 8 is beyond endurance.
For this writer, DT is an existential catastrophe, not a 'pond skater' - no matter how witty Brooks thinks this analogy.
NOT my president
To read DB mocking those of us who have been despondent since November 8 is beyond endurance.
For this writer, DT is an existential catastrophe, not a 'pond skater' - no matter how witty Brooks thinks this analogy.
NOT my president
5
David, cease and desist. You have lost any sense of objectivity.
Jim in Illinois
Jim in Illinois
5
Hasn't this been the republican political strategy for 40 years?
To starve the beastly government and let it shrivel away by staffing it with air-headed, willfully incompetent, greedy little idiots, preening for the media.
Movie stars, trust fund babies and now this.
There's nothing better than being consistent, I guess.
To starve the beastly government and let it shrivel away by staffing it with air-headed, willfully incompetent, greedy little idiots, preening for the media.
Movie stars, trust fund babies and now this.
There's nothing better than being consistent, I guess.
3
This is David Brooks at his most misguided. Sorry. He is playing a deeply sinister hand even if he doesn't know it (the gift of the true narcissist), so Kochs and co. can play him to a fare-thee-well. Sideways swipe at extreme naysayers is apparent. America has changed forever as a result of this lout. Italy after Berlusconi suffers greatly. Do not neglect the fact that Trump admires autocracy and autocrats.Control, power and money=Russia. Hollowed-out for the taking by gangster leadership. Really ineffective thinking by Brooks, looking for a silver lining in a cesspool sky.We have elected a racist sex abuser who lies cheats and steals and doesnt quite know it. Brooks responds to the flitting fly when the shark is in the water.
5
It's funny to see how those egomaniacs and self-complacent, be it Hitler or be it Trump, are catching people by promising everything on earth.
Later on, all that has been said and promised vanishes from the table, it isn't further followed or just disappears into the waste basket. Shifting to a new and superficial theme is much more interesting even when it's quite the contrary to what has been said before.
Later on, all that has been said and promised vanishes from the table, it isn't further followed or just disappears into the waste basket. Shifting to a new and superficial theme is much more interesting even when it's quite the contrary to what has been said before.
1
Another inane article from so "very humble" David Brooks who is trying to endear himself to the present so-called administration.
Trump is not normal period. Trump is neither honest or honorable.
Trump speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He has a forked tongue.
Trump is a grifter and the head of a grifting family and surrounded by fellow grifters all sitting in the White House ready to enrich themselves.
This article is whitewashing all the horrible executive orders that Trump has signed, the cheating of trusting people out of thousands of dollars, the cheating of investors in his shady business, the cheating of contractors who do not have the wherewithal to fight him in court to get payed for their work.
The simple meanness and nastiness of his words and behaviors.
At the same time he spouts anti climate change views he is trying to get Florida as well as Scotland to build sea walls to protect his golf courses.
Can David Brooks say "Banana Republic"? Can David Brooks say "Kleptocracy"?
Trump is not normal period. Trump is neither honest or honorable.
Trump speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He has a forked tongue.
Trump is a grifter and the head of a grifting family and surrounded by fellow grifters all sitting in the White House ready to enrich themselves.
This article is whitewashing all the horrible executive orders that Trump has signed, the cheating of trusting people out of thousands of dollars, the cheating of investors in his shady business, the cheating of contractors who do not have the wherewithal to fight him in court to get payed for their work.
The simple meanness and nastiness of his words and behaviors.
At the same time he spouts anti climate change views he is trying to get Florida as well as Scotland to build sea walls to protect his golf courses.
Can David Brooks say "Banana Republic"? Can David Brooks say "Kleptocracy"?
