It is a sad state of affairs that so many white women voted for Trump. This is highlighted by the fact they still voted for Our Dear Leader even after an audiotape was released during the campaign in which this cretin bragged about groping women. Obviously, these women do not know the meaning of the word shame and suffer from low self-esteem. At the same time, I believe they are not very intelligent. Further proof of this is the fact these women, as well as plenty of white men, were duped by a skilled con artist into believing his pitch that he (and only he) would make America great again, i.e., return the country to the days of the Eisenhower 50s when white men ruled, women and people of color "knew their place", and gays and lesbians were in the closet. There are some really ignorant, pathetic people in this country.
27
Mr Blow is guilty of the very thing that he accuses President Trump of. Hate speech.
9
Hey. C'mon. He degrades us handicapped people too.
14
Donald John Trump loves and respects women who look and behave like Ivana, Marla, Melania, Ivanka and Tiffany who allow him to grab their "lady parts."
John Kelly and Sarah Huckabee Sanders share the same bias.
14
You're dealing with a low life. What would you expect ?
15
People who behave like trump are actually intimidated by women. The only way they know how to deal with this is to try to make women seem smaller than themselves by insulting them. Really pathetic.
15
Sometimes it's hard to tell when Donald is being sexist from when he's being racist. This intersectionality is confusing. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and just presume he's a coarse chauvinist bigot.
10
This is an incredibly racist and sexist article. Trump blasts everyone who criticises him regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation. But you seem to be saying if someone is Black or female or, especially both, they should not be criticised. Now we can debate the merits of this type of response in general but to say it is sexist and racist for him to respond the same way to a Black woman is absurd.
Don't forget this congresswoman has been calling for Trump's impeachment from the get go and she was the one to politicize this.
BTW, another widow released a tape of her conversation with Trump to show how much she appreciated his call. And, believe it or not, she was also Black.
4
Once in a while Charles really Blows his top over Trump and the results are hilarious. This is one such occasion. So Charles, Trump attacks womens' looks, but his son hurls the actual insults? And then Trump calls out base attacks from lefty women, but it is racist policy he uses to get back at them? Can't we focus on one base accusation of bias against the President at a time? I like the tax angle though....hard for the Administration to defend a (racist) policy which doesn't even exist yet!
2
charles, is there any way you can get Ms Wilson to shed those funky hats ? seriously, at least until this brouhaha is settled.quiets down? the way she displays them is simply too distracting at a minimum. Makes her way too easy a target for abuse. you dont have to white racist or evangelical to know there is nothing stylish or tasteful about them. they would no less absurd on Hilary or a Texas male congressmen.
4
How does Huckabee Sanders sleep at night? Watching her smug, self righteous face as she defends the indefensible, lie and obfuscate, to protect what appears to be a craven, dangerous megalomaniac is sickening. He can’t help himself. What is her excuse?
Isn’t she supposed to be devoutly religious? If so, what teachings of Christ is she following in standing by a person who has shown himself to be hate filled , vengeful and cruel toward others; a pathological liar, and denigrator of women?
In the end, will her explanation for the historic record be, “ I was just doing my job”? Haven’t we heard that before?
25
Trump is deeply afraid, even phobic of women. His perfect woman is always beautiful but empty. He is afraid of intelligent, powerful and accomplished women, who have strong communities and support systems, as do Hillary Clinton and Congresswoman Wilson. He is phobic of menstruating, pregnant, older and less physically attractive women- they would puncture his own self image. Women journalists are his nightmare- better keep them in a pen.
Just take a look at the women he has surrounded himself with.
They all lack accomplishment, stellar education, moral character, and deep attachment to others. Betsy de Vos, who couldn't answer the simplest questions about education standards in her confirmation hearing. The ever-missing communications manager Hope Hicks, who brilliantly failed to manage this fiasco. Let's leave the liars Sara Sanders and Kellyanne Conway for now. Oh don't forget Monica Crowley who Trump was going to appoint a deputy national security advisor, except she plagarized her book and her PhD thesis.
The kind of woman Trump fears most is exactly Frederica Wilson. Trump is a pathetic little boy who will never know lasting attachment to a real woman.
16
'Donald Trump Jr. once referred to Congresswoman Maxine Waters as looking “like a stripper.”'
This makes absolutely no sense at all.
4
Ms. Sanders should be aware that it is disrespectful to slander a member of the House of Representatives of the United States. The rudeness and arrogance of the present administration is exceeded only by its stupidity. They pollute everything the touch: witness the collapse of the honor and dignity of Gen. Kelly in his defense of the POTUS. How can we wipe this stain from our nation?
15
The barometer of whether you are are an American with gravitas is to have Trump hurl an offensive name at you or try to demean you in a tweet.
6
Narcissist. Narcissist. Narcissist.
Why is it so difficult for Americans to understand that they elected a president with a severe mental disorder? All Trump's behavior comes straight out of the Narcissim 101 playbook. The lies, the lack of empathy, the attention seeking and need for adoration, the gaslighting and scapegoating, the overwriting of memory---all basic narcissistic behaviors. Trump's entire political agenda revolves solely around doing whatever is best for himself and his synchophant followers. How can anyone still be surprised when Trump behaves true to his mental disorder?
The real question is, "Why are we still allowing a psychopath to run our country?"
20
Only a very weak man would strike, ridicule, or make fun of a strong woman.
6
I'm a fan of Charles Blow, but this is silly. Trump is President primarily because of the efforts of an incredibly strong woman - Kellyanne Conway.
3
Wilson is an attention monger. You think she wears the clown hats to keep the sun and rain off of her like a real cowboy? Trump gives her attention so she wins. Hence her "I'm a rock star" comment. Like Charlie Sheen's "winning".
1
President Carter stated that the press has been extremely harsh on President Trump. Many have a prejudicial view of the president equating him as a racist and white supremacist; now the racist web has expanded to wrap and ensnare General Kelly over his "empty barrel remark"; which after 24 hours of self deliberation, Congresswoman Wilson stated on CNN, " come to think about it, the term is racist"... Political discourse is non existent as anyone with differing opinions or thoughts can and will be labeled as racists. Fact, President Trump is a bumbling, inarticulate buffoon who most likely stammered his condolences. It is asinine to think the president deliberately insulted the window of SGT Johnson. The statement, "he knew what he signed up for" is meant as a sign of respect for SGT. Johnson's call of duty and valor for accepting the call of service and the danger it represents. Shame on all parties involved and allowing petty partisanship to cloud over the solemn occasion of remembering a fallen US military member. To all critics, is anyone truly qualified to pass on the news that your loved one has made the supreme sacrifice?
3
You forgot that Trump said Carly Fiorina was too ugly to be elected President. He said look at that face. Like he is a handsome guy. We have a juvenile running the country.
12
One note on your otherwise stirring article: I'm afraid that you magnify the true power of the Trump-Troglodytes when you write about "the base that elected him". Trump was elected by only about 24% of eligible voters! The other 76% either voted for another candidate or did not vote at all. A major reason why so many "Trumps" get elected is that reasonable Americans fail to mobilize enough voters to prevail. American Barbarians prevail only because the decent majority do not stand up for our shared American values.
9
I guess women were “sacred” when they could not defend themselves from powerful men who tried to get away with lies and slander towards the family and friends of the dead. Thank God for the American Constitution and it’s insisting that dignity is our right not some trinket bestowed on us by men who would be kings.
It was none of Trump’s business and none of Kelly’s business to opine about who the widow had invited to sit with her in a limo at the airport awaiting her soldier husband’s body, her young kids with her. Who listened with her was never their business. It was HER choice.
It was not their business to make stuff up and act like it was “patriotic” to pick on this family in what had to be the worst day of their lives.
Shame on Trump. Shame on Kelly.
13
Mr . Blow, Trump's "fetish", as you call it ,for Military Generals most likely correlates with his fear and disdain for the Military authorities of his adolescence. Let's remember his authoritarian father sent an unruly Trump to Military School. Apparently some of his current generals tolerate him, and enable his malignant narcissism, racism, and mysogenistic attitudes. More over it appears as if one of them, General Kelly publicly defends him. There is a boundary to establish between the sense of duty and responsibility of a military man and being exploited and shamed by a pathological authority. General Kelly has demonstrated in two appearances with the press that we have a case of confusion of such boundaries. It is also possible that General Kelly was the one who advised Trump to tell the young widow, that her husband Sgt. La David T. Johnson " knew what he" had signed up for. Perhaps Gen. Kelly felt he had no other alternative but go public to save Trump's image. The majority of citizens with genuine and deep sense of empathy can connect with these terrible loses. This is not the case of Trump. He has to import and fabricate sensitivity, and since he cannot mobilize it, he attacks those who have it , such a congress woman Wilson.
4
Women? Trump strikes out at anyone who publicly criticizes him, man,woman or whatever. He is an equal opportunity insulter , and will call out any person who has attacked him without regard to race, religion , gender, nationality , or any other categorization one might care to designate. This is just another example. Don't attack the big dog unless you're willing to get bitten. America was well aware of Trump's tendencies when we elected him president. This is really not a "man bites dog" interesting news story. What did you expect?
1
I appreciate the point Mr. Blow is making here. His concerns are real and justified. But, I take issue with his presentation of the statistical facts in the end of his essay. His statement that begins "contrast that with welfare" and ends with "Republicans wrongly believe that black people are welfare's largest recipients". There is misrepresentation here. Looking at just the numbers, the latest data we have is 2015. White people make up 27.5%, Black people 29.5%, and Hispanic 36.9%. These numbers were admittedly rounded, but not so much so that they distort the truth. Let's speak to the truth here, and ask sincere questions about the over representation of various ethinicities, and the political and cultural reasons for that. But, pretending away the facts won't facilitate that discussion, only distract from it. Additionally, the research study he cited to support his comment was not looking soley at TANF, and other government assistance programs, but rather the advantages that tax breaks and refunds provide, in addition to those things. Their findings conclude that on average these programs assist white Americans out of poverty much more readily than other ethinicities. Which is supported by the statistics above. This taken together provides a much more troubling, allbeit more long term, problem than simply who is presently in office. Rather, we need a cultural overhaul the levels the playing field for all of its citizens, not just those who claim to be white.
1
Presumably Ms. Hucksterbee Sanders would take the position that Michael Flynn should not have been questioned when he lied about communications with the Russian Ambassador, unless she makes an exception because he was only a lieutenant general. Perhaps it's only attaining the four star rank that exempts one from questioning.
6
Trump and Kelly's racist attacks on Congresswoman Wilson showed US their true colors. We New Yorkers have known for decades Trump and his father's history of discrimination. Fred Trump was a KKK sympathizer, a John Bircher, and true believer that renting to Blacks would devalue their property. The Federal government had to sue to get them to cease and desist.
If anyone has devalued the neighborhood I live in it is Trump, with that gaudy, garish structure of on Fifth and Fifty-Sixth.
Which brings us to the present day. Trump has always had a real problem with women, a certain type of woman. Not the fashion models/escorts he's "dated" for compensation. Trump "loves" those women. They keep their mouths shut, perform their duties, as arm candy, paid escorts, or trophy wives. Best of all they remain mute, the way Trump wants it. And when they reach a certain age Trump discards them like a worn out suit.
Trump has a real problem with women who have a mind of their own, who speak up in critical debate. Nothing so infuriates chauvinists like Trump and Kelly then to see someone like Rep. Wilson take them, the almighty White Male to task. Decked out in outlandish outfits, a myriad of colorful cowboy hats, Trump and Kelly see someone beneath their station, someone not worthy to question a four-star Marine General. The sheer gall of "that woman". Who does she think she is? White Supremacist Chauvinists like Trump and Kelly will soon find out.
DD
Manhattan
7
Isn't all this a distraction from the reason our military troops in Niger were placed in a position of vulnerability? Is it related, as Rachel Maddow asserted, to the pullout of Chad's protective forces from Niger after Chad was (without apparent reason or explanation) placed on the list of countries whose citizens are denied entry into the US? (This after Chad sued Exxon for back taxes [the head of the Department of State used to be in charge of Exxon].)
I'm sorry I'm responding to this story so late. Ms. Maddow's report on MSNBC persuasively lays out the reasons trump hadn't addressed these deaths for two weeks.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/inexplicable-trump-travel-ban-d...
10
I wish someone would collect and publish information about Trump's relationship with his mother, as a young boy and a teenager. I suspect that would explain many things.
5
Before this episode is archived, I want to express my respect and appreciation for Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. She stood up and didn't sit down, she spoke out and didn't shut up when a president and a Marine general told her to. I also want to express my disdain for Republican congresswomen who sat silent while another woman was verbally abused and lied about for doing what women everywhere do: defend their families. The soldier, his young widow and parents are family to Congresswoman Wilson.
17
Trump is an equal opportunity denigrator. He's said horrible things about every person who has ever challenged him. He lies just to lie. At some point it's going to catch up with him. The only question is if anything will be left of America when it does.
38
Trump has been a bigot from the jump. He learned at his father's knee. He and Dad got into trouble when they were caught denying people of color access to rent apartments in their buildings. He is also a misogynist. The proof of that from his own mouth on the infamous audiotape. These are facts. The attacks on Congressman Wilson are the rantings of an adolescent; not the response of a president. The barely concealed racist comments by General Kelly further pushed this episode into the realm of insanity.
This is the administration that the Trump voters wanted, and this is the administration that everyone else dreaded. Everything I feared about this man being president has already come to fruition and he hasn't even finished year one yet. I look to the next three years with a saddened heart and dread for the future of this country.
60
I understand and agree with your fears, but I have one to add. My greatest fear for Trump’s presidency is that he will cause a war, either internally or externally. He seems to be on the verge of both...
8
It occurs to me that Mr. Trump and his camp are seeking to eliminate all of those unwashed masses (the Boogey-folk) to build a world exclusively occupied by themselves. Except they will soon learn that the finery they surround themselves with is manufactured, delivered and maintained by people from a lower social status. I sincerely hope if they succeed in this endeavor, they will have to figure out how to prepare a meal (if they can get the ingredients) and repair a toilet by themselves (maybe KellyAnn can do it, she doesn't seem to have much to do these days). All that glitters is not gold. And we will not subject ourselves to being the rungs on their ladders.
23
Respect is a two way avenue often traveled in one direction when it comes to Trump.
24
Presumably Trump made three other calls, all likely similar in content. Yet this one somehow had a "progressive" democrat congresswomen listening in and simply could not wait for her moment in the spotlight by misrepresenting and twisting the meaning of Trump's words. Don't think that America is not listening, and don't think that most America find the congresswoman reprehensible.
9
Jaco,
If time permits, please review all of Mr. Trump’s twitter feeds since 2012. I respectfully disagree that this is a partisan issue, but I would ask that after the examination of his comments towards people of color and people who do not agree with him, you critically reflect on the color of the other three soldiers. I also ask that you don’t read any print media’s words but look at DT’s twitter account when the Black CEO quit his council. There were White men who did also, but who did he single out? I beg you to look at the big picture and not pit party against party, but see our president for who he is. I’ll await your response. His words not the media’s, Kelly’s or his son’s words reveals a man who has a problem with people of color and people who disagree with him. Unfortunately HIS actions show that people of color receive more lashes and Twitter proves it!
4
The Congresswoman didn’t just happen to be there. She has known the family since Sgt. Johnson was a child, and they asked her to ride with them. Mrs Johnson asked that Trump’s call be put on speakerphone. Mrs. Johnson, the widow, and Sgt. Johnson’s mother have both said that Congresswoman Wilson’s representation of the call was true. There was no progressive plot at work. Just grieving family and friends offended by a clumsy call from an ill-prepared man, who didn’t even remember the name of the soldier who gave his life.
7
@ Jaco Yes, "don't think" is indeed the mantra of Trump supporters. You've encapsulated it wonderfully well.
8
For me American history begins with the founding documents not with the revolution. The American Revolution is steeped in bigotry and ignorance and it is only the words of truly enlightened men that made America a very special country. Somehow American history must come alive and instead of returning to the time of the revolution which was animated by fear and ignorance we can again realize the America of the enlightenment as delivered by Jefferson, Adams, Paine and Franklin.
11
Mr. Trump's words are meaningless; nothing but a lot of hot air. He only tried to parrot what was told him by another and to which he likely did not pay much attention. He misspoke in the worst way, and refuses to acknowledge his failure. It is no surprise that his words are insensitive, because he has neither the intellectual capacity or emotional maturity for the job.
Judge him by what he does, not what he says. This social issues nonsense is only an effort to distract, and to promote the false narrative that the US is a divided people and that we are at war with ourselves- propaganda that serves our enemies, the Russians.
15
I don't consider Russians my enemies. Also, I haven't heard or read any Russians bashing me just because I'm white.
Trump continually is showing us exactly who he is. If questioned, he attacks no matter the race of the person or their position they take or may be in. Hurricanes, the poor, women who speak up, you name it.
As far as the call, again he shows who he is: a person incapable of true compassion for others. He doesn't know how to do it. I feel sorry for him, But I truly sorry for our country that we are dealing with all of this. How sad.
18
Very true Charles but you've forgotten to mention Trump's disparagement of the indigenous people of the United States, through his ridiculing of Elizabeth Warren's alleged part-Native American ancestry, by calling her "Pocahontas".
The United States is way behind Australia in acknowledging, celebrating and improving the lives of its indigenous people - just as Australia is behind Canada and New Zealand. This is a most regrettable fact of our nations.
13
The ridicule is because of the very alleged ancestry that she used to check off a diversity/victim box.
2
Trump has always asserted his anger and criticism on those he probably fears. I think his worst nightmare is a smart and outspoken black woman, followed closely by women of power in general.
He is a case of arrested development and sees women as second class. To him they need to be beautiful creatures with great bodies in order to be relevant.
And of course they need to be young.
I don't recall him praising women of a certain age and achievement.
Does he ever praise FLOTUS, even just for raising his son and keeping the tower gleaming. He seems to have a lot of praise for the daughter he created in his own image.
My expectations for him as a human being ended decades ago. His immaturity was always on display. The only maturity he ever displayed since was in the content of his attacks on women. He got nasty.
Never could understand the women who dated him back in the day unless it was the tabloid exposure and the limousines.
Let's leave his comments and those of Don jr. out of the press coverage. Neither have much to contribute on the subject of successful women. They are merely objects to them and heaven help the woman that speaks ill or criticizes them. Like the frat boys they are, rants will follow.
14
We now seem to have a journalist's cottage industry that exists and thrives on the opportunities that Donald Trump presents to wax lyrical on his painfully obvious character flaws.
At some point, enough is enough. We all know more than enough. Everything about the man can be summed up in a few words, like 'puerile,' or 'vindictive,' or 'willfully ill-informed.' We can throw in 'selfish' and 'entitled,' 'insensitive' and 'tone-deaf' and 'manipulative.' It all boils down to a snotty, ill-behaved, out of control, brutish, bullying 10 year old rich kid who has not changed or matured much between his childhood and his dotage.
Now that we have that out of the way, perhaps it's time to focus, like a laser beam, on the extensive damage he and his compadres in the executive branch and Congress are hellbent on doing to our environment, economy, educational system, transportation, international relations, health care and retirement and nutrition and science... not to mention our 200 plus year experiment in democratic government.
I know it's nowhere near as much fun as pumping out purple prose to describe the reprehensible excuse for a man who was somehow made our President, but it really needs to be done. And then something productive needs to be done to stop it, and to ensure it will not happen again any time soon.
38
Thank you for bringing this discrimination into focus. I don't understand how women can continue to support him. I guess they figure he is not referring to them. When Repubs talk about cutting welfare to poor women that are also denied birth control, use of family planning clinics and their right to choose to continue a pregnancy, it shows them as total hypocrites. If they respected children and the mothers that raise them they would provide support for these women.
In this land of plenty this is unacceptable and immoral.
12
tRump's degradation of women to Harvey Weinstein's predatory assaults are part of US embedded disrespect for women. Treating women badly seeps into the national consciousness. To say nothing of our disgraceful standing in the world on family policies that would help women participate fully in the economy.
Politicians are not even talking out of both sides of their mouth anymore - it is clear they see women as opponents.
11
Trump is everything that he says he is not and Nothing that he says he is...
He says that he is strong when in fact he has shown to be weak and feckless
He says that he is a great leader but rather he has shown that he deflects and pass off decisions to others ( like to congress on DACA, Iran, Obamacare)
He says that he good to women but has shown that he disrespects women at every turn
He says that he is smart with a great education but has shown a lack of understanding of so many issues
He says that he brave but yet he dodged the draft with letters from a family doctor
He says that he wanted to reduce American involvement around the world but rather we continue to be embroiled around the world.
And on and on....
Here is the takeway....when Trump makes an assertion....believe the other side of the assertion....
18
Real men eat quiche and real men apologize when they are wrong. Trump doesn't take responsibility for his words or deeds which leaves no room for an apology when one is required.
10
Real men eat their words when they are wrong
2
It would serve Trump to take the moral high ground[if that is possible] by remaining silent or by offering a simple apology to the widow in question behind closed doors.
5
We knew, or should have known, all of this years ago but still Trump became President.
A nation gets the government it deserves.
9
Trump just said in a Rose Garden "TV event" that the Prime Minister of Singapore's father was a "great man." In comparison, Trump did not describe the late Sgt. Johnson as "great" but did say to the widow that Sgt. Johnson knew what he signed up for. Strange, as I assume Trump knew that the Singapore father had brown skin.
2
Personally, I cannot fathom why any woman will vote Republican today. Why should politician be able to dictate how women must deal with their most intimate and personal decisions?
Make abortions safe, legal, and RARE. Government paid, readily available contraception of all kinds has been shown (in Colorado) to reduce abortions by 60%. What more needs to be said on the subject?
18
One of the worst boogeywomen images ever created were by Ronald Reagan. That was the "ghetto queen". The totally imaginary colored woman who had multiple children (out of wedlock ofcourse?), lived off welfare and drove a Cadillac. No one could ever produce one such woman but every racist white person could imagine that such a person existed and it was all the fault of the welfare system. Now we have Congresswoman Wilson. She is strong, intelligent and classy and won't back down from a fight even with the POTUS. Trump's worst nightmare!!!
13
Reading about DT's behavior every day reminds me of why I hated teaching selfish, bratty and entitled kids who didn't respect anyone. I wanted to teach instead of babysit young adults who came from money, but had no class. This is what it's like to be a U.S. citizen these days, witnessing the spectacle of gauche.
As long as he sees all people, especially women, as objects whose worth is determined only by how much or how little they benefit his ego, he'll never stop sticking his foot in his mouth. Let's hope at least he knows which fork to use at a diplomatic dinner.
7
True, and this Trumpian flaw has a way of tarnishing those around him or bringing forth or revealing flawed views or prejudices as in the case of General Kelly. Be careful with whom you align yourself!
8
I believe Rep. Wilson noted trump making fun of her hats and said something to the effect of: why are her hats funny but when Roy Moore wears a cowboy hat and waves a gun around, while riding a horse, that is not something to ridicule.
28
Sargent Johnson died on a military mission and his wife and family have to endure his death over and over again because Trump and Kelly made it their mission to humiliate whatever dignity this soldier and family have. I don't expect much from Trump but shame on Kelly. The military's mantra, never leave a man behind. Kelly left this man behind and then some. Disgraceful.
19
Believe me. Donald Trump's real boogeyman is his mind. It's a mind afflicted with a mental disorder--Narcissism. Narcissism, like Alzheimer's, affects thinking and prevents normal cognitive functioning. A hallmark symptom of this real disorder is malignant self-interest without regards for others. Also lack of compassion. Think about it that, including a fragile ego which can't tolerate criticism thus lashes out, describes all of Mr.Trumps rhetoric and behavior. And is for the self-serving purpose, to keeps base satisfied, whatever that takes, so he can win again. Period. Thus, to keep expecting this disordered man to behave normally is no less foolish than expecting more from someone with Alzheimer's. It's said that insanity is to keep doing the same thing expecting different results. That could be expanded to include to keep expecting more from this president when for nine months, and way before that, everything has stayed the same. Narcissist don't change, learn or grow. It's said that those surrounding a Narcissists end of needing psychotherapy because of constant exposure to their confusing crazy behavior, while the narcissist just keep trucking unchanged.
10
Charlie, you seem to be full of - - - it. Frederica Wilson lies by the sin of omission, though not commission. She pulls one segment of a sentence (grossly out of context) and believes she can make hay, and her name, with it. Gen. Kelly put the record straight with the full context of Trumps condolence call and how these calls are made. She, who despises the Pres. and the military and has no concept of military protocol.
As for the 1%, they pay more taxes than the bottom 50%, so if their tax burden is reduced disproportionately, it's because their share of the burden is disproportionate to begin with. And what, exactly, does their melanin content have to do with anything? The top 1% is not composed of a static membership. Just as anyone who applies themselves can change their circumstances, so too does the 1% membership change. If anything, it's the fault of public education, and parents, that people get in a financial rut. Neither teach even rudimentary financial literacy - education, savings, good debt v. bad debt, financial tracking, etc. Assign blame where it belongs, not to those who use proper tools, but to those who do not.
2
In the presentation defending Trump, Kelley told an elaborate, insulting lie about the Congresswoman’s speech at the dedication of a Post Office in Florida. If POTUS’s call to Mrs. Johnson was inept, the follow-up has been contemptible. He is a failed human being.
2
I find it interesting that Mr. Blow has trouble recognizing that President Trump has appointed, and drawn around him more than just a few bright, talented, accomplished women to assist him in governing.
Some of them are even minorities...Like Nikki Haley.
7
Charles always impresses me the way he can keep such a worn out train on thought so long on the track, day in and day out. It's quite a feat of railroad engineering.
1
We know the pattern. We see it everyday on the news channels. Trump supporters looking a blatant lie straight in the eye—and denying it. Or, only slightly less repulsive, playing the game of false equivalences between a blatant lie and a mischaracterized counter to that lie so that a casual spectator (spectator—not citizen; that’s what we’ve become) can’t tell the difference.
There is no equivalence between General Kelly’s lie about Representative Federica Wilson’s speech to the FBI and Representative Wilson’s response to that lie. If Kelly did not lie about Wilson, Wilson would not have had to respond with her heightened rhetoric. The lie and not the rhetoric is the initiating problem, and so the lie and not the rhetoric is what must be apologized for. That Kelly has not apologized for what should be as clear to him as it is to everyone else reveals the collapse of his integrity. He too, as with everyone else in the Trump administration, has become contaminated goods. And his contamination will now add to the overall contamination to expand its influence.
One other thing must be considered. WHY did General Kelly so misread Representative Wilson’s speech? A speech that praised Democrats and Republicans alike, that asked all FBI agents to stand for a ovation that she led, that FBI Director James Comey himself praised effusively—was seen by General Kelly as shameless self-aggrandizing. Why?
Could it be that to Kelly Representative Wilson was just an uppity black woman?
10
Chairman Blow judges that when it comes to seving women, Iron Chef Trump has no recipe, just madness.
Trump's tax plan and undermining of services to women and their children will starve them into his age of prosperity.
His dishes had no creativity nor taste, but Congresswoman Frederica Wilson did award 5 points for plating because she thought the Twitter Goulash could receive the Medal of Benghazi Merit.
As for WH administrators and staff, they again claim a severe food allergy for crow and would not reveal the Iron Chef's secrets to his "success".
2
This is a terrible thing that happened to a war widow but listening to Tom Brokaw the Congresswoman should never have exposed the widow to this terrible backlash. Yeah, we can blame it on Trump because we all know how he reacts to being accused of anything and that what he said was terrible but it has now reached the point that the widow said that she as not able to view her husband's body and that maybe it is not him in the coffin What should have been done was to have the widow speak to a military Chaplin who could have helped soothe her.
