Sam Tanenhaus's review of Joshua Green's DEVIL'S BARGAIN, "The Making of the Tabloid Presidency" (New York Review of Books, Aug. 17, 2917), lays it out to perfection: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/08/17/steve-bannon-donald-trump-tab....
2
To the NYT - please stop publishing anything DJT says or does for the foreseeable future. The world will be a much better place to live if you should choose to do so.
5
I'll take it, too. At least until the troops start heading out.
10
As George Saunders said, he's the "braindead megaphone".
17
Trump is not only his own worst enemy...He is the enemy of the United States and to our Republican Democracy.
Mr. Trump is a moral, ethical, economic and political disaster to Republicans, Democrats and Independent voters.
Mr. Trump is crude, rash, impudent, ignorant, hate-filled, bigoted, and racist.
American democracy is being dismantled by a corps of Republican demagogues, sycophants, and political hacks. Ultra-conservatism, nepotism and a mean-spirited, illegitimacy are the operating rules of the Trump Administration.
We have met the enemy. He is Trump.
Mr. Trump is a moral, ethical, economic and political disaster to Republicans, Democrats and Independent voters.
Mr. Trump is crude, rash, impudent, ignorant, hate-filled, bigoted, and racist.
American democracy is being dismantled by a corps of Republican demagogues, sycophants, and political hacks. Ultra-conservatism, nepotism and a mean-spirited, illegitimacy are the operating rules of the Trump Administration.
We have met the enemy. He is Trump.
38
Seems like going forward, we need to do a background check on anyone wanting the job of president. We, as employers, would be foolish not to check on potential employees before we give them keys and a parking space. We gave this guy a house and a wrecking ball. In just six months he has humiliated most people who work for him but more importantly, he has removed America as the moral leader of the world and left a gaping hole for opportunists like Putin and others to fill.
Make America great again, please.
Make America great again, please.
28
Could he sound any more guilty by asking how he could pardon himself, his aides and family...his pardon powers? 6 months into his administration?
Am I cracking up? This is the breaking news..... it's so deep with Russia he knows he's guilty.
Wow is he skittish. CIA agents call that level of nervousness"the target is getting buggy."
It has to be how compromised he is financially both personally and within his businesses. And the back channels to Russia and doomed meeting by his son.
The similarities to Richard Nixon are positively stunning.
Again, that resignation is coming soon.
Am I cracking up? This is the breaking news..... it's so deep with Russia he knows he's guilty.
Wow is he skittish. CIA agents call that level of nervousness"the target is getting buggy."
It has to be how compromised he is financially both personally and within his businesses. And the back channels to Russia and doomed meeting by his son.
The similarities to Richard Nixon are positively stunning.
Again, that resignation is coming soon.
37
He also appears to be deteriorating rapidly. So that's one more good thing. That is, unless he goes completely around the bend and starts blowing stuff up. Wouldn't surprise me much, because he seems ready to pop, and his ilk ain't cut out for this kind of scrutiny. He is surely dumber than I expected though. Don't get me wrong; I didn't expect the sharpest tool in the shed. But I figured he'd display some degree of snakish cleverness. Not. He is just plain stupid, and trending downward, steeply. And the children -- lordy. They're all complete imbeciles, and it's so transparently obvious. Dubya was like Isaac Newton compared to these people. Well, alright then.
48
I watch Mr. Trump on TV, telling one lie after another and I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing and my ears are hearing!!!!!
MAKE IT STOP, CONGRESS OR SOMEBODY!
MAKE IT STOP, CONGRESS OR SOMEBODY!
26
Without disagreeing in the main, I can't agree that economic anxiety was not an important factor. Remember that it stimulates and intensifies all kinds of intolerance: racism, misogyny, xenophobia. Trump's encouragement helped, of course.
13
"Trump is a cold shadow of the president Obama was."?? No, Mr. Blow. He doesn't deserve to share the same sentence with Mr. Obama. The fact that a painting of him will hang in the White House forever, makes me cringe.
29
Trump is quickly becoming the elusive roadrunner Mr. Coyote, so bright on his path, he doesn't even have time to pay attention to it. Beep ! Beep !
6
He's his own worst enemy? He's a media magnet, a moral vacuum sucking all the good out of possibilities, a stand-up open mike Don Rickles doing Henny Youngman's "Take my country...please."
He's the lead rodeo clown wildly cavorting to distract raging bulls from trampling riders into tomato paste. Sure, he's just pratfalls and laughs.
Forgot this guy sells bridges to gullibles, owes 100s of millions to Germany's too big to fail Deutsche Bank (DB) the main conduit for Russian kleptocrats hiding their billions in luxury NY real estate? DB also caters to drug lords with their in-house money laundering. DB pays more in criminal fines than dividends to shareholders.
The US fined DB $14 billion for its lead role in the subprime mortgage crisis, depleting its reserves. It quickly cut deals with Qatar and Chinese investors for 20% ownership and board seats. When DB's left hand sued Trump for an overdue $40 million, DB's right hand gave Trump a loan to pay it.
An inept buffoon or lots of smoke and mirrors?
Ask yourself: it's midnight and do we know where Bannon and his cult of alt-right fascists are?
We see a prancing idiot. We don't see Bannon's metastasizing cancer of an alt-Deep State burrowing deep into the bones of government.
Trump will leave an America crippled by PTSD and Bannon's sleeper agents rotting the foundations of Democracy like termites.
Enemies fly flags. Traitors betray in plain sight.
There's no solace in any of this.
He's the lead rodeo clown wildly cavorting to distract raging bulls from trampling riders into tomato paste. Sure, he's just pratfalls and laughs.
Forgot this guy sells bridges to gullibles, owes 100s of millions to Germany's too big to fail Deutsche Bank (DB) the main conduit for Russian kleptocrats hiding their billions in luxury NY real estate? DB also caters to drug lords with their in-house money laundering. DB pays more in criminal fines than dividends to shareholders.
The US fined DB $14 billion for its lead role in the subprime mortgage crisis, depleting its reserves. It quickly cut deals with Qatar and Chinese investors for 20% ownership and board seats. When DB's left hand sued Trump for an overdue $40 million, DB's right hand gave Trump a loan to pay it.
An inept buffoon or lots of smoke and mirrors?
Ask yourself: it's midnight and do we know where Bannon and his cult of alt-right fascists are?
We see a prancing idiot. We don't see Bannon's metastasizing cancer of an alt-Deep State burrowing deep into the bones of government.
Trump will leave an America crippled by PTSD and Bannon's sleeper agents rotting the foundations of Democracy like termites.
Enemies fly flags. Traitors betray in plain sight.
There's no solace in any of this.
35
Doesn't matter. He literally could go out on 5th Avenue and shoot someone and his supporters would cheer, just like he said. There is nothing he can do that will shake his supporters and the Democrats are so far behind in Congress and state governments and with any type of coherent strategy that we may as well all move to Canada.
11
Take comfort in the fact that support will fall away when he fails to deliver on his election promises. Focus on the wider political picture, stop whining and wishing it didn't happen and HC got more votes. The reality is you have a POTUS who will fail his own programme for reform. Positively rebuild a credible opposition that clearly states and reveals a constructive agenda for economic growth and social reform. Good luck!
14
We have multiple ''never-befores'' with this American President.
Trump is brash, refuses to just ignore outright insults, and refuses to NOT champion America. This compares to a smooth-talking do-nothing with huge issues with the USA that harmed us irreparably the past eight years.
But Trump also wants to tweet, even when he is upset. THAT might be bad enough to prevents tens of millions of jobs being created after tax reform because it scares the GOP.
I don't know what hundreds and hundreds of stories in the coastal media are worth, but with all these millions$ in in-kind contributions to the issue-free Democrats, only 26% of Americans have bought into the Russia scare, which is probably more than have believed the climate scares.
But no one EVER claimed that Donald Trump knew the first thing about legislators. THAT responsibility lies with his fellow Republicans in the Hill, but their favorites were all beaten by Trump in the primaries.
So will the GOP in Congress get over its hurt feelings? And can the GOP socialist-learners in Congress be replaced with actual conservatives?
Trump is brash, refuses to just ignore outright insults, and refuses to NOT champion America. This compares to a smooth-talking do-nothing with huge issues with the USA that harmed us irreparably the past eight years.
But Trump also wants to tweet, even when he is upset. THAT might be bad enough to prevents tens of millions of jobs being created after tax reform because it scares the GOP.
I don't know what hundreds and hundreds of stories in the coastal media are worth, but with all these millions$ in in-kind contributions to the issue-free Democrats, only 26% of Americans have bought into the Russia scare, which is probably more than have believed the climate scares.
But no one EVER claimed that Donald Trump knew the first thing about legislators. THAT responsibility lies with his fellow Republicans in the Hill, but their favorites were all beaten by Trump in the primaries.
So will the GOP in Congress get over its hurt feelings? And can the GOP socialist-learners in Congress be replaced with actual conservatives?
1
Coming into this thread late--indeed threads in the NYT, given its new algorithms, now seem to be ropes. Perhaps the most positive thing that can be said is that, given the incoherence of Trump's NYT interview, we can be assured that any one-hour conversation he has with Putin would be equally incoherent and Putin would leave it thinking Trump likely has brain damage (for the scientists, p < .000001). Sad to say it, but Trump might be the best way to utterly confuse the enemy.
9
MLK Jr. said, he hoped some day, children would be known for the "content of their character, versus the color of their skin". We got the total inverse for president, it is obviously NOT the content of his character, so it must be just the color of his skin (and I'm NOT talking orange here).
17
Another small solace besides Trump being " too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened..." is that by virtue of his "election," Trump has caused the political activization of millions of people. (When Bernie kept exhorting the people to become grassroots activists, many of us didn't know what he meant; now, thanks to Trump, we do.)
Yet another small solace is that Trump has exemplified so many of the undesirable characteristics of a candidate, that he has given the general public a name, face and label on what those undesirable characteristics are.
Chronic liar? Trumpian. Doesn't take responsibility? Trumpian. Blames others? Trumpian. Self-serving? Trumpian. Superficial intellect? Trumpian. Grandiose rhetoric? Trumpian., Attention-seeking? Trumpian. Hypocritical? Trumpian, etc., etc.
If a politician appears to be "trumpian," a lot of people will more quickly and easily understand what kind of person he or she is and vote accordingly.
Yet another small solace is that Trump has exemplified so many of the undesirable characteristics of a candidate, that he has given the general public a name, face and label on what those undesirable characteristics are.
Chronic liar? Trumpian. Doesn't take responsibility? Trumpian. Blames others? Trumpian. Self-serving? Trumpian. Superficial intellect? Trumpian. Grandiose rhetoric? Trumpian., Attention-seeking? Trumpian. Hypocritical? Trumpian, etc., etc.
If a politician appears to be "trumpian," a lot of people will more quickly and easily understand what kind of person he or she is and vote accordingly.
10
The overriding, and very heavy concern that I have is the cowardly complicity the Republican party openly displays to both the American people, and the world. They, as a majority, join Mr. Trump by allowing this administration to systematically disassemble the structures of the most essential functions of our government, our diplomacy, and our rules of international etiquette, and of law. Senator McConnell alone illustrates the basic disrespect that the majority of his party apparently holds for the overall well-being for the people they represent. Protect the party, or your seat, but not the people you represent. I am a progressive Democrat. My party of choice has done many stupid things, and made many mistakes. But the overt behavior of the Republican party is another level of a-moral.
18
Trump's shortcomings are there for all to see, if they are not too blindly committed to him. But I still think it is a stretch to believe that all, or even most, of his supporters/voters are racists and misogynists, as study after study showed many of them voted for President Obama, even twice.
The economic pains of many of his supporters are real, even if they blame it on the wrong causes. Clinton never did address those pains and Trump and his handlers brilliantly exploited it. Whom are we supposed to blame here? Certainly not those feeling the pains.
The economic pains of many of his supporters are real, even if they blame it on the wrong causes. Clinton never did address those pains and Trump and his handlers brilliantly exploited it. Whom are we supposed to blame here? Certainly not those feeling the pains.
2
The author of this piece doesn't account for the malicious nature of Trump. Trump lacks empathy and seems to take some pleasure in others' pain and discomfort. For example: he approves of water-boarding and other severe forms of torture; he approves of splitting up immigrant families; he denies humanitarian refugee status for impoverished Syrians; he would end Obamacare (out of spite for Obama), leaving millions without health care, etc. This is a mean-spirited man with too much power. Four years is a long time for someone with no heart to rule a country. We are foolish if we minimize the damage this vulgar man can and will do. Mr. Trump is Chaos.
22
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. No further elaboration required.
2
Sorry, no solace here for me. Our country's enemies are not inept (at least, not inept at doing bad things). Trump's total dysfunction leaves us wide open.
6
"Trump Is His Own Worst Enemy" and we elected him under our rules which, as Walt Kelly noted so long ago, makes all of us complicit.
2
Trump is the United States worst enemy. His type (the GOP and elites are full of them) have been getting away with white collar crime for so many generations that they think it is their right. They are offended when someone calls them on it.
Put them all in jail and get a new government.
Put them all in jail and get a new government.
11
Mr. Blow is correct in his analysis. Trump is a one trick pony. He is an opportunist. Few politicians in American history have been willing to stoop to the levels Mr. Trump has been. Jospeh McCarthy comes to mind and not surprisingly, both Trump and McCarthy were associates of Roy Cohn.
There are 3 major issues (at least) to deal with reagrding Trump.
(1) As Mr. Blow has noted, Trump does not have the discipline, attention span and work ethic too move Washington. He is a clown. But Trump has presented a blueprint for more competent demagogues. This is a difficult problem to solve in the age of Fox News.
(2) The Mueller investigation is going to uncover some very unsettling facts. For those capable of rationale persaussion, the conclusion that Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors will be undeniable, even for the likes of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Nevertheless impeachment will take a long time. Careful thought must be given across government as to how the Trump will be constrained and controlled until he is unceremoniously kicked out of office. This man is erratic and vengeful. As the stress upon him increases he is more likely to do do wildly desperate things.
(3) The 2 party system is broken. We need to look at alternatives.
There are 3 major issues (at least) to deal with reagrding Trump.
(1) As Mr. Blow has noted, Trump does not have the discipline, attention span and work ethic too move Washington. He is a clown. But Trump has presented a blueprint for more competent demagogues. This is a difficult problem to solve in the age of Fox News.
(2) The Mueller investigation is going to uncover some very unsettling facts. For those capable of rationale persaussion, the conclusion that Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors will be undeniable, even for the likes of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Nevertheless impeachment will take a long time. Careful thought must be given across government as to how the Trump will be constrained and controlled until he is unceremoniously kicked out of office. This man is erratic and vengeful. As the stress upon him increases he is more likely to do do wildly desperate things.
(3) The 2 party system is broken. We need to look at alternatives.
10
"There is no appetite for the intellectual. There is no desire for depth. There is no tolerance for truth." Unlike Abraham and Sarah, there is no hospitality tradition for welcoming and hosting the stranger. Unlike Jesus, there is no compassion and effort to feed the hungry. Unlike Nathaniel Greene, there is no courage to stand up to tyranny and stand for liberty and justice for all.
4
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
That's great writing!
That's great writing!
9
The worse type of person in a position of consequence, is the one that thinks he is smart but is not! That is Trump, in spades.
6
Your last sentence summarized why Trump won and is now the president. The bar had been dropped beneath contempt and it appears America can live with it.
2
Nailed it. "disguised racial worry as economic worry." The commenters that deny this in favor of failed Democrat strategy are trolls trying to dismiss the ugly truth, so they can play their Trump card for all perpetuity.
The trolls have glorified the too-ignorant-to-know-Russian-mobsters-float-my-yacht. The GOP has adopted this Russian mob orphan. The daily Trump boomerangs of incredulous stupid lies are even more funny when disgusted adults are looking forward to the terminal results to the host party.
The trolls have glorified the too-ignorant-to-know-Russian-mobsters-float-my-yacht. The GOP has adopted this Russian mob orphan. The daily Trump boomerangs of incredulous stupid lies are even more funny when disgusted adults are looking forward to the terminal results to the host party.
5
Charles Blow, you may have stumbled on the exact reason why Trump got elected. The people who voted for him, yes are afraid and yes looking for a someone to blame (Obama, Clinton, Immigrants, choose it) but you may have found the answer... Those that voted for this solution-deprived candidate, may have done so because he is more racist than they are and he is willing to back that up with every conviction in his conviction deprived body and being.
7
I worry about Ryan and McConnell.
2
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD
Dear World,
Please cut us some slack for the next four years. Yes, we made a terrible mistake and elected a mentally ill old man with funny hair to be our president. For the first time in history we have placed in office a man who knows nothing about the world, politics, or government.
I know you are all embarrassed to hear him talk, but remember—not nearly as much as we are. Almost every time he opens his mouth in public or tweets on his twitter site he says something appallingly stupid, rude, and too frequently, offensive. But you know, that’s just him. Try to keep in mind that he doesn’t know any better. It’s been called “invincible ignorance.” When he makes you cringe, just think back to the ten year-old brats you’ve known, and realize he’s still emotionally about that age—ten years old.
As members of the world community, you have the responsibility to help us keep him in check in order to prevent world-wide disaster. Yes, he’ll say outlandish things that might make you mad, or make you think he’s going to do something irrevocably stupid, such as declaring war on someone because he misunderstood something he heard on television. That could happen. We know it, and we’re sorry. And we apologize.
Meanwhile, here at home we are furiously looking for a way to get rid of him, but it isn’t easy. We ask your forbearance. Thank you.
Sincerely,
The American people (or most of us)
Dear World,
Please cut us some slack for the next four years. Yes, we made a terrible mistake and elected a mentally ill old man with funny hair to be our president. For the first time in history we have placed in office a man who knows nothing about the world, politics, or government.
I know you are all embarrassed to hear him talk, but remember—not nearly as much as we are. Almost every time he opens his mouth in public or tweets on his twitter site he says something appallingly stupid, rude, and too frequently, offensive. But you know, that’s just him. Try to keep in mind that he doesn’t know any better. It’s been called “invincible ignorance.” When he makes you cringe, just think back to the ten year-old brats you’ve known, and realize he’s still emotionally about that age—ten years old.
As members of the world community, you have the responsibility to help us keep him in check in order to prevent world-wide disaster. Yes, he’ll say outlandish things that might make you mad, or make you think he’s going to do something irrevocably stupid, such as declaring war on someone because he misunderstood something he heard on television. That could happen. We know it, and we’re sorry. And we apologize.
Meanwhile, here at home we are furiously looking for a way to get rid of him, but it isn’t easy. We ask your forbearance. Thank you.
Sincerely,
The American people (or most of us)
12
You're comments regarding Trump are spot on; but I have to take exception over one point: comparing his attention span to that of a gnat is wildly unfair to gnats and other insects.
3
Maybe you're right, maybe Trump will be undone by ineptitude and moral turpitude, but I won't hold my breath. Plenty of damage is being done as we write.
N.B., Pruitt in the Environmental Destruction Agency; Zinke in the Dept of the Interior (I guess Zinke thought riding a horse to work on his first day would keep people from noticing how he's selling out our public lands); Sessions with his racist push to increase mandatory sentencing and to seize the assets of those who have been arrested but not charged. Oh and Devos - sweeping campus rape victims under the rug, promoting for profit colleges and universities that are right up there with Trump University. Trump is inept in many ways, but there are many ugly "leaders" out there.
N.B., Pruitt in the Environmental Destruction Agency; Zinke in the Dept of the Interior (I guess Zinke thought riding a horse to work on his first day would keep people from noticing how he's selling out our public lands); Sessions with his racist push to increase mandatory sentencing and to seize the assets of those who have been arrested but not charged. Oh and Devos - sweeping campus rape victims under the rug, promoting for profit colleges and universities that are right up there with Trump University. Trump is inept in many ways, but there are many ugly "leaders" out there.
13
While I appreciate that both racism and misogyny are alive and well in Trumpworld - and the rest of the United States, for that matter - I think it is both a mistake and an oversimplification to entirely attribute Trump's victory over Clinton to "Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
There are a number of very intelligent analyses of the election that go way beyond Mr. Blow's gross oversimplification. Chris Arnade's excellent article, "Why Trump Voters Aren't Complete Idiots" would make good reading for anyone interested in understanding Trump voters instead of just sneering at them.
It must also not be forgotten that the Democratic Party under Barack Obama literally ignored the economic difficulties in huge swaths of the country. The drastic decline of the Democratic Party at the state and local level on Obama's watch also can't be ignored.
That said, I, too, am gratified by Trump's laziness, ignorance, ineptitude, and incompetence. Aside from out international standing having sunk like a stone, I actually think Trump has done less harm to the country than one of the more conventional GOP candidates might have done.
Here's hoping the Democrats get their act together by the midterms.
There are a number of very intelligent analyses of the election that go way beyond Mr. Blow's gross oversimplification. Chris Arnade's excellent article, "Why Trump Voters Aren't Complete Idiots" would make good reading for anyone interested in understanding Trump voters instead of just sneering at them.
It must also not be forgotten that the Democratic Party under Barack Obama literally ignored the economic difficulties in huge swaths of the country. The drastic decline of the Democratic Party at the state and local level on Obama's watch also can't be ignored.
That said, I, too, am gratified by Trump's laziness, ignorance, ineptitude, and incompetence. Aside from out international standing having sunk like a stone, I actually think Trump has done less harm to the country than one of the more conventional GOP candidates might have done.
Here's hoping the Democrats get their act together by the midterms.
6
Also he keeps shooting himself in the foot by stepping on his allies (to mangle two metaphors at once).
Richard Branson said Trump was "a very vindictive man, he's rather a dangerous man, rather a sad man". I don't know if he would be dangerous as an enemy, but he sure seems to be dangerous to his "friends" and allies!
Richard Branson said Trump was "a very vindictive man, he's rather a dangerous man, rather a sad man". I don't know if he would be dangerous as an enemy, but he sure seems to be dangerous to his "friends" and allies!
5
Reading this article got me thinking. Having Donald Trump build a real estate empire and accumulate a large net wealth. One would think that there would be some carryover from the real estate world to being president of the United States. Apparently there isn't a correlation.
Joe, there is absolutely no correlation between the real estate world (at least the way #45 ran his company) and governing a country. First and foremost a president with no prior governing or military experience has to have savvy advisers who he actually listens to and takes advice from. These advisers can't be sycophants. Second, a president has to be prepared to get deep into the details of policies and programs he/she plans to implement in order to be able to articulate them when appropriate. He has to acknowledge and adhere to the stipulations of the US Constitution as was part of his swearing into the office process. And the president has to endeavor to proceed with the intent of promoting policies that ultimately benefits all citizens of this country. In real estate you can attempt to deceive and outsmart your opponents, deprive vendors and service providers payments due them and hand off difficult and complex issues/situations you'd prefer not to get involved with to subordinates. As #45 has been reported to have exclaimed, "being president is harder and more work than I thought" or words to that affect.
2
Trump is his own worst enemy? Not as long as I'm alive
14
Yes indeed Mr. Blow, I'll take it!
Trump's presidency is going to go down as the Impotency Presidency.
From his small hands, his small brain and his small...whatever, he is impotent on all fronts, a laughingstock to the world.
You are correct to call out the incompetence and give us the means to both laugh and heave a domestic sigh of relief.
Now, for your next opus, please reveal that our military thinks he's the clown we do and they have no intention of bombing North Korea or Iran.
Trump's presidency is going to go down as the Impotency Presidency.
From his small hands, his small brain and his small...whatever, he is impotent on all fronts, a laughingstock to the world.
You are correct to call out the incompetence and give us the means to both laugh and heave a domestic sigh of relief.
Now, for your next opus, please reveal that our military thinks he's the clown we do and they have no intention of bombing North Korea or Iran.
3
Charles M. Blow: "Comforts are hard to come by in the age of Trump, but I believe that we can take some small solace in the fact that the man is simply too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened."
Please, God!
Please, God!
2
"... I believe that we can take some small solace in the fact that the man is simply too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened."
And let's hope this key "deficiency" somehow keeps him in office so the "less deficient," but more serious threat, Mike Pence, stays out of the seat behind the Resolute desk.
And let's hope this key "deficiency" somehow keeps him in office so the "less deficient," but more serious threat, Mike Pence, stays out of the seat behind the Resolute desk.
2
Trump is... Obama was. Remind me again who said that elections have consequences?
2
Just reminds me of OJ--so lucky to be free yet so stupid to obsess over sports memorabilia. Procured his own demise. Sound familiar. Someone so controlled with demented obsession when gratitude would be smarter course.
7
This opinion piece is a perfect analysis of the situation. It does not make it any easier to swallow that we have to live with this for the next three and a half years. And yet the best thing that can happen is that the GOP is connected at the hip with this disaster. The longer the two are associated the better. But the Dems better get their act together and get a deep bench of talent because the rancor and bitterness is not going away. We need youthful talent that can properly message and rally the working class to action.
7
Right on! We need the next generation of leaders to step in, so please Nancy Pelosi and your aged cronies do the selfless thing and get offstage.
3
Not as sanguine as Blow is here. I believe he already has done enormous damage and his interference with voters and the FEC, not to mention Neil Gorsuch will yield poisoned fruit for years to come.
This part rings true though:
"He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry. He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton, a woman aspiring to more power."
This part rings true though:
"He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry. He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton, a woman aspiring to more power."
7
"Trump is a cold shadow of the president Obama was."
Cold, and barely even a shadow in these overcast days since he took office.
Cold, and barely even a shadow in these overcast days since he took office.
1
Man, did you nail it, Charles! Trump HATES Obama because he was a minority president, and HATES Clinton because she would have been a minority president. Remember the White House correspondent 's dinner where Obama belittled Trump? You could read the hatred signaled in the smoke coming out of Trump's ears. You could see Trump's eyes in profile and see him thinking, "I am going to run for president and do and say whatever I have to in order to win. Then I will destroy everything, Obama, that you accomplished in your eight years!!!!!" And I read today, in Trump's first six months: tweets: 991; major legislation: 0. History will show that President Obama cared about people, and Trump cared about Trump. Humanity trumps hatred once again.
8
Seriously, how did someone with decades long relationships with Russian mafia get to this point? How could he have been nominated and approved via the RNC knowing full well his history. The whole clan speak and act like wise guys as they know how so well. There IS a point people where MONEY really SHOULD NOT be allowed this far into influence or was everyone who knew too spineless to go against the Russian mob, they are terrifying, right.
PITIFUL
PITIFUL
5
The goal of the president and his party is the destruction of the Federal Government. For all the incompetence and ineptitude surrounding Trump, in the background they are accomplishing exactly that. Sessions, DeVos, and the rest of the cabinet are quietly, mostly, going about the business of establishing destructive policies, undermining policies that are working, and we are distracted by Trump's noisiness. For the most part, no one is paying attention. When he's finished with being president, I would be at all surprised to find a trashed White House, along with a trashed country.
6
"...the man is simply too intellectually deficient..." to continue as President of the USA. Reading the long partial transcript of the NYT interview with Trump proves he is not capable of completing a single thought much less a single coherent sentence. This man needs help and our country needs a President who understands the laws of the land and that he or she works for us, not for himself. I think republicans need to prove that at least they do work for us. It's time for them to end this travesty of a presidency.
And then there's that Russia thing.
3
"[Trump] never gave details because the details didn’t exist, and he wouldn’t have been able to understand and articulate them if they did." Equally important: Neither would his supporters.
4
Mr. Obama also had no idea how to get the first thing done in Congress. Pelosi and Reid did the whole job with what little DID get passed during the past eight no-growth years.
1
One question please...when will the Russian mob be removed from the White House? How many dots do you have to connect to understand that Trump is in deep with the criminal network of Russian oligarchs and their money laundering operations?
4
For that reason I hope he will not be impeached. His Vice President policies are even worse but with much better chance to pass them.
3
Trump is his worse t enemy in the sense he does not have any loyalty for anyone in his committee which is very sad . Donald has been an user all his life and is still is. A 71 one year old man is in a sorry state of mind. There will be a time his wife will ditch him when she will find him useless.
His intense jealousy toward the past President Obama is pitiful who is more than a decade younger and his work is not done yet.
Dismantling Obama`s legacy will hurt American people who voted for DT and will have a big let down.
But Trump will not look back, him and his children will collect their billions and America will be a sorry third World Country.
His intense jealousy toward the past President Obama is pitiful who is more than a decade younger and his work is not done yet.
Dismantling Obama`s legacy will hurt American people who voted for DT and will have a big let down.
But Trump will not look back, him and his children will collect their billions and America will be a sorry third World Country.
3
When you combine the worst aspects of social media with infinite selfishness and stupidity, you get a nightmarish president. Call it reverse genetics but he probably isn't much different than his father, and the same is true with Don Jr. From early on monetary success trumped everything else. Forget about values, ethics, learning, and compassion for others. Win at any cost. Always lie, bully, and blame others for your failures. It's at best a dysfunctional, immoral family bereft of any redeeming qualities. Nobody but his fervent supporters will protest when he gets deposed.
6
Read beyond the headlines to see the enormous damage Trump is inflicting daily. He has more or less given ICE officers carte blanche to round up anyone for deportation who has the equivalent of a parking ticket. He defunded the United Nations Population Fund which improves women's health in 155 countries. This will lead, I have read to 1M deaths from HIV-AIDS.
Glad you are sleeping well, Mr Blow. These are only a few of the examples of
the suffering and loss of human life that Trump is causing.
Glad you are sleeping well, Mr Blow. These are only a few of the examples of
the suffering and loss of human life that Trump is causing.
4
Mr. Blow, maybe you should check out how many extreme conservatives Trump has already appointed to the federal bench. He is doing a lot more damage than you seem to realize.
5
Trump's inability to focus on detail and his speech devoid of content when away from the teleprompter, suggests that beyond life long narcissism, megalomania and pathological lying Trump may actually have early (even not so early) dementia. The anvil of presidency will severely test what mental metal he has left. We are likely to see more rage and tantrum as his failures in office compound.
5
Charles, donald is the enemy of the people of the United States, everyone, those who still support and cheer him and those who can see him for the dangerous charlatan he is. Whats "mildly nauseous" is the Congress in the Republican party that do not publicly denounce the actions of this despicable behavior. Their wait and see attitude is reprehensible.
6
"Trump’s defect may be America’s defense."
Except for the awful fact that so many Americans see themselves in him.
Except for the awful fact that so many Americans see themselves in him.
2
These people who loathe Hillary because she is a woman, were they the same people who went after Sarah Palin AND her daughters?
Maybe you need a mirror.
Maybe you need a mirror.
2
What he said!
2
The penultimate explanation for the WHY of what happened in 2016:
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities
He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry. He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton, a woman aspiring to more power.
Thank you!
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities
He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry. He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton, a woman aspiring to more power.
Thank you!
3
I totally agree that Trump's ineptitude will, hopefully, keep him from fulfilling some of his campaign promises. However, he is still disgracing the office of the Presidency and that will continue on.
4
Thank you, Charles for this; "Trump is the primal scream...of haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities." Summarizes what I've been trying to articulate since the election. And the rest of the column was great, too. Keep up the truth-telling.
3
We are being saved not only by Trumps intellectual shortcomings, but by his sheer laziness. He campaigned for a year and a half, and was too lazy to learn even the basics of international relations and how the legislative process works, let alone what was actually in the things he campaigned against (like the ACA, the TPP, NAFTA). He was too lazy to come up with actual policies (and it seems even too lazy to come up with his own slogans). He's too lazy to actually work with Congress to get bills passed; too lazy to appoint all the people needed to run the government. Apparently he only ran because he thought the job would be easier even than selling his name and appearing on a "reality" show. All he wants to do is go to one of his many country clubs to play golf, or go to rallies where he can repeat the same old slogans, in hopes of getting more cheers; anything else is just too much work. His campaign style is the epitome of laziness: bait the base with hate-filled slogans, and let the hate you engender do the rest.
3
Mr. Blow may take solace in his legislative failures on health care, but Trump's administration is rapidly rolling back every citizen freedom and protection it can through executive processes. A cynic might say that health care legislation and fixation on collusion with Russians is only a smokescreen for all the spiteful damage that they are bringing about at the behest of the oligarchs and haters.
2
All true but Trump is not alone. Look at the rogues gallery his cabinet is. Look at the Republicans in Congress lining up to do his bidding. Look at America's withering prestige in the world. Look at the continuing assault on voter access, human rights, women's health and the environment. Look at the rising potential for another major war. Yes, he's his own worst enemy, but he's also ours and when he does get bounced from the White House look at the frightening line up of potential successors.
4
Gnat like? Gnats are way more focused, educated and determined
1
Trump's election laid bare fundamental flaws in America's self perception as the greatest nation on earth and perceptions about being exceptional. Hopefully it will bring us down to earth so we can overcome the defects that could lead to our ultimate demise. If we are truly an exceptional and great nation we must set about rectifying the attitudes and beliefs that enable the rise of the likes of a Trump in the first place.
4
It's not just Trump pere. It's also his kids, who have grown up in the isolation of Trump world and who think they have far greater experience than they have. Following so closely in Daddy's footsteps has crippled them and made them unable to function outside their world, which is far smaller than they think.