9
I can only imagine that Brook’s column is a sign of Trump fatigue, a fatigue born out of this president’s tireless efforts to do and say things that are either simply idiotic, or will cause more harm than good – to put it nicely. I suppose it is of some consolation that we haven’t torn up the constitution, or started a nuclear war, or pulled out of NAFTA, or totally eliminated environmental safeguards, or closed our borders to specific religions, or built a wall, or decimated progress on providing healthcare, or, or, or… But the fact is that we haven’t done all that in spite of Trump, not because of Trump. It has taken resistance at every level to thwart his efforts to accomplish what he promised. The idea that we should lower our personal DEFCON level because he’s failing, or because he’s inept, or because he isn’t another Hitler is wrongheaded. If we lower our guard, if we make things easy for this president, I think his ineptitude will morph into a self-congratulatory, self-indulgent attempt to become Putin 2.0.
3
You can't normalize insanity unless you are insane yourself. People like Mr. Brooks know nothing about what is happening to real people in the real world. This detatched intellectual approach to life disregards the deep pain of our struggle out here.
4
"Political pond skater"? After the first 100 days, I'd say we have seen "Political pond scum" enabled by Drumpf. He is so feckless & politically clueless that he has enabled Conservative Statists like Paul Ryan & the Kochs to begin checking off items on their "bucket list".
1
Reagan, the Teflon President. Trump, the Pastillage President. What next, the ? President. Can you beat David's practically perfect punnundrum? Cheers!
Mr. Brooks. Ever the Republican spin master.
9
Exactly .... now need to get Krugman off the ledge and away from his level 12, maybe Charles Blow as well. I liked it better when the NYT did not start every article with the word Trump in it. Can't NYT just switch the channel ? Don't people see it is just another show ? Voters will get another chance (if they show up).
1
"Far from being a fighter..."
So, what do you suppose that says to the world? Mexico has already figured out that he is a blustering paper tiger. Putin knows what a weak, vain, and empty man he is, and he will use that to his advantage. Better by far a president who does not threaten action he should not take than one that issues empty threats on a weekly basis.
As for the environment, just how much resiliency do you think it has left to absorb toxins? Hint: precious little. It is stunning, really, that American companies are wasting time and resources on what we don't need (flying cars, anyone?) and ignoring what we desperately need: a way off fossil fuels, Kochs and their fellow polluters be damned. The rising water will not care that Trump is more of a buffoon than some people thought.
As for our democracy, it is in grave danger. This administration attacks much more than science; they attack evidenced-based reason and plain honesty. The stench of corruption coming out of the White House is nauseating. Every move they make is calculated to enrich themselves and their cronies. All topped off with strong-man bravado.
We may not have the luxury of time to recover from the damage this pack of leeches does to our country. Brooks, you are seriously out of touch. Maybe you have been watching too much t.v. yourself.
So, what do you suppose that says to the world? Mexico has already figured out that he is a blustering paper tiger. Putin knows what a weak, vain, and empty man he is, and he will use that to his advantage. Better by far a president who does not threaten action he should not take than one that issues empty threats on a weekly basis.
As for the environment, just how much resiliency do you think it has left to absorb toxins? Hint: precious little. It is stunning, really, that American companies are wasting time and resources on what we don't need (flying cars, anyone?) and ignoring what we desperately need: a way off fossil fuels, Kochs and their fellow polluters be damned. The rising water will not care that Trump is more of a buffoon than some people thought.
As for our democracy, it is in grave danger. This administration attacks much more than science; they attack evidenced-based reason and plain honesty. The stench of corruption coming out of the White House is nauseating. Every move they make is calculated to enrich themselves and their cronies. All topped off with strong-man bravado.
We may not have the luxury of time to recover from the damage this pack of leeches does to our country. Brooks, you are seriously out of touch. Maybe you have been watching too much t.v. yourself.
3
What, Brooksie is attempting to get an interview? He will walk back his harshest criticism thinking he will get a sit-down with the Big Man? Forget it Dave, you don't fit the Money Honey Maria Bartaloma mold or even Neil Cavuto. As far as being a pond skater I wish he would find the place where bubbles can be seen and fall through the ice never to be heard from again. Your grade, was a 1 now a 2.( scale 1 to 10)
"...but have little effect as they go." Try as I might to read a diversity of opinions, with this conclusion Brooks has demonstrated a shallowness of intellect that means I need no longer waste the time it takes to read his.