Because if a rabid dog bites you it is your fault for not avoiding the rabid dog? Did not the mother and widow of the slain soldier also state they were “disrespected”? Why should someone have to go to a military Chaplin to provide damage control for the ill-advised statements of the commander in chief?
7
I cannot understand why people run to the defense of this man’s bad behavior. What happened to being accountable?
3
I read this and think that John Kelly's days are numbered.
He will no longer be able to get up in front of the press without being asked why he has not apologized to Frederica Wilson. Given his background and that question I believe that some form of apology would be forthcoming.
At this point Trump has the option of not putting Kelly in front of the press or live with the fact that someone in the Whitehouse apologized for something that was not true - imagine that.
8
The President of the United States called Mrs. Johnson, a grieving widow. She received the call in a car, on her way to Dover, to receive the body of her husband, Sgt. Johnson, who had been killed in action. President Trump, meant to console her. She did not accept his words of consolation. I would imagine due to overwhelming grief. That kind of telephone call is very difficult to make. I commend President Trump for making that call to Mrs. Johnson.
3
You mean for performing one of the tasks for which he was elected? I don’t commend my plumber when he cleans my grease trap:
1
It’s a self-defeating theory: if Trump is playing such a game, so are they. It’s an infinite regress of self-reflexivity.
1
Charles, I feel your pain, and wholeheartedly agree with every column you've written about Trump. Constructively I think it's time to translate this angst into policy and advocacy to get people out to the polls. He won for various reason, one being that too many people sat out the election, or voted for a protest candidate. Each day we obsess on these squabble Congress and the agencies are shifting the sands of policy, threatening democracy, justice, the environment and our welfare. The more we chase the rabbit, the more other animals are eating the garden.
5
I would submit that you're playing into Trump's hands by even discussing this flap.
He uses these to distract us from discussing more important issues like tax reform.
He ends up controlling the news cycle, just like he did in the run up to the election.
I wish the media would stop reacting to his every tweet.
5
One must address racism and in agreement with you . never take our eye off of the bouncing ball.he is trying to destroy America but our eyes and our feet for marching and voting are watching him and his lining cronies
1
In this case Trump was probably more socially awkward than anything else and trying to paraphrase Kelly's counsel in a way that completely backfired. We all need to give this one a rest, not for Trump's sake but for our own. Constantly hyping every word/phrase/action/inaction of his distracts from the many substantial and dangerous aspects of Trump's Presidency, and only gives ammunition to those of his supporters who try to negate the legitimacy of the opposition. The news cycle is starting to seem more like an ongoing tabloid than legitimate reporting. Time to knock it off and focus in depth on the major issues and legitimate policy arguments we face before it's too late.
4
The phone call was not the problem. The lies and name calling afterwards, by Trump, Kelly and Huckabee-Sanders were.
10
It seems Trump is this one who instigated these things with crazy tweets: you are saying that we should just ignore them and let him do his thing?
2
I agree with you completely. Lying is a part of the fabric of the man and his administration. It is a huge problem, but an obsessive focus on trying to show yet again that Trump is a liar is just preaching to the choir and consumes way too much time and energy that would better be devoted to thinking about health care, keeping us out of WWIII, realistic help for working families, changing the character of Congress in 2018, etc., etc. A legitimate criticism of the media, this paper included, is way too much time spent on the excitement of the conflict, really more like schoolyard tit-for-tat in this case, and not near enough on in depth analysis of the issues. As a start perhaps the major news outlets would consider ignoring Huckabee's press conferences. They certainly provide fodder for yet another round of "gotcha" in a lie, but little or nothing else of meaningful substance.
5
To the commenters who lament Charles Blow's focus on Trump & Co.'s racism & misogyny and wish Blow would focus on "real" political issues: Are you all white? Are you mostly (but not entirely) male? It seems so. Otherwise you might comprehend that, at bottom, racism and misogyny ARE the real issues.
16
Thank you CHK. I think you're right on.
I'm more than irritated by white people stating that there is really not much racism in our country. Many of them feel that THEY suffer from terrible discrimination against whites.
When I'm angry as heck about someone spouting something I feel is senseless and damaging, I preempt my next ulcer by remembering the saying "don't always think it's malice, when it often is ignorance".
I know Mr. Blow's latest column will bring out of the woodwork racist readers who attack him, while he always exercises the greatest restraint.
In advance, I'll repeat my mantra about the people who will, once again attack Charles Blow, "It's not malice. It's ignorance. It's not malice. It's ignorance."
Yes. Thank you for your comment.
1
yes and yes
1
Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC) characterized Kelly in ways reminiscent of another Irishman of another network; another MSNBC contributor reminded us of Kelly's affirmation of the Muslim ban. We now have Kelly's measure as a "civilian."
We cannot deny his status as a gold star father; at the same time we can decry his lie as the chief of staff, a traditionally civilian post.
8
Nothing is sacred to Trump. Not a military widow's grief, not the Constitution, not truth or even a veneer of honesty, not women, not soldiers killed in action, not keeping promises to show your tax returns, not being man enough to defend yourself rather than sending your minions out to cover for you, not knowledge, not history, not compassion, not marriage (Trump is a major league adulterer), not showing a modicum of respect to world leaders. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Trump world consists of Trump and his pathetic opinion of himself.
10
These constant negatives about Trump are really negatives about ourselves. It is the same thing when we dream, which is nothing more than subconscious looking into the mirror. So folks please wake up and get a life.
2
Will we ever see adults in the White House again. What is wrong with these people.....obviously plenty. To hear their version and none of them were there, Ms Wilson went to another room to pick up an extension. Rubish! She was in the limo with the widow and the phone was put on speaker and everyone in that limo heard the conversation. End of story. Kelly should man up and extend an apology. And wasn't it wonderful to see five ex-Presidents together in Texas. All those men lead our country with grace and dignity and maintain a cordial friendship.....something that the person currently in the White House cannot and will never understand. The one and only thing he has accomplished is to divide our country and cause irreparable damage. He doesn't love our country, he only loves himself.
5
Well said, Mr. Blow. I've noticed that Trumpanistas love that he doesn't back down from a fight, especially if it comes from a liberal. And especially if that liberal is a woman of color. They do not care if Trump is undignified or not presidential. He's not letting "some black woman in a silly cowboy hat push him around." (actual quote I saw on social media). Some of his supporters are so far gone (a few show up in the NYT comments section daily), I think Trump could actually shoot someone on 5th Ave and they could find a way to spin it.
8
It is not the economy. Most white women and white men voted for Trump for a reason. While I want Blow to keep crying out, nothing he says will matter to Trump's core. No lie is too blatantly false for them to accept. No slanderous attack is too base for them to tolerate. No statistic is too overwhelmingly accurate for them to deny.
11
Among the most troubling aspects of this very troubling situation is General Kelly's statement on Representative Wilson's speech at the dedication of the FBI building. I, for one, don't think he lied. I truly believe this is what he remembered happened; which says more about him than about Rep Wilson. That the White House continues to support his false memory of the event by making scary statements about not disagreeing with four star generals is even more disturbing.
14
Bill Horak: So are you saying that if Kelly remembers a "false" speech that is OK, or are you saying that his false memories are indicative of something wrong, such as dementia? (Which is entirely possible.) It really doesn't matter if HE believed that his false memory was true, as it was proven to be false...in which case he should apologize. Should he and trump both not apologize for their bad behavior? Should their advisors in the White House not advise them to do the right thing? I don't think it would matter if GOD HIMSELF advised them to do the right thing; they believe themselves to be beyond reproach, and will stand by their bad behavior and by their falsehoods. And huckabee-sanders will defend them, even if her false eyelashes jump off her face, and into her pernicious mouth...and the beat goes on.
2
The famous quote from the Army/McCarthy hearings was, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
In 2017, this question should be put to Trump: "Have you, sir, no sense of grace? Can you do nothing but attack, attack, attack?"
I don't care, by the way, if Chief-of-Staff Kelly is a 20 star general. In an open democracy, everyone can and should be questioned. Does media distorter Huckabee aspire to live in a different world? There are plenty of nations without a written constitution and Bill of Rights to which she could move. (Call me. I'll buy the one way ticket.)
Trump has all the finesse of a hog at supper slopping time. He didn't know how to handle the very difficult and delicate matter of calling a widow. Instead of letting it go, he blew it into one of the top stories of the week. That's talent.
Don't place all your bets, by the way, that none of this is getting through to the Trump lovers. Sure, they cross almost every problem off to people opposing their reality show wonder and they discount truthful media accounts faster than you can say Fox News, but, little by little, the light is dawning that they helped put an imbalanced huckster in the White House. As Peggy Noonan, the one time Reagan speech writer, said this weekend in the Wall Street Journal, there is no core constituency for incompetence. That truth slowly floats to the surface and, once there, can't be re-sunk.
26
Gen. Kelly, Ret., was said to have been reluctant to accept his position in PT administration. Would that he was similarly reluctant to risk his reputation in seeking to re-characterize tone of PT call to widow, as the equivalent of his good friend's - and fellow general's - advice to him on the death of his son. Reluctant, for example, in the way Ret. Gen. and Secy of State Powell was reluctant to go before the UN to assert Iraq certainly had WMD based on information supplied to Powell by the Bush administration. Such reluctance would make for a possibility of rehabilitating Gen Kelly's reputation.
1
From the onset of the campaign, Ivanka was dispatched as the innocuous decoy to lure women voters from the playground into the windowless van.
15
In nearly every photo I see of Trump in the news, he is surrounded by lots of men, mostly older white men. I'm astounded that it is 2017 and this is still the case. I'm tired of seeing mostly men in government. I would love to see more young people, people of color, and women. That Trump would denigrate any citizen of this country as he does is both childish and appalling. Are we to become a nation full of bullies? What is he, and his followers, teaching our children? The Art of the Bully. SAD.
16
Yeah and where's the one token black cabinet member Ben Carson??? Hardly ever to be seen in the group pics, virtually no presence. A black person who knows his place. To be trotted out when called upon, silent otherwise.
1
This column even leaves out the time that Trump felt compelled to mention Hillary Clinton taking a rest room break and referred to it as "too disgusting."
Obviously his relationship to women is troubling no matter what aspect you took at it from. And his obsessions in this area frequently seem to move from the political to the psychiatric.
16
It’s the truth. It’s unpleasant but what you say is absolutely true. Trump is allergic to non white non Christian “Americans”. We need to hear from psychologists if Americans give less credibility to people of color, women and minorities, especially those who are not Christian. Do Trump and military minded people like him believe that only white males are to be trusted?
It will be interesting to see how Trump interacts with Asians, his body language, his gestures, his tone, his speaking to them as though they were children with less intelligence because English is not their first language?
“Trump will visit a range of countries in Southeast and Northeast Asia, including U.S. allies Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, in addition to China and Vietnam.”
4
Here's the thing (and it keeps getting buried by the White House)... this is not longer merely about how Trump's words were perceived. As usual, Trump took it to another level by questioning whether his words were ever even uttered! The importance of this distinction cannot be overstated because if Trump never actually spoke the words in question, then there would be no need to debate whether they were appropriate, how the were received, whether he should apologize, etc. This is of course, the reality Trump would have preferred; one in which he can simply rewrite the past at will.
Either Trump is lying or Wilson AND Sgt. Johnson's grieving widow are lying. Their accounts of that phone call are mutually exclusive in terms of what was said or not said. Trump stated that he had "proof" Wilson was lying. As is so often the case with President Trump (crowd sizes, illegal voting, immigrants are a thieving, murderous, raping horde, Birtherism, etc.), such "proof" has not been provided and in all likelihood is nonexistent. By contrast, Wilson's account has been unequivocally and publicly affirmed by the soldier's family.
If we're being honest (non-P.C., right), only a fool would accept President Trump's word of honor about anything whatsoever. He's been exposed as a prolific liar on multiple occasions as a private citizen, candidate AND president.
14
Donald Trump, in nearly ten months of occupying the most powerful seat in the world, has made zero strides in the WH. What he has done is create constant arena of chaos where none should be or exist. He does not read or study, is not versed in constitutional law and has shown no interest in learning a smidgen ofanything beyond what he "was told" or "heard" through the grapevine. This, as we all know, is not governing; it's high-schooling. We've all hoped that somewhere along these nearly 10 months in office that something would "click" within him, and by some miracle he would behave more responsibly and maturely; but just as we've wished, we've also seen. And our eye--andears--have not deceived us one iota.
His constant attacks on women is frightening. Not only do such attacks speak to a complete and total disregard for women, as we all know, they speak to a deep, abiding and absolute hatred of women. I see such hatred, as exhibited by the recent verbal attack on Frederica Wilson et al, as a hatred against women of color in particular. Wilson just happened to be his at-the-moment-target. He's failed to understand, however, that Wilson's strength of character far exceeds his brutish tirades.
I've never believed that Donald Trump was ever interested in governing, only in winnin. Until he learns to govern--which I doubt he'll ever be capable of doing--the thing that he hates most--losing--will be the thing he will be most remembered for.
13
Keep writing Mr. Blow. Keep talking and keep writing--keep shining the light on the lies that drive the insane thought system that wields its fear in all its insanity. Remember all egos eventually implode.
9
As always Mr. Blow, you have spoken truth once again. I also love how you have captured this data, “Although white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs, many white people, and Republicans in particular, don’t seem to realize this.”
That is the heartbreaking part of the results of our past election, poor whites voted against their own needs while wealthy whites voted for greed.” I just don’t understand what it profits individuals to gain the whole world, yet lose their souls and how you can say you love the Lord and hate others that don’t look or believe as they do.
As for his attacks against minorities and people who disagree with him, let him continue. He will eventually reap the seeds of destruction that he has sown along with his enablers who celebrate evil and rebuke humility. Shameful!
10
Decent human beings know enough to apologize to a grieving widow if they were misunderstood when expressing their condolences. Also decent human beings would not ratchet up their faux paux with continued tweeting. Decent human beings know what is proper and what isn't around bereavement. Decent human beings respect the opposite sex. Donald Trump and decency don't seem to go together. Is the decency value gone by the wayside with this administration. This does not bode well for America's social fabric.
13
Trump is a coward!
Two weeks ago Eminem ripped him a new one and Trump kept his mealy-mouth closed. He goes after people based on his neo-nazi, white-supremacist base. Their rabid insecurities trump reality in their "fake news" world.
For those born into white-male privilege, even the perception of a level playing field feels like oppression.
Their rage is palpable.
15
He's not gonna take on Eminem is he?! No, not gonna argue with a white man from Michigan - famous, talented and influential - who has just eviscerated you in no uncertain terms. Eminem who was cheered at the Pistons' season opener the other night while Kid Rock (Trump supporter) was booed. Keep it up Em.
1
My dear Charles, That is the way what passes for a mind in Trump operates. How dare an uppity black woman challenge a four star general! How dare an uppity black senator run for president and win twice! How dare uppity black football players protest for racial injustice! How dare an uppity Mexican American judge oppose him! In fact, how dared an uppity seamstress like Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat to a white man! Or uppity Dr Martin Luther King have a dream. Being challenged by an uppity black or brown male or female is an outrage to Trump. After all he said, there are nice people among white supremacists, himself undoubtedly one of them.
22
Except, of course, he's not nice. And never was.
2
Thank you again Mr. Blow, for another piece which knocks it out of the park. I keep focusing on that line from Ms. Huckabee-Sanders, that it is 'inappropriate' to criticize a general. Really? When did I move to Venezuela or Egypt? When did this cease to be America? These are rhetorical questions of course but they are meant to convey the despondency I experience daily now. We stopped being America when my fellow citizens betrayed me and everyone else who kind of thought bragging about grabbing women's genitals and encouraging violence against protesters at rallies were bad, seriously bad flaws and seriously, hideously, potentially disastrous for our country. Many others of us who are women also feel betrayed by women we knew who voted for him, as if this horrific display he presented before the election was not indicative of his opinions of and intentions towards women, and their collective sense of dignity and respect. To all of those women, did you really think he sees you as serving any other purpose than the potential meat of the month, if he considered you at all, if you're not his 'type'? Maybe this is the true reason that the Republicans in Congress refuse to do anything. Their ultimate plan is to put women, ALL women, black or white, back in our place. Thanks again for speaking truth and the pen is truly mightier than the sword in your case Mr. Blow. Please keep writing and speaking out!
29
Technical comment following submission of a comment supporting Charles Blow.
We read all too often information about the incidence of some phenomenon expressed in this way (from Charles Blow today):Although white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs, many white people, and Republicans in particular, don’t seem to realize this.
White people constitute a much larger group than do black people. Where are the editors at the Times who will edit columnist's statements that fail to express numbers in terms of percentages. Here we also need SES data, not just the USCB black/white data. What percentage of so-called whites and so-called blacks fall into economic category poverty etc?
Understand?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
3
Nothing shows the fact that much sexual assault is about exerting power over the person who is being assaulted rather than having a satisfying sexual experience than the behavior of scum like Weinstein and Trump. There isn't even the least attempt to establish a mutually satisfying relationship. It's all about power over women and debasing women.
And just as repulsive are the women who defend their rapist sons as described in another Times article yesterday or women who stand by their rapist partners. I can understand women who truly believe that their sons or partners engaged in consensual sex, but one of the women defended a son who raped--there is no other word for it--an unconscious woman.
4
Again, Charles, thank you. Trying to remember Dante and the rings of hell, it seems there is not a low enough level for this whole administration. One goes from rage to depression, grief and anxiety and back again on an endless loop. Small breakthroughs, a smile at grandchildren or dogs, the changing color of autumn's leaves, a laugh with an old friend about a youthful memory, and then, BAM! back to the putrid slime coming out to the WH. Just keep giving us your columns. They are a lifeline.
14
Strong women are Trump's kryptonite! He believes that he is superior to everyone, especially women and non-Whites and that is why they draw his ire more than White men. In reality, Trump is the most mediocre and ignorant White man to ever come on the scene. His supporters are equally ignorant and mediocre, which explains why he is their dear leader. How do we get rid of Trump and his ilk?
13
Trump's despicable behavior is no longer surprising because that is what he is -- a narcissist, a mysogynist, a racist, a serial liar and a gracelessly inept buffoon without an iota of compassion for anyone but himself. Kelly's performance was surprising for a four-star general long regarded as an honorable man. It just goes to show that anyone who works for Trump sooner or later gets dirtied and another sterling reputation is ruined.
9
From saying no one would vote for his former rival Carly Fiorina because of her face to suggesting that women should be "punished" for having abortions and "joking" that he'd date his daughter, to praising the physique of the French First Lady and grabbing women by the genitals ... you really couldn't make this stuff up and that from the President of the United States. Seems like Americans just can't get enough of Trump-grade sexism.
20
I’m sorry but I disagree. I think if the Representative in the car had been white and male, and if he had criticized Trump for the same conversation then Trump and his attack dogs would have been just as viscous. The only sexist, racist part of this encounter is that I bet it smarted even more when it was a black woman that fought back; I was just pleased to see a Democrat with a spine.
9
Your statements are widely acknowledged, except for crooked lying Trump's mob- base, thoughtless in their belief that whatever this charlatan says, and it is usually a lie or an insult, constitutes dogma to them, not to be doubted, and to be accepted as the truth even if the evidence Based on facts) is absent. Trump is a racist and a xenophobe, but also a sexual predator whose 'specialty' is that of converting women into objects, and to be used at his pleasure. This vulgar bully (a coward in disguise) is a disgrace and a huge liability in human relations. This little tyrant is abusive, capricious and self-adoring, trampling on our sense of decency, and justice, even freedom when we consider his intent to muzzle the press. And to add insult to injury, he is enriching himself at our expense, the public treasure. Are we deranged, by allowing a Beast to destroy this Belle democracy, sitting idle while he continues to demean women?
11
Rep. Wilson & La David Johnson had a previous connection, rarely reported.
Too often leaders, especially in the community, are demagogues, so I have a healthy suspicion of them.
The focus should be on the issues, on the fallen, but Wilson has a knack for egotistical hucksterism: The self-promotion at the dedication ceremony for a building named to honor fallen officers that Chief Kelly recollected; making political hay out of the death of La David Johnson (give me the phone…I wanted to curse [POTUS] out).
Look at the photo that accompanies the piece. Her visage is not real, from a phony cowboy hat to the costume jewelry to her hair, it is all crafted and not genuine (contrast Michelle Obama). She even wants Congress to change its rules so she can wear her 200+ hats on the floor to maintain her image.
Wilson founded an organization “500 African American Male Role Models of Excellence” and this is the organization that “salvaged” La David Johnson as an at-risk youth. It has evolved to “5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.” http://5000rolemodels.dadeschools.net/about-us.html
There will be a scholarship for La David, but Staff Sargent’s Black, Johnson, J. and Wright are not included in Wilsons 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project. Why not? (Search: 5000 role models La David Scholarship)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/niger-us-soldiers-killed-profiles...
3
"The self-promotion at the dedication ceremony for a building named to honor fallen officers that Chief Kelly recollected;"
That didn't happen. I've watched the video of her remarks, from beginning to end. You should too: maybe you'll give it a standing ovation, as many there did.
I don't know why Kelly lied about it. I can't say he was mistaken, since there's no way he could have gotten his story out of anything that happened that day.
2
You lost me at "self-promotion." The actual transcript of Congresswoman Wilson's remarks at the dedication ceremony show something quite different.
1
"WorkingGuy" criticizes Congresswoman Wilson, writing: "Too often leaders, especially in the community, are demagogues, so I have a healthy suspicion of them. ... The self-promotion at the dedication ceremony for a building named to honor fallen officers that Chief Kelly recollected; ... phony cowboy hat ..."
You, WorkingGuy, have no skepticism whatsoever. What you have is a blind spot a mile wide. Did you even watch the Sun-Sentinel video of the Florida event? The president told us he did not say what the congresswoman and Mr. Kelly have both confirmed that he did say. Mr. Trump lied. As you can see for yourself in the video, Mr. Kelly lied about what happened in Florida. My goodness! Where do you get your news? When did you lose your healthy American skepticism? And you are calling Wilson an egotistical insincere demagogue because you do not like her hat?
3
Bannon and Putin must be overjoyed at the speed at which their puppet is disassembling America. By Christmas, I expect the White House to be called Camelot and Congress to be working on a bill called “A Clear Enunciation of the Variable Rights of Masters and Serfs”.
8
This is a presidency that has managed to insult all spectrum of America's ordinary life from Women, African Americans, Latinos, Immigrants of all kind,
mocked a disable reporter, insult Gold star families, find white supremacist / Nazis "fFne people"
And yet 38% of us approve all of that or look to the other side, some women even voted for him so go figure.
7
This latest outburst by our president is just more evidence that he is mentally unfit to serve as president. He is either suffering from dementia or a serious mental illness.
How else do you explain his weak grip on reality, his rampant narcissism, his pathological lying, his inane tweeting, his fifth-grade vocabulary, his rambling speeches, and his unreasonable hatred of President Obama.
When will the grownups in Washington take every legal action possible to remove this man from the office? What does he have to do to wake them up to the danger that he represents - start WW III?
16
How long, how long, must the nation endure the dangers of Trump and his distorted, twisted world view? Every day brings more and more lies and hateful speech. How long? When does the abnormal seem normal? Impeach him....use the 25th Amendment for the 45th President . The abnormal is beginning to seem normal. Resist, resist, resist. For the love of country, learn the true facts and save the Republic!
6
The really sad thing here is that none of this prejudice appears to me as agenda oriented. The sick sad vile racist tweet storm twit that presents itself to us everyday is exactly what he is. Not by design but by a lifetime of poor thoughtless insensitive choice. The worst aspect of all this is that he appears incapable of recognizing any fault with who and what he is.
5
Mr. Blow,
I agree with you on the whole, but the SCP's approach to argument is always ad-hominem. He can't argue principles or facts, or policy, he is too distracted, impulsive and ignorant to do so. So he attacks people, and he attacks women more viciously than men because he has gotten away with it, aided and abetted by so many people around him.
While he has been compared to Joseph McCarthy, his attacks have nothing to do with ideology or priniciple (if you can call what McCarthy was pedding either), and his take down will have to come from someone who can attack him on his own grounds. Mario Cumo and Ed Koch come to mind. Unfortunately, they are not longer around.
2
Trump loves to tell the world he speaks his own mind and his adoring followers swallow it hook, line, and sinker. But Trump had Kelly tell him what to say to the widow of the fallen soldier, and because Trump has a listening capacity of a few seconds, he heard Kelly utter some words, redistributed those words into a Dan Quayle moment (Remember when Quayle butchered the Negro College Fund's "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" by saying that a wasteful mind is terrible) and butchered the line Kelly told him to say. At best, it shows Trump to be ham-handed. But far worse than that, when the widow and the congresswoman took umbrage at Trump's insensitivity, instead of doing what any decent person would do, apologize for having his "consoling" words come out wrong, Trump viciously went on the attack, something he is incapable of avoiding. Blow is probably right in arguing that in this case Trump's boogeyman is a woman of color, but the ugly truth is that Donald Trump's boogeyman is his self image of infallibility.
8
trump insults every one who criticizes him, little Rubio, low energy Jeb, liddle Bob Corker and of course the Women, Crooked Hillary.
Then trump is also a racist which started with our very popular President Barack Obama.
But how did trump win ? Because Hillary is a Woman. Majorities of Latinos voted for trump even though trump does not spare Latinos.
But the biggest shock comes from four star Army General John Kelly who supposedly was hired to clean up the White House ?
Guess what, the General without flinching any facial mussels lied about the congress woman Frederica Wilson who was in the car when trump called the widow of the fallen soldier of Sgt. La David T. Johnson in the most importuned time when she was on the speaker phone.
Why was it so easy for Kelly ?
Was because Ms. Wilson is black ?
Days have gone by and no apology came from General Kelly !
All the respect I had for Kelly is gone.
11
Trump's racism dates back to to the 70's when he and his father would not rent apartments to blacks.
3
Oh, rj, it goes back a lot further than that. All the way back to when the family changed its name because the original gave the "wrong" impression.
2
What does Americanizing Trump's name have to do with racism??? Didn't millions of immigrants do the same thing when they arrived in America? Wasn't it common practice?
1
Charles, you failed to mention his disgusting remarks about Carly Fiorina.
11
a normal person, after the kind of analysis that cnn/nyt/ all the rest of the intelligent press, would, MIGHT, consider the problem with his personality. but no, trump takes it as a badge of honour, and keeps going into the darkness. this man is really sick and there is no medicine to cure him, no reeducation that will ameliorate his condition. and a good part of america applauds. who is sicker ?
maybe we should all take dolls and stick them with pins. or pray every night that a hangnail will develop into gangrene of his fingers.
four years of this? god spare us !!!
7
Mr. Blow’s article about the Congress woman from Florida being his current nemesis had a word in the article’s heading that is itself racially devicive.
Trump is crude and crass. He know from his own words that women are easy prey and objects to be ridiculed. He has shown his disdain for women over and over again.
We should not be surprised at his latest outburst. We should be disgusted and repelled by his behavior and refuse to back down to this bully.
4
those of us who truly care about equality have been in a knot since this election. i am a therapist and have never until this past year had to turn away clients in droves. i am working more hours than ever before. people are distressed scared and disgusted with this inept ignorant and white supremacist / misogynist agenda. those of us who felt safe and secure with obama have been thrown into despair as we watch this evil sick narcissist dismantle all the good obama achieved . in the 8 years of his presidency this country and world were proud of. his compassion and intelligence and thoughtfulness. he was a beacon . the racism unleashed has been no surprise and the trumps and gop have cheated their way into power. the corruption in the republican party and the dog whistles have always existed!!! trump is a hugh and bigly yellow highlighter marking what was always on the page of history and now our present nightmare. if justice is not served and those involved with trump and his family are not prosecuted nothing will change!
