There must be an INTERVENTION in the WH. Not by the Trump family but by patriots. Trump must be led from the WH and sent into disgrace. The patriots could include the former presidents , CEO`s who have demonstrated an empathy for people & the earth eg. Bill Gates , Warren Buffet , perhaps senior Pentagon officers. Ryan & McConnell would have to change their spots to qualify as patriots so they are very doubtful.
America , find your patriotism. "One if by Land. Two if by Sea." Form up. March on DC. Shake the gates of the WH off their hinges. Pay a threatening visit to the GOP in the Capitol.
Your nation is in peril.
America , find your patriotism. "One if by Land. Two if by Sea." Form up. March on DC. Shake the gates of the WH off their hinges. Pay a threatening visit to the GOP in the Capitol.
Your nation is in peril.
98
Trump's view of Priebus as weak is simple projection. He has to remove anyone who doesn't reflect back to him the over-the-top caricature of his idea of strength, because weakness is an anathema to Trump. All Trump wants is to be seen as virile and strong, hence his studied stern facial expression. Fixations don't leave much room for change.
155
The world is full of
dysfunctional people.
Sadly, many are central in
the leadership of the USA.
The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch
are metaphors for our times. We
witness his medieval nightmarish
scenes of hell, graphically horrifying...
one looks away, just as we do
as witnesses to the horror of Trump.
Every week is the worst week yet,
very weak weeks indeed.
One wonders how this man was
elected and we fear the long term
damage.
dysfunctional people.
Sadly, many are central in
the leadership of the USA.
The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch
are metaphors for our times. We
witness his medieval nightmarish
scenes of hell, graphically horrifying...
one looks away, just as we do
as witnesses to the horror of Trump.
Every week is the worst week yet,
very weak weeks indeed.
One wonders how this man was
elected and we fear the long term
damage.
54
The most insightful comment here, Dowd quoting Haberman quoting others close to Trump about why he torments Sessions (and so many others, individuals and groups): Because he can.
That's what bullies do.
Time to stand up, Citizens.
That's what bullies do.
Time to stand up, Citizens.
91
Trump doesn't understand that in American, the law enforcement system includes the Justice Department, attorney generals and many others. For him, law enforcement means some thugs who are police and just "lock her up" when told to by the president. Or maybe he does understand that law enforcement is also about justice, and wants to change that by encouraging the worst behavior of rogue police.
35
You closed your thoughts with a rhetorical, "What could be weaker than that?" I wish to answer that rhetorical in reference to your opening...."a vile criminal cartel." The Cabinet scares me. The shaping of this cabinet of know-nothings is worse than the hand waving distracting Tweeter-in-Chief. Rick Perry, e.g., is an incurious leader whose responsibilities include the safety and security of our nuclear arsenal. What is happening in our Department of Energy is an accident waiting to happen. Typical policy across the entire Cabinet is: let's not do anything, anything at all, and see what happens. There is weakness across the board (or Cabinet if you will) that is following President Bannon's original directive to tear down the establishment. Trumpsky may be the titular leader, but I fear the utter aimlessness of this so-called administration.
52
Here in Appalachia the love of Trump is strong among scared people. But they are not talking about politics. It is instead expressed in the culture...giant red Dodge Ram pickup trucks with don't tread on me license plates, pro-gun t-shirts with 2nd Amendment messages. Desperate, sad attempts to stand for something in our windblown world. Regular folks who cannot cope with change except by lashing out against the helpless, the reviled, the least among us. That they turn to silly fading cultural markers like internal combustion engines and fear of the future is to be expected I suppose. They are as lost as the rest of us in the present which makes no sense.
94
We should not focus, even pay attention to, what this man says. We need only focus on who and what he is. The only way to know who and what Trump is is to pay attention to the spaces between the words, the silence behind the noise.
22
The NYT editorial board summed it up nicely,
"... Mr. Trump has shown himself to be a small man, and he is engaged in shrinking the presidency to fit himself."
Murphy's Law meets the Peter Principle.
"... Mr. Trump has shown himself to be a small man, and he is engaged in shrinking the presidency to fit himself."
Murphy's Law meets the Peter Principle.
90
Lock him up! Lock him up! and I don't mean in prison.
27
In the end, Trump is living out a Shakespearean drama on the world stage, trying to prove to his ghost father who haunts him at night that he's a "killer-king", not a weak and pathetic loser like his brother Freddy.
But his fate is already cast as evidenced by his ineffectual thrashing about, unable to build consensus, alienating allies, strengthening enemies resolve and digging himself deeper into his many scandals by the hour. Mad King Donald is already raging in the halls of the WH at night. Only a matter of time.
But his fate is already cast as evidenced by his ineffectual thrashing about, unable to build consensus, alienating allies, strengthening enemies resolve and digging himself deeper into his many scandals by the hour. Mad King Donald is already raging in the halls of the WH at night. Only a matter of time.
53
Must we really endure the personal commentary by the entire media for the next 3.5 years? Every single thing he does? How can anyone not see they play right into his hands? The constant 24-7 attention. It's what he lives for and relishes.
Perhaps if the media focused solely on his policies and failures and refrained from any and all mention of anything personal he would go away quietly. Refer to everything he does as the Trump Administration rather than the individual.
Is there honestly a modicum of surprise regarding anything he does or says? Does anyone really care what he thinks? Are his tweets really newsworthy? Can anyone honestly name the 10 worst? They stopped being relevant long ago.
I've yet to figure out what the purpose of any of this is. It is a deliberate diversion to get people so fed up with politics they stop paying attention? Well, I think they've certainly accomplished that. Is it about besmirching his reputation so badly, the Democrats take over, everything?
I personally have stopped reading and canceled everything. I check in with Mo-Do simply because I've always enjoyed her humor. But like the rest of the media, her columns are getting just as redundant.
And now in other news . . . . can we puh-leeze move on!
Perhaps if the media focused solely on his policies and failures and refrained from any and all mention of anything personal he would go away quietly. Refer to everything he does as the Trump Administration rather than the individual.
Is there honestly a modicum of surprise regarding anything he does or says? Does anyone really care what he thinks? Are his tweets really newsworthy? Can anyone honestly name the 10 worst? They stopped being relevant long ago.
I've yet to figure out what the purpose of any of this is. It is a deliberate diversion to get people so fed up with politics they stop paying attention? Well, I think they've certainly accomplished that. Is it about besmirching his reputation so badly, the Democrats take over, everything?
I personally have stopped reading and canceled everything. I check in with Mo-Do simply because I've always enjoyed her humor. But like the rest of the media, her columns are getting just as redundant.
And now in other news . . . . can we puh-leeze move on!
26
I didn't used to care much about Ms. Dowd's columns one way or the other. Now I can't wait for the next one. We should have been warned by the number of people who withdrew their names from consideration for Trump appointments. And McCain would have crawled from his death bed to cast that vote. It's like one of those TV Survivor shows. At some point it won't be funny any more.
17
Fortunately there are a few decent laws on the books, a working judicial system, and a lack of musical talent on Trump's part . Otherwise we would be seeing a Nero-esque figure fiddling while this country burned to an unrecognizable crisp.
Any plebiscite that takes place in this country should see every citizen of voting age at the polls. It is the only anecdote to what ails us. The people must bring back true representative government.
Any plebiscite that takes place in this country should see every citizen of voting age at the polls. It is the only anecdote to what ails us. The people must bring back true representative government.
17
This article is more full force reality oriented rather than tongue in cheek humor. The writer here is seriously concerned about the mental status of our President - and for good reason.
37
Three words: the twenty-fifth amendment. I'm playing the role of a broken record, I know; but we can't continue to wait out a chief executive who is clearly a sick (though not in the Twitter sense employed by our president) man. Congress can, should, and MUST take the first steps toward having Mr. Trump evaluated by non-partisan physicians, whose duty it would then be to announce, in the clearest terms, that the Emperor is, indeed, naked... that is, unless my understanding of mental health and competency is 180 degrees out of phase with reality.
30
Maureen, please tell us what your brother, Kevin, thinks of Trump and all this craziness that's going on up there? Does Kevin still vote Republican after this?
34
This supposed president openly encouraged the rank and file police officers to break the law and go against their regulations,
36
Superego Fred is calling the tune, and Trump's naked id is running around DC in the form of THE MOOCH! shouting out 4 letter words and making threats.
Can't wait to see Kelly and THE MOOCH! interacting.
Can't wait to see Kelly and THE MOOCH! interacting.
14
Take. Away. The. Nuclear. Codes.
NOW.
NOW.
58
I avoid Trump speeches, so it was revealing here to read how Trump described those gangs--and how he should know, being so similar to him and his gang. Chilling, not only about the sadism but also that Trump doesn't have a clue about exposing it. Mental disorder with no insight capacity--ordinarily an object of concern about needing treatment; in this case, given the office, a potential disaster for the world.
34
I thought he went into the activities of the MS-13 gang a little too much.
8
Hurry up Robert Mueller!
43
An Insecure Man On An Unsecured Phone
31
the apocalyptic America Trump rants about serves as smoke cover while he lets the generals run the country.
6
I'm amazed at those who implicitly or explicitly embrace the thought that trump ever intrinsically occupied a position of strength from which there was a weaker position to descend. It was not W who was born on 3rd base and thought he hit a triple. It was trump. This is the stuff of ontogical weakness. Witness his demagogic star turn before his crowd of white gloved white cops from New York State's and Nassau and Suffolk counties.
There he portrayed a rag-tag, largely teenaged, prison gang called MS-13 as this great existential scourge that was converting the serenity of Long Island's white suburban enclaves into blood-stained killing fields. The mere presence of the President of the United States elevated what was already a battle between an elephant and a gnat to a battle of the titans. Standing in opposition to gnats he has holograpically converted to titans is trump's means of projecting strength.
Even more telling was trump's claim to the crowd that he "grew up on Long Island." In fact he was born and raised in Queens county, an abutting borough of New York City. Traditionally, Queens' residents have falsely claimed Long Island residency as a means of escaping the taint of Archie Bunker by acquiring the patina of The Great Gatsby. One would think that a supper, supper, supper rich man who was now President of the United States would have sufficient STRENGTH of character as to make such a pathetic subterfuge unthinkable. Sadly not!
There he portrayed a rag-tag, largely teenaged, prison gang called MS-13 as this great existential scourge that was converting the serenity of Long Island's white suburban enclaves into blood-stained killing fields. The mere presence of the President of the United States elevated what was already a battle between an elephant and a gnat to a battle of the titans. Standing in opposition to gnats he has holograpically converted to titans is trump's means of projecting strength.
Even more telling was trump's claim to the crowd that he "grew up on Long Island." In fact he was born and raised in Queens county, an abutting borough of New York City. Traditionally, Queens' residents have falsely claimed Long Island residency as a means of escaping the taint of Archie Bunker by acquiring the patina of The Great Gatsby. One would think that a supper, supper, supper rich man who was now President of the United States would have sufficient STRENGTH of character as to make such a pathetic subterfuge unthinkable. Sadly not!
18
As I started to write in other comment sections, King Trump. He acts like he is King of America/ the world, he is not our President he is the Dictator wanna be He like Putin for that as well all the other dealings he has had with Russia over the years. He likes other Dictators and the Kings of the Middle East just enthrall him with their places in the world stage. He will not be good for Democracy as it is in this country or the rest of the world. He only has so much energy in his battery as he has hinted at, so when he hits 100 hopefully he is again a Private citizen and not First Citizen.
5
In many ways Trump is an avatar of capitalism's flaws, cruelties and inadequacies. We will be rid of Trump eventually and his name will be ruined, but the bigger question remains. How will America move from the law of the jungle to a civilized society in which every citizen has a voice?
20
Looking forward to Ms Dowd's upcoming columns on the Democrats, Wasserman-Schultz, and the Awan "IT professionals." I know Ms Dowd is an "equal opportunity" and objective columnist. Seriously, why would Ms Wasserman-Schultz threaten the Capitol Police with "consequences" if they didn't return the laptop of Awan? What has she got to hide for the Democrats?
4
Trump has no rhythm because he has no intuition on character. You need character to have that talent. So he'll continue to hire already established people aka Mooch, Generals. If you are rising with talent fugetaboutit unless you happen to be his son-in-law......
5
No matter what you think of HRC, the country would have been in better hands had she been elected. Thanks to the 100K folks of key electoral states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania for giving us DT. On the other hand, Dowd produces some great prose for us, so which is it?!?!
Thanks, Mo. Lately, you've been fantastic!
Thanks, Mo. Lately, you've been fantastic!
15
I made the connection in my own mind between George Steinbrenner and Donald Trump back in the late 1970's when the two became "pals" but Maureen Dowd is the first print or broadcast journalist to connect the two to my knowledge. Birds of a feather flock together! Steinbrenner and Trump are bullies and the Presidency as the "bully pulpit" was not meant to be taken literally! And Trump goes way beyond bullying, he wants to be the first dictator President of the USA.
4
For all of his bullying and bluster, this president is a weak, pathetic, scared little shell of a human being. He has almost always gotten his way and he has delighted in that. He believes, as many rich and powerful people do, that they are invincible, untouchable, and able to do anything they please. What would put an end this kind of behavior in Mr. Trump's case? Criminal prosecution. We can only hope that if he has broken the law or acted in a treasonous manner he will be prosecuted. I wonder how he would fare in jail if he tried bullying the others? Oh well, hope springs eternal.
16
I would love to know what your reactionary brother, gloating as he did in the last end-of-year column you granted him, thinks about all of this.
Is he still all in? Has he found blessed deliverance in his choice? Does he think we, as a country, are on the right track now?
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary columns.
Is he still all in? Has he found blessed deliverance in his choice? Does he think we, as a country, are on the right track now?
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary columns.
25
All you can be certain of when listening to Our Fake So Called President ramble on is that when, in the future, his words are quoted and shown to be in conflict with a more current pronouncement, he will viciously attack the person bringing it up and try to portray it as "fake news".
The only purpose now to make note of his public utterances is to be able to use them in future legal proceedings.
He has no respect for the office of the Presidency and he has no decency. He is a truly vile and very small man and those who continue to defend him will regret it in much the same way as those who defended Nixon during his debacle.
The only purpose now to make note of his public utterances is to be able to use them in future legal proceedings.
He has no respect for the office of the Presidency and he has no decency. He is a truly vile and very small man and those who continue to defend him will regret it in much the same way as those who defended Nixon during his debacle.
12
The rightwing has always hated the idea of a well functioning government - i.e. Reagan, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem" - and now thanks to them we have a government run by them and Trump that doesn't actually function at all.
The only saving grace in all this is that except for their dysfunction things would be much worse. We can only hope that they never get any of their idiotic, hate filled, harmful, and dangerous agenda actually implemented.
The only saving grace in all this is that except for their dysfunction things would be much worse. We can only hope that they never get any of their idiotic, hate filled, harmful, and dangerous agenda actually implemented.
6
What a shame Nixon couldn't live to see that he is no longer the worst President in recent American history.
246
Rather humorous and poignant when you think about it.
6
Remember Chuck Bolton's Law: First-class people hire first-class people; second-class people hire third-class people.
149
I am worried about what I have heard about wounded, cornered animals. They are the most dangerous, vicious, and unpredictable. Unfortunately this wounded animal has thousands of thermonuclear weapons and is presently confronted with numerous threatening situations.
137
I just can't wait, Mo! I am on pins and needles! I am talking about waiting to see how the Republicans in the Senate will react to the President publicly calling them "fools". FOOLS, Mo! The President said it! In public! How's that for statesmanship and leadership?
18
Trump's M.O. is a page ripped right out of the drug cartels playbook. Trump's deficiencies, let us count the ways, can be found spewing right from the horse's mouth, in his case, the horse's neighs, aka tweets. Whatever slur he ascribes to any of his many "enemies" can be more aptly applied to him. This week, however weak, was no different. Trump is obsessively envious of President Barack Obama. He wants to destroy ObamaCares for no other reason than it has President Obama's name on it. Social Security is not FDRCare, Medicare is not JohnsonCare. Trump hates Barack Obama because the former President is everything Trump is not. And that goes double for the Clintons, Hillary most of all. Trump can't fathom he lost to Hillary by three million votes. Trump is all about the "numbers". He likes to bring the "big numbers", and he failed, against a woman of all people, a woman who has more intelligence in her pinky than Trump has in his entirety. Trump seethes at people who are smarter than he, which includes most Americans. In all my travels across this land over the years, from coast to coast and border to border, I have never met someone as dense, as horrific, as crude, cruel and garish as Trump. There are some right here in my hometown who come close, people like Scaramucci. The "high quality person" Mooch is the worse example of a New Yorker. If I didn't know better, I wouldn't live here. But, we are a world capital, and extremely tolerant. We warned you.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
29
Trump has revived the Ugly American for all to decry and disdain.
13
For me, this weeks 3 points that stood out were:
1 The GOP health care plan going own in flames but by 1 vote.
2 The hiring of Scaramucci, a vile and uncouth thug with a filthy mouth
3 Trump's Boy Scouts and NY police comments
As for the first:
"and failing to win over John McCain, who gleefully had his revenge for Trump’s mockery of him as being a loser because he was captured in war."
In the "Godfather", Don Corleone, while counseling his son, explains: "Revenge is a dish best served cold".
Is this what McCain did? If so, than he is as despicable as Trump. If not, than McCain only acted the way a Senator who represents his constituency should act. He deserves no special kudos.
As for Trump, enough already! He needs to be removed from office.
1 The GOP health care plan going own in flames but by 1 vote.
2 The hiring of Scaramucci, a vile and uncouth thug with a filthy mouth
3 Trump's Boy Scouts and NY police comments
As for the first:
"and failing to win over John McCain, who gleefully had his revenge for Trump’s mockery of him as being a loser because he was captured in war."
In the "Godfather", Don Corleone, while counseling his son, explains: "Revenge is a dish best served cold".
Is this what McCain did? If so, than he is as despicable as Trump. If not, than McCain only acted the way a Senator who represents his constituency should act. He deserves no special kudos.
As for Trump, enough already! He needs to be removed from office.
15
I had predicted in a 2016 conversation that in unlikely event that Trump was elected president he would soon become largely isolated in the White House. That certainly seems to be coming trueand will hopefully increase.
9
Among his daily Niagara Falls of stupid errors here's a minor but telling one: when police place a perp in the back seat of a patrol car they don't put a hand on the head of the perp to protect it. The hand is applying pressure so the perp bends at his waist enabling entry into the car.
12
IT’S THE OCCUPANT OF THE OVAL OFFICE WHO LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE THE FOOL!
The midnight ride of “Skinny Repeal” through the chambers of the United States Senate will go down in history along with that other famous ride Americans so revere.
The scene at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave during this historic midnight ride is best dramatized by the interwoven reflections lifted from the script of the Bard of Stratford and the column of the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan: "This Oval office, the tomb of his rage, where the president is but a walking shadow; a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage; and then this weak and sniveling man throws himself, sobbing on the body politic as his tweets become but tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
The midnight ride of “Skinny Repeal” through the chambers of the United States Senate will go down in history along with that other famous ride Americans so revere.
The scene at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave during this historic midnight ride is best dramatized by the interwoven reflections lifted from the script of the Bard of Stratford and the column of the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan: "This Oval office, the tomb of his rage, where the president is but a walking shadow; a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage; and then this weak and sniveling man throws himself, sobbing on the body politic as his tweets become but tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
19
Thank you, Maureen, for including the Bosch art piece which really depicts The Donald's White House in all of its insanity and gore.
I am late to respond but I feel it is important to add that Senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina is preparing legislation to ensure The Donald can not fire the Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Special Counsel Robert Mueller without Congressional review.
Senator Graham, please enact this legislation prior to the summer Congressional break so that The Donald does not invoke Executive Privilege and fires both of them while everyone is away and even more chaos ensues.
I believe this is one piece of legislation which will receive bi-partisan support from both sides of the aisle. The Donald can not be left alone to his own devices.
I am late to respond but I feel it is important to add that Senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina is preparing legislation to ensure The Donald can not fire the Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Special Counsel Robert Mueller without Congressional review.
Senator Graham, please enact this legislation prior to the summer Congressional break so that The Donald does not invoke Executive Privilege and fires both of them while everyone is away and even more chaos ensues.
I believe this is one piece of legislation which will receive bi-partisan support from both sides of the aisle. The Donald can not be left alone to his own devices.
18
Steve Banon must be counting his days now. He is the one Trump really wants to fire (other than Session) but now worries that might cause the conservatives to revolt, so he will keep them around to squash his flies and pore his tea for him for the time being. And by the way, the Mooch will not be in his position long. He does not know that he should not steal the lime light of his boss.
The circus in the White House is so pathetic I say let's bring in the monkeys already.
The circus in the White House is so pathetic I say let's bring in the monkeys already.
18
Trump is anything but manly. He's a paper tiger, a blowhard, all glitz and no substance. He attacks in the wee hours of the morning. He is not a front stabber like his mafia hitman, the mooch. He is a back stabber; a weak little man who hides away and rages in private while in public talks without filters, heedless of his own ignorance or inappropriateness. He stirs up trouble, likes to bully and threaten and humiliate - all characteristics of weak, insecure men. Take away his money and he's just a bizarre, reprehensible human being unworthy of public office.
25
I'm sure that behind all the lies and deceit, and mean spiritedness, is a very nice man.
1
Trump is a whiny drama queen and bully who is using the bully pulpit for petty vindictive behavior. Sad.
19
I believe the nation would heave a great sigh of relief if Bannon were released.
9
The best thing for this president is to start a Harry Truman morning walk routine. He needs to clear his head and see things more clearly.
1
If Trump respected National Security he wouldn't pull a General off HS and add the the WH Nursery..........
6
No scent under the bad air that is Trump. Just stink. All the way down.
13
Mooch mooch is doing to Trump what Mooch accused Bannon of doing to himself.
Talk about LOSERS!
Talk about LOSERS!
13
Thanks to your editorial, I'm finally seeing Trump and the Republicans for what they are. He's a queen bee and they're a swarm of attendant workers catering to his every whim. On occasion another political virgin emerges and the nasty old one, (Trump) has to kill them off.
From wiki:
"When a young virgin queen emerges from a queen cell, she will generally seek out virgin queen rivals and attempt to kill them."
At this juncture, the names, Sessions, Scarymoochy, Bannon are irrelevant. Just another worker in the hive. But, it would have been nice if they chose another hive instead of the White House. But we are stuck.
Not only that, this queen is so ineffectual not one bit of honey will be gathered for the American public.
From wiki:
"When a young virgin queen emerges from a queen cell, she will generally seek out virgin queen rivals and attempt to kill them."
At this juncture, the names, Sessions, Scarymoochy, Bannon are irrelevant. Just another worker in the hive. But, it would have been nice if they chose another hive instead of the White House. But we are stuck.
Not only that, this queen is so ineffectual not one bit of honey will be gathered for the American public.
14
A third-rate huckster from Queens who is now compromised by the Russian oligarchs. All I can add to this is The Wizard of Oz. "ignore the little man behind the curtain."
Sadly, his hateful base will not
Sadly, his hateful base will not
19
There is hope on one front. The upcoming TV series "Lies and Consequences" will be hosted by Judge Mueller starring the Trump Family & Associates.
16
Donald Trump, whose political impotence is becoming more evident with each Congressional rebuke, is now reduced to publicly humiliating his minions, to psychologically compensate for his lack of political virility. Trump added a crude political version of every cretinous, crazed mafia, Hollywood hit man, Anthony "Mooch" Scaramucci, as White House communications director, who then immediately brought political discourse into the gutter with a profane rant in the New Yorker. Trump, the first presidential vulgarian, apparently associates vulgarity and inflicting humiliation with political potency, when in fact they're the refuge of those who are incapable of political accomplishment.
21
Maureen, I wish I had 1% of your sharp wit, a well oiled scimitar left wanting, by comparison. Trump, in the midst of all his fanfare, is a petty king swimming in a sea of irrelevancy, his brutish sowing of fear, hate and division to reign, a decrepit way to hang on for his petty life, a stupid enterprise to begin with; and yet swallowed by a cadre of misinformed, and likely prejudiced, folks, who catapulted this vulgar bully to a stolen presidency. You mentioned Trump's harangue about the MS 13 gang's method of causing a slow death to their victims, so to enjoy watching their suffering...before the kill, "behaving like animals". Trump, the everlasting ignoramus (as he refuses to learn, be educated), ignores that the only animals enjoying 'torture' are humans, and only after subjecting them to untold pain, comes the firing squad. In sum, we can behave much worse than any other animal on Earth, witness our clueless, cruel, and unscrupulous 'animal-in-chief', accusing others of the same vices he is so richly endowed with. Incidentally, have you ever heard an apology from our beast in the WH, after uttering lie after lie, and insulting right and left, unprovoked, "gratis"? Didn't think so.
12
It's a lot of fun to bring to mind the hot open mic with Collins and another Republican in the last couple of weeks when they were bashing Trump and the other guy said, "I think he's crazy." Think? Is there any question still about that?
18
General Kelly's ambition is frightening. How could a person of integrity be a part of this regime? Something really draconian must be coming up in Homeland Security for Kelly to remove himself from it. Is the position going to be left empty while the department runs amok guided only by the midnight tweets of the unmedicated Great Tangerine? It seems the best we can hope for is a complete failure of his policies for the remainder of his term in office. I do not want to see him impeached because Pence is even more dangerous being that he is in command of his faculties. Just ask "Mother."
19
Nice piece, Ms. Dowd! I agree that Mr. Me, Me, Me is a worthy successor of Marquis de Sade! Otherwise, how can one explain the daily torture inflicted on subordinates who have fallen out of His Gracelessness? Presently being on a spit being roasted on hot coals is Mr. Sessions. Unfortunately for Mr. Me, the victim is resisting and enduring the punishment. Furthermore, firing Sessions is a dangerous miscalculation that will infuriate powerful politicians in the GOP.
2
Bosch's "Last Judgement" is a nice call. I would suggest Goya's "Saturn Devouring his Son" if you want to just cut to the quick.
102
This "Lord of the Flies" WH has just speared Priebus and rid itself of any shred of decency and decorum left. Now, the savagery can begin.
The insertion of any adults like Kelly parachuting in will find himself overpowered by a tribe of ravenous adult-sized adolescents the likes of Scaramucci.
They have the same survival instincts as MS-13 except they dress better, speak English better and a lot of them have more change in their pockets.
Don't let the suits and ties fool you. They're only looking out for themselves.
God save us all.
The insertion of any adults like Kelly parachuting in will find himself overpowered by a tribe of ravenous adult-sized adolescents the likes of Scaramucci.
They have the same survival instincts as MS-13 except they dress better, speak English better and a lot of them have more change in their pockets.
Don't let the suits and ties fool you. They're only looking out for themselves.
God save us all.
7
Describing the Scaramucci rant as lewd is an understatement to say the least. His interview could make a sailor blush. Profanity aside, there was something else strange about the attack. All the hostility was directed inward towards the Trump White House staff. The President and his mouthpiece have apparently given up blaming everything on outside forces.
I'm reminded of the 3 letters joke. A new executive is handed 3 letters from the outgoing boss. Each time you get into trouble, open one of these letters he says. First letter: Blame your predecessor. Second letter: Reorganize your staff. Third letter: Write 3 letters. We appear to have entered the "second letter" phase in earnest now.
I'm reminded of the 3 letters joke. A new executive is handed 3 letters from the outgoing boss. Each time you get into trouble, open one of these letters he says. First letter: Blame your predecessor. Second letter: Reorganize your staff. Third letter: Write 3 letters. We appear to have entered the "second letter" phase in earnest now.
10
So the Eye of Mordor, temporarily took its eye off Mueller/Frodo, who is on the painstaking journey for justice, long enough to be distracted with MS13? Just toss the ring Mueller and let disintegration of the most evil Administration commence.........
2
Trump playing "Co-conspirator Apprentice" with his staff of enablers is about the least damaging use of his time I can think of -- it keeps him occupied and all of the "victims" deserve what they get.
Eventually, he'll get around to firing Mueller and we'll need to take that seriously, but for now, he can't embarrass this country anymore than he already has so we might as well enjoy the show. At least until the Democrats take back the House and we can watch "Trump: The Impeachment".
Meanwhile, I hope this season's finale has Scaramucci trying out some of his "passionate colorful language" on Chief of Staff John Kelly. I suspect The Mooch would find out how difficult it is to tweet without the use of his thumbs.
Eventually, he'll get around to firing Mueller and we'll need to take that seriously, but for now, he can't embarrass this country anymore than he already has so we might as well enjoy the show. At least until the Democrats take back the House and we can watch "Trump: The Impeachment".
Meanwhile, I hope this season's finale has Scaramucci trying out some of his "passionate colorful language" on Chief of Staff John Kelly. I suspect The Mooch would find out how difficult it is to tweet without the use of his thumbs.
7
America is suffering the knife cuts from Trump himself.
His every stupid selfish action is a knife cut on the fabric of the country.
He is an orange cancer.
His every stupid selfish action is a knife cut on the fabric of the country.
He is an orange cancer.
10
Many pundits, with respect to Spicer's firing, Priebus' resignation and the demeaning of Sessions have commented: With President Trump, loyalty is a one-way street.
Shouldn't it be: With President Trump, loyalty is a U-turn?
Shouldn't it be: With President Trump, loyalty is a U-turn?
49
Trump, Like all bullies and cowards, get others to do their dirty work. He's too cowardly to actually look someone in the eye and fire him/her.
4
Those cops lined up like lemmings, doing his bidding. Don't they have minds of their own? Can't they see they're being played for suckers. Trump has no sincere thought for them. It's his show. They are props.
11
Now that Trump stands naked before us, obsessively thumbing his I phone to as Captain Queeg rubbed his strawberries amidst the typhoon that threatened the USS Caine, his raging paranoia casting aspersions at the officers in the flooded deck. Soon the WH crew will mutiny as Captain Donny is furthered exposed as a weak, whimpering phony. It won't take long for the Republicans to send the message to Pence that it's time to invoke the 25th amendment. They'll try to act like heroes and save the party, but they didn't care enough about the country to keep the vile, vulgar victor of the primaries from taking command of the ship of fools.
5
The low point in the Trump presidency so far is that disturbing Boy Scout speech. You can't get any lower that infecting ambitious youth vitriol and hatred. Couple that with The Mooch's vulgar rant and I think many dyed-in-the-wool supporters, with any sense of decency, may turn away from Trump -- finally. After this week watch his approval ratings drop even further.
Trump advocating for police brutality certainly doesn't help his prospects. During that speech I watched officers behind Trump grimace, keep a straight face, cringe. And He though he was being funny for them. Sorry Donald your not funny. You are disrespectful.