Unfortunately, we must now endure the "gift" of the entire family. Until such time as fate, or Congress, or the voters of 2018 step in and get the country back on the road to respect for law and the Constitution.
Unfortunately, we must now endure the "gift" of the entire family. Until such time as fate, or Congress, or the voters of 2018 step in and get the country back on the road to respect for law and the Constitution.
5
"He never gave details because the details did not exist."
All of Trump's campaign, and all of his presidency, are not just detail-free but substance-free. The "strength" of his message is that it is expressed in broad, general terms, which allows the listener to "fill in the details." The assurance that "it will be so easy" is swallowed hook, line and sinker.
For listeners who do not ask probing questions, the answer is inevitably "He would do it just the way I would do it." That 10,000 listeners would all do "it" differently from each other never occurs to any one of them.
Trump's pronouncements as slogans are wonderful in the abstract. When the response is "OK, you are hired, so do the job" it turns out there is no plan, no idea where to get a plan, and no sense of what might be helpful in accomplishing the task that has to be done.
We are now seeing that play out on a daily basis. There is utter incompetence in the White House. This Emperor never had any clothes, and it is becoming apparent to everybody.
All of Trump's campaign, and all of his presidency, are not just detail-free but substance-free. The "strength" of his message is that it is expressed in broad, general terms, which allows the listener to "fill in the details." The assurance that "it will be so easy" is swallowed hook, line and sinker.
For listeners who do not ask probing questions, the answer is inevitably "He would do it just the way I would do it." That 10,000 listeners would all do "it" differently from each other never occurs to any one of them.
Trump's pronouncements as slogans are wonderful in the abstract. When the response is "OK, you are hired, so do the job" it turns out there is no plan, no idea where to get a plan, and no sense of what might be helpful in accomplishing the task that has to be done.
We are now seeing that play out on a daily basis. There is utter incompetence in the White House. This Emperor never had any clothes, and it is becoming apparent to everybody.
14
Charles,
This was the most outstanding, inspired all-inclusve look at Tump that anyone has ever written in 700 words.
This was the most outstanding, inspired all-inclusve look at Tump that anyone has ever written in 700 words.
9
Thanks again for your sanity, Mr. Blow. I'm with you -- I'll take whatever I can get. Better that he's a psychological mess whose particular brain structure is most suited to reality television, than a competent businessperson (or competent anything) who might actually get some of those crazy "ideas" implemented.
4
Spot one, Mr. Blow.
No, he's America's worst enemy!
4
Actually, what's left of the GOP has become an enemy of our democracy.
The party of Lincoln,Roosevelt and Eisenhower is no more.
The party of Lincoln,Roosevelt and Eisenhower is no more.
1
Dear Mr. Blow,
Bravo!
Bravo!
2
Just fabulous, Mr. Blow. I look forward to reading your pieces and love that I always tend to learn a new word! This time "arrogation."
2
"...flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities." Oh, yes, that definitely.
And I also wish Bernie Sanders had received even a fraction of the coverage given to Clinton and Trump. Or at least been timely acknowledged. His was the story missed or avoided...
And I also wish Bernie Sanders had received even a fraction of the coverage given to Clinton and Trump. Or at least been timely acknowledged. His was the story missed or avoided...
6
Daddy, no matter what anyone says, I did not throw my tennis shoes on the roof.
Thanks, Mr. Blow - one of your very best commentaries. And what a wonderful evaluation of our so-called President: "his gnat-like attention span". And another: "our president lies the way other people breathe - with a complete absence of effort". You defined the whole man in so few words. Priceless ! Thanks again.......
7
Stupid is as stupid does. A confederacy of dunces is what is running the country. He is one crisis from meltdown. Weather, crime, terrorism. The only sure bet is that someone else let the ball drop for our traitorous President.
3
Very nice expansion of the fundamental idea: Donald Trump is a stupid, vicious old man.
16
It takes guts to stand in a national movement and say, "You are going in the wrong direction, people. Trump is a fraud." Charles Blow was one of the first, most vocal, and most erudite writers to do so on the international platform called The New York Times.
I cannot imagine what has happened behind the scenes since then. I imagine a river of vilification, racism, invective, and just plain stupidity has threatened him.
I salute Blow.
I cannot imagine what has happened behind the scenes since then. I imagine a river of vilification, racism, invective, and just plain stupidity has threatened him.
I salute Blow.
7
Thank god for Charles Blow. I'm proud to have have been a writer my whole life when I read your words. Mr. Blow you are our last defense. Keep it up sir. I look for you pieces everyday.
7
Wow. Blow is brutal. And I like it!
7
Not brutal. Although the truth can sometimes be brutal. In this case we need the brutal truth. You are right, Stephen--BRUTAL! But we have to fight brutality with brutality!
(If I do not drop dead from what is going on in this country now...I may live forever! Because I FEEL like this is killing me...)
(If I do not drop dead from what is going on in this country now...I may live forever! Because I FEEL like this is killing me...)
2
Great articulation, Mr. Blow. You really nailed the thin or 'tiny, tiny, tiny little man' qualities of the man appearing to be at the helm of America. He's a walking, breathing, frowning wizard of Oz. A man of no intellectual curiosity beyond his "applause-line policies". Thank you for helping me find some comfort in this awful affront to America's leadership.
6
Your continual analysis of Trump remains the most accurate and damning of all which I have read. Let us only hope and pray that his besmirching of our freedoms will do little harm to this great democracy and be limited only to an unparalleled embarrassment caused by the large number of ignorant and wrong-headed citizenry who chose to vote for him, and the unfortunate happenstance that he was opposed by as unappealing a candidate as Hillary Clinton.
3
The comparison will be mercilessly skewered (and No I am not calling Clinton Jesus) but Trump's election over Clinton is like Pontius Pilot offering to free Barabas or Jesus and the people cried, "give us Barabas"!!
Well here he is, along with a family that reminds me of the inbred royals of old Europe. The most innocent in this mess may be Melania, unless she is a Russian sleeper agent/idiot whisperer.
If we truly do get the government we deserve maybe were already damned.
Well here he is, along with a family that reminds me of the inbred royals of old Europe. The most innocent in this mess may be Melania, unless she is a Russian sleeper agent/idiot whisperer.
If we truly do get the government we deserve maybe were already damned.
1
Something elegant was undone in the early years of our Constitution.
-- When we changed how we select Vice Presidents.
Originally, the executive branch represented both the majority and minority views; two persons representing different visions of how the nation works, trying to work together at a personal level for the good of the nation [like Mao and Chou En-lai did in China] One as President, the other as Vice President. The Constitution united both but gave the President the power of position with an assumption of wisdom & personal example. Meanwhile, the Vice President has some authority over the senior representatives (Senate) but otherwise promotes cooperation and exercises restraint through personal influence.
The tension between wisdom and influence stimulates motivation and promotes synergy. It also helps filter impulsiveness.
Should the Presidential character fail, a ready, credible, alternative awaits because the VP is prepared to serve and has established support.
Under the early Constitution, Al Gore would have been George Bush's Vice President (more representative for the nation than Cheney)
Global warming might have risen above global warring and saved lives.
Consider how Carter might have influenced Reagan's administration as Vice President, or how Hillary's election as VP might now present us with a more viable alternative than Pence while trying to maintain national respect at home and in the international community.
-- When we changed how we select Vice Presidents.
Originally, the executive branch represented both the majority and minority views; two persons representing different visions of how the nation works, trying to work together at a personal level for the good of the nation [like Mao and Chou En-lai did in China] One as President, the other as Vice President. The Constitution united both but gave the President the power of position with an assumption of wisdom & personal example. Meanwhile, the Vice President has some authority over the senior representatives (Senate) but otherwise promotes cooperation and exercises restraint through personal influence.
The tension between wisdom and influence stimulates motivation and promotes synergy. It also helps filter impulsiveness.
Should the Presidential character fail, a ready, credible, alternative awaits because the VP is prepared to serve and has established support.
Under the early Constitution, Al Gore would have been George Bush's Vice President (more representative for the nation than Cheney)
Global warming might have risen above global warring and saved lives.
Consider how Carter might have influenced Reagan's administration as Vice President, or how Hillary's election as VP might now present us with a more viable alternative than Pence while trying to maintain national respect at home and in the international community.
5
No one ever accused Trump for being smart. This is the outcome when simpletons are easily mislead by a Simpleton in Chief. Like that line from that famous movie with Tom Cruise, "He had me at hello." Trump gained his political base with, "Build a Wall!" and "Ban all Muslims!" Trump knows his base are like a herd of cattle where he can point them in the right direction with 'dog' whistles. Combined with a steady diet of propaganda from state run TV a.k.a. Fox News they will stay in lockstep no matter his obvious character flaws; inability to tell the truth on any issue, inability to focus on the big picture, and the unwillingness to put in the work to do the job with a credible level of competency. Even for my most die hard Trump supporters remember this, has he delivered on any major pieces of legislation yet? Nor will he, be careful for what you wish for, an 'outsider'.
10
Anything this President has said has proved to be MEANINGLESS. Lies all the time. No truth whatsoever. Absolutely MEANINGLESS.
Four years of this kind of "Leadership" is far too much. Like he says about the ACA, its time HE was "Repealed and Replaced".
Four years of this kind of "Leadership" is far too much. Like he says about the ACA, its time HE was "Repealed and Replaced".
8
Hocus POTUS. Magical thinking masquerading as a presidency.
5
What scares me about Trump getting elected is that it was only possible because the GOP has become so partisan they put victory before country. They will pick the lose/lose solution over the win/win to defeat the Democrats. They will doggedly try to pass laws that hurt 90% of Americans because the other 10% are their campaign donors. They will leave an unstable, disloyal, incompetent egomaniac like Trump in office to the detriment of the country simply because he flies their banner this year. We need to make partisan politics and campaign contributions illegal, to save this country. Otherwise, the 1% will simply take it over with their money.
8
Okay, but he is doing things like deportation, deregulation and privatization. And then there's the small matter of saber rattling. Don't take comfort.
2
Yes, Trump is his own worst enemy but by being a willing tool for the Republican Party members who want to take our country back to the bare-knuckle capitalism of the 19th Century to please their super-wealthy donors, Trump also becomes the worst enemy of the United States. The Republicans running Congress use Trump as a full-time media distraction.
Ryan and McConnell have no shame whatsoever as they attempt to undo every step of progress we have made for the past 100 years on behalf of working families, women and minorities. They continue do this without public notice acting in the shadow of Trumpian buffoonery. Russian interference in the election, Trump's pathetically inane Tweets, its all useful noise for them as they slyly work on plans to massively slash taxes for the wealthy, destroy Medicare and Social Security and pollute the environment.
Ryan and McConnell have no shame whatsoever as they attempt to undo every step of progress we have made for the past 100 years on behalf of working families, women and minorities. They continue do this without public notice acting in the shadow of Trumpian buffoonery. Russian interference in the election, Trump's pathetically inane Tweets, its all useful noise for them as they slyly work on plans to massively slash taxes for the wealthy, destroy Medicare and Social Security and pollute the environment.
12
Mr. Blow, you have an excellent descriptive phrase for our current president and his policies: applause-line policies. So, it follows then that Trump is the “applause-line” president. He is surrounded by individuals who prep the man with potentially applause gathering lines. All flash and no substance … UGH! What’s a country to do?
12
Pel: Robert Mueller is working on it.
1
This is not a president. This is a mafia leader. The leader of a gang of thieves whose tentacles overlap with everything descent in our society, not in an attempt to strangle it so much, but to wring every last dime out of every last source; by purposely and with malice, diminishing our understanding and faith in our own history society and culture. It is international in scope. All that it associates with; all it tries to manipulate with phony word and deed is nothing more or nothing less than for its expansion and self-enrichment. Not a word from any of them can be believe because they are the source of no truth[s], large or small. Its purpose is to enrich one family and only by extension, associated cronies. All others will not be a part of the robbery, but the victims of the robbery. It is so permeated with base influences and treachery, it is hard to see and understand. Like the old parable of a blind man being offered parts of an elephant only and trying to understand the whole by touching just a small part. As it unwinds, thanks to the Washington Post, New York Times and other media, what we begin to see is a small, a very small part of the whole creature. Some with compare it to Watergate however that comparison is thinking very small. Watergate is nothing compared to this gang of thugs. It is hard to think of any historical parallel. Hitler's? Mussolini? Maybe a permutation of both. But whatever [it] is, this is the time to fight against it with every tool we have.
17
@ Jerome: Most astute comment.
Right on Charles. You hit the nail, rust and all, on the head.
7
I was convinced over a year ago how stupid, lazy, corrupt, racist and irresponsible Trump is at heart. What is still surprising is that he still has supporters. I suppose they identify with him because they are selfish, stupid, lazy, corrupt, racist, and irresponsible and looking to validate their behaviour and values by him. If they support him, they certainly don't support America.
13
I was convinced 20-30 yrs ago when he was running all over Manhattan as the poster boy of The Post 7 Daily News .
"A People that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims. They are accomplices." ~ George Orwell ~
15
One of the most insightful quotes I've seen in a long time.
He's our worst enemy as well
7
How is Trump his own worst enemy?
He couldn't win the nomination...
His tweets will kill him...
He can't beat Hillary..
Now he is the POTUS and still proving you all wrong.
Still, I suppose the therapy of writing that he is about the impeached helps maintain what little sanity anti-Trump folks have left.
He couldn't win the nomination...
His tweets will kill him...
He can't beat Hillary..
Now he is the POTUS and still proving you all wrong.
Still, I suppose the therapy of writing that he is about the impeached helps maintain what little sanity anti-Trump folks have left.
2
Look soberly at the results of his presidency so far, and you tell me which part we got wrong. And don't forget, many Trump voters feel the same way, having realized he's reckless and doesn't understand the US Constitution. That should worry even his most ardent supporters. True patriots are pro-democracy and pro-Constitution, regardless of the president.
4
He won by being crooked .
Charles Blow gets it right...every single time.
"...Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities..."
Plain and simple, this is how he "won" (if you could call it that..I don't)
"...Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities..."
Plain and simple, this is how he "won" (if you could call it that..I don't)
10
He did not win, not is he winning now. Winning would have been if he were brilliant and benevolent, and could have achieved great and compassionate things for the people of this country. He has "talked" a good game, (now and then) but he doesn't understand that the health care that these imbeciles want to pass is the antithesis of what trump promised Americans! It is cruel and evil. Winning would mean a high approval rating. Winning would mean that he has garnered the admiration and respect of most Americans, as well as that of the Congress and the Senate. Winning would mean intellect, common sense, morality, decency, and kindness. He possesses NONE of these qualities.
5
Considering that the ouster of President Trump would mean President Pence, of that, the tagline from the movie "The Fly" comes to mind: "Be afraid. Be VERY afraid." Trump doesn't know what he doesn't know which may be a salvation. Pence on the other hand is a practiced politician with a very hard-right agenda, with enough political experience and savvy pull it off.
5
I am hoping that Pence, too, will be implicated in a cover up regarding Flynn, (he LIED) and I think that the rest of the GOP should "GO AWAY" too, for what they have been trying to do to the American people as a whole. We need a complete new election. If the Russians interfered in our election, and they DID, then the GOP does not deserve to own the presidency. A hard-right agenda is harmful to most of the people in the United States, so it must be opposed at every opportunity. Most decent people are not racists, misogynists, and haters of anyone who is different from them, and that is what a hard-right agenda entails. A lot of hatred. A lot of prohibitions of freedoms and democracies. People like that should just find their own little country, and gather their faithful there, and not try to make misanthropic mincemeat and fundamentalist filth out of the land of the free and the home of the brave. To my mind's eye, the hard-right is not that different from ISIS. Some of them call themselves LIBERTARIANS...except for one little thing; they want to control YOU, and take away many of your liberties. They are libertarians for themselves; they want no taxes, and no regulations...but they want to control what YOU get, what YOU do, and how YOU live...and how YOU die.
4
One has to admire the consistency of the Republican message over two administrations separated by eight years: Government can't do anything right, and we can prove it to you!
4
Oh, the ongoing delusions that running the country or writing articles require complex thinkers. The complexers leave politics and journalists to the simpletons.
I couldn't help but laugh when I reached the last sentence in this well-written piece. We can take cold comfort in the fact that Trump is unable to articulate a plan, much less advance a plan.
And after living through the last six months, I'd settle for that until we get a "re-do" in 2020 (and in 2018 for Congress).
What saddens me is the great opportunity our elected officials have to do well by America - economically and socially. True tax reform could propel our economy (not 4% - but somewhere between 2.5 and 3%) and our people to new heights, even a GOP version. Same with infrastructure. But Trump's lack of ability in being a steward for such change means it likely won't happen.
What may happen as a result is that the GOP and the Dems realize they have to work together for the good of the country. I know, I know - a pipe dream. But if they can fine common ground, Trump will sign anything put in front of him just for the opportunity at another signing photo op. (So let's add shallowness to incompetence.)
It will still be a long trek to 2020. Our best hope now is for damage containment, entirely possible with a dunce as president.
And after living through the last six months, I'd settle for that until we get a "re-do" in 2020 (and in 2018 for Congress).
What saddens me is the great opportunity our elected officials have to do well by America - economically and socially. True tax reform could propel our economy (not 4% - but somewhere between 2.5 and 3%) and our people to new heights, even a GOP version. Same with infrastructure. But Trump's lack of ability in being a steward for such change means it likely won't happen.
What may happen as a result is that the GOP and the Dems realize they have to work together for the good of the country. I know, I know - a pipe dream. But if they can fine common ground, Trump will sign anything put in front of him just for the opportunity at another signing photo op. (So let's add shallowness to incompetence.)
It will still be a long trek to 2020. Our best hope now is for damage containment, entirely possible with a dunce as president.
7
I certainly hope we do not have to wait until 2020 for the "re-do". Where have you gone, Robert Mueller? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo woo woo!
1
I agree with Mr. Blow's criticism of Trump except for one thing. Trump isn't even a shadow of Obama. Nothing that close. Maybe the opposite of every good quality that Obama has, and Obama has many, many good qualities.
10
It's about time we Democrats got serious about attacking this president. His hateful noise against Mexicans seems to have abated somewhat as has the "WALL". Great, but how about Moslems and terrorism? Trump is by far the greatest promoter of Moslem terrorism by making Moslems, particularly the young born in the United States, feel as though they do not BELONG as part of American Society.
6
"Trump is his own worst enemy" - not while I'm alive
13
It's probably true that the tweeter-in-chief is his own worst enemy but that doesn't concern me in the least. If things had turned out differently on November 8, I would have said he'd be more than welcome to self-destruct -- in fact, the sooner the better. Sadly, though, the foul twist of fate that landed him in the White House turned him into this country's worst enemy as well as his own.
Voldemort has taken over at Hogwarts, and this time there's no Harry on the horizon to save the day.
Voldemort has taken over at Hogwarts, and this time there's no Harry on the horizon to save the day.
7
andy123: There MAY BE a Harry on the horizon! He just has a different name in this story: ROBERT MUELLER.
One need only read the transcript of the recent NYT interview with Trump (in today's paper) to confirm beyond all doubt his lack of intellectual ability. Sad.
11
Brilliant, Charles. On a roll!
8
Charles, how dare you say "Trump never had any plan." Trump had a secret plan to defeat ISIS, in 30 days no less. Trump had a plan for 'better, cheaper, wonderful health care for everyone'. Trump had a plan to make the economy grow 4% annually, and a plan to create 50-million new jobs, in four years. Trump has a plan to bring back coal jobs, to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, Trump has plans to fix *everything*. Its all Democrats, and Obama, Hillary, and the 'dark state' that are preventing all Trump's wonderful plans from happening. Trump is frustrated on every turn, all his great plans denied by some other outside agencies... its never, ever Trump's fault. Ever. Charles, you and any other media who claim otherwise are false, "lying fake news" media, "enemies of the people." The least you could do is get this right, Charles. Reality? Schmeality!
5
The largest entitlement in America was always the white male one. For centuries, white males in America could attain working or middle class status without doing well in school, without valuing education, without social skills, and without working as hard or as well as women or minorities. Mr. Trump epitomizes these entitled white males. If Trump did know what his shortcomings were, he wouldn't know how to remedy them. But he doesn't even want to remedy them really. Not when he can blame his problems on others. He just wants an easy job where he sits behind the desk while the women and minorities do the work. He just wants the entitlement back.
15
Yes Mr. Robert, you are dead on, with your analogy.....
Thank you, Charles. You are a beacon of clarity and light during this disastrous and hopefully short-lived reign of our so-called president.
14
He thinks signing his name to Executive Orders makes them happen! Wait until he discovers that they go to a shelf in the White House where they die a slow but deliberate death. The creator of "fake news" has now given us a fake presidency. Since he was not democratically elected, this all seems perfectly normal...until we wake up to a war, a terrorist attack or nuclear missile headed our way. Then we will all remember Hillary Clinton's failed warning: "Don't let this deeply flawed man get anywhere near the nuclear codes."
15
The day after the election, my well meaning sister tried to reassure me that it was the result of people in deep economic pain. As nice as that would have been to believe, I knew better. We all should know better by now. Far too many thriving, white middle class voters voted for Trump. His base is not "working class". His base is white, and many of them are living comfortably. These are people who tell themselves they are decent, respectable people who believe in equality, but on some inner, primal level detest the thought of a black man or a woman of any color who is more intelligent or successful than they. It eats at them. It outrages their sense of dignity and superiority.
I know this because I've known white people like this all my life. I know this because every Trump supporter I've known has dropped casual racism in conversation without a second thought, despite the fact that they would vehemently insist their reasons for voting for Trump are economic. I'm still not buying it.
I know this because I've known white people like this all my life. I know this because every Trump supporter I've known has dropped casual racism in conversation without a second thought, despite the fact that they would vehemently insist their reasons for voting for Trump are economic. I'm still not buying it.
28
Charles a lot of what you say is true, but analysis shows that Trump won because many non-college educated whites in the Midwest who had voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 voted for Trump in 2016.
So racial anxiety played a role, but economic anxiety may be more important.
So racial anxiety played a role, but economic anxiety may be more important.
1
He occupies this seat simply because Attitude won over Aptitude.
His arrogance, his below par I.Q. , his uncontrollable and nonsensical chatter, his blatant racism, his bravo, etc. will not loose him this seat. The members of the GOP will do nothing for they "hear-no, speak-no, see-no evil".
We want him gone and ask how? Follow the money and start with his tax returns.
His arrogance, his below par I.Q. , his uncontrollable and nonsensical chatter, his blatant racism, his bravo, etc. will not loose him this seat. The members of the GOP will do nothing for they "hear-no, speak-no, see-no evil".
We want him gone and ask how? Follow the money and start with his tax returns.
12
first get the transcripts of Clinton speeches to GoldmanSachs for half a million.
1
Not illegal, Leo. Not immoral. Not wrong. Anyone can give a speech to anyone else, and accept as much payment as is offered, as long as they report it. HOWEVER, if you are laundering money for the Russians, or accepting help from the Russians to swing an election, or colluding with them in any way to harm the United states, or break the laws of the United States, or its' Federal Election Committee...THAT IS ILLEGAL, as well as immoral, and wrong.
2
Why don't you just ask for them from the guy from Goldman Sachs who he has placed in his cabinet?
Love the phrase "Trump is a cold shadow of the president Obama"....
Make America great again. Make Obama President.
Make America great again. Make Obama President.
7
Brilliant article. Thank you Charles Blow. You perfectly articulate the truth about Trump, using language he probably would not even understand. "Trump simply lacks the capacity for complex thought." No one ever said it better.
9
“Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire.”
5
Based on the title of the column, which is easy to agree with by the way, what is the need for all the racially charged accusations? Blow just doesn't seem to be able to resist.
Trump was elected by (white people by implication) "flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities"
Trump " helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry"
These statements have nothing to do with the point of the article. They are just cheap and lazy jabs to remind us that if we are not black and don't agree with him we are racists.
Enough already.
Trump was elected by (white people by implication) "flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities"
Trump " helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry"
These statements have nothing to do with the point of the article. They are just cheap and lazy jabs to remind us that if we are not black and don't agree with him we are racists.
Enough already.
2
as a woman, I disagree....why were there only 13 white males (no minorities or woman) sequestered for days to write the original draft of the Senate's Obamacare replacement? Perhaps we wouldn't be stuck if it had been written inclusively?
11
Studies have shown that the main determinants for Trump voters were racism and sexism. No doubt some voters had other motivations, but these were predominant.
1
It will NEVER be "enough already."
As long as there is racism, hatred, and the GOP seeking to disenfranchise and harm the poor, the elderly, the chronically ill, those with pre-existing conditions, women, and the disabled...it will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be "enough already!"
Believe me, many voted for this guy because he is a racist, and so are they. The GOP is the home of a lot of racism.
As long as there is racism, hatred, and the GOP seeking to disenfranchise and harm the poor, the elderly, the chronically ill, those with pre-existing conditions, women, and the disabled...it will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be "enough already!"
Believe me, many voted for this guy because he is a racist, and so are they. The GOP is the home of a lot of racism.
It's difficult to tell which is more amazing: 1) how intellectually deficient Trump is or 2) how completely unaware he is of just how stupid he looks and sounds when he opens his mouth. I suppose Trump is one of those most dangerous of all people -- someone who is too stupid to know he is stupid, but by some fluke is in a position of power.
9
The Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias wherein persons of low ability suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their cognitive ability as greater than it is. It's remarkably common, just as Trump is remarkably common.
3
This really hits the nail on the head!
4
Unfortunately he still has the executive order and he is harming this country every time he signs one.
3
Trump will never be his own worst enemy as long as I and millions of other Americans are still alive.
6
Blunt force trauma as the Trump administratipn is applying across the board to our democratic institutions can cause lethal damage.
3
The complete irony in all of this is the assertion by the president of FAKE NEWS by a FAKE PRESIDENT. I feel like were in some time warp were nothing is real but alas it is.
4
"I feel like were in some time warp were nothing is real but alas it is. "
Hmmmm...time warp. Maybe we can get Mr. Spock or Captain Kirk to beam trump and the rest of the GOP to an "alternate" time warp, and then we will be back to normal. (Just a bit of levity...)
Hmmmm...time warp. Maybe we can get Mr. Spock or Captain Kirk to beam trump and the rest of the GOP to an "alternate" time warp, and then we will be back to normal. (Just a bit of levity...)
C.M.Blow stated that ".... the man is simply too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened."
But, of course, that is what Trump's infamous cabinet, V.P., Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell are for .... to implement all Trump's cruelties so he can disavow any knowledge of same and can claim clean hands.
But, of course, that is what Trump's infamous cabinet, V.P., Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell are for .... to implement all Trump's cruelties so he can disavow any knowledge of same and can claim clean hands.
2
About the "resistance"---
Yes, the Trump "Administration" is attempting, as best it can, to tear down the Obama legacy and deliver spoils to the wealthy. We should rightfully resist.
But allow me to suggest a different framing. We are standing up for our rights, as voters, as taxpayers, as the infirm, as the discriminated, and so many others. We are standing up for rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, that Trump is trampling. We are standing up...so my message for all who would resist Trump is to:
STAND YOUR GROUND!!
Yes, the Trump "Administration" is attempting, as best it can, to tear down the Obama legacy and deliver spoils to the wealthy. We should rightfully resist.
But allow me to suggest a different framing. We are standing up for our rights, as voters, as taxpayers, as the infirm, as the discriminated, and so many others. We are standing up for rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, that Trump is trampling. We are standing up...so my message for all who would resist Trump is to:
STAND YOUR GROUND!!
2
America has consistently hidden its own foundational heart of darkness--a mixture of racism, superstition masking as "religion", a repugnant delight in "wild West" macho violence and its necessary corollary: guns. All of this has been kept out of sight, in favor of the equally foundational lie about 'the promised land" or 'the shining city on the hill". The truth: a land of con men, robber barons, grifters and heartless vulture capitalists ruling over the most ignorant, stupid populace of any "developed" nation. I am not talking about individuals [some of my best friends are . . . ] but about a negative historical zeitgeist. As someone who chose to live in this country, I am deeply ashamed. I have landed in the very same toxic "swamp"I had thought I had left behind.
4
Great column sir. You continue to be a light in the dark-
PJ
PJ
5
And, don't forget, this leader of our country tweeted John McCain to get well soon. Such intelligence and compassion!
3
Mr Blow, you write "He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton." The assumption here, not baldly stated,(perhaps "subconscious"?) is that this is the basis of distaste for Clinton. Wrong. She was a bad candidate, a practitioner of identity politics and filled with disdain for the "basket full of deplorables" (white, working class males). That is why we have Trump. Not Comey. Not sexism. Clinton herself and those who supported her. Such as yourself.
4
The basket of deplorables as defined by Clinton was the racists, sexists, homophobes, et al. Are you saying this is every working class white male?
2
Not me. That was the way it was seen and that was why her toxic brew of identity politics was so was excoriated. Apparently you defend the comment. You too may be part of the reason we have Mr. Trump.
1
Trump's presidency is a gathering disaster. However, it has educed a great columnist. Keep it up, Charles.
4
Hate to say it Charles, but this article is Trumpian. It is simplistic and superficial, contains no original thought or idea, and is simply red meat for your followers. I don't like Trump, but articles that do nothing more than preach to the choir are at best unhelpful and at worst counterproductive.
3
Has anyone else noticed the tic Trump has of sniffling or sniffing when he is making up what he is talking about?
6
Here's a relatively new joke; quite a laugh, actually: "The United States is the leader of the free world"!
1
Charles, yes the man is an unprincipled ignorant and impulsive narcissist supported by a base of deplorables. But your view that racism and misogyny are at the root of his and their behavior is dangerous and probably incorrect.Democrats have not come up with a credible leader or platform since the election precisely because of such thinking.Clinton was a deeply flawed, unlikeable ,entitled and hard to trust candidate who happened to be a woman.Obama was/is a likeable, smart, well informed and decent human being who overthought issues, found decision making hard and at times too risk averse to command respect.He also happened to be an African American.
1
Mr Blow will be remembered as the most accurate chronicler of the Trump presidency, when historians look back to identify what happened in this period, that brought the United States to its knees, from which it never got up again.
2
Charles , you have this clown pegged . . . to a T ! I like the knat-like analogy . So accurate . The amazing thing is how many Americans voted for the Orange One . What did they see in this individual ? What would have caused them to believe that such an obviously selfish and crude person , completely devoid of tact , consideration for the plight of others , compassion , intellectual curiosity , the ability to think and speak coherently , could possibly be appropriate to lead this wonderful democratic republic of ours ? Sure the Democrtats had been ruling with their eyes shut and their ears closed to the varied needs of our huge and diverse population , but to place their trust and cherished vote to this incompetent used car salesman , "celebrity" TV star host is a total disillusionment . Apparently blind anger and capriciousness ruled in the voting booths for many on Election Day , 2016 . Now that the damage to our country has been done , let the good will and good judgement of the competent authorities set in motion the necessary moves to remove this blot . ASAP !
4
Trump doesn't know he's whom you say he is. He believes he is right, god like. You play down the Bannon connection too much. To get their way, they need to make the present system fail. All else is show.
1
Brannon is a Catholic
Uh, so Bannon is a Catholic...that signifies WHAT?
Now if only the Keebler elf would feel it necessary to step down. Sessions is doing quite the job of rolling American jurisprudence back sixty years.
3
You make a point, Mr. Blow, and I appreciate it. However, it's a tiny comfort. :-( I feel bad for the "average" people of this country, who will suffer, and for the nation as a whole, which is suffering an uncontrolled fall from grace.
2
I did not cast my vote for President Trump, but I am offended by your blanket characterization of the 63 million Americans who voted for him as misogynist, racist, cultural slobs. No doubt, there are many amongst our midst who fall into one or more of these categories, but to denounce a huge swath of the electorate as longing for the days of white male oppression of women and minorities with impunity, is racist and the epitome of hubris and condescension. In addition, it lets you and your fellow liberals in the political establishment off the hook for taking ownership for losing the election to a wildly flawed candidate. The result was more a reflection of lower middle class rural voters lashing out against a government that has abandoned them as they have been decimated by the twin perils of an IT revolution and globalization wave that have decimated their standard of living and communities. These twin tsunamis are impossible to stop and the lost jobs will never return, President Trump's policies notwithstanding, but our Government has been derelict in providing a safety net to ease the blow on the people who have been afflicted. The Democratic party fancies itself as the party of the common person, but rather than advocating on behalf of policies that will ease the blow to these people, they instead focused on issues like transgender bathroom rights and multiculturalism that may resonate with the elites on the 2 coasts but are irrelevant to the afflicted class.
4
Many people want Trump to stop tweeting, but I am thankful for the insight into his addled mind and the inevitable foot in mouth effect that turns his administration into a confused circular firing squad. I do think it is helpful to keep telling him to stop however, as he cannot help but defy any suggestion of common sense. With that in mind, perhaps we should start a campaign to insist that he never be given access to YouTube. Oh, can you imagine the spectacle?!