4
Trump is devoted to destruction and tearing down:
All democratic institutions, environmental protections,
Respect for humans , animals, the planet, and especially
women, whom he seems to be threatened by for some
inexplicable reason. But there's no point in psycho analyzing
an empty hateful vessel such as trump.
His acts against people in this country are treasonous
and he needs to be removed from office.
Before a nuclear holocaust breaks out.
As for women who voted for him?
What can one say?
3
Maybe you're right, and he's clearly a misogynist, but he seems to insult just about anyone who disagrees with him, including many men, and for the most part is an equal opportunity racist mean spirited misbehaving immature man.
2
Someone at the Times should interview President Trump about the number of his fathers apartments that were ruined by minorities. Every bias starts somewhere. Growing up as a kind in his fathers house would have been very formative.
The question that I think is most interesting is: why did Kelly lie?
We know Trump is a serial liar. We do not expect much more from his "alternative facts" spokespeople. Why did Kelly lie with such specificity?
Racism is a psychosis that causes people to see things that are not there and to fail to see what is in front of them. The story Kelly told about the Florida event and being "stunned" by what he saw was a pure fabrication. Is he suffering from racist psychosis?
He needs to resign and to seek professional help.
4
He also talked about 'we'.'We' were stunned. Who was the other person or persons and did remarks by others about her influence Kelly's memory?
1
If you didn't get the message with Charlottesville, Va., when the white supremacists and bigots who were marching to keep the Confederacy alive were praised as "fine people", if you missed all of Trump's campaign stumps with the thinly veiled promises to bring back Jim Crow, if you didn't notice his appointment of Klan supporter Jeff Sessions to the rank of Attorney General, and the fact that there are no Black people serving in any real capacity in his administration, and his sole purpose and aim in life is to undo anything accomplished by his predecessor -- then maybe you get the message now.
Donald Trump has a problem when it comes to Black people.
But not only Black people.
The list is a long one.
Now this newest debacle, after the recent spat with the NFL players, once again involves a person of color...and a U.S. Congresswoman, no less!
And not only did Trump blow the whole incident out of proportion per his usual tweets, but he then dragged his chief of staff into battle to defend his behaviour.
It's bad enough Trump first lied about Obama never having visited the families of fallen soldiers, and insulted a Gold Star family because they were Muslims -- but now he desecrated the memory of a U.S. serviceman and embroiled his widow in another stupid and petty act that shows an utter lack of regard for those who defend this country, and for human life.
The message is clear.
And I have never been so ashamed, or afraid of America as I have become now.
8
All of this could have been avoided with two simple words, I'm sorry. Just like with the mayor of San Juan, 45 has shown his true colors with Rep. Wilson and then to further dismay his attack today on Gold Star Widow Johnson. His disdain and contempt for minority women in power is despicable.
2
In his prevaricating press conference in which he simultaneously smeared Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and longed for a time when women were "sacred," John Kelly continued to carry Trump's sexist and racist water. Of any man who has a mother, daughter, sister, wife or niece, I would ask, "How can you have anything to do with, much less vote for or support, this grotesque, misogynist pig?"
11
trump insults every one who criticizes him, little Rubio, low energy Jeb, liddle Bob Corker and of course the Women, Crooked Hillary.
Then trump is also a racist which started with our very popular President Barack Obama.
But how did trump win ? Because Hillary is a Woman. Majorities of Latinos voted for trump even though trump does not spare Latinos.
But the biggest shock comes from four star Army General John Kelly who supposedly was hired to clean up the White House ?
Guess what, the General without flinching any facial muscles
lied about the congress woman Frederica Wilson who was in the car when trump called the widow of the fallen soldier of Sgt. La David T. Johnson in the most importuned time when she was on the speaker phone.
Why was it so easy for Kelly ?
Was because Ms. Wilson is black ?
Days have gone by and no apology came from General Kelly !
5
Most of us here in New York City knew that Donald Trump was a racist long before Obama.
Everyone else is finding out now.
1
On January 21, women surged into the streets across America to tell Trump we were not impressed. It would appear he noticed! Becoming his target means progress. It's a bigly step from the invisibility/objecthood in which we've been cast, to demonstrate the power to infuriate Trump by seeing him for what he is and calling him on it. Speak on, sisters of all colors. Let him whine, lie, defame and defund. As Lupita Nyong'o says, let us never shut up.
About the phone call: I wonder if he simply blanked on the word "husband." His vocabulary, never extensive, could be diminishing with the rest of his faculties. Or maybe Melania's guy just had trouble pronouncing one of those tricky ethnic African-American name like "Sergeant Johnson."
7
He has bought women his whole life at every level. He apparently did not like buying non-white ones but then not many of them are buying him nowadays. Paying multiple gals to keep their mouths shut is a great sign of character right?
2
Trump hates women. Our society supports it. It's not just his base. Last week's news has proven that. #metoo
5
"Donald Trump’s boogeymen are very often boogeywomen, and they are particularly primed for attack if they are black or brown."
The first part of that statement is true. The second part is in the mind of the writer. Trump is a misogynist, full stop.
2
I was so saddened by General Kelly's attempts to clear the President. He should have never agreed to clean up another despicable act of this pathetic president.Patriotism and concern for the welfare of our nation does not include lying and repeating what is so easily fact checked. When are men like Kelly going to stand up to this bully president and say " No sir, you clean up your own mess."
6
He knew better than to attack Michelle Obama during the campaign.
This poor lady will be framed and indicted within the next 2 years.
1
Michelle Obama is anything but "poor". How many millions have the Obama's collected since leaving office?
Yes, the sexism and racist tendency in these attacks is loathsome, but to me, the most remarkable thing is that we have a president who attacks people. An administrative staff that attacks and smears people and defends a man who attacks and smears people, for attacking and smearing people.
Brave John Kelly may as well have punched Wilson in the face for all the manliness and honor in his lickspittle rant at a her. He was mean spirited, arrogant, vindictive, petty, and childish. But the remarkable thing is that the chief of staff of a president goes before the press and attacks someone.
This is not the function of a wholesome executive branch of the government, anymore than it is that of a wholesome kindergarten class.
7
John Kelly joins the ever expanding list of lndividials contaminated by their propinquity to the moral toxicity Donald Trump.L elly lied to the American people and should resign immediately. H.R. McMaster has morphed from mlitary iconoclast to a seeming Trump minion. Jeff Sessions has become a fawning flak catcher who is willing to sacrifice his political manhood to keep his job. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose angry, defensive adolescent demeanor, is a fitting companion to her disingenuousness is more Trump propagandist than press secretary.
4
Consider this: If this narcisisistic sociopath cannot negotiate a condolence call without offending everyone, can you imagine the disaster that a call to Kim Jung Un would cause. Time to duck and cover under your wooden desks, congress.
I think we've all concluded that Trump is unfit. When does our government get the courage to act?
9
There is only one person who could have ordered John Kelly to the podium last week, one person who could have ordered him to display for entire nation his private grief. One coward with that much power.
What I want to know is this: did the same coward order the fake- fact sheet that made a mockery of his reputation?
4
It still boggles the mind that the majority of white women in this country voted for this nightmare. We still have so long to go. And yet, women seem to be the ones who really throw him for a loop.
6
I am suffering from outrage fatigue with Mr. Trump and his merry band of henchmen ... and women. The grotesqueries don't stop; they just get evermore bizarre and stupid.
But what is worse is that Trump's supporters and defenders condone Trump's behavior -- they normalize it, strictly for right-wingers of course. Recent polls show that almost everybody (Democrats included) believe that Weinstein harassed and assaulted women, but only a 1/4 of Republicans admit Trump was a groper ... even with that crazy videotape of him bragging about it, and the women who accused him of it,
What we need to face is that Trump's worst behavior is not a bug to his supporters; it's THE feature. It is in fact what separates Trump from many other Republican or rightist politicians, who espouse vaguely similar views -- I say "vaguely similar" because Trump has no real policy views at all.
Trump is the embodiment of "there is no truth other than that we hate you, and we will do anything we want to." That is the message of the right today.
9
Republicans well know that white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs they just have a bigly problem that people of color also receive what they consider undeserved assistance.
3
I think you guys need to reach into he deck for some new cards. The gender, race, sexual preference hand isn't playing anymore. But I guess when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
5
Blow's label for Trump's agenda 'WHITE MALE IDENTITY POLITICS' infects our county's consciousness beyond the TRUMP brand. Many of us believe that 'Make American Great Again' is a euphemism for Make America White Again. Trump's agenda isn't simply by and for white men, it's for angry, misinformed, anti-government, vengeful, scapegoating dupes content to see the billionaires get richer as they themselves get poorer. These unfortunate suckers are uneasy about the blacks, the browns and the females that are 'taking over'. They have found a particularly unattractive leader, but then anyone with their beliefs is no beauty under the skin. Will their brand of hate lesson their numbers or lead to a more physical violence between us.
4
The reason many whites believe that blacks are the largest recipients of welfare is that many don't understand the concept of fractions.
I often hear media reports that anywhere from 40 to 60/70% 0f blacks are on welfare, whereas only 20-35% of whites are.
When many people hear this they think in terms of whole numbers, when percent points mean fractions.
Blacks are approximately 13% of this country's population.
Whites are about 66-70% depending on what group some people categorize themselves as being part of.
So even if one is to take 20% of whites as the norm for being a welfare recipient, that is still more than 70% 0f the 13% that blacks represent.
I used to think that more blacks were using the system also, then I read articles about states that were nearly all whites use of welfare grants.
However, in these states, their REPS never address this.
Instead, they then focus mostly on the urban area in certain states in which blacks share a large population.
This 'keep em barefoot and pregnant' scenario has been going on for years with many politicians and their constituents chose not to find out differently.
Ignorance is bliss.
8
Actually what Trump said to the widow was, "I'm sorry...but...I like my heroes who are not killed."
6
Whenever Trump is caught out doing something wrong, mean-spirited or racist/sexist, what does he do? He admits nothing, and he never apologizes. What he does is start a "Twitter Feud," by making outrageous, unfounded lying claims about the person who criticized him. Then it becomes a "he said/she said" cage match and all we are left with it the spectacle of a knock down drag out war of words... It's a clever ploy on his part and it always works.
He always "wins" because the news is about the "Feud" and not about the underlying complaint. If the press were less eager to spread his mendacious tweets he might some day be called to account. I'm not holding my breath.
4
I recall an old TV series called Shogun, where the main character's leader was pulling a subterfuge on his rival. Just then the rival started to smell a rat and ask the right questions, our character started dancing around, clowning, and distracting everyone's attention from the business at hand. (Unlike Trump, he did so at great peril to his life). The distraction worked and his leader got away.
How many times are we going to fall for this one? The saddest part is that I don't believe that Trump is doing it consciously. Still, it's keeping our focus away from the real issues where his minions are busy chiseling away things that should matter to everyone.
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. I am the great and powerful Oz!"
2
From Trump's point of view, so long as he is arguing with a Black congresswoman, he can't lose. Considering this is pretty much how he got elected president, its hard to argue he is wrong. I mean to his base clearly they only need to see her picture and the rest, especially the truth, does not matter.
6
Still..
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kelly aren't the only men who thought Rep. Wilson stepped out of her "place". Members of the press, CNN Mr. Chris Como,Tom Brokaw, and others tried to excuse or call Mr. Trump and Mr. Kelly lies by another name. Amazing!
Let me tell you something...
Black women have a long tradition of fighting for what is right and raising our voices when we've witness wrong. The lies and name calling by by Mr. Trump, Mr. Kelly, and by some members of the press, haven't and won't silence Rep Wilson. She's battled tested, she heard worse and she's seen worse. To be blunt, black women have stood up, spoken up, and fought when nobody else would. Ms. Wilson continues to speak because she was slandered and the memory of La David Johnson and his family lose wasn't respected.
13
Alzheimer's disease probably isn't Mr. Trump's diagnosis. But Narcissism most likely is. The hallmark symptom of that disorder is malignant self-interest without regard for others.
This man (bewilderingly) won the White House by demeaning and demonstrating animosity toward the same demographics, racial, ethnic, religious etc as his base. And that's the track on which his disordered mind remains stuck. Is obsessed. Winning again. And doing it next time the way he did it first time by keeping his base satisfied. By showing them every chance he gets that he still hates the same groups they do.
His behavior is sick because it's coming from sick thinking over which he has no control. And it's difficult if not impossible to accept that this president can do no better. We know to not expect more from those with Alzheimer's. We must also finally learn that to expect more from this president is likewise foolish. Thus our focus must shift to the dangers of someone with that disorder in the top position..
Those afflicted with Narcissism don't learn, change or grow. That's because their fragile ego disallow them from acknowledging they make mistakes or are anything less than perfect. (That's why this president deliriously fights back at any and all criticism. Criticism challenges his need to see himself as faultless.)
Therefore, we're stuck with what we've got for the duration. Next election we've got to make sure the winner is the one who also gets the popular vote.
5
Someone from Trump's legal department should advise this president against his endless inflammable tweets. He's his own worst enemy.
Look back at the March decision by the court in Hawaii blocking Trump's travel ban:
In deciding the case, Judge Derrick Watson cited a Trump tweet, which plaintiffs said caused Muslim people harm by stigmatizing them.
What Trump did was make a statement that merged terrorism with Muslim immigration, making it an issue of religion.
A tweet is a statement. You'd think this white house full of lawyers would explain it to him.
3
What disturbs me a lot is President Trump's refusal to admit that he is wrong.
The recent incident with Representative Wilson is an excellent example of this fault. Despite the statements of several witnesses that Rep Wilson is right, Trump maintains that she is lying about the conversation.
We have a president with a very dangerous fault.
5
The 'president' is the boogeyman.
Trump’s gigantically inflated ego led him to believe that Mrs. Johnson would be overcome with joy at getting a personal phone call from him. Trump! The president! What an honor!
How could an egomaniac like him possibly imagine that this young widow would instead be thinking about her deceased husband? Or that she would have influential friends? Or that listening to a crass phony who didn’t bother to learn anything about her family other than that her husband “your guy” was a military casualty would not be the highlight of her life?
I had never heard of La David Johnson before is shameful incident, but I’m sure of one thing. He was more of a man than Trump. Or John Kelly.
4
Don’t forget the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charles!
And the people of Puerto Rico!
Trump is a complete failure when it comes to empathy or respect for women and minorities. He is no leader. He is no role model. He is an example of what all parents teach their children NOT to be!
5
As Weinstein fell, so can Trump. If all those women physically attacked by Trump would step forward and speak out, they could take him down. The time is right, and like Ness and Capone, it doesn't really matter how we unseat him, as long as the job gets done.
5
Trump wants as much money, things, and power as he can get for himself, his family, and his wealth crony donors. (And do not underestimate his cronies – he needed their support, and money, to get elected and still needs it.)
Trump couldn’t care less about what actually happens to his white Republican base as long as he gets their votes, which is why he is shafting them with tax cuts and health care. It’s all about freeing up the most money for himself with every economic decision he makes. True, the welfare angle with black people is a freebie on the persuasion front for Trump. And he’ll keep lying to his base, blaming Obama and the Democrats for all their ills – so much, so frequently, so persuasively – that they’ll cave again and vote for him again. Just watch.
But let’s be clear: if everyone in the top 1% were women of color, Trump would still be doing what he is doing with tax cuts, simply because it benefits him.
We know that what Trump did with Sgt. Johnson, his widow, and Frederica Wilson was despicable. We also know that John Kelly is not the adult in the room. We can count on Trump acting completely irresponsibly and childishly at the slightest perceived slight. And Huckerbee Sanders has no business being press secretary – but then no one around Trump in government has any business being there.
Democrats can’t enact their policies until they get elected. They better figure out how to get down in the mud and deal with this insanity, before it’s too late.
3
In one respect, Trump is no different from the Harvey Weinsteins and the Bill O'Reillys of the world. He will continue to denigrate women unless he is stopped.
However, with the Weinsteins and the O'Reilleys, there were finally enough women who had sufficient power and authority to topple these disgusting men. But Trump knows that no one, either men or women, stands in his way. He knows that he cannot be stopped by those women whom he denigrates. This Republican Congress will not impeach him for actions far worse than Bill Clinton ever allegedly committed. His base (sadly, including many, many women) has no problem with his mistreatment of women, and in fact, they support him all the more for it. Republicans in Congress don't dare cross his rabid supporters. And Trump is immune from prosecution, at least so long as he continues to sit in the Oval Office.
He knows he may continue to harass and denigrate women in the most disgusting manner, because he knows he is unstoppable. His unfettered mistreatment of women is his calling card, and his ticket to re-election.
6
Trump's behavior towards almost everyone not in the 1% is sickening, but his bigotry towards women, anyone not Anglo Saxon, anyone not very wealthy goes well beyond sickening in a president--it's abominable. His bad behavior serves to demonstrate what a little man he is in spirit.
But even more unacceptable is the group supporting him, and egging him on to worse and worse actions regarding the rest of us. These supporters encourage him to rob all of us blind, take away our health care, and destroy our national treasures.
Small children don't escape his horrible intentions--they are victimized by legislative changes that take away healthcare and even school lunches. There are no redeemable qualities here--he must be impeached.
4
Every women who voted for Trump is still waiting for an answer as to why nobody cared for Trump's Access Hollywood for the decade or more that it was sleeping in some archive until it made its strategic appearance during the presidential debates.
The event proves what all those women voters saw: nobody cares about sexual harassment except as a political weapon versus protecting vulnerable women like the ones Bill Clinton knew. This is especially true for Hillary Clinton and her feminist allies, the hypocrites in chief. Caring about sexual harassment looks different and Trump's women voters feel assured they voted right.
1
You evoke Melania as if she is somebody with a moral backbone or any caring for the populace at all. I see her as an empty manikin who gets dragged arounnd for no discernible reason and who has nothing to offer. Apparently she will never 1) get perspective on Trump or 2) challenge or leave him.
If she saw him as others see him she would leave him. [If she is staying with him because he is threatening to take her child no judge would give custody to such a person who has already been diagnosed as incompetent by dozens of psychotherapists (including me), in print; if she's staying with him because of a prenuptial agreement, have a good divorce lawyer look into it and find the loopholes. Again, maybe whoever drew the agreement up wasn't aware of the man's criminality or instability. Again, if it's money maybe one doesn't need as much as Ivana got, not by a long shot. And there will be added child support and the secret service.
2
So, you are saying that you personally met Donald Trump, you have had several counseling sessions with him, and therefore are qualified to make a diagnosis of his personality? That must be true, otherwise you wouldn't have made that diagnosis. Since I'm sure you agree that a professional would not make a diagnosis without even meeting a subject....
Publicly attacking a family friend of a fallen soldier and a pregnant widow in her time of grief and deepest vulnerability and distress shows just how utterly thoughtless, uncaring (except for himself), and little this man is. I hope his inevitable fall is BIG.
3
What is really needed now is an honest, no holds barred, tell-all by Melania. She would no doubt violate her pre-nup, but I imagine there are crowds of attorneys who would happily represent her, and her book would clear her conscience, plant an honest legacy for her son and all other abused women, and probably become the highest paid book deal in history.
2
Trump is a master at projecting his despicable traits on to others--ironically most often women.
As for "Republicans wrongly believing that black people are welfare's largest recipients"--- we can thank the media for that. It seems like the vast majority of stories and ads about people down on their luck feature minorities. Yes, stories should include them---but the media's over-emphasis on minority hardships distorts the facts about the large number other groups experiencing similar hardships.
1
I want to know more about Trump's mother. The absence of any mention of her in articles etc is rather conspicuous.
2
The MSM seem to have lost track of the fact that Trump and Kelly both lied about this representative while she told the truth about Trump. The most shocking fact is that he did not seem to know the name of the fallen soldier when he talked with the widow.
3
Mr. Trump has no empathy for anyone. It is demonstrated every day through his words, gestures and people he has appointed to his cabinet and other positions in government. Our country is living in disturbing times and the Trump administration clearly does not seem to care. The people in his administration are polluting our waterways and air, causing chaos throughout the world with a clueless Secretary of State, a racist Attorney General and a billionaire for a Secretary of Treasury. There is a Secretary of Education who wants to destroy public education and a Chief of Staff who belittles a Congresswoman. America wake up.
2
Trump says something innocuous, the liberal media gets hysterical, Trump supporters dig in and their decision in 2020 becomes so much easier. Every overreaction has a reaction, and I'll give my response at the next election cycle.
2
Perhaps the most important question results from Mrs. Huckabee-Sanders’ comment. Exactly why is it somehow “inappropriate to question a four-star General” vis-a-vis any other citizen of our country?
3
Don the Con is a "telephone/twitter tough guy". Like all cowards he has little or nothing to say when confronted. This was evident on 9/13/2016 when the female, African-American, pastor of Bethel United Methodist Church in Flint, Michigan the Reverend Faith Green Timmons interrupted Trump's attempt to make political points at a distribution of water at the church. Pastor Green Timmons never raised her voice or used anything but appropriate language.
Don meekly submitted and returned to safe talking points.
Funny, he has so much to say, in such colorful ways, when no one is in front of him to respond.
1
The fear they have of not having a privileged path (read: easy) paved for them is obvious, and it's making them look a bit unhinged.
I'm a white male, but I must be in the minority of white males in this country, because I can't say I am fearful of a country where women and people of color hold positions of power. Hello, what part of "Equal Justice Under Law" do they not get?
2
In his televised comments, Gen. Kelley seemed to be stuck on Frederica Wilson's explanations of how she did her job. Unfortunately, many people in our country do not understand the necessary process our congressional representatives follow to achieve results for our communities. Frederica Wilson's desire to achieve this goal comes through clearly with her knowledge and dedication to her official role and her understanding of honoring heroes in her own district. It is so disappointing that General Kelley did not listen clearly.
I had hopes in General Kelley, but he is only a human being and we all have feet of clay; however, a sincere apology from him that began with "please, forgive me " would greatly relieve my stress and and I'm sure the country's anxiety over the inabilities we see daily from our President. It would be so refreshing, I can image dancing in the street!! Somebody please apologize: Harvey, Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly
2
Congresswoman Wilson had no axe to grind, she simply explained what had happened. She even suggested that if the president is not good at empathy his staff should give him script. She cut him more slack than any republican member gave Obama or Clinton during their time in office. What is frustrating is that the congress, his staff and supporters are unwilling to hold this president accountable for anything.
It is exhausting calculating and tracking all of the lies and daily insults this administration heaps on 98% of us,
We must pay attention and we must vote in every election, every time.
1
Putting the important matters aside for one moment, please allow me to mention the way Frederick Wilson chooses to present herself. Her sense of fashion is her own, but it is unbecoming for her position. In the context of her current crusade, her clownish costumes call far too much attention to herself. Look, for example, at the overly flashy outfit she wore to the graveside service. She makes herself a target for derision. That's on her.
Dress for the job, not for attention.
1
It doesn't take a mystic to anticipate what opinions will be written from day to day because this President provides a variety of absurdities and columnists feast on its lowest hanging fruit. Meanwhile the unanswered questions remain: how are we going to find better alternatives to this President and while we're at it, this Congress?
1
I am an old white guy who participated in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. I revered MLK and believed that he had awakened the country’s conscience. I believed that over time institutional and social racism would recede — I was wrong.
The country’s ideals are at stake. We must win the fight against white nationalism or risk becoming South Africa before Mandela.
1
And how can Trump's apologists continue to deny that he has no compassion, when lack of compassion is the very thing they like about him?
1
In a Trump:Weinstein world they groped, punished and rewarded without fear of consequences. Like O'Reilly they intimidated or bought their way out of harassment. But President Trump cant hide. And women are pushing back.
A bully confronted is a harasser unmasked.
Too many women ignored inconvenient truths about candidate Trump. Harassment was someone else's problem until it happened to them. Well, it's happening.
Eleven courageous women came forward. Multiply that by 10 and we're probably closer to the actual number of egregious cases. Multiply by 10 million and we have the number of women who must make their way every day in our shoddy, misogynistic world and who are deciding they've had enough.
Too many white women (women of color --chronic victims of poverty and bias-- knew better) voted for Trump. But one of the advantages of the current media circus is that it brings out Trump's total unfitness to interact with women or hold public office.
What we're seeing is Harvey Weinstein writ large in national politics. Fifty percent of the population with their own narrative of frustrated expectations and bias are coming together to just say no to Trumpism. Saying no to GoP misogyny ranging from balancing on Kelly's pedestal to being groped figuratively and literally by Trump and Republicans. Healthcare, taxes, ER, jobs, schools --it's all women's issues. And Trump is trampling on them.
It's happening to women now. And they're pushing back.
Sane people know by now that Trump is a deplorable person in every respect, and mentally ill, sadistic, paranoid, and angry, too, according to psychiatrists. Then why do people still seem to be surprised by his words and actions? I am outraged by everything this man does but I am no longer surprised by them. Of course he hates women, and of course, he hates minorities but to call him out and by doing so hope that he will say he is sorry or try to make amends only deepens the wounds that he inflicts because if we admit that he has wounded us, he triumphs. Trump will never do what is right for others, will never behave like a president, and will be a constant danger and embarrassment to our nation, and humanity, until he is removed from office.
2
The opposition to Trump by women needs to be stepped up. In a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the court found that a sitting president is not immune from civil lawsuits for acts committed before taking office and which are unrelated to the office. This was the ruling in Clinton vs. Jones with respect to Clinton's sexual harassment of Paula Jones.
Now is the time for all women who accuse Donald Trump of sexual harassment to come together and sue Trump. What they need is a benefactor willing to pay the legal bills. Since Trump cannot claim immunity and cannot delay the court (Clinton had to deal with the Paula Jones suit while in office) such a lawsuit would be front page news continuously and totally disrupt Trump.
Since I do not have the means to pay the legal expenses, I hope there is a way to raise the funds or find someone (Tom Steyer?) who could do this on their own.
1
It's frustrating that Donald Trump's ponytail-pulling, spitball-flinging level of response to women who intimidate his ego is okay with so many people. HE is unable to behave any other way. But what explains THEIR approval? The other day, John Kelly enumerated fundamental values that, as everyone knows, Donald Trump stomps on as a matter of course. These include giving any woman the full measure of respect that she is due. Don't most of the people who condone Donald Trump's hit-the-girls MO actually feel the same way? I'd suggest they do but somehow manage to keep their better instincts at arm's length in service of what Peter Wehner described yesterday as a nihilistic impulse to "burn the village down." One could say Donald Trump is the wooden club with which they're aching to hit somebody - anybody - over the head.
Then we have the likes of Steve Bannon, calculating how to slip a single big collar around all of those reddened, bulging-veined necks. (The fascist's big collar is Ayn Rand's metaphor, I believe.)
All of which suggests that the solution is to reach inside that toxic bubble that's currently inflated by gas from Bannon, Limbaugh and the like and try to engage in calm, open-minded discourse. The idea does, however, bring to mind the scene in "The Blues Brothers" where the band plays a club that has a permanent chain-link fence across the front of the stage because the locals' standard response to any act is to hurl a barrage of beer bottles at the musicians.
"Although white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs, many white people, and Republicans in particular, don’t seem to realize this."
Many low-information white people seems to be unable to identify their self-interest and how their voting for Trump could upend that. All they know is that their guns have been taken away by an African-American who was born in Kenya. And that those Mexican rapists who come into this country illegally are the root cause of their unemployment. And they are thrilled to hear that jobs in coal mining will bounce back to an all-time high. Trump, in their view, is the only man who can fix all of these problems.
It is deja vu. It is "What's the Matter with Kansas?" all over again.
“For hard it is to not be king
When it is in you and the situation”
Robt Frost
Both Trump and Kelly needed to be King when the chips got down. That is about character and how it is involuntarily revealed.
Trump could have stayed with the pain of a young wife and said her husband’s name. Kelly was caught up in his own story and then actually used the moment to get lost in the weeds and ended up lying about Wilson. Neither remembered the widow or the orphans, Ms Sanders.