It's like SNL's Drunk Uncle has taken over the White House. Except that character is drunk. Trump doesn't drink. He is just straight-up sober unhinged. What's his excuse?
Trump advocating for police brutality certainly doesn't help his prospects. During that speech I watched officers behind Trump grimace, keep a straight face, cringe. And He though he was being funny for them. Sorry Donald your not funny. You are disrespectful.
It's like SNL's Drunk Uncle has taken over the White House. Except that character is drunk. Trump doesn't drink. He is just straight-up sober unhinged. What's his excuse?
13
The problem is many of Trump's dyed in the wool supporters have no sense of decency. Ask them, they'll tell you none of this matters to them. They wear this loathsome trait as a badge of honor, in no small part because folks like you and I are appalled.
12
The mortified leader of the Boy Scouts had to apologize for the president’s suggestive and partisan speech.
yes, why is that? shouldn't the president apologize? oh, I forgot, he is emporer and doesn't need to. he is the emporer with no clothes.
yes, why is that? shouldn't the president apologize? oh, I forgot, he is emporer and doesn't need to. he is the emporer with no clothes.
9
"Trump is trapped in a caricature of masculinity that corrodes his judgment."
that said, looks like the media-nite tribes have decided that his condition somehow deserves ridicule and invective rather than therapeutic intervention.
alas, whether in praise or assault, whether promoting joe mccarthy or punishing trump the media constant seems to be singularity, point adopted and pursued uncritically.
no trump voter here, but one of the voices suggesting a behavioral disorder when djt was still driving the clown car (a ratings bonanza for mikajoe, the punditry and, of course, the kremlin).
mccarthy, btw, destroyed more lives than trump has so far, though trump's potential still threatens even as mccarthy's influence still provides the template for character assassination.
the ms-13/white house comparison is an awkward reach, past humor, the episodes of turmoil at the NYT (and their glosses) are the more likely model, the same for most of the infighting that goes on, replete with scaramuccisms, though less publicly proclaimed, in most corporate and government offices.
anyone whose been anywhere knows about the language the ill will and the "wanton-boy" behavior wherever there is power and authority.
so..stop beating an effigy, it'll fall faster of its own weight, and get busy for '18...why not each one try a leonhardt-style "grapple"?... fix on something important, learn and report, say, drafting a comprehensive health care plan instead of just pressing gripes?
that said, looks like the media-nite tribes have decided that his condition somehow deserves ridicule and invective rather than therapeutic intervention.
alas, whether in praise or assault, whether promoting joe mccarthy or punishing trump the media constant seems to be singularity, point adopted and pursued uncritically.
no trump voter here, but one of the voices suggesting a behavioral disorder when djt was still driving the clown car (a ratings bonanza for mikajoe, the punditry and, of course, the kremlin).
mccarthy, btw, destroyed more lives than trump has so far, though trump's potential still threatens even as mccarthy's influence still provides the template for character assassination.
the ms-13/white house comparison is an awkward reach, past humor, the episodes of turmoil at the NYT (and their glosses) are the more likely model, the same for most of the infighting that goes on, replete with scaramuccisms, though less publicly proclaimed, in most corporate and government offices.
anyone whose been anywhere knows about the language the ill will and the "wanton-boy" behavior wherever there is power and authority.
so..stop beating an effigy, it'll fall faster of its own weight, and get busy for '18...why not each one try a leonhardt-style "grapple"?... fix on something important, learn and report, say, drafting a comprehensive health care plan instead of just pressing gripes?
2
It will get worse before it gets better, But sadder than Trump and his intenseley horrible example or decency are the people who continue to support him even as he does nothing for them except rant about what they want to hear. It's this group and the pact with the devil congress. Evil does not exist in a vacuum. No one will win in this. Trump will be brought down and those that believe him will be just as angry that others don't want a lying, hysterical failure in the White House.
7
Still, 100 million on viagra, gotta mean something?
6
I don't have a single atom of pity for Priebus, Sessions, or anyone at all currently being "tortured" by Trump (aside, of course, from those of us who didn't vote for him--I pity us a lot). Anyone who ever voluntarily agreed to associate in any way with this utter abomination of a person Trump deserves to be mentally tortured. I hope Priebus was made miserable by his entire experience, and I hope Sessions is too. Serves them bloody well right. How dare they enable this appalling creep and utter wreck of a human being, and to encourage him as president of the United States!? If I had my way, I would put all of the republicans--voters and politicians--on an island somewhere. They would deserve each other, and could all torture each other into catatonic stupors. And then in the meantime the rest of us could get on with civilization.
22
Trump promised his followers that he would "drain the swamp", but he's doing it by making it overflow its boundaries, because he is at root a swamp creature, needing the muck, and entanglements to hide his intentions. He is no "shining knight" as his supporters believe, but a scaly dragon who would think nothing of consuming them in his voracious quest for MORE.
The good news is that the way to slay a dragon is to stop believing in him.
The good news is that the way to slay a dragon is to stop believing in him.
3
For me, the speech to the Boy Scouts of America was the most appalling thing I've ever seen a president do. His preening gestures as he flailed away at the usual suspects, with the secretary of Energy (oops, I forgot his name) sniggering in the background like a junior high school toady, was sickening. And I don't blame the kids for cheering. When you see the head of your troop applauding something the president is saying, you're likely to follow suit. I think it's the most despicable thing the man has done, but hey, we're only six months in.
15
His real Abel is Kelly.
It's clear what the Mini-Mooch is up to. Watch the subway walls for posters announcing a battle that will make Paquiao vs. Mayweather look like croquet with foam mallets: The General vs. The Twerp from Tribeca!
Fox and the supermarket tabloids will call the stodgy General from Boston all medals and no muscle. More genteel media will note that The Twerp can be a bit strident, and, what's worse, he splits infinitives.
The General may last the full twelve rounds, but by 2020 he'll wish he'd stayed in Iraq. The Twerp will be the GOP canidate for president in 2024.
It's clear what the Mini-Mooch is up to. Watch the subway walls for posters announcing a battle that will make Paquiao vs. Mayweather look like croquet with foam mallets: The General vs. The Twerp from Tribeca!
Fox and the supermarket tabloids will call the stodgy General from Boston all medals and no muscle. More genteel media will note that The Twerp can be a bit strident, and, what's worse, he splits infinitives.
The General may last the full twelve rounds, but by 2020 he'll wish he'd stayed in Iraq. The Twerp will be the GOP canidate for president in 2024.
Trump fulfilled everything Ms. Clinton warned about. He is doing what he always did. No surprise here. Don't fake surprise. You endorsed this behaviour. You own him. Don't pretend to be disappointed. He is a hateful character good for people with no morals. Making money out of him?..
5
What Ms. Pierson really meant was, we have to get used to the gutter and sewer. We have to throw away all the civility we've learned as a nation and as a species. Well, Ms. Pierson you can prostitute yourself among the vulgar low-lives, I choose not getting used to that environment.
Nor do I choose to get used to you.
Nor do I choose to get used to you.
5
I'll tell you what could be weaker than that - encouraging police brutality. Even law enforcement officials knew that was a dud (you don't say it out loud, for Heaven's sake!), and they, too, apologized for the president.
How many people have to apologize for this man before Congress gets it? They will get nothing done with this guy in charge, and he will bring down the country. He's already done so much to diminish us in the eyes of the rest of the world. He's a bully with a phone and a big mouth and a little brain. A bloated bag of hot air.
How many people have to apologize for this man before Congress gets it? They will get nothing done with this guy in charge, and he will bring down the country. He's already done so much to diminish us in the eyes of the rest of the world. He's a bully with a phone and a big mouth and a little brain. A bloated bag of hot air.
9
The fly in the Oval Office that Dowd referred to in this well-written, thoughtful and insightful opinion piece, was merely doing what's in fly DNA - hanging around dung
9
"and for not understanding that Trump is not a mere Republican". Mark my word, it won't be long before Republicans abandon Mr. Trump. As soon as something definitive turns up, even his base will jump ship and begin controlling the narrative. Before Democrats have a chance to say "I told you so", they will shout that he was never a true republican. They will play the righteous victims of another NY liberal. Once again, Democrats will be left holding the bag and a sad sign reading "a brand new deal". By then, everyone will be tired of the word "deal". Democrats need to grab the narrative now and claim our moral authority! Please!!!
9
He's a homophobic supporter of police brutality, along with being a coward and bully. The great draft dodger (bone spur he can't remember which foot it was on) is assailing part of the gay community serving in our armed forces. He put a guy on the bench whose social views are a little to the right of Attila the Hun. His idea of better health coverage is NO coverage. I remember his telling the crowd during the campaign to hit a protestor and he would pay their legal fees. Why didn't the FAT one hit him himself? Simple answer. He's a coward. Besides his offensive comments of how he can get away with grabbing women by their personal parts, he thought that women who got abortions should be locked up. Now we have this fool in charge as North Korea is behaving badly in the worse sense. Heaven help us if the FAT one has to make a decision that could have world wide catastrophic effects. Not only does he not want to save the planet, dropping us out of the Paris Accords, he may well heat it up beyond our imaginations? How crazy must he behave before we can do something?
9
Wait till we see his financials... how nobody but Russians would lend him money, how his great successful business is a sham, how he is a crook and money launderer... then his true weakness exposed will cut him to the core. This guy deserves at least the level of humiliation he has perpetrated on others. How disgraceful. And those who still support him, equally shameful.
16
Where did the self proclaimed great negotiator disappear to. Demands and threats of anger hardly have anything to do with negotiation. I think by now we have all figured out that Trump is only concerned with winning. Proof positive, his demands that McConnell change legislation approval to a simple majority. They could be voting to burn the house down and all that would matter is that they win be it good or bad. How many changes will this moron have to make before he finally figures out that he is the crux of the problem. No matter the revolving door of servants, he is and will still be bound to due process. Thank god for that.
Lets hope he never has what he considers a good week because it will surely be a bad week for everyone else.
Lets hope he never has what he considers a good week because it will surely be a bad week for everyone else.
101
When are we going to be done with this weak, sham president? He's as pathetic as he is corrupt.
7
Hurricane Donald has arrived at last. He was just testing the waters when he first took office. Now that he knows, inside swirling clouds of rainy anger, what he wants, he turns his tempestuous eyes to the science of revving up the waves of his self created storm. And who does he go after: the people who he needs most to accomplish his "agenda".
Of course when a real hurricane comes ashore, due to his neglect in filling important positions in the cabinet, there will be no damage control or clean up. The area affected will be left with fish out of water, downed power lines, and no help. Not to worry, Donald, Jared, or Ivanka will stroll by and point out which part of the disaster is the Democrats fault, pack up and leave. But the GOP will tell him, just as W told Brownie, "Heckuva job" and they'll mean it because they wouldn't have expected anything from the Trump Dynasty except another useless Tweet.
Of course when a real hurricane comes ashore, due to his neglect in filling important positions in the cabinet, there will be no damage control or clean up. The area affected will be left with fish out of water, downed power lines, and no help. Not to worry, Donald, Jared, or Ivanka will stroll by and point out which part of the disaster is the Democrats fault, pack up and leave. But the GOP will tell him, just as W told Brownie, "Heckuva job" and they'll mean it because they wouldn't have expected anything from the Trump Dynasty except another useless Tweet.
6
Twisting bloated in the wind
Is this man at a loss for the meaning of friend
But he's got it all and he doesn't lose
And all around him regard their shoes
So who now will come to cut him down?
(And I speak not of some treasonous act)
But whom among us his conscience still his own
Will put an end to the torture of this man blown
I beg my countrymen and women
Kick harder now to keep on swimming
Our heads held high above the water
Our hearts unreduced to cannon fodder
This man we can and will survive
And once again may even thrive
But before and now we must pull together
And find our courage, our spine, whatever
For now comes the time to cut him down
We hold much more of value than this one clown
The lives of our children will be better
If we cut him down now, much sooner than later
Is this man at a loss for the meaning of friend
But he's got it all and he doesn't lose
And all around him regard their shoes
So who now will come to cut him down?
(And I speak not of some treasonous act)
But whom among us his conscience still his own
Will put an end to the torture of this man blown
I beg my countrymen and women
Kick harder now to keep on swimming
Our heads held high above the water
Our hearts unreduced to cannon fodder
This man we can and will survive
And once again may even thrive
But before and now we must pull together
And find our courage, our spine, whatever
For now comes the time to cut him down
We hold much more of value than this one clown
The lives of our children will be better
If we cut him down now, much sooner than later
7
The REAL Heroines are 2 GOP senators Lisa Murcowski and Susan Collins who paved the way for dead man walking McCain to save the other viscous cowards who are afraid of the bloviated bully tweeting in the Whitehouse.
He's got nothing to lose but his dignity.
Still this doesn't take away the powerful last word to the bloviated bully. McCains late night thumbs down was a loud responce..."NOW who is the captured NON hero,? LOSER".
He's got nothing to lose but his dignity.
Still this doesn't take away the powerful last word to the bloviated bully. McCains late night thumbs down was a loud responce..."NOW who is the captured NON hero,? LOSER".
11
Keep calling him weak and ineffectual; he hates those appellations more than anything. It will make him even crazier than he already is.
And while one commenter wants less publicity of his 6 AM Tweets, I say, "Keep 'em coming." The public needs to be constantly reminded that a maniacal idiot sits in the White House.
All of this daily dysfunction used to make me anxious; now it just makes me very very angry.
And while one commenter wants less publicity of his 6 AM Tweets, I say, "Keep 'em coming." The public needs to be constantly reminded that a maniacal idiot sits in the White House.
All of this daily dysfunction used to make me anxious; now it just makes me very very angry.
16
"The man's undone forever; for if Hector breaks not his neck in combat, he'll break it himself in vain glory."
Shakespeare's, Troilus and Cressida
Shakespeare's, Troilus and Cressida
6
This whole thing is identical to old Rome where two fighters, one with a hammer and the other with a razor blade had to fight each other and when close to the end the King would just turn his thumb either up or down.
This country is further south than 2000 years BC.
This country is further south than 2000 years BC.
5
Why do Senators Murkowski and Collins remain in the Republican Party or continue to caucus with them? The Republican Party is everything their careers have been dedicated to fight, at least regarding women's rights and dignity.
Why do they remain in a party that treats them and their principles so shabbily (and often so viciously) while the other party strives to uphold and further those principles?
Why do they remain in a party that treats them and their principles so shabbily (and often so viciously) while the other party strives to uphold and further those principles?
6
Where are the comments in these posts that come from North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma? We New York Times readers seem to use this section as a cathartic platform for our anti Trump analyzes as an exercise of our freedom of speech. The feelings and opinions of many of our fellow citizens are reinforced by the likes of Fox News, right-wing radio, and even conspiracy theories of their own leader. How can this bridge ever be mended to save the democracy of this country while preserving the foundation of the freedom of speech?
12
We need to move beyond complaining about Trump. What is to be done : A strong opposition figure would be beneficial. Turning the Housr and Senate over in 2020 would be great. The Dems must move beyond being anti - Trump, though. They need a strong pro worker, pro infrastructure program, pro single payer, pro peace platform . This could win in 2020.
21
The West Wing dysfunction of this White House shouldn't surprise anybody. Ridden with mange and fleas, this sick canine of an administration no longer has bark or bite.
Captain Hook has made Michael Flynn, Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus walk the plank. As yet, Jeff Session has balked, stubbornly refusing to allow his captain the pleasure of a plea for clemency. The tormentor-in-chief shows just how weak he really is when people stand up to him. Like the malevolent Queen of Hearts, he can yell "off with their heads" but they leave him with their dignity intact.
Captain Hook has made Michael Flynn, Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus walk the plank. As yet, Jeff Session has balked, stubbornly refusing to allow his captain the pleasure of a plea for clemency. The tormentor-in-chief shows just how weak he really is when people stand up to him. Like the malevolent Queen of Hearts, he can yell "off with their heads" but they leave him with their dignity intact.
4
This is all just preamble with these firings and rants on twitter.
The true showdown is going on behind the scenes with what Mueller is coming up with, and whether the President is going to direct people to fire him. Of course, will anyone stand up to him in that moment to say no ?
Health care repeal has failed, which means 2 pegs of the three legged stool of SCOTUS picks, repeal and tax cuts, has been pulled out from under him. Tax cuts cannot go forward, unless republicans are just going to put it on the country's credit card ( YOU the taxpayer's card )
We may not have to wait the 3 1\2 years before saying ; '' You're fired ! ''
The true showdown is going on behind the scenes with what Mueller is coming up with, and whether the President is going to direct people to fire him. Of course, will anyone stand up to him in that moment to say no ?
Health care repeal has failed, which means 2 pegs of the three legged stool of SCOTUS picks, repeal and tax cuts, has been pulled out from under him. Tax cuts cannot go forward, unless republicans are just going to put it on the country's credit card ( YOU the taxpayer's card )
We may not have to wait the 3 1\2 years before saying ; '' You're fired ! ''
9
Underneath that blond shag of a head, too long tie and clenched jaw, is a terribly insecure schoolboy who mocks and berates the his White House team. It is his only way to feel superior - act tough, demean others, criticize when he doesn't have a clue. This dystopian air of believing and acting on 'who's going to do me wrong,' outside of his flesh and blood knows no bounds. Curiously his family has also born the brunt of his ragefulness.
I will never forget reading during the campaign, one of DJTjr's roommates from college wrote on FB when DJT visited - "Don Jr. opened the door, wearing a Yankee jersey. Without saying a word, his father slapped him across the face, knocking him to the floor in front of all of his classmates. He simply said "put on a suit and meet me outside," and closed the door."
The nation is mocking him now for his ultimate weaknesses and lack of control. When he has the Boy Scouts of America needing to apologize for his behavior, we have already gone beyond reasonable doubt as to his stability.
I will never forget reading during the campaign, one of DJTjr's roommates from college wrote on FB when DJT visited - "Don Jr. opened the door, wearing a Yankee jersey. Without saying a word, his father slapped him across the face, knocking him to the floor in front of all of his classmates. He simply said "put on a suit and meet me outside," and closed the door."
The nation is mocking him now for his ultimate weaknesses and lack of control. When he has the Boy Scouts of America needing to apologize for his behavior, we have already gone beyond reasonable doubt as to his stability.
22
President Trump is a total failure in all,aspects of his Presidency in his first six and half months. Yet he goes out there and brags being the second great one after Abe Lincoln.
Who is he fooling ?
Failed health care bill which he was going to get done in a snap . Who are he fooling again ?
No one.
Priebus just learned the biggest lesson in life , he got back what he was spewing all these years. No,one shed a single drop of tear for him and I hope Bannon is next in line.
Session is a totally different story, Trump is afraid to fire him so he instead publicly humiliating him.
This President has no respect for Humanity.
Who is he fooling ?
Failed health care bill which he was going to get done in a snap . Who are he fooling again ?
No one.
Priebus just learned the biggest lesson in life , he got back what he was spewing all these years. No,one shed a single drop of tear for him and I hope Bannon is next in line.
Session is a totally different story, Trump is afraid to fire him so he instead publicly humiliating him.
This President has no respect for Humanity.
8
Trump is a complete and utter failure; a scar on this nation.
When can America roll this Rasputin figure up in a rug an throw him into the Potomac ? Figuratively, of course. Unless Mueller comes back with proof - then quite literally.
When can America roll this Rasputin figure up in a rug an throw him into the Potomac ? Figuratively, of course. Unless Mueller comes back with proof - then quite literally.
10
A coward, especially a weak coward, is a bad place to park a military and nuclear weapons. As North Korea regularly makes a blowhard of Trump with its advancing missile program, we have to hope that he doesn't try to prove his manhood.
5
Trump should resign because he is a disgrace to all men and women of this country and the world. What a role model for young kids. His speeches, tweets, should be rated pg5
6
It's very easy to fall into the swamp of overthinking Trump and his antics. He is unfit for the job in just about every relevant dimension and has succeeded in making himself pretty close to irrelevant and there ares till 3.5 years to go....With all of his peculiarities, characteristics, penchants and other assorted weirdness es I just wonder how Melania can stand to be in the same room with the guy....Must be torture.
8
So, I'm frustrated....as much with myself as with the columnists (most of whom I love), because we all rail and rant, and to quote a favorite Shakespeare line 'told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing', and we DO nothing. I feel like I am living in Crazytown and don't know how to contribute to making the country sane again.
3
We must now turn to Hillary & Bill to save the USA.
2
Oh nononono. Please noooo. Go forward, not backward.
4
That is a joke, I hope. Exactly how will Hillary and Bill accomplish that feat? They have collectively done more damage to the USA than Trump has. Trump hasn't even been able to pass any major legislation, but under Hill and Bill we got NAFTA, repeal of Glass-Seagall, no health reform, stealing from the White House, making millions by sucking up to the rich guys after Bill's term, etc., etc. If you had named Obama as our potential savior, it would be more credible. Unfortunately no one can save us.
I think it high time responsible media stop being respectful of the president and his effluent distribution channels. He is debasing the presidency and anyone who supports him is neither worthy of respect nor treated as credible. Simply because 'he's the President' is not good enough anymore. Stand up for the Presidency and the Constitution by turning your back on this administration.
14
Thank goodness our country is already doing better than during the reign of the speech maker, who didn't have the respect of strong leaders. Blah, blah, blah, blah
And Trump had Ron Zinke threaten Murkoski by promising to do his job and protect the national forests from oil drilling! What an backwards administration we have here.
5
While I agree with Dowd's substantive comments about Trump's misdeeds and mistakes - he is truly a disaster - I am sad (Sad!) that she has framed his actions in terms of weakness. As another reader has commented, we should be so lucky as to have his weakness continue for another 3 1/2 years! Hopefully such taunts are not like red scarves to a bull, which could further enrage and encourage this petty, immature and ultimately extremely dangerous man.
4
so he's had a bad week: what of it? images from high school math come to mind, those hyperbolic curves endlessly approaching some fatal line yet never quite making contact. the trump presidency gets worse and worse, yet some strange law says nothing can or will ever happen, the end will never come. senator graham promises "there will be hell to pay," but since when has trump paid for anything?
8
There is no new low this guy won't stoop to:
Trump: "Don't be too nice."
--Creeping authoritarianism...Taunts China and North Korea....Big divide between Trump and legislators....Civil war in White House....Malevolent vulgar vendetta from new appointee....
Gay rights opponent brought into administration...Very odd adult speech given to actual kids...Trump threatens senators opposing health bill will have "a lot of problems." .....Trump's MS-13 speech advocates violence & police brutality.....Trump threatens Americans health insurance....
...."We will immediately repeal and replace Obamacare--nobody can do that like me." ..."Obama wants to change the name of the 'White House' because it is highly discriminating."....."How the hell did he get into Columbia and Harvard?"
We've had enough Mr. Trump. You are out of line.
Trump: "Don't be too nice."
--Creeping authoritarianism...Taunts China and North Korea....Big divide between Trump and legislators....Civil war in White House....Malevolent vulgar vendetta from new appointee....
Gay rights opponent brought into administration...Very odd adult speech given to actual kids...Trump threatens senators opposing health bill will have "a lot of problems." .....Trump's MS-13 speech advocates violence & police brutality.....Trump threatens Americans health insurance....
...."We will immediately repeal and replace Obamacare--nobody can do that like me." ..."Obama wants to change the name of the 'White House' because it is highly discriminating."....."How the hell did he get into Columbia and Harvard?"
We've had enough Mr. Trump. You are out of line.
5
I suspect that anyone with a healthy ego would find it quite impossible to relate, understand, or feel the sheer volume of tortured thought that must greet Trump on a daily basis. His pathologized ego must swarm him with out-sized demands with each passing minute. But never mind; his political underlings in the White House and beyond to the American people and beyond to the people of the world be damned. Are we all relegated to victimhood here? Must all the healthy and loving people of the world go down with the ship, as the affliction between Trump's ears continues to feast off of him?
Invoke the 25th and get your president the help he needs. While I can comiscerate with his suffering, I would strongly suggest that you quickly find some way to prevent his affliction from further afflicting the rest of us.
Invoke the 25th and get your president the help he needs. While I can comiscerate with his suffering, I would strongly suggest that you quickly find some way to prevent his affliction from further afflicting the rest of us.
6
I had hoped that once the 2016 campaign and the election were over, I would never again have to listen to those ugly words coming out of Donald Trump's mouth in that ugly voice. I was wrong, not only about what I would be enduring for the next interminable years, but about just how ugly those words would be. His ongoing infatuation with himself is irrefutable evidence of how unfit he is to occupy the Oval Office. Even someone as ignorant of history and government and politics as Trump is would balk at hiring anyone for an important position in his cabinet or on his staff who possessed Trump's own total lack of credentials for the job. Every time he speaks in public or picks up his cell phone or attends a meeting with world leaders, I cringe -- no, I shudder because I am terrified that he will impulsively plunge our country into an abyss from which we cannot extricate ourselves. He deliberately humiliates and embarrasses those who fail to show him sufficient subservience; he spontaneously embarrasses this country with every breath he takes. He is despicable.
31
L. Smith.
It's spiraling down in a negative feedback loop. It's not getting better. What Trump has on these people that evokes such fear on their part we know not, but one must think that at some point one of them, on the record, will hit back, revealing just how bad it really is. We are not seeing or hearing the worst, though the Mooch is giving us a preview.
It's spiraling down in a negative feedback loop. It's not getting better. What Trump has on these people that evokes such fear on their part we know not, but one must think that at some point one of them, on the record, will hit back, revealing just how bad it really is. We are not seeing or hearing the worst, though the Mooch is giving us a preview.
3
Sadly, we ain't seen nothin yet. Each week brings more shocking and embarrassing behavior. Just wait. Wait for more explosive, inappropriate tweets, more resignations, more firings, more international incidents, more demeaning of our nation's stature in the world. Just wait.
Wait for Mueller's investigation to inevitably go public...
Perhaps then, the wait will be over.
Wait for Mueller's investigation to inevitably go public...
Perhaps then, the wait will be over.
14
If Mueller's investigation reveals incriminating evidence, the Trump jetliner will probably already be en route to Moscow or Minsk full of US treasury gold ingots and the Trump tribe, too. The man has zero decency, zero respect for the rule of law.
3
Yes, Trump is weak, weak, weak. And I've seen his demise predicted a thousand times. And guess what?... He keeps coming back.
4
Ultimately Trump will go down because he instills zero respect for himself in the people that he needs on his side in order to effectively govern. When Trump is dead and gone and people mention his name in conversation, it will be accompanied by a spit on the ground.
3
Speaking of weak, the best line I heard this week was made during the Fri p.m. PBS newshour when Shields commented that the highest level of testosterone shown by people during the Senate vote on the ACA were named Lisa & Susan.
25
Loved it!
5
I once thought W, with his Iraq debacle, was the bottom of the barrel. To go any lower than tRump, you would need Ted Nugent running for POTUS.
11
Now we find out the reason why Maureen Dowd coddled Donald Trump and demonized Hillary Clinton during last year's election.
So that she can phone in columns like this.
Because, a Hillary Clinton administration would have been much too boring and required actual reporting to dig up any real news to comment about.
Instead, Maurren Dowd supported Trump for his predictability and entertainment value, since anyone who paid the least bit of attention to Donald Trump's career would have easily seen this dysfunctional behavior from Trump is nothing new.
So that she can phone in columns like this.
Because, a Hillary Clinton administration would have been much too boring and required actual reporting to dig up any real news to comment about.
Instead, Maurren Dowd supported Trump for his predictability and entertainment value, since anyone who paid the least bit of attention to Donald Trump's career would have easily seen this dysfunctional behavior from Trump is nothing new.
7
Really weak week? Oh come on, Mo, there is no bottom where Trump is concerned. The Incompetent One is like those diners that have the bottomless cup of coffee. And anyone who still adores Trump thinks it's not going to get worse is completely deluded. Trump is the worse president there ever was, worse president there ever will be. If the United States can survive this, good news, the only way is "UP".
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
6
We have the press badgering Trump with epithets of "he's weak." At the same time we have another megalomaniac, Kim Jong Un, bragging that North Korea now has the nuclear capability to attack the U.S. mainland by surprise. I don't think right now is a great time - do you? - to be senselessly challenging the fortitude, no matter how fitting, of a commander in chief who has already bragged of "doing something significant" to put an end to the North Korea threat.
4
When, Michael Dunn, did you start "senselessly challenging the fortitude..." of your commander in chief? Whe do you think it would be "a great time" to start containing that commander in chief?
4
Maureen Dowd hasn't had a good day since Reagan left office.
2
What does your brother Kevin say now, Ms. Dowd?
5
I wonder if you'll address the Debbie Wasserman Schultz/Awan family scandal or ignore it because it doesn't fit your establishment/cocktail party/summer in the Hamptons narrative?
"coup de graceless." Laughing - Yes, perfect - thanks, I needed that. I'd say that pretty much covers the whole Trump phenomenon, come to think of it.
3
As an American, and like the majority in the middle looking for better leadership, I can say comfortably that trump is simply a different twist on what he calls the swamp.
He is every bit as politically corrupted as any on the Hill.
It's just that he is more about him than a party.
If he was for America, he wouldn't be behaving as he has.
Unfortunately, he is incapable of true leadership...just like schumer, pelosi, McConnell....
He is every bit as politically corrupted as any on the Hill.
It's just that he is more about him than a party.
If he was for America, he wouldn't be behaving as he has.
Unfortunately, he is incapable of true leadership...just like schumer, pelosi, McConnell....
3
The United States political system attracts the most craven and mediocre specimens of humanity, all in cahoots with the military-financial complex which feeds them.
3
And saved France.
Before you opine on our or any government, know your facts.
The military complex doesn't feed all of our government or certainly our people.
And when it comes to governments, yours (and all) seem lacking these days.
We people need to do a better job of holding them all accountable.
Before you opine on our or any government, know your facts.
The military complex doesn't feed all of our government or certainly our people.
And when it comes to governments, yours (and all) seem lacking these days.
We people need to do a better job of holding them all accountable.
1
Ms Dowd's columns featuring George W were so acid I cringed when I read them but they were the first thing I looked at when opening the paper.
She has hit her stride again with Trumpy. Hopefully there is so much good material that this one won't be the best.
She has hit her stride again with Trumpy. Hopefully there is so much good material that this one won't be the best.
1
Just when you think that Trump could not possibly get worse, he lowers the bar again. He is the embodiment of every negative adjective one can think of: crude, selfish, dense, petty, vindictive, impulsive, undisciplined, lazy, dishonest, amoral, and so much more. The only way he should have been in the White House is on a tour. Everything in this column was evident throughout the campaign last year, as early as the GOP primary race. It is not a surprise now that Trump is president. Why did you not write about Trump like this then instead of concentrating negatively on Clinton?