2
OK. So Trump is offensive, racist, sexist, ineffective (thank heavens), not very smart, thin skinned and self-centered. Did I leave anything out? Anyway, I agree.
Next question.
I recommend that you focus on actions, policies, and above all the things Trump and company are hiding, like the details of their interactions with Russia. That will be far more effective. If people do not see his character flaws by now, they never will.
Next question.
I recommend that you focus on actions, policies, and above all the things Trump and company are hiding, like the details of their interactions with Russia. That will be far more effective. If people do not see his character flaws by now, they never will.
3
I remain surprised that anyone is surprised, this became clear when Trump first said he was running for president. generally the rebublican party should be ashamed of their lack of any common sense and their deaf response to public opinion. How can any politician continue to support this president with lack of knowledge, lack of social norms, respecting the opinion of the welling being of humanity. Last but not the least is constant lying. shame on the rebublican party, and hope the world will not fall into total destruction.
1
Your column is spot on, Mr. Blow. I have also found some relief in the realization that as empty and lacking in real thought that Trump is, it works to our advantage. The galling part is that he is the President, By all rights, he should not be, especially if the fake news and Russian connections are finally proven to be the major contributor to the campaign.
And yes, the Democrats need to take responsibility too.
However, the destructive and incompetent people he has appointed will still do their damage. Fortunately, McConnell, Ryan and Pence seem somewhat diluted now.
Speaking of Pence, does he have a life and a job description outside of being at Trump's side staring lovingly and menacingly at Trump wherever he goes? There seems to be little bond between them.
These are trying days to be sure but Trump is the agent of his own demise. He is so lacking. As I see him he is a bloated and puffed up replica is a president who exists mainly because of the nest of fear and loathing he has tapped into.
And yes, the Democrats need to take responsibility too.
However, the destructive and incompetent people he has appointed will still do their damage. Fortunately, McConnell, Ryan and Pence seem somewhat diluted now.
Speaking of Pence, does he have a life and a job description outside of being at Trump's side staring lovingly and menacingly at Trump wherever he goes? There seems to be little bond between them.
These are trying days to be sure but Trump is the agent of his own demise. He is so lacking. As I see him he is a bloated and puffed up replica is a president who exists mainly because of the nest of fear and loathing he has tapped into.
3
Charles Blow's optimism about Trump's inability to legislate is misplaced. The people around him are quite capable of destroying the country without legislation. Just look at what Rex Tillerson is doing to the State Department. By the time his successor takes over there will be nothing left of it. We are losing seasoned diplomats, and Tillerson seems intent on making the organization irrelevant. Jeff Sessions is a disaster as Attorney General. I am appalled at the way he is pushing private prisons and draconian drug enforcement. I could go on and on. Every day there is a new report of what is being done to undermine the progress we have made over the last decades. Trump and his supporters are destroying our standing in the world and with our allies. If Trump is allowed to continue, the US will no longer be a leader of the free world. I could weep for our country.
6
In addition to the racism and misogyny that this columns notes played a major role in the election, I believe there was a strong anti-intellectual component.
It seems that Trump voters actually admired his ignorance and stupidity, which were very obviously on display during the campaign. We had the same phenomenon, to a lesser degree, when George W Bush was elected.
Remember, 25% of Americans think that the sun revolves around the earth. So here was someone running for office that they could really relate to. I believe this was another, albeit extreme, case of identity politics.
It seems that Trump voters actually admired his ignorance and stupidity, which were very obviously on display during the campaign. We had the same phenomenon, to a lesser degree, when George W Bush was elected.
Remember, 25% of Americans think that the sun revolves around the earth. So here was someone running for office that they could really relate to. I believe this was another, albeit extreme, case of identity politics.
2
trump's idea of the work is appointing people who will benefit his family and him. There is no concern for the how it all falls out for any of us.
The "Daily Beast" ran an article yesterday--"Trump Bets On Casino Hired Gun For State Department." Seems that Jonathan Galaviz, a casino consultant from Global Market Advisors, which consults with at least 2 Russian state entities, is on unpaid-leave to work in the State bureau that deals with international law enforcement and justice issues.
If that doesn't raise a heck of a lot of questions, what does?
The "Daily Beast" ran an article yesterday--"Trump Bets On Casino Hired Gun For State Department." Seems that Jonathan Galaviz, a casino consultant from Global Market Advisors, which consults with at least 2 Russian state entities, is on unpaid-leave to work in the State bureau that deals with international law enforcement and justice issues.
If that doesn't raise a heck of a lot of questions, what does?
1
Perhaps a different perspective. When former President Obama, far taller in stature than Putin, the latter looks slightly concerned that he is not being given his full attention, while the former with an invisible raised eyebrow, pauses with a questioning glint in his eye. One senses that if he could, Putin would hold onto his sleeve. To sum it up, both leaders take each other seriously in a different way.
When Trump is in the picture, Mr. Obama's expression towards this president is that of giving a quiet reassurance to an invalid. But when it comes to a meeting between Putin and Trump, the latter appears to be leaning in his direction, seeking his approval.
Trump, with his baby tweets, his insults, his projections, his compliments, his praise is just talking about himself. Over and over again, like a broken-down record to the point that his followers are humming his tune, his detractors either think he is simple-minded, or take offense at being addressed like toddlers who articulate better than he does.
Trump is his own shadow. Some Americans have long stopped listening to him, or believing in anything he has to say. Some of us are more concerned about these scattered Republican senators, who are using him as a dangerous smokescreen.
He has a heart, but is trying to keep his nose above water, and is either frustrated, or enraged that he cannot get a chance to ask 'How Am I Doing? Give him something easy to ruminate and chew the cud: 'It's All Politics'.
When Trump is in the picture, Mr. Obama's expression towards this president is that of giving a quiet reassurance to an invalid. But when it comes to a meeting between Putin and Trump, the latter appears to be leaning in his direction, seeking his approval.
Trump, with his baby tweets, his insults, his projections, his compliments, his praise is just talking about himself. Over and over again, like a broken-down record to the point that his followers are humming his tune, his detractors either think he is simple-minded, or take offense at being addressed like toddlers who articulate better than he does.
Trump is his own shadow. Some Americans have long stopped listening to him, or believing in anything he has to say. Some of us are more concerned about these scattered Republican senators, who are using him as a dangerous smokescreen.
He has a heart, but is trying to keep his nose above water, and is either frustrated, or enraged that he cannot get a chance to ask 'How Am I Doing? Give him something easy to ruminate and chew the cud: 'It's All Politics'.
Mr Blow is correct- Trump is his own worst enemy. More directly, he is the worst enemy of our democratic norms and virtues. We can only hope his ineptitude, lack of seriousness, and his lack of attention continues before he destroys our health care coverage , our environment, and our right to vote.
your solace thinking that damage cannot be too bad is based on trump's obvious incompetence and his sole interest in himself. but he has already done damage. this country is laughted at by most of our allies. no one can believe that this country could place into power an ogre of such idiocy. he has removed many regulations that will hurt citizens and there are more coming. so though i feel your pain, a rather odd clinton remark, for work is needed to get this country back into being a country unlike the beginning of a quasi dictatorship that trump envisions.
I agree with everything you said MBlow, but, although Trump has no brains to effect policy, great damage is still being done to America by his appointees and their policies. Closing the office of War Crimes, Voter fraud investigations, and Cybersecurity, privatizing public schools, hollowing out the State Department, destroying the Ethics Dept, and on and on. Donald may be the least of the problems...
During all those years when the Republicans were passing repeals of Obamacare that had no chance of being enacted because of President Obama's veto power, you might have thought a few Republicans would've given serious consideration to what they'd do if they ever did have the power to mess with the healthcare system.
But you'd have been wrong. It was too much fun blathering on about the imaginary "destruction" Obamacare was doing to the nation and things like their obsession over a certain birth certificate to be serious about anything. Well, now the reality about all of their governing fantasies has become their worst nightmare.
Trump is merely an embodiment of their Fox News fantasy world. His know-nothing, factually challenged rants and raves reflect the nonsense the right wing media has been spouting for years. The intellectually bankrupt commentators on Fox News (and Mr. Bannon) have created the tidbits of absurdity spouted by our president. Only now this unmoored rhetoric coming from the White House is much more disorienting and frightening than it was when it was only a media phenomenon.
But you'd have been wrong. It was too much fun blathering on about the imaginary "destruction" Obamacare was doing to the nation and things like their obsession over a certain birth certificate to be serious about anything. Well, now the reality about all of their governing fantasies has become their worst nightmare.
Trump is merely an embodiment of their Fox News fantasy world. His know-nothing, factually challenged rants and raves reflect the nonsense the right wing media has been spouting for years. The intellectually bankrupt commentators on Fox News (and Mr. Bannon) have created the tidbits of absurdity spouted by our president. Only now this unmoored rhetoric coming from the White House is much more disorienting and frightening than it was when it was only a media phenomenon.
3
1) Plenty of people believed Trump would win, because they knew about Russia's efforts; and 2) even though he's deficient in so many ways, every day he empowers people around him to "impose all those heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened." Please, don't take what you can get. Resist.
2
Proponents of President Trump advise his opponents to honor the office of the presidency even if they find it difficult to respect the man who occupies that office. We all should acknowledge the following facts:
(1) Mr. Trump's political career was largely founded on the falsehood of birtherism--the falsehood that severely dishonored President Barack Obama.
(2) Mr. Trump himself disrespects the office of the presidency. He persistently refuses to act presidential or to evidence the comportment generally appropriate among reasonable adults.
(3) Mr. Trump callously disrespects whole classes of persons. In particular he disrespects those he perceives to be critical of him or in opposition to his objectives. He is a thin-skinned, vengeful narcissist and bully.
(4) Mr. Trump's buffoonish, narcissistically unreflective and generally coarse behavior places him far beyond the pale of civil social discourse and the decorum requisite for responsible leadership.
(5) The thoroughly abnormal does not admit of normalization.
(6) As John Dewey noted in his "Theory of the Moral Life": Persons become responsible only by being held responsible.
Thoughtful and responsible adults do not accept irresponsible behavior on the part of the emotionally and psychologically immature. They instead urge the immature to grow up, to become responsible. When mature persons find that terminally immature "adults" are incapable of growth and responsible behavior, they avoid and shun them.
(1) Mr. Trump's political career was largely founded on the falsehood of birtherism--the falsehood that severely dishonored President Barack Obama.
(2) Mr. Trump himself disrespects the office of the presidency. He persistently refuses to act presidential or to evidence the comportment generally appropriate among reasonable adults.
(3) Mr. Trump callously disrespects whole classes of persons. In particular he disrespects those he perceives to be critical of him or in opposition to his objectives. He is a thin-skinned, vengeful narcissist and bully.
(4) Mr. Trump's buffoonish, narcissistically unreflective and generally coarse behavior places him far beyond the pale of civil social discourse and the decorum requisite for responsible leadership.
(5) The thoroughly abnormal does not admit of normalization.
(6) As John Dewey noted in his "Theory of the Moral Life": Persons become responsible only by being held responsible.
Thoughtful and responsible adults do not accept irresponsible behavior on the part of the emotionally and psychologically immature. They instead urge the immature to grow up, to become responsible. When mature persons find that terminally immature "adults" are incapable of growth and responsible behavior, they avoid and shun them.
3
On the one hand, I agree that Trump lacks the mental prowess to govern. On the other hand, what does that say about the lackeys that voted for him?
1
If there ever was an article that clearly and unequivocally said "the emperor is wearing no clothes", this is it. The only thing that is obscuring the moral, intellectual, ethical nakedness from Trump loyalists is the elephant in the parade draped in an American flag.
Not revealing a strategy is a clue that he has none. Indeed, that he is clueless.
The only way to stop him tweeting and his disclosing his lack of intellect to the entire world is to give him a fidget spinner. Any one tried that yet?
The only way to stop him tweeting and his disclosing his lack of intellect to the entire world is to give him a fidget spinner. Any one tried that yet?
1
tdump is our country's worst enemy. His incompetence gives us some hope, but the threat is real and continuing.
1
Not so fast. Trump might be too intellectually deficient, and his cabinet members are not exactly the brightest bulbs, but they are enacting many of the heartless directives that his campaign rhetoric threatened. I would like to see more coverage like the article last week that detailed the conflicts of interest that are accompanying the gutting of regulations on education, energy and the environment, among others. We must not let the jester in chief distract us while the rest of his administration works so diligently on deconstructing our government.
5
The Daily Beast ran an artricle yesterday about the trump political appointment of Jonathan Galaviz, a former casino consultant with Russian ties, to work at the Department of State. He is on unpaid leave from the for-profit Global Market Advisors (GMA), which counts at least two Russian state entities as clients. His work at State is listed as being in the bureau that handles international narcotics and law enforcement and other justice related topics.
They don't even hide their attempt to profit at every opportunity. How sad for us.
They don't even hide their attempt to profit at every opportunity. How sad for us.
3
Charles: Calling him a cold shadow of President Obama is giving him way too much credit. In the words of JK Rowling, he is a tiny, tiny man. And he is not a president at all.
14
In the stages of "grief" since November, I just realized I moved to sad. Yes, I chuckled, but suddenly it didn't seem so funny that we could be so dismissive of the leader of the free world. I have not agreed with past Presidents, but I don't think I have ever seen the outright disrespect (deservedly so) for the incumbent. As Trump would say..."Sad".
4
Interesting piece, but it seems that Trump lacks curiousness and interest more than he lacks intelligence--you have to give him his due to come back from five bankruptcies, and win the presidency. Analyzing the election results, however, reveals that the election was Clinton's to lose: if she had campaigned more vigorously in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, she would have won. In each state, if the people who voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein had decided to support Clinton/Kaine instead, Trump would have lost. She needed to show up, and her campaign needed to knock on doors--they should have been giving away lawn signs instead of charging for them. It is interesting to note that Putin was involved in Green Party politics as well--Stein was the only other American at the table with Michael Flynn and Putin at the RT banquet in December 2015, giving her some much-needed international cred.
2
Anyone who inherits millions, billions "can come back from five bankruptcies". It's hardly a positive especially when the money he lost, the lives he ruined was other people's not his. And people will forgive and support celebrities whatever they do - he already had a vast audience in reality TV, succor to a life of lack, frustration and hopelessness for many, it was hardly a big step to tap into that. No due deserved !
It wasn't HRC who wasn't paying attention. She could have gone to WI, MI, and PA every week and explained every detail of her plans, but the deplorables in these states had made up their minds. Frankly, your comment makes no sense to me.
Charles, I look forward to reading your articles more each week because you articulate so effectively my feelings about President Trump. You’re right. Who REALLY believed he could be elected? Not even the most visionary bookmaker. Again, you’re right. He WAS elected because there WAS a palpable element of anti-immigrant, anti-minority fear bursting forth in his campaign rhetoric in blatant calls to violence. And you’re right a third time about the total lack of details, simply because there weren’t any, and even if there had been, he wouldn’t have been able to understand them and articulate them. All we have to do to confirm the last assertion is read the text of his interview yesterday by your three colleagues. We are hard pressed to find a complete sentence in anything he said, and if there was, it contained no insight into any issue of real importance.
10
I, too, will "take whatever I can get," but I will WORK for much, much MORE.
4
Trump his worst enemy? Not while I'm alive!
11
I hate to sound like a broken record, Mr. Blow, but every word of this editorial (and virtually every editorial the NYT has written since Nov. 9th, 2016) was well known to more than 65 million of us last year. Where were such observations then, when perhaps they would have made a difference? As my grandma used to say, "People don't change, they just get worse."
7
Two things occur to me. First, the blanket condemnation of President Obama for his idea of "leading from behind" by GOP politicians and pundits has now been replaced by the "I'm not owning this" irresponsibility of the Orange Menace. Second, is that as incompetent as the Orange Menace is, he still has control of the nuclear codes, and the ability to order our military into action anywhere he sees fit. Even as we scoff at his inability to control himself, and worry about the future of the country and the planet because of his headlong rush to undo the Obama presidency and the legacy of President Obama, we also should worry that the failure of the Orange Menace to get laws passed that cement his abominable ideas into difficult-to-repeal legislation and policy will make him frustrated and angry enough to start using this country's military power to create the ultimate diversion from the public's scrutiny of his aberrant behavior: a major war.
9
That little solace can't come fast enough.
4
I just read the NYT's interview with Trump. It was tremendous, tremendous, the greatest interview ever. The greatest. It was read by millions and millions of people that read the failing NYT. Unbelievable, really unbelievable.
3
We all overestimated Trump, except Putin.
"Trump's defect may be America's defense." Maybe his defect is America's defect.
6
Two memorable lines stand out in this strongly opinionated piece:
1. Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities.
2. If you don’t unequivocally reject intolerance, you are passively — and in some cases, actively — encouraging it.
I strongly agree with both points.
1. Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities.
2. If you don’t unequivocally reject intolerance, you are passively — and in some cases, actively — encouraging it.
I strongly agree with both points.
14
Trump is like a chimpanzee driving a classic "made in the U.S.A." Cadillac, who has no idea how to drive, and he is running over and destroying every thing in his path. Meanwhile, the Republican party is in the back seat saying things like, he is new to this, he will figure it out eventually or I think he is doing just fine. Eventually we will crash and burn and and the enablers in the back seat will blame the Democrats for inventing automobiles. My apologies to the chimpanzee community, I am sure any of you would be a better President than Trump is represented by your driving.
12
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
There it is. In one sentence. So simple. Good morning America 2017.
There it is. In one sentence. So simple. Good morning America 2017.
21
Remember the Peter Principle? It said basically that someone rises to the level of their own incompetence. In this case, it seems that our political institutions sank to the level of Trump's competence.
8
I believe this article correctly identifies Donald Trump. He threw mud in all directions and found what stuck, found what themes resonated with his audience. Those became his "policies of the moment." There are no core beliefs to the man other than promoting himself, his family, and himself, in that order.
With regard to healthcare, he is ignorant of the issues and does not really care what Congress passes as long as they pass something while he is "on watch." Then he can brag that he has delivered change, that change is the greatest ever, and so is he.
With regard to healthcare, he is ignorant of the issues and does not really care what Congress passes as long as they pass something while he is "on watch." Then he can brag that he has delivered change, that change is the greatest ever, and so is he.
8
It is long past the point of reiterating that Trump is too ill informed, ill prepared and ill tempered to be President. About 18 months past at least. We now have to consider why 40+% of the electorate and nearly 100% of Congressional Republicans continue to support him.
There are only two conclusions to be drawn. They are malicious and see a political or material advantage in having such an incompetent in the White House. Or, they are also too ill informed, ill prepared and ill tempered to be voters or members of Congress. Either way they are giving license to a man who is an embarrassment to the Country they say, so very often, that they love, while also giving him power to turn back the clock on years of progress in making the Country safer, healthier, happier, fairer and respected around the world.
Withe Trump at the helm, America has lost its way.
There are only two conclusions to be drawn. They are malicious and see a political or material advantage in having such an incompetent in the White House. Or, they are also too ill informed, ill prepared and ill tempered to be voters or members of Congress. Either way they are giving license to a man who is an embarrassment to the Country they say, so very often, that they love, while also giving him power to turn back the clock on years of progress in making the Country safer, healthier, happier, fairer and respected around the world.
Withe Trump at the helm, America has lost its way.
10
The phrase "Donald Trump’s arrogation of the presidency" is mistaken. To arrogate means to claim or to assume for oneself without right. Mr. Blow is saying that Donald Trump has no right to be president and this is clearly wrong. I doubt that is what he intended to say. There are far too many mistakes in journalism these days so it is very important to use a dictionary when you don't know the meaning of a word.
1
Abrogation is EXACTLY the right word!
Well Charles, you certainly give voice to so many of us loyal Americans when it comes to the motives and nature of the Trump.
Yet I remain incredibly disturbed by the millions of my fellow Americans be it the likes of Dilbert creator and Trump apologist Scott Adams. He sees Trump as akin to a genius as demonstrated by his "deal making" prowess. So, when Trump claimed having seen thousands of Muslims celebrating in the streets of New Jersey after 9/11 is little more than floating an initial deal offer.
When Republican leadership consistently supports his agenda to cynically remove affordable health care for 20 plus million Americans, destroy regulatory safety, and all to give the Uber Rich even more obscene levels of wealth.
When millions of disenfranchised Americans see Trump as a jobs savior, then I can only hope that their cynical plans and opioids pipe dreams will fail and fail big st the hands of The Leader.
Yet I remain incredibly disturbed by the millions of my fellow Americans be it the likes of Dilbert creator and Trump apologist Scott Adams. He sees Trump as akin to a genius as demonstrated by his "deal making" prowess. So, when Trump claimed having seen thousands of Muslims celebrating in the streets of New Jersey after 9/11 is little more than floating an initial deal offer.
When Republican leadership consistently supports his agenda to cynically remove affordable health care for 20 plus million Americans, destroy regulatory safety, and all to give the Uber Rich even more obscene levels of wealth.
When millions of disenfranchised Americans see Trump as a jobs savior, then I can only hope that their cynical plans and opioids pipe dreams will fail and fail big st the hands of The Leader.
2
Charles,
Your comment: "Our president lies the way other people breathe" is only half true. Donald Trump never tells a lie when breathing "in", it's only the words he speaks when breathing "out" that causes so much trouble. Now if he would just use the time it takes to breathe "in" to think about what he should and should not say while breathing "out" he could avoid a lot of problems.
On the other hand, "Tweeting" has nothing to do with the respiratory cycle.
Your comment: "Our president lies the way other people breathe" is only half true. Donald Trump never tells a lie when breathing "in", it's only the words he speaks when breathing "out" that causes so much trouble. Now if he would just use the time it takes to breathe "in" to think about what he should and should not say while breathing "out" he could avoid a lot of problems.
On the other hand, "Tweeting" has nothing to do with the respiratory cycle.
5
Einstein said that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it so comprehensible.
The most incomprehensible thing about Trump is how his incompetence and mental disorders were so comprehensible for years and on display for all to see during the primary and campaign, yet many voters did not comprehend them....because they are stupid, gun hugging, bible thumping deplorables
The most incomprehensible thing about Trump is how his incompetence and mental disorders were so comprehensible for years and on display for all to see during the primary and campaign, yet many voters did not comprehend them....because they are stupid, gun hugging, bible thumping deplorables
27
When I think of Trump's presidency I am reminded what H.L Mencken wrote back in 1920: A democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron."
26
Another great column. Thanks, Mr. Blow.
8
Dr. Blow, by now we know the symptoms all too well. Who'll be the first journalist or politician to announce that malignant narcissism is a mental disorder that has no cure?
2
There is no solace in Trump's ineptitude. The eminence grise, Bannon, helped to fill a cabinet with nasty bigots and cut-throat profiteers. Was there ever anything as blatant as making an Exxon CEO Sec'y of State? Tillerson, who had negotiated a huge deal with Putin and had been decorated for it by Putin? Tillerson whose task was to find a way around the sanctions imposed on Russia--or to have them lifted altogether? Then there's the appointment of Gorsuch, claimed by Trump acolytes all across America as a triumph! Sessions, Price, Pruett, DeVos, Perry, Carson, Kobach, Zinke... Those people are working away like termites eating the heart out of the Republic.
18
In Trump-World, competence is irrelevant. It's all show-biz... razzle-dazzle... working the crowd... dominating the news... What else would we expect from a show-biz nincompoop like Trump? And if we expected something better from the GOP-bots in the legislature, shame on us for our foolish optimism.
5
In some regards, Trump is a believable actor. Keep it simple, one thought at a time and even give him a printed script and he does a respectable job of playing a court jester who has gotten tired of the status quo and wants to turn things upside down.
Peel back the layers, however, and you find nothing at all. Just sheer emptiness. No need to provide a list, Mr. Blow has done that. The best explanations for most of Trumps inexplicable behavior is that he doesn't understand, can't remember, it's just too complicated, and people keep telling him conflicting things that are just really, really confusing. Occam's razor. The simplest explanation is that he is simply stupid and he has become his own worst enemy because people are finding out so that his credibility is gone.
Peel back the layers, however, and you find nothing at all. Just sheer emptiness. No need to provide a list, Mr. Blow has done that. The best explanations for most of Trumps inexplicable behavior is that he doesn't understand, can't remember, it's just too complicated, and people keep telling him conflicting things that are just really, really confusing. Occam's razor. The simplest explanation is that he is simply stupid and he has become his own worst enemy because people are finding out so that his credibility is gone.
9
Mr. Blow, he is not his own worst enemy, we are.
7
Trump has always been his worst enemy. His buildings are pantheons to his ostentation. Garish, over-the-top monstrosities, Disneyland meets Graceland, Trump looks upon his projects as having class. That's his idea of class, just as Trump is a poor person's idea of a rich person. All glittery faux-gold-plated trash.
Trump has taken the same approach to his presidency. All show and tell, the carnival barker's forte is selling snake oil and passing it off as magical curative waters culled from the Fountain of Youth. It's all a facade. There is no Trump beyond the Trump you see and hear, mouthing off daily about some nonsensical bugaboo that gets under his bonnet. There is no there there. There never will be. Good going, Trumpists. You voted for someone to overturn the government apple cart, you got it. The problem is, they're your apples which are being left by the road to spoil. How does that grab you?
DD
Manhattan
Trump has taken the same approach to his presidency. All show and tell, the carnival barker's forte is selling snake oil and passing it off as magical curative waters culled from the Fountain of Youth. It's all a facade. There is no Trump beyond the Trump you see and hear, mouthing off daily about some nonsensical bugaboo that gets under his bonnet. There is no there there. There never will be. Good going, Trumpists. You voted for someone to overturn the government apple cart, you got it. The problem is, they're your apples which are being left by the road to spoil. How does that grab you?
DD
Manhattan
12
Sorry Charles, I see nothing to take comfort in about Trump and that includes his stunted intellectual development and resulting incompetence. America needs a genuine Hillary-capable president, not some two-bit shyster whose only competency is promoting himself.
Quite frankly, Trump is a blundering idiot and while he is a coward who won't own his failure of a presidency, America must own its failure in having "elected" him.
We live in perilous times and some fools in our country bet the house on an orange fake and a fraud whose incompetency was self-evident. To take comfort that his incompetency may result in less harm than he intends is another unacceptable risk.
If you want to take comfort in anything related to Trump, focus on the rising activism of the people. The Republicans in Congress are slowly getting the message: the people will hold them accountable for enabling Trump.
Quite frankly, Trump is a blundering idiot and while he is a coward who won't own his failure of a presidency, America must own its failure in having "elected" him.
We live in perilous times and some fools in our country bet the house on an orange fake and a fraud whose incompetency was self-evident. To take comfort that his incompetency may result in less harm than he intends is another unacceptable risk.
If you want to take comfort in anything related to Trump, focus on the rising activism of the people. The Republicans in Congress are slowly getting the message: the people will hold them accountable for enabling Trump.
15
"a genuine Hillary-capable president". Ah...if we only had Hillary herself now...
Can anybody still stretch our imaginations to where we could have been had we woken up to a blue map that November 9th...??
Sadness is an understatement.
Can anybody still stretch our imaginations to where we could have been had we woken up to a blue map that November 9th...??
Sadness is an understatement.
WOW! Truth distilled and so well articulated by Mr. Blow
6
Is it even possible in the world of the New York Times that impulses besides racism and sexism motivate voters? As the saying goes if you have a hammer everything is a nail, and so it is with this editorial. You can't communicate successfully with Trump folks if you bend them to your world view.
1
What about racism, sexism and greed?
" . . . cowardice." Another superb word to describe the buffoon president. Like all wanna be bullies, he is, fundamentally, sordid, ignoble, low, low-minded, mean, immoral, improper, unseemly, unscrupulous, unprincipled, dishonest, dishonorable, shameful, bad, wrong, evil, wicked, iniquitous, sinful and a coward.
12
Charles, saying "the man is simply too intellectually deficient" is much much too polite. Wish you would have said it directly, point blank: HE IS STUPID.
4
PC language: intellectually challenged.
Trump is like the little child who likes to stand up in the front seat of Daddy's car while it sits in the driveway. He likes to turn the wheel to and fro, honk the horn, push the buttons, bounce up and down and make engine revving sounds...... and then the drunk inlaws gave him the keys!
7
Reasonable Americans BEWARE:
The nascent idea to create a private militia to fight in Afghanistan, under Eric Prince's often discredited, often re-named firm, has consequences back here in America!
What if Congress decides to Impeach Trump
and Trump refuses to leave office
and the military takes steps to remove him
and Trump decides to fight back
and Prince brings his mercenaries back to the US to "protect" Trump and squash opposition
like Hitler's SS?
Trump takes over as a dictator, which is what he and Bannon want.....
Think this is far-fetched?
Then read this and come back and see me:
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/01/historian-timothy-...
The nascent idea to create a private militia to fight in Afghanistan, under Eric Prince's often discredited, often re-named firm, has consequences back here in America!
What if Congress decides to Impeach Trump
and Trump refuses to leave office
and the military takes steps to remove him
and Trump decides to fight back
and Prince brings his mercenaries back to the US to "protect" Trump and squash opposition
like Hitler's SS?
Trump takes over as a dictator, which is what he and Bannon want.....
Think this is far-fetched?
Then read this and come back and see me:
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/01/historian-timothy-...
3
Trump's deficiencies are all the more reason to hope that Mike Pence never ascends to the presidency. We'd really be in hot water then.
7
Question: Considering the continous downhill trend this White House is experiencing, how will we know when we've hit bottom?
4
Mr. Blow is seldom if ever held to account for his emotionally driven fulminations against the President, whom, it must be recalled, over 61 million of us voted for, , never explicit in terms of policy disagreements. Thus, every article is predictable , and predictablility is the bane of good journalism, If I know what you,second person plural, are going to say, why should I bother to read you?Former Public Reader, 25 year veteran of Wash. Post, said it best :Times newspaper journos exist in a bubble! She questioned whether highest standards of journalism were adhered to.Mr. Blow has his safe zones whence he seldom ventures to get a story, home: CNN, Mitch Landrieu's office in NOLA, where, chary of doing shoe leather reporting in Ninth Ward where rate of criminality was the highest, he huddled with the Mayor to mull over crime stats., which he could have downloaded from his laptop at home. In 1972 Tom Wicker risked his life by volunteering to enter Attica Prison to negotiate an end to deadly riots during which inmates and guards had suffered loss of life. NK does not blink when offered chance to go to danger zones in Africa, south Sudan where malaria is rife and Janjaweed militias create havoc among the populace. Breslin continued to report on Jimmy BURKE even after being beaten up by thugs loyal to Burke. Complacency, reluctance to take risks and creative, informative reporting r incompatible.
That you admit to voting for this utterly vile human being who is a disaster for our country (and also appear to have misspelled your own "name") casts doubt for me on the validity of your argument. You and others like you need to own this mess, and should spend your energies more productively than attacking a journalist who is speaking the truth.
6
Alalexander Harrison: What "risks" would you have Mr. Blow take? Not all reporters insert themselves into dangerous situations to pursue a story--indeed, even very few investigative reporters do so, and Mr. Blow is not an investigative reporter, or even a reporter. Mr. Blow is a columnist whose job it is is to write opinion pieces. He excels at this job. If your critique is that everyone writing a newspaper piece should be a investigative reporter embedding him or herself into dangerous situations, your argument is silly and entirely unfounded.
1
Why did you bother? I am not sure what point if any you are attempting to articulate. In you case silence is golden
1
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
Charles, a new low (the proverbial"low blow") even for you. Convenient excuses seldom equal facts. Hillary was both a flawed candidate and flawed person. Until you guys accept this, you are positioning yourself for bitter disappointment, with resulting incompetence, in both 2018 and 2020.
Charles, a new low (the proverbial"low blow") even for you. Convenient excuses seldom equal facts. Hillary was both a flawed candidate and flawed person. Until you guys accept this, you are positioning yourself for bitter disappointment, with resulting incompetence, in both 2018 and 2020.
Why exactly? XX chromosomes?
1
"Hillary was both a flawed candidate and flawed person." And what do you think Donald Trump is? The irony of your statement is stunning.
2
Hillary Clinton was an excellent candidate and she is a good person. Compared to Trump she's a genius and a saint. Trump isn't worthy to kiss the soles of her shoes.
1
Testosterone infused Trump is nothing more than Sarah Palin on steroids.
5
Dumald thinks he's king, not president.
6
Sorry, Mr. Blow. The very character traits that Trump lacks, coupled with his "gnat-like attention span," make him exceedingly dangerous, in my opinion. I'm afraid that the Trump/Bannon cabal is well on its way to destroying the country from within, and making the threats from outside the country worse than they already were. I have no trust in this administration at all.
4
Does he ever invite the Democrat Senators to lunch? Wouldn't it be benificial to all if he included all Senators. And he says Democrates are 'obstuctionists'?
5
I think it would be truly painful to be stuck in a room eating with that man and listening to his bloating nonsense and threats. Democratic legislators would deserve a bonus should such a lunch ever comes to pass. Apparently, however, it is not likely.
Maybe things are not as dire as we fear. Maybe we'll learn Donald Trump is not a collaborator or traitor.
Maybe he's just a vicious, corrupt, bullying, lying, mobbed up sociopath.