You can blame America's women for the election of Trump, without the votes from women he would have lost.
The question is, why have so many women voted for this particular man and party that legislate their lives? Do women crave a Patriarh to dictate their role and guide their choices? Has the pentulum swung so far back, since the 1960s, that women no longer desire the right of their individuality and to make their own decisions?
"Huckabee Sanders said it was “highly inappropriate” to question a four-star general. Imagine if someone had in the early '60s.
2
Sanders' comments about General Kelly reflect her own clear intimidation. She does not question authority. This is why she lies without hesitation. If you work in the Trump White House you do what you're told, no questions asked.
Mr. Blow,
In these days of the ascendency of "white 'supremacy'" your most insightful article strikes me as the setting forth of the desire of a segment of our native population for the return of Jim Crow, Father knows Best, and the early days of Elmer Gantry. However, this is but the tip of the iceberg.
It serves as a cover for the return to the days of unbridled robber baron capitalism, a ever widening guilted age where the former upper middle classes are allowed to nibble at the life styles of the truly rich and infamous, the creeping introduction of Christian-Sharia (the way or path) law under the guise of false religious "liberty" - read control and dominance.
It infects everyone in this Faustian administration. For most they have already sold their souls but for the few who haven't it is only a question of time. Mr. Kelly is a case in point. His actions are truly disturbing and tragic. He lied - there is no other word - and then displayed an attitude that would make any tin horned junta proud. (A disturbing side question is: Are flag officers becoming even more politicized?)
The sad tragedy is that forgotten in this upheaval are Myeshia Johnson, the children and La David Johnson, husband, father and soldier. Please stop referring to them merely as the pregnant widow or the soldier. All the other players were mentioned by their given names.
We weary Democrats read this and already believed this throughout this past week, on a morning when we lose hope that Mueller, or any of the other investigators will "get to the bottom" of the Russian meddling in the election. (See NYTimes headline). McConnell aids and abets Trump's administration. Careful and erudite documentation by journalists of Trump's egregious behavior appears to be one, if not the only one, recourse.
The Trump Rule of Casualty: Anyone associating with HIM, is forever ruined. No exceptions, no returns, no refunds. Thanks, GOP.
Only a year ago, wasn't one of Trump's key arguments for becoming our next POTUS contingent on our military being "a complete disaster," and that he -- above all -- "knew more than the generals?" And now Trump's White House has the audacity to preclude "We The People" from questioning its chief of staff because he's a four-star general?
For which part of our military's COMPLETE disaster exempts the otherwise sacrosanct general from open questions if the guy who bragged about fighting his "OWN Vietnam" -- here at home -- "in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases" easily refrained from not touching Kelly with a 10-foot mini hand?
Thank you, Mr. Blow. My teenage daughters needed to read that someone was paying attention to what Trump was doing to any women he could molest. The congresswoman is certainly no exception. In her case he molests her good name. Actually, the president is slandering this good and capable women and slander is actionable. My kids asked, "How can he get away with it?" They recently learned that there are more women in America than men, so imagine their confusion. I had to explain that we are a republic and not a true democracy, so there seems to be wiggle-room for monsters like Trump to exploit. Those answers left a horrible taste in my mouth and my kids were a bit shocked at our powerlessness. So am I. I didn't tell them that the Republicans party will not do anything but continue to support this abusive nightmare. It serves them in some sick way to have Trump distract us as they violate our social contract and upend our constitution. I hope these men realize that many of them will not be returning to congress after this next election. Trump's abuse guarantees it.
Perhpas Congresswoman Wilson (who has no Western roots) would be taken more seriously, and fewer people would claim that she is a disingenoous publicity hound (much like our dear president), if she would stop with the ridiculous cowboy hat costumes.
1
The saddest part of this sad, sad tale is that no one seems to remember that the one person who is really deserving of our attention is Myeisha Johnson. This poor woman has two young children and a third on the way, and she has just lost her husband and their father. The commander-in-chief who is ultimately responsible for his death has added insult to the profundity of her grief by not only forgetting her husband's--his soldier's--name but then holding her up to be a liar on national television.
Heaven knows our president, such as he is, deserves our contempt for his his lies and his heartlessness in making this soldier's death all about the "tough" phone call he had to make. But Mrs. Johnson deserves our sympathy and the nation's condolence.
Spot on, Mr. Blow, as always. A disgusting pattern of targeting women who "talk back" to the big boys -- how dare they? Who do they think they are? And Kelly, in one moment, turned himself from a rather distinguished, principled and somewhat aggrieved Chief of Staff, into Trump's lying mastiff. And we are not supposed to question such a superior 4-star being, are we?
Respect is earned. The pretender in the white house will never receive real respect nor will Sarah or Kelly. They may have received respect had they learned not to tell lies. Alas, they are done for. Good on Frederica. It takes a women to put fools in their places. She has my respect.
3
While Trump certainly has and displays his base prejudices, perhaps much of this is a diversion from the details that are the devils of this administration. HHS now has in power Christianist ideologues who are no only anti- abortion under ANY circumstances, but oppose contraception and financially strapped women's access to reproductive health. Just this morning the times reports that EPA scientists were banned form speaking to a group in Rhode Island abut climate change. Then we have the bogus and dangerous "Voter Integrity Commission" headed by the most notorious suppressor in the nation. Meantime, Obamacare is quietly being dismantled piece by piece. All this brought to you by that man in the White House and his appointed enablers. Sure he's a bigot who tacitly and not so tacitly encourages his biases. To be outrages it natural but make sure you still pay attention to that man's machinations behind the curtain.
1
Liberals and Democrats have spent the last forty years creating smaller and smaller tribes of identity groups. In addition, every Republican candidate for president has been assailed as "worse than Hitler," a racist, anti-woman, etc. I didn't want Donald Trump to be president, but I completely understand his support amongst a couple of the largest identity groups in the nation--white people and Republicans.
Republicans and independents put Donald Trump in the White House, but liberals set up the conditions whereby those folks voted for President Trump. You, Mr. Blow, were a prominent contributor to that effort.
I often read articles by more thoughtful liberal Democrats ruefully acknowledging that what they said about previous Republican presidents and presidential candidates was over the top. They have come to this acknowledgement as a result of having Mr. Trump as president. In my opinion, he is, if nothing else, a powerful reminder of what happens when you cynically cry wolf--a valuable lesson for all of us. All of those Republicans and Independents got tired of being blamed for everything and pushed back.
By the way, and as I am sure you know, those making high incomes pay the vast majority of Federal income taxes. Any proposed reduction in taxes should benefit them as well as members of the middle class. What the exact percentage should be, well, that's for Congress and the Administration to sort out through the usual grandstanding, backstabbing "negotiations."
2
Acknowledging that white people were the major recipients of government programs would certainly put the lie to any notion of competence in those same governments. The rich are white, like you, but you ain't them, probably isn't great campaign fodder.
Actually, Asians are the highest income group in the US, i believe. And there ARE high income Latinos and African Americans, as well.
We all know who and what Trump and his supporters are--racists, bigots, white supremacists, misogynists and liars. The problem is that the Trumpists and their leader continue to speak blatant bigotry and get not even a slap on the wrist from the media or Democrats. Once in while there is a take-down if the comment or action is egregious and can't be ignored, but otherwise it is discussed in the most pathetic and weak terms. Media and the Democrats need to be calling out Trump's words and antics daily as well as those of his administration members like Kelly and Sanders. Right now, Trump and his many minions feels they can say and do as they please and pretty much walk away from it. Very few in the media or the national political world are making these folks accountable. As a result, this abuse of power will only get worse.
Wow, a few comments (here) accepts the WHouse LYING on a Congresswoman, a KIA's Widow and family,..and actually blame the Congresswoman?
For what, the ability to hear (insensitivity at best, ineptness at worst) or the inability to accept being Lied on in the Public square by Trump and his too willing (to also Lie) Chief of Staff?
2
Yes, Trump and his base are openly bigoted whites at opposite ends of the economic spectrum from each other. What galls them and heartens many of us who don’t share their views is that these women of color are not going to be intimidated by them. Like Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Wilson is openly critical of Trump and demands an apology from Kelly not to her but to America, for lying to the nation about her. Of course he won’t apologize, for all the pride of his white privileged, but the fact that she has demanded it of him is something to be proud of. Unlike so many mealy mouthed white male politicians who have been veiled in their criticisms of Trump, these black women are speaking up boldly. And calling a liar a liar.
Trump is going to be Trump because there is really no need for him to change. Kelly who was presented as the bulwark protecting the nation from Trump proved he left his honor in the closet with his uniform. There is video of another KIA family where the conversation between the wife and Trump is on speaker phone and there is a man within earshot one has wonder why Kelly wasn't stunned at that? Kelly yearned for days of old when women were on pedestals and Gold Star families were respected. Kelly had the temerity to say this with a straight face while working for Trump? Obama's time in office showed many how racist America could be and now Trump's support shows how racist we still are. The rapper Eminem did a video where he eviscerated Trump but counterpuncher Trump has yet to punch him back. Could it be the great counterpuncher Trump has yet to lay a glove on the rapper because he looks like Trump? Kelly was forthcoming in telling us he was the coach to a 71 year old man who had yet to learn how to console the grieving families of the fallen. One has to wonder who is going to coach Kelly or his boss on Truthfulness? It is truly sad that only politicians on the scene willing to call out Trump are ones no longer seeking election. Kelly yearning for days of old should have been chilling to anyone listening. I guess black women are not counted as scared in Kelly's book of sacred things. Trump may have had a bad week but a America had a worse week.
I wonder if Mr. Blow even heard Kelly's statements. Does anyone really think that he would use the death of his own son or the ones who died while under his command to excuse Trump of anything. Absurd. Trmp used the words Kelly told him were words that applied to all of those who died serving their country. our country. They weren't drafted. They knew we are at war and what could happen in combat. To take that away from them is demanding what they did and why they joined. Why was Wilson there listening in? Was it to share with the widow a call that was meant to console her and recognize her husbands willingness to risk his life to serve his country. How long was Wilson there after the call before she headed for the first microphone she could get her hands on. Kelly didn't lie about Miami. He didn't go back and read the transcript He told it like he remembered it. Money or not, she gave a nine minute speech mostly about herself and not about the fallen agents or the others in law enforcement who put themselves on the line to serve our country every day.. After all of this, she now refers to herself as a rockstar. I believe Kelly had to walk among those lying in Arlington Cemetery after hearing what she did and said. I wonder if she has ever put her foot inside that heartfelt place. It's not hard to find it, It is just across the river from where she works and she would be the only rockstar there
2
Was this supposed to be women, at the possible extra punch that black women could wield in the here and now, or about the nuts and bolts of wielding the tax structure as a tool of discrimination?
They're both great subjects for themes, but with apologies to Mr Blow, in a column this short, a clear choice should have been made.
It's really depressing how entrenched racism is in the US. Given how many African-Americans have been successful against the odds, how can so many people think of those that are doing it tough that their being "black" is the reason? Regarding those that are "white" and similarly "on Struggle Street" do they think their being "white" explains it? Yeah - that was a rhetorical question. It just goes to show: "The racist are ignorant (and quite possibly of below average intelligence). The racist are inferior." I think entrenched prejudice and disadvantage might keep good people down hurting everyone - but hey, that's just me. Sigh.
1
When, in a maudlin statement by the Chief-of-Staff, John Kelly pronounced that women used to be "sacred", I guess he meant white women only. Because he then mercilessly slandered a (very talented) black woman, subsequently refusing to apologize when his lies were exposed the next day.
The mainstream media was quick to blame Trump for influencing the general, but no stubborn seventy-year-old general is going to be influenced. His dark prejudices might be given permission to show themselves in the light of day, however.
Kelly was very willing to take on the draconian task of detaining immigrants before the job change. Many of Trump's picks lean toward white supremacy, it was one of the most important criteria, it seems, for getting hired by this man.
This giving of permission, permission to attack those perceived by the White House as vulnerable, is the most dangerous and disgusting aspect of the Trumpian era, this fascist state in the making.
My question is: just howw far is the GOP involved in this sick coup? If they aren;t removed soon
3
What I can't understand just listening now to Morning Joe how do people say that trump just lost his moral authority, how can you lose something you never had. Didn't we witness all he was saying and doing before he was elected, all the disgusting behavior that was on full display for us to see, where was this moral authority they are talking about, we had to live with this sleaze, this abominable creature through his whole repulsive "campaign" and we still talking of non-existing moral character, please stop, just stop!
4
Let's all just face up to the fact that the Republican President of the United States of America is an incompetent, boorish, immature man-child, and those that continue to support him are just as bad, if not worse. The fact of the matter is, we should all redouble our efforts to replace very Republican at every level of our country with HONEST and QUALIFIED representatives of the people.
History will show this to be the worst President and Congressional Leadership in our nation's history. So sad...
2
The real surprise is that Trump didn't just tweet out his pseudo-condolences.
"Another dead guy so I'm doing the right thing! His mother gave him a name I can't remember! Sad!!"
3
You don't really need all that much Freud to figure out that a guy like Trump exhibits a kind of hysterical relation to the world that can only be explained by a very-disturbed concept of the feminine Other.
1
Of course trump's staunchest supporters will laud the fact that at least he doesn't say one thing but do another, no his disgusting attitudes and behavior are on display for all to see.
I know that many people like to think that the 35-ish percent of Americans who still have a favorable rating of him are redeemable or can be somehow coaxed into seeing him for the racist, women hating misogynist that he is.
No, for perhaps most of those 100 million Americans, those aren't bugs, they're features.
1
And what should we think of those white women voters, reportedly 53 percent of them, who voted for Trump even after watching the scum's boasts on Access Hollywood Tape? Have those women been trampled all their lives by their esteemed macho men that they have lost all sense of self-worth? If that is the case in the US - the richest country in the world - what is the escape for women born and caught up in poor places among needy, penniless households? As I write about this matter, I feel sick to my stomach about the disgusting choice these women made - who knew or should have known better.
1
You should think people are large and admit multitudes. .
1
Those white men who support Trump and are in need of government assistance will soon see, if they haven't already, that their hero cares not a whit about them. The moment of truth lurks: is their own racism and misogyny greater than the need to survive and care for their families? If their answer is yes, we will all pay the consequences as the Republicans in Congress continue to pander to this deplorable portion of the population.
Trump wants to surround himself with military men now. Why didn't he want to surround himself with military men back when his daddy was paying a doctor to say Trump had bone spurs?
8
I am not now a fan of Trump's, nor have I ever been. However, even as a Liberal who spent over 20 years in the military, I think he is being "jumped on" much more than he deserves. C'mon, America.......it is obvious to me and to most others, I am sure, that much of this complaining about The President's handling of the GI deaths has gone way too far and too long. I know nothing of the women being interviewed, but it is quite obvious that their words and speeches are being scripted and written for them for some political reasons we will never know. It is time to move on. Trump will create many more chances to complain about Trump.............
7
Pogo: ALL Trump had to do is shut up or keep his fingers still. People might think he was ignorant, but as the saying goes, he doesn't have to prove it. Might he refrain from his daily barrage of egregious insults and name calling? Or do you think he should get a pass? And "the women" are being 'scripted" ??? Like Rep Wilson? Do you think she cannot speak for herself?
17
"... it is quite obvious that their words and speeches are being scripted and written for them for some political reasons we will never know."
We will never know because what you call "quite obvious" is paranoid nonsense. Wilson is capable of writing her own speeches. You should listen to Wilson's speech at the dedication of the FBI building. It's on Youtube. Search for "frederica wilson fbi building".
1
Oh I see, if a woman makes a comment or argument then someone else must have written it.
2
It should be noted that it is disingenuous and Trump-like misleading to state that the top 1% are getting 50% of the proposed tax cut without also mentioning they pay more than 50% of total tax revenue. The intention is clearly to outrage with maximum shock value by the headline of 1% getting 50%. In fact, they are proportionately getting what they are contributing. Perhaps it should be less of a cut but that is a different debate. It doesn’t serve anyone to gin up the base when reporting the facts in a measured and informative way serves the purpose. In fact, to the contrary, to the informed, it so plainly exposes the bias it becomes hard to continue to read. As an opinion writer in love with statistics, Mr. Blow knows exactly how to use them to make false leaps to manipulate emotions.
3
I think Mr Blow's point is that the proposed benefits will go largely to white men - he doesn't seem to be speaking to the argument about proportions. This column is not about taxes.
If you were talking about Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and a long long list of others, you would have at least some part of a point.
As it is, you're trying to justify Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, and a bunch of other wheeler and dealers whose sum contribution to society is to sit in a nice office wearing a suit, demand tax breaks and favorable laws, shuffle paper, and bust up companies so they can sell off the pieces, run big real estate deals that bust up neighborhoods, making nothing, creating nothing, and making darn sure that their even lazier kids hang onto the booty.
They've become immensely wealthy off what I believe you guys like to call, "fiat money."
So, the benefits should not go to white men just because they are white? Got it...
For what it's worth, here is the "problem" in a nutshell for future elections regarding women voters: Women don't vote along gender idenity lines, and they don't seem to be deflected, overall, by those candidates who offend them. This is summed up well by a piece written in Vox (January 21, 2017): "... Trump outperformed Clinton among white women, winning 53 percent of voters in that demographic. Drilling down further, he beat Clinton among white women without college degrees by 27 points. In the three states that decided the election — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan — that margin was enough to send Trump to the White House." What reason do we have, despite Trump's repugnant behavior toward women, that it will be any different in future elections?
4
What was the common denominator among white women without a college degree voting for trump? Was it income, religion, age or another factor? I would be interested to know.
Well, for one thing, Trump didn't call them "deplorable" and he didn't condone killing cops, either.
What is with General Kelly??? I thought one trait these Generals possessed was the ability to judge the character of the men and women around them. By what conceivable standard could General Kelly judge his boss as fit for leadership? General Kelly stated that he was "stunned" by the dispute over Trump's comments. What is more stunning is General Kelly's continued support and service to a boss whose character shortcomings are on full display each day.
24
I've always held to the theory that Trump has repressed much and emerged as the cardboard cut-out of the wealthy, well-connected straight man. This underlines for me the dangers of the unexamined life...
What is really disturbing is to watch Trump's chief of staff, Kelly, join in the woman bashing while evoking the good old days when white males were totally in control. That episode shows the limits of Kelly's vision and shuts off any hope that he can somehow enlighten Trump. The degradation of women, particularly minority women is sickening but it is all part of Trump's means of maintaining power - exploiting division. This country is made up of many diverse groups and held together by laws and ideals of inclusion. Trump with his contempt for the rule of law and democratic ideals is shredding all of that. Regrettably there are many willing to join in the deconstruction including many who should know better.
21
This editorial also points out the racist implications of Trump and his party's policies. Tax reform that favors the rich. Health care reform that hurts the poor. Environmental policies that disproportionately hurt the poor. Educational policies that favor the rich and white. Politics that seeks to further divide between rich and poor. Unbridled military spending to serve the economic elites under the pretense of "keeping us safe." A suppression of civil rights for minorities and immigrants. A disrespect of the Free Press- a press that at its best seeks to weaken the powerful and help the common man- the list goes on and on. Many boogeymen here.
8
"Educational policies that favor the rich and white"??? Have you ever heard of Affirmative Action?
When Margaret Atwood's book "The Handmaid's Tale" was published I thought it was a fascinating fable, but "way out there". That was in 1985. Today I am watching the excellent adaptation of that book on Hulu. The plot no longer seems preposterous. In the Trump era where authoritarianism is on the rise and women's reproductive rights are under assault, "The Handmaid's Tale" is eerily prescient of where we are today and what can be lost. Blow is right (he always is) that Trump does not respect women. It is even apparent in his body language when he walks well ahead of Melania like she is not there.
14
And Mike Pence with his crowd of Dominionist in government positions..... very scary indeed. Like the Commander's wife who helped set up the laws subjugating women..
The degree to which Mr. T. lashes out at those who criticize him seems to be in inverse proportion to the accuracy of the criticism. The harder and louder he responds with insults, the more robust his pushback, the more likely it is that the reports of the instigating episode are truthful. This is in keeping with someone who tends to overcompensate. He responds to all perceived challenges and attacks with, for a few of dozens of examples, odd declarations about the size of his hands, about his business and intellectual acumen, about Comey's professional credibility, about obliterating North Korea. Etc. Et al.
We await the capture of his true, bare-naked, crude and rude soul with another open hot microphone rather than she said he said. Or perhaps Mr. T has just been lamentably misunderstood. However, by now the pattern is quite clear; we should have very little or no hope that it's the latter and not the former.
It remains to be seen if he is simply borderline impulsive crazy, or crazy like a scheming fox who deliberately tosses bait to his Circus Maximus base with every tweeted, contorted syllable.
That we are devoting as much or more time to the off-putting or downright dangerous ethical and psychological competence of the President of the United States, as to taxes and energy, is more tragic than many have yet to realize.
3
Thank you , Mr. Blow. You write the truth. You keep the frame clear. Your writing is so needed and so appreciated. And, you maintain courage and integrity in spite of one thing we truly share - anger at what is going on.
7
As Senator McCain noted of trump, faking bone spurs to avoid the draft demonstrates a lack of moral conscience. Trump could have asked for a deferment as a conscientious objector but did not. Now people are attempting to gin up excuses for why trump cannot communicate with the love ones of the fallen but if one understands his basic moral bankruptcy it is evident he learned alternate skills that do not include the art of speaking with empathy. He had to ask Kelly what to say and that is because trump lacks the basic understanding of what it takes, having learned how to assault women (and brag about it) rather than learn how to assault the enemy in some foreign land.
Winning the election did not magically give him the skills he needs to communicate to love ones of the fallen and worse he got caught in a lie about the role of other Presidents who preceded him. It seems Kelly never learned to tell the truth either. They both owe the Nation an apology.
10
My friend was a C.O. He spent the war as a hospital orderly and had to report on a regular basis. Trump would never have made beds and taken care of sick people. It would be "beneath" Trump to take care of people.
2
Right on point, Mr. Blow, as usual.
However, the reality is that we are (those of us who see the unfitness, by any measure, of Trump to be President) caught in "Paralysis by Analysis". The actual Empty Barrels in the Congress are mostly looking at the undeniable 'meddling' (interference is a better word) by the Russians in our democratic election process (the foundation of our freedom) and many, many of them must be saying to themselves "I need to get ME some of that."
The fate of the nation rests for now on Robert Mueller.
It is time for the country to wake up, and demand an Article 25 action.
Let the lines be drawn.
4
On a side note, I'm happy to see a prominent Democrat "take back" the cowboy hat, a potent symbol of Americana. The iconic headwear shouldn't just be the domain of conservatives and country music artists.
7
"Much of the money is directed at white people, but most of the stigma is directed at black and brown people, and Trump is, like a multitude of Republicans before him, exploiting the misperception."
Further, the white people who do receive public support, or those who realize that white people make up the largest share of recipients, still want the programs cut. As long as Those People lose, they'll take the hit.
5
I don't understand what you want Ted. At this point in time we should probably face reality and accept that north Korea is going to be a nuclear power. Whether we like that or not there's not much we can do to change that now. There's no point in starting a war for either side. The issue at hand is better left untouched. We make a proclamation that any nuclear strike buy the North on anyone will be met by a full retaliatory response. In doing so, we end the discussion and can begin to move on.
2
Charles Blow, once again, totally nailed the situation. I keep hoping that the Trump phenomenon is the last, dying gasp of a bygone era. But a part of me worries that it actually reveals an entrenched and deeply disturbing set of attitudes in America. Only time, and the next few elections, will tell.
3
I am afraid you are right.
I’m a retired white female in the south. Congresswoman Wilson is my new hero - God bless her. She’s better than all this.
9
And let's not forget Mitch McConnell's classic dismissal of Senator Elizabeth Warren's right to speak: "SHE was 'warned' but SHE persisted." Being challenged by a woman sends them into a tailspin.
12
Just when we think Trump and party can't go any lower--they go lower. What on earth do his supporters see in him? Is he acting out what they themselves would like to do? He is the equivalent of an out of control juvenile delinquent that should be locked up to protect the rest of us.
2
Donald Trump's (deplorable) character and behavior have been documented to a fare-thee-well. Occupancy of the White House has wrought no alchemy. There is no gold in the straw, nor will there be. What we see is what we'll get for the next three years. And so what? How does such patently obvious insight do anything to soften the impact and lessen the pain inflicted on the most vulnerable in our society? We are on the cusp of one year from the midterm elections. Impeachment aside, only the ballot box can make a meaningful statement about America's tolerance for degradation of our core principles and moral leadership. But hopes for such a statement hinge on the loyal opposition's ability to develop and articulate a positive, compelling message. Where is it? Why do Democrats continue to fall into the trap of decrying the administration's ruinous edicts to the exclusion of building and selling that message? Who amongst them will step forward to champion the renaissance? Maxine Waters? John Sarbanes? Carolyn Maloney? Cory Booker? Adam Schiff? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
2
It is hard to be convinced that his drive to attack, offend and insult is gender based: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/26/upshot/president-trumps-n... .
Keeping in mind that the above link is 3 months old (hence the numbers are already out of date):
"...Mr. Trump has continued to find new targets. His pace of finding new people, places and things to insult has not changed since he became president. Our count stands now at 350, with more than 50 of them coming since his election. If he keeps to his current rate, he will have insulted more than 650 people, places and things by the end of his first term, and would reach more than a thousand by the end of a second presidential term."
I cannot fathom a second term, but our country is in a strange place.
1
The late Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), was, like Rep. Frederica Wilson, known for speaking her mind and wearing big hats. She said she started wearing them when, as a young female lawyer who often sat in meetings where the rest of the lawyers were men, the men kept asking her to get up and go get them coffee. Once she started wearing a hat to meetings, that stopped.
Abzug once said that women were traditionally expected to "walk softly and carry a lipstick." She added to that, "No more."
We wish. Good for Rep. Wilson. Somewhere, Bella Abzug is smiling down at her.
9
Unless the tide can be turned, we are on our way to becoming another authoritarian dictatorship. We must pay heed to history, and not follow what happened to Germany up until the second world war.
Nobody is above questioning by the citizens, that is what makes us different from other oppressive rigimes.
2
While Mr. Blow's column provides significant insight into the current controversy regarding the attacks on Rep. Wilson -an issue that has dominated the media over the past week- it seems to me that all of the bluster and discussion once again falls into the category of diverting attention from many major initiatives that are taking place in Congress and at federal agencies.
All the ink devoted to this (and to the recent Weinstein horror-show) simply distracts the public from many more important issues that affect us all, for example:
- Tax reform proposals that benefit the wealthy and hurt the middle class that will sail through the House this week
- Rescinded EPA policies including the exclusion of "climate change" on their website as well regulations that were put in place to improve our lives
- Lack of legislative approval for the extension of the CHIP program, leaving over 6 million children uninsured
- Slashing funds to promote the ACA enrollment to decimate the number of persons who need to apply or reapply
- Legislation to restrict voter registration and eligibility that largely affects minorities & the poor
...and the list could go on and on.
This is not to say that the treatment of Rep. Wilson is not indicative of the level of misogynistic, racially-charged, & divisive attitudes and policies that dominate Trump's agenda is not worthy of discussion. But it behooves the NYT to spend a lot more time on overarching issues from which incidents like this one emanate.
3
Speaking truth to power, therefore, needs to translate into voting against this power. Of course, women are not the only ones responsible for electoral change, nor is their vote monolithic; but this is an opportunity that cannot be wasted.
1
Of course, as Gen. Kelly implied the disgusting use of this dead hero for an "opportunity" that "cannot" be wasted will definitely be paid back in kind to the political party that could sink so low.