Brooks should read Remnick..its been one long demostration of the art of the shell game since this entertainment buffoon lied his way into office.
3
David, can you share with us what antidepressant you are taking? It seems to work wonders. Also, doesn't the Times have rules against plagiarism? You have opened yourself up to a lawsuit and anger from the estate of Hans Christian Andersen and his fans for two reasons: 1. You copied his fairytale The Emperor's New Clothes And 2, you ignored the fact that the Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen harbor will soon be under water.
2
It is amazing that all these comments try to explain a man who has no business in the White House because he and his family are corrupt beyond belief! He is dragging the US Presidency into a dark and ugly place and you are all discussing how he has learned on the job. He has placed corrupt people in strategic positions to protect himself, i.e. Jeff Sessions, and it will be very challenging to impeach him even when all the evidence is in. Wake up America, Steve Bannon via Trump's mouth is destroying the US and everything it stands for.
4
The normalization of Trump by David Brooks. So Trump's deflections have gotten to you David? So he's switched from Bannon to Ivanka and Jared and that's better? Trump remains a level 11 threat. Vive le re'sistance.
1
Please, an attempt to normalize Trump. Obviously the NYTimes and David Brooks have learned nothing after the debacle of an election and Trump sliding in as POTUS. As evidenced by this article we seem to have lost our ability for critical thinking. Trump and his base are not OK. Trump is a joke as POTUS as is the thinking of the voters who installed this buffoon. Wake up America!
2
Mr. Brooks has a very selective memory. Considering it has been only 100 days does Mr. Brooks from forgetfulness? Early onset senile dementia?
The outrage level needs to remain at Defcon 1 mode. Why?
Trump has discovered where the bombs are kept and boy are they a ratings magnet!
Trump has USED the office of the Presidency for his own personal enrichment and that of his family. Greedy and UNETHICAL.
Trump and Sessions, Miller and Bannon continue their campaign of instituting white racism throughout our land.
Trump and Pruitt continue the assault on science, facts and climate change to the detriment of American citizens, our air, water and land.
Pay-for-Play is now in the White House as Trump pulls the shades on transparency.
The Trump Administration is being INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI, BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS for possible collusion with a foreign country to interfere in our electoral processes.
What Mr. Brooks do you NOT find alarming about any one of the above?
The outrage level needs to remain at Defcon 1 mode. Why?
Trump has discovered where the bombs are kept and boy are they a ratings magnet!
Trump has USED the office of the Presidency for his own personal enrichment and that of his family. Greedy and UNETHICAL.
Trump and Sessions, Miller and Bannon continue their campaign of instituting white racism throughout our land.
Trump and Pruitt continue the assault on science, facts and climate change to the detriment of American citizens, our air, water and land.
Pay-for-Play is now in the White House as Trump pulls the shades on transparency.
The Trump Administration is being INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI, BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS for possible collusion with a foreign country to interfere in our electoral processes.
What Mr. Brooks do you NOT find alarming about any one of the above?
oh well, I guess I can just forget about it now that Mr. Brooks tells me Trump is just a pond skater with no power to do anything harmful cause he's just a pond skater! Ya....freedum!
Mr Brooks, you just managed to re-stoke my outrage to 15.
2
Level 11 from your friends in the Republican party for 8 years during the Obama administration didn't seem to bother you.
Now we have a mentally disturbed man child slowly degrading centuries of progress of Democrats and Republicans. As long as outrage matches level of incompetence or LYING I say keep it up until he is defeated.
Now we have a mentally disturbed man child slowly degrading centuries of progress of Democrats and Republicans. As long as outrage matches level of incompetence or LYING I say keep it up until he is defeated.