7
Everything that Trump says is transparent, from every loony tweet, to every outrageous lie and accusation. You simply have to apply the accusation to him. He is a pathological narcissist, so every crime and piece of viciousness he 'imagines' tracks back to him and his actions as well as plans. He is in a state of perpetual externalized confession.
7
Well his supporters are still waiting to get tired of winning!! All they are getting is a lot of whining.
4
Trump's public support for police violence is his most deeply creepy and dangerous action so far.
Encouraging police brutality is an evil abuse of power.
Some of us remember his vile dogwhistle rants against he so called Central Park Five published in a brace of NTC papers.
Encouraging police brutality is an evil abuse of power.
Some of us remember his vile dogwhistle rants against he so called Central Park Five published in a brace of NTC papers.
11
On the positive side, Hillary still not president - and never will be.
That makes up for everything and more.
MAGA!
That makes up for everything and more.
MAGA!
1
Mo, let's not forget YOUR role in promoting this shambles of a presidency. Do you remember what you wrote about Clinton? We do. Do you remember how efficiently (and obsessively) you attacked her every move, word, clothing choice? We do. Do you remember how gleefully you wielded your snarky repertoire of insults - so clever, so fun! - week after week? We do. Do you remember your fawning, I'm-an-insider "interview" with the Donald? We do. We cannot un-read all your previous commentary, and you cannot divest yourself of it without penalty. And the penalty is this: you have shown yourself to be little more than an opportunistic lightweight who is entertaining but, as the French say, "pas tres serieux". You are a salty snack; tasty, crunchy, but insubstantial, not even vaguely nutritious, and easily forgotten. You know, like Cheetos.
15
What I would like to know is, Ms. Dowd, how does your brother, who--you told your readers-- was so deliriously happy for Ms. Clinton's defeat and Mr. Trump's victory -- feel now?
2
"Because he can." The punch line in a joke about dogs. Trump does a lot of things "because he can," and also because the current Republican presence in Washington allows him to. If Trump were to do in public what dogs can do, would they overlook that, too?
1
I have a question. If you look at all 50 States, i wonder which ones have the most citizens on Government benefits, i mean all the ones the Republican are dead set on cutting. The Answer is : The Trump States...and by a wide margin. Ponderous.
6
I recently saw a video by the comedian DL Hugley that had the most brilliant explanation of Trump supporters I have ever seen read or heard.
He used the biblical story of two women prostitutes who lived in the same house and had babies at about the same time. During the night as they slept with their infants, one died. Before dawn that mother swapped the dead one with the live one.
In the morning light the switch was discovered. The woman with the dead baby lied and claimed the live one as hers. The dispute was brought before Soloman. When both claimed the live baby he ordered it to be cut in half. The liar said fine if I can't have it no one can. The real mother broke down and begged that the child be spared so that it could have life even if not with her.
The liar's position was that if her baby was dead, then every one else should feel her pain of death.
For Trump's supporters their America has died. A black President, minorities in the majority, foreigners, gays marrying and gun control is not their America. If they can't have their America, let the whole thing die. Their white apartheid society is gone; killed by Medicaid, Obamacare, the weak and non Christians.
I can find no better explanation for supporting the debasement of the American Presidency by this morally and mentally unfit occupant of the Oval Office, and the repugnant destruction of our Democratic norms.
He used the biblical story of two women prostitutes who lived in the same house and had babies at about the same time. During the night as they slept with their infants, one died. Before dawn that mother swapped the dead one with the live one.
In the morning light the switch was discovered. The woman with the dead baby lied and claimed the live one as hers. The dispute was brought before Soloman. When both claimed the live baby he ordered it to be cut in half. The liar said fine if I can't have it no one can. The real mother broke down and begged that the child be spared so that it could have life even if not with her.
The liar's position was that if her baby was dead, then every one else should feel her pain of death.
For Trump's supporters their America has died. A black President, minorities in the majority, foreigners, gays marrying and gun control is not their America. If they can't have their America, let the whole thing die. Their white apartheid society is gone; killed by Medicaid, Obamacare, the weak and non Christians.
I can find no better explanation for supporting the debasement of the American Presidency by this morally and mentally unfit occupant of the Oval Office, and the repugnant destruction of our Democratic norms.
11
Maureen has mastered the ability to overcome brute force with her satire, she is a brightness that illuminates the darkness.
2
Here's something to consider: If Trump is booted will he still draw the 400K/yr pension due an ex-pres? Plus the Secret Service detail for him and his spawn for the rest of their miserable lives? The cost of that will make the bottom line of his weekly retreats to FL seem like chump change.
2
cLOSER.
2
Ha! You're no Peggy Noonan! She pegged the con much better in her WSJ op-ed; you ought to read it, Mo. Ha.
4
Come on don jon. Get out of the way! Ranting about the need to end fillibusters in a 50 person majority votee only highlights what an ignorant fool you are.
The one Grand old Party has spun wheels for a decade trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, rather than improving it. ACA passage allowed the US to enter the civilized world- the last country of stature to do so.
ALL agreed thet the torsored passage of the ACA meant that atention must focused on its improvement. Instead hapless GOPers have wasted a decade in replace and repeal. Their replacement models have been a travesty
NOW, key Republicans have joined to defeat Trumpy efforts to repeal.
WHEN will we move on????
CORRECT THE ACA! No more fruitless repeal games! In return, we'll stop calling it Obamacare.
The one Grand old Party has spun wheels for a decade trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, rather than improving it. ACA passage allowed the US to enter the civilized world- the last country of stature to do so.
ALL agreed thet the torsored passage of the ACA meant that atention must focused on its improvement. Instead hapless GOPers have wasted a decade in replace and repeal. Their replacement models have been a travesty
NOW, key Republicans have joined to defeat Trumpy efforts to repeal.
WHEN will we move on????
CORRECT THE ACA! No more fruitless repeal games! In return, we'll stop calling it Obamacare.
1
President Trump had a bad week because he cannot be a leader and is a hollow vessel of ego and greed. He only acts when he is personally threatened or benefits. He loves the powers of the Presidency and just wishes people would leave him and his family alone to grift as much money as they can. He loves the attention the Presidency brings him and just wishes people would stop saying bad things. More people watch him bully and belittle which is great but they complain about it.
The whole 'President' thing was fun while campaigning and he does enjoy all the pomp but people want him to formulate, understand and promote a policy like health care. But is's SO HARD!! and Trump just refuses to do the work. If someone else can't do it, he'll find someone new to do his job. It's fun firing people.
And America had better keep its grubby little eyes and hands away from HIS MONEY. He worked really hard to get all that money from the Russians.
The whole 'President' thing was fun while campaigning and he does enjoy all the pomp but people want him to formulate, understand and promote a policy like health care. But is's SO HARD!! and Trump just refuses to do the work. If someone else can't do it, he'll find someone new to do his job. It's fun firing people.
And America had better keep its grubby little eyes and hands away from HIS MONEY. He worked really hard to get all that money from the Russians.
1
The issue for me is the blinders on support the Trump base still stand by its man. No matter what is said, what is done, stand up citizens turn a blind eye towards THEIR leader. Many of his followers I reckon would never share a bucket of chicken, drink a beer or join him at the tee box. They until Trump, spoke badly about the New York approach and cockiness. Why are they steadfast supporting a cunning arrogant conman, who so happens to be the President? Why?
2
Word is that The Don will sign the legislation on Russian sanctions. Yet to be determined, will he make the signing a big public spectacle, complete with effusive praise for himself and claiming this as an win?
It's inexplicable how anyone tolerates The Don's acceptance of The Mooch as a "communications" director . His supporters say, "It's just The Don being The Don and we have to let him be himself." His supporters are firmly in the camp that applauds roundly when The Don is being The Don, as though this is the epitome of presidential behavior.
One of the tasks before us is to find new words to express our reaction to The Don being The Don. We find ourselves struggling to find just which words adequately describe our feelings about what The Don is doing: incredulous, stupefying, bizarre, disgusting, disgraceful, crazy, unbelievable, intolerant, horrifying, depraved, indifferent, uninformed, ignorant, inappropriate. Sometimes, it seems as though with any particular announcement of tweet, we need to use all those terms.
But above all else, his supporters say, "let Trump be Trump." Go figure.
It's inexplicable how anyone tolerates The Don's acceptance of The Mooch as a "communications" director . His supporters say, "It's just The Don being The Don and we have to let him be himself." His supporters are firmly in the camp that applauds roundly when The Don is being The Don, as though this is the epitome of presidential behavior.
One of the tasks before us is to find new words to express our reaction to The Don being The Don. We find ourselves struggling to find just which words adequately describe our feelings about what The Don is doing: incredulous, stupefying, bizarre, disgusting, disgraceful, crazy, unbelievable, intolerant, horrifying, depraved, indifferent, uninformed, ignorant, inappropriate. Sometimes, it seems as though with any particular announcement of tweet, we need to use all those terms.
But above all else, his supporters say, "let Trump be Trump." Go figure.
1
My my what happened to you, Mo? Where are your tirades against President Obama, your relentless dissing of HRC, your mild rap knucklings to that wayward child, DJT? If you have finally seen that soulless excuse of a president for what he is, you are a dollar short and a light year too late.
7
To Donald Trump: LOL, No one likes you!
3
Trump is the weakest link.
1
We knew Trump was a bully, a bigot and a misogynist. Now we know he's disloyal, cruel, sadistic and a homophobe. Yes, that probably masks a deeper inner psychological "weak" man, but such men are also authoritarian tyrants. And, those are exactly the men like Duterte, Erdogan, and "pal" Putin that wannabe Tyrant Trump admires and seeks to emulate. We are nearing our own "Last Judgment." Will we have a democracy or and autocratic oligarchy?
2
I see we have 662 comments + this one. We need the magic 66. Trump = Satan.
1
Yes, "Trump is trapped in a caricature of masculinity that corrodes his judgment."
it's called arrested development. wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
it's called arrested development. wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
1
How deep must the anger and frustration of Trump's 38% base be to not only tolerate but support this disgraceful man?
207
But the 38% are comprised not just of white working class people but relatively well-off solidly middle class people. Anger and frustration doesn't explain their support of DJT. Add racism, sexism, misinformation and willful ignorance, and you're getting closer.
5
It is (as we've all been saying for the past two years only to be smacked down) because their views are based on nothing except for hatred and bigotry. Period. When an opinion is based on emotions, facts are irrelevant.
4
Mo Do, Where were you during the campaign? Dissing Hillary and cozying up to this guy?
14
Several unnamed sources, close to other sources who also wish to remain anonymous, and who have extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the WH, have reported to the NYT that President Trump had a really weak week that week, and, furthermore, broad speculation spreading within the West Wing indicates that the weakness is likely to continue and get worse.
So, there you are. Take heart, Dems, Hillary will yet emerge triumphant.
So, there you are. Take heart, Dems, Hillary will yet emerge triumphant.
1
This column should go into the time capsule because it manages to communicate so effectively the horrors of the escalating momentum and accumulating misjudgments and destructive actions of a seriously disturbed president, who is enabled and aided by an irresponsible, craven political party that is bereft of ethics, accountability, and concern for the status and future of our country.
This national nightmare too shall end, but how?
This national nightmare too shall end, but how?
4
It seems likely that Trump's cabinet will resign en masse before long as they abandon the sinking ship.
3
One of Trump's favorite psychological ploys is projection. And no better example than accusing others of being "weak." No one is weaker than Trump; so, of course, he is constantly applying that label to his many real or perceived enemies.
Calling Trump weak will drive him crazy (crazier?). And he's also obsessed with ratings. So, time to update our Trump adjective cocktail (you know; because we can.) "The weak, failing and low-rated Donald Trump is ... fill in the blank]." I feel better already.
Calling Trump weak will drive him crazy (crazier?). And he's also obsessed with ratings. So, time to update our Trump adjective cocktail (you know; because we can.) "The weak, failing and low-rated Donald Trump is ... fill in the blank]." I feel better already.
4
Weak but dangerous. Obviously this president does not have the type of strength it takes to be a king president. I am sure there are niches where this guy is a "king", such as reality TV and wrestle mania events. However, he is a "loser" among the political set and those who actually want to get things done for the people.
3
Every time Trump has one of his public displays of oblivion, newspaper columnist, television and a broad spectrum of various experts attempt to explain and rationalize his behavior. Drug use is never brought up as a logical explanation for his abnormal and erratic behavior. He claims he doesn’t do drugs but he lies about everything else, why wouldn’t he lie about that? All drug users lie about their drug use.
Congress just pushed through a proposal requiring those who collect unemployment and government assistance to submit to a drug test when they go to collect their check. If this is logical, why shouldn’t all elected officials, Congressmen, Senators, the President and his Cabinet be required to submit to the same level of scrutiny? Almost every job application requires the applicant to submit to a drug test; Mc Donald’s requires a drug test for minimum wage entry level jobs. The President holds the nuclear codes; he can launch a nuclear attack for any reason he sees fit, real or imaginary. If anyone should be drug tested it should be the person who holds that kind of power
Congress just pushed through a proposal requiring those who collect unemployment and government assistance to submit to a drug test when they go to collect their check. If this is logical, why shouldn’t all elected officials, Congressmen, Senators, the President and his Cabinet be required to submit to the same level of scrutiny? Almost every job application requires the applicant to submit to a drug test; Mc Donald’s requires a drug test for minimum wage entry level jobs. The President holds the nuclear codes; he can launch a nuclear attack for any reason he sees fit, real or imaginary. If anyone should be drug tested it should be the person who holds that kind of power
6
Infighting, paralysis, desperation and chaos at the White House? I can live with that.
4
Unfortunately, this essay is too little, too late. It causes one to wonder where this incarnation of Maureen Dowd was during the 2016 campaign season. Readers, as well as our Republic, could have been much better served if she would have focused her stinging satire on Donald J. Drumpf, rather than President Obama & Hillary. I suppose she believed it was time for her to be "fair and balanced".
That was then, and this is now the time to wonder why does the Prevaricator-in-Chief still have an approval rating of 40%? Why do so many Americans still sneer at Liberals & support "conservative" ideas such as government interference in women's reproductive lives, or state governments suppressing voter registration? Why are Americans so insecure that they show sheer hatred for people who come here to escape death squads, or MS 13 in their home countries? Why did the Evangelicals vote for, and still support, a President with ZERO moral compass?
When op-ed writers like Ms. Dowd figure out how to reach those Americans, perhaps we might regain the Nation we once had, standing for equality of all humans, the right to vote, and the rule of law. I fear things will get worse before they can ever get better for us and our Republic.
That was then, and this is now the time to wonder why does the Prevaricator-in-Chief still have an approval rating of 40%? Why do so many Americans still sneer at Liberals & support "conservative" ideas such as government interference in women's reproductive lives, or state governments suppressing voter registration? Why are Americans so insecure that they show sheer hatred for people who come here to escape death squads, or MS 13 in their home countries? Why did the Evangelicals vote for, and still support, a President with ZERO moral compass?
When op-ed writers like Ms. Dowd figure out how to reach those Americans, perhaps we might regain the Nation we once had, standing for equality of all humans, the right to vote, and the rule of law. I fear things will get worse before they can ever get better for us and our Republic.
11
The detail from Bosch's "The Last Judgement" is a wonderful comment on our times and our situation. And your piece would be terribly funny if it were not so terribly sad. Laughing hysterically all the way to the graveyard of the West.
3
Good luck, General Kelly, in trying to bring order out of a White House in chaos. Remember Candidate Trump proclaiming he knew more about Isis than the generals (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kul34O_yMLs) despite his flimsy deferments for bone spurs. Who knew bone spurs were a substitute for West Point?
General Kelly, please be aware that Trump will be Trump and will still keep the pet door on the oval office open so Ivanka, Jared, Bannon, and the Mooch can come and go whenever they feel like it.
General Kelly, please be aware that Trump will be Trump and will still keep the pet door on the oval office open so Ivanka, Jared, Bannon, and the Mooch can come and go whenever they feel like it.
3
What is clear in the chaos that has enveloped the White House is that Steve Bannon and Breitbart has completel;y dominated Trump's behavior and lack of any sense of decorum. Bannon represents the base that elected Trump and all the lies and deceptions that Breitbart and other borderline news services use to captivate the base of angry voters. when Breitbart and the Enquirer become favored news sources we are in serious trouble. This is the basis for the obscene behavior Maureen is describing so well .
The question is if the Justice Department and Congress is unable to contain and control the President or remove him (with a rightwing fanatic as Vice President) then will all these generals who are now in key positions find a reason to do so should our national security continue to be compromised by Trump?
The unfolding top secret information now being disclosed on how our election process and key computer programs were being attacked by Russia and the dillemma this created for Federal intervention in state controlled voting processes along with interferences and reckless accusations by Trump created a political nightmare last November.
We still do not know if our national security was compromised during the election.That is a major accomplishment for Putin. Yes the Generals may have to rescue and save us.Maureen only writes about the obvious deterioration in US governance.There is so much more to concern all of us.
The question is if the Justice Department and Congress is unable to contain and control the President or remove him (with a rightwing fanatic as Vice President) then will all these generals who are now in key positions find a reason to do so should our national security continue to be compromised by Trump?
The unfolding top secret information now being disclosed on how our election process and key computer programs were being attacked by Russia and the dillemma this created for Federal intervention in state controlled voting processes along with interferences and reckless accusations by Trump created a political nightmare last November.
We still do not know if our national security was compromised during the election.That is a major accomplishment for Putin. Yes the Generals may have to rescue and save us.Maureen only writes about the obvious deterioration in US governance.There is so much more to concern all of us.
2
Its always refreshing to read Ms. Dowd's 'nail on the head' commentary.
Maureen has painted a compelling picture of Trump's inadequacies and vicious nature. She is a bit off in suggesting the GOP is losing their "fear" of Trump - it's more accurate to say their assessment of Trump's contribution in pressing the corporate take-over of America is dimming.
1
The reason that there are rules and, if possible, civil behavior between individuals is that society works best if you can predict how people are going to behave towards one another. John Locke, the other Enlightenment thinkers and, in fact, the US Constitution is based on these conceptions. It's called contract law and civil society.
Donald Trump represents backpedaling in the direction of a Hobbesian "state of nature" where life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". According to Hobbes, in the absence of political order and law, everyone would have unlimited natural freedoms, including the "right to all things" and thus the freedom to plunder and pillage at will. Life becomes an endless "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes).
Shrouding this development is, of course, the emergence of alleged "fake news" combined with "alternative facts". The truth is whatever you make it to be in the most self-serving manner. Society has dissolved into manipulated, warring factions with Godfathers, capos, and soldiers.
Patriots and war heroes (John McCain) are now despised scoundrels and cowards. Scoundrels and thugs (Trump, Scaramucci, et al) anoint themselves "patriots". In 2017 we have retrogressed to 1984.
Trump is fond of referring to the "clash of civilizations". This is my one point of agreement with the man. He is truly the barbarian at the gate. No, I am wrong - the barbarian inside the White House and seated, pen in hand, at a desk in the Oval Office.
Donald Trump represents backpedaling in the direction of a Hobbesian "state of nature" where life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". According to Hobbes, in the absence of political order and law, everyone would have unlimited natural freedoms, including the "right to all things" and thus the freedom to plunder and pillage at will. Life becomes an endless "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes).
Shrouding this development is, of course, the emergence of alleged "fake news" combined with "alternative facts". The truth is whatever you make it to be in the most self-serving manner. Society has dissolved into manipulated, warring factions with Godfathers, capos, and soldiers.
Patriots and war heroes (John McCain) are now despised scoundrels and cowards. Scoundrels and thugs (Trump, Scaramucci, et al) anoint themselves "patriots". In 2017 we have retrogressed to 1984.
Trump is fond of referring to the "clash of civilizations". This is my one point of agreement with the man. He is truly the barbarian at the gate. No, I am wrong - the barbarian inside the White House and seated, pen in hand, at a desk in the Oval Office.
4
President Trump's really weak week has Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin smiling and smirking while he watches his puppet dummy try to emulate his KGB/FSB big bad Russian Bear style.
Putin is a straight up streetwise gangster and martial arts master from Saint Petersburg who dreams of being a worthy heir to Czar Peter the Great. It is in Putin's interest for the time being to cooperate with Donnie Trump's concealing the contents of his personal and family income tax returns and business records from the American people.
Putin has more experience and talent and focus in running a nation state than the Trump White House and Cabinet. Along with a cynical callous cruel nature that is capable of original independent creative thought strategy and tactics.
Our Siberian President Trump inherited his wealth. And his power comes from mass media propaganda mythology. Trump is neither a fighter nor a businessman but he has played both on reality TV. Between week-end golf playing and eating vacations at his resorts Trump is playing President of the United States.
Making Russia great again was the strategic penultimate goal of Russian interference in the American Presidential election of 2016. Russia is an aging and shrinking nation of 143 million people. The annual nominal GDP of America is 15x Russian. The annual nominal military spend of America is 9x Russia. But the Russian Bear has the American Eagle's severed head as a trophy plus a talon necklace.
Putin is a straight up streetwise gangster and martial arts master from Saint Petersburg who dreams of being a worthy heir to Czar Peter the Great. It is in Putin's interest for the time being to cooperate with Donnie Trump's concealing the contents of his personal and family income tax returns and business records from the American people.
Putin has more experience and talent and focus in running a nation state than the Trump White House and Cabinet. Along with a cynical callous cruel nature that is capable of original independent creative thought strategy and tactics.
Our Siberian President Trump inherited his wealth. And his power comes from mass media propaganda mythology. Trump is neither a fighter nor a businessman but he has played both on reality TV. Between week-end golf playing and eating vacations at his resorts Trump is playing President of the United States.
Making Russia great again was the strategic penultimate goal of Russian interference in the American Presidential election of 2016. Russia is an aging and shrinking nation of 143 million people. The annual nominal GDP of America is 15x Russian. The annual nominal military spend of America is 9x Russia. But the Russian Bear has the American Eagle's severed head as a trophy plus a talon necklace.
2
Senator McCain a war Hero remained silent when Donald Trump repeatedly insulted him.
In the end right after the brain surgery Senator surprised all whose voice really going to make a difference in peoples lives.
Godspeed Senator !
In the end right after the brain surgery Senator surprised all whose voice really going to make a difference in peoples lives.
Godspeed Senator !
1
Good move by Trump bringing in Kelly. Politicians from both parties give off a horrible wretched stench, so it was really time to clean house. Kelly and Tillerson have been cleaning up the little messes left behind from the previous administration in the State Department and in the NSA. The media's fun with their leakers will soon come to an end.
I can never understand why the Boy Scouts or any organization would invite our loose cannon of a President to speak to them because he can only be expected to embarrass them as he did.
And this can also be asked about why this country, even with the aid of a foreign power, would elect such a hopeless jumble of a candidate as its leader!
Trump was a disaster in his earlier life so why would anyone expect him to be any less a disaster as leader of the free world?
And this can also be asked about why this country, even with the aid of a foreign power, would elect such a hopeless jumble of a candidate as its leader!
Trump was a disaster in his earlier life so why would anyone expect him to be any less a disaster as leader of the free world?
5
The answer to why Trump was chosen has been answered already: desperation, bigotry, and religious fanaticism.
4
So much "winning!"
1
N. Korea and Syria are *your* problems inherited by Trump. Make no mistake, Syria and Russia would be problems if Hillary were in office.
Trump is beyond weak. He is unworthy of serving public office. He's selfish and childish to the n'th degree. My 4 year old niece has more empathy and maturity than he does. She is capable of being alone with her thoughts and imagination without drumming up drama and harm. That is what this man does when he is alone with his thoughts. He is a danger to almost everyone around him, he's got an addicts personality and leaves destruction in his wake. Mostly in the form of human destruction. He lacks empathy and care. We need an intervention and we need to stop genuflecting to this man. He may have the title of President, but he has not garnered the respect of office or position. He is a pathetic role model, and a visible result of what blame, corruption, and unerring greed can do to an individual and society.
2
No, Trump can get anything useful done. It would help if he understood the ACA, or foreign policy, such as who's who in the Middle East, or if he understood basics such as the fact that it isn't cool for POTUS to encourage police brutality, it isn't cool to discuss a cocktail party during a Boy Scouts Jamboree keynote speech, or that he doesn't run Congress.
So Trump must go?
But I wonder...do I want Pence? The quiet maniac Christian with warped values and loyalty to the 1%? Paul Ryan, who is truly dumb as dirt?
At least with Trump in charge, narcissistic chaos will reign long enough to impede most of what he wants to do. If we can just hold out until the 2018 elections....
If voters can't vote in a decent number of democrats in November 2018, then we probably deserve what we get.
So Trump must go?
But I wonder...do I want Pence? The quiet maniac Christian with warped values and loyalty to the 1%? Paul Ryan, who is truly dumb as dirt?
At least with Trump in charge, narcissistic chaos will reign long enough to impede most of what he wants to do. If we can just hold out until the 2018 elections....
If voters can't vote in a decent number of democrats in November 2018, then we probably deserve what we get.
3
In "President Trump's Weak, Weak, Weak" Maureen Dowd writes "the world has never seen this before". Not so. Remember crazy Roman emperors like Caligula.
2
Why do Ms. Dowd and others assume that Sen. McCain voted out of revenge against Pres. Trump rather than out of integrity and honor? As the Times editorial observes, Mr. McCain returned to the Senate on Tuesday to call for the Senate to return to “regular order” acting out of humility and the need to cooperate. Sen. McCain’s message was consistent with his character and, perhaps, by the grim health news he received that makes someone think about how they want to meet their maker.
There was a time in this country that Congress was populated by statesmen like Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) of Illinois, Estes Kefauver (D) of Tennessee and Wayne Morse (I) of Oregon. The partisans and schemers like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon were in the minority and eventually eliminated. Now, many people believe the profile has reversed- the partisans and schemers are the majority and the statesmen are in the minority if they exist at all.
What does it say about our country that so many of us assume an elected official acts out of petty self-interest rather than the good of the nation?
There was a time in this country that Congress was populated by statesmen like Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) of Illinois, Estes Kefauver (D) of Tennessee and Wayne Morse (I) of Oregon. The partisans and schemers like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon were in the minority and eventually eliminated. Now, many people believe the profile has reversed- the partisans and schemers are the majority and the statesmen are in the minority if they exist at all.
What does it say about our country that so many of us assume an elected official acts out of petty self-interest rather than the good of the nation?
3
Trump, NY City, Socialites, Columnists who helped create him, TV shows that helped prop him etc. - All around weakness.
3
Trump is weak and a loser, as most bullies are. But he has managed to stage a coup in the White House, installing as Department heads those people who are enemies of the very departments they are supposed to lead. To what end? To decimate and destroy policies that help and protect the People, but that have prevented the rich from doing exactly as they please in pursuing wealth and amalgamating power. Vile people surround Trump, vicious, corrupt, and amoral. Congress and the Judiciary must find the courage to oppose him as he and his cronies "deconstruct" our democracy and put our citizenry at risk internally by fostering and fomenting hatreds, and externally by dismantling our diplomatic corps while formulating no coherent policies to deal with nuclear and other threats. The Press must continue to call this Administration to account, to expose this unsubtle would-be tyrant who has risen to power through well-funded propaganda that furnishes outright lies and scapegoats or targets those who lack political and economic clout: women, minorities, the LGBT community, immigrants, refugees, the disabled, etc.
214
I admire and agree with your comment, but your hope that Congress stand up to Trump is bound to be dashed. You are what you vote. Republicans have no moral center.
1
Lost soul
"It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this President and our country. I want to thank the President for giving me this very special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the President's agenda and policies."
Reince Priebus 7.28.17
"It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this President and our country. I want to thank the President for giving me this very special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the President's agenda and policies."
Reince Priebus 7.28.17
7
Excellent summary, spot on.
5
I predict that Trump will make the ultimate deal.
He will secretly contact Ryan and McConnell and will offer
to resign if he and his family are pardoned and HE Is paid 50 billion
dollars. Tax free. State and Federal.
He will secretly contact Ryan and McConnell and will offer
to resign if he and his family are pardoned and HE Is paid 50 billion
dollars. Tax free. State and Federal.
7
> And what could be weaker than that?
The coming week.
The coming week.
28
it's not about Trump being strong its about weak government and and strong military enforcing a new 1950's reality.Listen to the reasons for not having Trans service members,they're the same used to try to deny women the right to serve.
19
Reading and watching this debacle that is the Republican Administration is liking reading MacBeth and watching House of Cards. Life imitating art.
I would like to add that 3 Republicans were not the only holdouts on the healthcare votes. The Democratic Senators have consistently done their jobs regarding the ACA. Can it be improved? Yes. But the Republicans in their use of ruthless power to eradicate help for those who need it will never let this happen.
I think the 3 Republicans and the Democrats should propose that all of the Senate and the Senate staff lose their special subsidies through their special D.C. Exchange until a single payer system is voted in. This would also apply to the Republican Congress.
Or they could let all of the ACA recipients join that SPECIAL D. C. exchange. and that would solve everyone's problem
I would like to add that 3 Republicans were not the only holdouts on the healthcare votes. The Democratic Senators have consistently done their jobs regarding the ACA. Can it be improved? Yes. But the Republicans in their use of ruthless power to eradicate help for those who need it will never let this happen.
I think the 3 Republicans and the Democrats should propose that all of the Senate and the Senate staff lose their special subsidies through their special D.C. Exchange until a single payer system is voted in. This would also apply to the Republican Congress.
Or they could let all of the ACA recipients join that SPECIAL D. C. exchange. and that would solve everyone's problem
71
absolutely terrific suggestion!
24
Thank you. How can we get this done. Would love to start a movement in this direction
14
I don't agree. As a lifelong Democrat and liberal, now is the time to try and come up with some compromises and work with the GOP. If those three can work not for the Democrats, but for decent health care for us all, then there is hope.
1
Read David Remnick's New Yorker conversation with the NYT's Maggie Haberman. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conversation-with-maggie-haber...
She has covered Trump for years and knows him perhaps as well as anyone in the press. The thing that she points out is that the press dropped the ball on one critical issue during the campaign. And that was stressing the real sleazeballs that Trump routinely hung out with. Why did he? Because he's one of them.
Trump knows that firing Mueller is the only way out of this mess, at least in the near term. He probably hopes that once that firestorm dies down he can misdirect his way into a stalemate with those that are on his Russian trail.
But this ain't some NYC real estate deal where you can intimidate contractors with the threat of lawsuits and dime store bullying.