In his press briefing, General Kelly explained details, with which he is personally and professionally familiar, of protocols and procedures for recovering the bodies of the fallen from areas of combat, bringing them home, notifying their next of kin and help making burial arrangements.
For Myeshia Johnson, La David Johnson's widow, and his aunt Cowanda Jones-Johnson, controversy and loss of their husband and nephew after unexplained silence and delays, is a devastating once-in-a-lifetime experience. Ms Johnson and those with her in the car as they went to receive his body, when she received the President's call, are the primary and final authorities on how they felt and reacted to the President's words, regardless of how many were listening in at the White House during the call.
Congresswoman Frederika Wilson, a longtome friend of the Johnson family, is also their legal representative and their voice in Washington. It was "altogether fitting and proper" for her to be present and to console the Johnsons in their grief.
4
No argument from this white man. I grew up true-blue liberal, but in recent years have begun questioning identity politics and other liberal orthodoxy, in part because I've been moving in more conservative social circles. Donald Trump has changed all that. Though he'd be quick to deny it, the president has left no stone unturned in attacking women, minorites, and even white men who question him. I believe his aim is to convince us that resistance is futile, which makes me all the more determined to resist.
2
It is time for us to realize that 16 years of war, fought by a tiny percentage of our population has bred a kind of resentment by our military veterans that was betrayed by General Kelly. His condescending refusal to take questions from reporters unless they knew a gold star family was stunningly upsetting.
I can’t blame them, yet it has lead to a blind, uncritical worship of the Generals, lead by Trump and cheered on by Sarah Huckabee Sanders who apparently believes a General must never be questioned.
16 years of the Forever War where Chuck Schumer can blithely tell Meet the Press that he didn’t even know we have 1,000 troops fighting in Niger and military budgets are never questioned, the Executive Branch has carte Blanche to conduct war without congressional approval, let alone oversight—and our president will do whatever anyone says, as long as it’s a General has further riven our society. And we are just at the beginning of watching it all play out in the sickening display we were treated to last week.
1
Over the last nine months, Donald has opted to be the president of white America, rather than all America. He has been hostile to Hispanics, whether from Mexico or Puerto Rico. He has denigrated African American athletes who dared to protest injustice beyond the gridiron. He has repeatedly sought to exclude Muslims from our shores. He has given comfort and cover to white supremacists. Add to that the hostility Trump has repeatedly shown to strong women, as Charles has outlined. When Trump then calls the grieving widow of an African American solider, the words he chooses must not only assuage her grief, but mitigate his prior (mis)deeds. Of course Trump was incapable of rising to the moment. Instead, he further wounded Myeshia Johnson at her most vulnerable moment. Fortunately, Myeshia had women of strength by her side to affirm and honor the sacrifice of the La David Johnson, and the entire Johnson family. Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson rightfully spoke out about Trump’s call, reminding all of us what true leadership and compassion look like. Instead of accepting that he was in the wrong, Trump chose to lash out at Frederica Wilson as she supported a Gold Star family. That’s just wack.
5
Representatives Wilson and Maxine Waters are following in the tradition of Representatives Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm, strong women who were unafraid to speak out against the abuse of power. Charles Blow is correct in that Trump is threatened by such women.
2
In his interview with Fox defending Kelly, Trump said, "He was so offended that a woman would be.. that someone would be listening...". This was a revealing slip. Putting to the side that Trump had people listening to this so-called private sacred call, the widow was not supposed to have a female family friend nearby providing support on one of the saddest days of her life.
Trump's proven record of sexual assaults, the appalling level of obscene misogyny accompanying his campaign, his attacks on women's reproductive healthcare, and lack of equality for women in his appointments and his policies is only outdone by his visceral bigotry against black and brown people that seeps from his pores.
When he can attack a woman of color such as Congresswoman Wilson or the mayor of San Juan or Mrs. Khan or the many others, he takes glee.
Part of this seems to be wanting to put them in their place. These are all admirable principled women of great dignity. Like Pres. Obama, they have overcome societal obstacles and developed courageous strong characters that shine through to the world. Imagine an encounter if Trump had ever met Mother Teresa or Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King or Eleanor Roosevelt. Somehow he would have tried to demean them. These are all very fine women whose presence and indomitable strength serve instead to put Trump in his place. Evidently Trump can only hunch over his phone in the dark tweeting out 140 character childish insults.
4
Mr. Blow's primary insight is that misogyny and racial prejudice got Trump elected, and the significant percentage of Americans (including many women) who feel threatened by diversity will still be there when he is gone. Progressive Americans have a reason for hope, however: these reactionaries are almost exclusively on the verge of old age and will soon be out of the picture. And for the most part, even their own children have not inherited their prejudices. We are going through a dark time but the future belongs to the progressives.
1
Red states have been the recipients of most of government programs money .
These are also the States where the opioids crisis has its deepest roots as well as HIV and hepatitis infection spread.
These are also the States where women reproductive rights are under threat.
These are also the States where the quality of education is the lowest in the US
These are also the States where Christian religion is encroaching upon private and public life of its citizens.
These are also the States where racism and disrespect for gender equality and civil rights are abysmal.
These are also the States where environmental issues are being ignored.
These are also the States where trump received the blessing votes to become president .
5
This will all be for Naught if those Jobs don't come back, wages don't go up, and The Wall will just be known as a Pink Floyd Album.
IOWs, this will all be for Naught.
1
Any major progress, like the scientifically proven facts are ALL brothers and sisters and cousins, is followed by a counter attack from the forces of ignorance. We had an intelligent, thoughtful, moral, sophisticated and effective president admired the world over. Look what we got now! Let us hope that reason will overcome and that the pendulum will swing back without another civil war.
1
The day that Richard Nixon left Office in disgrace almost 28 percent of voters continued to support him. This mindless, under educated, resentful minority always exists in any nation -- sometimes more and sometimes less. In Roman times, they were called the mob.
Clearly, Trump's mob, as did Nixon's, will support whatever outrage he commits or whatever assault he makes on our culture and democracy. To expect any other reaction is hopeless.
What is required is to focus the attention of that other 70 percent of the population and remove from power and influence people such as Trump and Bannon who so diminish our country and culture.
2
This quote spells out the trump government "Trump is advancing an agenda of white male identity politics". When I see women supporting him and working for him I wonder what can they be thinking. They might like his idea's and policy, although I do not believe he has any, however could they not find a better spokesperson?
1
Both Kelly and Huckster-Sanders found it inappropriate for Congresswoman Wilson to listen in on the conversation
trump and the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, yet Kelly admitted that he and others were in the room with trump when he made the call. Now, was that appropriate, or was it the usual trump double standard? It now turns out that trump is trying his best between golf games to catch up on calls to families of other service members who have been killed. Trump's usual ninth grade bullying is becoming more sickening with each day. He should consider backing out while he retains one cell of humanity in his body. But it's probably too late for that.
1
This Congress Clown just happened to be with the family when the President called.
Sure.
And a call from the President to a widow was put on a speaker phone.
Sure.
And the President called this widow just to be disrespectful.
Sure.
And the Congress Clown was so upset she immediately ran to the press which was so shocked they made it a top story.
Sure.
And General Kelly made up his entire story.
Sure.
And the nine minutes released by the media was all there was to the events at the dedication of the new building.
Sure.
No need to contact anyone who was there.
Sure.
Fake media.
6
The Congress woman was in the car with the widow when the call was made. The call was on speaker phone. Look at the video of the Congress woman in Florida. Gen. Kelly was either lying or did not see the video. Trump is a serial liar so I don't believe anything he says.
1
Leaving out Trump's and Kelly's (numerous and deliberate) Lies.
Sure.
No LIES, no Story.
But apparently No LIES is asking a little too much.
"Fake media."
You need to post exact quotes if you are intend to convince anyone other than yourself that there is such a thing as "Fake media".
As for Wilson being in the car, there are facts that obliterate your uninformed skepticism:
"The congresswoman [Wilson] said she has known Sergeant Johnson and his family for years, beginning when, in elementary school, he joined a mentoring program started by Ms. Wilson."
Rep. Frederica Wilson on Trump: ‘That Is Not What You Say to a Grieving Widow’
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR
OCT. 18, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/us/politics/congresswoman-wilson-trum...
1
While trump was fixated on demeaning a black Gold Star family and their congressional representative, some of his constituents in Texas and Florida struck up the nerve to complain about . . . FEMA. FEMA, as it turns out, is more inept under trump than it was under Bush. Imagine waiting on the phone for four hours for a FEMA rep. The image of the loudest complainer of all is priceless. A white woman and her children standing in front of their posh but flood-damaged home, blaming Puerto Rico for distracting FEMA from helping her. Will they ever put two and two together to figure that they've been had?
15
No, because then they would have to admit that they were wrong about Republicans, or any other idiot they identify with, and they can't have that. People that study human behavior must be having a field day.
1
What Trump and Kelly are trying to do is gaslight shame Congresswoman Wilson. Trump uses the word "wacky" to describe Wilson, and Huckabee Sanders says Wilson is "all hat no cattle." This comes right out of fraternity gaslight shame handbook 101: Try and make your opponent look crazy; play to the mob's base instincts; deflect with put-downs and false equivalencies; prop up scapegoats to hide the deplorable dysfunction. Kelly shows his true colors by using his status as a shield -- pathetic. The key to a successful gaslight operation is status and power.
Also, Trump talks about witchhunts and tries to maintain that he is being treated unfairly. But Trump, in his bully pulpit, and Kelly with his status as general, are the ones trying to create witches out of women who confront them. They know the ignorant masses will grab onto the grotesque spin, eager to burn powerful women at the stake. Trump focuses on peripherals, looks, quirks, to put kindling on the fire for the stupid masses to light and burn in the court of social media. The real issues of respect, justice, equality, good governance, and transparency are brushed aside by the gaslight circus.
It takes relentless consistency and courage to reveal this scam, especially when the perpetrators have so much legal power and status. Congresswoman Wilson is one of the heroes in the long march to reveal and unseat Trump's regime. She won't be shamed by Trump's gaslight tactics.
207
She is a strong and virtuous woman, in my book. Thanks for your comment, which lays out the strategy for Trump and his minions.
1
John Kelly revealed one of the most despicable things about the military -- that men like him -- were in charge. How many women who came forward and reported sexual harassment while serving in the Marines do you think he dismissed as being "empty barrels" for daring to complain about something that wasn't right.
He showed too that he is a lying coward who doesn't have the common sense to apologize for his appalling attack on Congresswoman Wilson.
Kelly is truly a man without honor and it's not just because he serves Trump but because he felt the need to attack a woman with a lie because she told the truth.
18
You've articulated so well what I've been trying to say about Kelly's vicious name-calling and wanton lies against Congresswoman Wilson.
And I hadn't yet put down my helplessness at the realization that guys like coward Kelly (and Flynn) are leading a lot of vulnerable young people and either overlooking sexual abuse of women or teaching it.
Perhaps a woman will still bring down Trump. As his financials are investigated, I am still waiting for the bombshell that Trump has paid off women. Of course, Trump is not alone in his hatred of women. Most of the older white males I know feel this way. But, they are not the leaders of he modern free world. As Trump's generation cycles out of power, we can only hope that its sexism goes with it.
18
Like much of our country and our "President", I am Stuck....Stuck in the
Muck of our political Mire. For 9 Months ( ), we, the People, have been,24/7, morning and night, been Controlled and occupied by the devious
"Leadership" of a Sociopathic Personality Disorder. Our national CEO has
Also been our COA (Center Of Attention). This old, average man can only
Label our state of Being as SOCIOPATHetic. Someone, including our
"President" and his unServing minders and attendants, is truly benefitting
from this National DisService.
12
No matter how low Trump goes and how despicable he becomes, it will only get worst because the people that support him, demand it.
18
The citizens of his so-called base are so clueless that they don't even realise that they will suffer the most under this administration. You gotta give it to this guy, he's got hoodwinking down to an art form.
20
It is sad, but it is going to take major crisis for them to see it--and maybe they won't even then. I just worry about how bad it has to get.
Trump is not worthy of the office. Moreover, he is severely unstable emotionally and is a danger to us all.
He needs to be removed before we are ALL removed!
13
"as he degrades, he plays to those very same entitlements in the base that elected him"
No, Charles, no, the right word is not "entitlements"; it is "insecurities". He and Mr. Smellfungus, now again at Breitbart, are here to make sure their small fingers are never ever deemed shorter than neighbors'.
7
I think that General Kelly, defending Trump, actually believed he heard her say what he claimed. My notion is rooted in the deep prejudice that exists. People like Kelly hear what they want to hear, not what is actually said. Listen to Limbaugh for 5 minutes and he will give you an example of deep rooted prejudice. What would be interesting would be to have Kelly watch and listen to the tapes and then comment! If one thinks that his mind will simply process the truth, one ought to guess again. The fact that most welfare recipients are white women doesn't matter to a racist. He will still assert that those dark people are getting something they don't deserve- HELP!
14
Colin Powell needs to move over; there's another 4-star general coming to the dust bin of history...
Paul, I mean no disrespect in my response to your overly Objective Assessment.
But addressing your, "..,to have Kelly watch and listen to the tapes and then comment!"
Though not a taping, he claims to have heard her already? So how would it update his (totally) incorrect assessment prior if he heard them again? He was so certain in his admonishment before the public,..I'd be afraid for his sanity if he actually "Listened" to what she said at that ceremony.
I think Melania's silence on her husband's bullying behavior is fair game.
16
I have no doubt Melania has been on the receiving end of Donald's bullying often.
1
Mr. Blow, while sticking to the facts, you breathlessly state the obvious. Enthusiastically singing to the choir.
When in political discussions I am dismissed as a knee-jerk liberal or a radical left-wing agitator, I am disappointed by the limited and simplistic analysis it reveals (when, really, my positions are carefully considered and regularly re-evaluated).
So I suspect that the positions of Trump's supporters, and even of Trump himself, are informed by more nuance and subtlety than the left's charge of simple white male identity politics, bigotry, racism, and misogyny would allow.
Surely, white male identity politics, bigotry, racism and misogyny are identified with the right more so than with the left. But we all have guilt in those areas and others to some degree. Perhaps, if we stop the practice of dismissing others with simplistic labels BEFORE understanding how they developed their views, the basic respect will be returned, leading BACK to discussion and AWAY from harmful name-calling. Because we aren't making any progress with the current form of immature non-discussion. (As evidence I submit our lawmakers' recent non-performance.)
So, Mr. Blow, tell me something I didn't already know, please. Tell me how and why your ideological opposites came to their opinions -- and I don't mean, "...because they are racist..." or "...because they have been fooled by a demagogue..." Even if it's true, it doesn't tell us anything we need to know in order to improve.
6
It's time for an experiment: let's ban all men from holding elective office. It's worth a try.
18
Right. American official language would be Russian, or Chinese within 4 years.
If this were not enough, Trump has now, in effect, called the widow of the fallen soldier a liar by directly contradicting her version of the phone call- and that of her Congresswoman good friend.
From the beginning of Trump's theft of the election, the question was not whether, but when. The time is NOW!
WE BESEECH
WE MUST IMPEACH!
10
Trump is a small man who behaves like a raging alcoholic. To get tipsy and toxic he uses money, status, sex and junk food. If he went near booze, he'd be soon dead because he has no "off" button. Innumerable critics are assailed by his outrage of the day and the fact that he gets away with it, at least with his so-called base. I suggest that the critics have to attack him daily and repeatedly on only two or three issues; relentless, repetitive, driving attacks, first, for example, on releasing his income tax returns and second, on his mistreatment of Gold Star families and disaster victims. Demand his resignation if he fails to release his tax returns. Force the White House to play defense all day and night. Make him tweet in a way that indicts himself. Demand his apology to every Gold Star family he has trashed. Do not ease up on the daily barrage on these couple of things; there are dozens of ways to make the stories fresh every day; unlikely people holding news conferences in unlikely places that can attract continuing coverage by the press at every level. It's time to get clear, specific, manageable and politically deadly.
9
Charles, I've been reading you for years. This is another one of your cogent, insightful op-eds. Keep telling the truth. Can I ask you, perhaps in a future op-ed, to put your sights on men, all men. Yes, that includes black men. Black men live under the burnt of racism. So why then do they not have more empathy toward women...who live under a much more pervasive, and difficult to escape, misogyny. Black men are sensitive to their own victimization but show so little understanding of what all women go through in this society. Black men need to open their eyes about their own behavior toward women.
9
Maxine and Frederica along with Nancy, Rahm, Chucky and many others should be on the RNC's payroll. They are dividing the Dems and retreating into a defensive huddle, isolating themselves from what's left of their diminishing party. Their nonsense and rants are driving fence-sitting Dems out of the party, even middle of the road Dems are seriously and openly questioning their tactics as they realize that Pres Trump is very methodically moving the country forward. If Trump's tax reform measures become a reality before the end of the years the aforementioned politicos will be pushed into the dustbin of American political losers
3
You imply everyone else "Thinks" like Trump?
Or is it everyone else Lies like Trump?
I'd go along with Chuck'n'Nancy.
1
Correct, and this comment should be a NYT pick. I was a Dem all my life, but will move to Independent, because of the Democrats' snobbishness, hatred of working class whites like me, their dislike of straight white men, and their impenetrable groupthink.
We know that boogeymen were used to frighten or scare children to change their behavior. Yes, D.T expresses many child-like emotions, but rather than getting him to comply it incites him. He lashes out with those who challenge him, standup to him. Women who can be manipulated, who easily fawn over the male he likes. Women who have a strong sense of who they are and cannot be “put in their place” cause him to dismiss, discount, deride, impugn with fallacious commoners. He is a bully to men and women. And he has most the Congress unwilling to challenge him in public because of his childish behavior, but also that of the white males who will attack legislators. The boogeymen, the ones who frighten all of us are the white males either with guns or money. The women who have challenged Trump have been courageous and honest and bringing truth to power. May they continue to be bold, because far too many in Congress and in his cabinet are not.
1
Following Gen. Kelly’s outburst of petty vindictiveness this past week, it occurs to me that Mr. Trump may indeed be smarter than one of his generals.
6
Anyone who enters Trump's orbit will soon find that he or she is diminished in the eyes of the public. Trump's demand for absolute loyalty without offering any loyalty in return is the mark of a narcissistic thug. Those who become attracted to the glow at the center of power will find themselves singed beyond salvaging. Emblematic is the recent case of Marine General John Kelly who was ordered out to pave over another Trump tantrum. He added his lies to Trump's lies to Sarah Huckabee Sanders lies. The rapids appear ahead and we find no one at the helm.
4
This column hits the nail on the head. Racism and sexism collide when Trump takes on Representative Wilson and Mayor Cruz. Observing his absolute intolerance of criticism from women, one begins to understand why he is on his third wife. As with most hopelessly insecure people, all of Trump's huffing and puffing amount to nothing. Both Wilson and Cruz run circles around this clown in terms of serving their constituents. When will this hideous national nightmare end?
1
"as he degrades, he plays to those very same entitlements in the base that elected him".
No, Charles, no: the right word is not "entitlements"; it is "insecurities". He and Mr. Smellfungus, the latter lately returned to the Breitbart Alternative Press to further the world rot, are here to ensure their small fingers are never deemed shorter than their neighbors'. Never again will they awake the morning after to be told, in all fairness, that they just did not measure up.
2
What a shock! Not; but sad.
The Trumping of America: how disgusting can we get?
John Kelly proved that Trump brings out the worst in everyone he comes in contact with. Kelly, a respected patriot, climbed upon a stump, removed his shirt and showed us the Trump streak running down his back. He raised his bloody shirt high to remind us of his sacrifices and those of our country's finest, then he told full-throat lies to destroy Congresswoman Wilson.
Kelly did not have the common decency to say her name; he disdainfully slighted her as a "member of Congress," referred to her as "this woman," unworthy of a name, unworthy to overhear the fake compassion of the high and mighty Trump to a grieving widow of a fallen soldier.
Kelly made up a story to defame Congresswoman Wilson. He called her an "empty barrel" making noise about herself. But, it turns out Kelly lied; he did not miss-remember, he flat out lied. He provided enough details to show he recalled a 2015 event then he lied. Turns out Kelly is an empty barrel making noise.
It isn't just that Kelly lied; it's how he claimed the high ground of Arlington National Cemetery to look down upon Congresswoman Wilson. It is not just that Kelly was spinning the truth to defend Trump; it's that he attempted to assassinate Congresswoman Wilson's character. It was very personal and he relished his mission.
Instead of the truth and apology we are told, with contempt, not to question a 4-star general. Who showed a new disgusting Trumpian low. How low can we go?
7
Surely, if the media and the movie stars and all the angry women can speak out and ruin Harvey Weinstein's charade, can't we do the same with Donald Trump and his family? He/they have brought corruption to our government, not to mention racial prejudice, intolerance, lies upon lies and a level of non-intelligence and poor leadership that we have not seen in the White House.
Robert Mueller, let us hear from you soon.
2
And old men too!!! Referring to Sen. John McCain:
“People have to be careful, because at some point, I fight back,” Mr. Trump said in a radio interview with WMAL in Washington. “I’m being nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point, I fight back, and it won’t be pretty.”
Anybody else think think this is hysterical? Trump is never nice, this is true political theatre!
Three important points:
1) Nothing he does is very pretty, most of it is quite ugly;
2) Nobody has to be careful with Donald Trump, he's marginalized himself, his party's ideals, and any chance he might have had at making a difference in the future of the USA or being regarded as presidential in history; and
3) Maybe he could consult "His Generals" about the concept of better target selection. Gold star parents, most females, members of congress (mostly his own party), victims of natural disasters, and the leaders of the free world (mostly our allies), probably don't qualify as excellent target selection.
Now poverty, inequality, health care, tax reform, infrastructure, and foreign relations. He should really go after them as targets. His priorities are so out of alignment with the world we live in, just completely out of whack. Sad!
4
Mr. Blow, when writing about Donald Trump outrages it would be helpful for your readers to connect Donald Trump's Narcisstic Personality Disorder to his behavior. Trump is not the same as most of the run-of-the-mill mysogynistic, ignorant, bigots that compose a large segment of his base. Trump's actions become much more explicable when viewed through the lens of his disorder. Trump's narcissism does not excuse his behavior, but does make it more explicable.
Trump's perpetual need for adoration, the lying, the denigration of the vulnerable, the bullying, boasting, and defensiveness are just some of the behaviors common to Narcissists. To downplay the connection between Trump's behavior and his mental disorder omits a valid logical explanation for his aberrant behavior and serves to normalize behavior that should not be encouraged. Narcissism helps to make sense out behavior that to most of us is nonsensical and repugnant.
"Donald Trump has a particular taste for the degradation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities and women..." As a narcissist, Trump always needs someone whom he can denigrate and feel superior to to fuel his insufficient ego and exploit tribal "us against them" group dynamics. Narcissists pick the low hanging vulnerable fruit---the sole criteria for selection is perceived vulnerability. Honestly, if Trump thought that kicking big-eyed puppies would bring him the adoration he craves, we would have daily tweetings of how many puppies he'd kicked today.
2
I see John McCain has been quoted this morning on CNN's home page as "mocking" Trump's patriotic bone spurs as the reason for his multiple deferments for military service. All while Donny was attending the New York Military Academy. Strange, marching at military school, but not serving.
Trump had better beware of the Older Bogeymen, as well as the Women Bogeymen, and next he should worry about the Conservative and the Liberal Bogeymen. After all, they can get pretty nasty, and it seems like they're all out to get him.
Mr. Trump, as more and more about your ugly past comes out, are you feeling less and less presidential? Certainly seems to appear that way!
1
So please, explain to me just one more time: Why would any woman with more than one brain cell vote for this horror of a man. If I live to be a hundred I'll never get it.
3
In all of this unfortunate mess, I am most disappointed in General Kelly. While there is no way for Trump to disappoint me more than he already has, I had found some comfort in my feeling that we had a few good men* like Kelly in the White House, trying to restrain the impetuous brat in the building. That feeling took a hard hit last week.
*The only woman I can think of in the White House is Sanders, and I wouldn't trust any farther than I could throw her.
3
So Trump lied about calling all gold star families. Lied about past presidents calling good star families.then called a. Family and made a mess of it and instead of just apologising for a simple mistake he lied about a congresswoman. He lied about the widow of a fallen soldier. In a throwaway political attack on Obama he brought a grieving General into the argument. He mislead about Obama not calling General Kelly (since Obama invited him to dinner and sat him with Mrs Obama). He called the family on their way to collect the fallen soldiers body and sent the press to interview the family about what he said on the phone. Then lied about a congresswoman (who as a personal friend of the soldier heard the call on speakerphone in the car), but Trump lied and claimed the congresswoman secretly listened in. Implied the congresswoman "ran to the press", despite he having sent the press there to use a widow to make him look better about lying. He claimed the whole thing was a whole cloth lie by a congresswoman even after the family confirmed her story. He had his chief of staff tell an inaccurate story about the congresswoman and refuse to apologise when a tape appeared which proved Kelly's story was inaccurate. Had his press secretary claim it was inappropriate to question a public servant when he made an inaccurate story. Is still, days later, continuing to attack a congresswoman who is grieving herself. And finally blamed the press for politicising the whole thing?
How many lies?
2
Aside from another disgusting Trump beating down on gold star families, the "coming out" of General Kelly was a frightening display military arrogance. Many people have speculated that Trump would be most happy leading a military dictatorship, and general Kelly seemed to be happily in the grooming mode for just such a development.
2
"Wilson seems to have correctly reported what Trump said." There is some hesitation on the part of Congresswoman Wilson as to what she actually heard President Trump say. She seems to have some doubts. President Trump said that she did not hear the complete conversation between the widow and himself. She is being very disrespectful to Mr. Trump and Mr. Kelly when she calls them liars. This is shameful and she has lost all credibility. She should apologize and resign.
If President Trump does not like women, why did he appoint Sara Huckabee Sanders as his press secretary. He has many women in his administration and has been known to have hired women employees. He had many female voters supporting him and they still do. We do not believe for a moment that he does not like women. This is silly,
4
Women and minorities may be Trump’s bogymen.
It appears not getting a “Big Win” this year, and anyone who challenges him with facts regardless as to how transparent his lies, become his bogymen. He will obsess about them, and attack and threaten them.
Trump is fixated on his image and on selling himself as being “the greatest”, the smartest” etc. In his mind, he is beyond challenging and never wrong.
The facts are, Trump has lied to US multiple times about who will benefit from his tax cuts, cutting deficits, and reducing our national debt. His projections for future economic growth and benefit to our treasury are garbage and the Republicans in Congress and the Senate know it.
America desperately needs Republican Elected Politicians to join the list of Trump bogymen.
Very likely, they won’t. Trump, the party, special interest donors and Trump’s base are their bogymen. These bogymen are more frightening to them than the damage to our economy by our skyrocketing national debt!
We must find a way to hold Elected Politicians and their staffers, from both parties, personally liable, responsible and accountable for the lies they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $20.4 T and growing national debt (108% of GDP), and our $100 T in future, unfunded liabilities they forced on US jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their staffers, their party and special interest donors.
http://www.usdebtforum.com
1
We have become too accustomed to the lies of professional liars like Trump and Huckabee Sanders, and to Trump's misogyny (which women in his administration and family seem to accept)). I find myself saying, What is the point of pointing these matters out? The Republican base LOVES lies and misogyny.
I suggest that when someone formerly honorable in the Trump administration (an exclusive club)_ embraces the dark side, for him at least we show no mercy. Kelly, formerly a general but now chief of lackeys for Trump, once seemed honest now serves the Lord of Lies.
1
"Donald Trump has a particular taste for the degradation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities and women — and God forbid those identities should overlap..."
Yes, Donald Trump's all-embracing defamation of others illustrates why we and the Times should use Critical Race Theorist Mari J. Matsuda's definition of racism as adopted by Erik Bleich in his book The Freedom to Be Racist. Racism is the looking down upon any individual because of ethnicity, national origin, mother tongue, religion, skin color or any other characteristic of use to the racist.