Maybe he's just a vicious, corrupt, bullying, lying, mobbed up sociopath.
6
President Trump's worst enemy is the liberal media. You are correct to state that they never saw his winning the presidency coming. They are livid and write the most unflattering and defaming articles imaginable. They hate him and degrade him in the worst possible terms. They are trying to remove him from office but will never succeed. No other president received this despicable treatment. If the conservatives had treated Obama in this fashion, they would have been labeled racists. Those who behaved in this way would have been fired and condemned. Why the double standard?
Mr. Trump is no dunce but you try to make him look like an idiot. He has achieved great success and the kind most of us can only dream of. He has not had the full support of his party and this must be very frustrating for him. He truly wanted to pass an improved healthcare bill but had people opposing him from the start. I think some even wanted him to fail. The Democrats have not been on board and have been a thorn in his side. Hillary Clinton lost and they are still livid and will never get over her defeat. They are such sore losers.
The talk of Russia is the most televised news story by the progressive media and it is becoming tiresome. Can't they find something positive to report about the administration for a change. Write about the soaring stock market and improved economy for a start. You could mention the fewer number of illegals crossing our border. Give it a try.
Mr. Trump is no dunce but you try to make him look like an idiot. He has achieved great success and the kind most of us can only dream of. He has not had the full support of his party and this must be very frustrating for him. He truly wanted to pass an improved healthcare bill but had people opposing him from the start. I think some even wanted him to fail. The Democrats have not been on board and have been a thorn in his side. Hillary Clinton lost and they are still livid and will never get over her defeat. They are such sore losers.
The talk of Russia is the most televised news story by the progressive media and it is becoming tiresome. Can't they find something positive to report about the administration for a change. Write about the soaring stock market and improved economy for a start. You could mention the fewer number of illegals crossing our border. Give it a try.
2
Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. Remember the "birther" controversy Trump created to assail Obama's legitimacy to serve as President? Remember how both he and his wife held onto it for years after it had been publicly disproved? Now, tell me again about Trump's "despicable treatment".
3
"Mr. Trump is no dunce but you try to make him look like an idiot. He has achieved great success..." He needs no assistance at looking like a dunce all he has to do is open his mouth. And his great success was not phishing away the fortune is father gave him.
"If the conservatives had treated Obama in this fashion, they would have been labeled racists." IF? They did treat President Obama like dirt for 8 years! Were you asleep? "No other president received this despicable treatment." You are as big a liar as your so-called president.
I've noted before that intellectualizing about Trump is a bit wrong-headed. The president is, among other things, quite literally insane.
A sane president would not publically trash is own attorney general, to cite but one example of his lunacy. Indeed such a mad thought would not enter his or her brain.
Naturally, there are other traits that make him almost certainly the very worst president in our history.
He's a compulsive liar, a charlatan, misogynist, racist and profoundly intellectually challenged. And crazy.
Millions of us know these truths.
Yet, no one in public office dares speak of him in these unvarnished terms. This lack of candor, and the cult of Trump, keep him afloat as he drifts from one disaster to the next.
A sane president would not publically trash is own attorney general, to cite but one example of his lunacy. Indeed such a mad thought would not enter his or her brain.
Naturally, there are other traits that make him almost certainly the very worst president in our history.
He's a compulsive liar, a charlatan, misogynist, racist and profoundly intellectually challenged. And crazy.
Millions of us know these truths.
Yet, no one in public office dares speak of him in these unvarnished terms. This lack of candor, and the cult of Trump, keep him afloat as he drifts from one disaster to the next.
7
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."" In one sentence, Mr. Blow has nailed the description of "his base"!
7
The details of a Obamacare replacement never really existed?? You mean the campaign talk it was all a fraud? You mean a fraud like Trump "University"? Shocked...Shocked that this would be going on!
8
Flynn, Sessions and Kushner are out, which means that Bannon looms larger. While Trumps distracts all with his ludicrous antics, the White supremacist agenda is quietly advanced, while the "Administrative State" is being undermined. The Presidency is debased, the press is demonized, the Courts are stacked, Congress is paralyzed, foreign policy is Putinized. Bannon is indeed the real President.
3
trump " intellectually deficient " ...I love this euphemistic definition. Bravo !!!
4
Not only his own, but Constitutions', NATO's. the environment, public education's, etc...
Trump is his own worst enemy? Gee, thanks for the insight, Chuck. What are you going to reveal next? The sky is blue? Water is wet? Night is dark?
Please, we can't wait another minute for your next brilliant observation!
Please, we can't wait another minute for your next brilliant observation!
trump squealing that he hopes putin likes him magnifies his childlike mindset.
3
Just cut to the chase. DT is insane.
5
Putin respects Trump about as much as any con man respects one of his marks. That might just be an analogy that Trump can understand.
5
I think Trump more than anything, ironically, was elected because people were and are having difficulty surviving economically/paying their bills ie income inequality and because he falsely offered promises to help them with this plight because he knew that's exactly what they wanted to hear/what would get him elected.
1
His ineptitude may be limiting his ability to get things done through the legislative process, but he's been remaking the judiciary with young right-wing zealots appointed to lifetime federal judge positions. The Senate Democrats must start fighting these appointments, as the damage to civil rights and progress will last for decades to come. The judges he appoints will still be there long after he is gone.
5
If Trump lets Obamacare fail, he would be in violation of his oath of office. When he stood before the (smaller) crowds on the west front of the Capitol Building, he promised to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States. As the chief executive of the executive branch, his job is to enforce, execute, the laws as they are written, not as he wishes they might be. Intentionally letting a national program, passed by a majority of the Congress and signed by a president, would be a clear violation of his oath of office. It would be an open betrayal of responsibility.
He doesn't care. He doesn't even know where he is and what his responsibilities are in office. No, I am not writing this out of animus toward Trump, per se, but basing my comment on the way Trump has lived both his personal and business life. He thinks the only rules that apply to him are the ones that make him happy, richer, more famous, more everything. Nothing else matters in the Trump universe.
The millions who fell in love with him and put him into office could not see the real Trump because they loved the one they imagined. It is sort of like your dad or mom telling you not to date someone when you were a teenager. You would be blinded to flaws and the more they might complain, the more you insisted to yourself they were wrong. The Trump lovers are still on that train and they aren't getting off it until it reaches the end of the line (which looms ahead a lot sooner than they think).
He doesn't care. He doesn't even know where he is and what his responsibilities are in office. No, I am not writing this out of animus toward Trump, per se, but basing my comment on the way Trump has lived both his personal and business life. He thinks the only rules that apply to him are the ones that make him happy, richer, more famous, more everything. Nothing else matters in the Trump universe.
The millions who fell in love with him and put him into office could not see the real Trump because they loved the one they imagined. It is sort of like your dad or mom telling you not to date someone when you were a teenager. You would be blinded to flaws and the more they might complain, the more you insisted to yourself they were wrong. The Trump lovers are still on that train and they aren't getting off it until it reaches the end of the line (which looms ahead a lot sooner than they think).
10
This doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
His followers call all of this "refreshing".
Yikes.
Yikes.
6
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
So very true.
So very true.
7
It strikes me that 'Washington Gridlock' is now an inevitable fact of life. It started with the nihilist view that anything the Democrats did after Obama was to be vilified and rejected on its face, regardless of merits. This last election has hardened the nation into two opposing camps... and because everything is close to 50/50, nothing will ever get done. The founding fathers didn't want this two-party system, but as long as we have it, it may as well be two countries. Since the Republicans are so anxious to push everything down to the state level, I'd suggest we just become the EU that the right so despises. Allied for defense and trade pacts, freedom of travel- but otherwise separate governance. Maybe the U.S. is just a vestige of colonial rule and needs to go through a real upheaval where no one answers to the federal government and Congress can all go home.
1
Single-payer is sweeping the US yet the press is asking the same old tired healthcare questions of our politicians, instead of focusing on what a majority want and need and that other countries have.
2
Can show me statistics that a majority of Americans want single payer healthcare? Where do you get your assertion that this is "sweeping" the nation? This is an extremely myopic view, once that is concentrated almost entirely in a faction of the Democratic party. It is hubris like this that cost the Democrats the election in 2016. Most of the nation is not yet ready to accept single-payer healthcare. I have yet to see a viable plan come across from a single Democrat about how such a system would work. How would premiums be paid so that salaried professionals are not double-taxed as they are under ObamaCare? How would the level of medical care to be provided be determined? Is there a role for insurance companies? Saying it'll be like other developed countries is not a plan!
I hate it when someone talks in generalities like this. Democrats are as bad as Republicans - don't make statements based on your small view of the world.
I hate it when someone talks in generalities like this. Democrats are as bad as Republicans - don't make statements based on your small view of the world.
He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, is a fool, shun him.
8
We have what the Chinese call a "two-headed snake" problem.
Trump may be his own worst enemy but luckily so is the Republican Party -- each their own worst enemy and also each other's worst enemy. A two-headed snake that's all hiss, rattle and venom but no fang. One snake head has a forked tongue so egregious a whole new fake media ecosystem popped up to sustain it. The other is befuddled and perplexed trying to squeeze 200,000 dead Americans into a little box that's beautiful and the best. Not that any care a whit about the 200,000 as much as staying on the right side of the enfant terrible of twitter.
It's a perfect storm of worst and enemies. Trump and the Reptilians deserve each other.
But the majority of us who didn't vote for them, don't.
They couldn't kill Obamacare so Trump will starve it to death, oblivious to the thousands who'll die as a result. Small price for keeping Trump's #1 promise.
For someone so defined by his forked tongue, keeping promises is an odd obsession. Specially when the promises are fake.
Familiarity breeds contempt but with Trump brazenly defying all ethical standards it isn't moral hazard, it's a Class 5 moral calamity that breeds apathy and cynicism, gateway drugs to doping democracy and an illusory choice of real or delusion. The danger is folks getting bored, drifting off, effectively immunizing Trump from other scandals as no one cares.
The Chinese say a two-headed snake is always bad luck.
Tell us something we don't know.
Trump may be his own worst enemy but luckily so is the Republican Party -- each their own worst enemy and also each other's worst enemy. A two-headed snake that's all hiss, rattle and venom but no fang. One snake head has a forked tongue so egregious a whole new fake media ecosystem popped up to sustain it. The other is befuddled and perplexed trying to squeeze 200,000 dead Americans into a little box that's beautiful and the best. Not that any care a whit about the 200,000 as much as staying on the right side of the enfant terrible of twitter.
It's a perfect storm of worst and enemies. Trump and the Reptilians deserve each other.
But the majority of us who didn't vote for them, don't.
They couldn't kill Obamacare so Trump will starve it to death, oblivious to the thousands who'll die as a result. Small price for keeping Trump's #1 promise.
For someone so defined by his forked tongue, keeping promises is an odd obsession. Specially when the promises are fake.
Familiarity breeds contempt but with Trump brazenly defying all ethical standards it isn't moral hazard, it's a Class 5 moral calamity that breeds apathy and cynicism, gateway drugs to doping democracy and an illusory choice of real or delusion. The danger is folks getting bored, drifting off, effectively immunizing Trump from other scandals as no one cares.
The Chinese say a two-headed snake is always bad luck.
Tell us something we don't know.
16
You do realize Obamacare was/is too expensive for millions of Americans, right? I'm not defending Trump/GOP, but by touting OCare incessantly, and ignoring those low income folks who could never afford it, Dems played right into Trump's hands.
Bottom line, often cited in the Times: States that wanted Ocare to work (for example, by accepting the Medicaid expansion) have made it work. States that resisted have hurt their citizens and harmed the health system. Now the Republicans will only discuss fixes with Democrats after a requisite number of people suffer and they come back groveling to the Republicans. (What else does repeal now and wait 2 more years for a new plan possibly mean?) Those who hate government should not be put in charge of it.
1
The list of stupid things said by Donald is an endless one. But what really stands out to prove how stupid and incompetent he really is comes from HIS solution to health care. Elect me,he said. You will ALL have the BEST care at a much lower cost. TRUST ME!!!!
9
we must get this buffoon out of office. How did this happen? I'm aware that most folk are tired of politics as usual but trump's politics are taking the usa on a road to destruction. glad to be in the NEK.
4
Alice Walker's words come to mind: The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. WE THE PEOPLE do not have to "take whatever we can get". I agree with your assessment that Trump is immoral, dishonest, inept and addicted to power and greed. But, I do not have to tolerate his deplorable behavior. The President of the United States represents the American People. Concerned American Citizens to contact their Senators and their Congressional Representatives and let them know that it is time for them to step up to the plate and stop this madness. If they don't actively and productively stand up to this deplorable leader... no more money, no more support. We must VOTE them out of office. RESIST, RESIST, RESIST. To do anything less results in enabling the destruction of the American Democracy.
12
Yes, Trump is his own worst enemy as well as ours. Thank God for the NYT and other media outlets who keep us from becoming numb from Trump. He can never become the accepted norm. We deserve better.
As he is totally deceitful, he has to be monitored always, and we need to pay attention to his tweets yet not become distracted from what he is doing to us behind the scenes. He is an obscenity and out of pure little mean boy spite his latest tweets on the defeat of his heinous healthcare plan was to tell Congress to simply repeal ACA, without a plan to replace it, and let 33 million Americans be dropped from insurance.
We have a villain for a president and we are still waiting for Congress to put on the traditional good guy white hats and remove this monstrosity. CNN likened each day we wake up to Trump another "Groundhog Day". Very apt.
As he is totally deceitful, he has to be monitored always, and we need to pay attention to his tweets yet not become distracted from what he is doing to us behind the scenes. He is an obscenity and out of pure little mean boy spite his latest tweets on the defeat of his heinous healthcare plan was to tell Congress to simply repeal ACA, without a plan to replace it, and let 33 million Americans be dropped from insurance.
We have a villain for a president and we are still waiting for Congress to put on the traditional good guy white hats and remove this monstrosity. CNN likened each day we wake up to Trump another "Groundhog Day". Very apt.
12
Trump confuses his interpretation of looking presidential (wallowing in the trappings of the office) with being presidential (actually doing the hard work necessary to govern a nation). It sickens me that he is the face of our country to the rest of the world. He isn't fit to wipe Barack Obama's shoes.
7
Trump's niche is the unhealthy appeal to the demons of the subconscious. This ranges from a sense of the aggrieved to full stop astonishment. What works for the theater, however, does not necessarily work for public governance.
Given the fact that democracy presumes a central role for conscious reflection in moderating base emotions this modus is a contradiction in an American political leader. Trump manifests this approach not only in his influence over others but in his personal behavior, directly. It could not be otherwise. The method is the man.
However, harnessing such a personality as head of state threatens to pull the entire edifice over the cliff. The stampeding, resentful, unthinking masses that Trump has unleashed have, in turn, buoyed the resentful, unthinking Trump.
This relationship is like a pair of bolo balls swinging wildly through the air. Who knows who they are going to ensnare and cripple next? First it's immigrants. Then it's Muslims. Next healthcare recipients. Given time and the deep-sixed Paris Accord - it's the entire planet.
Like Blow says, Trump is his own worst enemy. His recent interview with the NYT and his Sessions-bashing session is an example. He has now publicly denied the existence of a meeting with Comey taken when the AG and others were asked to leave the room. Are these people going to perjure themselves when interviewed by Mueller?
When politics is treated as a horror movie it is life imitating art to our sorry, mutual detriment.
Given the fact that democracy presumes a central role for conscious reflection in moderating base emotions this modus is a contradiction in an American political leader. Trump manifests this approach not only in his influence over others but in his personal behavior, directly. It could not be otherwise. The method is the man.
However, harnessing such a personality as head of state threatens to pull the entire edifice over the cliff. The stampeding, resentful, unthinking masses that Trump has unleashed have, in turn, buoyed the resentful, unthinking Trump.
This relationship is like a pair of bolo balls swinging wildly through the air. Who knows who they are going to ensnare and cripple next? First it's immigrants. Then it's Muslims. Next healthcare recipients. Given time and the deep-sixed Paris Accord - it's the entire planet.
Like Blow says, Trump is his own worst enemy. His recent interview with the NYT and his Sessions-bashing session is an example. He has now publicly denied the existence of a meeting with Comey taken when the AG and others were asked to leave the room. Are these people going to perjure themselves when interviewed by Mueller?
When politics is treated as a horror movie it is life imitating art to our sorry, mutual detriment.
3
It's an EDD problem, as in Executive Dysfunction Disorder.
5
Every time he tweets he digs a deeper grave... have at it mr t...
3
Thank you Mr.Blow,your words soothe me to a certain extent. The angst and horror are somewhat ameliorated but they do persist unfortunately. Day after day after day after.......
5
While abroad recently, I found myself comforting people of the country I was visiting by telling them that while Trump is a terrible person, he's too incompetent to do most of the things he wants to do. His bull-in-a-china-shop ways are unlikely to harm people outside the US.
The only problem with that thinking is President Id can be strongly influenced by foreign leaders who put on a nice show of fawning over him. Hopefully, more of our allies will pick up on this, as France has recently done.
European leaders should brush up on positive dog training techniques and invite our president for more visits.
The only problem with that thinking is President Id can be strongly influenced by foreign leaders who put on a nice show of fawning over him. Hopefully, more of our allies will pick up on this, as France has recently done.
European leaders should brush up on positive dog training techniques and invite our president for more visits.
3
"...invite our president for more visits, but not include their wives, or any female relatives."
1
Once a Biff Tannen, always a Biff Tannen. Unlike Thomas F. Wilson, who brought Tannen to life, Trump has never realized that Tannen is a caricature, not a blue-print for how to live a life. "He campaigned on applause-line policies" defines Trump's whole life. Reality, facts, in-depth analysis have been absent from Trump his entire life. I'll say it again: He's driven by 5 motivations:
1) The need to be adored, loved and deemed the smartest, prettiest guy in the room (or else!).
2) The need for getting other people's money, for hustling it, never, ever earning it. Money scammed, debts unpaid, are to Trump a triumph.
3) Power. He held a stranglehold on every employee, demanding NDAs for even the lowliest positions, loving the ability to abuse anyone whereever, etc.
4) Sex. He sees women the same way he sees commodes--the fancier the better but they exist solely for his need. You don't ask a toilet's permission to use it. He treats women the same way and always has.
5) Vengeance. I think this may be his strongest motivation, his hatred of anyone who challenged the other 4 and the need to destroy them and their reputation forever and ever. If he makes himself dictator, people he's pretending to have made up with (like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio) as well as clear enemies like Rosie O'Donnell and Hillary Clinton will get a middle of the night "knock on the door" and disappear or end up in a Putin/Stalin show trial.
1) The need to be adored, loved and deemed the smartest, prettiest guy in the room (or else!).
2) The need for getting other people's money, for hustling it, never, ever earning it. Money scammed, debts unpaid, are to Trump a triumph.
3) Power. He held a stranglehold on every employee, demanding NDAs for even the lowliest positions, loving the ability to abuse anyone whereever, etc.
4) Sex. He sees women the same way he sees commodes--the fancier the better but they exist solely for his need. You don't ask a toilet's permission to use it. He treats women the same way and always has.
5) Vengeance. I think this may be his strongest motivation, his hatred of anyone who challenged the other 4 and the need to destroy them and their reputation forever and ever. If he makes himself dictator, people he's pretending to have made up with (like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio) as well as clear enemies like Rosie O'Donnell and Hillary Clinton will get a middle of the night "knock on the door" and disappear or end up in a Putin/Stalin show trial.
5
I absolutely agree. As all my liberal friends pray for his impeachment, I just hope he continues to limp along, completely incompetent and impotent.
4
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
This is so right on. So clearly pinpoints who Trump is and the Trump dynamic. I haven't even finished the article but had to comment. You hit the nail on the head, Mr. Blow.
This is so right on. So clearly pinpoints who Trump is and the Trump dynamic. I haven't even finished the article but had to comment. You hit the nail on the head, Mr. Blow.
4
I would have to concur that all this is true.
I also think it is a stretch to suggest that electors who voted for Trump did so because they are all woman haters and racists.
There was Hillary, well known for giving $200K speeches to the Wall Street boys. The Hedge fund managers who have done much to enrich themselves at the expense of other Americans. The guys who loaded up takeover targets with debt and then left them to flounder with the loss of jobs for average workers.
Remember those guys?
So it was another Clinton, when there has always been the whiff of scandal around the Clintons, versus Trump, who I always perceived as being somewhat odious but for many voters he promised to make significant changes.
Trump beat the establishment Republicans in the primaries because they represented the status quote. He beat Clinton for the same reason.
Unfortunately when in office and the proverbial rock got turned over we find there is nothing there – there… well… just a lot of slime!
I also think it is a stretch to suggest that electors who voted for Trump did so because they are all woman haters and racists.
There was Hillary, well known for giving $200K speeches to the Wall Street boys. The Hedge fund managers who have done much to enrich themselves at the expense of other Americans. The guys who loaded up takeover targets with debt and then left them to flounder with the loss of jobs for average workers.
Remember those guys?
So it was another Clinton, when there has always been the whiff of scandal around the Clintons, versus Trump, who I always perceived as being somewhat odious but for many voters he promised to make significant changes.
Trump beat the establishment Republicans in the primaries because they represented the status quote. He beat Clinton for the same reason.
Unfortunately when in office and the proverbial rock got turned over we find there is nothing there – there… well… just a lot of slime!
4
No. He did not beat Hillary for the same reason. She had over 3 million more individual votes. He won because of the outdated electoral college, which favors areas that are predominately republican because of outdated voting laws.
2
Correction: Trump is Our Own Worst Enemy.
7
As usual Mr. Blow you hit the nail on the head. Trump is an ignoramus. However I don't feel that because his brain is so muddled we might avoid the worst and somehow get through the Trump years without too much damage. The EPA is already damaged. The worthless Republicans may still get their no-health care bill passed. Our western allies think we are chumps and that we are no longer world leaders. Meanwhile, Trump kisses up the Putin and the Saudi's. Both of which he thinks are next to god's. On top of that we can't believe one word Trump says. He contradicts himself sometimes in the same sentence. He's truly intellectually deficient.
4
In describing Trump, you've describe half the country.
"(He is) an instinctual creature ... a steady diet of TV, Twitter ... no appetite for the intellectual ... no desire for depth ... for truth. Trump's defect may be America's defense. "
I would submit that Trump's defect is America's defect.
"(He is) an instinctual creature ... a steady diet of TV, Twitter ... no appetite for the intellectual ... no desire for depth ... for truth. Trump's defect may be America's defense. "
I would submit that Trump's defect is America's defect.
5
So leave.
It's only been 6 months yet every ex-employee, ex-business partner, ex-acquaintance, sexual assault victim who bravely came forward in the general election has been vindicated! Donald Trump is exactly who they said he was!
Donald Trump has no loyalty but he expects it from everyone. He has turned on everyone he ever worked with. See: Sessions, Rosenstein, Spicer, Comey, the RNC and HIS VOTERS!
Donald Trump didn't write or READ "The Art of the Deal".
He is a horrible businessman and deal maker. He has majorities in both chambers of congress and he hasn't accomplished anything!
Donald Trump lies! He said he would make healthcare better but his policy would make it worst. He said he's bring back jobs. Carrier is firing the first of 300 workers 6 months after receiving their gravy deal. Where is the Wall paid by Mexico. Where is all that winning we were supposed to get sick of?
Donald Trump is a sexist. He doesn't hire women. Can barely be in the presence of women with power. See Merkel. The only woman he promotes is his daughter and quite frankly that relationship looks inappropriate sometimes. He judges women by their appearance all the time! See: French President's wife.
They told us who he was, so many of his detractors had other people backing up their stories. Trump validated half of their stories & then blamed others! Oh yeah they also told you he never takes responsibility for anything! See: Obama, Lynch and DNC. AND WE STILL ELECTED HIM!
Donald Trump has no loyalty but he expects it from everyone. He has turned on everyone he ever worked with. See: Sessions, Rosenstein, Spicer, Comey, the RNC and HIS VOTERS!
Donald Trump didn't write or READ "The Art of the Deal".
He is a horrible businessman and deal maker. He has majorities in both chambers of congress and he hasn't accomplished anything!
Donald Trump lies! He said he would make healthcare better but his policy would make it worst. He said he's bring back jobs. Carrier is firing the first of 300 workers 6 months after receiving their gravy deal. Where is the Wall paid by Mexico. Where is all that winning we were supposed to get sick of?
Donald Trump is a sexist. He doesn't hire women. Can barely be in the presence of women with power. See Merkel. The only woman he promotes is his daughter and quite frankly that relationship looks inappropriate sometimes. He judges women by their appearance all the time! See: French President's wife.
They told us who he was, so many of his detractors had other people backing up their stories. Trump validated half of their stories & then blamed others! Oh yeah they also told you he never takes responsibility for anything! See: Obama, Lynch and DNC. AND WE STILL ELECTED HIM!
1
The electoral college "elected" him.
2
O.K., Charles Blow - our President lies "the way other people breathe". But thanks to his 'gnat's' attention span and lack of any intelligent reasoning at all, perhaps he will be unable to damage us all the way he promised. That may be the silver-lining to Triump's miserably 'unpresidented' Presidency. Legislatively, he is a 'fantastic' failure. His promises will never be kept, his lies will cheer his knuckle-dragging followers to Kingdom Come. Imagine our President stating that he will 'not own it!" about the Republicans' forlorn health care bill meant to replace Obamacare on Day One of Trump's ghastly administration? Can't imagine it? There's worse to come and that's a promise, not a lie.
1
To quote John Lennon: "Nobody told me there would be days like these!". But America elected Trump. You get what you vote for. The rigidity of America's Constitutional system compared to a parliamentary one taken together with the lack of any scruples in today's GOP ensures that he will be President for the next 3 1/2 years if he doesn't blow us up. Then it is likely that America will elect him again. "Strange days indeed! Most peculiar momma".
At this point I'm in favor of 'psycho-Judo'; the art of defeating one's opponent by letting him get where he thinks he wants to go. You can't contain him anyway (the Red Congress is seeing to that), so we might as well let him punch himself out! Thinking about firing special counsels? Do it! Thinking about advocating death panel healthcare? Do it! Tweet yourself into oblivion decrying everyone and everything as your administration overheats and sputters. Don't hold back your real feelings, Don! This is your moment. The instruments of his undoing are rooted in his mental diarrhea and unforced errors. The video clip of him "not owning Obamacare" should be rebroadcast each month leading up to November 2018 (whether he's still in office or not). As Americans suffer, the image of Trump openly turning his back on them should effectively counter claims of "fake news" and fake polls. Trump's credibility should dip into the negative numbers ("'I guess Trump is saying more crazy stuff today, dear, please pass me the butter."). Instead of outrage he should be met with vigilance, fact checking, and stone cold rejection. He will inevitably respond with more psychotic bluster. So, instead of outrage, and in the best traditions of "covfefe" let's enjoy and prosecute.
2
Our only saving grace is his ineptitude and Robert Mueller.
3
Fundamentally, Trump is depraved, base and low, --- a smoothing-talking con-man schmoozing up to anyone who can make him feel adored. He is a Big Baby who craves attention and whose selfishness causes psychological damage to those who crave leadership, but are only abused by his incompetence to lead America and help maintain it's past greatness.
2
Quit dancing around the obvious and admit the President is mentally unbalanced. Accepting that fact helps one understand the President's rambling, incoherent stream of words.
2
President Trump is not "inept"; he is psychologically disordered and therefore incapable of running our country.
1
You might be correct with respect to domestic legislation. However, the world of international relations they've figured Trump out. They know that they just have to flatter him and show respect, and then they can do as they please. The meeting with Putin was telling, but his meetings with Macron in France and King Salman in Saudi Arabia were even more instructive. It is very dangerous to have a president who can be pushed off so easily.
The Russians and Trump have a symbiotic money connection. Russia loans Trump money, Russian oligarchs salt their money away in Manhattan luxury condos. Both Trump and Putin are money and oil guys.
2
Nixon was evil but competent
Trump is ignorant, evil, and incompetent.
thank goodness for small favors.
lies a lot too
Trump is ignorant, evil, and incompetent.
thank goodness for small favors.
lies a lot too
1
Nice try, Charles, to see an off sett to Trump's Ignorance with the fact that he is ignorant and thus unable to execute his horrors to full effect. However, I certainly agree that we will take whatever we get that may ameliorate the damage this ignorant man is doing to the people of this Country.
And, oh, yes, to the Headline writer who headed Charles commentary with the words "Trump is his own worst enemy" who surely must have known it would provoke a thousand similar replies I add mine: Not as long as I'm alive!
And, oh, yes, to the Headline writer who headed Charles commentary with the words "Trump is his own worst enemy" who surely must have known it would provoke a thousand similar replies I add mine: Not as long as I'm alive!
2
Poor Mr. McCain has a cancer of the brain, and that is so awful and upsetting. I am so sorry to hear that. As a person who has survived a different kind of cancer, I am sorry for him and sorry for what he and his family will have to endure. But Mr. Trump has something worse: A cancer of the soul, and I am most emphatically not sorry for him, or his family. That is one kind of cancer you get only if you deserve it. I also believe half of what is saving us now from further TrumpStorm Damage, is his incompetency at anything besides his signature. His only other attribute as far as I can see, is an uncanny luck. And I do perceive that as finally running out. And yay, nothing really got done, did it?
3
As always, I enjoy your article. However, I do not take any comfort from his bumbling and stumbling and ineptitudes. He has done great damage behind the scenes with his executive orders and his cabinet picks and their regressive agendas. It is definitely not an enlightened time right now in America. Although sometimes we need to go through darkness to find the light.
1
"Trump Is His Own Worst Enemy." He's really not, there are others of us who claim that honor.
1
I also think that he is so flattered and manipulated by the amateurs in his inner circle that he neglects to expand that circle with the expertise and experience he needs to get anything done. If he really wanted to get healthcare legislation passed, he may have tried having some legislative experts in the White House helping him sell the bill to Congress and his voters. Of course, the problem with surrounding yourself with experts is that they usually know more than you and want to tell you how to proceed. A non-startedr with Trump.
107
Thank you Mr. Blow! Trump is the circus animal in the ring controlled by his handlers Ryan and McConnell. When talking about the healthcare bill not passing in the Senate Ryan said that "the Senate just needs to pass something". No one in this circus is capable of any intellectual thought and Trump is reduced to learning material the size of tweets. The clown car continues on down the road taking us all for a ride.
2
As usual, Charles expertly reveals the quint_essential fraudulence of this shameless poseur...how anyone who has taken any kind of oath to protect and uphold the Constitution from all enemies foreign AND domestic hasn't yet come forward to show Mr. Trump the door is beyond me. And, while we're on the subject, has anyone drawn the connection between Trump's penchant for declaring bankruptcy and walking away when things get tough and his behavior yesterday to declare his willingness to "let the (Affordable Care Act) fail"? Just walk away from the mess you've created...stiff all the people who've assisted you along the way, and go find someone else fool enough to loan you money to perpetrate even greater damages. Dishonest as sin in business, could anyone REALLY expect that he would change his stripes in politics?
4
Mr. Blow, please keep up your earlier refrain of "this is not normal." Because Trump is being normalized. I tried to read the transcript from his NYT interview but it was making me nauseous. Why are people pretending that this man makes any sense at all when he tries to answer a question? Why didn't the reporters press him to actually answer the questions? He's incoherent. I stopped reading when Trump said twice of Macron "he loves holding my hand."
The term "gas lighting" turned up over and over in the news in the first weeks of Trump's presidency, but it has slowly faded away. We have accepted the insane reality of an ignorant, vulgar, stupid man holding the most powerful position on earth. We are no longer questioning the crazy framing -- we have succumbed to the gas lighting. We are accepting it. We shouldn't.
The term "gas lighting" turned up over and over in the news in the first weeks of Trump's presidency, but it has slowly faded away. We have accepted the insane reality of an ignorant, vulgar, stupid man holding the most powerful position on earth. We are no longer questioning the crazy framing -- we have succumbed to the gas lighting. We are accepting it. We shouldn't.
3
Mr. Blow, let's not get too relaxed about Trump's inability to effect policy changes. He is still a simpleton with access to nuclear launch codes.
1
Hey, Charles, leave the gnats out of this. Compared to Trump, some life forms have meaning.
Very good column! I have one issue with it. Your sentence, "He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry."
I think that is most definitely true for many, but not all of his voters. Their economic worry is real. Certainly economic worry is relevant to anyone except the top 10% or so. Trump's beliefs attracted others like him in the "ism" department. But, I think a great many of his voters are not even aware of how ingrained racism and sexism are in all of us in our society. Most I would guess would argue that they think they are not racist or sexist and aren't cognizant of any "worry" about them either. And that is precisely what perpetuates both.
We so need to have more discussion about race and gender. That will require white people and men who strive to be allies to step up and speak up.
I think that is most definitely true for many, but not all of his voters. Their economic worry is real. Certainly economic worry is relevant to anyone except the top 10% or so. Trump's beliefs attracted others like him in the "ism" department. But, I think a great many of his voters are not even aware of how ingrained racism and sexism are in all of us in our society. Most I would guess would argue that they think they are not racist or sexist and aren't cognizant of any "worry" about them either. And that is precisely what perpetuates both.