His goose is gonna get cooked, and as the fire gets hotter, the firing and the tweeting will just increase in measure.
Then Trump will abruptly resign, claiming it was all "rigged" against him. He is so thin-skinned it's going to send him off his perilously unbalanced rocker.
I wouldn't give him more than 12 months.
She has covered Trump for years and knows him perhaps as well as anyone in the press. The thing that she points out is that the press dropped the ball on one critical issue during the campaign. And that was stressing the real sleazeballs that Trump routinely hung out with. Why did he? Because he's one of them.
Trump knows that firing Mueller is the only way out of this mess, at least in the near term. He probably hopes that once that firestorm dies down he can misdirect his way into a stalemate with those that are on his Russian trail.
But this ain't some NYC real estate deal where you can intimidate contractors with the threat of lawsuits and dime store bullying.
His goose is gonna get cooked, and as the fire gets hotter, the firing and the tweeting will just increase in measure.
Then Trump will abruptly resign, claiming it was all "rigged" against him. He is so thin-skinned it's going to send him off his perilously unbalanced rocker.
I wouldn't give him more than 12 months.
100
I've been predicting such a resignation all along. He absolutely must control the narrative.
In Zeno's paradox a runner tries to reach the finish line. But first he must go halfway to the goal. Then he must go halfway through the remaining distance. Then halfway through the next remaining distance. And so on - because he must always go halfway through some diminishing remaining distance, over and over forever, he never reaches his goal. The paradox is obviously not true in reality, yet Trump is a shining example of it politically. Ever since he began running, he has been one more dirty comment or impossible situation away from being destroyed, but he keeps on keeping on. Counting him out soon? For all our sakes, I hope you are right - but don't count on counting on it.
1
Totally agree. He'll quit.
Ten percent of any electorate are contrarians. Add another 5-10 percent as believers in something like Elvis is alive or them flyin' saucers that the government spends billions to hide. The only reason this rapidly shrinking bunch still support Trump is that he has not personally dissed them yet. On the other hand it seems that dissing McCain has paid real dividends for Americans and democracy. Almost anyone who has been "bullied" by the POTUS has come out of it looking good and with acres of support suddenly materializing. Best of all we learned Steven Colbert really gets his goat.. Really gets it. Boo hoo how boo hoo sad.
54
I do wish the liberal media would quit echoing is 6am tweets. It has us all embracing each day with his reality, which is warped and paranoid. Let's be clear here:
Murkowski and Collins were just a much heroes as McCain, who ironically returned from benefiting from America's health care system to *debate* disabling it for so many others.
Sessions is a racist. Whether he stays or goes. The irony that so many congressional leaders turned him into the pinnacle of their profession is pathetic at best, cynically pompous at least.
Trump's son-in-law and old penchman, Manafort, collaborated with the Russians to prop up this puppet of a leader. That used to be called traitorous?
What exactly is Trump doing from 7am to 4pm everyday, once he has tweeted his vision for the day?
No doubt Priebus left the WH last Friday with a shout of relief. Trump is a miserable boss and impotent politician.
Murkowski and Collins were just a much heroes as McCain, who ironically returned from benefiting from America's health care system to *debate* disabling it for so many others.
Sessions is a racist. Whether he stays or goes. The irony that so many congressional leaders turned him into the pinnacle of their profession is pathetic at best, cynically pompous at least.
Trump's son-in-law and old penchman, Manafort, collaborated with the Russians to prop up this puppet of a leader. That used to be called traitorous?
What exactly is Trump doing from 7am to 4pm everyday, once he has tweeted his vision for the day?
No doubt Priebus left the WH last Friday with a shout of relief. Trump is a miserable boss and impotent politician.
84
Priebus could not root out the leaks. Even Obama had his own goons to stop leaks. So, leaks can destroy an agenda and the institution of the Presidency...it goes past the officeholders. So don't crow too loud that it is all about Trump while the issue is much much bigger.
Reince Priebus, in being ordered to kill a fly, should have asked which one? Actually, he was treated like Gregor Samsa, metamorphosed into an insect but inside more fully human than Trump could ever be.
I think that Trump plays the role of "Daddy" as in Plath's poem: "Every woman adores a fascist/ the boot in the face/ the brute, brute heart of a brute like you." His Gestapo-like message to the police, his rallying youth to incite hatred, his pathetic passive-aggressiveness towards Spicer and Sessions, and his assault on womanhood and the LGBTQ community all are actions that belong in Hieronymous Bosch's he'll, not in America 2017.
He's not able to look in the mirror and see an aging, overweight heavily pancaked makeup, bleached blonde Hollywood do-over and accept that is the reality.
I think that Trump plays the role of "Daddy" as in Plath's poem: "Every woman adores a fascist/ the boot in the face/ the brute, brute heart of a brute like you." His Gestapo-like message to the police, his rallying youth to incite hatred, his pathetic passive-aggressiveness towards Spicer and Sessions, and his assault on womanhood and the LGBTQ community all are actions that belong in Hieronymous Bosch's he'll, not in America 2017.
He's not able to look in the mirror and see an aging, overweight heavily pancaked makeup, bleached blonde Hollywood do-over and accept that is the reality.
55
I don't think trumpy and his family were actually colluding with the Russians, I think they were set up and played by Putin, who is a whole lot smarter than any of that gang! The Russians have been trying to disrupt western governments, especially American government, for a long time.
In trumpy he found someone dumb enough that he decided now was the perfect time. Had the Kremlin not intended for us to find the cyberattacks last summer, we would not have found them. Putin was KGB, remember; those guys have been perfecting sabotage for two generations. The whole thing with Junior was way too obvious, but when dealing with someone of junior's obviously small mental abilities, best to keep it simple.
The whole clan has been used and they deserved it! I hope it works out that they are all in debt to the Russian mob and Putin has been playing with them for years; wouldn't that be a just ending to this spy story!
In trumpy he found someone dumb enough that he decided now was the perfect time. Had the Kremlin not intended for us to find the cyberattacks last summer, we would not have found them. Putin was KGB, remember; those guys have been perfecting sabotage for two generations. The whole thing with Junior was way too obvious, but when dealing with someone of junior's obviously small mental abilities, best to keep it simple.
The whole clan has been used and they deserved it! I hope it works out that they are all in debt to the Russian mob and Putin has been playing with them for years; wouldn't that be a just ending to this spy story!
47
Reminder. Miss Dowd
You contributed to Trump win with your hatrade for Hillary Clinton
Don't pretend you don't like Trump
You contributed to Trump win with your hatrade for Hillary Clinton
Don't pretend you don't like Trump
86
Weak week and weak, powerless tweets. It's time we start branding his online persona with what it is each and every time. #WeakTweet Please help reinforce to him that his tweets are powerless #WeakTweet
20
I've never been a fan of Dowd's work but she hit the nail on the head with this piece. I'd give a lot to see Trump's bloated, angry face when someone reads it to him.
30
It won't be read to him. Someone will have to explain it to him in pictures.
Laughing
For some narcissistic megalomaniacal CEOs, loyalty is a one way street.
For Trump, loyalty is a U-Turn.
For Trump, loyalty is a U-Turn.
13
Trump = CANCER on our Country.
33
In wartime you have to be a killer. Killing for pleasure, killing to control, to demonstrate strength, is psychopathic.
18
As John McCain knows all too well, revenge is a dish best served cold . . .
31
Reminds me of the song, "tRUMP, TRAMP, tWEAK!, Everybody knows One!", or something like that. If any American thinks otherwise, then they should seek psychiatric help under their ACA provider. We have the worst president in my lifetime of 75+ years.
Fellow Americans, please remember it was the brave American, Deep Throat who "leaked" information on the illegaĺ activities of Nixon and his White House staff that led to his resignation and jail time for many of his staff. America always needs patriotic leakers to expose criminal activities of those unpatriotic Americans abusing their positions of power.
Fellow Americans, please remember it was the brave American, Deep Throat who "leaked" information on the illegaĺ activities of Nixon and his White House staff that led to his resignation and jail time for many of his staff. America always needs patriotic leakers to expose criminal activities of those unpatriotic Americans abusing their positions of power.
24
"Those whom the gods want to destroy, they first make arrogant."
31
Well stated. And who's worrying about N Korea if theyre busy infighting and discriminating against our soldiers?
15
In all the administrations in my lifetime, both Democratic and Republican, most of the firings, and new blood happened like four, five, six years in. Which is understandable. Also many of the big scandals usually get going on or near the second term of a President. But six months in this guy has forced out or changed much of his cabinet, a couple lawyers, and the press secretary. And the scandals started from day one. I haven't heard many in the media point this out. I guess because it's the "new normal". Of course the crazy loyalists left, and even some that are fired ( Priebus ) act like everything is just peaches..... Yea the "new normal" ... what a bunch of confusion garbage.
Orange, NJ
Orange, NJ
13
Shakespeare, Bosch, the bible and MS-13 all come together is Ms. Dowd's column today! How fun to read. How sad to read it. Because it's true. Was Trump's tweet banning transgender citizens from serving in the armed forces just a dirty rotten scoundrel attempt to change the subject? What kind of "wag the dog" moment awaits us? A holocaust on the Korean peninsular?
How will the Mooch and Susan Huckster Slanders responsible for WH communication work with the former four star Marine as Chief of Staff?
Can Eagle Scout Sessions out scout the bully who's idea of camping out is Mar-a-Lago? What deadly fear to his pawer and legitimacy does Mueller's investigation present to the president?
In the end, many Trump supporters would be fine with the incineration of DC and a blight of biblical proportions shutting down and shutting up California and New York .
His solid 35% will help him wag that dog. God (or Republican Senators) help the remaining 65% of us.
How will the Mooch and Susan Huckster Slanders responsible for WH communication work with the former four star Marine as Chief of Staff?
Can Eagle Scout Sessions out scout the bully who's idea of camping out is Mar-a-Lago? What deadly fear to his pawer and legitimacy does Mueller's investigation present to the president?
In the end, many Trump supporters would be fine with the incineration of DC and a blight of biblical proportions shutting down and shutting up California and New York .
His solid 35% will help him wag that dog. God (or Republican Senators) help the remaining 65% of us.
18
Fred Trump, maker of presidents. Maybe we are getting the president we deserve. All those decades of self regard, scorn for book learnin', and worship of the almighty dollar, the endless glorifying of the mob, wiseguys. and crooks. Any surprise we have the epitome, the purest distillation, the id of American swaggering vulgarity and thuggery as our leader?
38
So well put! Brava!
1
Take the 63M or however many voted for Hillary out of "we" if you don't mind. WE don't deserve it.
2
May go back to America's infatuation with the 1978 comedy film 'Animal House' which celebrated loutishness and anti-intellectualism with relish. This film spurred a return to frat-house mentalities abandoned during the anti-Establishment Sixties, the ideological shadow which is still apparent today in the American Scene.
1
paraphrased...."who will rid me of this troublesome.....
8
Gee! What happened to Mo's admiration of Donald Trump?
She spent nearly 2 years telling us why Barack Obama was a miserable, horrible human being, and Hillary Clinton was even worse!
Meanwhile, she was downplaying the bizarre, cruel, ignorant rabble-rousing of racists and bigots by Donald Trump and pretending he wouldn't be even worse than Hillary Clinton warned us he'd be.
And now, we're all seeing (except, of course, the 38%) that he IS far worse than Clinton warned us he'd be.
And Mo mocks him...now, when it's too late.
She spent nearly 2 years telling us why Barack Obama was a miserable, horrible human being, and Hillary Clinton was even worse!
Meanwhile, she was downplaying the bizarre, cruel, ignorant rabble-rousing of racists and bigots by Donald Trump and pretending he wouldn't be even worse than Hillary Clinton warned us he'd be.
And now, we're all seeing (except, of course, the 38%) that he IS far worse than Clinton warned us he'd be.
And Mo mocks him...now, when it's too late.
59
So true! From day one it was blatantly obvious That Trump was, and is, an ignorant megalomaniacal danger to this country and the world, but Mo and others in the media focussed on Hillary's emails or other extraneous matters, that besmirched her character and sabotaged her campaign.
Keep your eyes on the prize, and focus on the relevant, should have been the catch words of the press. Instead the media was blinded, and ultimately betrayed, by its own bloated egotistical idea that it knew better than what simple common sense made obvious: Trump was and is a fraud.
Keep your eyes on the prize, and focus on the relevant, should have been the catch words of the press. Instead the media was blinded, and ultimately betrayed, by its own bloated egotistical idea that it knew better than what simple common sense made obvious: Trump was and is a fraud.
2
Look around you Maureen, trumpsky is getting it done for his pal Putin very day.
Are you not noticing the destruction of our democracy? look more closely.
Trumpsky will go down in flames and spark a conflagration.
How do you know when you pass a tipping point?
Are you not noticing the destruction of our democracy? look more closely.
Trumpsky will go down in flames and spark a conflagration.
How do you know when you pass a tipping point?
13
We in the USA are all like the frog in the proverbial pot of boiling water.
3
Thought the last week revealed enormous weaknesses in this president, both psychologically and with respect to managerial or leadership ability. His narcissism combined with his reliance on showmanship turned two events (the Boy Scout jamboree and the Suffolk County Cops speech) into disasters. Then, there were all the threats...mean-spirited, ugly and unprecedented.
Trump was probably NOT born this way, but the influences of his father ( a real Social Darwinist) and McCarthy-era hatchet-man Roy Cohn made him a vengeful and nasty guy.
Robert Mueller's investigation will surely uncover malfeasance rising above any "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by any of his predecessors in the office. Then we can rid ourselves of his cancerous influence on the Republic!
Maureen Dowd pegs him so well...Wonder if H.L. Mencken or Dorothy Parker could measure up to her skill and insights, exhibited in this and other recent columns.
Trump will throw a whirling fit when he reads this piece...let him twist!
Trump was probably NOT born this way, but the influences of his father ( a real Social Darwinist) and McCarthy-era hatchet-man Roy Cohn made him a vengeful and nasty guy.
Robert Mueller's investigation will surely uncover malfeasance rising above any "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by any of his predecessors in the office. Then we can rid ourselves of his cancerous influence on the Republic!
Maureen Dowd pegs him so well...Wonder if H.L. Mencken or Dorothy Parker could measure up to her skill and insights, exhibited in this and other recent columns.
Trump will throw a whirling fit when he reads this piece...let him twist!
8
We're all in shock, on a daily basis. But you're right, Maureen, what could be more pathetic than the Boy Scouts of America having to apologize for the crude, lewd, narcissistic speech of the president of the United States? You can't make this stuff up.
16
He is a disaster, manifestly unfit to be President of the United States. You achieved a historic win, Trump, but only to be the world's most famous loser.
10
Nothing is weaker than a lucky sperm Narcissist. People of even minimal intellect can see that this does not end well hopefully for Donny the draft dodger. He will continue to lash out at the world until someone. Gets him some good meds and puts him in the rubber room he deserves. I find it hard to forgive the mainly bigoted rubes that were so angry that a man of color could excel as our President that they actually believed Trump to be a Great White Hope. Sad. America I pray for the Home of the Brave not the home of the afraid of others.
10
"limp and blubbery" is just part of a phrase coined by Republican Peggy Noonan a couple days ago to describe the illegitimate President Deplorable.
Perfect description.
Dana Milbank in the Washington Post queried, "What if he's really mentally incapacitated and not just goofy?" Many of us have been screaming from the rooftops for over a year that the man is severely mentally ill, not just 'goofy'.
Pundits are saying that General Kelly will straighten things out.
Maureen Dowd now writes her clever, wonderfully written weekly op-ed that I always love to read castigating President Deplorable, instead of helping him get elected.
North Korea. Iran. Russia. China.
Trump.
But the Institutions are pushing back. There is hope.
Perfect description.
Dana Milbank in the Washington Post queried, "What if he's really mentally incapacitated and not just goofy?" Many of us have been screaming from the rooftops for over a year that the man is severely mentally ill, not just 'goofy'.
Pundits are saying that General Kelly will straighten things out.
Maureen Dowd now writes her clever, wonderfully written weekly op-ed that I always love to read castigating President Deplorable, instead of helping him get elected.
North Korea. Iran. Russia. China.
Trump.
But the Institutions are pushing back. There is hope.
4
My assessment of the White House: A playground full of immature bullies!
8
Anthony Scaramucci was named White House communications director in July, 2017; this prompted an 8,185% increase in searches for "Scaramouch" according to Merriam-Webster. Scaramuccia (literally "little skirmisher"), also known as Scaramouche or Scaramouch, is a stock clown character of the Italian commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts). The role combined characteristics of the zanni (servant) and the Capitano (masked henchman). Usually attired in black Spanish dress and burlesquing a don, he was often beaten by Harlequin for his boasting and cowardice. Scaramouche entertains the audience by his "grimaces and affected language". Salvator Rosa says that Coviello (like Scaramouche) is "sly, adroit, supple, and conceited", where as a gravedigger he found his vocation as a clown while striving to keep children amused by parodying their imminent slaughter.
5
May he be harassed with crowds greeting him with Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' blaring from their smartphones!
Over the past year, I have read millions of words about what a despicable human being Trump is and, as president, how dangerous he is, not just to the United States but to the world. All of it is true.
While this venting might somehow might make people feel better about the dire situation they face, I have seen scarcely anything about what you intend to do about it.
What is your plan, America? More wailing and shouting as the ship sinks beneath you?
While this venting might somehow might make people feel better about the dire situation they face, I have seen scarcely anything about what you intend to do about it.
What is your plan, America? More wailing and shouting as the ship sinks beneath you?
6
I'm sure I speak for a super-majority of my countrymen and women when I say I'm tired of losing already.
3
a loud chevy ad keeps yelling, repeating over and over, no way to stop it. i can't even finish reading the column
1
Scaramucci is merely endemic of the malodorous swamp-sleaze that is Trump. Bosch’s "Last Judgment" image shown is apt — this administration is a hellish nightmare, currently enabled by an immoral GOP Congress. May Robert Mueller and the investigators deliver us from evil.
Extremely important, and not discussed enough this week, was Bill Browder’s courageous testimony to the Senate Judiciary panel, outlining the depth of corruption in Russian government and why the meeting in Trump Tower was so significant (and alarming). Browder’s testimony should be required reading for all Americans purporting to be patriotic.
Extremely important, and not discussed enough this week, was Bill Browder’s courageous testimony to the Senate Judiciary panel, outlining the depth of corruption in Russian government and why the meeting in Trump Tower was so significant (and alarming). Browder’s testimony should be required reading for all Americans purporting to be patriotic.
4
Read it here: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bill-browders-testi...
Thank you, Atlantic. NY Times didn't seem to think this was a compelling read; I searched google (site:nytimes.com ""bill browder" testimony) and all I found was a review of Browder's book. (Browder was not self-effacing enough for the reviewer.)
Thank you, Atlantic. NY Times didn't seem to think this was a compelling read; I searched google (site:nytimes.com ""bill browder" testimony) and all I found was a review of Browder's book. (Browder was not self-effacing enough for the reviewer.)
2
Where do we go. From this week's new low? Keep your flashlight on Maureen and thanks.
1
The question is: what about this dog's breakfast of chaos and bile was not absolutely predictable? Mr. Trump was a vulgar buffoon long before the 2016 election. He celebrates his vulgarity and is as clueless to his buffoonery. What during the campaign would have led any reasonable person to determine that he had changed or would ever change?
4
Maureen, Don the Con will kill 100,000s more than MS-13 if he manages to destroy Obamacare and even more slowly when those 20 million lose their health insurance. He is far more dangerous than those losers.
2
"And what could be weaker than that?" - that's an easy one. That would be the point and which he first displayed his initial deepest point of weakness.......his expensive, long-term quest to avoid the draft. He "bought" five draft deferments including a phony one for "bone spurs" that did not hold him back from strenuous adult play. 49 young men died in Vietnam the day donald the coward graduated from college!
"
"
4
"...tweeting from Air Force One as Priebus deplaned..."
Weak, yes. But even more so, an ignorant coward.
Weak, yes. But even more so, an ignorant coward.
4
I notice that at all Trump's gatherings, he has to be flanked by some grinning fool who nods and chuckles right on cue. Usually, it's the ghostly Taliban Mike Pence but at the Boy Scouts debacle it was Tom Price and Rick Perry. Perhaps that's what doomed Christie; on the podium, he stood behind Trump like a good toady but the expression of his face wavered from indecipherable to pitiful, not the slavishly reverential we all demand.
7
One of the most obscene things I view is when the word President precedes this mans name. The fact that he has followers runs a close second.
9
The Mooch perfectly fits his namesake Scaramouch, (the French version), the character created in the 17th century variously described as a cowardly braggart and an unscrupulous unreliable servant.
Life imitating art.
Life imitating art.
4
Melania Trump often looks so miserable, I find myself feeling sorry for her. But then I remember: She knew exactly who she was marrying. The guy caught on tape making vulgar comments about sexually assaulting women -- it happened when Melania was pregnant with their son, I believe -- was not leading a double life. To the contrary, he openly celebrates crudeness. As do his supporters.
And so it is with everyone in Trump's administration. They knew exactly who they were going to work for. Spicer, Priebus, Sessions -- all of them had watched their boss mock everyone from a war hero to a disabled newspaper reporter. Their own humiliation at the hands of the same person is just karma working overtime.
Surely everyone in Trump's universe must by now know that selling one's soul comes with a no-return policy. Maybe that's what Priebus was contemplating as he was left alone on that gloomy, rainy tarmac. Then again, probably not.
And so it is with everyone in Trump's administration. They knew exactly who they were going to work for. Spicer, Priebus, Sessions -- all of them had watched their boss mock everyone from a war hero to a disabled newspaper reporter. Their own humiliation at the hands of the same person is just karma working overtime.
Surely everyone in Trump's universe must by now know that selling one's soul comes with a no-return policy. Maybe that's what Priebus was contemplating as he was left alone on that gloomy, rainy tarmac. Then again, probably not.
7
Note to Our Ignorant Bully President: animals do not kill for sport or out of sadistic tendencies.
4
The problem with Maureen's analysis is that some understanding and knowledge is necessary to see that potus 45 is actually weak. His base lacks the intellectual tools to get her point. When they look and listen to him, he seems strong. He's an elephant of a man with a huge square head. (That's one point of the abundant orange hair, to keep his head from looking round). He sounds like a strongman, constantly on the attack, never taking responsibility, never apologizing, always blaming. People in his base simply can't see past this act, and the superficial evidence of their eyes. They will never agree that he is a weak president.
5
This minority of our electorate will hopefully be the recipients, personally, of a weak and incompetent administration. When they don't make more money, have better health care and suffer the indignities of a failed life, then that is the best that we can hope for.
1
Trump the Impotent. He embarrasses the Boy Scouts. He embarrasses Police Departments nationwide. He embarrasses me.
So Sad!
So Sad!
8
You know what wd be great? Not that Trump cd just be impeached and continue to live in his delusional world where a few delusional Americans would still support him despite his being impeached.
What wd really be great is if Trump cd be held accountable in a criminal court for all of his illegal and despicable actions and spend the rest of his life in jail...that wd be great and our country would be better for punishing him.
What wd really be great is if Trump cd be held accountable in a criminal court for all of his illegal and despicable actions and spend the rest of his life in jail...that wd be great and our country would be better for punishing him.
5
The Steinbrenner Presidency
It's an apt comparison. Born rich, never had to deal with the regular world, never had to sit down for a job interview, so what do they know about the real world of work, how work is connected to a human beings sense of worth. Maybe this is why they delight at firing people, it's how they fuel their out-of-control egos, by playing god, the ultimate boss.
The huge difference is of course George ran the Yankees as a dictatorship, he was king, and as time went on, like all dictators, men who take no counsel other than their own, began to make mistakes, he slowly began to lose his grip on right and wrong, his 'Country' the Yankees began to founder, his mind began to addle, people began to call it "the madness of King George," With no checks or balances, the Yankees became a laughing-Stock, George hired private detectives to frame Dave Winfield, he sat in the Yankee stadium parking lot to show the parking lot attendants how to do their jobs, and on and on. Like Steinbrenner Trump surrounds himself with yes men and sycophants....some have become psychophants.
The thing that motivated Steinbrenner wasn't so much the need to win but the fear of losing, he feared being labeled a "loser". Here Trump is of the same mindset. In his mind Trump is incapable of losing, each loss is labeled a "temporary setback"......but a loser by any other name......
It's an apt comparison. Born rich, never had to deal with the regular world, never had to sit down for a job interview, so what do they know about the real world of work, how work is connected to a human beings sense of worth. Maybe this is why they delight at firing people, it's how they fuel their out-of-control egos, by playing god, the ultimate boss.
The huge difference is of course George ran the Yankees as a dictatorship, he was king, and as time went on, like all dictators, men who take no counsel other than their own, began to make mistakes, he slowly began to lose his grip on right and wrong, his 'Country' the Yankees began to founder, his mind began to addle, people began to call it "the madness of King George," With no checks or balances, the Yankees became a laughing-Stock, George hired private detectives to frame Dave Winfield, he sat in the Yankee stadium parking lot to show the parking lot attendants how to do their jobs, and on and on. Like Steinbrenner Trump surrounds himself with yes men and sycophants....some have become psychophants.
The thing that motivated Steinbrenner wasn't so much the need to win but the fear of losing, he feared being labeled a "loser". Here Trump is of the same mindset. In his mind Trump is incapable of losing, each loss is labeled a "temporary setback"......but a loser by any other name......
8
In my eyes, our "so-called" president (and his father) have always been weak. When you have to resort to bullying and insulting of others much less powerful than you to feel strong, you are, indeed, a weaker man than most. The most telling was NOT his public insults of presidential candidates, women, disabled, immigrants, etc. etc. It was his behavior to his own youngest son, who showed he was clearly afraid of him, as his entire family is, because they've been bullied their whole lives. I feel the MOST sorry for them, because you can have ALL the richest rich things in the world, but "without love it is just a clanging cymbal" and that is who Trump is - just a clanging cymbal. Then, if it weren't enough to have a bully for a father, he becomes the President of the United States and bullies everyone, including law enforcement, the top law enforcer, so you know you never can escape this crazy bully who happens to be your Dad. Much more heroic and deserving of our praise is one who can stand up to the bully without resorting to his tactics and has earned the respect and love of his/her own children, as well as most of the planet's. I'm thinking of former President Obama and Senators, especially Lisa Murkowski and John McCain. Thank-you folks for making us proud to be an American, versus the shame we feel every time our "so-called" president utters a word on Twitter or speech. He is far worse than Putin, as he promised to never forsake his base and he has over and over
7
What would happen if everyone ignored his tweets? I am amazed professional journalists continue to recognize him. I suggest letting him and his sycophants alone in the corner by themselves.
2
And you're doing penance how Maureen?
8
The GOP is just as weak as Trump. For 7 years, these blowhards have been whining about the Dems and Obama. Now, they have all of the power and they can't get anything done other than putting someone on the supreme court. But, they've woken the sleeping giant and they are ready to vote!
5
What could be weaker than that? His impotent, opioid addicted, rural "base". The main street Republicans who supported him. The 90% of all Republicans who submissively pledge loyalty to him, even now. Now that is a collectively impotent group of weaklings.
9
Mooch proudly commented to CNN “You’re from New York, I’m from New York, the president is from New York.” As far as I can recall Trumph is the first President born and raised in New York City (ok Queens). In any future election for president and vice president we citizens need to keep this in mind. Why take a chance - I will take a Texan any day.
It's my belief that Trump likes to surround himself with generals because, like the fly swatting incident, it makes him feel good, powerful, and in charge to have the generals do his bidding. If he can hire and fire generals, he must be the most macho man in America.
Sadly, too many of my fellow Americans seem to actually believe that childishly naive notion. When will they grow up? It's clearly too late for our president.
Sadly, too many of my fellow Americans seem to actually believe that childishly naive notion. When will they grow up? It's clearly too late for our president.
5
The president is mentally ill and yet the press the congress and his advisors---all of whom know this, cover for him. Why? The man needs help desperately and finds himself in a situation he can't deal with . But no one makes a move to help him resign and seek the aid he desperately needs. This is wrong and could lead to bad trouble for the country.
1
What is weaker will be usurped by the cleverest thug in the close circle of thugs that the orange freak will be forced to choose from, sycophants and opportunists like mooch, as the competent and experienced flee, and because the power vacuum will be filled. Our institutions are failing, right now.
Welcome to the thugocracy. We can only hope that in the approaching crisis Trump is literally yanked away from the chain of command.
Welcome to the thugocracy. We can only hope that in the approaching crisis Trump is literally yanked away from the chain of command.
1
Only one answer, Mooch for President. He younger and not a coward
The only nice things I can say about Trump are that he seems to love his family and be a dotting grandfather, he wears nice cuffs and cufflinks on his white shirts, and his hair is improving and becoming a little more civilized in color and length.
Not enough positives to rate being a President of USA.
Not enough positives to rate being a President of USA.
1
The operative word is "seems". In order to love others, one must first love oneself. Trump's narcissism and sociopathy point to someone with much self-loathing , who enjoys tormenting and bullying others. He demands love and loyalty from others but cannot return it.
1
"[As the tweets hit the WH cellphones] . . . leaving the jobless man in a driving rain on the tarmac . . . " what a summation of it all
2
First we had Bush Derangement Syndrome then ODS and now TDS, I wonder, now that the gloves are off for long range psychological diagnoses, according to a recent NYT article, if we couldn't hear from some professionals on this subject? And while they're at it, how about a few profiles in lunacy on some our political luminaries, starting, of course with our Lunatic in Chief? It could be quite edifying and I'm sure amusing if not hilarious. At least it would go a long way towards cutting them down to size. More popcorn!
1
Bullies are always to be found where there are cowards, said Mahatma Gandhi. The thing about cowards is they know who they are. By the time a coward is seventy-one years of age they have experienced thousands of moments of cowardice. They are very familiar with themselves. I do believe that they don't like this parasite that lives in them and dines on their soul, but they can't imagine life any other way. Where does cowardice begin? I don't remember many people from my childhood that I thought were cowards. Maybe it is born when one comes of age during his generation's war. Maybe cowardice is born of bone spurs.
1
In Trump world the guy who dies for his country is the biggest loser.The guy who gets a trumped up medical deferment and graduates ivy league, is the winner. The guy who gets a deferment as a war profiteer, another winner. The guy shot down, tortured, caged for years...well, come on, it's obvious, anyone who ends up getting himself tortured....if anything, an even bigger loser than the dead guy.
2
Let us hope when push comes to shove Kelly puts Country ahead of Career, Party, and Trump. That is what will take strength.