Must be nice to be returning to the days when older white guys were king... Not so good for the rest of us. And your patronizing attitude towards the concerns of others goes right along with those "Happy Days".
But a pond-skater? Are you really that naive?
But a pond-skater? Are you really that naive?
1
Sounds like Mr. Brooks is ready to go soft on Trump already. Trump is a malevolent and disturbed man let's not forget. He is who we thought he was; an incompetent who has been enabled all his life. What we are seeing is the influence of his handlers sculpting his message. Instead of Bannon hellfire and Armageddon, we're getting Trump's garden variety bait and switch. He is a creep and a thief, not a mastermind. Mnuchin (who would throw your grandmother into the street for a buck) and Cohen (Goldman Sachs, need we say more?) are calling the shots to enrich the Trump brand (like Hitler stealing art). Regarding foreign policy, no one is in the copilot seat (Unless you count Ivanka and Jared). The things he has not done are the things we knew he couldn't do going in. The tail-between-his-legs maneuver is what we're actually paying for. There is no bluster from him if the game is not rigged. I fear Mr. Brooks' take might encourage a softer, less vigilant regard of the threat ("Its not as bad; don't worry, be amused!"). The only thing left out of the piece was the phrase: presidential pivot. Let's not praise by feint damning.
1
Neo-Corporatist? Wasn't Mussolini a Neo-Corporatist?
1
This is a slander against insects.
North Korea! ISIS! The Wall! Healthcare! Syria! Coal Miners! It's hard to keep an eye on the bouncing ball, isn't it? Give me a break....
1
Brook says Trump* is having "little effect". That is total dissembling.
Not even our National Monuments, provided by the Antiquities Act, are safe from the malevolent incompetence of Trump* the wanna-be despot.
Outrage at level 11 not appropriate?! Your apologia is damning.
Not even our National Monuments, provided by the Antiquities Act, are safe from the malevolent incompetence of Trump* the wanna-be despot.
Outrage at level 11 not appropriate?! Your apologia is damning.
2
you tell "how little effect" he has when we get into a shooting war with north Korea i put you in the same class as ryan and mc connell willing to tolerate this man just as long as your agenda whatever that might be is furthered if we had a democratic congress impeachment would already be happening
but with imam pence as veep christian sharia law would be in the offing this is the most scared and insecure i have ever felt in this country in my 69 years
but with imam pence as veep christian sharia law would be in the offing this is the most scared and insecure i have ever felt in this country in my 69 years
He's a typical Republican in the way he says one thing and does another. He's a fake, a phony and a fraud. Brooks is so used to that in his party that he can't get worked up about it. It's normal to him.
1
You own him Mr. Brooks, please own up for once.
2
"many of us Trump critics...." - What? David you and the other right wing pundits created this monster and now you're saying you were a Trump critic from day one. Nice try. Nice deflection. Typical republican.
1
I am so happy that David Brooks now feels comfortable that he will get his rich white man's tax cut and can go back to sipping sherry and writing pompous essays about what a moral and considered life he leads. He is not a black man, who's getting his voting rights taken away and a renewed police attack on him. He is not a woman, who is having his reproductive rights attacked. He is not an immigrant, who is facing ICE sweeps and brutal deportation. He is not a Muslim, who still is fighting to be allowed into the country. He is not a denizen of the Planet Earth, who is seeing his environment poisoned with allowed dumping in streams and an actual push to accelerate and exacerbate climate change. No, Brooks lives the life of the rich white man's mind, where all is good with the world as long as no one blows it up in the 20 years he has left. I am so pleased for him.
David perhaps your perspective would be different if you took a little jaunt up the road to Canada. We just witnessed the idiocy of a President who was set to announce the withdrawal from NAFTA (and screw up the North American economy) without any appreciation of the consequences. A President who then apparently changed his mind on a whim. Cagey deal maker/negotiator or an ADD lightweight manipulated by advisors? You decide.