Donald Trump's racism is so all embracing we cannot know what his defamation of an individual or group is based on. Perhaps the same is true for Kelly.
This suggests to me that we will be better off to avoid taking the easy way out, simply stating "Oh, because the object of Kelly's defamation has black skin he must believe in the lower worth of blacks." We need a deeper psychology and a new language for dealing with the Trumps and a legion of similar people. Since I see Richard Luettgen's 1st comment below this box I note that points in that direction rather than to simple what vs black racism.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
1
Too many of Americans suffer from a lack of imagination. The idea of imagining what it must be like to be poor, uneducated, economically challenged, of a different race just seems to be impossible.
As a white woman who has seen the worst of segregation during the 30s and until the CRA, I was always told by my Yankee mother to think of what it must be like to be a black girl and woman. To remember that I was white not because I was superior, but because of European ancestry.
White women who voted for Trump can't imagine what it must be like for a woman such as Wilson to get where she is. What hoops she jumped through to rise to congresswoman. What insults, what denigration, what slurs against her integrity and honesty.
Trump is just adding to that attitude that shows an incredible amount of bias towards any woman who doesn't agree with or admire him regardless of race, although race itself seems to rear its ugly head too often with Trump.
5
Another aspect of this latest self-inflicted wound by Trump on Trump, is the attack in Niger. Trump and the Republicans don't seem too concerned, yet look how massive investigation(s) happened after Benghazi.
1
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump: the titles of all your recent columns begin with the loathsome word "Trump". Were he not an existential threat to our very body and soul, this would be a criticism. I look forward to your future columns about Trump, Trump, Trump and Trump.
2
I was disgusted by the maligning of this brave Congresswoman's character . I'm not hearing much from the editorials on General Kelly's behavior which was repugnant . Is it because she is a woman ? Or is it because she is black and the family is black so they are easy targets .
I'm heartbroken that this is what we have come to . And sadly , Trump supporters couldn't care less .
2
I am enjoying Rep. Wilson's spirited defense of truth (and justice, and the American way) in this latest DJT presidential fail. Too bad Gen. Kelly had to dive into the toxic sludge of the White House Lie cesspool. Of course, if DJT was the smart, savvy deal maker he brags about being, he would have read a simple sentence: "I am sorry my words did not convey my sincere condolences and my deep appreciation of Sgt. Johnson's sacrifice." One and done, so to speak. DJT is obviously not the smartest guy in the room. He's not even the smartest guy in any of the rooms. Too bad Gen. Kelly refuses to acknowledge this truth.
2
I have always known that Trump was a jerk around women, but I have come to believe that he is exactly what Mr. Blow says he is. Any attack on women is always on them as women, not what they said or did. Every response to this mess I've read by a trump-supporter is always about Wilson's hats. It is not what she said/he said or that there is a video proving what Kelly said is wrong. Its all about the hats.
146
SJS, In Trump's defenders defense.
They either have to bring up Trump's (countless) Lies, the Congresswoman's Truths, General Kelly's Lies, or the Congresswoman's Hats.
"Every response to this mess I've read by a trump-supporter is always about Wilson's hats."
Obviously you didn't read anything about General Kelly's criticism of Wilson's self-promotion during the dedication of the FBI building. Kelly never mentioned hats. Read the transcript of Kelly's remarks here:
Full Transcript and Video: Kelly Defends Trump’s Handling of Soldier’s Death and Call to Widow
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
OCT. 19, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/us/politics/statement-kelly-gold-star...
sjs, but the hats thing is what the lack of real brains is all about. Really anyone with an ounce of sense knows by now what an ignorant man and staff have made it to the White House. We who still can think intelligently must resist at all cost if anything for our children and grandchildren.
1
The subordination of the military to civil and democratic authority is one of the characteristics of well functioning democracies. Examine the fragile state index and see the correlation between states with high levels of democracy and high levels of subordination.
Look at the failed states and militaries which keep tyrannies in power.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has become the new Joseph Goebbels of the Trump administration. Goebbels said "if you repeat a lie often enough, people accept it as the truth.
Sanders lies.
In a democracy you can question a 4 star general. In a tyranny if you question the integrity of a general you disappear into the gulag or concentration camp or wrapped in duct tape and shot in the head.
We aren't at that point. Yet.
In a democracy military members have a legal and moral duty to question illegal or immoral orders of their commanders.
This point seems lost on Kelly who jumped to defend the draft dodging coward who was elected by a minority of the american people using a gerrymandered electoral system created by the Koch brothers and Krupp Company.
I am sorry that General Kelly lost a son who was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who was a first lieutenant in Vietnam. I also served in Bosnia and Haiti
22
Huckabee Sanders is not a Josef Goebbels, who for all his evil, was still a brillaint mastermind of Propaganda.
Huckabee Sanders is nothing more than a parrot.
But you are right about General Kelly. Sadly, it was inevitable that it would come to this.
And thank you for your service.
"Sarah Huckabee Sanders has become the new Joseph Goebbels of the Trump administration."
If you are going to make Nazi analogies, you should know what you are talking about. Goebbels was Propaganda Minister for the Nazi regime. That is roughly equivalent to a cabinet-level position in the US government. Sanders is only on the White House staff.
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Ministry_of_Public_Enlightenment_and...
Mr. Blow - Thank you. Trump has an appetite for hurting women.
I was angered by his attacks on Representative Wilson, and also by the Trump-inspired attacks by his puppet Kelly. Your defense of the Representative is right on.
Thank you for your observation that he is inciting the resentment
of older white men against all women, and especially against women of color. Unfortunately, there is an impotence factor here which exponentially increases his and old white men's anger, a rageful impotence which younger people cannot actually grasp.
But his rage against women seems relentlessly infantile,
and that is something anyone can grasp.
Thank you for defending Frederika Wilson, Carmen Yulin Cruz, Maxine Waters, and by extension all of the rest of us.
24
Flagged for ageism.
1
I appreciate your noting my ageism. I am 73 and am aware that ageism can be a poisonous thing. The virulence of Trump's anger against women seems to have several threads, however, and I merely propose that this may be one.
2
No. It's truth-ism. And I'm no kid.
What Trump is doing is turning the rest of the world increasingly terrified. No one outside America likes him and his brash twits. US has been acquiring an image of a ruthless racist country of 1850, without common decency towards women and minorities.
9
Don't forget that Congresswoman Wilson is the only one that told the truth.
299
And Myeshia Johnson, widow of the fallen serviceman, LaDavid Johnson, also told the truth when she said Donald Trump didn't even remember his name.
1
Thank you again for your substantive analysis, and thank you Nancy Parker for your seminal comments.
2
Let's not forget his repeated vicious and demeaning attacks on Rosie O'Donnell, an open and out lesbian. Others in the LGBT community, no doubt, will be targets. The so-named transgender ban hasn't been unveiled, but transpeople serve in the military, have sacrificed their lives for this country, and are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
12
Hooray for “ Trump Boogeywomen” everywhere. They’re not afraid of this pathetic excuse of a man, they’re not going away, and they won’t stay silent.
168
"....And who exactly are the top 1 percent, demographically? Well, a 2011 analysis by The Grio found that they are 96.2 percent white, and a 2012 study found that about eight in 10 were men."
Well then, Mr. Blow, all we need to do is make the 96.2% non-white and 8 in 10 non-men, and all will be well. Let's be particularly primed for attack if they are non-black. Or, as I read your piece of nonsense, are we?
6
With Halloween coming, Trump had better hide from the Bogeywomen whom he has insulted, degraded, robbing them of their right to choose and right to protect themselves from sexual, mental, and physical abuse. He is the mad man in the basement who needs to be locked up.
Adam Schiff and Dianne Feinstein unclog Congress and get to the bottom of Trump's infernal ties with Putin to undermine our democracy. Robert Mueller defend our nation in its time of trouble. Putin thinks that he has won this war with the Republicans' obstruction of justice, but we Boogeywomen have only begun to fight back. And as Sojourner Truth said get out of the way because we have the power to turn the world upside down and right it up again!
5
The flow of Trump verbal sewerage keeps coming and coming. He has had many decades to practice and perfect his craft. Apprentice to Roy Cohen, Miss Universe program, t.v. realty star, WW wrestling, and so on. Today it is this; tomorrow something equally repulsive and asinine; the walking, talking, Emotion, Commotion, Conjurer of Chaos in Chief;...... Lie, Deny, Attack, Distract.
Anyone of us , from any job, any party , any anything would have first never gotten the job, and second, if they did, would have been fired immediately.
Mr. Blow, thank you for your critical thinking and superior ability to weave and express complexity in written language. N Y Times, it would be of public, great service to start a new daily column specific to this president loosely entitled: Distraction of the Day: Hiding the Legislative Action of the Day.
7
Page Melania (and Ivanka) all you want, but remember that they are the deferential and unquestioning model women the Donald craves—no pushback from them, ever.
I'll continue paging and thanking Rep. Wilson and the others who dare to stand up to Donald... Maybe Tiffany?
8
Trump is a 71 year old racist mysogynist and there is little doubt he will ever get better. Can you imagine the life of horror Melania lives with everyday? He always has to get the last word, argues with no backup info, and of course insults the whole way. And this is only his first year in office - just imagine all the people and countries he can insult if he lasts his whole term.
9
When asked about Kelly’s lies, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was “highly inappropriate” to question a four-star general.
Do you remember Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to the president, saying, right after Trump was elected, "The president will not be questioned!"
These are the statements that dictators make.
They are despicable. They reflect boot-licking and blind obedience.
The President recently threatened to revoke the license of NBC.
These are the words and actions of a fascist. When will legislators of our democracy wake up??
23
Trump did not surprise me at all when he attacked Congresswoman Wilson. It was John Kelly's lies that shocked me. Somehow he was held up as a beacon of light in an otherwise dark Administration. It only proves that Generals lie just as maliciously as many of our politicians. So who is left in the Administration that will tell the truth? We are in big doo doo. The Generals do not wear white hats, as always assumed when a General speaks. But then we learned that with the Vietnam and Iraqi wars.
What is equally disturbing is that most people do not know, including many politicians, that most government programs benefit more of the white population than any other group in the country.
I would be willing to bet that a lot of these recipients voted for Trump. And now he wants to take their benefits away. Nice one, Trump
11
You are aware that the majority of US citizens are whites, right? Given that fact, doesn't it make logical sense that the majority of beneficiaries of US government programs are also white?
Charles, kindly explain how "white male identity politics" explains the millions of white females who support the politics of Trump?
34
To clarify for you, Robert: "White male identity politics," shorthand for white patriarchy, is a system that anyone can help reinforce as a norm, whether white, male, female, or POC. That's the systemic part of it--it's not something individuals necessarily espouse directly as a personal belief, but reinforce through practices, rhetoric, and the perpetuation of supporting institutions that maintain that system of advantage and oppression. So, if someone thinks/assumes/is convinced they benefit from maintaining it, and are convinced changing such a system will disrupt their lives or livelihoods, they are likely to support it.
5
White women voted for and continue to support Trump because they have been indoctrinated to "stand by their man" and the cultural constructs that reinforce white male dominance. Too many of us lack the courage to challenge patriarchy, especially white patriarchy. It's "the devil we know," after all.
8
Simple. Many women benefit from patriarchy. They are secure. They have their position, their status in society, this is particularly true of white women, especially right wing, especially "Christians." And women who challenge men in the workplace or the wider world are a threat.
There's a narrative that everything is a zero-sum game. If a woman competes with a man, such as Hillary Clinton or the tens of millions of women who daily challenge themselves to excel in the wide world of business, politics, the arts, she is by definition taking something away from a man.
Of course things are not zero-sum. More participation in the world makes the whole world richer. But if you believe that there is only so much to go around and you see somebody else coming up in your tail-lights, they're a threat to your status and your sense of well-being.
I believe a lot of modern day misogyny evolves from women being seen as directly threatening men for the necessities of life. It's sad that we humans are still squabbling over scraps like toddlers instead of behaving in a cooperative manner but that too goes to the heart of right wing politics - sharing is in their minds akin to socialism, which a libertarian acquaintance of mine says is The Greatest Evil In The History Of Mankind.
People who benefit from their color or from a patriarchal system will react against anything they see as a challenge: empowered women, people of color, minorities.
138
In the dregs of all the sexual harassment charges and suits, there are two unspoken truths that are not so obvious: 1) men fear women and 2) sexual harassment has probably affected every female to some degree.
On the average, women are smaller than us, physically weaker and sexual harassment is our way of compensating for our fear.
What are these fears?
Women are smarter, comparatively better-looking consequently they have the power to manipulate us. We are further handicapped because we do not know how to convince those women to see our not-too-obvious assets.
You look at the Gwyneth Paltrow’s, Ashley Judd’s, Hallie Barry’s and you know there is no way you’re going to get their attention.
The Cosby’s, Ailes’, O’Riley’s, Weinstein’s, Trump’s—men with wealth and power—are in even worse positions because their assets are visible yet, these beautiful women are not impressed.
The rest of us may go away with making a threat or a degrading remark and accept being dismissed but the rich and powerful, with their visible assets (usually less attractive than us) anticipate humiliating rejection and strike first.
Is there a solution? Not for the rich and powerful but the rest of us can learn the art of romance (which also includes the insight of accepting “no” graciously).
All this bad male behavior has reduced one of the greatest of all pastimes. As a line in a Sinatra song says for those who can only look:
Beautiful women
walk a little slower
when you pass by me
5
Trump thinks women are beneath him. So do many Republicans. I say this with certainty based on the policies they would like to enact. I'm a 70 year old woman. I remember when birth control pills were finally made available to women in NY. Now Republicans would like to take away the ability for women to procure the pill. Next up up is Roe versus Wade, and these lunatics will completely control women and their bodies. I am deeply concerned for my granddaughter. At least women have finally found out what Republican white men really think of them. It is obvious that Trump is a misogynist, not excluding many of his Republican buddies in Congress
23
I don't think anyone wants to take birth control away; they just don't want to have to pay for someone else's birth control.
Trump and Kelly owe Principal/Congresswoman Wilson and the Gold Star Johnson family an apology for their slanderous bilge directed at these women who did nothing wrong.
Do. It.
Hearing these two wax on about “sacred” and then treat the women in this sorry episode as something they can kick around and then whine to their followers about while ducking responsibilities was nauseating and Not Great.
271
On the other hand, if someone calls and offers condolences, you usually accept it for what it is instead of trying to nitpick the words and make it a national issue.
1
Thank you! And I even googled Omarosa to see if he spared this sycophant the liar label.
But, no! From a 2004 Playboy interview:
"We chose her over 215,000 applicants, but I didn’t know until midway through the show that she would be such a villain. I got along with her very well, but she was difficult for people to handle. I realized we had something when people like my dear friend Regis Philbin started asking me if she was too good to be true, if we’d concocted her in some way. It was all 100 percent Omarosa. I couldn’t believe she was lying on camera like she was. She’s got a problem or something."
He cannot stand women and especially women of color. The man is a disgrace.
12
If he Trump "can't stand women" how is it he married 3 of them and apparently gets along with even his ex wives?
Sorry, clarification. Not all women. Just the ones who won't do his bidding. The ones who have an opinion and call him on his lies. I'm pretty sure those ex-wives signed something with the divorce decree that does not allow them to impugn his character in any way.
Dear Mr. Blow,
Every thing you write about Trump & Kelly is accurate & without question, however,you are on the wrong side of the issue.As a Long time Liberal & a supporter of the Democrat party, I am ashamed how we are covering up the fact that Wilson was the true villain in this blown out of proportion call. It’s no secret that Trump is not an artful orator, & tends to put his foot in his mouth, as he did in trying to comfort the widow.Wilson’s animus of Trump got the best of her & she used his clumsiness to denounce him. Any fair minded person must agree that Trump meant to comfort her & not hurt her, & should have been given the benefit of the doubt.What followed is a disgrace on the part of Trump & Wilson, who have seemed to have forgotten the tragedy of this fallen hero, & have turned it into a political fiasco.Shame on both of them.As far as, Kelly is concerned he is first and always a soldier, who has been trained to follow orders & not question his superiors, his job is to do & die.& he expects the same from those he commands.Generals are not going to moderate Trump, if anything they will enable him.
7
You have your perspective. But I don't think your perspective is really eclipsing the point of the article. Right or wrong, Congresswoman Wilson get's personally attacked as a woman. Trump has this pattern of gendered personal attack against women, and also personal attacks against minorities. Whether we disagree about Wilson's role in the matter is moot in my opinion. We have a president intentionally picking fights with women and minorities and making it personal because he thinks its good politics.
1
Joseph,
We are really on the same page, but I stand by what I wrote. Wilson is a bright women, a former Teacher & a Principle, & used Trumps thick tongue to denounce him & justified it by claiming she too was hurt by his comments. What she did was act like a Politician, and tried to put another nail in his coffin.He's already weighted down by his ridiculous tweets, & there's no more room for nails. It was a time to honor this hero, & a time for mourning his loss, not a time to make political points.
1
You know why the placeholder's staff did not push him sooner to place a condolence call? They were terrified he would mispronounce the name of the country where the soldiers were killed.
18
Scathing and true.
8
Trump is the leader of the American march toward third world status. His rallying cry of make America great again is similar to FOX News proclaiming itself fair and balanced. These absurdly empty proclamations are repeated and repeated and repeated until those willing to listen become convinced of their veracity when in fact the reality is exactly the opposite. Trump and his sycophants are doing their damnedest to unmake America’s greatness. If we decrease taxes on the wealthy, explode our debt, erode the safety net, undermine public education, provide decent healthcare only to those wealthy enough to afford it, reinforce racism and religious scapegoating, and erode the separation of church and state, then in short order we will be a third world country. America will have more and worse poverty, while the lower middleclass becomes even lower, the upper middleclass (those nasty elites) become more isolated, and the wealthy will need to be secluded and protected to avoid kidnapping. As a nation we will forfeit all rights to claim a moral high ground on any global issue or conflagration. We will be an unwelcome and unneeded player on the world stage. How great is that?
4
Excuse me for looking a bit more at the big picture. We're told that the tragic deaths in Niger resulted from a massive failure of intelligence. Now, let's look at the intelligence behind the placing of the call to the grieving widow, Mrs. Johnson. The Trump team harrumphs and growls about the privacy of the call being breached by a family friend. Was the White House staffer who placed the call instructed on proper protocol? Was that person aware that the phone call might be shared by others in Mrs. Johnson's support group? Cut to end... I wouldn't trust this White House crew to run a kegger in a brewery.
9
Based on their percentage of our country's population ( 13% ) Black people are welfare's largest recipients.
2
Americans, and especially Americans of Trump's kind, avoid their insignificance by attempting to prove the insignificance of those perceptively weaker than themselves. This is Trump's anatomy of insignificance. Deep down he suffers from a feeling of uselessness and un-importance. His personality is unfulfilled unless he abuses or puts someone down. In that sense he is only a few steps from being a serial killer ... & god help us if he actually ever does get absolute power; because then it won't be long before he starts committing genocide (especially on Black Muslims) just to continue having the satisfaction of continuing to feel important.
3
Donald Trump continues to run the news cycle with his childish and boorish insults and war of words with anyone who doesn't flatter him. He is a small, pathetic man, smart only in his understanding of how to get attention, how to evade personal responsibility and how to make men and women better than him sacrifice their dignity and reputations. Everyone he has belittled has more character and worth to our country than all those who work for him, cover for him and do his bidding. It should be considered a badge of honor to be on this Twitter list.
8
This is all true, but if so much of welfareomey goes to poorer white Republicans who support Trump... Why doesn't the Democrat party do a massive national information and public awareness campaign?
4
There is no end to how low he can go.
10
Charles,
Great column.
Thank,
Jack
3
Media portrayals of poor people distort the view as Black people are over-represented and Whites under-represented among the poor.
Martin Gilens. Race and Poverty in America: Public Misperceptions and the American News Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 60:515-541, 1996.
2
President Trump is certainly short, stubby fingered affected by women. His small hands become the psychological drivers of his myriad pathologies that results in belittling women especially back women. When he points at something his index finger seems thumb-like and limited.
2
On a summer job back in 1976, I worked on the AFDC (welfare) statistical study which showed that blacks were not the majority of welfare recipients. Wow! over 40 years later this isn't well known! Facts should get more respect!
10
The Denigrator-in-Chief is psychologically malignant, and everybody who hasn't been snookered knows it. Not only was there something wrong with his personality from the get-go; there's also Fred, who really did a number on him, telling his young son that he wouldn't love him unless he was a "winner." It's not just women he holds in contempt; he has a sick need to crush all others--even other white men--look at McCain--thinking on some primitive level that it makes him look like Daddy's "winner." His base of psychologically weak white men would do well to remember that he cynically "loves" them only as long as they bolster his delusion of "winning." Otherwise, they're losers. His wild flailing in defense of his damaged ego would be pathetic if the well-being of everybody else weren't at stake.
5
At any other time in American history the President calling this Gold Star widow a liar would have ended his Presidency with everyone on all sides of the aisle calling for his removal.
At any other time in history saying that a reporter Megan Kelly had blood coming out of her whatever, would have been enough to end his run for office.
At any other time in history calling his opponent and others women nasty, would have been enough.
At any other time in history calling for the arrest of his political opponent without basis would have been enough to end his campaign.
At any other time in history a candidate on tape bragging of his sexual assaults and attempts to commit adultery shorty after remarrying would have been enough to stop the candidate in his tracks.
The question remains now that we have allowed this vulgar, indecent, boor to take control of the White House, how will we ever put the genie back in the bottle and restore the dignity of the Presidency once he leaves, which for most of us cannot come soon enough. Is decency and moral leadership in the Office of the Presidency gone forever?
14
Ted Cruz, Rubio, McCain, Paul, and a lot of other people Trump insulted were women? Poor Charles is yet another victim of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
4
"Trump is advancing an agenda of white male identity politics and for those in his camp and in his corner, this is the dawn of a blissful new day." Amen. One reason I think the #metoo thing is resonating is not just that so many of us have experienced sexual harassment, but also that we also feel triggered daily by the Harasser-in-Chief in the White House and his enablers. Every day feels like an assault, an attack, an invasion of our moral boundaries, our sense of decency, our understanding of reality, our feelings, our well-being, our planet. We can't comprehend that the evil is so real, so destructive, happening right now in what we thought was basically a sensible culture (it never was, as the bubbling-up of repressed racism etc. is showing, but never mind). We are actually being gang-raped right now by this guy and his henchmen. But we need to function still --- doing our jobs, collecting our pay, changing diapers, and so on. It's as if we're in 1930's Germany, not understanding or believing what is happening, trying to cope by blaming ourselves, looking down and inward while the darkness encroaches, hoping somehow if we burrow deep enough in our bunkers of entertainment or religion we'll survive. But we need to fight, not bunker.
5
I imagine that the source of tRump's antipathy towards women began with his mother . I also imagine that she was quite weak and ineffectual in trying to protect young Donnie from the aggressive , hateful and unfeeling approach to childrearing of her husband , he of KKK and racist fame , Fred Trump . We know that the senior Trump branded his young son quite early to be self-serving
and harshly aggressive . . . to win , ALWAYS , to never be a "loser" . I imagine that at a time when the youngster would have needed nurturing and affection that might have helped him grow into a confident , compassionate and loving human being , instead he likely learned from his daddy to scrap and claw and insult , denigrate and subdue all possible competition . Win ! Win at all cost .
And so , I imagine that in looking back , if he is at all capable of doing so , of reflecting , he very well might come away from that poisonous dynamic actually hating the mother who was there but didn't protect her child from such harsh imprinting that ultimately produced an overly-aggressive , unfeeling narcissist
completely devoid of compassion and looking only to himself for approbation , for approval . . . for love . So , this man , so crude and clumsy when it comes to feelings , now "the president" , needs to continually stroke himself , tell the world how "tough" and strong he is , how intelligent ("smart" ) he is even when all the evidence , by his actions , his words , point to the direct opposite . Sad
4
So 3 scientists from the EPA just received a last minute gag order from that agency and were told that they could not speak at the conference on the preservation of Narragansett Bay. These women have done important work and written papers on the subject. But the Fatman and his Pruitt are climate change deniers, after all, and with power to supress information they don´t like. Added bonus, it is women they are shutting up. We live in Dark Ages indeed.
6
One can always count on this column reporting the scores of the Pioneer League on the front pages. So a single phone call to a single household over a single death of a combat soldier is what -- monumental? Outside of the personal, soldiers dying in combat is not newsworthy; condolences expressed clumsily notwithstanding. But when one's entire raison d'etre is to soothe one's feelings of unimportance because the pundit was so wrong about an election - and thereby so wrong about the country - empathy is replaced with snickering satisfaction at the dyspepsia. You lost. You will continue to lose. The louder you get, the more unhinged, the more fringe, the more we like it. Think you've lived your nightmare yet? Man are you in for a surprise.
1
I wonder how many of those white welfare recipients are addicted to opioids? In West Virginia, I would guess it's a significant number. Of the young white girls, I know most of their husbands won't or don't work. Those young women have to have help with their children's needs. I hear them constantly complaining that DHS is cutting back on their EBT funds or some other assistance.
2
Trump's taste to degrade, that was easy, because we have learned to hold our nose when we see him a mile away. That Kelly dude was a different matter, we trusted him and let him come so close, but when the stench hit hard and we scrambled to hold our nose, he had already blown it off our face! :)
Not in any way to defend Tramp's behavior, but lets not pretend that ridiculing women (Palin, Bachman, Conway et al) is confined to Republicans .....and you don't get a pass because they're deserving of ridicule...
3
Stop writing and reading about Trump. We already know what we know. A daily blitz of publicity is how he got where he is. Let's apply our brains and emotions to what we are going to do about it, this dangerous threat to American life. How are we collectively going to counter his moves, undo his deeds. That is what's worth thinking and writing about.
9
As Harvey Weinstein is learning, women can only be pushed around for so long. When they decide en mass to cast of the red robes and wimples of A Handmaid's Tale for the pink hats of January 21st, the entitled androcracy had better take cover. There is a little Frederica Wilson behind every one of Donna Reed's kitchen aprons. With half the population of this country, Mr. Trump displays his ignorance of the First Rule of Holes: when you are in a hole, stop digging.
177
Why did so many women vote for Trump given what we knew of him at the time?????
Don't think DT understands holes, not even the ones under his towers. If only he had a bit of real earth between his toes!
Thank you for the First Rule of Holes in this context. Every shard of humor is appreciated.
As President,
Trump should be held
to a higher standard of decency
than the average American citizen.
Yet he can't even come close to meeting
the most basic human standard.
If you are a white man,
how you think and talk about women,
how you think and talk about people of color,
how you think and talk about citizens with disabilities,
how you think and talk about religious minorities,
will tell a great deal about your ability
to learn from history,
to reach for connection beyond perceived difference,
to understand that there are many viable ways of viewing the world.
The character of your comments will speak volumes about your true abilities as a leader,
or whether you are unable to rise any higher than the basest of bases.
If you're still a Trump supporter,
with all that we now know,
your support carries the message
that you encourage the degradation of women,
enable the exploitation of race to pit one American against another,
didn't read or don't care about the history of hate against religious minorities,
are willing to stomach just about anything, anything at all, no matter how it may smell,
and for what, friend?
For what, exactly?