1
"Trump is trapped in a caricature of masculinity that corrodes his judgement," Ms. Dowd writes. Modeled from the likes of George Steinbrenner, who had his fall guy in Manager Billy Martin and Roy Cohn, McCarthyism's diabolical chief counsel, Trump projects the decisive, resolute tough guy, but takes no ownership in losing, instead casting blame on others and playing to the grievances his impotent base of cultural conservatives harbors.
Embittered people, the vestiges of Nixon's "silent majority" were told by Trump that they'd be "tired of winning", never mind that the self empowerment that comes with winning includes losing their healthcare. The caricature is wearing thin though when you have to air your dirty laundry before impressionable 12 year-old scouts.
But there's one boy scout who isn't impressed. He left Princeton University and enlisted into the Marines during the Vietnam War, becoming a decorated commander of a rifle company, while Draft Dodger Donald Trump faced "his own Vietnam" by dodging venereal disease in the swinging Manhattan '70's.
His name is Robert Mueller and unlike the spoiled cadet from New York Military Academy, he's not a caricature. He's a man of ethics, unlike the graceless Trump. May Robert Mueller be Donald Trump's nemesis.
Embittered people, the vestiges of Nixon's "silent majority" were told by Trump that they'd be "tired of winning", never mind that the self empowerment that comes with winning includes losing their healthcare. The caricature is wearing thin though when you have to air your dirty laundry before impressionable 12 year-old scouts.
But there's one boy scout who isn't impressed. He left Princeton University and enlisted into the Marines during the Vietnam War, becoming a decorated commander of a rifle company, while Draft Dodger Donald Trump faced "his own Vietnam" by dodging venereal disease in the swinging Manhattan '70's.
His name is Robert Mueller and unlike the spoiled cadet from New York Military Academy, he's not a caricature. He's a man of ethics, unlike the graceless Trump. May Robert Mueller be Donald Trump's nemesis.
4
Things will be GREAT. Now that Andrew " Dice " Mooch is the new, improved Enforcer, the leaking will stop, the fighting will cease and morale will skyrocket. Or ELSE.
3
Welcome to trump power. Cruel senseless explosions by the most powerful person in the world. He seems fireproof despite the tsunami of mass protest and bipartisan disgust. Can't we stop his criminal kleptocracy and brainwashed offspring?
2
I know what is as weak as Trump, Mo. Your constant harping on Hillary during the campaign that helped elect this buffoon. Shame on you!
4
When I thought I could no longer be shocked by Trump the Boy Scout speech shocked me. This was truly the act of a deranged human being. Who speaks to children this way? He seems devoid of any connection with reality other than the movie playing in his head in which he is the second greatest president in history.
Scaramucci said that there are people in the White house who think it is their job to protect America from this president. If there are I thank them. It is encouraging that the military is ignoring his transgender tweets but would they ignore an order to start military action based on some annoyance passing through his disordered brain? This man has to be removed soon. I'm hoping he fires Sessions.
Scaramucci said that there are people in the White house who think it is their job to protect America from this president. If there are I thank them. It is encouraging that the military is ignoring his transgender tweets but would they ignore an order to start military action based on some annoyance passing through his disordered brain? This man has to be removed soon. I'm hoping he fires Sessions.
431
"And what could be weaker than that?"
A gen-nu-ine class A crisis. God help us all.
A gen-nu-ine class A crisis. God help us all.
6
A wise person once said that a people get the government they deserve.
11
I hope not. No one deserves this Trump mess, not even the people who voted for him.
Republican motto for the 21st century: Mission Accomplished (Not). The GOP 2003 Iraq war and the GOP healthcare war have each lasted longer than WWII. Surely that deserves a small hands of applause.
9
The two best columns I read this week were from women: Maureen Dowd and Peggy Noonan,WSJ.
Most women can recognize when a man they constantly brags about their accomplishments, it's to hide the real truth. They are scared and impotent.
Most women can recognize when a man they constantly brags about their accomplishments, it's to hide the real truth. They are scared and impotent.
17
And although I applaud Sen McCain for how vote, don't forget the two women - Senators Collins and Murkowski. They are my heroes - putting the needs of their constituents first. We need MORE people like these - men and women - in Congress.
2
Please explain how President Trump, whom Ms. Dowd unofficially backed in the campaign, is better than President H. Clinton.
16
Yay, Maureen is back in full force. She cuts to the chase. Trump the so called great negotiator making tough as he's so sad. It's disheartening to have such an awful leader, especially as a naturalized citizen I thought America would be such a wonderful country, compared to where I came from. Sad.
9
Wow Maureen, you are now comparing Trump and his incompetent/dangerous administration to MS-13 gang and to "a wormy scene worthy of Hieronymus Bosch." It's been a long journey for you. It was not that long ago that you had columns referring to Trump as a grumpy cat. When your pure hatred for Hillary overwhelmed your playful, light jabs at Trump as he began his political rise. Access to the celebrity Trump was far more important to you than the obvious danger he posed to the country. We know that Trump dumped you first. If Trump still gave you access to his celebrity world, I am sure you would go along with the personal loyalty to Trump before country pledge, and we would get fluff pieces about Trump from you - just like ones you produced during the Presidential campaign (when there was still time to stop him) - about Trump. As Trump would say, Sad.
21
What a delicious and vicious prose. Failing Don is mauled, emasculated, belittled and ridiculed by Maureen Dowd.
Pence is patiently waiting in the wings and silently preparing for a palace coup. He will be celebrated as a savior and automatically secures his election in 2020. That is the secret plan of the GOP leadership. They are just waiting for the signal of FOX news to pull the trigger.
Pence is patiently waiting in the wings and silently preparing for a palace coup. He will be celebrated as a savior and automatically secures his election in 2020. That is the secret plan of the GOP leadership. They are just waiting for the signal of FOX news to pull the trigger.
15
As usual, a good read. Thanks Maureen.
2
Maureen Dowd understands more than many the true essence of Donald Trump. Historically, Trump has been a fraud either as a businessman or a politician. He believes that appearance replaces substance. He assumes that thuggery replaces strength. He convinces his blind followers that stupidity equals knowledge and that insults equals policy. He promises much, but delivers little. His belittling behavior should have been a warning sign, but for his supporters they confused a TV realty personality with presidential timber. More troubling, a point that Ms Dowd missed because of the word count limitation of her opinion piece, is Trump's racism, his overt bigotry, his playing to the lowest common denominator of his base, a horrifying racial animus that should frighten us all. Turuning to John Kelly as his new chief-of-staff was not merely seeking order in his administration to placate Ivanka or Melania, but perhaps an effort to rely on bayonets to intimidate all of us. Remember, he "loves generals" and Napoleon was not just a general, but also a dictator.
11
Christopher Lovett; your reply is good enough for an Op-Ed piece. So far, whatever truth is presented for all to read has not righted the ship as the dictator wannabe and his minions keeps marching along.
Hopefully the madness will come to an end but not by entering the codes...
Hopefully the madness will come to an end but not by entering the codes...
3
Broz, all too true. Americans refuse to realize that fascism is coming to America and Trump is their principal vehicle. The extreme right, ranging from Sinclair broadcasting, who airs Boris Ephstyn as their main spokesman (who obviously is a Russian agent) to a radio station in Washington DC, which openly provides Sputnik News (the propaganda arm of Putin's Russia) daily, demonstrates the cancer that Trump and his family has brought to the American political system. Myself and many others warn our fellow Americans of the dangers that we face, but it is they, our fellow citizens, who must stand up, like in the famous Norman Rockwell painting, and say enough to this bastardization of our democracy. Unknown to the right, they are moving us closer than they realize to a constitutional crisis, and like all similar situations throughout history, the results may not turn out as they initially assume. Just ask former Ukrainian President Yanukovych how his plans turned out.
3
During the election, the media focused almost entirely on Trump's aberrant personality and almost none on his platform. That turned out to be a failed strategy. Here it is, 8 months after the election, and every day there are articles and stories focused on his personality traits. I realize, and the large majority of reader comments reiterates, that many liberals love these type articles. They get tingly while reading pointless but derogatory articles like this. Unfortunately, it does not help the country or even advance the Democrat's agenda. Most people outside the liberal bubble just roll their eyes at yet another one of thousands of Trump hit pieces published by the NYT.
4
Articles like this are not pointless. It is important to reiterate how Failing Don's personality creates chaos and destructive nihilism around him. The GOP agenda (little there is but repeal ObamaCare and tax cuts) has stalled. Trump will never accomplish any legislative success but he inflicts harm by America First brouhaha on a daily basis. The real danger we face is an international crisis where Failing Don will overreact and world affairs will spin out of control. Until then there is not much substance to report. The Trump opposition needs to focus on one action: remove him from office, as sooner as better. Covfefe?
2
The truth is, trump wanted to win the presidency, not actually be president. His pathology is the front and center feature to be discussed. There is nothing behind the curtain except the empty, mean spirited and racist promises that he made to the intellectually deficient voters , who tipped the electoral college vote for him.
1
Maureen's mention of George Steinbrenner as mentor to the Don brings to mind the lawyer who defended the Yankees in court.
The year was 1983.
The subject was the re-playing of the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals.
The issue was the famous "pine tar" incident involving the great George Brett, and the Baseball Commish's call.
Steinbrenner's lawyer in that case was Roy Cohen.
He lost.
The year was 1983.
The subject was the re-playing of the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals.
The issue was the famous "pine tar" incident involving the great George Brett, and the Baseball Commish's call.
Steinbrenner's lawyer in that case was Roy Cohen.
He lost.
6
Roy Cohen is a nice guy. You must mean Roy Cohn.
1
Trump has never, ever consider himself "weak" by any stretch of the imagination.
Surely, a self-proclaimed really smart guy who is a member of the "higher class" ,(remember if you are poor you suffer from a debilitating low I.Q.) never makes poor judgement calls.
It is not he who is weak, for any and all disintegrations are the fault of those he has employed.
Of course, his family members are exempted from any fault because they are really smart and physically attractive people who are being wrongfully persecuted by "the greatest witch hunt in political history.
The guy is a fool living in a fools world.
Surely, a self-proclaimed really smart guy who is a member of the "higher class" ,(remember if you are poor you suffer from a debilitating low I.Q.) never makes poor judgement calls.
It is not he who is weak, for any and all disintegrations are the fault of those he has employed.
Of course, his family members are exempted from any fault because they are really smart and physically attractive people who are being wrongfully persecuted by "the greatest witch hunt in political history.
The guy is a fool living in a fools world.
10
We already knew Trump was the most unfit, unstable and least knowledgeable man to ever inhabit the Oval Office, now we can add the most incompetent one, too.
14
A "weak week." I am sick of people saying, Mr. President we want you to succeed by default. This is what Ken Starr said in his letter to the Washington Post. Why? Here is a president who is a liar, con man, dishonest, lacks integrity, is mean, spiteful, vengeful and jealous. And oh by the way has this cringe worthy love for the Russians and Putin. So why do people keep saying they want him to succeed, exactly what attribute in the above they want to succeed?
14
Hi Maureen, is your brother a Trump backer? if so what will Trump have to do for them to admit that they made a mistake. Trump keeps on blaming Osama for all of his blunders and keeps on taking credit for which he has not contributed anything. Like the economy, he was handed an economy which was in good shape, crime rate was down.
7
Attention all cowardly Congressional GOP members: When will you wake up to the fact that on this side of the pond, clear around the globe to the international date line, the US has been reduced to a prime-time laughingstock?
Or to paraphrase Sarah Palin, how's that wishy-washy thing workin' out for ya?
Or to paraphrase Sarah Palin, how's that wishy-washy thing workin' out for ya?
11
Maureen you are so mean to our poor beleaguered president. So Sad.
2
The current occupant of the White House is the quintessential empty suit with a really long tie.
8
Great column, as usual. Most Americans give more thought to recycling our garbage than our "president" gives to life -and-death issues facing our country. I'm sure the fly buzzing around the Oval Office had more brain cells and more of an attention span than Donald Trump.
6
Congratulations, Maureen. You've hit him where it hurts. In Trump's so-called "masculine" world where you're either strong or weak, calling him weak means everything.
Let's just hope he is out of office before the North Korean menace takes its final form. A commander-in-chief who focuses on getting transgenders out of the armed forces rather than doing his job of protecting the nation and prefers to cozy up to Putin and attack members of our own justice department for no other discernible reason than that they may unearth his shady financial dealings with Russia is unfit for office.
Let's just hope he is out of office before the North Korean menace takes its final form. A commander-in-chief who focuses on getting transgenders out of the armed forces rather than doing his job of protecting the nation and prefers to cozy up to Putin and attack members of our own justice department for no other discernible reason than that they may unearth his shady financial dealings with Russia is unfit for office.
6
Why is Trump at war with the country, with his own people?
Married many times, divorced many times, he probably has become numb and cannot feel anything for anyone, except his daughter (he hasn't thrown her under the bus yet). If people are smart they should talk to his daughter who could perhaps talk some sense into him. That is, if she too isn't carrying the same Papa genes "he’s the head of his own “beautiful,” us-against-them movement, “the likes of which the world has never seen.”
Married many times, divorced many times, he probably has become numb and cannot feel anything for anyone, except his daughter (he hasn't thrown her under the bus yet). If people are smart they should talk to his daughter who could perhaps talk some sense into him. That is, if she too isn't carrying the same Papa genes "he’s the head of his own “beautiful,” us-against-them movement, “the likes of which the world has never seen.”
2
An under reported incident this week: Trump met with a 97 year-old World War II veteran. When he learned that the man was from Ohio, he launched into his usual self-praise on how he won Ohio. He couldn't spare even a few moments for an old man who gave more to his country that Trump ever would.
13
I keep laughing thinking about how he had a ghostwriter come up with a book called "The Art of the Deal." Government isn't run like a business, and he's finding that out.
5
"Trump is weak."
We have a winner--this slogan will drive him crazy.
We have a winner--this slogan will drive him crazy.
3
Or Donald and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week could be title.......
1
Focus on what the majority of forward thinking decent voting Americans can do to make change happen. We still and always will have the right to vote and with diligent work those who bleleive in the America of decency, opportunity and fairness will prevail.
Unfortunately that may never include those who blindly follow evil, malicious, leaders. Witness the fact that there are still those in America who domtnie to support Hitler.
Unfortunately that may never include those who blindly follow evil, malicious, leaders. Witness the fact that there are still those in America who domtnie to support Hitler.
2
Don't worry, Maureen -- he will be showing us all an eroding mountaintop of weakness. The first crumbles are just starting to roll.
Count me among those tiring of the Friday synopsis as "Trump's worst week". It's becoming obvious there won't be a "best".
2
Please STOP calling that abomination in the White House "president" anything. I refuse to read articles blaring that signifier in its headlines.
3
Or, he could just nuke North Korea now, because he can -- which might actually be a plus.
1
A dangerous animal when wounded may be more frightening. I hope congress has the smarts and courage to do what is needed
2
Can we now re-label "Trump Tower" as "Loser Tower"? Too soon?
2
If Republicans think Trump is "the head of his own “beautiful,” us-against-them movement, “the likes of which the world has never seen.”", they should read some history. Our democracy is more stable than that of pre-Hitler Germany, but we've seen this before. And the Republicans that are allowing this to go on because they want to hang onto power and believe they can control Trump's worst impulses should ask themselves how that worked out for Germany when Hitler took over.
3
Trump's impotence vis a vis the Congress is simply a mirror into who he always was. He was never successful in business, never respected by those whose respect he sought, never a closer. As for his chief acolyte, "the Mooch", he should take his show on the road...America's Got Talent comes to mind.
2
George Steinbrenner? Really? I thought he was Roy Cohn's protege.
1
Your column today reminds me of the story of just 2 or 3 days ago. That is the "hot mic" story reporting of a brief senator-to-senator conversation between Collins and Reed - New Englanders - members of different political parties but that matters very little right now. It went something like, 'I think he's (Trump) is crazy.' The response from the gentlewoman of Maine went something like , 'I'm worried.' Believe me - we are all worried... and then some. Maureen, where do think we should go from here? Every day brings more brazen, unglued, and unhinged behavior. There is just so much hatred and lies coming from Trump we can absorb - and toss-off. We're coming strategically close to the end I hope. We can take it. The let's start cleaning up the moral mess this man made.
2
Bunch of amateurs in the WH who do not understand the legislative process are hamstrung by a man who knows little and wants to learn less. Sir, you cannot make laws by snapping your fingers nor by making threats. If you spent more time listening to Congressional leaders and less time on the golf course, you might have proposed something to replace ACA. "Nobody knew healthcare was so complicated." Everyone but you knew it.
Impeachment cannot come soon enough. I dislike Pence ideologically, but he does know the legislative process.
Impeachment cannot come soon enough. I dislike Pence ideologically, but he does know the legislative process.
3
DJT, like OJ, know that in our capitalist democracy a lot of money and a host of good lawyers can keep you out of jail indefinitely. Even Leona Helmsley couldn't figure that out. I guess that makes him "smart". Staying out of jail and becoming President of the United States of America, "the greatest country in the world", elevates him into the genius category!
I guess....
I guess....
1
Good, Maureen, you're getting back in form.
AMEN.....
Progress: MB doesn't mention Hillary.
"Trump is trapped in a caricature of masculinity that corrodes his judgment."
Regress: gender is never the point when discussing sociopaths, MD
"Trump is trapped in a caricature of masculinity that corrodes his judgment."
Regress: gender is never the point when discussing sociopaths, MD
3
Trump's ugly treatment of others is a reflection of how he sees himself. Only in dictatorships or monarchies have we seen such unaccountable behavior. His Three Card Monte approach to governing has deflected attention from those problems our government should be working to solve and from Trump's obvious concerns about his motives to protect Putin, who is clearly playing him and our country. His total disregard for basic principals of the separation of power and the rule of law suggest that he believes that he is a dictator and/or perhaps just madder than the proverbial hatter.
1
The readers of the Times have completely analyzed Trump. Trump will
not change. He is on the track to impeachment. His business
dealings with Russia will sink him. No happy endings for the Emperor.
not change. He is on the track to impeachment. His business
dealings with Russia will sink him. No happy endings for the Emperor.
1
When is the president going to start leading as a president should and quit acting like a grade school boy?
The South, along with a handful of angry swing states, got their man - a racist driven to undo the accomplishments of America's first African-American president. President Obama's administration was intelligent, thoughtful, and prudent. Trump is a fool, liar, and cheat, his administration a disgrace. We pray he doesn't tweet the country into war, either trade or hot. But the trend is not encouraging, as the somewhat sensible are replaced by the entirely wacky.
Impeach now. Before the catastrophe.
Impeach now. Before the catastrophe.
4
Don't blame the South, New York incubated this disgusting human being.
1
This man is a total disaster as president. He is unqualified, vulgar, inept and is probably in debt to the Russians which makes any decisions he makes about them suspect.
We have a con man sitting in the Oval Office, running the country via executive orders, insulting anyone and anything that gets in his way and surrounded by a bunch of sycophants that fear for their jobs every single day.
We are the laughing stock of the world even as they fear that this cretin can wreak havoc via twitter.
These are such dark days for my country and I think the worst is yet to come.
We have a con man sitting in the Oval Office, running the country via executive orders, insulting anyone and anything that gets in his way and surrounded by a bunch of sycophants that fear for their jobs every single day.
We are the laughing stock of the world even as they fear that this cretin can wreak havoc via twitter.
These are such dark days for my country and I think the worst is yet to come.
3
Trump's been a loser since the day he was born.
2
Trump is the WORST/LOSER president in American history in just SIX months. It is time to jettison him and his family from the "people's house"!
2
It appears we have a front office full of rivalry and ego, personality, and vindictiveness.. On the democratic side, we have bitterness and vendettas left over from their loss. This does not bode well for serving the people, if that what government is still remotely about. What will it take to break the ice in this era of a reporters dream come true.
1
Wow, there are some wonderful comments flowing in this stream tonight.
1
Donald Trump never progressed from the candidate kicking black protesters out of campaign rallies, while offering to pay legal fees of their aggressors.
Would he tell those Suffolk police officers he'd pay their legal costs-- so go ahead with acts of brutality as they do their daily jobs?
If you asked him to define "due process," Trump couldn't venture a guess.
In a vindictive, hateful tirade, his own communications director said he'll "kill the leakers." Kill???
We knew this about Donald Trump long before the election. Years ago he wanted those innocent kids arrested in the Central Park murders given the death penalty--and advertised it in multiple newspapers. Didn't even wait for the police investigation, which exonerated those kids!
Leadership and influence? He's doesn't buy into notions of fair treatment through our legal process of administrative justice! We have a president who just called for more police brutality.
Would he tell those Suffolk police officers he'd pay their legal costs-- so go ahead with acts of brutality as they do their daily jobs?
If you asked him to define "due process," Trump couldn't venture a guess.
In a vindictive, hateful tirade, his own communications director said he'll "kill the leakers." Kill???
We knew this about Donald Trump long before the election. Years ago he wanted those innocent kids arrested in the Central Park murders given the death penalty--and advertised it in multiple newspapers. Didn't even wait for the police investigation, which exonerated those kids!
Leadership and influence? He's doesn't buy into notions of fair treatment through our legal process of administrative justice! We have a president who just called for more police brutality.
2
Our only hope is that Republicans stand up to Trump and call him out for what he is, i.e., what we all know and they do, too. This guy has got to go down and soon.
1
It's imperative that we get rid of Trump and do it fast. Mueller must wrap up the investigation and give us what he has. We don't have another six months. Has compromised and unqualified as Pence is, he is far better than Trump. Trump has no philosophy and his base either don't care or don't know it.
It is quite amazing how the evangelicals like Donald Trump. Could there ever be a person who is further from Jesus Christ? Donald Trump is not only mean and cruel, but he enjoys it too. Never underestimate that kind of evil. Mean, cruel and anger are a powerful force, and Donald Trump has it in spades. He's the king of the jackals. The Devils disciple. And he's won over maybe 30% of the American people. The other 70% and the rest of the world look on with astonishment that someone so vile could be liked by anyone.
How are these people different? Do they go to the movies and root the Darth Vader's? Are they so miserable that they want other people to be as miserable?
Books will be written about this 30%. They're very much like the people in hitler's Germany. They related to that mean and anger, blame everybody else personality. The difference between Trump and Hitler is that Hitler was a bit of an intellectual.
Trump is just all dumb. His strong suit is his evil.
Never underestimate him. It is written!
It is quite amazing how the evangelicals like Donald Trump. Could there ever be a person who is further from Jesus Christ? Donald Trump is not only mean and cruel, but he enjoys it too. Never underestimate that kind of evil. Mean, cruel and anger are a powerful force, and Donald Trump has it in spades. He's the king of the jackals. The Devils disciple. And he's won over maybe 30% of the American people. The other 70% and the rest of the world look on with astonishment that someone so vile could be liked by anyone.
How are these people different? Do they go to the movies and root the Darth Vader's? Are they so miserable that they want other people to be as miserable?
Books will be written about this 30%. They're very much like the people in hitler's Germany. They related to that mean and anger, blame everybody else personality. The difference between Trump and Hitler is that Hitler was a bit of an intellectual.
Trump is just all dumb. His strong suit is his evil.
Never underestimate him. It is written!
3
The world should on alert. A bully whose weakness is exposed looks for someone to beat up. He's already been to Syria. Most other likely targets will be more problematic, but that may not be a concern for our bully-in-chief.
1
Nice try Maureen. You made a career of maligning the Clintons and now I'm supposed to cheer you on for a Trump attack column? Forget it.
4
Dear Maureen:
We all long for past days and your misgivings concerning Barack and Hillary. Now when we have a real turkey, you are really earning your pay.
Each one of us wakes each morning looking for the Headline "President Trump Resigns," or "President Trump Subpoenaed," or President Trump Indicted."
But he is ferocious when it comes to the idea of his failing in the Presidency and he will do anything and hire anyone whom he believes can bend justice if in fact he is deserving to be ousted. He is not a patriot, and he just ignores consequences probably because he has always escaped before at others' expense.
We're all hoping we can get legitimately get rid of him by Christmas.
;
We all long for past days and your misgivings concerning Barack and Hillary. Now when we have a real turkey, you are really earning your pay.
Each one of us wakes each morning looking for the Headline "President Trump Resigns," or "President Trump Subpoenaed," or President Trump Indicted."
But he is ferocious when it comes to the idea of his failing in the Presidency and he will do anything and hire anyone whom he believes can bend justice if in fact he is deserving to be ousted. He is not a patriot, and he just ignores consequences probably because he has always escaped before at others' expense.
We're all hoping we can get legitimately get rid of him by Christmas.
;
3
Trump is the creepy, obnoxious rich guy. The 'rich' part gets him a modicum of inclusion but most people just want him to stay home. Oh no, he's here.
New Yorkers never wanted him and we sure didn't support him for POTUS.
Trump belongs to the GOP Congress now. What are they going to do with their mean, lazy bully boy?
Here's hoping he retires to Florida.
New Yorkers never wanted him and we sure didn't support him for POTUS.
Trump belongs to the GOP Congress now. What are they going to do with their mean, lazy bully boy?
Here's hoping he retires to Florida.
2
"as flies to wanton boys,”
Trump: huh?
Trump: huh?
1
All bullies are weak. But they're so brash and demanding that people don't see it at first. But eventually they do and then begin pushing back. When that happens bullies become victims with very convincing self-pity stories; whining that they're misunderstood, have had hard lives, blah blah blah.
It's also important to understand that weak people are not harmless. It's their very neediness and self pity that helps them insinuate themselves into the lives of others. That's where they wreak the most havoc.
It's also important to understand that weak people are not harmless. It's their very neediness and self pity that helps them insinuate themselves into the lives of others. That's where they wreak the most havoc.
4
Lost in time I can't count the words
I said when I thought they went unheard
All of those harsh thoughts so unkind
'cos I wanted you
And now I sit here I'm all alone
So here sits a bloody mess, tears fly home
A circle of angels, deep in war
'cos I wanted you
Weak as I am, no tears for you
Deep as I am, I'm no one's fool
Weak as I am,
am I too much for you?
I said when I thought they went unheard
All of those harsh thoughts so unkind
'cos I wanted you
And now I sit here I'm all alone
So here sits a bloody mess, tears fly home
A circle of angels, deep in war
'cos I wanted you
Weak as I am, no tears for you
Deep as I am, I'm no one's fool
Weak as I am,
am I too much for you?
"a great negotiator and closer" who keeps stepping on his own ..... message. and never seems to get anything done (but tweets a great ballgame).
1
Where is the Parliamentary system when we need it? 3-and-a-half more years of this ....?
1
I'm waiting for Trump to lay his junk on the bar and attack North Korea sentencing millions of South Koreans to death.
2
Donald Trump loves epithets: Little Marco, Lyin' Ted, Crooked Hillary. Now we have just the right one for him: Weak Donnie. Let's use it relentlessly.
2
maureen is still one of the very best saying it as it is - but with her characteristic powerful punches. the one about how WEAK trump really is takes the cake.
only Gail Collins shares the helm of the best humor writing. thanks a lot, ladies.
we sure can use some laughing these days. and, given what Robert Mueller undoubtedly will present us ( oh, well, trump) with soon, humor would be a good
element to keep around. chin up all. the end is just beyond the horizon of a few more weeks like the one just ended.
only Gail Collins shares the helm of the best humor writing. thanks a lot, ladies.
we sure can use some laughing these days. and, given what Robert Mueller undoubtedly will present us ( oh, well, trump) with soon, humor would be a good
element to keep around. chin up all. the end is just beyond the horizon of a few more weeks like the one just ended.
1
Trump can't get it through his head that Putin wanted him to win simply because Putin knew Trump would behave as a chaotic lunatic.
2
Dismissing Reince Priebus and his difficult-to-pronounce-or-spell name - a clear violation then not a violation of the "i before e except..." rhyme/rule - may temporarily bolster the Trump Kool-Aid Drinkers, but you can bet by the vertical fold in Trump's wattle he'll pile up another two or three nonsensical personnel moves, inane and needy tweets or stupid speeches in the coming week as further proof The Emperor Has No Clothes.
1
It is obvious after 6 months in the White House that Trump only has one arrow in his quiver...bullying.
2
According to Browder's testimony: after putting Khodorkovsky behind bars, the other Oligarchs asked Putin what he wanted. Putin's answer was simple: 50%.
Maybe Trump is that simple, too. He wants his cut.
Trump may seem weak, right now. Just like he seemed, a year ago.
Maybe Trump is that simple, too. He wants his cut.
Trump may seem weak, right now. Just like he seemed, a year ago.
2
This has morphed into a cult. Sometimes I listen to Trump supporters and I think of Jim Jones. THESE FOLKS BELIEVE! And Trump is their messiah saving them from that black guy and that crooked woman and those evil liberals. Millions (scary itself) of them love the man and the tea. How many others who voted for this guy have seen the curtain pulled back to see a cruel, little man with frightening power?
3
Melania has great variety in her fashion model wardrobe, and Donald has variety in his bully garb and roles.
Beauty and the Beast, now residing in the White House.
Beauty and the Beast, now residing in the White House.
2
Of course there was a fly in the Oval Office. Flies are usually found where decaying organic filth is.
3
But...but...but... What about Hillary's emails, Maureen?
3
Evil people like the young leader of North Korea can usually read people. He can't read Trump. After Sacramucci's rant about firing many innocent people in order to fire the leaker, even Kim Jun Un is worried that he may be faced with an administration as unethical as his own...which means hiding among human shields might not work in a nuclear exchange. He missed a large meeting this week in Korea after the CIA comment about regime change. If he reads the New Yorker interview, he may pass over into actual paranoia.
1
Failed marriages. Failed businesses. Draft deferments based on alleged "heel spurs." Phony hair and phony tan. Phony marriage. He pretended at least once to be his own "press agent."
He lies as a matter of habit. He brags about things known to be, or otherwise easily provenience be false. He derides whoever is not in the crowd at the moment.
He encourages violence while whining like a child about being treated unfairly. He cannot speak coherently. He has a poor (if any) memory. He will not accept responsibility for the failures all around him, exploding like firecrackers at the end of the fireworks show on the 4th of July.
He is about as nasty a person as has ever been known. He is worse than Scrooge, as he has no redeeming qualities. It's as if he were put in our midst in order to create the story necessary to write another parable in the Old Testament.
As Ricky would have said, "Ay yi yi!"
He lies as a matter of habit. He brags about things known to be, or otherwise easily provenience be false. He derides whoever is not in the crowd at the moment.
He encourages violence while whining like a child about being treated unfairly. He cannot speak coherently. He has a poor (if any) memory. He will not accept responsibility for the failures all around him, exploding like firecrackers at the end of the fireworks show on the 4th of July.