We so need to have more discussion about race and gender. That will require white people and men who strive to be allies to step up and speak up.
2
Not while I'm alive. Thanks to George S Kaufman on Jed Harris.
Agreed.
To Mr. Blow's point on shadow casting, know that Trump is so insignificant he casts no shadow standing next to former President Obama,
1
Your column today was particularly insightful, even by your generally high standards. Many other commentators give Trump too much of a benefit of the doubt, and generally do not call attention to his mediocre mental abilities. I admire the way you are able to channel your distrust and contempt for the man, which I very much share, into cogent arguments that must be convincing even to those who are still trying to convince themselves that he must have some ability to lead the nation and the free world. The truth is he does not as you constantly demonstrate. You have been arguing convincingly that we have managed to elect a feeble-minded, bigoted, sexist, narcissist bully, who has always got his way by exploiting the system to the fullest. As you and many others have argued, we must hang our head in shame that we Americans elected him. He has made us the laughing stock of the world and has depleted the tremendous reservoir of goodwill that Barack Obama and other leaders built up over the years.
2
Mr Blow, I enjoy your continual excoriation of the president; however, your near reverence for Obama has somewhat clouded your judgement. I liked Obama, I even voted for him, but he made some serious mistakes in his foreign policy. As for Mrs Clinton, almost as many Americans hated her as supported her. Her candidacy assured her defeat and Trump's unlikely election. Otherwise, you're mostly on point.
The Republican congress has gone from obstructionists to co-conspirators with a flip of the switch. Yes we have an inept "president" and, perhaps just as importantly, we have a congress willing and enthusiastically embracing a cruel agenda which outweighs the lies and and malfeasance of the executive branch. History will not treat them kindly. And either should we. I hope all this is a harbinger of a Democratic congress in 2018.
2
Mr. Blow - thank you again for your analysis. In general I do agree with many of the points that you have made. I do wonder if there are elements of society who are comfortable with a meritocracy, so long as they are at the top and of I do believe that in some sense Trumps victory was a reaction to President Obama's success and international profile, as well has his progressive (note the opposite of regressive) social policies. However, I must hasten to add, that thus far, I am disappointed in the Democratic party and their efforts. The Democratic party must begin to develop a cohesive message that resonates and touches the electorate, all of it. It must stop simply decrying all things Trump and get on with the business of being and and sustaining a more successful political party. This is my message to the Democratic party and those members of the Republican party who care about their country. There is much work to be done. Pointing fingers and giving interviews is insufficient. Get to work, take back the house, stand for real change and find your way back into people's hearts. This presidency will be over one day - and there will a lot of cleaning up and digging out to do.
According to a piece written by Ronald Klain in this morning's Washington Post, DJT has been naming young, right wing federal judges at an alarming rate. If all or most of his appointees make it to the bench, DJT will ruin our nation for generations. If Mr. Klain is correct, this is perfect illustration of the power of theatrical distraction by our "so called" POTUS.
235
djt is all smoke & mirrors for the Repubs & the alt right wing conservatives! Distracting the electorate from their evil deviousness! The danger to our democracy is REAL!
" If all or most of his appointees make it to the bench, DJT will ruin our nation for generations."
This statement implies that the United States will return to "normal."
Trump has fundamentally altered the United States of America.....
FOREVER.
This statement implies that the United States will return to "normal."
Trump has fundamentally altered the United States of America.....
FOREVER.
On the plus side, Trump's arrogance, incompetence and turpitude couldn't be
more overt. Maybe his 36 percent of approvers need 3D glasses? That number could diminish. Look at N.J's governor. Yes, Mr. Blow, Trump is a cold shadow of the president Barack Obama was. And we will be the ones left to shiver with no coats.
more overt. Maybe his 36 percent of approvers need 3D glasses? That number could diminish. Look at N.J's governor. Yes, Mr. Blow, Trump is a cold shadow of the president Barack Obama was. And we will be the ones left to shiver with no coats.
2
I think comparing Trump to Obama is ridiculous. Trump lacks the wisdom and intellectual ability of the Obama. Hillary was probably as bright or brighter than Bill Clinton and Obama. The stupid ones are the ones who elected him and do not want to acknowledge their mistake. They have made us all pay for their ire.
1
Charles, I try never to miss your columns, and I rarely disagree with you, but you (and other writers) need to come up with a better simile than '...his gnat-like attention span'.
We had a gnat in the bedroom last night, and it was seriously concentrated on trying to score. Off me. For quite some time. More concentrated on its task than I've ever seen not-your-President on anything (except himself and food).
Eventually I was able to whack the gnat. Some annoyances are more easily solved than others.
p.
We had a gnat in the bedroom last night, and it was seriously concentrated on trying to score. Off me. For quite some time. More concentrated on its task than I've ever seen not-your-President on anything (except himself and food).
Eventually I was able to whack the gnat. Some annoyances are more easily solved than others.
p.
3
I am sorry, Mr. Blow, saying that someone who intends to shoot me dead with his gun but is a lousy shot and may only cripple me or might miss and hit a neighbor is something to give me comfort is ignoring both the disease the remedy. The disease is greed and contempt for everyone other that white, native born men. You nailed it on bigotry.
The GOP majority in Congress is keeping a vicious dog. It has a leash but doesn’t use it. It and allows him to attack people on whim. Like all vicious attack dogs Trump is, vicious, mean and stupid. Is damage control the answer, when these people work in a different moral universe, where you shrug off treason and. where self enrichment is the object of government?
What has been under furious attack for some time the rule of law and very soon we will learn if it is still alive, or whether it’s too late and the only thing left of our Constitution is the 2nd amendment.
The GOP majority in Congress is keeping a vicious dog. It has a leash but doesn’t use it. It and allows him to attack people on whim. Like all vicious attack dogs Trump is, vicious, mean and stupid. Is damage control the answer, when these people work in a different moral universe, where you shrug off treason and. where self enrichment is the object of government?
What has been under furious attack for some time the rule of law and very soon we will learn if it is still alive, or whether it’s too late and the only thing left of our Constitution is the 2nd amendment.
2
It is my resolute suspicion that the Trump Organization is essentially a money laundering concern for organized crime, specifically Russian oligarchs. They buy apartments in Trump properties. The money goes in dirty and comes out less dirty.
Please, Mr. Mueller, bust him. Dig deep. Find all the dirt. Bring him and his ilk to justice and restore our faith in the rule of law and America.
Pull that thread on Manafort's financial sweater and unravel the whole scheme.
Please, Mr. Mueller, bust him. Dig deep. Find all the dirt. Bring him and his ilk to justice and restore our faith in the rule of law and America.
Pull that thread on Manafort's financial sweater and unravel the whole scheme.
5
Thank you Mr. Blow for your powerful writing and unflinching courage. These are crazy and frightening times. After I read " Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities" I copied and texted it to all my friends. I also wanted to stand up and applaud you.
Somehow we got a reality TV star, a crooked businessman, an indecent person, a cheat, a liar and a creep in the White House as our president. Obama is everything Trump isn't and could never be- a brilliant man, a good man- and that's why hates him so much and is obsessed with destroying his legacy brick by brick, no matter who gets hurt in the process. To him that would be his biggest " win".
When is this nightmare going to end?
Somehow we got a reality TV star, a crooked businessman, an indecent person, a cheat, a liar and a creep in the White House as our president. Obama is everything Trump isn't and could never be- a brilliant man, a good man- and that's why hates him so much and is obsessed with destroying his legacy brick by brick, no matter who gets hurt in the process. To him that would be his biggest " win".
When is this nightmare going to end?
4
There is no comfort to be had regarding Trump's lack of intellect. Because.....
We still have the Republicans in charge with their extreme agendas. They are the people who will continue to assure that Trump's (or should I say Bannon's) proclamations are accomplished. In fact, Trump is the perfect foil for them. No comfort in that whatsoever
We still have the Republicans in charge with their extreme agendas. They are the people who will continue to assure that Trump's (or should I say Bannon's) proclamations are accomplished. In fact, Trump is the perfect foil for them. No comfort in that whatsoever
2
Democrats have to make sure that the Republicans own trump and firmly wrap him around their necks like albatross that he is. Silence is equal to support as far as I'm concerned, that is aimed squarely at the supposedly Christian Mike Pence.
5
If you go back to early February you can find comments in the New York Times
where I admonished the virulent Anti-Trumphistas to just sit back and
let Trump over-extend himself until he was swimming alone in
"Impeachable Waters".
The filing of lawsuits, writing of columns, mini-protests only warned him
to turn away from some policies that, if implemented, would have led the
Congress to step away from him and consider impeachment.
If Democrats in Congress went to the Republicans and said they would
happily accept Mike Pence...
where I admonished the virulent Anti-Trumphistas to just sit back and
let Trump over-extend himself until he was swimming alone in
"Impeachable Waters".
The filing of lawsuits, writing of columns, mini-protests only warned him
to turn away from some policies that, if implemented, would have led the
Congress to step away from him and consider impeachment.
If Democrats in Congress went to the Republicans and said they would
happily accept Mike Pence...
But he has hired others to impose his "heartless directives"--one of which is the major cut to food stamps in Mulvaney's budget.
Still waiting for Hope and Change. Six months of Trump is already better than eight years of Obama.
1
Henny Youngman (or was it Don Rickles?): "Not while I'm alive!"
1
Yes, Mr. Blow, this president is no thinker, planner or visionary. But his appeal to the ugly underbelly of Americans' fears, anger, patronizing and dismissive attitudes towards women and racial minorities, complete with dog whistles and coded "messages" should not surprise you. This president unleashed a wrathful red dam of latent racial rage that resulted in the tea party movement shortly after the election of the country's first black president.
After that outrage, many Americans could no longer sit still and accept that Barack Obama's presidency signaled a different course for America in the 21st century. The tea party brought out all the ugliness of racial angst and that resented what a "forward-thinking coalition" had done to "their" America.
This president's campaign was founded on tea party fury and racial hostility, hence, his "birther" smear against President Obama that found traction and welcome across the country and the creation of his populist platform, "make America great again".
The president duly planted his seeds of discord over the last two years and was rewarded with a stunning election victory. To his supporters, the president ran against Barack Obama as well as Hillary Clinton and his electoral triumph dispelled their fears that America had lost its way. The president told one and all that blacks and women were the enemy, and his base enthusiastically agreed.
It is for tor these reasons, Mr. Blow, that this false prophet sits in the White House.
After that outrage, many Americans could no longer sit still and accept that Barack Obama's presidency signaled a different course for America in the 21st century. The tea party brought out all the ugliness of racial angst and that resented what a "forward-thinking coalition" had done to "their" America.
This president's campaign was founded on tea party fury and racial hostility, hence, his "birther" smear against President Obama that found traction and welcome across the country and the creation of his populist platform, "make America great again".
The president duly planted his seeds of discord over the last two years and was rewarded with a stunning election victory. To his supporters, the president ran against Barack Obama as well as Hillary Clinton and his electoral triumph dispelled their fears that America had lost its way. The president told one and all that blacks and women were the enemy, and his base enthusiastically agreed.
It is for tor these reasons, Mr. Blow, that this false prophet sits in the White House.
1
Everything you write is correct
nevertheless our system of
government will be tested by
this President. We must remain
vigilant. Give credit to the people
who came out in town hall
meetings to confront their elected
representatives, particularly on
health care issues. Give credit to
your colleagues (and yourself) who
are keeping the public informed.
Give credit to the advocates for justice.
We cannot succumb to passivity
by becoming bystanders to this madness.
We must use our voices and our votes
in a positive manner to change the
dangers facing our country.
A personal word to Senator McCain
who is an inspiration...wishing him
much strength in his present battle and
thoughts with him.
nevertheless our system of
government will be tested by
this President. We must remain
vigilant. Give credit to the people
who came out in town hall
meetings to confront their elected
representatives, particularly on
health care issues. Give credit to
your colleagues (and yourself) who
are keeping the public informed.
Give credit to the advocates for justice.
We cannot succumb to passivity
by becoming bystanders to this madness.
We must use our voices and our votes
in a positive manner to change the
dangers facing our country.
A personal word to Senator McCain
who is an inspiration...wishing him
much strength in his present battle and
thoughts with him.
7
It's true that it slows down the Republicans in causing damage, but unfortunately the same qualities make him lose badly in international dealings. For example the radicals in Saudi Arabia were able to get him to attack Quatar. There are many more examples how China and Russia played him.
7
Perhaps we are experiencing the inevitable result of a series of power grabs on the right that in my view began when the Supreme Court intervened in the election of 2000, increased when the Bush Administration manipulated the country into an unnecessary, costly and completely destabilizing war, continued throughout Obama's presidency with a completely perverse and nihilistic imperative to obstruct and undermine every single initiative he undertook resulting in what is laughably called Trump's big achievement that actually belongs to the diabolical McConnell, the implantation of a very right wing Justice into a stolen seat.
Fiction writers could not come up with a better consequence of a fractured morality tale then the election of a man who is sitting on top of the GOP like a writhing, two ton octopus, multiple arms akimbo and wriggling into every area of a Republican government with the pernicious effect of haphazardly shooting poison at anyone, friend or foe, who attempts to conduct business with any degree of independence.
Now with gleeful abandoning of principle, Trump having already been enabled to trample on any number of precedents and very possibly laws is threatening to tear down the entire infrastructure of health care, one sixth of the economy to get a "win" while his minions in congress and the WH squabble endlessly over the degree to which they will unconditionally surrender. Democrats and sane Republicans must provide alternatives.
Fiction writers could not come up with a better consequence of a fractured morality tale then the election of a man who is sitting on top of the GOP like a writhing, two ton octopus, multiple arms akimbo and wriggling into every area of a Republican government with the pernicious effect of haphazardly shooting poison at anyone, friend or foe, who attempts to conduct business with any degree of independence.
Now with gleeful abandoning of principle, Trump having already been enabled to trample on any number of precedents and very possibly laws is threatening to tear down the entire infrastructure of health care, one sixth of the economy to get a "win" while his minions in congress and the WH squabble endlessly over the degree to which they will unconditionally surrender. Democrats and sane Republicans must provide alternatives.
7
You're right, Mr. Blow, but it's very cold comfort. Congress may legislate nothing of importance under trump, but he will meanwhile be doing lethal damage in foreign affairs, and letting Sessions, Pruitt, Price and DeVos do immense human damage on all their fronts.
Until this year, the worst president in my lifetime (which goes back to Truman) had been W, but we survived him. We survived Nixon. And, though it is wrenching to say so, we would survive Pence. I'm not sure we will survive trump.
Until this year, the worst president in my lifetime (which goes back to Truman) had been W, but we survived him. We survived Nixon. And, though it is wrenching to say so, we would survive Pence. I'm not sure we will survive trump.
5
I don't disagree with Mr. Blow in the least about Trump himself.
But I'm troubled by the way this column portrays Trump supporters. I have never agreed with them, do not like the things many of them say, and am appalled by what their votes are doing to our county and to the world. But are we really looking at "simpletons" driven by blind bigotry, or is it something more complex -- something revolving critically around leadership, and around Trump's demagoguery and bogus appeals?
Citizens need, and benefit from, high-quality leadership, and we don't have to call them "simpletons" to realize that without such leadership their all-too-real anxieties and resentments can be manipulated by snake-oil salesmen (and worse). We won't bring those people -- our fellow citizens, after all -- around to something better by shaming and blaming them. That, most likely, will only deepen their bitterness. We need to offer them better alternatives.
Looked at that way, Trump supporters -- given empty promises about their jobs, homes, taxes, and health care -- are some of the clearest victims of his political scam. Can we maybe start some sort of conversation that will make it clear, when the full scale of Trump's lies becomes obvious, that there are better alternatives in 2018 and 2020?
I don't mean any of that to sound patronizing -- rather, I'm just noting that in a mass democracy, leadership matters -- critically.
But I'm troubled by the way this column portrays Trump supporters. I have never agreed with them, do not like the things many of them say, and am appalled by what their votes are doing to our county and to the world. But are we really looking at "simpletons" driven by blind bigotry, or is it something more complex -- something revolving critically around leadership, and around Trump's demagoguery and bogus appeals?
Citizens need, and benefit from, high-quality leadership, and we don't have to call them "simpletons" to realize that without such leadership their all-too-real anxieties and resentments can be manipulated by snake-oil salesmen (and worse). We won't bring those people -- our fellow citizens, after all -- around to something better by shaming and blaming them. That, most likely, will only deepen their bitterness. We need to offer them better alternatives.
Looked at that way, Trump supporters -- given empty promises about their jobs, homes, taxes, and health care -- are some of the clearest victims of his political scam. Can we maybe start some sort of conversation that will make it clear, when the full scale of Trump's lies becomes obvious, that there are better alternatives in 2018 and 2020?
I don't mean any of that to sound patronizing -- rather, I'm just noting that in a mass democracy, leadership matters -- critically.
11
MJ, Thank you for making this point, but unfortunately, I think Mr. Blow is accurate. The evidence that Trump is completely unqualified and undeserving of being POTUS has come in. Even with over six months of this offensive, mentally ill blowhard, lazy man at the helm, the Republican party still supports Trump in every poll by quite a high percentage. Maybe this is a combination of "give him a chance" thinking and the human resistance to being wrong. But to me the Republican base support of Trump boils down to what Mr. Blow wrote: "Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
Fair enough, although I fear the real consequences of Trumpism and his (lack of) policies has not yet become apparent to many. _The Guardian_ today has an excellent piece about a PA county that voted for Trump, and in which lots of people still see him as a victim of the media (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/20/donald-trump-support-bas... --
You're quite right that for anyone paying attention to policy, it ought to be clear what we're headed for, but we need to help bring that message home to many others --
You're quite right that for anyone paying attention to policy, it ought to be clear what we're headed for, but we need to help bring that message home to many others --
1
I have mixed feelings about this piece. I'm not sure this sentiment gets through to the other side. Not everyone is a news addict and the casual observer probably consumes Fox News or some other broadcast. The Fox reporting paints a much milder picture of the Trump administration. I suspect someone from the other side would consider this writing alarmist or incendiary by comparison. I agree with Charles Blow but I'm not sure who exactly he's trying to convince. Is this daily Trump rage designed to keep our activist blood boiling? Are you just providing a space for us to vent? I can't tell. I'd think the effort would be better spent organizing an effective opposition.
When I worked as a community organizer, there were three types of people you'd meet. First, the people you are never convincing. Next, the people who are open and flexible but generally unaware. Finally, the people who are on your side already but don't know what to do. If they knew what to do, your paths would have crossed already. That's really the whole point. Knocking on doors every day isn't fun. You meet a lot of very mean and nasty people. However, you're out there trying to inspire action. Here's the issue AND here is how you do something about it. I'm not talk about money either. I'm talking about actual engagement. I hear a lot of inspiration from Blow but not much instruction on the action side.
When I worked as a community organizer, there were three types of people you'd meet. First, the people you are never convincing. Next, the people who are open and flexible but generally unaware. Finally, the people who are on your side already but don't know what to do. If they knew what to do, your paths would have crossed already. That's really the whole point. Knocking on doors every day isn't fun. You meet a lot of very mean and nasty people. However, you're out there trying to inspire action. Here's the issue AND here is how you do something about it. I'm not talk about money either. I'm talking about actual engagement. I hear a lot of inspiration from Blow but not much instruction on the action side.
5
It seems clear that Trump assumed the presidency had the powers of a boss running his own business and why not? He is not simply ignorant and incompetent, he is supremely indifferent to any of his failings. The chaos he creates is, however, doing long term damage to this country and we have only seen the first few months. Who really believes that ordinary people can and will continue to protest, or that some kind of economic fall out will not result from this? A trade war may be the least of our worries as he continues to follow the Putin lead. The influence of Putin is clearly intended to insure that the US is never again a world leader, nor an economic power, nor a symbol of freedom and compassion.
4
I'm less worried about Trump than I am about the sizable minority of citizens who voted for him and continue to support him and the culture that has allowed those people to dominate our political landscape. Donald J. Trump hasn't changed. These people knew exactly who and what he was when they voted for him. That's why they voted for him and that's why they continue to support him. In his ignorance he reflects their own mean spirited, resentful and narrow lives. These are the people who once had to be content annoying the neighbors and ruining family get togethers. Now with the internet and cable news they are no longer isolated. They've found each other and coalesced into a malignant force that society at large seems hapless to fight. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm happy to be getting old. I wish I was even older. The sooner this isn't my problem any longer the better.
8
Great column, Mr. Blow, but taking comfort in his incompetence is like saying that we should be grateful that the Godfather can’t shoot straight when the fact is he doesn’t even need to own a gun because he’s got the most ruthless sharpshooters looking after him. What Trump is showing us is that there are lots of people in power who will do whatever is necessary to further their self-serving agenda. Their ends justify any means. Trump himself has the psychological advantage of not caring about anything outside the maintenance of his own ego. This allows him to avoid moral quandaries, self-reflection, intellectual understanding, or concern for the well-being of others. His decision making process is based solely on ensuring that those around him feed his ego. He tells them what they want to hear so they’ll think he’s on their side. The fact is he doesn’t have a side. He is like a toilet into which people put their hopes, fears and prejudices. Then he flushes it without a qualm. To attempt to take some solace in his incompetence is like taking a drink before facing a firing squad. The effect is very fleeting.
6
Charles' assessment of Trump's capacities is on target. But Trump is not the instigator of the Trump administration, but only a figurehead. The powers behind the throne are the wonky billionaires in his entourage who have the notion they are best qualified to run the country for their benefit. Trump is just the circus barker, the front man, the rabble rouser and tweeter.
6
"It is possible that part of the reason Trump never developed many of his policies was because neither he nor anyone else thought in a million years that he would win. But another explanation is that Trump simply lacks the capacity for complex thought."
As my wife asked not long ago, "Is he evil or just stupid?"
"He can be both."
Enough democratic voters bought the con that Hillary was corrupted that he squeaked into the White House, but most of his support comes from a very base base that is horrified to see minorities and women actually gaining power and authority. This is the base the republican party has been cultivating and grooming for 50 years, but since It is numerically small there is no real power without the so called independents and moderates who see no difference between the parties.
I am betting that those independents and moderates are loosing the scales over their eyes and seeing the republican party for what it is: a dogma with no real idea of governing.
The best part about this: not only is t rump incapable of legislating so is the entire party.
Nothing getting done for the next 2 to 4 years is much preferred to whatever that so called party wants to do to US.
As my wife asked not long ago, "Is he evil or just stupid?"
"He can be both."
Enough democratic voters bought the con that Hillary was corrupted that he squeaked into the White House, but most of his support comes from a very base base that is horrified to see minorities and women actually gaining power and authority. This is the base the republican party has been cultivating and grooming for 50 years, but since It is numerically small there is no real power without the so called independents and moderates who see no difference between the parties.
I am betting that those independents and moderates are loosing the scales over their eyes and seeing the republican party for what it is: a dogma with no real idea of governing.
The best part about this: not only is t rump incapable of legislating so is the entire party.
Nothing getting done for the next 2 to 4 years is much preferred to whatever that so called party wants to do to US.
5
Let's use the name Trumpcare or Republicare for the Affordable Care Act minus the mandate and subsidies, which is the way things are headed. That label reminds us that it is not the ACA that will collapse, but the Republicans' plan.
1
"the man is simply too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened."
That may be so, but the people he appointed to various offices and the congressional republicans are fully capable and are already working on all of the heartless directives.
That may be so, but the people he appointed to various offices and the congressional republicans are fully capable and are already working on all of the heartless directives.
7
Many of those who support Trump wrap themselves in him as both a security blanket and as a white sheet with a hood. They can disguise their own racism, sexism, xenophobia or whatever by claiming allegiance and fidelity to Trump. The hate rallies he held during his campaign transformed nice looking white people who were well-dressed and pleasant appearing into a screaming mob of vicious voices and distorted faces of hate. In America, this hasn't been seen since the desegregation and Jim Crow days.
Many of my neighbors - again perfectly pleasant and normally civil people - who support Trump don't regard themselves this way, but scratch the surface and it is a malignant view of 'them' - those who are taking away from them whether it is healthcare, government benefits, voting, or whatever else. None of this is true, of course. The main beneficiaries are red state white people, most of whom are working poor or even middle class people experiencing temporary hardships, or those who are disabled or sick.
Only one third of Trump voters had incomes of $50,000 or less; the rest had higher incomes. Studies show the main determinants for Trump voters were racism and sexism. They tend to be white, male and uneducated.
The good news is that this really is a minority of Americans, since many did not vote or voted for third party candidates. He is historically unpopular for a reason, and Hillary's historic popular vote win of almost 3 million votes is more indicative.
Many of my neighbors - again perfectly pleasant and normally civil people - who support Trump don't regard themselves this way, but scratch the surface and it is a malignant view of 'them' - those who are taking away from them whether it is healthcare, government benefits, voting, or whatever else. None of this is true, of course. The main beneficiaries are red state white people, most of whom are working poor or even middle class people experiencing temporary hardships, or those who are disabled or sick.
Only one third of Trump voters had incomes of $50,000 or less; the rest had higher incomes. Studies show the main determinants for Trump voters were racism and sexism. They tend to be white, male and uneducated.
The good news is that this really is a minority of Americans, since many did not vote or voted for third party candidates. He is historically unpopular for a reason, and Hillary's historic popular vote win of almost 3 million votes is more indicative.
4
I'm stunned by the disconnect between Trump's stated objectives, good affordable health care for all and the policies still trying to be sold by Republicans; Health care for none. It's like being told that day is night.
Charles, can I recommend Shark Diving in the Bahama's as an effective distraction from Trump? You should try it.
Charles, can I recommend Shark Diving in the Bahama's as an effective distraction from Trump? You should try it.
But don't take it for granted. This is Russian Roulette. What if they did pass that healthcare bill? Was it luck of the draw?
These things have to be fought tooth and nail.
These things have to be fought tooth and nail.
2
Trump's presence makes me think I should have run for President. I know even I would be better at it than he is.
You did not waste a single sentence in your article. Too bad every Trump supporter won't get the opportunity to read this excellent article.
Trump is showing his true colors when he attacked Sessions, Rosenfeld, and the others in law enforcement. His loyalty goes as far as his intellectual capacity. His daily reversal on the health care bill illustrates his lack of knowledge and zero attention to detail. He is accelerating his path to the cliff and let's hope congress pushes him.
Trump is showing his true colors when he attacked Sessions, Rosenfeld, and the others in law enforcement. His loyalty goes as far as his intellectual capacity. His daily reversal on the health care bill illustrates his lack of knowledge and zero attention to detail. He is accelerating his path to the cliff and let's hope congress pushes him.
1
Trump's non-plan for health care didn't persuade three of our senators -- all women -- to just repeal Obamacare without a replacement, such an offensive, grotesque pitch. Most American's breathed a sigh of relief when these women crushed the just repeal plan on sight. Just repealing -- while a ineffective G.O.P. takes months to argue over essential policy -- would've hurt millions of Americans, lives could have been in lost in the confusion, and our economy could have spun out of control. To me, this seems more treasonous than his Russia collusion for it directly threatens Americans. Trump is more worried about erasing Obama's legacy than he is about protecting American lives. His just repeal pitch is direct evidence of that.
1
The biggest issue with Trump is concerning his destruction of the EPA and his disregard for Climate Change. Sadly he is the worst president for the most pressing times. It will take decades to recuperate his destruction in these fields. Time we don't have
2
Unfortunately, Trump's barely measurable intellectual capacity doesn't enter into the equation. All that matters is how many voters in a particular congressperson's district will support him and vote the way he says. I have some faith that the math won't work out in republican's favor, but Trump's childlike intelligence has nothing to do with it.
1
You gave us comfort and hope...thanks!
5
Thank you, Charles --- your column always provides lots of points for me to post on facebook! As always you nail it! Thank you for everything you do!
14
There may one more explanation. In the marketplace of ideas, it just might be that really bad ideas don't succeed.
6
A trump presidency along with a Republicayn majority may just turn out to be just what our democracy needed to face its demons of minority hatred, fear of immigrants, income inequality, health care, infrastructure and education. These people and their party have been exposed. The question is whether or not the Democrats are up to the task, so far it doesn't appear so. Maybe we will see the birth of an outside progressive party to fill the void.
18
Could that "predictable obstacle" have anything to do with the obstinate, obstructionism of that merry group of Democrats who want, no demand, that this president fail in everything he attempts? That group of seditionists cheered on by their sycophants the 95 percent of American media who have forsaken impartiality and have become Democratic Party lemmings.
4
Straight from the McConnell play book. The main difference is that Obama actually tried to work with the Republicans.
33
What obstructionism are you talking about? The Democrat's have no need to obstruct Trump, the Republican party is so disunited that no major legislation can be passed. This notion is a cover for the inadequacies of Trump and the Republican party.
18
So, you're accusing the Democrats of doing the same thing that the GOP did to Obama for 8 years?
20
Charles,
Once again, beautifully written. Unfortunately, no chance that Trump himself will read it as he would need to consult a thesaurus...and to his credit, he is at least smart enough to know that the thesaurus, along with the T-Rex, became extinct a long, long time ago.
Once again, beautifully written. Unfortunately, no chance that Trump himself will read it as he would need to consult a thesaurus...and to his credit, he is at least smart enough to know that the thesaurus, along with the T-Rex, became extinct a long, long time ago.
17
Mr. Blow:
I share your angst. I will not live long enough to read the history books of 2050 but I truly wonder what the chroniclers of the American experience will write about this anomalous, veering off into some strange place our politics drifted in these first two decades of the 21st century, when the entire machinery of our tripartite government was captured by the "malefactors of great wealth."
It's not that we have given in to our worst angels. After all, Trump LOST the popular vote by 3 million or more. I am certain—absolutely certain—that most of those people who actually voted for this political cretin called Donald Trump do not sleep as soundly as they would have us believe. They are nervous, to be sure.
At the end of the day, we all—right, left and center—want the same things for ourselves, our families and our country: peace, a chance at success, fairness, health, courage, and tolerance.
Trump will indeed accomplish nothing that cannot be rectified in his 4 years, thankfully. We must all try to maintain our sanity while working for change in '18 and '20.
I share your angst. I will not live long enough to read the history books of 2050 but I truly wonder what the chroniclers of the American experience will write about this anomalous, veering off into some strange place our politics drifted in these first two decades of the 21st century, when the entire machinery of our tripartite government was captured by the "malefactors of great wealth."
It's not that we have given in to our worst angels. After all, Trump LOST the popular vote by 3 million or more. I am certain—absolutely certain—that most of those people who actually voted for this political cretin called Donald Trump do not sleep as soundly as they would have us believe. They are nervous, to be sure.
At the end of the day, we all—right, left and center—want the same things for ourselves, our families and our country: peace, a chance at success, fairness, health, courage, and tolerance.
Trump will indeed accomplish nothing that cannot be rectified in his 4 years, thankfully. We must all try to maintain our sanity while working for change in '18 and '20.
22
"Primal screams," Charles?
"Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities"?
Hey, Charles, a question for you. Have you been living in a cave without access to the New York Times since Election Day?
Did you miss the NY Times coverage of the 2016 elections?
It appears that 53% of White female voters voted for Trump:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/white-women-voted-trump-now-w...
Now what?
"Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities"?
Hey, Charles, a question for you. Have you been living in a cave without access to the New York Times since Election Day?
Did you miss the NY Times coverage of the 2016 elections?
It appears that 53% of White female voters voted for Trump:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/white-women-voted-trump-now-w...
Now what?
1
Those 53% of white female voters on November 8, 2016? Some of the young ones, particularly, were girl friends of the Berniebro's, highly susceptible to the alt-right propaganda that Hillary Clinton had not an idealistic bone in her body, but was instead totally "corrupt." Some of the richer ones always vote Republican. Some of the poorer ones followed their rural or small-town husbands into voting based on grievances, economic, cultural, racial. Some of the older ones disliked Bill, and with that, Hillary's determination to keep her marriage together despite its difficulties (and her success). Some of the less-educated ones voted against the more-educated candidate, the one who had not performed on television or the wrestling mat. Lots of reasons. These are some.
1
Women can be bigots too. Unfortunately, as a woman, I've had the misfortune of running into them.
2
Even women can vote against their own best interest.
3
Nonsense. Donald Trump can do significant damage by malign commission that is far more serious than any of his legislative failures.
Trump is the only President that we have. And the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump along with the Republican majority in both houses of Congress, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, King Salman and Abdel el-Sisi all count him as their ally and friend. Trump is also beholden to men who wore military uniforms like James Mattis, H.R. McMaster and John Kelly who have never won a war nor sustained a peace. Trump is misled by his ignorant, immature and incompetent son-in-law Jared Kushner and eldest daughter Ivanka. Plus there is the most unqualified corrupt craven cynical Cabinet in history and White House staff of fools and liars like Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders, Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Miller.
Trump is America's own worst enemy threatening to shred our Constitution along with bloodily beheading Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty and the American Eagle.
Who is Trump's worst enemy?