6
When I first read the Handmaid's Tale not long after it was published at the height of the Gingrich contract with American/Moral Majority years it felt so alarmingly real and close at hand that it left me uneasy for years. But never has the reality of that story seemed more tangible than now. The intersection of religion, gender, power - and white supremacy seems more like a play book now than fiction. IN Trump's universe - both white men and women see a woman's role as clearly defined - either as Melanias - ornaments to their husbands or Ivankas - still ornamental but playing businesswoman for show. Women with real voice, agency and power have no place in this universe. They are scorned, vilified and excommunicated. The women of Trump hated Hillary Clinton as much as any man did - they hated her for embodying everything uppity women should not. Add to this mix women of color and team Trump loses it as African American women should know their place - as they did back when America was apparently great. These are scary times for women - and any woman who does not recognize that and speak out against it risks being rewarded with a red cloak and bonnet
8
His is a strategy of divisiveness. And I am afraid that he is winning. Now more than ever we need a robust accurate believable free press. It is not a mistake that he attacks the media as "fake news". Rather, he understands that a free press is his biggest threat. He needs to keep his supporters in the dark, lest they see that he is an oligarch doing what oligarchs do--strengthen their hold on power and wealth. The day that unpleasant reality pierces the shell Trump supporters have built is beginning of the end of this nightmare.
4
Few people, including even journalists, can countenance when the unconscious is made conscious. It is an awkward and revealing but necessary moment. Especially when the larger (collective) unconscious is unmasked on the national stage. But as the buried information about Lee Harvey Oswald is revealed this week, we surely sense that millions secretly wonder whether there might be a John Wilkes Booth or John Hinckley lurking out there to send off one of the most horrific humans ever to wield power in the United States and a living threat to life on the planet. A failure to engage this collective, if subtending, desire is more irresponsible than ignoring it for fear of offending the few.
1
"Although white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs, many white people, and Republicans in particular, don’t seem to realize this."
By the time Trump's constituency is affected by this, he will be long gone and a Democrat will be in the White House cleaning up the mess and being blamed for degrading the quality of life of the people affected by Trump and Company's cruelty.
4
Following Trump's infamous "Access Hollywood" audio tape regarding his self-incriminating serial sexual harassment of women, one would think that at the very least, he would make a sincere effort to treat women with a special sensitivity and concern once he was elected. But not our President--- he never backs down from being socially, culturally, morally, and politically incorrect, insensitive, and inept. When Representative Wilson went public with Mrs. Johnson's reaction, a simple apology was all that was required. A gentleman, any gentleman, and especially the leader of the free world ought to have said, "If my words seemed ill chosen, clumsy insensitive and inappropriate, I apologize."
Who but Trump, the duly elected leader of the free world would jump on Representative Wilson and, Mrs. Johnson the fallen soldier's wife? His actions, reactions, and inability to control his base instincts disqualify this man for any position of responsibility.
5
There are two facts in this unfortunate incident which are important. First, Congresswoman Wilson was in the car with the grieving family when the call came in from Trump. Second, if you will listen to her speech at the dedication ceremony of the new federal building in Miami, it is clear that she was not promoting herself and exaggerating her part in getting that project approved. In an effort to defend Donald Trump, General Kelly chose to lie about both of those events. I know the 37% hardcore Trump supporters will believe every word Mr. Trump and General Kelly say, but the facts speak otherwise. I expect lies from Mr. Trump but not General Kelly. What a disappointment!
3
Add to the unmistakable list of misogyny and racism Trump and Company's attacks on women's access to reproductive health care, including birth control and family planning choices that should be the sole province of patient and medical care provider. The majority of the American public is being subjected to ISIS-style treatment as degraded human beings ripe for subjugation and manipulation. Support for Planned Parenthood is resistance and empowerment, women of all colors and stripes!
5
Rep. Wilson and Rep. Waters are my two favorite members of the odious Congress. Always speaking truth to power, putting the needs of their constituents at the forefront and standing up to the vandal in chief like none of the other milquetoast Dems seem willing or able to do. If it were up to me I'd be voting for Waters/Wilson in 2020. Don't tell me the white working class has economic anxiety because they would admire and respect these women if they did. What they really have is racism and entitlement.
3
I think that Trump has met his match with Congresswoman Wilson. Getting the President and a Chief of Staff to lie in public is no mean feat. Obviously, Trump will go out of his way to 'take her down' but the damage has been done and any person with any sense of decency.
5
Republicans do know that there are many who are recipients of welfare but don't care if the money is cut since they have been convinced that there are a lot of others (non-whites) who get these same benefits who don't deserve it. That has worked for the Republican party for a long time (starting with Reagan) but has gone into steroids under Trump.
3
I have just concluded an email exchange with a “friend” of over forty years in which I was accused of “confirmation bias” because I was critical of John Kelly’s response justifying Trump’s call to a war widow. A long email explanation of why I felt that his comments were so awful had preceded this email.
Public statements do echo in private exchanges in that they reveal to women how even the most well educated of men that they know can be totally blind to their own slights when they imply that YOU are the problem, that YOU don’t understand. They just don’t get it. Sexual harassment is just the top of the iceberg for this attitudinal obtuseness of men.
I understand perfectly well that applying the term “empty barrel” to a black, woman Congressperson is not a compliment! What part of that does my friend not get? Apparently all of it! But my white 70 year old now ex-friend thought that it was my problem in not being open-minded enough to understand Kelly. Like most women: I understand an insulting, belittling comment when I hear it. And the worst part is that it was completely unnecessary. Like his master, Trump, John Kelly believes that he can spit in your eye, tell you it’s raining and everything is just fine. Well, it ain’t just fine. Kelly owes the Congresswoman and all of us voters an apology for using a crude, rude and low technique of abusing others to justify your own action. Where is Kelly’s “honor?”
I am also waiting for an apology from my “friend.”
5
What upsets me (an old white woman) is that Rep. Wilson was an old friend of the family who had every right to be with them. I am "stunned" yes "stunned" that Trump and Kelly would flat out say she lied when there were others in the car who heard her words. Then when General Kelly went on a very hateful attack that proved to be untrue, he has not had the decency to say "I am sorry I got my information wrong." He certainly can disagree that he feels no one should speak out about the very sad death of a serviceman, but that is his feeling and not necessarily the feeling of others. The verbal attacks and name calling (bullying) to me are sickening. From all I heard General Kelly is a fine upstanding person. The problem is that I believe what I see and hear myself. I thought officers were to accept responsibility and never lie. I do have a family member who is a career officer. I believe he has integrity and would never fail to own up to mistakes. Do President Trump and General Kelly not see how their owning up to the truth (again they can agree or disagree with what occurred) would have gained the respect of so may people other than the base they apparently are only speaking to? Will people ever get tired of this?
7
The Trump administration is totally devoid of any ideas for legislation that will improve any aspect of American life, or solve any of the myriad of problems we face.
The sole focus of his 9+ months in office has been to tear down, to repeal, to undo, to erase, every shred of progress made during the Obama administration.
He dares to forget, or consciously does not want to consider, that the programs and policies enacted by Obama were enacted by a President with overwhelming popular support in two Presidential elections.
The platform Obama ran on, the promises he made, and the policies he enacted, were those supported by a true majority of the American voters, and his actions and successes in office were informed by the will of the people. That is what Trump is destroying.
Trump has a visceral hatred of Obama, and that has been the driving force of his Presidency.
Because he has only a broad, white supremacist, male dominated, wealth driven, private sector vision for America, and no concrete idea as to how to make this backward vision a reality, he seeks to destroy anyone who questions it, who challenges it, or who criticizes it.
And those who criticize it most often are those his vision is aimed against - people of color, people without wealth, females, people who look to the future with hope for progress - and those who represent them.
Trump overreacts to criticism because his Presidency is so vulnerable to it.
253
Thanks Charles for stating what should be readily apparent to those who read and inform themselves. Too bad this groups has declined and/or relies on 'Fake News' from Fox.
3
Recall also Professor Anita Hill - I won’t repeat the derisive made-up insult used simply to dismiss her entire testimony about Judge Clarence Thomas, made up by these same cynical no-truth-zone Republicans. But I will never forget it.
8
Trump, Pence, O'Reilly, Bannon, Spencer, and other Republicans agree that women are chattel property. Their motives, however, are different: droit de seigneur for the modern era; the plan to coerce all Americans into a conservative Christian theocratic state; or the deep male insecurity associated with white male supremacy.
Trump and his white base are driven by the same weary falsehood. We don't want our taxes to go to those people (or women). We don't want publicly funded health care if it will go to those people (or women). We're against welfare because it helps those people (and women). We're against affirmative action because it helps those people (and women).
6
How dare you accuse the Donald of racist misogyny. Trump appointed Omarosa Manigault as the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. TV Guide included her in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest TV Villains of All Time.
In September 2016, she said in an interview with Frontline: “Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.
Shortly after Donald Trump won the election, Omarosa stated that Donald Trump has an "enemies" list of Republicans who voted against him in the presidential election.
Richard Nixon worked very hard to rehabilitate his reputation, furiously penning several historically revisionist memoirs about his years in the WH. Little did he know that the most venal man in the universe would rehabilitate his standing to that of a towering figure of moral rectitude by comparison.
16
You said it, Mr. Blow. Thank you for succinctly summarizing what we're up against with Trump and his ilk.
10
"When asked about Kelly’s lies, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was “highly inappropriate” to question a four-star general."
Well, then, it was more than highly inappropriate for Donald Trump, a then-candidate, to declare that he knew ISIS better than the generals.
But that's the Trump way, wanting to have it both ways.
Just like saying that he is "the least racist person there is," while using racial caricatures and dog whistles breezily.
Just like saying that "no one respects women more than" him, while reducing women to objects, used, discarded or degraded as he sees fit.
Just like saying that he wants a voter fraud commission to prevent interference with the "very sacred" election process, while obfuscating or telling us to move on from Russia's interference with our election.
Trump does not revere any principle or group he claims to. His interests never extend past the end of his own nose, long as it is from all the lies.
8
We can list Trump's failings as a President and as a human being from sunup to sundown, but until Congress decides they've had enough of the current circus and the clowns that fill his Administration, we might as well be tilting at windmills. The conclusion of Mueller's investigation, and--God willing--the indictments that will come with it, is the only thing that will erase the GOP's plausible deniability and force them to act.
16
Everyone that Trump touches is corrupted. Now General Kelly seems willing to forfeit much of the respect that he has earned by his military service. Sad.
11
US politicians are mostly placeholders keeping anybody else out of whatever office they hold. That seems to be the sole imperative of their lives.
5
Charles, the one percent are by obvious definition a tiny minority. Do you really think the point of giving them a tax cut is that most of them are white? I frankly think you're being more than a little obsessive and more than a little absurd.
Let's suppose, which I believe is in fact the case, that Asians are overrepresented in the top ten percent. Do you think that would be a reason for Republicans not to support a tax cut on the top ten, or that it would cross anyone's mind to consider that a factor? This is about class, not race.
2
I think you missed the point. It's not by coincidence that the 1%ers in this country are (mostly) white -- it's by design.
Just like it's by design that they comprise the upper-class.
And any cursory glance at American history will sort you out as to why.
1
How many have been met by Trump and his spokespersons with mean-spirited condemnation on the national stage?
The Congressional Black Caucus. Civil rights icons. Female journalists. One of whom he directed to contact The Caucus as if she was his secretary.
The mayor of Puerto Rico. The ESPN anchor. The congresswoman.
The widow of a soldier who died under conditions not even known. Who spoke out today saying Trump's words hurt her, and the congresswoman was honest.
Jeff Sessions even prosecuted a elderly woman who laughed at him.
Trump's insulted Mexican immigrants. And Gold Star families such as the Khan family, whose mother he promptly discredited.
The Black Congressional Caucus noted Trump, only fixating on law and order/punishment, seem to have heard for the first time there's a need for infrastructure improvements, and inner-city neighborhoods being made as as safe as possible, as well as funding black colleges.
Trump questioning the patriotism of black athletes. Russia purchasing ads that targeted Black Lives Matter. His immigration policies that target people of color. Ignoring flood victims and not being honest about deaths of soldiers in Niger, while obsessing on on black athletes' patriotism.
To her credit, Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee took a knee in Congress:
“I kneel in honor of them,” she said. “I kneel because the flag is a symbol of freedom. I kneel because I am going to stand against racism.”
3
Yes, women and people of color seem to warrant President Trump's special attention for personal degradation, but give him all due credit. He degrades other human beings equally without compunction, without wit, without mercy and without any particular standing to judge anybody for any perceived flaw.
It must be comforting for women to know that the president will not deign to assault any of them falling below his beauty standard of a perfect "10," since nobody but a photo-shopped caricature achieves such a score, whatever "10" means in the twisted psyches of people who keep score on other people.
One thing we can know for sure: the corpulent tangerine-dyed comb-over strains to crack "1" in whatever beauty contest he enters, and that's only for physical appearance. On any other value scale for human excellence, he fails even to make the chart.
10
We keep coming back to this one simple fact: there is really no way to understand the continued support for Donald Trump by millions and millions of voters despite is unbelievably despicable behavior except to say that somewhere deep down it must be driven by ignorance, hate, and hypocrisy.
As sickening as trump's behavior is it is far more sickening that so many people continue to support him. What does that say about our nation.
87
It says that we're more interested in the direction of the company and providing a future for our kids. It says we can look past the stupidity of his comments vs blindly following someone who can read a teleprompter w/the effectiveness of Hope & Change.
1
If Trump was a Marine under General Kelly and he screwed up like he did with his phone call to Sgt. Johnson's widow, does anyone think that the general would make excuses for his subordinate? One wonders where General Kelly's breaking point is when he will refuse to defend Trump's abominable conduct. Eventually, Trump is going to bury himself in more controversies so where is the line to be drawn?
2
That there are a large number of crooked, racist and sexist people in this nation.
2
Mr. Trump's petty tweets do accomplish one thing: they divert our collective attention away from the big questions... like the rationale for the "...still-murky attack in Niger." We need to spend more time examining questions like that... and more time examining questions about the content of the so-called "tax-reform" bill... in two years no one will care about tweeted insults but many will wonder why they don't have an adequate safety net...
20
All the tweets and controversies are manufactured to distract the press and the people from what's going on in the background. Look carefully as the republicans are destroying the safety net and implementing a government subservient to the will of the ultra wealthy and the corporations.
3
John lebaron ma
I agree with your comment, but here we are.
Charles Blow states that the majority of welfare recipients are women. It is important to mention that babies cost money. The past twelve months or so have made it crystal clear that Americans think it is OK for powerful males to sexualize women while at the same time castigating women for having bodily functions, including reproductive systems designed to produce future generations. I thank Charles Blow for writing this column and reminding us of certain specific facts. It is unfortunate that most Trump supporters will probably not read these words.
34
Donald Trump has never, in his life, been about public service. His justification for any action, or reaction, has always been to maximize financial gain. He does not serve America. He manages America, like a private equity firm, in order to extract as much income as possible during his term in office. He,therefore, owes no representation to the interests of those who oppose him, or any civility to those who would question his methods or motives. Like so many other men in a position of corporate power, women are to show him deference both sexually and administratively. In Trump's perverted mind, whether he is opposed by a member of Congress, questioned by the press, or held in contempt by a military family, he is the CEO and has the right to do and say whatever he wants. After all, in the end, it's all about the money.
32
For all Trump’s blabberings about who should stay and who should go, his own roots here are a generation deep. He is like a little garden weed in the land here. He doesn’t know why people love America. He is connected to nothing but the surface.
1
So true. His history has been of cheating those he targets to enrich himself: his trump university--none existent; the contractors who built his casinos--not paid; his beauty contests--abusing young girls by entering while they were dressing and sexually abusing young women. Who knows what else this most imperfect of all men has done.
1
I don't think anyone enjoys being wrong, and being wrong most of the time could get very tedious, to the point, that adopting a level of denial that is defended by "never being wrong," as in the case of Mr. Trump, becomes as necessary as it is bizarre.
The man is filled with so many obvious prejudices and ignorances that he is bound to be wrong on a regular basis and race seems to be his Achilles heel. The fact that many Americans are similar should be no surprise to anyone.
Just standing on line at checkout in any supermarket can be an earful regarding the kind of ignorance referenced in Mr. Blow's article. One can easily see the perturbation on the part of some viewers, especially when they try to make it obvious and are muttering at an audible level, when watching and condemming someone for using food stamps, for example, as if the person stole the stamps off of someone's dead body. They just can't be poor and trying to get their family through hard times, which was what the program was designed to do. These people look over the heads of hungry children, as if they were not there.
Mr. Trump is just the figure head of a very non empathetic and compassionless constituency. In the process, we are witnessing the lowest of the low in our society having a field day with their prejudices, as if Trump opened up a can of worms to bring about his election. So it is, and we have long ago run out of words to describe this travesty.
21
It's time to be honest and blunt about Trump's base. It must be said that those who still mindlessly support Trump do so largely because they are, well, mindless. They represent the worst of this country's character, tracing their origins back to the "Know Nothing" Party of the mid-1850s. Today's know-nothings, however, have their empty-headedness reinforced daily by the likes of Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, and talk-radio.
Their ascendancy will be temporary, because they "know nothing" about how to govern, but their time in office has already done incalculable damage, not only to our country, but to the entire planet.
With any luck, Trump will be gone by 2020. It is my fondest hope that the Congressional Republicans who so shamelessly support him will be in the minority as of January 20, 2019.
23
So unless we agree w/you and watch your sources of media we are'mindless'. All I can say is that I hope CA is successful is ceding from the Union b/c then you'll have your wish, to live in a society that only agrees w/you. Us Deplorables (preferred vs 'Mindless') pray for you.
1
A policy is desirable if it makes liberals mad. Doesn't matter the content of the policy, if it upsets the Left, they're for it.
1
Hi, MEM6 -
You raise some good points to which I would like to respond.
No, you don't have to agree with me and watch my sources, but the sources I mentioned have all admitted that they exist to promote a right-wing worldview and denigrate the view of the left. That's not news, that's propaganda.
Those who get their news primarily from Fox have been repeatedly proved to be the most misinformed people in the United States. So, yes, I would say someone who relies on Fox, Sinclair, and right-wing talk radio for their news is mindless.
I get my news from four national newspapers, and regularly read conservative op-eds. I'm always happy to have a civil discussion about politics with anyone. It's just getting harder to do so.
Republicans used to live by a set of principles. I may have violently disagreed with Barry Goldwater, for example, but I knew what he stood for. Aside from opposition to everything Obama tried to do, I could not perceive any principles from the GOP Senators and Congresspeople. Please enlighten me.
As for your prayers, save them for the country at large. For today, anyway, I am doing just fine.
1
Yes but I would resist the temptation to architect the debate around race and gender. That's what Trump wants. If the conversation revolves around identity rather than disrespect to veterans, he wins. This is the Steve Bannon strategy made simple. Everything stated here is reasonably true but ultimately represents a red herring.
The real issue: Trump offended a deceased veteran's spouse and never apologized. Why can't he just say "I'm sorry" and explain his intent? What is so impossibly hard about expressing remorse after insulting someone? Instead, we have Kelly's choreographed facade and Trump's attack on an external witness to his misconduct.
The race and gender aspects are real but let's not distract from the underlying disgrace.
207
"Why can't he just say "I'm sorry" and explain his intent? What is so impossibly hard about expressing remorse after insulting someone? "
Because he is a pathological narcissist, totally devoid of ANY empathy whatsoever and whose ego comes first.
Trump’s “morality” if you can call it that is his silly win/lose calculus - for everything and everyone he encounters. He is impotent in the face of dealing with the big stuff where maturity or representing the nation is demanded. He’s a salesman.
Being president means never having to say you're sorry.
1
I think, from my experiences as a white person, that there is an annoyance with whites about minorities and women when they get frustrated about something and speak out. There is an expected decorum for women and minorities that requires them to be quiet and well behaved. Yes, maybe things could be better, but look at this great country that white men have made for us! It's a type of subservience to those who "know better". You could see this attitude in General Kelly's "empty barrel" comments. He was annoyed at the outspokenness of the Congresswoman, how dare she criticize? It's an impatience and anger towards women and minorities when we express dissatisfaction with the status quo, and I'll bet it's part of the reason Trump only has certain types of women (and minorities) on his team. No women or minorities who dare to disagree and call out the problems, just those who know their place, and women, ideally, are a bit of eye candy, too.
19
Cathleen New York, well said. Totally agree with your comment.
Trump makes disparaging remarks about women, disrespects them, and goes on the attack against them far too often. But his tax program is not directed at women. It is standard Republican tax policy which benefits the wealthy at the expense of sound policy. Nobody proposes across the board tax policies to harm women or blacks. They are the victims of almost all Republican policies. But that’s not because the GOP targets them. It’s because they are indifferent to their interests.
4
Kelly’s first part of his speech described eloquently the situation and the inevitable failure of words in such a situation . However, neither Kelly nor Trump were satisfied with the admission of human limitations in impossible circumstances. There is the problem for both of these men, who underlined their inability to be humble under any circumstance.
10
Again, they disrespect Ms. Wilson, but just as importantly the voters who voted her into one of the most important roles in American democracy.
Just not OK. Argue the position but don't attack the person, or those she represents.
9
All of this is valid but less important in my opinion than what appears to be Trump's incompetent and dangerous military policy. Four U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush. CNN thinks this is partially caused by an intelligence failure. The news has focused on whether Trump was insensitive, Fredrica Wilson's Treatment, whether Kelly had lied etc. I submit that this is largely the Press taking the bait, perhaps brilliantly supplied by Trump//Kelly who may be adept at diversion wanted to switch the subject from the logical reasons for the ambush and the soldiers death which would reveal incompetence in the military and U.S. missions which could seriously discredit the government to Trump's immediate character, terrible to be sure, but not one showing that the Trump team may be incompetent to run the government. If so the Trump/Kelly response deflecting the Press Response was brilliant. Rather than dwelling incessantly on the minute details of Trump's less than exemplary character and his sexism, a detailed investigation into this incident by independent Journalists is called for. In this case, Trump bashing, however warranted is not sufficient for understanding the key issue. How any why these soldiers died and what was the value of thier mission are the key things which need to be investigated here.
7
And, John Kelly, he of such a "sterling" reputation, he who bemoans the loss of the sacredness of women (oh please, where and what universe has he been living in?), proceeds to (and quite willingly - it's not like Sanders pushed him on to that podium) go on national TV and, not only lies about, but ridicules and demeans a woman whose only crime was to criticize Trump. He criticized Congresswoman Wilson's intelligence with his childish name-calling and attempted to besmirch her reputation with his lies. All the while, defending the most disreputable of men. Can we please get over this idea that Generals are somehow on a higher plane than everyone else. And that just because someone is a four star general, it doesn't automatically make him a four-star quality man.
27
Naomi,
I am not sure of your line of work, but I can guarantee you a general in any military service branch will be of a higher quality than most Americans get to work with. Personal attacks by making judgments of others is the sloppiest of arguments.
Please keep to a coherent thought for proper discourse that leads to less derisive attitudes and more constructive means for what is best for all of us.
1
Del Miller,
In my line of work, I actually did work with the military (Army) for many years, and while I felt nothing but respect and appreciation towards most of them, not all of them were of a "higher quality" than the civilian Americans I also got to work with. I was not making a personal attack against John Kelly nor a sweeping condemnation of all officers in the military. I simply stated that there was more than a bit of hypocrisy in John Kelly's remarks on Thursday. And, also, that not all officers in the military are of the highest caliber simply by virtue of being said officer. And, by the way, my brother was in the Army and my husband is an ex-Marine. Both of them are people I am proud of. But I am not proud of John Kelly who spoke of Congresswoman Wilson as he did - military or not, general or no. It was a cheap, political potshot. Let's not forget that at the same time as Mr. Kelly was denigrating her, he was also defending a man who denigrated a Gold Star family, insulted John McCain, who IS a hero, and proudly boasted of grabbing more than one woman's crotch. That alone makes most of the people I worked with, military and civilian, a "higher quality" that General Kelly.
Trump, Kelly and Huckabee-Sanders shamed once again the high office of the Presidency, exposing the pervasive climate of lies, disrespect, racism & imperialism. For the moment, let's set aside Trump's inept "condolence" wording. Rep. Wilson, whether you like her politics or style, is exactly what a Representative in the US House should be. She is connected to her constituents, and is there in their time of need, not just when it is convenient or to get re-elected. That is what put her in the position to observe the impact of the call on Mrs. Johnson. When she went public about the comments, she was doing her job. But, Trump put his foot in it again, trying to not only politicize his gaffe and exonerate himself, but lied, pulled others in his administration into the lie, and turned the whole situation into another sideshow for his circus. In the mix is his unyielding efforts to control the press...thankfully we have the First Amendment. To those who want this incident quashed, I say keep it alive. Yes, we need to honor the service of Sgt. Johnson, mourn his death and offer solace to his family. We also need to expose how he and 3 others met their fate. And we don't need to silence the voices that are outraged by the continual bad behavior of an unqualified, boorish man who lives in the White House and is such a coward that he has to bring in a cast of characters to "explain" how wonderful and well meaning he is when he errs and lies over and over again.
11
One bright spot in all this mess is that we got to see the full tape of Representative Wilson's speech at the dedication of the building. We saw her eloquently praise all of the people who worked to finalize the building--included Mr. Boehner and other Republicans. Ever heard Mitch McConnell praise a Democrat? Right.
Another bright spot is that we now know that General Kelly is the same kind of empty barrel he accused Representative Wilson of being. It's always better to know the truth about our leaders. And I no longer trust him to tackle the grabber in chief if Trump decides to nuke little rocket man. I wonder if "our president" (I use the term lightly) would be so mouthy about the president of North Korea if he thought that Un's nuclear arsenal could reach the White House. He doesn't seem too worried about an attack on our friends or our interests in Asia, nor about the safety of the West Coast--what the heck, they all vote Democratic. I'd like to see his thin-skin in the game--now that would be entertaining! Maybe Un should threaten a Trump hotel somewhere he can reach. Mr. Two-scoops and his pet general would go ballistic!
3
Last night my daughter was telling me that many of her friends at the University of MD where she is a freshman are Trump supporters. Male and female. With wealthy parents. From suburban areas around major metropolitan cities. One even complained that "She is just way too liberal."
We discussed how women could ignore the way that Trump behaves towards them - on top of everything else he has done. She also said that many of her friends are Jewish. Again ignoring what Trump has done to them.
I was stunned and sad at the same time. What have we come to when liberals at a college in a blue state don't discuss their politics with friends? She also mentioned that one friend quietly told her "I'm really liberal too, I just don't talk about it."
They are winning and we are letting them.
19
Please expand on your comments about Jews, "ignoring what Trump has done to them." Have you ever heard the expression of Helicopter Parents? Look it up. College educators would love to talk to you about 'letting go'.
2
There is so much to be offended by in this one incident. Trump cannot evince compassion or empathy because he is a malignant narcissist who does not keep these commodities. Then, predictably, he rapidly devolved into bully mode once the congresswoman called him on this epic insensitivity. This was made more pathetic by the fact that Gen. Kelly gave him a script for what he should say but because Trump cannot summon compassion, he mangled it. Still unable to accept even a tiny bit of responsibility for his egomaniacal performance, he blamed the congresswoman for listening in on the conversation which was unavoidable since congresswoman Wilson was in the car and the phone was on speaker mode. But, of course, Ms. Wilson is black and a woman, so Trump was left with criticisms of her personality, dress, facial expressions etc. But wait, there's more: Trump dragged Kelly out to defend him and only succeeded in tarnishing a 4 star general which takes both talent and chutzpah. Left with no recourse, Huckabee-Sanders made the preposterous claim that a 4 star general should not be questioned---which I believe is one reason we have suffered through prolonged armed conflict as a nation. Viet Nam comes to mind. I would also refer Ms. Huckabee to the Ph.D. dissertation of General McMaster who made a cogent argument that questioning the military brass about their decisions is an obligation of citizenship. Of course, that was then and this is now---the Era of Donald Trump.