He is about as nasty a person as has ever been known. He is worse than Scrooge, as he has no redeeming qualities. It's as if he were put in our midst in order to create the story necessary to write another parable in the Old Testament.
As Ricky would have said, "Ay yi yi!"
574
Have a listen to an old Who song from the mid-Sixties featuring John Entwistle on lead vocals : 'Silas Stingy'. It evokes a Trump-like character down to a tee.....
1
If I had a crown, I would place it on your noble head.
Trump's focus on MS-13 is a joke, given that his immigration policies make it harder for Central American immigrants to fight against MS-13 using traditional means. Trump is creating war on the streets and he is asking the police to get more aggressive to deal with it. Everything Trump does is just more and more aggressive, yet the man himself never was willing to fight in Vietnam. Just a classic testosterone driven bully that loves chaos, yet whines when the chaos attacks him.
287
I would say it is more likely a low level of testosterone which is driving Trump's paranoid sickness.
1
I don't think this series will be renewed.
3
I bet the only reason Trump hasn't fired Bannon is that he is afraid to. Bannon could effectively blackmail Trump. All he has to do is threaten to go back to Breitbart and tell secrets, or for that matter tell lies, and some part of Trump's base would be gone.
14
It's a pretty pathetic day in our history as a nation when our Congress has to protect a sitting president against his own worst enemy, himself. But, I've got to hand it to this Keystone Kops-like Republican-led Congress. If they never get anything else accomplished for the next 3 1/2 (long, long) years, they actually did a good deed...they protected us, the American people, and prevented the unfit Mr. Trump from his goal to be king of "his realm" or dictator of "his Banana Republic." They have begun to take away his power and put the kibosh on his questionable bromance with Putin.
And, Ms Dowd, your comparison with Bosch...well, I can not think of a better pictorial comparison when visualizing this administration. It is not only The Last Judgment which comes to mind, but also the artist's Garden of Delights. Scary, downright scary.
And, Ms Dowd, your comparison with Bosch...well, I can not think of a better pictorial comparison when visualizing this administration. It is not only The Last Judgment which comes to mind, but also the artist's Garden of Delights. Scary, downright scary.
205
I find this so-called president and his new Mooch horrifying. Here are two reprehensible men who somehow got Ivy-League degrees but went out of their way to avoid acquiring an education. Two crude dudes who show vast wealth cannot buy an iota of class or grace or substance, just air time on Fox News.
To hear that Boy Scouts were encouraged to boo former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is to be reminded of the young Nazi Brown Shirts. Ugly is putting it mildly.
Who will spare us this nightmare? Certainly not the Republicans who ushered in a hateful era and tried but so far failed to upend decent healthcare for Americans. To those who are happy with this mess, I ask, how could you do this to our country?
To hear that Boy Scouts were encouraged to boo former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is to be reminded of the young Nazi Brown Shirts. Ugly is putting it mildly.
Who will spare us this nightmare? Certainly not the Republicans who ushered in a hateful era and tried but so far failed to upend decent healthcare for Americans. To those who are happy with this mess, I ask, how could you do this to our country?
827
When will their Ivy League schools retract their degrees?
1
To ReggieM
In reality, this is an enlightening moment. Just as the subjects in the former monarchies in Europe (France and Russia, to name two) became aware of the holllowness of their titled heads' legitmacy, we can now see how an Ivy League 'pedigree' or prestigious career at Wall Street or international banking are of zero worth, too. These self-appointed élite structures survive thanks to cronyism and mutual blackmail to keep each other in line. Don't worry, they will all fall with a great noise someday soon, too. How's Lehmann Brothers doing today, ha ha ha?
In reality, this is an enlightening moment. Just as the subjects in the former monarchies in Europe (France and Russia, to name two) became aware of the holllowness of their titled heads' legitmacy, we can now see how an Ivy League 'pedigree' or prestigious career at Wall Street or international banking are of zero worth, too. These self-appointed élite structures survive thanks to cronyism and mutual blackmail to keep each other in line. Don't worry, they will all fall with a great noise someday soon, too. How's Lehmann Brothers doing today, ha ha ha?
1
“Despotism can only exist in darkness, and there are too many lights now in the political firmament, to permit it to remain anywhere, as it has heretofore done, almost everywhere.” -- James Madison
11
Reince Priebus is just a bystander and harbinger of the Trump cancer on the Republic. In attacking Mr. T and his Court Jester Scaramucci (from Commedia del Arte - literally, a stock Italian clown), Maureen Dowd misses the main outcome from last week's circus: by replacing Priebus with General Kelly (whose appointment as Chief of Staff was universally welcomed), our Leader step one toward a military dictatorship. General Kelly is not just a General - he is also a true believer in the might and right of the military. Trump is following Erdogan's and all other tyrants' path to control by force. Faced with political impotence and public ridicule, he instated military control inside the White House and press, with support from every news outlet and critic of his Administration. Civilian government floundered. Trump brought in the power and order that the military can enforce - like Hitler, Mussolini, Caesar, Putin etc. When will Donald order his uniform with gold epaulets? For all their dedicated sleuthing, the NYTimes and WaPo are missing the Big Picture; Last week, the White House made progress on all fronts - destroying civil government and imposing a dictatorship while the Congress and media focused on an impotent skirmish over healthcare in which no one could win. Coming soon: a national emergency such as an attack on the homeland when Trump will declare martial law. That's what tyrants do. Just because Trump's a dunce doesn't mean he's not also evil.
562
Like the Marxists used to say, 'things have to get worse before they get better'. This seems to be the case in point in the United States right now under the sway of the Trump regime.
It is a privilege to still be able to comment on these pages. I foresee a time this year when the NYT, the Washington Post, and other serious organs of the press will come under the clampdown of some spurious presidential decree, perhaps even a state of emergency called to strike down all 'dissident' thought and expression.
It is a privilege to still be able to comment on these pages. I foresee a time this year when the NYT, the Washington Post, and other serious organs of the press will come under the clampdown of some spurious presidential decree, perhaps even a state of emergency called to strike down all 'dissident' thought and expression.
1
Enough outrage, let's get this thing done. Our country has had a coup: the mad king has set his family against us and will corrupt our institutions and values to protect them. His nepotism has badly compromised justice. The Trumps are a family of ruthless business people that have no business running a democracy built on enlightenment values of which they are all clearly ignorant. Our elected officials in Congress and the Senate and the Justice need to do what our blessed free press has been doing and speak truth to power. Impeach or demand resignation. Let's get our country back.
20
To Bright Blue-
TODAY, do what is necessary to set up a National Salvation Front to take America back from the worthless. YOU have got the power of the internet which Ceaucescu's opponents lacked back in the 1980s! Look at how Smartphones were so instrumental in the Arab Spring as recently as 2011!
What are you waiting for? Anything else smacks of collaboration with the enemy and self-loathing!
TODAY, do what is necessary to set up a National Salvation Front to take America back from the worthless. YOU have got the power of the internet which Ceaucescu's opponents lacked back in the 1980s! Look at how Smartphones were so instrumental in the Arab Spring as recently as 2011!
What are you waiting for? Anything else smacks of collaboration with the enemy and self-loathing!
1
Ms. Dowd, Aren't you glad you kept critciizing President Obama, in retrospect? Aren't you glad that you criticized Ms. Clinton more than Mr. Trump? It is sad that you did not have foresight.
27
We are all embarrassed by our current president. Yes, but what are we going to do about it? I, for one, am holding my breath, only temporarily. I write to my Senators and give them my opinions, urging them to be patriots. We live in a very perilous time, both politically and globally. I can only hope that we survive.
12
To Cliff
None of them care. At least 'Scaramouche Scaramouche Can You Do the Fandango' is a relative breath of fresh air. He pulls no punches, reveals what the political class in the United States is all about.
None of them care. At least 'Scaramouche Scaramouche Can You Do the Fandango' is a relative breath of fresh air. He pulls no punches, reveals what the political class in the United States is all about.
Curiouser and Curiouser. So glad to realize that I had not yet sold as "used" my illuminated copy of the "Big Book of the Compleat Works of Hieronymus Bosch." It will be a wonderful reference during the next three and a halve years.
There is quite a cast of satellites either circling around President Trump or spinning wildly out of control in their orbits around him. Generals, Senators, Press Secretaries, Communications Directors, Family Members, -- an entire nation and its citizenry at his disposal to use as he sees fit.
Mr. Priebus had to go. He and most of the others who have already gone were weak link fill-ins from the get go. This Administration was staffed on the premise of having been jerry-rigged overnight between November 8 and November 9, 2016. There had been no expectation of Mr. Trump winning the Election. Fortunately these "temps" have had a shorty shelf-half life. They represent the type and style of flexible government that this nation needs. We have seen far too many Administrations become bogged down with the lists of the names of "the usual suspects" running the country. The best advice these employees can be given is to rent (short-term) not buy. Who better than the ultimate deal-maker to be your landlord?
There is quite a cast of satellites either circling around President Trump or spinning wildly out of control in their orbits around him. Generals, Senators, Press Secretaries, Communications Directors, Family Members, -- an entire nation and its citizenry at his disposal to use as he sees fit.
Mr. Priebus had to go. He and most of the others who have already gone were weak link fill-ins from the get go. This Administration was staffed on the premise of having been jerry-rigged overnight between November 8 and November 9, 2016. There had been no expectation of Mr. Trump winning the Election. Fortunately these "temps" have had a shorty shelf-half life. They represent the type and style of flexible government that this nation needs. We have seen far too many Administrations become bogged down with the lists of the names of "the usual suspects" running the country. The best advice these employees can be given is to rent (short-term) not buy. Who better than the ultimate deal-maker to be your landlord?
3
Trump is really bringing out the best in Dowd.
7
Good column. Keep hammering away NYT writers!
2
What could be weaker than that? I expect we will find out soon.
Trump constantly acts in ways that would be unacceptable in a first level manager. They seem designed to destroy the motivation of his own team.
He doesn't understand health insurance. He doesn't understand that changing the rules to allow a simple majority won't help if you can't get a simple majority. He doesn't understand basic things about government I understood in eighth grade when I visited the capitol. He has little consistent policy - I am not sure he even cares what the government does as long as it looks like he is a winner. He fancies himself the great negotiator, but he doesn't seem to ever understand the people he is negotiating with.
How did this man survive in business? He seems to be the worst businessman I've ever seen.
Trump constantly acts in ways that would be unacceptable in a first level manager. They seem designed to destroy the motivation of his own team.
He doesn't understand health insurance. He doesn't understand that changing the rules to allow a simple majority won't help if you can't get a simple majority. He doesn't understand basic things about government I understood in eighth grade when I visited the capitol. He has little consistent policy - I am not sure he even cares what the government does as long as it looks like he is a winner. He fancies himself the great negotiator, but he doesn't seem to ever understand the people he is negotiating with.
How did this man survive in business? He seems to be the worst businessman I've ever seen.
10
The sad truth is that Trump could be here for many, many years. Voter suppression in America is on the rise and with the Kobach commission, about to rise even faster. As Secretary of State in Kansas, Kobach made it impossible for 1 in 7 Kansas voters to vote. We are kidding ourselves if we think these folks were republicans. And just this morning a new report came out about how quick and easy it is to hack into our voting machine. We can write about all the drama, the dirty words, the firings in the White House, and the tweets but unless we protect our right to vote in 2018 we will live in this nightmare for years to come. We cannot " throw the bums out" if our votes don't count. This is the issue that deserves our attention and action.
15
To Lynn
An excellent assertion. I grow weary with the complacent apologists' bromide that the honest citizen need only exercise his/her civic duty to eliminate the corrupt and the mediocre. Not only does the American system provide limited choices, the electoral system is thoroughly hamstrung with questionable voting methods and lack of a papertrail. You MUST demand an international team of observers to monitor the next legislative elections to eliminate irregularities.
An excellent assertion. I grow weary with the complacent apologists' bromide that the honest citizen need only exercise his/her civic duty to eliminate the corrupt and the mediocre. Not only does the American system provide limited choices, the electoral system is thoroughly hamstrung with questionable voting methods and lack of a papertrail. You MUST demand an international team of observers to monitor the next legislative elections to eliminate irregularities.
1
Ms. Dowd, so many journalists and opinion columnists try to explain to us what's behind the horrible behavior of this increasingly evil man. You've been around Washington politics for many years and have seen many personalities come and go--good, bad and in between. Can you suggest what can be done about this dangerous demon in the Oval Office? Please!
3
"When they go low, we go high". By now we are soaring but cannot reach the heights necessary to counter the depths to which Trump and the GOP will sink.
In Greek mythology, Icarus, who was given wings of feathers and wax to escape the Labyrinth created by his father Daedalus, was warned by his father not fly too low, letting his wings get clogged by the sea mist (complacency) or too high, letting them melt from the heat of the sun (hubris). Exalted by "trying his wings", he ignored is father's warnings and erred toward hubris - and we all know how that ends.
But with Trump et.al. the real danger is going too low, erring toward complacency, letting your wings get fouled before you start and plunging back uselessly into the vastness of do nothing.
As low as they go, as often as they go there, we must continue to go high - and higher still - in order to keep what they do from being perceived as "normal" - their deaths of a thousand cuts not just to each other but to our country, our culture, our society, our government - our pride and our way of life. Each cut must be mended as they make it, lest even the least of them fester and infect the whole body, or are too many to overcome.
We must dare to skirt hubris - to fight with pride but not "foolish pride" and resist with great confidence but not "dangerous overconfidence".
I for one dare risk singeing my wings to fight the good fight to win America back - and I know I'm not alone - not nearly.
In Greek mythology, Icarus, who was given wings of feathers and wax to escape the Labyrinth created by his father Daedalus, was warned by his father not fly too low, letting his wings get clogged by the sea mist (complacency) or too high, letting them melt from the heat of the sun (hubris). Exalted by "trying his wings", he ignored is father's warnings and erred toward hubris - and we all know how that ends.
But with Trump et.al. the real danger is going too low, erring toward complacency, letting your wings get fouled before you start and plunging back uselessly into the vastness of do nothing.
As low as they go, as often as they go there, we must continue to go high - and higher still - in order to keep what they do from being perceived as "normal" - their deaths of a thousand cuts not just to each other but to our country, our culture, our society, our government - our pride and our way of life. Each cut must be mended as they make it, lest even the least of them fester and infect the whole body, or are too many to overcome.
We must dare to skirt hubris - to fight with pride but not "foolish pride" and resist with great confidence but not "dangerous overconfidence".
I for one dare risk singeing my wings to fight the good fight to win America back - and I know I'm not alone - not nearly.
4
This may be true but it is a poor example of the irony of his statement describing how the gang kills slowly, painfully, so that they can enjoy watching that much more. "They are animals."
That is what he is doing, or wants to do in a bigger scale, along with 49 other Republican Senators...to watch 30,000 + Americans slowly die every year because of lack of health access, medications or even adequate basic nourishment. This chosen group for their disdain includes people of all ages, from infants, children, to the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, the defenseless. They represent the inconvenient truth of the richest Nation in the World, the human refuse they would conveniently sweep away if they could. According to their sick Republican logic most of these are where they are because they lack the will power to succeed.
Were morally bankrupt. Donald Trump embodies many of the things that are ugly and reprehensible in a human being.
we will pay a very steep price for electing this man President of the USA while ignoring his serious flaws that were much in evidence during the long campaign.
They dream of an America that will never return and only exists in their dreams. We share this one and only world with 7 billion other people and what we we do here, or is done elsewhere, will all affect us one way or another. It is time to grow up.
That is what he is doing, or wants to do in a bigger scale, along with 49 other Republican Senators...to watch 30,000 + Americans slowly die every year because of lack of health access, medications or even adequate basic nourishment. This chosen group for their disdain includes people of all ages, from infants, children, to the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, the defenseless. They represent the inconvenient truth of the richest Nation in the World, the human refuse they would conveniently sweep away if they could. According to their sick Republican logic most of these are where they are because they lack the will power to succeed.
Were morally bankrupt. Donald Trump embodies many of the things that are ugly and reprehensible in a human being.
we will pay a very steep price for electing this man President of the USA while ignoring his serious flaws that were much in evidence during the long campaign.
They dream of an America that will never return and only exists in their dreams. We share this one and only world with 7 billion other people and what we we do here, or is done elsewhere, will all affect us one way or another. It is time to grow up.
7
Yet again, Donald Trump reveals himself uncannily, in his denunciation of others.
3
More shrieking by the left at what they can't control.
1
Sorry it's not left or right. The GOP is equally baffled. There's only a ever decreasing tiny sliver of folks in this country who can tolerate Trump.
2
Hieronymus Bosch would have been far less bright and sunny and uplifting had he foreseen Donald J. Trump "slouching towards Bethlehem."
5
"The dark pandemonium of the Trump West Wing has become a wormy scene worthy of Hieronymus Bosch."
The worse our national situation gets under the deranged, demagogic Trump and the rotted out GOP, the better Maureen's writing gets.
As a spot-on description of the bizarre political times in which live, this column is it--from the opening photo of Hieronymus Bosch's 16th century depiction of "The Last Judgment" to Maureen's searing characterization of our improbable President Trump's psychological disintegration, debacle, and crazed, ham-handed destruction of our democracy--a democracy that once served as an inspiration and model for the world.
Alas, in only a few short months of the Trump Administration, we have become the hypocrites, fools, and laughing stock of the world.
By some miracle, we survived George W. Bush and the diabolical Dick Cheney, but I am really beginning to wonder whether we can survive Trump and the merciless, thoroughly corrupt GOP.
Where there is a will there is a way, but given Trump and the GOP's slavish voters and a severely ineffectual and weakened party of opposition, I don't know if there is the will, and I have no idea what the way back to sanity and democracy is.
The worse our national situation gets under the deranged, demagogic Trump and the rotted out GOP, the better Maureen's writing gets.
As a spot-on description of the bizarre political times in which live, this column is it--from the opening photo of Hieronymus Bosch's 16th century depiction of "The Last Judgment" to Maureen's searing characterization of our improbable President Trump's psychological disintegration, debacle, and crazed, ham-handed destruction of our democracy--a democracy that once served as an inspiration and model for the world.
Alas, in only a few short months of the Trump Administration, we have become the hypocrites, fools, and laughing stock of the world.
By some miracle, we survived George W. Bush and the diabolical Dick Cheney, but I am really beginning to wonder whether we can survive Trump and the merciless, thoroughly corrupt GOP.
Where there is a will there is a way, but given Trump and the GOP's slavish voters and a severely ineffectual and weakened party of opposition, I don't know if there is the will, and I have no idea what the way back to sanity and democracy is.
5
In describing Mr. Sessions, Ms. Dowd forgot to mention his backward views on race.
7
Instead of a barrage of articles bashing Trump, how about investigating why over 35% of the population still supports him? If readers of the NYT had an inkling as to why so many people on this country think the president is doing great, maybe you could try to change THEIR minds instead of continually preaching to the choir.
9
It's not possible to change their minds. Their enemy is the left, the forward movement of civilization. We just have to wait for them to die, and hope the next generation, at least 10%, join the ranks of living in this century.
2
I sometimes think Trump brings people like Priebus on board he feels somehow (in his paranoid mind) slighted him in some way or did not do his bidding just to ultimately humiliate them, sort of like a cat tortures a mouse before the mouse meets its final fate. We see this time and time again with people such as Comey who wouldn't do his bidding, and Christie who had scathing things to say about Trump during the primaries to name but two. Comey seeing himself being fired on television was probably the most humiliating experience so far of those no longer in the administration or attached to it in some way. Now it's Sessions who is feeling the claws graze him just enough to know that he is now in the clutches of his tormentor.
I was wondering what your brother Kevin thinks of the first stellar 6 months of this administration. He who wrote the sadistically gleeful column you graciously allowed him to write in your space last fall about Clinton's defeat in which he stated: "Democrats have instead become a party where incivility and bad manners are taken for granted, rudeness is routine, religion is mocked and there is absolutely no respect for a differing opinion."
Not thinking Democrats could come close to the incivility, bad manners, rudeness, or lack of respect of a differing opinion when it comes to Trump or his acolytes, especially the latest minion, Scaramucci.
I was wondering what your brother Kevin thinks of the first stellar 6 months of this administration. He who wrote the sadistically gleeful column you graciously allowed him to write in your space last fall about Clinton's defeat in which he stated: "Democrats have instead become a party where incivility and bad manners are taken for granted, rudeness is routine, religion is mocked and there is absolutely no respect for a differing opinion."
Not thinking Democrats could come close to the incivility, bad manners, rudeness, or lack of respect of a differing opinion when it comes to Trump or his acolytes, especially the latest minion, Scaramucci.
9
Even though his appointees have been at best mediocre, part of the executive branch issues (beyond the fact that Trump is incompetent (and I won't waste time with the other descriptive phrases that are true and used ad nauseam)) is the vast expanse of unfilled positions to keep the government going. He is unable to move from a single owner position to CEO and that will be his complete downfall especially when a crisis occurs (the Shrub's deer in the headlight look when told US has been attacked).
Maybe with him in charge it is for the best of the country to have an empty west wing to match the empty suit in charge
Maybe with him in charge it is for the best of the country to have an empty west wing to match the empty suit in charge
4
Ms. Dowd you need to find a different subject.
You're a good writer and I enjoy reading your prose but you helped getting Donzo the Clown elected. Everybody knows that. If you want to avoid further embarrassment you should write about puppies rather than expressing whatever this is supposed to be. Disappointment I guess, in the train wreck that you helped to engineer.
Do yourself a favor. Stay away from politics for the next couple of years.
You're a good writer and I enjoy reading your prose but you helped getting Donzo the Clown elected. Everybody knows that. If you want to avoid further embarrassment you should write about puppies rather than expressing whatever this is supposed to be. Disappointment I guess, in the train wreck that you helped to engineer.
Do yourself a favor. Stay away from politics for the next couple of years.
6
It was SAD to see all those uniformed police officers - whe enjoy tax payer paid health care applaud when Trump said "let Obamacare implode". I thought their profession is about protecting people.
6
If Donald Trump can be President, than an eight year old can be President. No difference in maturity, understanding or selfishness. between a eight year old and Donald Trump.
4
Hopefully, Kelly can bring some good order and discipline to the nest of lounge lizards in the West Wing. I doubt it. Trump is the most unqualified individual to ever hold the office of President. If Borglum had sculpted Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt and Lincoln with arms they would hold their noses at the moronic notion of Trump alongside them. His Presidential Library, which will have only the Cliff Notes versions of his 3 or 4 achievements, will likely be built in Moscow. Sad.
3
"can't get it done" Trump. Maybe that should be his nickname
4
Certainly Trump's 6 months of failure make clear his most serious case of electile dysfunction.
2
"Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."--John Stuart Mill
Notice that no mention was made of how women behave. Clearly, women--even Republican women--have more courage than their male counterparts. Sure, John McCain did a good thing--but only after 2 women gave him cover.
Notice that no mention was made of how women behave. Clearly, women--even Republican women--have more courage than their male counterparts. Sure, John McCain did a good thing--but only after 2 women gave him cover.
6
As I've suggested in other posts, between McCain's 'YES ' vote to open debate and his 'NO' vote against the bill, I had the thought he did that to 'shove it' down DT's throat - i.e., he knew Sens. Collins and Murkowski would be 'NO' votes and I thought (and hoped) he'd vote 'NO' for the final bill to add an exclamation point to the folly of 'R&R' or just, plain 'R' of the ACA. After all, the speech he gave immediately after was, in my view, pretty much spot on regarding the need to get back on a path of normalcy. Oh well - time will tell.
Best wishes to all
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
Best wishes to all
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
1
No one will have to wonder how history will treat this moment. It's already written here in the NYT by Dowd, Collins, Brooks, Bruni, Cohen, Kristof and the rest of their colleagues. Many of the commenters here will own a piece of writing what's happened in America since Martin Luther King had a dream.
It will be a story of how America got poisoned and sick and nearly died because of ruthless criminals and ignorance and bigotry.
And hopefully it will be a story of America's 2nd Revolution to cleanse ourselves again, hopefully soon and no later than 2018 elections.
It will be a story of how America got poisoned and sick and nearly died because of ruthless criminals and ignorance and bigotry.
And hopefully it will be a story of America's 2nd Revolution to cleanse ourselves again, hopefully soon and no later than 2018 elections.
3
Trump is getting a civics lesson in the three branches of government.
2
The whole world is horrified at the destruction of America as a force for good while making us the laughing stock of the world for not purging our body politic of this budding Caligula.
The man who lost the popular vote by almost 8 million votes and to his shock and surprise found himself elected president, eventhough he was wholly unqualified, totally inexperienced, a completely ignorant know nothing, who was born rich and who never ran any thing he did not own, or even dealt with people he either did not employ and coulld fire or whom he intended to cheat.
While who called himself a businessman, when he was really a fraud driven racketeer, who lies as easily as most people breath he thought that he was elected to be a king or a dictator. He has hollowed out government using the mafia as the template. He’s the boss, his cabinet are under bosses whose sole loyalty is to the boss.
For the boss to remain in power he needs a gang. Such people are usually called gangsters but at present they are called Republican members of the House and Senate. There is another gang called the resistance. They are almost evenly matched in the Senate and the entire House must soon stand for reelection. When the resistance gang takes over or some of the Trump gang start changing sides, King Trump and the royal family will be in deep dodo. Elections are coming and damaging votes are on the record. The GOP has proven that it cannot govern by themselves. Stop hurting the people!
The man who lost the popular vote by almost 8 million votes and to his shock and surprise found himself elected president, eventhough he was wholly unqualified, totally inexperienced, a completely ignorant know nothing, who was born rich and who never ran any thing he did not own, or even dealt with people he either did not employ and coulld fire or whom he intended to cheat.
While who called himself a businessman, when he was really a fraud driven racketeer, who lies as easily as most people breath he thought that he was elected to be a king or a dictator. He has hollowed out government using the mafia as the template. He’s the boss, his cabinet are under bosses whose sole loyalty is to the boss.
For the boss to remain in power he needs a gang. Such people are usually called gangsters but at present they are called Republican members of the House and Senate. There is another gang called the resistance. They are almost evenly matched in the Senate and the entire House must soon stand for reelection. When the resistance gang takes over or some of the Trump gang start changing sides, King Trump and the royal family will be in deep dodo. Elections are coming and damaging votes are on the record. The GOP has proven that it cannot govern by themselves. Stop hurting the people!
5
Can Mueller work a little faster?
5
Truth is out there. Unveiling it takes time but it will come out for sure. Truth wants to be known just has to.
2
Oh please, Oh please, Oh please!! However, the prospect of a Pence at the helm is almost if not equally fearsome. As a Nullifidian, I cannot tolerate the 'evangelizing' of the WH in derogation of Amendment I.
"Congressional Republicans are losing their fear of Trump, making ever more snarky comments about him. North Korea is shooting off missiles and the White House is flustered. The generals are resisting Trump’s tweet edicts. The mortified leader of the Boy Scouts had to apologize for the president’s suggestive and partisan speech.
And what could be weaker than that?"
President Pence.
And what could be weaker than that?"
President Pence.
6
It's hysterical to watch the fools like Sean Spicer, more recently Reince Priebus and Jeff Sessions, all establishment Republicans being removed by the petulant child that now occupies the White House and have them say they "want to honor" the president and what a "strong leader" Donald Trump is as they are thrown under the bus after weeks of public humiliation. These political hacks don't have any idea they've been made fools of in front of the entire country. Hardly my definition of men who took an oath to defend the nation from threats from the outside and from within. Not even my definition of real men by any stretch of the imagination. I understand the silence from the Republican enablers since they are simply interested in their twisted agenda, but to continue to defend this behavior by a true weakling who has accomplished nothing of note since taking office is insanity. This is clearly demonstrated in that the entire leadership of both political parties, the intelligence community and we the people who acknowledge the Russian interference in the November 2016 election, but Donald Trump is not convinced.
Even more pathetic is Hannity and other talking heads that now claim the shake-up with White House staff will be meaningful and the messaging will be better now that the used car salesman Anthony Scaramucci is on board. This guy is without doubt a class act. He "loves" the president. Come on people, what more could we ask for?
Even more pathetic is Hannity and other talking heads that now claim the shake-up with White House staff will be meaningful and the messaging will be better now that the used car salesman Anthony Scaramucci is on board. This guy is without doubt a class act. He "loves" the president. Come on people, what more could we ask for?
4
Animals raise their young, live simply taking only what they need to survive on this planet. Why compare vicious gangs to animals when humans do much worse?
2
Every week will be weak for this egocentric man-child. He is a thin-skinned, Twitter-obsessed legend in his own mind who should not have access to our country's missile codes. Haven't these first six exhausting months of the Trump presidency felt like six years?
3
Republicans are beginning to learn how to handle the bombastic and ineffectual buffoon they planted in the Oval Office. The military just about has it down. Pretty soon the press will start to get it too: Ignore him.
5
If a third world country had as many army generals in their cabinet as Trump does than the head lines would be that martial law is declared.
5
Thank god for brilliant thinkers and writers who can so beautifully describe the insanity and then verbally eviscerate the perpetrators.
2
I guess there is a memory that is no longer than 6 years. Does anyone remember all the senior staff shuffle under Obama during the first six months? Of course not, because that was played off as him getting his footing, and no drama. But, the shiny things easily distract the vociferous detractors now.
Among the too numerous to count things Trump doesn't know is that our legal system is based on 'presumed innocent'. So the way he suggested police handle suspects they bring into custody in LI - throw them into police cars, smacking their heads into the top of the doors, etc. - is just wrong.
And if. he is too stupid to know this, the police officers behind him should have known - and yet they applauded.
And if. he is too stupid to know this, the police officers behind him should have known - and yet they applauded.
4
Though many Police Chiefs and Associations have come out against DT's 'pronouncements' - even the Boy Scouts have proffered an apology for DT's insane comments. OH well
1
All that compensation for such little hands.
2
Trump projects onto others his own failings, flaws and weaknesses. Just look at the adjectives he assigned republican candidates and Clinton. On and on it goes. His administration will never rise above his own flaws and frightening incompetence because he lacks the ability to recognize they're his not the people he keeps scapegoating. He is a real threat to our democracy and the fragile world order.
3
As North Korea closes in on the ability to attack us with nuclear weapons, I take comfort in knowing we have in the White House a calm, deliberative leader with a deep sense of history. Oh my god... Mr, Obama? Where are you?
4
Has anyone seen a draft of the Trump Health Care Proposal?
I mean the one that he ran on, the one that was going to be better than Obamacare, the one that would give everyone maximum health coverage with lower premiums?