Trump is the only President that we have. And the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump along with the Republican majority in both houses of Congress, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, King Salman and Abdel el-Sisi all count him as their ally and friend. Trump is also beholden to men who wore military uniforms like James Mattis, H.R. McMaster and John Kelly who have never won a war nor sustained a peace. Trump is misled by his ignorant, immature and incompetent son-in-law Jared Kushner and eldest daughter Ivanka. Plus there is the most unqualified corrupt craven cynical Cabinet in history and White House staff of fools and liars like Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders, Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Miller.
Trump is America's own worst enemy threatening to shred our Constitution along with bloodily beheading Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty and the American Eagle.
Who is Trump's worst enemy?
22
It is sad to watch these pathetic politicians try to explain these Russian activities by this president and his beloved family members.
I guess without President Obama ,Hillary Clinton,Harry Reid ,Barney Frank to scream at anymore the republicans need to do something and the something they are doing is allowing a frat boy destroy this country. They must be so proud of themselves.
I guess without President Obama ,Hillary Clinton,Harry Reid ,Barney Frank to scream at anymore the republicans need to do something and the something they are doing is allowing a frat boy destroy this country. They must be so proud of themselves.
Sorry dear brother but saying "Trump is a cold shadow of the president Obama was." is an insult to light. The neo fascists he surrounds himself with have taken a page from the real fascists of 30's Europe and their propaganda is working as it did before. Resistance is the right word.
15
"But another explanation is that Trump simply lacks the capacity for complex thought'.
Below is a sample of the interview conducted by the NYT yesterday. He sounds like a 5 year old describing his experience in France.
TRUMP: But the Bastille Day parade was — now that was a super-duper — O.K. I mean, that was very much more than normal. They must have had 200 planes over our heads. Normally you have the planes and that’s it, like the Super Bowl parade. And everyone goes crazy, and that’s it. That happened for — and you know what else that was nice? It was limited. You know, it was two hours, and the parade ended. It didn’t go a whole day. They didn’t go crazy. You don’t want to leave, but you have to. Or you want to leave, really.
Below is a sample of the interview conducted by the NYT yesterday. He sounds like a 5 year old describing his experience in France.
TRUMP: But the Bastille Day parade was — now that was a super-duper — O.K. I mean, that was very much more than normal. They must have had 200 planes over our heads. Normally you have the planes and that’s it, like the Super Bowl parade. And everyone goes crazy, and that’s it. That happened for — and you know what else that was nice? It was limited. You know, it was two hours, and the parade ended. It didn’t go a whole day. They didn’t go crazy. You don’t want to leave, but you have to. Or you want to leave, really.
19
Not while I'm alive, he isn't.
8
Charles Blow has basically written the same Op-Ed for seven months now. Look, I don't like Trump either but time to analyze some other issues, just maybe?
7
I have had the same thought and was wrong. Our fatigue can lead to us giving up. The result will be our fellow citizens leading degraded lives because they
Cannot get a competitive education for their children or adequate health care for themselves. Mr. Blow reminds us so eloquently that Bloody Trump is a threat not just to our political system but to the componenents of our culture that validate compassion and empathy.
Cannot get a competitive education for their children or adequate health care for themselves. Mr. Blow reminds us so eloquently that Bloody Trump is a threat not just to our political system but to the componenents of our culture that validate compassion and empathy.
60
So the solution is NEVER GIVE UP! We want the country as we used to know it, (and I am referring to the presidencies of men like Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama) when men of courage, decency, intellect, compassion, and honor were at the helm of this country (I am looking aside from adultery, which is a vile crime, and yes, a weakness of character and integrity, but not a blot on presidential performance)...we want THAT country to come back to us, and continue in that vein. So fatigue cannot stand in our way; we don't want to leave this earth, knowing that we could have done more, but we let ourselves be crushed; that is EXACTLY WHAT THE OPPOSITION WANTS. Wearing out the good guys is an age-old tactic; let them stick it up their noses! We, as a country, affect the rest of the world, too, and we want to go back to being strong, moral, helpful, caring, intelligent, and above all, honorable. Not constantly lying, not all over the map, not changing our story every 5 minutes, not trying to harm our citizens by sadistic and greed-driven legislation...What we have now is tantamount to an orgy of corruption, deceit, criminal negligence, and sheer stupidity. There is neither intellect nor common sense in trump's administration; it is run by people who want to deviate from what is beneficial for ALL Americans. To destroy all the good. Mr. Blow keep writing, and we will keep reading, and sticking together!
Agree with you and with Mr. Blow. We cannot give up.
Hence I make calls in defense of the ACA and walk for a progressive mayor even at age 68 when tired with injured spine. Doors slammed in my face and you just keep going because as long as one has some strength and some resources one must protect one's fellow citizens. My father fought three years combat in WWII. My mother was a nurse and progressive who taught me that revolution started at the bottom.
I walk for all the soldiers who died for this country.
I walk for all the civil rights activists in the past through the present who fought and died for social justice and inclusion in this country which is under threat.
I walk for young African Americans "shot for being black" daily.
I walk for labor leaders who fought and died for worker rights.
I walk for feminists and suffragists who lost their lives bringing equality to women.
I walk for domestic violence victims and children who have no voice.
(Maybe reading about the Saints influenced me more than am willing to admit!)
Hence I make calls in defense of the ACA and walk for a progressive mayor even at age 68 when tired with injured spine. Doors slammed in my face and you just keep going because as long as one has some strength and some resources one must protect one's fellow citizens. My father fought three years combat in WWII. My mother was a nurse and progressive who taught me that revolution started at the bottom.
I walk for all the soldiers who died for this country.
I walk for all the civil rights activists in the past through the present who fought and died for social justice and inclusion in this country which is under threat.
I walk for young African Americans "shot for being black" daily.
I walk for labor leaders who fought and died for worker rights.
I walk for feminists and suffragists who lost their lives bringing equality to women.
I walk for domestic violence victims and children who have no voice.
(Maybe reading about the Saints influenced me more than am willing to admit!)
Word.
2
Oh, yes, Charles, neatly put, "applause-line policies" without depth or substance and an obvious subtext of racism indeed defined Trump during the campaign and continues to do so since he and his bully pulpit were inaugurated. Sloganeer with a sneer. Exhaust your critics and rally your base through prevarication, smear or omission, or even better, rebut with a new lie - an alternative fact. Can it be that there are 36% who accord their approval to a man willing - even perhaps needing - to play footsie with Putin - or, worse, to an Administration willing to take away what current health care they now have, proposing nothing in its stead? Really?
8
And let us say, "Amen."
4
"His own worst enemy"? I believe the classic response is: "Not while I'm alive."
2
I wonder if he realizes he can't fire Pence?
3
The New York Times is so in love with Donald Trump and particularly in the subscribers he provides. There's a thin line between love and hate and the Times coverage reflects infatuation. Every section of the paper from opinion to travel reflects the editors' man crush on Donald. It's embarrassing how much the paper obsesses over one of 320 million people in the US and how the editors have anointed him the most fascinating person on the planet.
4
I don't think it's infatuation more so than bewilderment that such a person like Trump got to be called president in a country that prides itself as progressive as does the United States.
Most of us are still pinching ourselves to make sure this isn't a nightmare or the Twilight Zone in which we're all on this master of a roller coaster ride.
Most of us are still pinching ourselves to make sure this isn't a nightmare or the Twilight Zone in which we're all on this master of a roller coaster ride.
6
Every GOP senator at that joke of a "lunch" looked like they were hostages suffering a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. The GOP will never admit to themselves that this goon named Trump will drag them down to a place they cannot get out of. And I ask myself daily, why do they do it? Why put their careers, seats on the line for a man less popular than Satan? For a man who wants them to do all the heavy lifting while he sits on his lazy behind, demanding they "give me something to sign." He fashions himself a king but someone in the GOP must have a conscience to not be his blind follower.
7
Mr. Blow: People did not vote against Obama and Clinton because of ... ascension of women and minorities. They voted against the Democrat/Socialist policies. They also voted against Hilary's record. And her exposed lies. And many weren't happy with being called deplorable by Hillary. There wasn't hate re. Hillary, either. It was disgust. Nor could we care if Obama is black, white, or green with pink polka dots. It's his left wing record and actions. I know this doesn't fit your racist theme, which you pursue again this week.
What is your racial worry? How do you explain the popularity of Dr. Ben Carson? Or Senator Scott...in the South, no less?
You bet governing is tough. But, while you continue to smear Trump, some significant accomplishments have been made.
Obamacare has been collapsing for a couple of years, even before Trump was elected. Didn't you notice?
What is your racial worry? How do you explain the popularity of Dr. Ben Carson? Or Senator Scott...in the South, no less?
You bet governing is tough. But, while you continue to smear Trump, some significant accomplishments have been made.
Obamacare has been collapsing for a couple of years, even before Trump was elected. Didn't you notice?
2
Carson was as popular as Herman Cain was in the previous election.
Democrat/ Socialist policies?
What do you think Social Security, Medicare is.
Hillary Clinton a liar?
Clinton is a novice compared to Trump.
Democrat/ Socialist policies?
What do you think Social Security, Medicare is.
Hillary Clinton a liar?
Clinton is a novice compared to Trump.
Governingg anything more than a tabloid TV show is beyond our 'unpresidented" President. That is why Donald Trump's ignorance and unintelligence and promises and lies wow his knuckle-dragging loyalists. Perhaps Trump's legislative failures and his 'gnat's attention' are the silver-lining we are looking for in this ghastly Presidency.
5
Mr. Blow, I am afraid we will have to take more of Trump's ineptitude before this nightmare is over.
3
The most brilliant strategy ever from letting Obamacare burn out period. Obama sold a gift of garbage now in its final days. Repeal and replace will be going forward whether the libs like it or not; they are not in charge thank goodness..
1
Well, Jan, where is Trump's grand plan? You know, the one he said he had when he was campaigning? The one that was going to be the best ever, cover everyone at low cost? Odd, though, that as soon as he became president, he just handed the duties off to Congress instead of going ahead with HIS fantabulous plan.
Too busy Tweeting, I guess.
Too busy Tweeting, I guess.
Unfortunately it's not only Trump and his crew. It's the old (and young) male (and a surprising number of females who can vote for a misogynist and think women should be at home barefoot reproducing because they don't like working) white (and a shocking number of minorities) bigoted, homophobic, un and undereducated (and an alarming number of the entitled educated) who actually voted for him! Who knew there were so many of those people in this country!
5
This and all other columns of this permitted opinionator are always one-sided attacks on the President. While perhaps true in some respects, the Leftist spins are obvious, the vitriol boring.
2
But those codes are still too close to the little hands. And he can be played by the adversaries at any one on one meetings either in the Oval office or at G20.
1
This is EXACTLY why I do not want to see Trump impeached, regardless of any action that he takes.
Pence is MUCH more dangerous, as he has some political competence.
Pence is MUCH more dangerous, as he has some political competence.
2
I caught a misspelling in your essay: "Trump’s defect may be America’s defense" should read "Trump’s defect may be America’s defect".
1
It is scary and sobering to think that the Republican Party nominated a man, who reacts with his lizard like sub-brain and spinal cord reflexes, to be in control of our nuclear arsenal, which if deployed, would end human civilization in a few minutes. That they don't renounce him, says something about the Republicans' own competence to govern responsibly.
5
Trump should be repealed and replaced.
3
Or as a great Republican put it you can't fool all the people all the time.
3
DJT is indeed a coward, and a blowhard, and a bully. His latest overt bullying involves the stalled GOP health care legislation and Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), threatening the recalcitrant senator yesterday at the Republican Senate conference at the White House while Heller was sitting right next to him.
Mr. Trump: If you don’t show people who’s in charge by sending messages like that, how will they keep respecting you? You enjoy TV – watch “The Godfather” over and over again – especially the part about making someone an offer they can’t refuse. You’ll surely have people running scared – what else could they do? Why bother with carrots when you have so many sticks? Keep bringing it on, more and more. We dare you. We double dog dare you. Keep showing us how tough you are. What a big man you are. Continue to amp up the threats. They’ve been working out so well for you, haven’t they? Why stop now?
And the best part – sooner or later, they will lead to your downfall.
And on that joyous day, America will regain its footing on the path to reasserting its global image as a hopeful and progressive leader – working together with the rest of the world in the pursuit of a positive, productive, and vibrant future for all.
We know you’ll get us there, Mr. Trump. We see that we can count on you. Don’t listen to anyone else. Ever. What do those fools know, anyway? Always have it your way. Always.
After all: You’re the boss.
Mr. Trump: If you don’t show people who’s in charge by sending messages like that, how will they keep respecting you? You enjoy TV – watch “The Godfather” over and over again – especially the part about making someone an offer they can’t refuse. You’ll surely have people running scared – what else could they do? Why bother with carrots when you have so many sticks? Keep bringing it on, more and more. We dare you. We double dog dare you. Keep showing us how tough you are. What a big man you are. Continue to amp up the threats. They’ve been working out so well for you, haven’t they? Why stop now?
And the best part – sooner or later, they will lead to your downfall.
And on that joyous day, America will regain its footing on the path to reasserting its global image as a hopeful and progressive leader – working together with the rest of the world in the pursuit of a positive, productive, and vibrant future for all.
We know you’ll get us there, Mr. Trump. We see that we can count on you. Don’t listen to anyone else. Ever. What do those fools know, anyway? Always have it your way. Always.
After all: You’re the boss.
3
Mr Blow understates DT's incompetence. Not only is he inept at legislative and policy issues, he is a terrible manager-a terrible CEO of the executive branch of government.
1
Is this refusal to recognize and work with President Trump by the NYT ever going to end?
Like many other US citizens, I thought Obama was the worst president in memory. Still, I didn't waste hours criticizing every breath he took. On some issues I agreed that Obama took the better choice on tough situations.
This pitiful editorials aren't helping anything and give a distorted view of the world.
Like many other US citizens, I thought Obama was the worst president in memory. Still, I didn't waste hours criticizing every breath he took. On some issues I agreed that Obama took the better choice on tough situations.
This pitiful editorials aren't helping anything and give a distorted view of the world.
3
Thank you, Mr. Blow for your usual precise analysis of our Inept In Chief. You spell it out so clearly for anyone willing to look at this buffoon objectively. So sad that partisan politics, intolerance and fear of change have brought us to this absurd state of the union. We should all hang our heads in embarrassment when seeing how our position in the world has diminished in just six months.
3
Keep it simple: never elect a sociopath.
4
Pretty "sad" when we have to rely on the presidents astounding incompetence to protect the republic.
2
What was is for the historians.
What will be is the for the pundits.
What is now reflects a total a disaster for the world.
Today, July 20, 2017 begins by having the possible traitor that is known as #45 in the White House. Today is another day for #45 to spew more lies, fabrications, accusations and continuing to praise our enemies.
Charles, do not stop exposing #45 as the true enemy of 99% of us.
To rephrase the Highway Patrol, "Speed Kills" will be replaced by "Greed Kills" sponsored by the Republican Party.
Wake up.
What will be is the for the pundits.
What is now reflects a total a disaster for the world.
Today, July 20, 2017 begins by having the possible traitor that is known as #45 in the White House. Today is another day for #45 to spew more lies, fabrications, accusations and continuing to praise our enemies.
Charles, do not stop exposing #45 as the true enemy of 99% of us.
To rephrase the Highway Patrol, "Speed Kills" will be replaced by "Greed Kills" sponsored by the Republican Party.
Wake up.
1
It amazes we in the US have no power to oust such incredible shallow incompetence. The country burns and Trump fiddles, even extending the other arm to support a hand shack with Putin at G 20.
He has not the intelligence of a cow and yet the GOP continue to see him as a facilitator of their lower taxes for wealthy safety nets for others.
At G20 he spoke with Putin extensively out of contact with anyone who could monitor that conversation. We can only say he is a lover of Putin and we as Americans must wonder what the obese narcissistic gnat will give away next and then if pieces fly blame somebody else including incredibly Obama and the Clintons.
It is a walk through an ugly cloud that has nuclear lightning bolts brewing thunder.
He has not the intelligence of a cow and yet the GOP continue to see him as a facilitator of their lower taxes for wealthy safety nets for others.
At G20 he spoke with Putin extensively out of contact with anyone who could monitor that conversation. We can only say he is a lover of Putin and we as Americans must wonder what the obese narcissistic gnat will give away next and then if pieces fly blame somebody else including incredibly Obama and the Clintons.
It is a walk through an ugly cloud that has nuclear lightning bolts brewing thunder.
1
Mr. Blow: Changing one of your sentences a bit: "Trump's defect"...is "America's defect".
1
So, on the bright side, POTUS Trump is a lazy bully. I'll sleep better now.
Time to invoke the incapacitation clause of the 25th Amendment.
I'm fairly sure what is understood by some to be an unwillingness to focus and do the hard work of governing is actually a mental shortcoming that should require his IMMEDIATE removal from off where he can rant on Twitter to his heart's delight without fear of him launching a nuclear weapon or a military attack to punctuate his crazy idea.
Time to invoke the incapacitation clause of the 25th Amendment.
I'm fairly sure what is understood by some to be an unwillingness to focus and do the hard work of governing is actually a mental shortcoming that should require his IMMEDIATE removal from off where he can rant on Twitter to his heart's delight without fear of him launching a nuclear weapon or a military attack to punctuate his crazy idea.
3
Trump may be spectacularly incompetent but he has placed zealots in charge of one agency after another who are proving more than capable of destroying them and all the good they do. Jeff Sessions at Justice and Scott Pruitt at the EPA are just two of the most egregious examples. Even dim bulb Betsy Devos knows what she wants to degrade, dismantle and destroy.
2
Mr. Blow, your op-ed points out why impeaching Trump is problematic. Pence is not only an extremist with a dangerous agenda, he possesses a degree of competence absent in Trump.
"policy impotence" lol
1
Well said, Charles Blow. Very, very sad, but true.
2
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for the singular defining comment of the decade: "Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities." Perfection.
2
It is a very sad state of affairs when the US is reduced to feeling lucky because damage is "restricted" due to Trump's mental capacity. As other readers have pointed out, there will be serious damages, and there is nothing to take comfort about.
There is a saying in Spanish, which loosely translates as "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king." This is, unfortunately, where the US stands now. The infamous "It could be worse."
And I can't help and think about Venezuela: When Chavez died, people thought things would get better from then on. But then came Maduro and proved them wrong. My fears are that something similar will happen in the US. A downward spiral which will be hard to stop, and no one knows where it will take us.
There is a saying in Spanish, which loosely translates as "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king." This is, unfortunately, where the US stands now. The infamous "It could be worse."
And I can't help and think about Venezuela: When Chavez died, people thought things would get better from then on. But then came Maduro and proved them wrong. My fears are that something similar will happen in the US. A downward spiral which will be hard to stop, and no one knows where it will take us.
3
His own worst enemy? To quote a British statesman, not while I'm alive.
180
Of course, that was the left-wing Ernest Bevin speaking in response to a label applied to Herbert Morrison. No side in paolitics has a monopoly of stupidity.
Charles wrote, "Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
That absolutely nails it!
That absolutely nails it!
22
Yes. The gallons of ink being spilled on why this or that group failed to vote for Hillary Clinton fail identify this fundamental issue. As a nation, we prefer not admit that so many of us are racist and misogynists, even subconsciously. Faulting the exquisitely capable Hillary Clinton for not being sufficiently likeable and blaming her for not being a strong enough candidate is more proof of the latter. On a practical level this means that Nancy Pelosi also has to be replaced by a male.
1
"He has a total lack of respect for President Obama. No. 1, he doesn’t like him and No. 2, he doesn’t respect him"— this is Trump speaking of himself.
As for Putin and Russia, this piece by Fareed Zakaria begs the question of its tittle:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-oh-why-does-trump-love-russi...
As for Putin and Russia, this piece by Fareed Zakaria begs the question of its tittle:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-oh-why-does-trump-love-russi...
2
I can't believe I'm still reading statements from this paper like "The embarrassing faltering of the Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act might be both history lesson and harbinger." For whom? Republicans? The fate of the ACA has no bearing on the racism, willful ignorance and deplorability of the rank-and-file Republican voter. Even after all of that's been discovered in the last 9 months, I still have no reason to believe that people who voted in the majority party of the current clown-car Congress won't do so again.
Just read the opioid epidemic stories in this very paper — especially Kentucky — and the fiscal disaster in Kansas. Those states gave us McConnell and Kobach, yet these deplorable bigots have nothing good to say about the ACA even though that's what's giving them hospitals stays after they overdose instead of ending up in the morgue. You're welcome.
Just read the opioid epidemic stories in this very paper — especially Kentucky — and the fiscal disaster in Kansas. Those states gave us McConnell and Kobach, yet these deplorable bigots have nothing good to say about the ACA even though that's what's giving them hospitals stays after they overdose instead of ending up in the morgue. You're welcome.
8
You nailed trump's character!
7
Trump is a symptom, not the underlying disease. Mr. Blow's analysis underscores this. As long as a critical mass of Americans can be whipped over their fears of change and people who are different than themselves, Trump will retain a certain base of support, and other Trump-like characters can emerge.
I fear that rushed investigations over the Russian election meddling could make Trump a martyr among his base, and possibly propel him to win a second term. He is already positioning himself to blame others (Obama, Dem legislators, Rep legislators) for his incompetent governing. And the "poorly educated" may fall for it. Why do you think he proclaimed to love them so much during the campaign?
I fear that rushed investigations over the Russian election meddling could make Trump a martyr among his base, and possibly propel him to win a second term. He is already positioning himself to blame others (Obama, Dem legislators, Rep legislators) for his incompetent governing. And the "poorly educated" may fall for it. Why do you think he proclaimed to love them so much during the campaign?
6
In America we are shocked by state TV like found in Russia or China but we have it here with Fox News who also helped bring Trump's simpleton brain into power. And will likely help him stay in power. Our founding fathers didn't know that freedom of speech would turn into freedom to lie about anything and everything.
9
Charles,
I love your stuff and I understand you point....but fine little comfort in it!
I love your stuff and I understand you point....but fine little comfort in it!
2
Mr. Blow is correct in saying that Trump is his own worst enemy. One could expand on his very coherently explained argument and say that after the latest NYT interview Trump is also in the process of becoming the worst enemy of our security, internal and external. Every office holder and presidential appointee, every citizen and very possibly the entire world are at risk of the total chaos that is a government unable to function at best, nuclear war at the worst. How did he even get the Republican nomination? Did they think they could limit his excesses when necessary? When are the Republicans going to own him and fix this by admitting that they have so far failed in reigning him in and by bringing him to an understanding that the powers granted him by the American people are not unlimited? Trump is no longer able to fix anything by saying "You're fired," and this is not reality television but actual reality even as it seems more unreal to the majority of we the citizens every day.
3
Trump is certainly all and more than stated. He is inept. He can not lead.
What we are dodging right now is not Trump's inability but due to GOP incompetence. Thank heavens the abilities of McConnell were overshadowed by in party GOP fighting because they were fighting about how to make their health bill more severe, more harmful.
This fracture within the GOP is causing failure at the moment when victory should be all theirs. This exposure of the belly of the beast is great for now but what if the GOP actually gets together and starts producing results. They know they don't need Trump for anything other that the celebrity media bits.
So do not get too comfortable.
What we are dodging right now is not Trump's inability but due to GOP incompetence. Thank heavens the abilities of McConnell were overshadowed by in party GOP fighting because they were fighting about how to make their health bill more severe, more harmful.
This fracture within the GOP is causing failure at the moment when victory should be all theirs. This exposure of the belly of the beast is great for now but what if the GOP actually gets together and starts producing results. They know they don't need Trump for anything other that the celebrity media bits.
So do not get too comfortable.
4
Trumps ineptitude is no surprise - to me and millions of other Americans, Trump's paucity of thought was more than obvious from the start of his campaign. He has no command of the english language, displays no intellectual vigour, has zero appetite for detail, no knowledge of history, no understanding of the Constitution, no idea of the workings of government, is completely deficient in his ability to see what is appropriate and what is not, and is totally unable to rise above his own narcissism. He is utterly unfit for office. He is the most embarrassing example of a case of arrested intellectual and emotional development and we all knew that two years ago. He is but a thirteen year old teenager in the most powerful office in the world.
8
You just insulted 13 year olds...but then you would've insulted toddlers had you used them as a point of comparison.
You're right!
I knew I should have added another sentence..
I knew I should have added another sentence..
Or maybe Trump is the Progressive's best friend?
2
The attention span of a gnat is sufficient for a successful gnat. Trump's, however, is insufficient for any human purpose, especially those we expect to be appropriate to a president. A gnat may be useful, important to the biome, or a nuisance. Trump is just a threat to life itself.
4
We can only hope and pray that our president's incompetence, along with the incompetence of the Congress, will prevent them from enacting legislation that would harm millions of people and weaken our country. That is a thin branch to hold onto but it is the only branch available.
On the other hand, our president's authority in foreign affairs and his love of all things Russian can harm those who have come to rely on us. I'm talking about the Syrian opposition forces that just found out that the CIA will no longer be supplying them with weapons. Given that decision, it won't be long before the Russian backed forces of Assad will win their fight against the opposition, to our great shame.
If in the future, one of our allies does not believe that we will support them to the end, this is the moment to which they will refer to make their point.
This president is a pox on our country and on the world.
On the other hand, our president's authority in foreign affairs and his love of all things Russian can harm those who have come to rely on us. I'm talking about the Syrian opposition forces that just found out that the CIA will no longer be supplying them with weapons. Given that decision, it won't be long before the Russian backed forces of Assad will win their fight against the opposition, to our great shame.
If in the future, one of our allies does not believe that we will support them to the end, this is the moment to which they will refer to make their point.
This president is a pox on our country and on the world.
6
Charles, I agree with most of what you said in this piece. However, two other things we must not forget: 1. Trump's mean spirit, including his impulse, his vanity, his shallowness, his ego, his deceit, etc. etc. may/will lead him to do great harm to our country whether he is conscious of it or not. 2. The power hungry crowd around him, including his advisers, his aides and especially his enablers in Congress, are making him more dangerous and toxic than anyone could have imagined. In other words, I would have no concern if Trump is just running his Trump Inc. but I cannot sleep these days when he is running our country.
6
May I respectfully suggest that Trump's "incompetence" is preceded by his emotional immaturity; that, in fact, his lack of maturity is directly responsible for his rigidly distorted view of the world (obsessive ideology), and his inability to appropriately value, or to even acknowledge, what is real for others. He has no capacity to empathize. He simply wants to implement his distorted vision of "the way it is!" He is a classic sociopath, and very likely a traitor, all as the result of his character disorder and truncated emotional development.
7
I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that Trump is the president America needs and deserves. We have always tended to be an anti-intellectual country, and Trump certainly fits the bill. Furthermore, the Democratic establishment is passing up the opportunity to appeal to progressives and minorities. Just why is that?
3
Charles Blow wrote, "Anyway, this kind of base, dog-whistle anger-aggregation was the Trump campaign specialty, and it — in addition to Russia’s assistance, voter suppression and some folks’ heritage panic — propelled Trump to victory."
-------------------------
That's not what propelled President Trump to victory, Charles.
You still have not mastered the prime lesson of Election Night 2017 -- just because you people in the press state something as fact does not make it true...
Hillary Clinton's loss had more to do with what the Democrats ultimately were offering the country, and the American voters rejection of that message. (Timeout while I am told that the majority of voters did not reject such a message, but voted for HRC over DJT. Except, people: the Electoral College is set up to ensure that ALL citizens across our country, geographically, have an equal voice and the more populous, congested cities in the coastal states do not rule the whole of the land, where needs and character have been shaped very differently. Our diversity is our country's greatest strength, remember -- our differences in people's ways of thinking in different regions -- and our diverse natural resources, after that...)
But back to why Trump won: the Democrats did not offer anything better than what President Obama had promises. They still offer nothing, with no new characters emerging. Voters will vote for Something (ie/Trump) over stagnation/status quo/nothing for them, any day...
Learn?
-------------------------
That's not what propelled President Trump to victory, Charles.
You still have not mastered the prime lesson of Election Night 2017 -- just because you people in the press state something as fact does not make it true...
Hillary Clinton's loss had more to do with what the Democrats ultimately were offering the country, and the American voters rejection of that message. (Timeout while I am told that the majority of voters did not reject such a message, but voted for HRC over DJT. Except, people: the Electoral College is set up to ensure that ALL citizens across our country, geographically, have an equal voice and the more populous, congested cities in the coastal states do not rule the whole of the land, where needs and character have been shaped very differently. Our diversity is our country's greatest strength, remember -- our differences in people's ways of thinking in different regions -- and our diverse natural resources, after that...)
But back to why Trump won: the Democrats did not offer anything better than what President Obama had promises. They still offer nothing, with no new characters emerging. Voters will vote for Something (ie/Trump) over stagnation/status quo/nothing for them, any day...
Learn?
1
While I acknowledge that the Democrats failed to provide sufficient new ideas, I refuse to give Trump voters any benefit of the doubt in that regard. Voting for something other than the status quo does not excuse voting for a wanna-be dictator who built his campaign on xenophobia and anger and hate. His voters own that. (there were other candidates on the Republican side after all, so Trump was not a required vote if you didn't like the status quo).
"Except, people: the Electoral College is set up to ensure that ALL citizens across our country, geographically, have an equal voice and the more populous, congested cities in the coastal states do not rule the whole of the land, where needs and character have been shaped very differently."
Completely wrong - it set up so that now the less populous states have the power over the more populous states. It by definition never ensured any sort of equal representation or gave equal voices to ALL citizens (votes in populous states count for less in the end). States, maybe, but not citizens.
"Except, people: the Electoral College is set up to ensure that ALL citizens across our country, geographically, have an equal voice and the more populous, congested cities in the coastal states do not rule the whole of the land, where needs and character have been shaped very differently."
Completely wrong - it set up so that now the less populous states have the power over the more populous states. It by definition never ensured any sort of equal representation or gave equal voices to ALL citizens (votes in populous states count for less in the end). States, maybe, but not citizens.
Yes, "Me US," these ideas are indeed "popular" with his supporters, as were pogroms with early 20th C Russians and Poles, the "Final Solution" with mid-20th C Germans, and lynching with citizens of the American South not long ago. "Popular," though, is often just that, but neither wise nor right. In fact, this foolishly elected president, who is so "popular" with those voters who simply don't understand (to borrow one of Mr. Chomsky's recently expressed ideas), may well be his own worst enemy. But, he is also mine.
3
And ours.
Too bad Congress isn't.
1
The NYT interview with Trump published today is frightening. His sentence structure reveals a fractured way of thinking and a disturbing level of disorganization. Maybe he is his own worst enemy, but he is also America's.
4
A headline during the election concerning one of Trump’s earlier insanities was - Trump’s plan to seize Iraq’s oil: “It’s not stealing, we’re reimbursing ourselves” The word “reimbursing” is now being used in context with Trump’s assertion that he will force Mexico to pay for the wall. Trump reiterated that he would have seized Iraq’s oil recently at a speech to the CIA.
This raises the prospect of Trump using military force to seize Mexican gulf oil assets to reimburse the cost of the wall. In terms of the worst things that could ever happen to the USA, military conflict with Mexico when at least 10% of the American population is of Mexican heritage has to be high on the list.
A war with Mexico over payment for the wall is not the only potential war Trump might cause.
“…The question then becomes what did Putin hope to gain by aiding Trump? What Russia and Putin desperately need is money. Even if Putin asked Trump to have the American Treasury transfer, say $200 billion to Russia, that is not going to happen. Even Kellyanne Conway could not spin that one into anything that would be acceptable to the American people or congress. Absent writing Russia a big check, how could Trump cause Russia to gain $200 billion? The answer would be a $50 increase in the price of oil.
We know what has caused most of the oil price spikes in the last 50 years. That has been wars in the Middle East..” http://seekingalpha.com/article/4034048
This raises the prospect of Trump using military force to seize Mexican gulf oil assets to reimburse the cost of the wall. In terms of the worst things that could ever happen to the USA, military conflict with Mexico when at least 10% of the American population is of Mexican heritage has to be high on the list.
A war with Mexico over payment for the wall is not the only potential war Trump might cause.
“…The question then becomes what did Putin hope to gain by aiding Trump? What Russia and Putin desperately need is money. Even if Putin asked Trump to have the American Treasury transfer, say $200 billion to Russia, that is not going to happen. Even Kellyanne Conway could not spin that one into anything that would be acceptable to the American people or congress. Absent writing Russia a big check, how could Trump cause Russia to gain $200 billion? The answer would be a $50 increase in the price of oil.
We know what has caused most of the oil price spikes in the last 50 years. That has been wars in the Middle East..” http://seekingalpha.com/article/4034048
5
Thanks to the Democrats and a few RINOs, the American people gt to keep Obamacare.
When it fails I am sure Mr. Blow will demand even more government controls and even higher taxes to fix its flaws.
When it fails I am sure Mr. Blow will demand even more government controls and even higher taxes to fix its flaws.
Charles Blow has written the best single-line summation I have read about how history will view this president:
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
How sad it is that that scream -- by a minority of the voters -- could give us four years of incompetence and, yes, evil.
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
How sad it is that that scream -- by a minority of the voters -- could give us four years of incompetence and, yes, evil.