2
David Brooks, Donald Trump is a "stomper" not a skater. You if can't see that, shame.
Jerry Whitus
San Marcos, TX
Jerry Whitus
San Marcos, TX
David Brooks is attempting to normalize the abnormal. We don't need a sustained Outrage Level of 11. That's bad for your health. However, we do need a bit more than "I haven't broken anything yet." At the very least, we need a nonpartisan explanation for what happened with Russia. We need a screw jack to prop up health care. We need tax returns before tax reform. Finally, I'd really like to see the Nepotism Level go down a few notches.
By the way, I'm not particularly pleased by Trump's new found corporatism either. Petty pandering to corporate interests was a major detractor for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is doubling down in a scattered and thoughtless way. If a special interest can put together a 30 second infomercial, they have the President's support. The answer Trump's A.D.D. is to give tax breaks to all interests without paying for them.
I'm not amused.
By the way, I'm not particularly pleased by Trump's new found corporatism either. Petty pandering to corporate interests was a major detractor for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is doubling down in a scattered and thoughtless way. If a special interest can put together a 30 second infomercial, they have the President's support. The answer Trump's A.D.D. is to give tax breaks to all interests without paying for them.
I'm not amused.
1
Once again David: YOUR party, YOUR policies, YOUR president. Trump is the apotheosis of 40 years of Republican sedition, obstruction, lies, cronyism, incompetence, malice, bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia and racism. Your efforts to proclaim yourself a Trump "critic" or "skeptic" are frankly, pathetic, considering that you have been one of the chief apologists for right wing conservatism and the Republican Criminal Organization for the past 40 years, since Saint Reagan commenced their ruination of our country. You should hang your head in shame and apologize to the American people for putting a sociopath in the White House, instead of trying to distance yourself from the catastrophe you and your ilk have brought upon us.
2
Back on the trump train again, hey David? Sad.
1
David, David, David... Didn't take you long to put the blinders back on. You can lead your horse to enlightenment, but you can't have it drink.
Perhaps you might trot over to your colleagues for some reality feed:
today's columns by Mr. Egan and Mr. Krugman, or the last few articles by Mr. Blow, are more reality aligned.
Or do what you do, pardner, Giddyup! Ride into that role you have mastered over the years, words a-blazin', trumping all other points of view to promote the denigration of America through your elephantine shapeshifting.
Perhaps you might trot over to your colleagues for some reality feed:
today's columns by Mr. Egan and Mr. Krugman, or the last few articles by Mr. Blow, are more reality aligned.
Or do what you do, pardner, Giddyup! Ride into that role you have mastered over the years, words a-blazin', trumping all other points of view to promote the denigration of America through your elephantine shapeshifting.
1
Mr. Brooks, many American idiots take Trump seriously and accept his inconstancy. Enough to keep him emboldened.
The GOP also takes him seriously. He is the conduit by which their legislative sludge is dumped upon the public.
And last, the world also has to take him seriously, because he is the elected president of the United States. Like it or not. Mostly not.
So it's not accurate to classify him as a little insect. His actions have yuge consequences for all of us.
The GOP also takes him seriously. He is the conduit by which their legislative sludge is dumped upon the public.
And last, the world also has to take him seriously, because he is the elected president of the United States. Like it or not. Mostly not.
So it's not accurate to classify him as a little insect. His actions have yuge consequences for all of us.
1
Changed many of his points of view.....? Are you serious?
Those changes are as solidly built as the opinions they were changed from.
...and you're still waiting for another tid-bit on which to base some
arcane analysis about another out-of-the-blue, paragraph he tosses out for you to munch on........while he keeps you away from some on-the-beat
journalism that might deliver some facts.
When will you trade in your 'starry-eyed' conservatism which doesn't exist,
mainly because it never has, for some honest survey of the land before it is too late?....Drop the philosophy...deliver some usable information.