And why didn't he give this golden document to the Congress to pass instead of letting them flounder around looking like fools?
Or is there a bigger fool in the White House who just wants to ride the coat tails of the senators and representatives but has discovered that there is no win in that plan?
Weak and sad indeed.
I mean the one that he ran on, the one that was going to be better than Obamacare, the one that would give everyone maximum health coverage with lower premiums?
And why didn't he give this golden document to the Congress to pass instead of letting them flounder around looking like fools?
Or is there a bigger fool in the White House who just wants to ride the coat tails of the senators and representatives but has discovered that there is no win in that plan?
Weak and sad indeed.
4
Maureen, you nailed it!
1
Comparing President Trump to Mr. George Steinbrenner is on the dot. My only doubt are who will be fired next and who will be Billy Martin - fired/hired/fired man in the West Wing?
Will it be
James B. Comey or Sally Yates or Preet Bharara or Reince Priebus or Sean Spicer or Jeff Sessions (on deck), Steve Bannon (on deck), Richard Mueller(on deck) Tom Price (on deck), his family (on deck), Nikki Haley (on deck),
It is as though I am reading a murder mystery book!
Will it be
James B. Comey or Sally Yates or Preet Bharara or Reince Priebus or Sean Spicer or Jeff Sessions (on deck), Steve Bannon (on deck), Richard Mueller(on deck) Tom Price (on deck), his family (on deck), Nikki Haley (on deck),
It is as though I am reading a murder mystery book!
4
Don't taunt him too much or he may be forced to nuke North Korea. Or Iran.
And now we see an interesting phenomenon similar to a protective scab forming over a wound. The Congress has begun to slowly insulate the country from the destructive powers of this President. We will see it through oversight, obstruction and legislation to limit the executive and the Justice Dept. from running us into the abyss.
Trump's war will surely be waged against Congress, especially Republicans as they continue to child proof this White House while they wait for the proper time to rid us of this motley crew of deplorables they call an administration.
Once this debacle reaches a tipping point and the Republicans get their fill things will turn really ugly really fast so they will have to be crafty in a bipartisan way to limit the executive's power to limit the damage he can do till he's gone.
Just imagine: Trumps legacy might be that he was so bad he actually brought Congress together!
Trump's war will surely be waged against Congress, especially Republicans as they continue to child proof this White House while they wait for the proper time to rid us of this motley crew of deplorables they call an administration.
Once this debacle reaches a tipping point and the Republicans get their fill things will turn really ugly really fast so they will have to be crafty in a bipartisan way to limit the executive's power to limit the damage he can do till he's gone.
Just imagine: Trumps legacy might be that he was so bad he actually brought Congress together!
10
"Weaker than that" is a base of support that revels in his narcissism, ignorance, lack of respect for anyone, cruelty, and crudity. Who could ask for anything more, eh?
8
Bravo to the person who picked the Hieronymus Bosch graphic!! Perfection!
4
I wonder whether Maureen Dowd regrets her vendetta against the Clintons that helped land Donald Trump in our White House? Does she even acknowledge to herself that this administration is due in part to her?
13
Maureen is missing the the most important fact, Trump is the "GREAT WHITE HOPE" and Nothing is more important to his believers than that.;....A
6
Bingo, I believe its not so much the love of Trump.,I firmly believe it's the dislike of Obama and to many of Trumps staunch supporters are saying its " our turn" now.
1
Everything the President says in does is psychological projection.
4
It seems as if most of the commenters here agree: Trump is an unmitigated disaster. His reign needs to end.
But, to me, the danger is what follows as well. A fanatical, religious nut in Pence replacing Trump may be a bit like hiring a Taliban to run our government.
He looks as if central casting has delivered him to play the part. But, if the news is right, he can't be trusted in a room with another woman unless his wife is there. And, he cannot go to a function where alcohol is served unless his wife is there. So, Trump is an obvious disaster but do we want to be ruled by religious fanatics?
But, to me, the danger is what follows as well. A fanatical, religious nut in Pence replacing Trump may be a bit like hiring a Taliban to run our government.
He looks as if central casting has delivered him to play the part. But, if the news is right, he can't be trusted in a room with another woman unless his wife is there. And, he cannot go to a function where alcohol is served unless his wife is there. So, Trump is an obvious disaster but do we want to be ruled by religious fanatics?
9
In thought, word, and deed, his carnage on America continues.
3
Jeff Sessions; Trump wants a bigger toady to block the investigation into his murky finances.
Sally Yates; Trump fired her as revenge for losing Flynn.
Preet Bharara; Bharara was investigating Prevezon, which is Russian oligarch run. Prevezon was represented by Veselnitskaya (you know, Juniors date). Shortly after Bharara got fired Prevezon got a vastly reduced fine from regulators. Still no Russian collusion. I wonder which of Trump's deals Bharara was investigating.
James Comey; I'm not sure why he wasn't in the list, but he clearly got too close to what Trump is trying to hide.
Robert Meuller; this might be the only obstruction of justice for which Trump pays.
Sally Yates; Trump fired her as revenge for losing Flynn.
Preet Bharara; Bharara was investigating Prevezon, which is Russian oligarch run. Prevezon was represented by Veselnitskaya (you know, Juniors date). Shortly after Bharara got fired Prevezon got a vastly reduced fine from regulators. Still no Russian collusion. I wonder which of Trump's deals Bharara was investigating.
James Comey; I'm not sure why he wasn't in the list, but he clearly got too close to what Trump is trying to hide.
Robert Meuller; this might be the only obstruction of justice for which Trump pays.
4
The man who sold the world.
2
Hacking won the election for Trump is clear as each weak week goes by. He had absolutely no plans for an Administration. No plans for improving Obamacare. He has plenty of plans for his business while wasting our time and taxpayer money. Washington DC-based Judicial Watch has already calculated Trump expense exceeding 8 years of Obama and Biden families with their security and travel demands topping $97m. So what the heck are we just sitting here watching fraud play out?
4
This may be Trump's weak week, but it is America that is weak, if it lets this man continue in any capacity.
8
The four biggest stains on America's legacy:
1. Slavery
2. Segregation
3. Vietnam War
4. trump's electoral college victory
1. Slavery
2. Segregation
3. Vietnam War
4. trump's electoral college victory
5
What about the misbegotten U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq which has led to endless war (i.e., unimaginable suffering and death)?
3
"As two people close to Trump told The Times’s Maggie Haberman when asked why he was tormenting Sessions instead of firing him: Because he can."
The blogger Josh Marshall believes that people who are attracted to Trump's orbit already have some rot in them that doesn't show yet. What Trump does is act as a divining rod to reveal that rot.
The blogger Josh Marshall believes that people who are attracted to Trump's orbit already have some rot in them that doesn't show yet. What Trump does is act as a divining rod to reveal that rot.
3
Thank you Maureen, for such beautifully crafted writing about something so base, so ugly and so ignorant.
3
What I find telling is that Trump believes "The Terror Dream." Susan Faludi's book of the same name explains the myth that men of color are out to steal Caucasian women from men. White men have been sold this myth when they were boys in the 50's, the era that DT is stuck in--note the ducktail haircut and most of his ideas. Check out her book. It's good.
3
Tr ump's role model is Putin with a touch of John Gotti. His hidden agenda is to procure as much power as possible and run it like his Russian counterpart. The presidency is Trump's way to grab as much money as possible for him and his family, a kleptocracy. He's not even subtle about it putting Kushner and Ivanka in the White House, and now his hit man, the Mooch. He sold his mansion in Florida to a Russian and Russians probably own real estate in N.Y. So now as president he can just sell America to them. We are suffering, and things will get worse, but at the end of the day sanity will prevail. And Trump will be tweeting from Chernobyl.
3
1. He's mentally ill and is not going to change as long as there are people willing to work for him. His enablers are the evildoers.
2. His enablers deserve intense media scrutiny and analysis. They are the ones destroying our Democracy by proxy.
2. His enablers deserve intense media scrutiny and analysis. They are the ones destroying our Democracy by proxy.
5
[But after all his bragging about being a great negotiator and closer, it is President Trump who can’t get it done.]
They say coffee is for closers. I guess Trump will be drinking a cup of vinegar...
They say coffee is for closers. I guess Trump will be drinking a cup of vinegar...
2
Tweety Pie does not project an image of strength.
3
The most striking part of Maureen Dowd's op-ed is that Trump "can't get it done." For those who knew that a shady real estate developer with multiple bankruptcies would be a disaster as a president to govern the country, this was apparent. For those who (continue to) applaud him at rallies and chant "USA,USA," you have been played for fools. And for those members of Congress who remain supportive of his "agenda," you will pay the price for your false allegiance. Trump can't get it done. He can't even get it off the ground. He is weak and impotent in every aspect of his role as president--and those are the two adjectives he most fears. Sorry, Mr. Trump, you should have remained a shady real estate developer. You are Unfit to Serve America ("USA!")
4
It's an interesting moment in history when Obama, the President of Great Moral Character (many people would even call it tremendous character) is followed by an evil sick shell-of-a-human Thug President who turns out to be far worse than W The Worst. (A danger this columnist & other NYC media celebs who have known Trump for decades should have warned us about but did not.)
And now we've (already) reached the point in this Shakespearean drama where all good Americans are hoping, praying and waiting for former FBI Director, Marine war-combat veteran, Special Prosecutor and all-around Superhero Robert Mueller to swoop in and vanquish this evil enemy from our land.
I know I am.
And now we've (already) reached the point in this Shakespearean drama where all good Americans are hoping, praying and waiting for former FBI Director, Marine war-combat veteran, Special Prosecutor and all-around Superhero Robert Mueller to swoop in and vanquish this evil enemy from our land.
I know I am.
2
Trump is an atrocity. Thanks GOP.
3
"Priebus wasn't 'an original', as early Trump loyalists are known..."
No, But Sessions was an original. Look where that got him.
No, But Sessions was an original. Look where that got him.
2
Like Hemingway, Dowd gets it done in sparse, effective narrative.
1
What could be weaker might be the "can’t get it done" sadist starting a nuclear war because he could. And what could be weaker than that?
1
The majority of the American population understands that his behavior is destructive, abnormal, possibly mental, and probably criminal. "I know it when I see it" apparently does not apply to President Trump. Start the proceedings and lets get going here. This is a really dangerous situation.
1
Really?
Everyone who knew Trumpo prior to the election, either personally or by reputation, knew him to be a weak narcissistic bully and a demogauge.
Yet there was the stupefying false equivalence in the media between Clinton's email problems and Trumpo's character defects.
In the Times there was Amy Chozick's incessant negative reporting on Clinton and Dowd's seeming obsession with denigrating all things having to do with Bill and Hillary.
Where were columns like this prior to November 2016 when it really, really mattered.
Everyone who knew Trumpo prior to the election, either personally or by reputation, knew him to be a weak narcissistic bully and a demogauge.
Yet there was the stupefying false equivalence in the media between Clinton's email problems and Trumpo's character defects.
In the Times there was Amy Chozick's incessant negative reporting on Clinton and Dowd's seeming obsession with denigrating all things having to do with Bill and Hillary.
Where were columns like this prior to November 2016 when it really, really mattered.
1
Everyone, including Maureen, now spending all that talent on whining and complaining and passive-aggressive criticism, instead of applying brains and real strategies to fixing it. What's the plan, folks, before all of our enemies catch on to the fact of an empty chair at the presidency? Before all of our countries resources are soaked up entirely by the rich and powerful. Before our children have been demoralized totally by the filthy speech and moral vacuum infusing our public life. All the folks who helped get him elected, like Maureen, really have to pitch in now.
1
Please keep using words like 'weak' when describing Trump, Ms. Dowd. In the WSJ Friday, Ms. Noonan used the words weak AND limp when comparing Trump to Woody Allen. Add this to the fact two female senators stood up to him on health care and all we woman who marched on January 21 know we are making a difference.
2
The Twitter in Chief spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job !!!
The greatest achievement the Bully in Chief has accomplished since being elected as the Big Cheese is growing his number of enemies, both domestically and internationally.
The reality is that the “to do” list of Government on responsible and important social and economic issues that require legislation keeps growing and getting longer and longer, and NOTHING IS BEING DONE !!!
NO NEW MAJOR LEGISLATION HAS BEEN PASSED INTO LAW SINCE NOVEMBER !!!
The other reality is that Americans are alarmed and confused about their future and are effectively leaderless.
Bottom line: This administration is incompetent.
The morally and intellectually bankrupt Trump and the “do nothing” Republicans must go !!!
The greatest achievement the Bully in Chief has accomplished since being elected as the Big Cheese is growing his number of enemies, both domestically and internationally.
The reality is that the “to do” list of Government on responsible and important social and economic issues that require legislation keeps growing and getting longer and longer, and NOTHING IS BEING DONE !!!
NO NEW MAJOR LEGISLATION HAS BEEN PASSED INTO LAW SINCE NOVEMBER !!!
The other reality is that Americans are alarmed and confused about their future and are effectively leaderless.
Bottom line: This administration is incompetent.
The morally and intellectually bankrupt Trump and the “do nothing” Republicans must go !!!
2
The GOP's MS-13 gang (Misogynist 13 gang) trying to take away healthcare from millions of Americans, especially women would likely have killed more than the MS-13 POTUS was referring to at his "roughing up arrested citizens - even if they are innocent" speech. Indeed, some of the deaths from illness and lack of health care access would be as gruesome and painful as the MS-13 gang's methods.
Is Trump's pit-pooch, the Mooch, going to be investigated by the Secret Service or FBI for threatening to kill members of the White House who leak - that includes the leaker in chief too?
As he breaks laws over a lifetime and creates chaos wherever he goes, he claims to be the Law and Order president. Who knew?
You can serve your country or you can serve the POTUS - you can't do both. Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what you can do for Trump.
When I hear "At the pleasure of the president" statements, it chills me to the bones. There is something truly wrong and offensive with that statement, and quite perverse since the current president is Trump.
Let's hope Mr. Mueller can keep POTUS uncomfortable as he uncovers the real source of wealth, votes and pleasure for this loser of a failed, weak man.
Is Trump's pit-pooch, the Mooch, going to be investigated by the Secret Service or FBI for threatening to kill members of the White House who leak - that includes the leaker in chief too?
As he breaks laws over a lifetime and creates chaos wherever he goes, he claims to be the Law and Order president. Who knew?
You can serve your country or you can serve the POTUS - you can't do both. Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what you can do for Trump.
When I hear "At the pleasure of the president" statements, it chills me to the bones. There is something truly wrong and offensive with that statement, and quite perverse since the current president is Trump.
Let's hope Mr. Mueller can keep POTUS uncomfortable as he uncovers the real source of wealth, votes and pleasure for this loser of a failed, weak man.
1
A good reason we have this horror of a president is because you and others successfully slandered and maligned a good, thoughtful, and deeply progressive woman. You should carry this portion of the shame forever, Maureen.
3
Why describe the vicious tactics of MS-13 in gory detail? To threaten them? To scare us? To make his dysfunctional administration look good? Or is he just jealous?
2
We can shout, cry, jump or explode in anger. But one thing is utterly important. Never again can we let an unstable, ignorant, narcissistic sideshow reach the White House. Is up to us to demand legislation requiring a complete psychological evaluation on all presidential candidates. Period.
Out here in the macho West, Trump is seen as tough because he talks tough. For most westerners, that's enough. He hates the same people they do.
Think about it: who is tougher than the American cowboy - self-sufficient, armed, with a basic sense of right and wrong, who breaks hearts but has no women around to confuse matters?
And every cowboy song sung by these tough, leather-skinned wranglers is nothing but pathetic whining: Lost my job, lost my truck, lost my dog, lost my girl, etc.
Now we learn even NFL football heroes
aren't all that tough. Seems they develop traumatic brain injury with amazing consistency and go on to lose their minds and memories. Some even commit suicide. Hardly the tough heroes they were supposed to be.
And then there's the American fighting man, or woman, or LGBTQ, or whatever, who gets PTSD and can't handle life after five tours of combat duty. Not tough enough for the American macho myth!
The fact is, the tough American hero is and always was a fraud. And no one is a bigger fraud than Trump. No wonder macho frauds love him, as they beat their wives, swig beer from the couch during endless football games, curse people who look different, and whine to their doctors so they can get a big disability award.
But they still think they're tough. Bullies always do. They'll use the money to buy more guns and a really big truck - with a "Make America Great Again" bumper sticker.
Think about it: who is tougher than the American cowboy - self-sufficient, armed, with a basic sense of right and wrong, who breaks hearts but has no women around to confuse matters?
And every cowboy song sung by these tough, leather-skinned wranglers is nothing but pathetic whining: Lost my job, lost my truck, lost my dog, lost my girl, etc.
Now we learn even NFL football heroes
aren't all that tough. Seems they develop traumatic brain injury with amazing consistency and go on to lose their minds and memories. Some even commit suicide. Hardly the tough heroes they were supposed to be.
And then there's the American fighting man, or woman, or LGBTQ, or whatever, who gets PTSD and can't handle life after five tours of combat duty. Not tough enough for the American macho myth!
The fact is, the tough American hero is and always was a fraud. And no one is a bigger fraud than Trump. No wonder macho frauds love him, as they beat their wives, swig beer from the couch during endless football games, curse people who look different, and whine to their doctors so they can get a big disability award.
But they still think they're tough. Bullies always do. They'll use the money to buy more guns and a really big truck - with a "Make America Great Again" bumper sticker.
694
But why, to extend the western metaphor, don't people out west understand that Trump is "all hat and no cattle"?
2
So clever; kudos!!!
Donald Trump remains one of the 5 most dangerous people.
If Trump steps down, Pence remains a greater social threat.
Some of our people are fighting the Trump thrusts, no agenda,
only thrusts. Trump has forced many citizens off the couch. For
this, I am grateful. The mass of people working to attain national
national integrity is the major factor..that, and a working plan.
If Trump steps down, Pence remains a greater social threat.
Some of our people are fighting the Trump thrusts, no agenda,
only thrusts. Trump has forced many citizens off the couch. For
this, I am grateful. The mass of people working to attain national
national integrity is the major factor..that, and a working plan.
175
I agree, Norman. The American people should take as their example the opponents of Ceaucescu-era Romania and create a National Salvation Front.
At this point, it seems vital, in light of the utter fecklessness and irresponsibility of ALL politicians on the bilateral level. The future peace and unity of the United States are at stake. Everyone took the former Yugoslavia's relative stability for granted, as well as that of other failed states such as Syria. And in the grand scheme of things, America's 241 years of independence is an insignificant blip in Western history.
At this point, it seems vital, in light of the utter fecklessness and irresponsibility of ALL politicians on the bilateral level. The future peace and unity of the United States are at stake. Everyone took the former Yugoslavia's relative stability for granted, as well as that of other failed states such as Syria. And in the grand scheme of things, America's 241 years of independence is an insignificant blip in Western history.
Pence's conservative policies go against the thinking of most Americans, and could be reversed in the next administration. But the deranged tRump might well lead us to a devastating war, and will inevitably cause a Constitutional crisis. So I would rather see Pence in the WH. Immediately.
1
Bringing America back from the Obama graveyard is a pretty good agenda.
Many of us had and continue to reference the farcical role-playing by Trump in the White House to the role he played on the Apprentice where his main line in the script was to say "You're fired". It is quite obvious that this is still the only comforting benchmark with which he has come to rely on. The more obvious thing, however, is that no one has clued him into the fact that he is the actual Apprentice along with the many others he has invited to join him around the conference table. Though it has to be said that even if someone challenged his role, he would find a way to dismiss the truth.
7
The part where Miller and Scavino get out of the Suburban is right out of The Godfather. Trump behaves like a mob boss, always getting his henchmen to do his dirty work. Disgusting.
11
The man has no class. A crass materialist who thinks that 'deals' can be forged with suitcases of cash. Property, women, jobs -- anything can be 'bought' according to the mindset of Donald Trump. Let us hope that this is a genuine wake-up call for Americans to realise that predatory and unrestrained capitalism is a lethal danger to society.
1
re “At one point, during a meeting in the Oval Office, a fly began buzzing overhead, distracting the president. As the fly continued to circle, Trump summoned his chief of staff and tasked him with killing the insect.”
Now *that's* leadership!
Now *that's* leadership!
4
Of course when that happened to Obama he killed it with Ninja reflexes ( sorry PETA).
Please don’t insult my two pit bulls by comparing Anthony Scaramucci to a pit bull. He really seems like one of those tiny breed dogs that have an inflated arrogant “I can beat any dog” attitude. When small dogs challenge my dogs you can almost see the pits laughing. They are not even worth a good sniff. Let’s see the Mooch go after the new chief of staff.
8
Unfortunately for us this guy is our President. His Vice President would be worse than he is.
Elements of the government need to act in the manner of the CJCS who merely said we have received no official order. When Trump is publicly booed, he will start to get the message that he is doing a collossally bad job.
At international meetings he may be made to stand in the back of the group photos. He is embarassing the entire US.
Elements of the government need to act in the manner of the CJCS who merely said we have received no official order. When Trump is publicly booed, he will start to get the message that he is doing a collossally bad job.
At international meetings he may be made to stand in the back of the group photos. He is embarassing the entire US.
6
Maureen Dowd, None of the sordid details of this mans' narcissism, nor the destruction wreaked on a country of people who are half-disgusted, and half enamored of the man, matters anymore. Right here, right now, we will very soon begin to grow up, sacrifice for our freedom, or the great American experiment will fail.
The world has changed for the worse. The American people have changed for the worse. Tell that truth, Maureen, say something constructive. We know the pathetic terrifying details of the man and his actions. We all do the best we can. Donald Trump is no different from the rest of us in that sense. We need to change ourselves. Power corrupts, greed corrupts. We could at least try to build a society that contains these powerful forces of the human heart. It may not be possible. Our greed and lust for power laid waste to the natural world on which we all depend. Yet we still celebrate when gas is cheap. We have big trucks. Our power is amnestic, like suicide, ectasy made manifest, the last orgasm, caught on Instagram. Or, we could try to contain, sustain, and grow, no matter how painful, and humiliating, growing up may be.
The world has changed for the worse. The American people have changed for the worse. Tell that truth, Maureen, say something constructive. We know the pathetic terrifying details of the man and his actions. We all do the best we can. Donald Trump is no different from the rest of us in that sense. We need to change ourselves. Power corrupts, greed corrupts. We could at least try to build a society that contains these powerful forces of the human heart. It may not be possible. Our greed and lust for power laid waste to the natural world on which we all depend. Yet we still celebrate when gas is cheap. We have big trucks. Our power is amnestic, like suicide, ectasy made manifest, the last orgasm, caught on Instagram. Or, we could try to contain, sustain, and grow, no matter how painful, and humiliating, growing up may be.
7
The problem isn't the majority-vote loser; it's the 62 million who voted for this bullying, sexist, lying, ignorant, narcissistic blow-hard.
With the Democrats really going out on a limb and promising to make things "better," I imagine the 62 million are hoping for another torch to burn the house down.
If at first you don't succeed, there's always Rudy Giuliani.
With the Democrats really going out on a limb and promising to make things "better," I imagine the 62 million are hoping for another torch to burn the house down.
If at first you don't succeed, there's always Rudy Giuliani.
6
Those who voted for Trump are the self-entitled whiners who live life through the rearview mirror. To wit -- Trump's irrational return to the rigours of coal mining for these people. Or appealing to their homophobic tendencies when attempting to ban trans people from the US military. I wonder when will they tire of winning so much.
Dowd and her ilk hate POTUS, the country be damned. Such a lack of patriotism is disturbing on many levels but not unexpected. The radical democrats have never accepted the fact their borderline criminal candidate "crooked Hillary" lost. Well I am here to report she did. So get over it already. Trump won. Elections have consequences. One way or another Trump will undo Obama's pathetic legacy and ram his agenda down democrat throats. And real Americans will cheer. Stay tuned.
1
Are drugs that inexpensive on Long Island?
2
Wellllll, I suppose one needs to define"won," doesn't one?
1
You have been dazzled by your tawdry Golden Boy. Others among us are not so easily fooled. We are patriotic Americans who love our country and hate to see it disintegrate because of the whims of an unqualified, sleazy, would-be dictator.
2
Below the waterline. "Weak"...indeed. Chickens coming home to roost.
1
"...the president obsessed on impotence." And that, folks, is the key to understanding this insecure, ignorant, pathetic dolt.
11
There are two ways this presidency can end. One is when Trump cannot bear the embarrassment and ignominy of loss after loss. He will see the writing on the wall and decide to attack North Korea. Unimaginable catastrophe, but Trump will avoid the Russia investigation trouble and domestic scrutiny for about six months. Then he will get run out of town on a rail.
The cost will be thousands, if not millions, of lives. The additional possibility is that a scared North Korea may fire off a nuclear missile simultaneously, and cause such damage here that we don't recover until years have passed, and the true hope of America is lost.
The other option is that the Senate and House save us. It is not hard to see how a little humility and courage shown by three honorable senators could break open the dam. Sure, we would end up after an easy impeachment with Mr. sad, caring, puppy-face funeral director guy- Mike Pence....who was a horrible governor. But at least he won't destroy the world.
imrecpeople o only way this ends....is the recent weak weeks of Trump, which are scary yet on par with this pathetic president, is when the other senators followed his recent weak months, which are just the most damaging of his weak life,
The cost will be thousands, if not millions, of lives. The additional possibility is that a scared North Korea may fire off a nuclear missile simultaneously, and cause such damage here that we don't recover until years have passed, and the true hope of America is lost.
The other option is that the Senate and House save us. It is not hard to see how a little humility and courage shown by three honorable senators could break open the dam. Sure, we would end up after an easy impeachment with Mr. sad, caring, puppy-face funeral director guy- Mike Pence....who was a horrible governor. But at least he won't destroy the world.
imrecpeople o only way this ends....is the recent weak weeks of Trump, which are scary yet on par with this pathetic president, is when the other senators followed his recent weak months, which are just the most damaging of his weak life,
2
I think it's too late. The US Congress, with a few isolated and useless exceptions, has revealed itself to be made up of self-serving, craven egotists incarnated by Paul Ryan who never have the country's greater interests in mind.
Watch them gasp when multiple sunrises appear in Alaska and West Coast metropolises. In my darkest moments, I am beginning to believe that this is how they want to 'reset' American society -- tear down everything with a good shake of the shaker and start all over on top of ashes and burning bones.
Watch them gasp when multiple sunrises appear in Alaska and West Coast metropolises. In my darkest moments, I am beginning to believe that this is how they want to 'reset' American society -- tear down everything with a good shake of the shaker and start all over on top of ashes and burning bones.
Trump is a coward and his Congressional backers are losers. But the biggest loser of all is the Trump voter.
6
The president "obsessed on impotence, indeed." This arm chair psychologizing could really take us someplace fruitful, Maureen. Do further explore in your next column. Perhaps it will lead us back to Melania's hand slapping.
4
All in a single week's work!
In the face of North Korea's growing, possibly existential, threat to the United States, the President of that same threatened country occupies himself with tweets that undermine his own Attorney-General, abruptly cancel transgender military service, deride the Senate's filibuster rule, advocate for the "implosion" of health security for tens of millions of his fellow-citizens, trash the ostensible "treachery" of three GOP senators, and routinely upbraid the nation's FAKE NEWS and a political opponent vanquished nine months ago.
He shames himself with lewd insinuations and salacious insults before the Boy Scouts, and then puts in a plug for prejudicial police brutality during arrest. He Twitter-fires his Chief of Staff and hires a screaming vulgarian as his Director of Communications who immediately character-assassinates two of his new colleagues in an expletive-laden rant to the national press. He sends his Interior Secretary hit-man to threaten a powerful Senator who opposes him on another existential matter to which he has given scant, if any, thought.
Our current tenant in the Oval Office is one busy chief executive! Who has the time for the new threat of nuclear annihilation?
In the face of North Korea's growing, possibly existential, threat to the United States, the President of that same threatened country occupies himself with tweets that undermine his own Attorney-General, abruptly cancel transgender military service, deride the Senate's filibuster rule, advocate for the "implosion" of health security for tens of millions of his fellow-citizens, trash the ostensible "treachery" of three GOP senators, and routinely upbraid the nation's FAKE NEWS and a political opponent vanquished nine months ago.
He shames himself with lewd insinuations and salacious insults before the Boy Scouts, and then puts in a plug for prejudicial police brutality during arrest. He Twitter-fires his Chief of Staff and hires a screaming vulgarian as his Director of Communications who immediately character-assassinates two of his new colleagues in an expletive-laden rant to the national press. He sends his Interior Secretary hit-man to threaten a powerful Senator who opposes him on another existential matter to which he has given scant, if any, thought.
Our current tenant in the Oval Office is one busy chief executive! Who has the time for the new threat of nuclear annihilation?
17
I guess the tactic of fear did not work with the tough Alaskan Senator. Fear is what seems to coat the veins of trumps base. Not that they would ever admit it but because of their unacknowledged impotence and their inability to make themselves feel relevant in today's world they have latched on to this paper mâché man. A empty vessel needing ever more paste to keeping from cracking. What we should really fear are not the transgender soldiers but an administion that seems to have no idea on how to deal with an increasingly challenging isolated unstable North Korea.
105
Really, what kind of influence could Trump have had over Murkowski? She lost her primary in 2010 to a Tea Partier then was re-elected to the Senate by running an independent write-in campaign. She followed that up with another general election win in 2016.
2
Trump is running the country as if he was 'Sid' from Toy Story. Apart from McCains fleeting 'Buzz Lightyear' moment this week - we are still waiting for a 'Woody' to emerge and end this national nightmare.
But I haven't lost hope.
Yet.
But I haven't lost hope.
Yet.
3
Great column. The entire quote from King Lear is apropos: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods -- they kill us for their sport." Trump throws out these people because he thinks the unreasoned exercise of power is fun. To quote him, Sick.
Love the picture.
Love the picture.
4
4 years of nightmare , full of deplorables and Trump.
5
It's this kind of whipsawing move that always makes me doubt Trump's sanity. Turning away from firing his Chief of Staff, totally failing on Trumpcare, and a series of other failures this week, rather than try to address any of these issues, he launches a new one.
This one, of course, should repulse everyone with a conscience. I'm very pro-law enforcement, but nobody should approve of banging a suspect's head off the police car doorframe, just for fun.
So how can he be so impetuous and irrational as to start another crusade (having just dropped the one to federally subsidize all our health insurance, oh and Congress' particularly), without fixing any of the messes first?
I can only conclude it's because he's dangerously unhinged. What we need to see now is not the president's tax returns, but his cranial MRI scans and psychiatric evaluation.