10
Trump like the majority of his base relies on right wing political rhetoric as provided by bought and paid for talking heads to build consensus. I seriously doubt he has ever had an in depth thought in his life. That would be any thought beyond how he might be able to take advantage of anyone or any situation to serve his personal desires. He is a shallow thoughtless man who apparently thinks that simply demanding something is all it takes to move it along. And if that doesn't work then he will be angry. As though anyone feels threatened by his anger.
In a nutshell the man is absolutely his own worst enemy. A clueless thug who sees no reason to answer to anyone. No reason to consider any alternate views beyond his simplistic momentary impulses. After all in his petty world he is the pinnacle of all things living.
In a nutshell the man is absolutely his own worst enemy. A clueless thug who sees no reason to answer to anyone. No reason to consider any alternate views beyond his simplistic momentary impulses. After all in his petty world he is the pinnacle of all things living.
2
Watching Trump's campaign was like watching a stand-up comic testing and rewriting his material for maximum audience response. The more outrageous, the better, and the side benefit was that with each new applause line, the 24-hour cable media could not resist running the video clip again and again.
Underlying all of his vile rhetoric is one base emotion: resentment. Racial, social, economic, cultural, regional, nationalist resentment. It's important to recognize that Trump didn't originate this political strategy. Many politicians over the decades have toyed with it, but the one who made this a mainstream practice was Ronald Reagan, who leveraged the resentment of his base was with denouncements of 'welfare queens' in mink coats, riding in Cadillacs to spend their food stamps at the market. Trump simply took that hateful resentment to a new level.
Underlying all of his vile rhetoric is one base emotion: resentment. Racial, social, economic, cultural, regional, nationalist resentment. It's important to recognize that Trump didn't originate this political strategy. Many politicians over the decades have toyed with it, but the one who made this a mainstream practice was Ronald Reagan, who leveraged the resentment of his base was with denouncements of 'welfare queens' in mink coats, riding in Cadillacs to spend their food stamps at the market. Trump simply took that hateful resentment to a new level.
18
I honestly wonder if Trump is suffering from some form of dementia. It was no great surprise when, a number of years ago, it was revealed that Ronald Reagan was suffering from the early signs of dementia while in office. Reagan was no intellectual bright light, but he was megawatts smarter than what Trump is proving himself to be. I recently read an article that made the point that, just a few decades ago, Trump was capable of speaking in complete sentences and staying on-message in his interviews. He seems to have lost that ability, which does suggest intellectual decline. Of course, Trump was never that smart to begin with and his complete lack of intellectual curiosity may be both a symptom and a cause of larger issues. Recent studies have suggested that dementia can be forestalled by intellectual engagement and learning later in life. If this is the case, Trump's complete lack of these things suggest he is a prime candidate for this problem.
13
I'm for invoking the incapacitation clause of the 25th Amendment.
6
I agree. I was a care giver for a parent with dementia for a few years. Trump seems to have no filters and acts impulsively in sometimes very childish ways. Tweeting is basically one way, short and simple. His language is usually word soup that is repetitive, has one or two-syllable words, and usually is elementary school level. He seems to have no consciousness of morality, civility, or normal behavioral standards. Maybe this is due to the cocoon of wealth and privilege he's always had, maybe he has some other condition.
He really seems to be deteriorating or like someone who has had small strokes or advancing dementia. Normally a family member would get him to doctors for a complete physical and mental check up, but his family is very dysfunctional also.
He really seems to be deteriorating or like someone who has had small strokes or advancing dementia. Normally a family member would get him to doctors for a complete physical and mental check up, but his family is very dysfunctional also.
1
Trump may be intellectually deficient, but many of his advisers are not. They will manipulate him in any way they can to get him to do what they want. Trump is the center of the circus ring, but the real power (for this administration) is in the side show.
28
I usually agree with Mr. Blow ... and there is truth in this opinion piece ... but I cannot agree that a president's incompetence is in any way a protection for the country. Negligent disaster can be (and usually is) worse than intentional disaster!
6
Donald Trump is a fraud. Just as Pigpen had dust billowing around him at all times, Trump's billowing dust is fraud, in all things. He is physically and intellectual lazy, which is what has led to his reliance on fraud and other sleaze, including bullying, rhetorical bluster, and sticking his chin out, much as a child in a grammar school play cast as the dictator would do.
Trump isn't his own worst enemy, though. He's not capable of being an enemy to himself since he is narcissistic, amoral, and lacks a conscience. What he is is our worst enemy. He'll always take care of himself, and he doesn't care who gets hurt in that drive.
Trump isn't his own worst enemy, though. He's not capable of being an enemy to himself since he is narcissistic, amoral, and lacks a conscience. What he is is our worst enemy. He'll always take care of himself, and he doesn't care who gets hurt in that drive.
25
"But another explanation is that Trump simply lacks the capacity for complex thought."
Remove "complex," and you have it. The man is a disgrace to the nation. Trump's gross, cowardly insults repeatedly thrown at Senator McCain, for no great purpose, were abhorrent, and were very likely the only such insults McCain has gotten since being a North Vietnamese captive. That Trump so willingly insults some of the nation's greatest heroes, living and dead, for no other reason that people might disagree with him, shows how unfit he is for high school, let alone the Office of President of these United States. I sincerely hope all parties in future have plans in store to nip such things in the bud in the future. America deserves better. America needs better. The world needs better. Trump is the result of society perpetually kowtowing to the loudest, lowest common denominator - thus relinquishing power to the grossly ignorant. History is sadly, and at great cost, littered with such cases.
Remove "complex," and you have it. The man is a disgrace to the nation. Trump's gross, cowardly insults repeatedly thrown at Senator McCain, for no great purpose, were abhorrent, and were very likely the only such insults McCain has gotten since being a North Vietnamese captive. That Trump so willingly insults some of the nation's greatest heroes, living and dead, for no other reason that people might disagree with him, shows how unfit he is for high school, let alone the Office of President of these United States. I sincerely hope all parties in future have plans in store to nip such things in the bud in the future. America deserves better. America needs better. The world needs better. Trump is the result of society perpetually kowtowing to the loudest, lowest common denominator - thus relinquishing power to the grossly ignorant. History is sadly, and at great cost, littered with such cases.
23
Sorry to disappoint, but McCain is certainly NOT 'the greatest hero ever' due to several factors:
1. McCain finished at the very bottom of his class at Annapolis, and would have flunked had his father not been an Admiral at the time.
2. McCain, through his incompetence, crashed more airplanes than any other Navy Pilot at the time.
3. Due to his incompetence he was one of the primary reasons for the Forrestal Fire, 134 dead and 161 injured, causing (in todays dollars) over half a billion dollars in damage to a Carrier in Combat Operations.
4. Due to his incompetence, he was shot down, and while in Captivity worked with his captors, gave information and participated in thier radio broadcasts, without sign that he was coerced. Other captives said that McCain received better treatment from the captors because he willingly cooperated with them.
5. In trials afterwards he was exhonerated only because he had been a POW and also because his father still had great pull in the military and Govt. at the time.
So, no, I am not buying it. If you go and Google his name and do some even handed reading, you quickly find that Heroic does not at all fit John McCain.
That said, I do thank him for his Service, both Military and Political, and wish him the best in going forward, but saying he is a hero is going Way too far.
1. McCain finished at the very bottom of his class at Annapolis, and would have flunked had his father not been an Admiral at the time.
2. McCain, through his incompetence, crashed more airplanes than any other Navy Pilot at the time.
3. Due to his incompetence he was one of the primary reasons for the Forrestal Fire, 134 dead and 161 injured, causing (in todays dollars) over half a billion dollars in damage to a Carrier in Combat Operations.
4. Due to his incompetence, he was shot down, and while in Captivity worked with his captors, gave information and participated in thier radio broadcasts, without sign that he was coerced. Other captives said that McCain received better treatment from the captors because he willingly cooperated with them.
5. In trials afterwards he was exhonerated only because he had been a POW and also because his father still had great pull in the military and Govt. at the time.
So, no, I am not buying it. If you go and Google his name and do some even handed reading, you quickly find that Heroic does not at all fit John McCain.
That said, I do thank him for his Service, both Military and Political, and wish him the best in going forward, but saying he is a hero is going Way too far.
It's t pretty chilling to think that with a population of 323 million people, we wound up with this deluded, belligerent ignoramus for the country's most important job. How I would love to see him subjected to a public competency hearing, pressed about every lie he has ever told and asked to explain the difference between Medicare and Medicaid.
28
I rest easier at night knowing Mr. Trump is a non-functioning President.
Think about it. You will, too.
Think about it. You will, too.
7
The SCP wants a law that he can put his name on. He doesn't care what it says. If his name can be written in gold leaf, all the better.
3
By declaring that he wants it destroyed, and is working on doing just that, Trump has owned the entire health care argument that he declared he did Not own. His own name should be stamped broadly upon any failure of the ACA from now on, no matter whose fault it originally was.
Remember, the ACA was a Heritage Fundation bill to begin with, used as Romney Care and was the darling of the right...until that Black President, Obama, decided to use it as a base for the ACA, And, on top of that, at least 2/3rds of the amendments were Repub, and there were months of public meetings on the bill. The Repubs, by comparison, threw together their travesty in a few days in a secluded room with absolutely no Dem or public input.
Any damage to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, and thus to the People injured or killed as a result of it's destruction will be owned directly by those who have stated their goal is to destroy the program. Why the ownership is important is then we will be able to direct the blame properly when 'Trump Care' throws tens of millions of people out of Medicaid and affordable insurance while cutting taxes for those oh so overburdened rich folks.
Remember, the ACA was a Heritage Fundation bill to begin with, used as Romney Care and was the darling of the right...until that Black President, Obama, decided to use it as a base for the ACA, And, on top of that, at least 2/3rds of the amendments were Repub, and there were months of public meetings on the bill. The Repubs, by comparison, threw together their travesty in a few days in a secluded room with absolutely no Dem or public input.
Any damage to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, and thus to the People injured or killed as a result of it's destruction will be owned directly by those who have stated their goal is to destroy the program. Why the ownership is important is then we will be able to direct the blame properly when 'Trump Care' throws tens of millions of people out of Medicaid and affordable insurance while cutting taxes for those oh so overburdened rich folks.
11
I take comfort in the fact that Trump's "absolute ineptitude at legislative advancement" is exceeded by his absolute ineptitude in appreciating his own thoughtless admissions.
He met privately with Putin for almost an hour at the conclusion of the G-20 dinner with nary another American soul at his side and then freely offers in the NYT's Baker/Schmidt/Hagerman interview that what they talked about was "adoptions"? "Like Don Jr." As if that surrounded both meetings with an innocuous glow?
The short straight line between Russia's freeze on adoptions and the Magnitsky sanctions that are such a thorn in Putin's side apparently never entered his mind. Much less the fact anybody who's been paying a whit's worth of attention would make that connection with the speed of light. As they would with his talk the following day about returning the Russian dachas seized by the Obama administration on account of Putin's election meddling.
We don't yet know for sure what Trump is getting (or has already gotten) in exchange. But we do know what he has for sale. Because he told us--either because he was too inept to appreciate what he was saying or too inept to appreciate that the rest of us would understand exactly.
He met privately with Putin for almost an hour at the conclusion of the G-20 dinner with nary another American soul at his side and then freely offers in the NYT's Baker/Schmidt/Hagerman interview that what they talked about was "adoptions"? "Like Don Jr." As if that surrounded both meetings with an innocuous glow?
The short straight line between Russia's freeze on adoptions and the Magnitsky sanctions that are such a thorn in Putin's side apparently never entered his mind. Much less the fact anybody who's been paying a whit's worth of attention would make that connection with the speed of light. As they would with his talk the following day about returning the Russian dachas seized by the Obama administration on account of Putin's election meddling.
We don't yet know for sure what Trump is getting (or has already gotten) in exchange. But we do know what he has for sale. Because he told us--either because he was too inept to appreciate what he was saying or too inept to appreciate that the rest of us would understand exactly.
5
Of course he is his own worst enemy . That is one of the hallmarks of people with mental problems . They hurt themselves and those around them . In this case , this man may hurt the whole Country . That is the reason I don`t find comfort in his muddled thinking .
5
Yes, publicly it is The Muppet Show, and the leading character likes to try out his own zingers. But who writes and directs the farce? The Kochs, Adelson, et. al.? Their own muppets McConnell, Cornyn, Ryan et. al. seem to have their lines down pretty well.
Trump's appointees are busy also. We seem to be on our way to #MAGA (big profits for corporations) by allowing oil exploration in vast offshore areas (kill the whales!) and in national parks, along with big game hunting (kill the wolves and bears!). The Grand Canyon seems to be a good place to dig for uranium; a gold and copper mine looks good for central Alaska. The future of education = max profits for charlatans! And health care? Just wait for the big announcement coming later.
Perhaps the plotters chose Trump because of his incompetence: he doesn't notice or doesn't care that they want to gut us all for their corporate profits.
Trump's appointees are busy also. We seem to be on our way to #MAGA (big profits for corporations) by allowing oil exploration in vast offshore areas (kill the whales!) and in national parks, along with big game hunting (kill the wolves and bears!). The Grand Canyon seems to be a good place to dig for uranium; a gold and copper mine looks good for central Alaska. The future of education = max profits for charlatans! And health care? Just wait for the big announcement coming later.
Perhaps the plotters chose Trump because of his incompetence: he doesn't notice or doesn't care that they want to gut us all for their corporate profits.
8
Look Charles M. Blow I live outside of your country but I listen to every moment of your Country's President Donald J.Trump.
Your descriptions in this article sketched skeleton of true Donald J. Trump; from campaign starts to finishing points, and being in the White House of the United States of America today.
Thanks for great article.
Your descriptions in this article sketched skeleton of true Donald J. Trump; from campaign starts to finishing points, and being in the White House of the United States of America today.
Thanks for great article.
6
Trump is his own worst enemy? Not while I'm alive. (RIP Sir Rudolph Bing.)
5
As if more proof was needed, yesterday's interview made it clear that Donald Trump is insane.
Yes, he is also all those other things that Mr. Blow and other Times columnists have been writing about him in the six months since he became president,but his mental state should be the focus of every thing Trump related.
We need an independent psychiatric evaluation of his condition. There's no doubt it will conclude unequivocally that he is incapable of doing the job he was elected to do.
Yes, he is also all those other things that Mr. Blow and other Times columnists have been writing about him in the six months since he became president,but his mental state should be the focus of every thing Trump related.
We need an independent psychiatric evaluation of his condition. There's no doubt it will conclude unequivocally that he is incapable of doing the job he was elected to do.
12
"In a democracy, people get the government they deserve." - Alexis de Toqueville
"Your people, sir--Your people is a great beast" - Alexander Hamilton
For many years, pundits have railed about the "dumbing down" of America and warned of its consequences. Turns out they were correct. Trump is the perfect President for this America at this time.
"Your people, sir--Your people is a great beast" - Alexander Hamilton
For many years, pundits have railed about the "dumbing down" of America and warned of its consequences. Turns out they were correct. Trump is the perfect President for this America at this time.
355
And Benjamin Franklin is quoted in responding to someone who asked after the Constitutional Convention, "Monarchy or republic?": A republic...if you can keep it!"
1
This is probably the least emphasized aspect. With 60 million people having voted for Trump inspite of all his silliness and vile language during the campaing, you have to lay he blame for Trump at that aspect.
A "Reality TV" star elected by "Reality TV" watchers who aren't in on the joke that "reality TV"...isn't "real", it's just a scripted format created by producers who don't have to pay name actors to appear in their junkfood entertainment. A cheap alternative to "sitcoms".
How in the name of everything that’s holy does Manafort, a man who has been up to his eyeballs for years in Russians and foreign bank accounts and shell corporations for disguising financial transactions and avoiding taxes ever get appointed to be the manager of Trump’s presidential campaign ?
Hold on there for a minute, I just remembered how.
Hold on there for a minute, I just remembered how.
13
Be careful Mr. Blow. While likely close to the truth, your article borders on the type of rhetoric that got Trump elected in the first place. One of Hillary's biggest missteps was calling Trump supporters, of which there were a tragically underestimated number, a "basket of deplorables". Calling Trump a "simpleton" is a message to his supporters that they will continue to be ignored by the left. This is the same as telling an underdog basketball team that it's not good enough to win. It only feeds itheir anger and desire to prove you wrong, even at the risk of their own well-being.
1
He is perfectly capable of starting a war with Iran. He doesn't need to understand details, he can just follow the lead of his Moscow and Riyadh puppet masters.
4
Donald is unable to advance any kind of legislative agenda because is narcissism has limited his insight to the point where he can only discern actions that might benefit him. Everything around him is viewed only in relationship to his self-evaluation, from his eye-candy wife to whom I doubt he gives and credence other that physical beauty to his obsession with power through his financial stature (which might not be as BIGLY as he proclaims -- if one factors in debt). The latest exposure of this inabilities is exposed in his NYT interview where he denigrates Sessions (basically he thought he would control any action on the Russia connections if he had a LOYAL AG) to his thinly veiled threats to remove Mueller as the Independent Special Counsel looks into the closet of the financial dealings of the President. Trump still does not understand that under our Constitution, the presidency belongs to the people, and much as he would like to be an Emperor with absolute power to control his bubble, we still are a democracy. Trump IS his worst enemy --- but we are probably lucky that his naval is more interesting to him than the world around him. We are suffering from his megalomania, but how much worse things would be if he really had a well thought-out agenda. Right now he is in the seat of power, but it is like having a toddler sitting in a Maserati without the keys. He might do damage to the vehicle, but for the time being, perhaps the world beyond is still safe.
5
tRump is EVERYONE'S worst enemy. He is nobody's friend, ever those who have made enormous sacrifices for him. He is no friend, and he has no friends. Best to give him a very wide berth. He's toxic.
9
The problem is that, despite his intellectual incapacity, he is vindictive. He will do what he can out of spite with executive orders. And the arrogant cowardly Republicans are not fighting back. Is it time for a revolution?
7
I agree wholeheartedly with the title. I'm not a Hillary hater, but I didn't think she possessed all of the right qualities I personally wanted on display for girls everywhere, as our first. (She sold out in places?) Trump certainly isn't what one wanted, either ----- I guess it was a draw. C'mon, Elizabeth!
1
what? this must be sarcasm - i hope. she possess more character in her flawed right index finger then in all of Trumps family.
1
One can only hope that he will quickly follow through to the best possible outcome of being his own worst enemy.
2
I totally agree with you on his ineptitude and his vacuousness. He is truly a "cold shadow." That's a great phrase, btw. A cold shadow haunts the White House. A cold shadow gives the nation the cold shoulder. Trump casts a cold shadow over the people of this country. Etc.
1
We are living in an apparent "Unruly" situation, which means that there are No enforced Rules. Trump has succeeded in 24/7, occupying the Center of Attention in the Media. In my 80 year existence, I have never seen such
Chaos, managed "under" the "leadership" of one who knew and cared so
Little for anything beside Himself. We are in Deep Doo Doo.
Chaos, managed "under" the "leadership" of one who knew and cared so
Little for anything beside Himself. We are in Deep Doo Doo.
4
I should be commenting for each of your columns: Thank you, Charles, thank you.
Every day, every single day it grows worse. Shame on the Republicans in Congress for allowing this circus to continue.
Every day, every single day it grows worse. Shame on the Republicans in Congress for allowing this circus to continue.
422
Yes---thank you , thank you, thank you Charles for your articles-- which provide excellent insight, and articulate so well, what is going on with this current administration. I always feel a little better after I read your articles, and see you on CNN, because you speak for me (and many of my friends). Nobody says it better than you. I read a lot--and you are one of the most gifted writers I have ever encountered.
Sir your article explains the state of the US not only Trump. Trump is the US, looking to win everything yet know the value of nothing. NO memory of the dastardly deeds you promulgate for power. Only the continued myth of America is being fought over.
4
Shallow-of-mind, absent a moral framework beyond his narrow self interest, and exemplary of the worst of men, Trump can undoubtedly do huge damage. He is extremely effective in lying , in smearing people, and in pleasing his followers with the success of his foul plays.
It is this effectiveness in nefarious and dishonest maneuvers that has made his fellow Republicans so timid about standing up to him. He will lie, smear, and if possible humiliate them out of office if they stand in his way.
He is effective in the way he cares about.
It is this effectiveness in nefarious and dishonest maneuvers that has made his fellow Republicans so timid about standing up to him. He will lie, smear, and if possible humiliate them out of office if they stand in his way.
He is effective in the way he cares about.
4
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities." -Charles M. Blow
In one extraordinary sentence Mr. Blow nailed why Trump is president. This one sentence also describes why Trump's base will support him even after he kills someone on Fifth Avenue.
Those against so-called pushy women and others who don't look like them - specifically blacks - will NEVER change from generation to generation and I believe that Trump knows that like the back of his little hand.
Solution: Find the undeniable smoking guns that will force him to resign. Even though America will have to endure a scorched earth assault by the former president it won't last long before he loses interest and heads for the links.
In one extraordinary sentence Mr. Blow nailed why Trump is president. This one sentence also describes why Trump's base will support him even after he kills someone on Fifth Avenue.
Those against so-called pushy women and others who don't look like them - specifically blacks - will NEVER change from generation to generation and I believe that Trump knows that like the back of his little hand.
Solution: Find the undeniable smoking guns that will force him to resign. Even though America will have to endure a scorched earth assault by the former president it won't last long before he loses interest and heads for the links.
7
Morning Mr. Blow, I am finally optimistic we are watching the beginning of the end for #45. "Follow the Money", the article this morning on "45's Deutsche Bank longstanding relationship will be #45's undoing. Patience is key. It's imperative the case against #45 is "air tight". Obviously there are those in #45's base who will never abandoned their support, hence the case against #45 must be so overwhelming to discourage the thought of anarchy.
4
In regards to Trump's short attention span and lack of ability to think well, I agree with Mr. Blow. Now what does that say about the American voter who made him President of the United States?
4
II agree it is comforting that Trump is so stupid and incompetent. The disturbing fact is that a great many of his fellow Americans are just like him.
6
Dinner with Trump: the food is horrible. And the portions much too small.
1
When I woke up on 11/9/16 I realized we had reached a point of no return. Resistance is not only futile, it makes things worse. Therefore, eat, drink and be merry for you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
2
The usual flurry of ad hominem comments about Trump in this space play right into his strategy. When he unleashes his shameless tweets and inflammatory remarks against perceived enemies like those in his interview with the Times, reported in today's paper, he is the rabbit pleading to be thrown in the briar patch. Having turned the spotlight back squarely on himself in the wake of his failure with Obamacare, he is free once again to do what he wants in the shadows were nobody is looking: restrict voting rights, bar Muslims, tear down environmental and Wall Street regulations, sabotage Obamacare, make deals with Putin, and use the presidency to increase his personal fortune. Regardless of "incompetence," he's already done a lot of deliberate damage and will continue to do so. That's what pundits like Blow should be scrutinizing - not the provocateur in the spotlight.
4
Once again, my hat is off to Charles Blow for hitting the proverbial nail on the head. But it still sends sends shivers down my spine that so many people bought the flim flam act of someone so unfit for the presidency and more so that legions of them continue to adore him even as his inadequacy is made plainly evident. I wonder -- and worry -- about what this bespeaks for us as a nation...and who might ride such preposterous pretense to the highest office in the land after him.
2
Major takeaway: Trump is incompetent. GOP Congress is incompetent. At anything other than anger and resentment. Was it Obama who said anger isn't a governing strategy?
Awhile back this paper I believe published some research showing that GOP voters tend to vote with anger and fear more than Democratic voters who tend to vote with more optimism. GOP voters gravitate toward authoritarianism as well (eh hem!). I think this sums up what went wrong in 2016. Trump and his gloom and doom team of Stone and Bannon drummed up the anger like nobody's business. Hillary was so much on the defensive that she suppressed the Obama voters or they went third party.
Awhile back this paper I believe published some research showing that GOP voters tend to vote with anger and fear more than Democratic voters who tend to vote with more optimism. GOP voters gravitate toward authoritarianism as well (eh hem!). I think this sums up what went wrong in 2016. Trump and his gloom and doom team of Stone and Bannon drummed up the anger like nobody's business. Hillary was so much on the defensive that she suppressed the Obama voters or they went third party.
2
When voters elect candidates and a party where the core philosophy is a hatred of government.......we shouldn't be shocked when the result of their governance is enormous incompetence and failure!
3
I know Charles Blow is writing primarily about how Trump is his own worst enemy (Thank God!) but he has tossed in, almost as an aside another idea.
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama- Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the .... ascension of women and minorities,."
We need to re-frame that idea if we want to win people away from the GOP. Some may be flipping out over the ascension of women and minorities, but most are flipping out over the descension of their own status and the status of their children.
Inequality doesn't just accelerate growth at the top; it flattens out growth and pushes down the middle. They don't see the reality that others didn't rise, they themselves fell. They know they've been cheated, but don't really know how.
We have to stop assuming that bigotry and hatred is the heart of Trump's voters, and recognize that it is loss for themselves and their children. They blame liberals, elites, policy almost everything except the GOP policy which exacerbates the natural inequality that comes from rewarding capital and rewarding giant monopolies in global trade.
If we don't accept this, we will keep losing, and the inequality will keep growing.
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama- Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the .... ascension of women and minorities,."
We need to re-frame that idea if we want to win people away from the GOP. Some may be flipping out over the ascension of women and minorities, but most are flipping out over the descension of their own status and the status of their children.
Inequality doesn't just accelerate growth at the top; it flattens out growth and pushes down the middle. They don't see the reality that others didn't rise, they themselves fell. They know they've been cheated, but don't really know how.
We have to stop assuming that bigotry and hatred is the heart of Trump's voters, and recognize that it is loss for themselves and their children. They blame liberals, elites, policy almost everything except the GOP policy which exacerbates the natural inequality that comes from rewarding capital and rewarding giant monopolies in global trade.
If we don't accept this, we will keep losing, and the inequality will keep growing.
6
Here in the hollows of these mountains the people who Trump lied to and voted for him, (many of them very well off people) fear people who don't look like them, worship like them, and aren't from here. Like Trump their curiosity towards what's over the mountain, whether concrete or intellectual, is only stoked if it benefits them personally. "I don't want the Gov'ment messin wid my Social Security" is the thin gravy of understanding served around here.
2
Trumping isn't complicated. Promise jobs and they will wait forever. Democrats and the liberal nonprofits should stop guilt tripping people for donations and use the money to fix the broken middle-class job market.
1
You give voice so eloquently to what many of us are thinking, Mr. Blow. Thank you.
3
The problem is that Trump had a tough upbringing. No empathy. Very little kindness. The thought was, that would make him a better person in the long run. On top of that he's kind of stupid. You clearly don't have to be a genius to run a big real estate business, whether it does well or not. Surround yourself with people who were brought up the same way and it's a recipe for a return to the Stone Age. Human development, psychologically, is painfully slow.
2
The shame of this Presidency is our country's great potential stuck in Trump's mud like personality cult. There are so many opportunities out there, especially in the tech field, and yet, here we are stuck in administration trying to turn the clock back to some golden age, that in reality never existed to begin with.
1
I'm reminded that 18 other world leaders know that Trump and Putin talked for an hour at the G-20 dinner. Yet he's knowingly lying to them that it was much shorter that that. As if they weren't all looking out of the corner of their eyes at him the whole time.
1
I agree with just about everything Mr Blow articulates here. But where's the Democrats. Schumer is like a knat the Reps just swat away. They consider him a clown, And the truth is, he is. He doesn't seem to have any sway over his own body of Democrats. This is the perfect time to start an all out push for Medicare for all, or phasing it in. But he says nothing. Most of the Democrats say nothing. Improve Obama care, I guess it's better than nothing. But it won't move voters.
Yes Trump is a fool, the court jester. But where's the opposition. And it seems to me, it's an easy time to be the opposition, the other way. When the ruling party has such a baffoon at it's helm and the Republican's are in such disarray.
Orange, NJ
Yes Trump is a fool, the court jester. But where's the opposition. And it seems to me, it's an easy time to be the opposition, the other way. When the ruling party has such a baffoon at it's helm and the Republican's are in such disarray.
Orange, NJ
3
Well said Mr. Blow! And we will soon hear the Liar in Chief (who said he will create new jobs and took credit for saving jobs at Carrier) start another tweet storm when he hears that Carrier has just laid off more employees and there will be more employees losing their jobs by Christmas. I wonder if he will blame President Obama for this too. I wouldn't be surprised if he did.
2
Trump said, “Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.”
Quickly devolved to “I’m not going to own it.” SAD!
Billions of taxpayer dollars to build a wall that his advisers only invented as a means to help Trump focus? VERY SAD -- even if it is impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, solar-powered and (so you don't get hit by 60-pound bags of drugs being thrown over at random) transparent.
That this toxic clown's incompetence limits his effectiveness is cold comfort, but I agree: we'll take what we can get.
Quickly devolved to “I’m not going to own it.” SAD!
Billions of taxpayer dollars to build a wall that his advisers only invented as a means to help Trump focus? VERY SAD -- even if it is impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, solar-powered and (so you don't get hit by 60-pound bags of drugs being thrown over at random) transparent.
That this toxic clown's incompetence limits his effectiveness is cold comfort, but I agree: we'll take what we can get.
3
This echoes what I've thought for months to be the silver lining of a Trump Presidency - that his stunning ineptitude blunts the efficacy of his callous agenda. We may get out of this horrible experiment in electoral idiocy without too much damage, or at least damage that can be reversed (fingers crossed). Imagine if we had a President Pence, or Cruz with such a compliant Congress, ready to unravel our nation's protections...
I'll take small victories in this miasma. Heck, maybe we'll make it through the hangover of the Trump debauchery and actually never get drunk again!
I'll take small victories in this miasma. Heck, maybe we'll make it through the hangover of the Trump debauchery and actually never get drunk again!
1
Thank goodness that Trump's such an incompetent buffoon and that he will do none of the hard lifting to actually accomplish anything during his 4 years.
Not only is he intellectually deficient, but I also believe that he's intellectually lazy. Put those two attributes together, and you've got Trump.
2
Trump has accomplished one other thing - a real reflection on American heroism. As Senator McCain faces the second fight of his life you can't help but reflecting on what a hero Senator McCain is and wish him the best. Trump's vile words during the campaign ring in Americans' ears demeaning McCain's service to America and what a contrast we now face. A draft dodger vs the hero. A time of reflection for all Americans and what we face now is what does America really want to be? Senator McCain or Donald Trump?
3
To simplify: DT isn't evil, because that takes guile and strategy. So; we should all breathe a sigh of relief that our leader is merely greedy and stupid?
2
You are a brave man. Interesting isn't it how tribalism trumps reason and mores. Keep writing. Help people change tribes.
Well said, Mr. Blow.
The reason we have to endure the garbage Trump spews on a minute-by-minute basis is because he is protected by the amoral Republicans in Congress.
In that regard, I must point out that any notion of the Democrats succeeding in retaking the Senate in 2018 has just become slimmer. Poor John McCain has glioblastoma, which killed my father-in-law three weeks ago (only 3 months after initial diagnosis). This cancer is invariably fatal, and a very quick killer. The governor of Arizona is a Republican, and will obviously appoint a Republican to fill out McCain's term, which only commenced recently. That will give Arizona voters plenty of time to get accustomed to the appointee -- who is likely to be to the right of McCain. So McCain's seat will wind up in Republican hands for the foreseeable future.
The reason we have to endure the garbage Trump spews on a minute-by-minute basis is because he is protected by the amoral Republicans in Congress.
In that regard, I must point out that any notion of the Democrats succeeding in retaking the Senate in 2018 has just become slimmer. Poor John McCain has glioblastoma, which killed my father-in-law three weeks ago (only 3 months after initial diagnosis). This cancer is invariably fatal, and a very quick killer. The governor of Arizona is a Republican, and will obviously appoint a Republican to fill out McCain's term, which only commenced recently. That will give Arizona voters plenty of time to get accustomed to the appointee -- who is likely to be to the right of McCain. So McCain's seat will wind up in Republican hands for the foreseeable future.
1
"Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities."
While I don't disagree that misogyny and race were contributing factors, a bigger issue is the hypocrisy shown in many of our churches today. The Sadducees and Pharisees are back with a vengence and have TV networks, social media and funding to support their negligence and ignorance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a party, yet so many voters were deceived in believing Republicans equal Christ and that is far from the truth.
I'm not glorying in our president's ineptness, but praying for his humility. Unfourtanetly, it may not come while he is in office. The biggest mistake our country made was believing that family owned businesses would translate to government. He has never been accountable to anyone so the presidency will continue to drain him. I pray that there are internal controls in place out of the public view for instances like this. He is his worst own enemy, but to know this and not prepare for the morning that he wakes up and hates the world is unwise. Hurt people hurt people.
While I don't disagree that misogyny and race were contributing factors, a bigger issue is the hypocrisy shown in many of our churches today. The Sadducees and Pharisees are back with a vengence and have TV networks, social media and funding to support their negligence and ignorance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a party, yet so many voters were deceived in believing Republicans equal Christ and that is far from the truth.