This one, of course, should repulse everyone with a conscience. I'm very pro-law enforcement, but nobody should approve of banging a suspect's head off the police car doorframe, just for fun.
So how can he be so impetuous and irrational as to start another crusade (having just dropped the one to federally subsidize all our health insurance, oh and Congress' particularly), without fixing any of the messes first?
I can only conclude it's because he's dangerously unhinged. What we need to see now is not the president's tax returns, but his cranial MRI scans and psychiatric evaluation.
9
Trump consistently projects his failings and internal strife onto others. It is Trump who is weak, fake and a loser. Republicans are finally standing up to this weakling masquerading as a bully. Let's not forget that Putin has already pegged this weakling as a useful idiot.
7
What our dear President needs is a few dogs at his feet. A St. Bernard, a collie, Lassie comes to mind, and several German Shepard dogs. They would give him the100% loyalty he needs, the attention and admiration he craves, and Trump just might settle down.
Just don't ask cats to do the job.
Just don't ask cats to do the job.
9
He'd just kick the dog. He's that kind of guy.
Even becoming president cannot buy the admiration of the class he so badly yearns to join.
1
The defining characteristic of the GOP during the Trump nightmare so far is the lack of testosterone . The poster child , the best example , of a public servant allowing himself to be emasculated is Priebus . He always seemed to me to have the demeanor of the sweet child who was bullied at school . After taking care of the fly and being fired he continues to proclaim himself a Trump fan . There are other victims like Jeff Sessions or Sean Spicer . There are also the teen predators like Scharamucci . You know that the predators will probably have problems with the law when the grow up . Trump needs a court of eunuchs like in the Imperial Court Of China .
3
Trump is an idiot who proves once again that money can't buy class. He sold fear and hate to stupid people and now he panders to his base that are the worst among us. Trump continues to show that he is a disgusting human being and a world wide disgrace embarrassment.
When will Congress realize there's a madman in the Oval Office?
When will Congress realize there's a madman in the Oval Office?
7
Have to tell you- I'd be mighty interested in Comey's book and Hillary's book. But - the chaos in our country is NOW. Comey's firing is small stuff right now. Comey, I feel, really is responsible for for interfering in the 2016 Election. Too much in print and Fox News with Rudy Guiliani foretelling the opening-up again of emails of Anthony Weiner - a pathetic sexual troll - who is truly a pathological, compulsive sexual deviant whose own narcissism matches only that of Trump, Guiliani or Newt Gingrich - funny - they all have multiple wives..but I digress. So we have now a trail of leads from the Wall Street Journal that many agents of Trumpsters were looking to Russians - former KGB agents, Russian mafia, bankers... to break-open sinister emails from Hillary Clinton. I can't figure out what Clinton could have said that would be so damning...to whom? I still don't get it. Benghazi? Now we know Trump has all but neutralized his own Rex - his so-called "Secretary of State" - a dear friend of Putin. Our Department of State is all but dead. For me, I have every faith in Mueller. My guess is - he has always "followed the money". Oil money, real estate money - money laundering and loans to millionaires looking for more millions to be billionaires....these are dark days but I think we'll get through. FDR knew in 1933 that we, the middle class shouldered democracy, and we were the economic engine for our democracy to be sustained.
2
Maureen, your Bosch painting metaphor is quite apt, but I wonder if what we are witnessing isn't more in the realm of Pasolini's "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom". If you have ever been able to sit through that movie to the end, (I personally had to leave midway through), it conjures the "atmosphere" of this White House quite vividly. With all of the Mooch's references to Bannon's sexual organ this week, one wonders what other monstrous metaphors we'll be exercising as this sad misbegotten Presidency continues to unravel.
4
No - he was not addressing the Boy Scouts of America - he was focused on the camera's streaming his message to America and the world at large...the Scouts just happened to be there. The talent pool Trump is able to draw on has shrunk to foul-mouthed fawners and sycophants from who he demands not only abject fealty but glorious praise - as we saw in that disgraceful display of unctuous flattery around his Cabinet table in June. President Trump is not only weak but he lacks the courage to address his litany of legislative and personnel failures since assuming office. And as for distractions, Mr. President - 'we're hip to your tricks'. That doggy don't hunt no more.
2
As Dowd points out, the would-be emperor not only has no clothes, he's butt ugly as well. Thank God he's incompetent and impotent. As his enablers begin to inch away or are heaved overboard, he is forced to find even slimier shills willing to prop up the cult with increasingly more extreme nonsense. But sooner or later this too will lose effect. What then? Will the "killer and king" find a war to serve as his temporary Viagra? Will the generals obey? Will the world support us? There are black swans gathering on the horizon and we are at sea with a demented captain at the wheel steaming full speed ahead to God knows where. We'll need more than the Boy Scouts tsk-tsking to fix that.
3
Slugger Trump continues to strike out & hit nothing but the foulest of balls. His rapturous fans in the bleachers continue to show up & do the wave but their enthusiasm is starting to wane a tad for a rich water boy pretending to be a professional designated hitter in the big Washington DC league. The season is half over & Donald Trump has yet to reach first base.
Major League Baseball is an American pastime played by civil professionals who respect its fans & adhere to its rules & traditions. Many parents encourage their children to play Little League Baseball Children & adults admire their favorite baseball players; some young fans fantasize about becoming professional baseball players. Not so long ago, parents would tell their children they had the potential to grow up to become President of the United States by getting excellent grades, working hard & being an honest person. More than one year exposed to candidate Donald Trump & now six months exposed to Monday through Friday White House occupant, Trump, what parent in their right mind would want their child to grow up & be just like Donald Trump? He has, with the help of Congressional Republicans, denigrated & desecrated the honorable office of the President of the United States, the US Constitution & American democracy through incessant lying, despotic behavior & vulgar language. Americans are the biggest losers as a consequence of a wholly unqualified, graceless apprentice to celebrities in the White House.
Major League Baseball is an American pastime played by civil professionals who respect its fans & adhere to its rules & traditions. Many parents encourage their children to play Little League Baseball Children & adults admire their favorite baseball players; some young fans fantasize about becoming professional baseball players. Not so long ago, parents would tell their children they had the potential to grow up to become President of the United States by getting excellent grades, working hard & being an honest person. More than one year exposed to candidate Donald Trump & now six months exposed to Monday through Friday White House occupant, Trump, what parent in their right mind would want their child to grow up & be just like Donald Trump? He has, with the help of Congressional Republicans, denigrated & desecrated the honorable office of the President of the United States, the US Constitution & American democracy through incessant lying, despotic behavior & vulgar language. Americans are the biggest losers as a consequence of a wholly unqualified, graceless apprentice to celebrities in the White House.
4
Love your writing, Maureen. We can analyze him all we want in political terms and with all the decorum that modern journalism requires, but it's all very simple, really. He isn't mentally capable or fit to be POTUS. He's going to keep throwing his staff and allies under the bus because his ego is too fragile to handle anything like the truth. And I'm not using ego in the common sense of the word, but the psychological. He has no core inside him, no rock to hang on to when criticized or threatened in any way that he perceives damaging to his image of himself. He "emotionally collapses" into childhood. THIS WILL NOT STOP. It will continue until he dies or if by some bizarre miracle, like a Bosch scene, he is catapulted into a state of mind that transcends him into a world in which he sees himself as God, the Devil, the All-Seeing Eye and the rest of the world sees him. He is deeply broken, easily betrayed (in his mind) never forgives and lives to exact revenge, while being terribly frightened all the time. This country will never be the same. He sows chaos wherever he goes and he will continue. I was raised by someone EXACTLY like him and I know that of which I speak. Loyalty was everything in my family too, because the world might figure out how crazy ___ is. We must rid ourselves of him as soon as possible before he does more damage. Believe me, it will continue until he's gone. That's the sad, bizarre and Boschian truth.
3
All else said, Trump still has the guys with the guns -the military, the police & the NRA nuts - with him. If not all of the leaders, at least most of the rank & file.
121
I question if Scaramucci might have set-up spinning accusations of Preibus leaking his, already public knowledge financial reports, in order to mislead the media to focus on the disputes between he and Preibus instead of the media investigating what might be behind inside his financial forms. How much access does the media have to investigate our government leader’s finances?
As far as the other leaks go, could Putin have motive to try to set-up certain White House members for leaks who might side with Congress against lifting U.S./Russian sanctions? Possibly Putin attempting to victimize our government further with our CIA and NSA possibly knowing that, while Trump’s attitude that Putin’s-Russia may be all innocent persists? Would such a thing come out in our Russian investigation if that might be?
As far as the other leaks go, could Putin have motive to try to set-up certain White House members for leaks who might side with Congress against lifting U.S./Russian sanctions? Possibly Putin attempting to victimize our government further with our CIA and NSA possibly knowing that, while Trump’s attitude that Putin’s-Russia may be all innocent persists? Would such a thing come out in our Russian investigation if that might be?
Maureen Dowd's words pack a powerful punch. But the message from the Hieronymus Bosch image of The Last Judgement may be even more powerful than Dowd's words. One would hope that those loyal Trump supporters who call themselves Christians will be reminded that on Judgment Day they will be judged by the way they have conducted themselves in this life. Perhaps they should reflect on what our elected representatives have put forth as health care reform, which in fact yanks the health care safety net away from the least among us. For the non-religious, Bosch’s painting will hopefully be a reminder that even if one does not believe in an afterlife, all humans in this country are judged by the rule of law, and that does NOT mean the law of the jungle.
The horrors Bosch portrayed in his painting are as relevant today as they were in the early 1500s. You want a reality show? THAT is it. Let's hope we are not on our way back to the barbarity of Hundred Years’ War era and its slaughter of innocents.
The horrors Bosch portrayed in his painting are as relevant today as they were in the early 1500s. You want a reality show? THAT is it. Let's hope we are not on our way back to the barbarity of Hundred Years’ War era and its slaughter of innocents.
14
With Trump's tiny little hands near the red button, it will a Hundred Minute War with a barbarity unknown in the 1500s.
"President Trump’s Really Weak Week"
Is Neil Gorsuch still a Supreme Court justice?
Is Neil Gorsuch still a Supreme Court justice?
8
@Bob Redman
Jacksonville, FL
What is the relevance of this to the massive incompetence that currently reigns in the Executive of the most powerful country in the world?
Jacksonville, FL
What is the relevance of this to the massive incompetence that currently reigns in the Executive of the most powerful country in the world?
33
Simple, control of the Supreme Court is the main issue, and you lost that battle. Feel better now?
1
News of another week.
10
Sounds as though the one with the most sense in the Oval office was the fly that Priebus was tasked to dispatch.
22
The fly could be on the wall while the people were off the wall.
Right on Maureen ! Couldn't have said it better myself.
10
I clearly remember Ms. Dowd vehemently criticizing President Obama and calling him Spock.
Any regrets?
Any regrets?
31
Not to mention her endless criticism of Hillary Clinton
Maureen- How about a follow up column about the members of your family who voted for Trump? I'd be interested in knowing where they stand now, why they feel that way and how you feel about their current positions.
37
Trump is an exaggerated negative stereotype. God help us.
10
What can be weaker than that, Mo? Stay tuned.
6
After this week, I'm finally - thankfully - thinking this guy isn't going to last for four years. And he doesn't even know it.
21
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength." Eric Hoffer
45
"No path to 270."
3
Without the help of Russia....
Brilliantly said! Thank you, Maureen!
9
If anyone needed any more proof after this week, trump has proven to be the ultimate example of the Peter Principle.
17
I feel like we're all passengers on a bus, and the driver just turned off the road at a rail crossing, and is chugging down the tracks. Why are looking at each other? Shouldn't we be doing something?
24
Thank you, Maureen. You are spot on. This president is weak, morally and intellectually. No one of substance admires him, and he continues to humiliate himself and the office of the Presidency.
9
You want to know why the GOP is kow towing to Trump, is it fear. McCain has nothing to loose so he could stand up to Trump. All others were scared of his power. alas, it is all fading away and maybe they are looking to what might be a better future.
Read Bowden's account on NPR and it will give you an incite as to what Putin has on Trump.
Read Bowden's account on NPR and it will give you an incite as to what Putin has on Trump.
7
A citation or link or even a date of his comment would help - I searched Bowden and all I got were his books. In any event, I wrote a cousin, before the final voting, that McCain voted YES to continue debate just so he could vote NO (along with Sens. Collins and Murkowski who were guaranteed NOs) to further denounce DT with an 'exclamation point'. (I have difficulty writing his name - yup, even at 73 I can still act childish!).
Best regards to all
R. Galli
Edison, NJ
Best regards to all
R. Galli
Edison, NJ
Ms. Dowd, your article as usual is direct and packs the arcebic mockery that should be reserved for weak bullies like Trump.
However, if I may, you were one of those who helped eviscerate Hillary Clinton, and normalized the dictatorial and Thuggish behavior of Trump.
When Russia rigged our elections, and machines swallowed our votes, you made a rationale for Trump's questionable win easy to find. He had been normalized, therefore our rural dwelling brethren saw him as their savior. This was false. Our elections were rigged.
The run down and ancient NSA, with their 20th century cyber abilities, were no match for 22nd century Russia cyber criminality Black hat hackers,and misinformation machine. Russia successfully disrupted the collation of votes, disrupted voting machines as occurred in alarming numbers in my state and many others, and imposed a Russian controlled anti intellectual Putin puppet, Trump.
I share this history because, you, the learned Ms. Dowd, are a part of our democratic institution. You are a respected reporter. Yet, you were swayed into discussing meaningless Tweets, stolen property aka emails, and fell for the chaos and news controller in chief.
Your articles are incisive. But could you not have written about this man with such fervor before he started to rip our democracy to shreds. You knew Trump well. His actions as president are no surprise to many of us who have followed him for years.
Yes, your article is great. But it is late. Too late.
However, if I may, you were one of those who helped eviscerate Hillary Clinton, and normalized the dictatorial and Thuggish behavior of Trump.
When Russia rigged our elections, and machines swallowed our votes, you made a rationale for Trump's questionable win easy to find. He had been normalized, therefore our rural dwelling brethren saw him as their savior. This was false. Our elections were rigged.
The run down and ancient NSA, with their 20th century cyber abilities, were no match for 22nd century Russia cyber criminality Black hat hackers,and misinformation machine. Russia successfully disrupted the collation of votes, disrupted voting machines as occurred in alarming numbers in my state and many others, and imposed a Russian controlled anti intellectual Putin puppet, Trump.
I share this history because, you, the learned Ms. Dowd, are a part of our democratic institution. You are a respected reporter. Yet, you were swayed into discussing meaningless Tweets, stolen property aka emails, and fell for the chaos and news controller in chief.
Your articles are incisive. But could you not have written about this man with such fervor before he started to rip our democracy to shreds. You knew Trump well. His actions as president are no surprise to many of us who have followed him for years.
Yes, your article is great. But it is late. Too late.
64
Great column, marred by the comparison of actual victims of brutal murder with the egregious Jeff Sessions. Nobody should waste any sympathy on him. People affected by endemic racism, not Sessions, have the right to lament, with Gloucester, "Like flies to wanton boys are we to the gods/They kill us for their sport".
5
I fully agree with 'no sympathy' BUT, one corner of my mind hopes he pressures DT into firing him rather than resigning - that, to me, is a real stick in the eye of the WH occupant. Yeah, I know, JBS III has a perverse, 19th century outlook with which I totally disagree but, well, er, uh - DT needs to be pushed and shoved until he can't take it any more, in my view. He's working toward that same 19th century (if not earlier) position. While unlikely, maybe, just maybe out of spite toward DT JBS III may tone down his ancient outlook - nah!
Nonetheless, keep the faith (in a secular sense) as difficult as that may be
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
Nonetheless, keep the faith (in a secular sense) as difficult as that may be
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
Real lions don't need to roar! Those who speak the loudest are often the weakest. I think many of us, including Putin and other world leaders, know this about Trump, sadly, he can't recognize it in himself. I predict Trump is going to have a very sad ending. I just hope he doesn't take the rest of us with him.
18
Empty barrels make the most noise. If Trump sees himself as a lion he is a self-deceiving lyin lion.
The whole US presidency is a joke but I fear no one is laughing any more.
11
I never laughed - DT ahs displayed despicable traits since even before the campaign, let alone after the election. The way he reportedly stiffed contractors, vendors, et al was/is despicable/deplorable. HRC had it right, sad to say.
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
R. Galli - Edison, NJ
2
it is nice to see the weekend economy around that resort in Florida must be relieved when the weekend arrives and they find out he is going elsewhere. yes he is CHAOS supreme. never thought of that as a goal for america. well we shall see
6
Many broadcast personalities are not aware or have forgotten Mussolini and Hitler were considered jokes -novelty, but even with low poll numbers they were responsible for more than fifty-million killed. Speaker Ryan and fearfully modern day 'Franz Von Papen' or those empowered by our Constitution can assure Americans, that they remember responsibilities to it but they haven't and I fear will not before they cannot.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
8
Yep - afraid we are showing our age! The whole phenomenon is just a replay in "modern" terms. As you say, folks don't get it, sleepwalking. Hitler, A Study In Tyranny, Alan Bullock, 1964. The German's Versailles treaty was the American's 2008 economic disaster. Trigger for populist uprising providing a window of opportunity for the demagogue of the day.
But thank God we didn't get the hated Hillary you so elegantly sliced and diced time after time after time. Thanks to your efforts one can only guess how many people saw the light shining from Trump Tower signaling a new horizon of hope and prosperity. You saved us from a fate worse than death, or Hillary in this case. May the Gods make your life interesting to the end of your days.
30
I hope, ,yet doubt, your comment was snark. Compare Secretary Clinton's 4-decade past efforts with DT's. He has bullied and stiffed vendors, contractors, anyone who doesn't pay him homage. She's long stood up for the people - women, children, etc. - oh, never mind - if your comment was snark, you know; if not snark - then you'll disagree. Let me remind you of the 2012 TX Republican't Party Platform Education section:
From pg. 12 of the 2012 Texas Republican’t party platform:
"Knowledge-Based Education – We OPPOSE THE TEACHING OF Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of CHALLENGING THE STUDENT’S FIXED BELIEFS AND UNDERMINING PARENTAL AUTHORITY." [caps or bolding mine]
(2012) http://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/themes/rpt/images/2012Platform_Final.pdf
Need more be said??
R. Galli
From pg. 12 of the 2012 Texas Republican’t party platform:
"Knowledge-Based Education – We OPPOSE THE TEACHING OF Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of CHALLENGING THE STUDENT’S FIXED BELIEFS AND UNDERMINING PARENTAL AUTHORITY." [caps or bolding mine]
(2012) http://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/themes/rpt/images/2012Platform_Final.pdf
Need more be said??
R. Galli
176
If white evangelicals were to repent of their horribly misguided support of Trump-- who defies the gospel and the Ten Commandments by normalizing deception, worshiping himself instead of God (remember: "I have never asked for forgiveness ") and gleefully seeking to eviscerate even the thinnest protections for the poor -- then Trump's "base" would evaporate. We might then have our country back from from the abyss.
13
When dealing g with the likes of Kim and Putin, we need Trump and his generals.
Logic fail: 'when dealing with Putin we need Putin puppet/Putin's golden shower in chief star Trump' - really? You honestly think Putin has a microgram of respect or fear of Trump? Wow, good luck to you in your alternative reality. With regard to Kim, has Trump done anything ever to give you the impression he even knows, for example, where in the world the US Navy is?
I don't think so. They roast his boast, and eat his lunch.
The big question is, if Trump is proven to be mentally unfit for the office, how would he be removed? Would it have to be a military coup? I have yet to read anything explaining how this would be done. Have we ever removed a president for mental instability. Richard Nixon used to sneak into his psychiatrists building in the cover of night because he was so afraid of the press finding out he was undergoing analysis. I only wish Trump was mentally stable enough to know he needs help. Unfortunately he thinks everyone else needs help and he is the winner and the rest are losers. We are in a terrible place right now.
6
He is unfit for office which is why the Constitution provides for impeachment. This won't happen until and unless the Democrats flip the House in 2018.
Read the 25th Amendment to the Cindtitution of the United States of America. Better yet, read the whole Constitution, there are probably a few more gems in it of which you are unaware.
The problem with Trump being "weak" is that he's also a mentally unstable massive narcissist with its classic total lack of empathy and requiring complete and "constant admiration" or else being the "killer" who litters his path with the "collateral damage" of all those who fail to give "unquestioning compliance." This is much more than being "trapped in a caricature of masculinity;" it is a mentally ill man whose very nature requires absolute obedience at the risk of total annihilation. To be taunted by being called "weak" or a "loser" no matter the truth of the sentiment will only result in an immense inflation of his destructive behavior. Like Wotan frustrated by his quest for the Rheingold, this wannabe, but seriously deluded, sky god still holds the nuclear power of the Gotterdammerung. So, unless we recognize this truly existential threat the "last judgement" may, in fact, be his.
6
Americans have elected a sadist as President. He actually enjoys torturing people, figuratively speaking, watching them twist in the wind. He demeaned almost all of his serious Republican primary candidates by mocking certain personality traits, ridiculing their physical appearance, and inventing outrageous stories about them. He unmercifully mimicked a physically handicapped person. He dangled a Cabinet position in front of Romney and then sent him empty handed on his way. He ridicules Republican leaders in the Congress claiming they are inept, when he fails to study policy in any meaningful way that would bet helpful them.
And of course from the beginning for his opening gambit in the political game , he claimed Obama came from Kenya. That was the start. When he saw how receptive his Republican audience was for that racial taunt and falsehood, who can not understand what has followed.
Blame his voters for his behavior and their "We want more sir" attitude.
And of course from the beginning for his opening gambit in the political game , he claimed Obama came from Kenya. That was the start. When he saw how receptive his Republican audience was for that racial taunt and falsehood, who can not understand what has followed.
Blame his voters for his behavior and their "We want more sir" attitude.
15
Weaker than that is ordering a military strike because he can.
3
Is he winning something yet? When do we have the Parade? Are they passing the cake?
3
the next parade worth having will be one for Trump when the boots are backward.
Funny who would have guessed that he would govern this way? Why anyone with eyes and ears of course.
10
George Orwell would reject the story line as utterly lacking the slightest degree of verisimilitude.
3
Even a distinguished former General like John Kelly will not be able to bring order to the Trump edition of Animal House. The President showed his true gothic colors when he appointed Anthony Scaramoochi a contemporary model for the Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort, as his communications director. The Trump white house and especially its leading actors are to paraphrase the Vito Corleone character in the Godfather, {puppets on a string} being manipulated by none other than that Fox News bloviator and conspiracy theorist Shawn Hannity.
If the democrats could rid themselves of their own corrupt politicians of the past and present...Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Bill De Blasio aka Wilhelm Ward and Maxine Waters, they could soon make Trump and the bumbling republican congress that has heretofore followed the pied piper into the abyss, a distant memory.
If the democrats could rid themselves of their own corrupt politicians of the past and present...Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Bill De Blasio aka Wilhelm Ward and Maxine Waters, they could soon make Trump and the bumbling republican congress that has heretofore followed the pied piper into the abyss, a distant memory.
I'm confused by this sentence:
"As the tweets hit the White House cellphones, Priebus’s colleagues Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino jumped out of the Suburban they were sharing with Priebus, leaving the jobless man in a driving rain on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, the weakest link tossed off the sled for the press wolves."
If Miller and Scavino jumped out of the Suburban, wouldn't they be the ones in the driving rain, not Priebus, thus leaving the so-called weakest link ON the sled protected from the press wolves?
"As the tweets hit the White House cellphones, Priebus’s colleagues Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino jumped out of the Suburban they were sharing with Priebus, leaving the jobless man in a driving rain on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, the weakest link tossed off the sled for the press wolves."
If Miller and Scavino jumped out of the Suburban, wouldn't they be the ones in the driving rain, not Priebus, thus leaving the so-called weakest link ON the sled protected from the press wolves?
3
Someone should remind the great unenlightened one that people being put into police cars are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
6
So....are we tired of winning yet?
4
Steinbrenner? More like John Gotti.
4
I'm still having trouble reading Maureen Dowd's new opinion pieces since she seems to have woken up from her obsessed hatred of HIllary Clinton. Or perhaps she still harbors this hatred yet sees that all is not right with the Trump win she helped to bring about in her own small way. It was clear for a lot of us that Trump was corrupt and unfit to be president when he was a candidate. That alone should have called upon the patriotism of the press to stand behind his opponent HIllary Clinton. Now we have this hideous spectacle and dangerous even criminal activity of the Republican party hiding behnd Trump as they try to take away Affordable Health Care from millions of Americans. Lives are at risk, yet they callously push on. Trump and his silent complicit VP should go, as well as Ryan and the rest of the Republican "leadership". And this i just one of their goals... We can only hope that after millions of Americans lose ACA, we don't end up in a nasty war with Trump as president.
8
The GOP are finally realizing that after only six short months Donald Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" has now morphed into -
" No He/ We Can't!"
" No He/ We Can't!"
1
I am so impressed by my fellow commenters here. You are so much more well-reasoned and eloquent in describing...the utter revulsion I feel for Trump and his family.
4
How does your brother Kevin feel about him now? Still a fan no doubt.
2
Trump and Sessions deserve each other. We deserve neither.
6
Ms. Dowd, it is difficult to forget your campaign columns supporting the Don and cutting into Hillary Clinton, who was far from being a perfect candidate if that exists but a responsible decent experienced person with intelligence. You know perfectly well that DJT has acted criminally for years and is crazy. You helped put him where he is and I assume you are in the depths of your own Boschian purgatory seeing this play out.
15
As always Ms Dowd's column is informative and entertaining. Even in her clear prose, however, there is a danger of falling prey to misdirection by Mr Trump's shiny objects. The Orange Wonder is a cartoon villain to be hissed and scorned. He is a coward who, while born on third base, continues to crow he hit a triple. The true villains in this farce are the Republican majorities in the House and Senate who allow this utter nonsense to continue. I sincerely hope that the dim lights in the Red districts become ever brighter and cease doubling down on stupid. PT Barnum was correct about the gullibility of the American public. Even that sorry lot "should" see the error of their ways eventually. At the risk of being branded an elitist lefty (I am not), I believe that we need to be clear that right-thinking German citizens, several generations ago, thought it a good idea to elect a cartoon villain who was aided and abetted by the same sorry group of stooges. Sinclair Lewis aptly described this phenomenon in his seminal 1935 novel. Yet, we have seen this concept repeat itself right here. Our country needs to get rid of the idealogues. They are the real problem. The Orange villain needs to stay, twisting slowly. The others are a truly scary, utterly criminal, group. Get rid of all of them as soon as possible. None of this is difficult.
2
Thank you for this! Only weak little men need to surround themselves with big, bad generals.
Every headline about Trump should include the word 'weak' from now on.
Every headline about Trump should include the word 'weak' from now on.
4
I would add "failed" to those headlines.
I don't know yet... wait and see what Trump does next weak!
"And what could be weaker than that?"
"And what could be weaker than that?"
1
Ms. Dowd, can you please explain to the millions of Americans who are sinking in the guagmire of the chaos in President Trump's White House how our 45th President can be removed from office? How can Donald Trump be forced to resign, be impeached or otherwise convinced to pick up his terrible marbles and leave, like the outrageous, egregious and "unpresidented" bully he is? President Trump has had worse than his "really weak week", Maureen Dowd. He has had a stupendously weak 200 days and doesn't deserve to be our President, to be that horrific American face to the world.
1
The anti-trans tweet was patently offensive and based on a lie ("I've consulted with my generals").
It was designed, however, as:
1. Red meat for part of his base.
2. A distraction from that "Russia thing".
The worst part of it was that the tweet was timed for the anniversary of Truman's integrating the armed forces!
Timing it like that was a deliberate historical insult to blacks and minorities -- and showcases Trump's regressive, not progressive, instincts. No doubt, Breitbart-Bannon was behind it and knew the history -- Trump, of course, knows little, but must have liked the idea of sticking it to another group when he heard about it.
Trump's racism is palpable and well documented.
It's past time for him to go!
It was designed, however, as:
1. Red meat for part of his base.
2. A distraction from that "Russia thing".
The worst part of it was that the tweet was timed for the anniversary of Truman's integrating the armed forces!
Timing it like that was a deliberate historical insult to blacks and minorities -- and showcases Trump's regressive, not progressive, instincts. No doubt, Breitbart-Bannon was behind it and knew the history -- Trump, of course, knows little, but must have liked the idea of sticking it to another group when he heard about it.
Trump's racism is palpable and well documented.
It's past time for him to go!
2
With with the Russia sanctions bill Congress take foreign policy power from the Presidency, which would ordinarily be a bad thing. Congress really can't micromanage foreign policy effectively. But Trump is like a cancer on American Democracy and power around the world. The sanctions bill is just one of many toxic stop gap therapies the body politic needs to endure to treat whatever greater evil Trump inflicts on the country as time passes..
2
It's time for the 25th Amendment, Trump cabinet!
6
Ms. Dowd, throughout the campaign you maligned Hillary Clinton. There are no saints in politics, but the election was not about sainthood. You supported Trump because you couldn't stand Hillary. Elections have consequences, and so do your published opinions.
You are coming to your senses too little too late. It would be quite gracious on your part, and I would gracefully accept your apologies for being one of the Trump enablers should you provide us with a Mea Culpa.
You are coming to your senses too little too late. It would be quite gracious on your part, and I would gracefully accept your apologies for being one of the Trump enablers should you provide us with a Mea Culpa.
15
Add to that the diversionary tactics, of which she is part, to take our eyes off the ball regarding the big 3 monopolies in the non-healthcare debate. What reporter is howling about the subsidies the insurance companies are receiving for not providing healthcare, Big Pharma rip offs and the accountability of the AMA monopoly over the continuously prescribed Opioids? Why aren't doctors being sued for mal practice and negligence? Why aren't insurance companies and Big Pharma being forced to compete? All we hear about is Russia and LBGT rights so we'll take our collective eyes off the ball.
Glad to see that you have joined us, Maureen. Too bad you didn't have this foresight when you maligned Hillary during the election. Anyone who lived "large" in NYC knew that Trump would and could be all of this and more. We have not seen his debacle. There is no "perfect" presidential candidate but anyone who opposed this guy would have been leagues ahead of him.
14
Our--the American taxpayers'--"Day of Judgement" is Articles of Impeachment...right?
Since respect for the office is missing and lost, so should the unfit pol in it be too...
Since respect for the office is missing and lost, so should the unfit pol in it be too...
1
Only three and a half seasons left.. spoiler alert episode 5.. Sessions to H.S. Perry to Justice.. Mueller to retirement...
1
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 blocking the Straight of Hormuz..” http://seekingalpha.com/article/4034048