I'm not glorying in our president's ineptness, but praying for his humility. Unfourtanetly, it may not come while he is in office. The biggest mistake our country made was believing that family owned businesses would translate to government. He has never been accountable to anyone so the presidency will continue to drain him. I pray that there are internal controls in place out of the public view for instances like this. He is his worst own enemy, but to know this and not prepare for the morning that he wakes up and hates the world is unwise. Hurt people hurt people.
3
He seems obsessed with destroying "Obamacare, Obamacare, Obamacare, Obamacare..." To say it out loud is to work himself and his supporters up into a frenzy of hatred by its very name. We can hope that, possibly, his inability to accept a defeat on this will preoccupy him in a Sisyphusian task, instead of doing more to undermine our country's safety and liberties.
2
Bear in mind, Charles, H.L. Mencken's spot on assessment: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." For all the attention Republicans are lavishing on non-existent massive voting fraud, the one area they will not make any attempt to address or suppress is their sucker-born-every-day" base.
You'd best be prepared to "get" disappointed time and time again.
You'd best be prepared to "get" disappointed time and time again.
1
As an American residing abroad, I take no comfort ATALL at the very idea that Trump is the POTUS. None at all. It is indefensible...
1
Thank you, Charles Blow, for every column you write. I remember early on that you promised readers you would never let this sleazy, grotesque presidency be normalized, and you've kept your word.
To me, seem like Demosthenes--never letting up, continuously warning us of the danger Trump's presidency poses. Today you offered a little bit of rest--an ironic bright spot in the midst of this catastrophe.
Many of us find that every day, at some point, we say out loud that It is not normal to have a president who lies as easily as most of us breathe, who functions with a vocabulary of a 7th grader, who has the attention span of a kindergartner, who has no self-control, whose guidance comes from the likes of Steve Bannon, and who has such incoherent domestic and foreign policies that not even he or his advisors seems to know what they are.
My promise to myself and my country is, "Just get me to the 2018 Congressional campaign. I'll give money, I'll make calls, I'll find a campaign that needs me, and I'll be there for it."
To me, seem like Demosthenes--never letting up, continuously warning us of the danger Trump's presidency poses. Today you offered a little bit of rest--an ironic bright spot in the midst of this catastrophe.
Many of us find that every day, at some point, we say out loud that It is not normal to have a president who lies as easily as most of us breathe, who functions with a vocabulary of a 7th grader, who has the attention span of a kindergartner, who has no self-control, whose guidance comes from the likes of Steve Bannon, and who has such incoherent domestic and foreign policies that not even he or his advisors seems to know what they are.
My promise to myself and my country is, "Just get me to the 2018 Congressional campaign. I'll give money, I'll make calls, I'll find a campaign that needs me, and I'll be there for it."
1
As long as there are still people who care about justice and human rights, Mr. Trump won't be his own worst enemy--we'll be his worst enemies
2
Sad, true and pathetic. Sad that a President of the United States has a second rate intellect. True that he lacks the capacity and focus to do us harm driven by him. Pathetic that the party he represents cannot stand up to him and say no to an increasing list of excesses. Disregard for the environment, open hostility toward the rule of law and the deepening skewedness of wealth distribution all speak to an absolute failure of morality in addressing America's
needs.
I will leave it to the economists but we outspend China by nearly a factor of five for defense. We have a military that is staffed by incredible people who lay down their lives for us. Pay them more---yes. Take better care of them after discharge---yes. Spend more money on trillion dollar fighter jets when our biggest worry is some alienated nineteen year old driving a truck into a crowd---no. Yes, the cost is literally one trillion dollars.
Steve Mnuchin should perhaps get an award for honesty if not for sympathy and compassion. He sat in a Congressional Hearing and explained with a chilling calmness that the Trump Administration chose very consciously to defund the social safety net so it could add further to America's already overwhelming weaponry.
Trump's crew all hate the America that has evolved since the 1930's---particularly because it offers access to the middle class for the poor. Yes,
the sad and dangerous figure in the Whitehouse is keeping them from their destructive goals.
Thank you Mr. Blow.
needs.
I will leave it to the economists but we outspend China by nearly a factor of five for defense. We have a military that is staffed by incredible people who lay down their lives for us. Pay them more---yes. Take better care of them after discharge---yes. Spend more money on trillion dollar fighter jets when our biggest worry is some alienated nineteen year old driving a truck into a crowd---no. Yes, the cost is literally one trillion dollars.
Steve Mnuchin should perhaps get an award for honesty if not for sympathy and compassion. He sat in a Congressional Hearing and explained with a chilling calmness that the Trump Administration chose very consciously to defund the social safety net so it could add further to America's already overwhelming weaponry.
Trump's crew all hate the America that has evolved since the 1930's---particularly because it offers access to the middle class for the poor. Yes,
the sad and dangerous figure in the Whitehouse is keeping them from their destructive goals.
Thank you Mr. Blow.
2
Maybe President Trump won't be able to get all of his heinous ideas through Congress, but he already has put some of the worst into force via his appointments to Justice, the EPA, Education, Energy, and what did I miss ?
2
He's like the ten-year old who is sure he wants to play the guitar until he gets it and finds it's not as easy and fun as he thought it would be. Except the presidency involves all of us as his experiment.
What we need is some grownups in the Republican party to take the guitar away and let him go back to playing with his blocks.
What we need is some grownups in the Republican party to take the guitar away and let him go back to playing with his blocks.
1
First things first. Mr. Blow, I agree with this column. I agree with all of your columns about Trump. He is an outrage, a disgrace, an ignoramus, a liar, and probably a criminal. Most people who read these pages probably agree too.
But you aren't saying anything new with the unending stream of columns that simply find new words to say the same things. Words sometimes can't express our feelings about Trump, yet putting those feelings into words can be therapeutic. We get it, but it isn't interesting reading.
There are a lot of things to write about, and many of them relate in some way to Trump and/or the atrocious policies and moral bankruptcy of the Republican party. You are a good writer and I am sure you have views on many of these matters.
I respectfully suggest that the relentless personal assaults, while therapeutic and largely accurate, aren't advancing the dialogue. I now treat them like the over-the-top partisan posts on my Facebook feed, which is it say I don't read them. You and the Times can do better.
But you aren't saying anything new with the unending stream of columns that simply find new words to say the same things. Words sometimes can't express our feelings about Trump, yet putting those feelings into words can be therapeutic. We get it, but it isn't interesting reading.
There are a lot of things to write about, and many of them relate in some way to Trump and/or the atrocious policies and moral bankruptcy of the Republican party. You are a good writer and I am sure you have views on many of these matters.
I respectfully suggest that the relentless personal assaults, while therapeutic and largely accurate, aren't advancing the dialogue. I now treat them like the over-the-top partisan posts on my Facebook feed, which is it say I don't read them. You and the Times can do better.
Great essay as usual.
Blow is focused, well-informed, thoughtful, and serious. He finds the right words to express his valuable political conclusions, so it's always rewarding and instructive to read him. A real asset to WaPo.
Maybe I like his writings because I agree with them, notably here.
Trump, an unholy terror on TV, is but a paper tiger in real life, at least so far. He growls, shows his fangs, and claws at the plexiglass separating us -- he looks scary -- but he's largely impotent. Maybe he has ADHD; he acts like it: he launches into a subject, works on it for a short while, then, becoming bored, he drops it. He's done. When the goal isn't achieved, he blames everyone else for its failure. He's interested only in quick results. He's a man of short bursts of energy.
A bully he is, because it works for him: if your subordinates fear you, they work even harder to do your bidding, because you can fire them.
Trump has only one possible role in life: that of a leader.
Problem is, he's a terrible leader, a failure for many reasons: laziness; an inability to stay focused; an average IQ; not well-educated; a low threshold for frustration; and a hot temper. He respects loyal people only, people who always make him look good, with exceptions, possibly, for his family.
That ineffectual man can not lead a great nation, except into darkness, despair, and depravity. Fear him not. But do show him the door ASAP. You have nothing to fear, but fear itself, somebody once correctly said.
Blow is focused, well-informed, thoughtful, and serious. He finds the right words to express his valuable political conclusions, so it's always rewarding and instructive to read him. A real asset to WaPo.
Maybe I like his writings because I agree with them, notably here.
Trump, an unholy terror on TV, is but a paper tiger in real life, at least so far. He growls, shows his fangs, and claws at the plexiglass separating us -- he looks scary -- but he's largely impotent. Maybe he has ADHD; he acts like it: he launches into a subject, works on it for a short while, then, becoming bored, he drops it. He's done. When the goal isn't achieved, he blames everyone else for its failure. He's interested only in quick results. He's a man of short bursts of energy.
A bully he is, because it works for him: if your subordinates fear you, they work even harder to do your bidding, because you can fire them.
Trump has only one possible role in life: that of a leader.
Problem is, he's a terrible leader, a failure for many reasons: laziness; an inability to stay focused; an average IQ; not well-educated; a low threshold for frustration; and a hot temper. He respects loyal people only, people who always make him look good, with exceptions, possibly, for his family.
That ineffectual man can not lead a great nation, except into darkness, despair, and depravity. Fear him not. But do show him the door ASAP. You have nothing to fear, but fear itself, somebody once correctly said.
2
Do not rejoice too soon, Mr. Blow. I am still very afraid of what the "Axis of Evil" (Trump, McConnell & Ryan) can and will try to do to us.
They are actively working to remove all of our Earned Benefits (Medicare & Social Security), lower taxes for the rich (and end social support programs), remove health care access for the lower and middle classes, reduce education levels to make it harder for us to make gains in the future - basically turn us from a world class country to a parody of a third world dictatorship. I am very scared.
They are actively working to remove all of our Earned Benefits (Medicare & Social Security), lower taxes for the rich (and end social support programs), remove health care access for the lower and middle classes, reduce education levels to make it harder for us to make gains in the future - basically turn us from a world class country to a parody of a third world dictatorship. I am very scared.
2
Donald Trump's manic obsession with All Things Obama is why America is mired in the quicksand in which it now finds itself. We are up to our waists in the stuff. We, as a country, cannot move. There is no help out there unless it's on the very distant horizon of (a) a legislative turnover in Congress in 2018 and that, in spite of this president's complete ineptitude, doesn't seem to register as a genuine threat to his office. Next year's elections are too far away and although they are blurred by this bizarre man, we're stuck with him unless or until the equally-inept House seriously takes up the "I" word. The next presidential election (b) has yet to materialize in the national consciousness because we, as a nation, haven't yet learned to consider the forest rather than the tree. Like the bear, it will walk up and bite us because we are so unprepared, much like we were in 2016.
As you cite, Mr. Blow, I think the ghost of President Obama lurks in what passes for the corridors of Mr. Trump's (so-called) mind. I am quite certain that he ran for the office, never thinking he would (or could) win. He was in search of applause lines. His 2011 trashing of the black president was a hit in many areas, and he was losing traction, falling behind in the American rear-view mirror, so he (or some evil genii decided for him) that he should step into the public square in a more lasting way.
In these pages yesterday, he finally owned up to the fact that *he* is the law; without question.
As you cite, Mr. Blow, I think the ghost of President Obama lurks in what passes for the corridors of Mr. Trump's (so-called) mind. I am quite certain that he ran for the office, never thinking he would (or could) win. He was in search of applause lines. His 2011 trashing of the black president was a hit in many areas, and he was losing traction, falling behind in the American rear-view mirror, so he (or some evil genii decided for him) that he should step into the public square in a more lasting way.
In these pages yesterday, he finally owned up to the fact that *he* is the law; without question.
3
Trump's not just his own worst enemy. He was installed in office by a Russian cyberattack against our country - which he refuses to acknowledge, continuing to buddy up to murderer Putin.
There is growing concern that Trump, the Trump campaign and the Trump family had some prior knowledge of Russian involvement, may have enthusiastically welcomed it and may have actually collaborated with Russia to steal the election.
If true, a foreign power placed an enemy administration in the White House. If Trump had knowledge or collaborated or covered up collaboration by those around him, this will be the greatest act of treason in our history and it will take decades for us country to recover.
I don't underestimate that Donald Trump may turn out to be the greatest internal enemy this country has ever had. His own behavior constantly supports this narrative. How stupid and disgusting is that?
It's like a horror movie.
It's coming from inside the house.
The primal screaming never stops.
There is growing concern that Trump, the Trump campaign and the Trump family had some prior knowledge of Russian involvement, may have enthusiastically welcomed it and may have actually collaborated with Russia to steal the election.
If true, a foreign power placed an enemy administration in the White House. If Trump had knowledge or collaborated or covered up collaboration by those around him, this will be the greatest act of treason in our history and it will take decades for us country to recover.
I don't underestimate that Donald Trump may turn out to be the greatest internal enemy this country has ever had. His own behavior constantly supports this narrative. How stupid and disgusting is that?
It's like a horror movie.
It's coming from inside the house.
The primal screaming never stops.
Don't be so sure,Mr.Blow. An incompetent Luddite armed with the power of the Presidency puts all of humankind in danger. Our checks and balance system is eroded by the decline of congressional power by the decades long granting of increasing executive power, a sort of reverse run of the Magna Carta. With the power to unleash war,shut down our borders, intrude on our civil rights,the Presidency is akin to a constitutional monarchy minus one. The total congressional power held by the legislature controlled by many sycophants,adds to Trump's delusion of majesty.
One can only hope that 2018 brings back the balance of sanity to our government. Then checks and balance will put a governor on the impulses of a dangerous President.
One can only hope that 2018 brings back the balance of sanity to our government. Then checks and balance will put a governor on the impulses of a dangerous President.
1
Well, the buck does in fact stop at the President's desk. If he won't
own" Obamacare's continuing, he'll for sure "own" its demise and the healthcare catastrophe that would follow. There's no escaping responsibiilty in the Oval Office.
own" Obamacare's continuing, he'll for sure "own" its demise and the healthcare catastrophe that would follow. There's no escaping responsibiilty in the Oval Office.
2
Yes, thankfully, Trump is his own worst enemy, and his political incompetence may save our republic. If Trump were politically savvy, we would be in even more grave danger.
I do not dispute Charles Blow's contention that racism contributed mightily to Turmp's victory. On the other hand, Thomas Bird Edsall's op-ed piece, also in today's Times, points out that racism is only one of the factors that motivated Trump voters. As Edsall notes, hundreds of counties and several states that voted for Obama flipped in 2016 and supported Trump. Why? Surely racism alone cannot explain why voters who pulled the lever for Obama in 2008 and 2012 rallied behind Trump in 2016. Edsall tallies the heartbreaking toll of lost jobs, broken families, opioid addiction, and diminishing life expectancy that have worsened the quality of life for working-class whites. I urge Mr. Blow--and, more important, the Democratic Party--not to dismiss Trump supporters as deplorables, but to acknowledge their very real problems and seek to address them.
I do not dispute Charles Blow's contention that racism contributed mightily to Turmp's victory. On the other hand, Thomas Bird Edsall's op-ed piece, also in today's Times, points out that racism is only one of the factors that motivated Trump voters. As Edsall notes, hundreds of counties and several states that voted for Obama flipped in 2016 and supported Trump. Why? Surely racism alone cannot explain why voters who pulled the lever for Obama in 2008 and 2012 rallied behind Trump in 2016. Edsall tallies the heartbreaking toll of lost jobs, broken families, opioid addiction, and diminishing life expectancy that have worsened the quality of life for working-class whites. I urge Mr. Blow--and, more important, the Democratic Party--not to dismiss Trump supporters as deplorables, but to acknowledge their very real problems and seek to address them.
1
So true but you have left out the reaction against the LGBT community. I think a certain segment of the population is appalled that these people are now being treated with more respect and dignity. I think especially that some (white, male, and GOP) feel deeply emasculated by the thought of those people, who they gleefully taunted in grade school, becoming unafraid.
I think it is absurd (but not surprising) for Blow to say Trump helped people to loathe HRC, a woman aspiring to more power. That's totally ridiculous. HRC was one of the most divisive candidates to ever run for the Presidency...even in her own party...just ask a Bernie Sanders supporter. Trump simply stated the obvious...crassly at times...which any Republican who headed the ticket would do. People like Blow simply can't understand that HRC 's wounds were all self-inflicted. Let's review. She had the entire Democratic, Republican, media, business, tech, & global establishment on her side. She had had the most formidable political machine of the past 30 years. She raised more money than any other Democratic candidate for President...over 900 million dollars. She out spent Trump 3-1. She had substantially more troops on the ground. She had President Obama at the height of his popularity not only anoint her as his successor but campaign by her side. She had her husband, as well as Michelle Obama, pleading her case. She won all three debates. Her opponent put his foot in his mouth every time he walked out the door. She had every conceivable edge, more advantages than anyone who has ever run or probably ever will run for President. And she still couldn't close the deal, she still couldn't beat Trump! Sexism exists, but to blame it for HRC loss is idiotic. Practically any other Democratic candidate man or women with all of these built in advantages would have won by a landslide.
2
Not so fast. Granted that while many of us were already suffering from Chronic Clinton Fatigue Syndrome, a status quo Republican may not have caused as much defection from the Democrats as did Trump, who was actually viewed in some quarters as a breath of fresh air, a welcome disruptor of the status quo. Note to voters: Be careful what you wish for.
2
Thank you, Mr. Blow, you articulate the feelings of many on the Left so well. He may not accomplish much, but he has laid fertile ground for those who have real power, especially Pence, that viper in the grass. We all know the VP is busily setting up his hard-line staff so that if/when Trump is removed, they will be ready to swoop in with ultra-Christian, retroactive bills hidden under the guise of states' rights, right-to-work, protecting the Second Amendment, and more. The foxes guarding the henhouse have been picking off the most vulnerable chickens already; just wait until they actually get inside.
14
Short attention span, no vision and no clear path to actually lead this country as Mr. Blow states in this piece.
Indeed all of Trump's campaign speeches was merely noise and bloviating his greatness such as his promise to create many, many jobs as he was the best person at job creation that God had created.
One item I cannot agree with in the piece is the statement that Trump is a cold shadow of Obama. Trump is a dark shadow of alternate reality as he could never be a shadow of any persons that have governed much better and with more caring of the nation than Dear Leader.
Dear Leader is a coward and the cowardice will grow further as he discovers that no one listens to him much anymore save for his rabid supporters.
Indeed all of Trump's campaign speeches was merely noise and bloviating his greatness such as his promise to create many, many jobs as he was the best person at job creation that God had created.
One item I cannot agree with in the piece is the statement that Trump is a cold shadow of Obama. Trump is a dark shadow of alternate reality as he could never be a shadow of any persons that have governed much better and with more caring of the nation than Dear Leader.
Dear Leader is a coward and the cowardice will grow further as he discovers that no one listens to him much anymore save for his rabid supporters.
10
The longer Trump remains in office, the greater the chaos spreads. He is the American Nero, fiddling while the country burns. He will throw anyone under the bus - Sessions, Comey, Manafort, etc. to save his skin. Here's a caveat to anyone who does a solid for Trump: Don't expect anything in return.
12
Did Mr. Blow just figure out what has been patently obvious to the American people for months? Donald Trump's many personality flaws have been on public display for decades. The question is how did the Democratic Party (and the Republican Party for that matter) not recognize that there was a significant and strategic segment of American voters who would literally prefer anyone over Hillary Clinton? (an opinion formed before 2016 based on voter's observations of her behavior and not on the devious machinations of Boris and Natasha). Another question is why so called professional journalists have allowed Prseident Trump to drag them to his level of sandbox sniping and whining. I agree that this Administration's ineptitude may keep it from succeeding in its far right agenda, but it does seem to be succeeding in destroying the credibility of the American press, including that of Mr. Blow.
1
Anyone who regularly reads Mr. Blow's excellent columns would know that he has been on Trump's case from the get-go, gradually building a complex, impressive indictment against the Faker-in-Chief. Too bad you find truth-telling a threat to rather than proof of credibility.
"Did Mr. Blow just figure out what has been patently obvious to the American people for months?" First, read his other articles and that will answer your question and, since you were not smart enough to look back at those articles, let me spell out to you the answer is "no." Second, not all the "American people" find this obvious; in fact, there continue to be millions (yes, millions) of Trump supporters who have figured out anything, except perhaps finally how to tie their shoes....
Trump's sole purpose for being president is self-glorification.
Grandiosity and grounding are binary.
I'll take comfort in that--and hope that the bamboozled, not the racists, see it as well.
Grandiosity and grounding are binary.
I'll take comfort in that--and hope that the bamboozled, not the racists, see it as well.
4
Trump only knows that he has been immortalized as president. He has no interest in policy or the outcomes of policy. He will parrot anything his aides tell him to say. it got him this far why would he stop?
3
I totally agree with you Mr. Blow.
Trump's best attribute is his lack of any ability to understand things more complex than the menu at McDonalds or to see that almost any piece of legislation is ever enacted. I think his second best attribute is being a living, breathing refutation to the lie of white superiority.
Oh and please do not denigrate a gnat's attention span by comparing it to Trump's non-existent one. A gnat does seem to move essentially at random but then often achieves a net movement over time.
Trump's best attribute is his lack of any ability to understand things more complex than the menu at McDonalds or to see that almost any piece of legislation is ever enacted. I think his second best attribute is being a living, breathing refutation to the lie of white superiority.
Oh and please do not denigrate a gnat's attention span by comparing it to Trump's non-existent one. A gnat does seem to move essentially at random but then often achieves a net movement over time.
7
Trump is his own worst enemy. To quote an earlier parliamentarian, not while I'm alive he isn't.
241
"Trump is his own worst enemy.... not while I'm alive he isn't."
I see it differently. Trump and I have much in common: Trump is our worst enemy.
I see it differently. Trump and I have much in common: Trump is our worst enemy.
I do have to say, I find this roller coaster or chaos he has put us on both exhausting and extremely stressful.
8
Me too. It is riveting and worrying.
TRUMP is taking a TOLL on all thinking people but the folks that BELIEVE are soooooo happy. BELIEF is NOT a replacement for REASONING, LOGIC, and CRITICAL THINKING.
Mr. Blow, I turn to your op-ed first thing, and I always feel you've captured the issue perfectly. But I'm anxious. To take even cold comfort in DT's ineptitude might lull us into not focusing on the really big problem: Those citizens who supported DT and continue to support him. They are not going away. They are not waking up to the reality of how bad DT is as a person, never mind as a president. THEY are the issue. We share a country with people who Think Like That. Does that not keep you up at night?
3
Trump is intellectually deficient. Point well made. He is also unrelenting a whiner. To Trump, everything that does not go his way is unfair. Let him whine on and on. That too will keep him from being more destructive than if he was focused.
2
Unfortunately Trump's most eloquently-detailed ineptitute leaves us in the terrifying position of government by Pence, McConnell, Ryan, and now Gorsuch - all of whom have both evil intentions and firm hands on the reins of power.
1
For me the real problem of trump not doing his job is that someone - probably within the White House and, therefore, unelected - steps into that void and begins doing his job for him. We will have no idea whether it's Jared, Kellyanne, Ivanka, or Steve taking the wheel for our inept president and setting policy that we will all have to live with or live down for years to come.
2
He shows no loyalty to his supporters. He has Shown no interest in pushing through legislation. His approval numbers are abysmal. To run again In 2020 several states will require him release his taxes to be on the ballot. He will set a record for the number of golf outings by a president. Conclusion: Trump is already a lame duck.
2
I've been reading your column for its eloquence and anger, but this one disappointed me. Assuming that those whites who struggle in this economy supported Trump only because they're racist is not fair to them or helpful to our country.
We need to understand the source of economic anxiety for people
Of all races and genders and address it or history tells us we are all at risk.
We need to understand the source of economic anxiety for people
Of all races and genders and address it or history tells us we are all at risk.
Thanks Charles-- right on the money. One of your best on the trump phenomenon.
He gave the haters a voice, and has absolutely no clue how to do the hard work of representing us all, of actually governing. This is such a ugly time in our history, but I am certain we will overcome this and move forward. But first we will all suffer from our hideous mistake.
He gave the haters a voice, and has absolutely no clue how to do the hard work of representing us all, of actually governing. This is such a ugly time in our history, but I am certain we will overcome this and move forward. But first we will all suffer from our hideous mistake.
2
Donald Trump has told so many lies he can'y even keep up with them, and what's dangerous is that we have a population of Americans that don't have a problem with the president of the United States consistently lying to cover the incompetencies of the administration and his family. Trump just had an interview with this paper where he stated that part of his second conversation with Putin was about ADOPTIONS, and how he's fascinated with that subject, the same subject that the meeting was about that Don Jr. had. Obviously Trump forgot that for the past few days he stated and tweeted that the meeting Don Jr. was in was about OPPOSITION RESEARCH, and Trump AND his girlfriend Jeanine Pirro INSISTED that anyone would have taken that meeting! Now, what was that meeting about that Don Jr. had, adoptions or opposition research? I truly think that because Trump is president we have those that want to make excuses for him (and now his family as well) but for me he does not have the mental capacity or credibility to function as president, and we have a problem with a base that ignores that.
1
Once again, Mr. Blow, you have put into words what we're all thinking and feeling. You are, by far, my favorite journalist and I thank you for your vigilance in calling out Mr. Trump (my apologies, but he will never be MY president) and in pursuing the truth. When I read your column, some of the intense frustration, anger and helplessness I feel, is lessened because I know you're out there fighting for what's right. Thank you!
All true, but Trump's flaws, so well categorized by Mr. Blow, sometimes work in his favor for the next, shudder, election. He didn't go out and campaign for the Health Care Bill to the disappointment of some Senate Republicans, so absorbed was he with Russia, Twitter, golf, whatever. The bill failed. If it had passed many of his own supporters might have led the crowd of sufferers without Medicaid or access to insurance. That would have been bad for Trump. I wonder if he or Bannon figured that out,--why he yelled a little but didn't do anything to promote the bill.
Trump indeed lacks the capacity for complex thought. Facts and reason were never his forte, nor were they for the majority of his base, one who thought with their guts just like he did.
While he likes his steaks and hamburgers well done, he throws raw meat at his adoring crowds, feeding their revenge against the so-called intellectual elite.
While he likes his steaks and hamburgers well done, he throws raw meat at his adoring crowds, feeding their revenge against the so-called intellectual elite.
2
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your insight and assurances. From the daily onslaught of trump horror, I long for the days when I felt the security and safety of our democracy. Now, it seems I may not see the return of this in my lifetime--a terrifying thought.
There is no question Steven Bannon and Roger Stone are two supremely bleak and destructive people who had a dark vision for where the nation could turn to if Trump gained the office. They gave every one of their evil skills to get and uphold him in office.
And yes, his campaign was designed to draw those who hate Obama and Hillary. But I do not think hate of women in highest office played as key a role as you think.
Hillary had plenty of baggage that made it impossible to put her over the top in electoral votes--especially when she neglected to even campaign in some key states. (She knew the game; she knew she needed the electoral votes.)
A good number of people tell me they voted for Trump solely because the premiums and deductibles under ACA are just devastating for their family budgets.
Didn't even his voters already know in advance that he personally wouldn't be working on legislative details? He and they surely expected McConnell and Ryan to be in the trenches doing that.
Trump wanted the photo ops and the stages, as well as the prestige and influence he dreamed would automatically become his as President.
The present rewrite failure and horrendous proposed details regarding ACA jerked the curtain away and revealed again ruthlessness of the entire Republican leadership.
And yes, his campaign was designed to draw those who hate Obama and Hillary. But I do not think hate of women in highest office played as key a role as you think.
Hillary had plenty of baggage that made it impossible to put her over the top in electoral votes--especially when she neglected to even campaign in some key states. (She knew the game; she knew she needed the electoral votes.)
A good number of people tell me they voted for Trump solely because the premiums and deductibles under ACA are just devastating for their family budgets.
Didn't even his voters already know in advance that he personally wouldn't be working on legislative details? He and they surely expected McConnell and Ryan to be in the trenches doing that.
Trump wanted the photo ops and the stages, as well as the prestige and influence he dreamed would automatically become his as President.
The present rewrite failure and horrendous proposed details regarding ACA jerked the curtain away and revealed again ruthlessness of the entire Republican leadership.
I remember when I really started to worry about the possibility of Trump winning. The Times had a profile piece and interview with Trump. Until then I thought of him as "crazy like a fox", self-knowing that his bluster was just that - bluster.
The piece demonstrated his complete lack of intellectual rigour and curiosity, and that he believed his own simplistic nonsense. It made me realise his lack of intellectual capacity. I can understand how American voters could elect a demagogue promising to tear down the system, but still fail to understand why the voters couldn't see straight through this particular demagogue.
The piece demonstrated his complete lack of intellectual rigour and curiosity, and that he believed his own simplistic nonsense. It made me realise his lack of intellectual capacity. I can understand how American voters could elect a demagogue promising to tear down the system, but still fail to understand why the voters couldn't see straight through this particular demagogue.
2
Where is Claire Underwood when you need her? We are mid-way through this last season of HOC. It lacks the intensity of previous years. Why? Not for a lack good writing or fine acting. No, it is not the fault of the producers or directors either. It's still good TV.
What undermines the show is the insanity of reality. The show pales in comparison. Who da thunk a reality star would make reality so unreal? Please wake me up when it's over.
What undermines the show is the insanity of reality. The show pales in comparison. Who da thunk a reality star would make reality so unreal? Please wake me up when it's over.
Again well said. Trump cannot sell a policy initiative or a piece of legislation because he has no policy and no desire to learn what is actually in a bill. All he wants is a bumper sticker "win." So he is reduced to whining, blaming Obama and Hillary for his incompetence and telling Republican Senators how angry he will be if they don't give him what he wants. The Republicans cannot because they too have no ability to govern. After years of opposing Obama at every turn and being the party of "No," they don't know how to be the party of "Yes." And they are beginning to realize like Sessions probably has that Trump will throw any one of his enablers under the bus rather than acknowledge fault or failure of his own.
2
So Trump is constitutionally incapable of being an effective legislative president because he's too shallow and far too much a gadfly to see anything through to completion. His attitude on health care for millions of "his" citizens is to let it fail--the same attitude I'm sure he had when a municipality didn't give him enough tax abatement or incentives to build another Trump Tower--they'll come back crying to me later and try to give me even more than I asked for when they see I'm gone. He doesn't see life and death for "his" citizens as any different from another garish temple to his own imagined magnificence. Sad.
That means we are left with the conscience of Susan Collins and the few other women in the Senate to stand against Mitch McConnell and his "win at all costs" attitude toward legislation. We are in trouble.
That means we are left with the conscience of Susan Collins and the few other women in the Senate to stand against Mitch McConnell and his "win at all costs" attitude toward legislation. We are in trouble.
1
The GOP will put up with the ineptitude and short-attention span so long as the schemers get their tax cuts and deregulation. But the knives will come out once their plans smack against a brick wall.
2
I agree that Trump is a simpleton and consumed with his own narcissistic image, but he’s not alone. His appointees in the Executive Branch and allies on the Supreme Court and in Congress are working diligently to suppress the right to vote, deny health care, enrich the rich, ban Muslims, invade women’s bodies, and cook the planet in a pan warmed by fossil fuels. Trump is the most extreme type of uncaring, unthinking Republican who defend cruelty to the powerless by misusing words such as freedom and liberty. I take no solace in his shortcomings.
2
What a god awful waste of time this all is. I agree with everything Mr. Blow has said. What never ceases to amaze me is that despite Trump's mental health issues, he still is functional enough to get through every day without a major collapse. Yes, he's completely unserious, has no ideas, and speaks in vague generalities that mean nothing at all. But where's the major breakdown? I would have thought that would have happened by now. Trump seems to be able to live ceaselessly in this world of his own meaninglessness, and perhaps that it what relives some of the stress and keeps him moderately functional: a lack of understanding of the gravity of the presidency.
1
As a mental health therapist I always refrained from commenting on any diagnosis I may have mused about a public figure. That was before a man with a clear set of Cluster B personality disorders got access to the nuclear football. The narcissist craves attention and adulation; the borderline personality is extremely insecure and prone to lashing out; the sociopath lies so profusely that no one can keep up with the lies. People in my profession have been wincing and nursing headaches since the early days of the Trump campaign. As we have been saying for nearly two years, he won't change or pivot because he can't, short of admitting he has a problem and committing to probably years of therapy. People with personality disorders can improve, but not until they can consistently look in the mirror and say "I have a problem." Trump constructed a stone wall of ego and narcissism around a black hole of insecurity. He maintains his wall with lies, hustles and delusions. The rest of us are either a means to an end, or in the way.
2
Mr. Blow says, "Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities," and notes what was obvious to many: what were his policies, exactly? They ranged from the absurd (Mexico is going to pay for a wall) to the various versions of sheer emptiness (We are going to win so much, we are going to be so great, etc.)
And then I remember one of the more common things his supporters would say during the campaign: "He says exactly what I am thinking."
Frightening. Sound and fury, signifying Trump, the infinite emptiness of a shallow man, screaming from a podium to those who feel he is conveying what they think, too.
Not sure "think" is the accurate word.
And then I remember one of the more common things his supporters would say during the campaign: "He says exactly what I am thinking."
Frightening. Sound and fury, signifying Trump, the infinite emptiness of a shallow man, screaming from a podium to those who feel he is conveying what they think, too.
Not sure "think" is the accurate word.
1