22
Trump is a bully. He verbally assaults both men and women, and admits to sexually assaulting women
And yet mind bogglingly he received 53% of the votes cast by white women voters
31
Maybe those "53% white women" were more interested in their future and the future of their children than supporting a candidate that did nothing to assure she knew what the country wants at this moment in history, and it's not to be divided along ethnic, gender or economic lines. He won, get over it.
@MEM6...If any voter was interested in their future and that of their children, why vote for a self-admitted rapist and child voyeur? This deplorable man's history has been one of abuse of not only women, but also contractors who built his now-defunct Atlantic City casinos and those individuals who believed trump university actually existed. This most deplorable among all men is an immoral rapist and a thief.
1
The lies, the dismissiveness and accusations against the less powerful, the defensiveness . . . this is how power responds when it's challenged. It's important to speak up and speak out now. Look at Harvey Weinstein (or not) but once the dam broke it was unstoppable. The challenge is to keep it up long enough and loud enough. Stay nasty, my friends!
56
According to Trump and Kelly, women are nasty and empty barrels. While white men are brave. Tell that to all the brave women of all colors who have gone to war, either as soldiers, nurses and workers in the factories during WW II. I say to Trump, read history.
2
I agree! Trump is trying to drain the swamp and take away the power from these corrupt self-serving politicians!!! Stay nasty!!!
1
I'm sure his next appointment will be to the Equal Rights Commission. He will likely pick Harvey Weinstein. Or Bill O'Reilly. How could all those women be right? And $32 million paid to someone who made it all up seems like a thing most innocent people would do. They would fit right in with an administration filled with other upstanding people. And don't look to Melania for help. I'm sure Trump has a laminated copy of the Pre-Nup he waves in front of her face the minute she opens her mouth.
106
Lyndon Johnson, as astute a politician as ever was, understood that race could not only divide the American people, it could provide cover for class war. Poor white people will be far less likely to find common ground with poor black and brown people as long as they're convinced they are superior to poor black and brown people. Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen" is still an indelible image in many people's minds, and facts and statistics offer weak arguments for people whose need to feel superior is far greater than any need for truth. Trump's attacks on women of color are just another twist on the welfare queen gambit, which operates on the assumption that women in general lack authority and credibility and women of color aren't just unworthy but treacherous as well. Donald Trump has managed to fan to embers of racism and misogyny back into yesteryear's inferno, and the conflagration won't be beaten back until every good American joins Mr. Blow in a daily resistance to Donald Trump's dark design against justice for all.
149
A personal call of condolences from a president to a widow is no one's business, it is a private affair and should be kept as such. This continual media circus of personal attacks on president Trump only demonstrates the desperateness of the political establishment, and has nothing to do with his now worst nightmare, a black and powerful woman with a have gun will travel attitude.
30
Trump made presidential condolence calls an issue when he implied, incorrectly, that President Obama was insensitive when it came to grieving military families. As usual, he tried to keep score with his predecessor, and misrepresented the facts. It's difficult to understand why a president who spends most of his time launching sharp personal attacks ought to be immune from receiving them. Please explain.
694
@ Joe Gilkey's nonsense: The President of the United States calling a service member's family is not a "private affair". Random "private" individuals don't have the obligation to give condolences, and Presidents are responsible for the decisions that lead to service member deaths.
When we have a President whose gross insensitivity and narcissism lead to bizarre statements to a widow like the one witnessed by Congresswoman Wilson -- who knew the family well, had known the dead soldier, and who was herself in the process of supporting and condoling a constituent (that is, whose actions were also not 'private' -- then she had, with the family's consent, every right to speak out.
Or do you propose that the government perhaps prohibit repeating our President's words, and punish those who reveal just how unfit for human sympathy and respectful relations with others he really is? May I refer you to Amendment I of our Constitution, in that case.
256
How was the call personal when trump admitted that there were others listening in on his side of the call?
Also the comments he made regarding " he knew what he was getting in to", might have been acceptable for Kelley to receive 7 years ago from a friend who was able to use the familiarity of their relationship. Perhaps not ok to speak to a stranger, especially when you choose not refer to them or their late husband by name.
51
Mr. Blow,
Insightful, as always. Thank you for your thoughts.
Trump, as always, has a different take -- beat down someone, anyone he can so that he can look tough and forceful. He cannot hold his own in a fair fight, thus his need for the staff of enablers to cover up, clean up and blow up any confrontation. It's gotten so bad that not just anyone can clean up his "hot mess" and now he has to rely on a 4-star to do his dirty work. Shame on all of them -- where is the honor, the dignity, the respect that our country has the right to expect?
I applaud those who confront trump and his lies. I wish them all the good fortune that they have earned.
95
Trump is careless: of the health of Americans, of the environment, of our governments money, of women, of truth. When challenged, he attacks the human merit of the challenger in the nastiest way he can think of. If the American people desire carelessness and nastiness, they could not have chosen a more appropriate leader. But, if the American people desire a government that seeks to keep them safe, prosperous, and happy, they need to choose better next time.
75
They need to VOTE. Close to 100 million people who could have voted did not vote.
1
Agreed, most of people that will suffer, in principal, will be white. Actually though, per capita, welfare recipients are more apt to be PoC. The nationalists also know this and, along with the insertion of vicious stereotypes, use it as a weapon.
The issue really is institutional racism and patriarchy, as Mr Blow began - white men, often from predominately white sections of America, doing everything possible to hold on to their privilege, something so vital to their core beliefs, that they don't see it as privilege in the first place. No, they see it is God given and constitutional right (like guns - a means to that end)
Attacking that core, whether in media, or personally, won't get them to put down their proverbial guns. They'll just get more entrenched. It's a very difficult task for a nationalist to even try to see a global world, let alone have it "Shoved down our throats"
So how do we do it, passively, yet with great impact. Maybe with that very media, the globally thinking entity that it is.
I find myself thinking of the Disney ride of my childhood. "It's a small world after all". Idealistic as that may be, it may work.
Now the media has to get on board. Diversify, diversify, diversify. Hit them with their TV sets.
It's the worst addiction in America.
22
I agree with all of the above. The problem with using the media is that their local stations are being purchased by Sinclair broadcasting and they are spewing as much trash as Fox and Friends. I would submit to you that a closed mind does not think. These people are empty closed vessels and as such are the perfect willing victims.
1
Mr. Trump is showing his extreme sense of entitlement considering most women to be below his need to respect. After all he is old enough to remember when women were subjected to the cruelties of their husbands with no recourse action available to them; a time Mr. Kelly refers to as a sacred age of women.
But it is his lies that make this stench of disrespect smell even worse. The one thing we can deduct from his terrible behavior is he seems incapable of reaching a new low; this is accomplished with each new tweet about a woman who has called him out on anything that is true. And it does not matter if this woman is a Congresswoman, the Mayor of Puerto Rico or the member of a Gold Star family, all women of color.
64
"...[H]e seems incapable of reaching a new low" because, for a malignant narcissist, every such action is self-perceived as a new high. Hence why he keeps giving himself "high marks." All of this dysfunctional, divisive, self-serving behavior was clearly on display during the primaries and election campaign. That 62 million decided to vote for it shows just how stupid, weak, and delusional American society really is. Make American Great Again? I don't think so.
2
...and, a lot of us can remember the conversation when trump bragged to Billy Bush about how he molested women...and, looked in on young Miss Teenage America contestants while they were dressing. trump's abuse knows no limits.
1
RE: "Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was “highly inappropriate” to question a four-star general."
I certainly car respect people for doing their jobs, but here in the USA even a four-star general is two steps below me in rank. He works under the Commander in Chief who works for me. And you. Even if the President has forgotten, or ever knew, that.
168
Yes! And I want that guy fired! I haven't been so eager for an impeachment since Nixon.
2
...and, removal. Two separate steps.
1
Take to the streets or it will be too late to recover.
41
There has been a great deal of just criticism of Trump and his phone call and ridiculous attacks on Congresswoman Wilson as well as the outright lies told by John Kelly about her. Kelly seems to see himself as a breed apart from the rest of humanity. But I am amazed that so little attention has been paid to the only words that I know of attributed to Myeshia Johnson "He didn't even know his name.". Of all that Trump did and does the utter contempt that he has for people unlike himself, those he deems as not fully worthy showed through there. When challenged he referred to Ms. Johnson as the "woman". No name, not worth a name, only a woman, only a black woman.
124
While I agree with your editorial, as a white male, Mr. Trump is not advancing my agenda. It is the hateful ideas that must be exposed and attacked, not the people who espouse them.
19
Then please, go tell any other white males who do support Trump and only watch Fox News that this stuff is not normal, and it's not OK by you. They are not listening to me, after all, a white woman who has already lost under this administration.
3
Ronald—it is BOTH. The base are white, largely uneducated (some evangelical claiming) men and their women. Honestly—he’s not advancing their agenda either; they are the fools who have bought this howwash.
He is not a "four-star general," but is a retired four-star general acting as a civilian.
117
I'm a white male and I support what you wrote. Thanks.
46
This sorry saga was all predicated on the fantasy that Trump could convey the right words in the right tone- which of course he's never gotten it right- yet. To fathom that any words of solace could be uttered appropriately was a fool's expectation; he knew his limitations- that's why he lashed out and lied about "all the other Presidents" (particularly Obama). "He knew what he'd signed up for..." supposedly the words General Kelly fed to Trump's brain are rather innocuous in theory.
Out of Trump's extemporaneous uttering, we can only imagine the tone deafness of their discourse; sort of like a 7 year old trying to replicate the tone of MLK's Mountain Top speech. Not bothering to remember or even write down Sgt. Johnson's name (You're Guy) was inexcusable but not unexpected. Trump's amazement that anyone would take umbrage over his Great Performance naturally required a culprit . Couldn't go after "the wife" directly- so go after another black woman; call her out- insult her intellect- then her looks; the usual pattern of Trump insults. The utter debasement of the Presidency will just continue. Those who care will be dismayed continually- with little recourse. I do not know if America will recover from the damage of 62 million citizens who simply refused to care about the country.
70
Everyone who is not named Trump, and some that are, are Trump's bogeymen, or bogeywomen. The only way that Trump doesn't discriminate is that he discriminates indiscriminately.
Yes his targets are often poor, are often women, are often black, hispanic or Muslim. But he is perfectly willing to throw white families under the bus too. He is insulting and demeaning to women, but he is insulting and demeaning to his own Attorney General.
Trump is in a word, for Trump, and no one else. The one percent? Well they get to go along for the ride, because benefitting them benefits himself. I have no doubt that Trump is prejudiced and racist and classist. But be sure, the only class he values is gold plated and stamped with the name Trump.
44
"Although white people are the largest group of recipients of most of the major government assistance programs, many white people, and Republicans in particular, don’t seem to realize this."
Mr. Blow, why isn't the Democratic Party out in front of this egregious mis-representation? The answer lies in its generations-long political paralysis in the face of the Republicans' willingness to exploit racial animosity on the thinnest of rationales. This is why "much of the money is directed at white people, but most of the stigma is directed at black and brown people."
In 1968, Richard Nixon was the first Republican to take advantage of this racial divisiveness; he trotted out his vice-president, Spiro Agnew, to pillory "noisy, whining minorities."
Most people don't know that Ronald Reagan's immortal "welfare queens" comment was delivered in 1976, long before he became president. When, in 1980, he ran his campaign out of Neshoba County in Mississippi, practically on the graves of three voting rights workers whose corpses were concealed by bulldozed earthworks, he was playing to a base that never went anywhere. They belong today to Donald Trump.
As for his serial slurring and spearing of women of color, regardless of their politics, their office, or their sworn mission to improve the lives of their constituents, this "president" blows the bugle of misogyny on an almost-daily basis. His snotty life is a gigolo's badge of dishonor of savaging women.
Access Hollywood, anyone?
32
Trump has a "thing" about women and minorities. Who knew? Anyone who bothered to pay attention to last year's campaign and Trump's prior history could see that. A significant portion of the white electorate ignored it (or perhaps embraced it?)...including white women. Perhaps what this really says is that America has a problem with "race" and misogyny. As the French say: "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".
39
Trump doesn't like to be criticized especially by people enough he thinks are beneath him, like women, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and Democrats. He reacts so strongly to criticism. He just can't take it. I can't figure out if he is hyper thin skinned or extremely competitive. I've never seen a public figure like Trump.
48
Trump has learned, correctly, that to combat criticism effectively, you jump on it immediately with a defense that is even bolder than the critic's attack. He has been rewarded repeatedly for this - even winning the presidency - so that is why the tactic continues. As for women and minorities, they are among his most vocal critics, so by the simple law of probability, they will be the more frequent target of his retorts.
Trump is an equal opportunity offender. Yes, there is some nuance in his creepiness but he has attacked plenty of white men who dared to challenge his abhorrent behavior as well, even before he became president.
Any attempt to prioritize what groups he tries to demean more than others is futile.There’s plenty of bullying in him for everyone.
13
His policies favor the rich, who are overwhelmingly white and male. People need to speak out, with calls to their reps, calls to people to vote, and taking to the streets to protest these policies.
1
Yes, remember Melania's statement in an early interview..."he treats everyone the same." How true that turned out to be!
2
45's reaction to these situations are based on how he thinks and reacts. He cheats and lies so he think all people are the same. The most untrustworthy are the ones who are themselves untrustworthy. When will the Dem's understand that the best way to deal with 45 is to poke him at his weakness. Seem McCain understands this. Where are the Democrats? He will destroy himself if you make him. Start thinking (reacting) like him. Stop thinking he will respond like a politician. Get in his trench with him.
40
The election of Obama took away the perverted sense of self-entitlement men like Trump (and some women) feel, related to America and race.
All of Trump's viciousness is so celebrated as a 'breath of fresh air', which is really code word for racist revenge.
Like most forms of self indulgence it will feel good for them, for awhile, until the bill comes due, then it'll be everyone else's fault for 'forcing them' to vote for Trump.
54
The percentage of people who are dishonest, abuse government hand outs or just plain lazy is the same whether the person makes $18,000, $180,000, $1.8 million or $1,8 billion - as Trump clearly proves. The notion that only those at the bottom are dishonest is disproven every day:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/charitys-promised-back-pay...
35
Exactly, BUT this country has a long history of dividing people into two categories: worthy and unworthy. And, clearly, wealthy people are always seen as "worthy" while poor people are viewed as "unworthy" (or else they would be rich!)
3
The vitriol Trump spews appeals to his base and is greedily consumed by them. The real question to ask is why it has become a core component of their sustenance.
39
Because THEY ARE MEAN. Trump supporters are MEAN and unkind unless someone in their own "Tribe" is getting help. It's that astonishingly simple.
2
More specifically, they are mean and racist. The surest sign of someone having voted for Trump is whether that person is a racist.
1
Trump's behavior follows its natural tendencies; there is no surprise there. However, General Kelly's name calling and denigration of Congresswoman Wilson clearly overshadowed Trump's. As Lawrence O'Donnel stated with accuracy, Kelly's verbal debasing of the Congressman revealed his roots. Growing up- not in the segregated South (like Mrs. Wilson)-- the General grew up in one of the most segregated places of the East--Massachusetts.Born in 1950, Kelly matured right at the height of Boston's violent racial violence: he is a product of that racial ugliness. Kelly waxed poetic of his childhood but that childhood consisted of racial animosity well known in America (and still). The good General aptly demonstrated his "upbringing" and his loathing for people of color; but particularly a black women with power. His goal was to put her back in her rightful place. Trump and Kelly are racists with deep misogynist roots. The President and the General have more characteristics that bind them than separates them.
62
No doubt about it. Trump fears women, successful women and his greatest fear is of a successful WOC. Rep. Wilson is accomplished, successful, articulate, holds a seat won legitimately, and cares about her constituents. Brings out the worst in Trump and his previously misunderstood CoS. Gen Kelly was wrong, lied and was vicious toward Wilson. He must apologize or his stature will never rise higher than his boss. It's sad that many, particularly New York Times reporters (except Mr. Blow) never cease to amaze as they enable Trump and those close to him. Hopefully we will no longer read about Gen. Kelly as onewho will bring normalcy to Trump. Instead, he has brought dishonor to himself.
56
It may seem like Trump's constant petty battles are not hurting him politically, but they are. And that's a good thing.
Trump's approval ratings have shown a slow but steady decline after episodes, such as this past week, when he and his administration lied and engaged in immature tantrums against Frederica Wilson who is a trifecta of Trump resentment - a woman, a minority, and a critic. The latest polls found that his approval rating of 37.9% is just above his lowest ever rating. (When he acted "presidential", such as his visits to Texas and Florida after the hurricanes, his ratings rose.)
It may be true that Trump will not lose his core base, but, at the margins, he is losing support. And with lower approval ratings come reduced power, less influence, greater congressional push-back, and an increased chance of not lasting a full term. (Steve Bannon thinks Trump has only a 30% chance of lasting 4 years.)
As I said, these are good things.
86
Thank you for stating the obvious, which the rest of the media refuses to recognize.
Trump himself said that it was inappropriate for a WOMAN to listen to his phone call. He then changed it to person, but how first response was that he was mad it was a woman doing it.
97
It's pretty hard not to listen to a phone when it's on speaker. Especially when the call is from a clown.
4
I heard that, too. He said "woman" and then tried to change that slip of the tongue.
1
Trump's words and deeds should be no surprise. The surprise was his becoming president. White male identity politics seems a large factor, but Trump did well enough among the rest of the population to get elected. As should be expected he will attempt to do what is right in his eyes. . He has no loyalty to many of the Republicans nor they to him, but often their interests coincide. Enough voters were angry enough to vote for him or not vote al all. It doesn't seem to me that has changed very much and unless the economy tanks or the Democrats run a candidate that appeals to some of those Trump voters and non voters it seems he has a chance at a two term presidency. Other than Sanders who can capture the nomination and inspire voters? The possible problem with Sanders as the Democratic nominee depends on how the Trump administration performs between now and 2020. If the Trump can show a few accomplishments working on health care, tax reform and foreign policy enough Clinton voters may go over to Trump or not vote at all, rather than vote Sanders, so even if some Trump voters don't back him he could still win. maybe Franken or Warren would have a better shot then Bernie , but far too early to call.
10
Aviel, a large part of the coalition voting for Trump included Hillary-haters, Independents, Bernie supporters, and those who though he would be a good President "because he is a wealthy businessman". There is no way to pull those people together again. After all, to know Donald Trump is to loathe him.
1
"He will attempt to do what is right in his eyes." How you arrive at this is hard to see. He will attempt to do what is best for Trump. That is his only concern. Period.
1
Bernie "I am not a Democrat" Sanders is still not a Democrat, and--I say this as an old women--he is too old to run for president. Real Democrats should start looking at candidates who have a chance of being electable for two terms.
In most, if not all states, the largest category of Medicaid spending is for long term care in nursing homes and support services for extended home care of the elderly and disabled. While this support extends to all who qualify, white women live the longest and require the majority of these services. Most middle class and even some upper class families would face bankruptcy without these government funded programs. And yet too many either don’t understand this or are in denial and continue to support these GOP tax cuts even when they are clearly not in their best interest.....I just don’t get it.
168
Care for our elderly is broken. That makes it an especially difficult burden to dump on Medicaid, but the real issue is caring for our elderly.
While the elderly include more women, all of us men and women get to that point. They men just do it at a younger age. We all will end up there. Nobody gets out of life alive, nor dies without issues in some clean Soylent Green sort of way.
5
Well stated. Neither do I.
1
My cousin is in a for profit nursing home; he is on Medicaid. His mother asked the staff what they would do if funding was cut. The answer: discharge anyone who they could. Get the spare room ready for grandma, uncle, spouse, whoever.
1
Sometimes you have to bite your tongue and be the bigger person. Trump's call was insensitive but without malice. Considering his beliefs that you should never apologize it could have been worse. Sadly, rather than comforting the family, representative Wilson chose to politicize the phone call. Everyone involved has behaved badly and failed to remember that a family is grieving the loss of a patriot who died serving his country honorably.
You bring up a valid point with regards to welfare and who actually benefits. Reagan did a lot of damage with his welfare queen mantra that fed into a stereotype of minorities that white Americans can't shake. Knowledge is power but I'm not sure how to reach those who buy into this idea. Sadly they aren't likely to read newspapers or be swayed by facts.
The tax breaks for the wealthy are a republican dream going back decades. So much for the party of fiscal responsibility. They're just not interested in spending money to help us compete with China and by the time they figure it out it could be too late for the US to remain relevant.
We already know who and what Trump is. Can we focus on what his minions are doing behind the scenes. That's a much more interesting topic.
40
How do you know the Congresswoman didn't (also) comfort the family, after the call?
You seem quite certain?
And so we're on the same page you're equating the Congresswoman's Truth with the WHouse, Chief of Staff,..lies?
4
What you have missed is that Rep. Wilson is considered part of the family and she was upset because Sgt. Johnson's widow became distraught at hearing Trump's words. She was behaving like a protective Aunt in that situation.
4
Did not Trump himself "politicize" the question of how a CinC handles condolences to families of the fallen--before the Johnson call was even made--with claims about the practices of past Presidents?
Rep. Wilson, on the other hand, is an actual family friend of the Johnsons, and spoke with their support.
5
This "white male identity politics" is supported by tens of millions of women, as the election results of 2016 demonstrate. Perhaps it is not "white male identity politics," but something even more frightening in the year 2017, plain old racism, which has been around in the US since its founding. It is a wonder that Lincoln was able to prevail on Congress and the states to enact the 13th amendment as it is a wonder that LBJ, a Texan, could get Congress to enact the civil rights act and the voting rights act.
57
Could those wonders happen today? Not likely.
Why? That is voters, not just the people they elect.
But in turn that is the choices they are given by the big money that runs the secret donor primary before the public event.
Our people (voters) are embittered and angry at a broken politics, and so we get bitterness instead of clear, sound thinking.
They were real presidents. Trump is a fake president.
2
Trump's "base" has been shrinking every day - and, in fact, is yet another illusion
as he was not elected , in fact, except by fraud.
So, what is this that drives Republicans to fear "Trump's base."
As one falsehood after another is brought into discussion, the excitement dissipates. Think of healthcare - we are finally talking about points of contention and change - healthy health as opposed to crisis intervention of serious and terminal illness; distribution of risks; costs of insurance premiums leading to excessive, unbridled profits. Think of the raising of consciousness of our racist underpinnings as a nation; think of the recognition of women as objects and slaves of male egos.
Every day is excruciating and painful, but I think the progress we are making is enormous in the first steps: RECOGNIZE THERE IS A PROBLEM.
27
He was elected. Until Democrats face that and deal with it, they are going to keep losing. They lost more than just to Trump. There is a deeper problem than just how Trump got into the White House.
3
"He was elected." Fraudulently.
"Until Democrats fact that and deal with it." They are.
"They are going to keep losing." Trump has had nothing passed in Congress. He keeps losing.
"They lost more than just to Trump." What does this mean?
"There is a deeper problem . . . " Agreed. There are many underlying and very serious problems.
@Thomason
No. The problem isn't with the Democrats as you never tire of saying -- the problem is with this country, and it's history proves it.
The problem is also with an outdated Electoral College system which is by no mean democratic.
And as long as you continue to look at it all as a zero-sum game, you are part of the problem as well.
1
The important thing is that Trump attacks work. See how much publicity they get. They reinforce the belief that America needs a strongman who is unafraid to take on others.
It's a very good strategy. And NY Times falls in this trap every time, advertising Trump's effectiveness.
16
Effective at what Invet,...How has it worked on you?
There is only one thing to do: achieve power. The Democrats need to win and not get embroiled in the self-defeating in-fighting mode. If we tear ourselves apart we're done and the country, too. The choice is simple: work together or hang separately.
91
The choice is always simple: Get out the vote.
17
The Trump Tax plan takes from middle class salaried workers and gives that money directly to corporations and business owners (donors) while cutting domestic programs that support job training, education, Medicaid, medicare and social security. It will destroy the Treasury’s ability to fund any program for jobs or infrastructure because the revenues will not be there and the deficit will explode. Anyone who votes yes for this tax plan deserves a primary challenge as a result of a dereliction of duty.
124
And now it appears that the tax bill may reduce the amount that tax payers can defer through 401-Ks and deferred comp. programs to $2,500. That, of course, will increase taxes each year for those who otherwise deferred more, or the maximum amount. This little fact may well be overlooked by supporters of the bill because they are promised lower taxes. It just isn't true. As usual, the devil is in the details, and the republican Congress and trump lie.
5
Mr Blow,
I do not want to detract from the important things you have to say here , but I am interested in the idea that the fact of not being a 'third world military junta' precludes a culture in which a high ranking official cannot be questioned. Well, clearly it does not. It is not unique to the developing world anymore than it is to the more developed world - as history has taught us. And hence there is no need to use 'third world' here as if it denotes some subpar state of order.
14
But we are in a "subpar state order". Just look at what is happening in all of the Cabinet offices. Total chaos
1
White Republican women voted for Trump just as their white husbands did. White women in W.Va. voted for Trump just as their democratic white husbands did, The phenomena of women voting against a women because of her gender voted for Trump. White Evangelicals of both sexes voted for Trump.
I can't explain it but it may be that women, just as men, vote as Bill Clinton's campaign said " It's the economy stupid".
16
I know a lot of white college educated middle class and upper middle people here in NJ that voted for Trump because they thought he would lower their taxes
Every single one of them will see a giant increase with his plan.
Now they feel bamboozled
They may not admit now but all will vote democrat next time due to their tax rates- they are furious and hopeful that it fails. I hope it succeeds even though it will cost me so all of these people can learn a lesson
4
I still think that those women voted for Trump in the hope that he would get their husbands off the couch and into a good-paying job again so that they, the women, could quit their jobs and supporting their families, and could go back to cooking and cleaning and raising their own children "as God intended."
1
Economic interest may be one explanation for why white women voted for Trump. However it is just as likely that Trump was able to tap into women's self loathing - a result of living their lives by male standards of what they should be and a deep fear of accepting female leadership. Clinton was not a perfect candidate but is there any woman who is? If we go back to the values of the 1950s the answer is no. The future belongs to any human being who can bring fresh vision and has the courage and skill to actualize that vision and right now it does not look like white males will be among the contenders.
1
Trump has done more for white supremacy in 10 months than any other President in history. He is a global star and not in the wing of Pik Botha and George Wallace.
Boris Johnson's policies show none of the micro-specific targets of Trump: The travel bans, trade deals; the trans-gender service of the LBGTQ commmunity disassembled in a tweet-based lie about cohesion and health care; The executive order discriminated. Women who seek legal access to abortion. Trump also denies women acess to heath care. His words and actions towards a Gold Star family and a Congress member. His words and actions against women.
Trump is second only to the Supreme Court's Chief Justice Roger Taney ("no rights") in racist words and actions.
164
Thank you Walter!
I just want to add more context to the Taney (Dread Scott) reference to "...beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far unfit that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."
Sounds like something 45 would write IF he were capable. He's not.
4
Don't forget the neat little trick of using his daughter as "proof" that he is not sexist. She is smart and attractive; she is one of his closest advisers, therefore (in Trump world messaging) he cannot possibly be sexist. Two problems with that 1) in using her in that way to prove his point about women, he is USING her to his end; 2) she is his offspring, therefore experienced by him as a 'mini-me' so that her accomplishments and successes are, in the narcissistic Trump mind, his successes, i.e., like all of his children, Ivanka is an extension of The Donald, not (for him) a stand-alone women whom he admires and respects.
303
"Don't forget the neat little trick of using his daughter as "proof" that he is not sexist."
Anne-Marie,
You are exactly right. It IS a neat little trick. He has Ivanka in the White House to show the world he is not a sexist. But, in fact, she's there for just that reason - for show. There is no evidence he has ever taken her advice.
After he won the job, she convinced him to meet with Al Gore to discuss global warming, a cause she and her husband believe in. So what does he do? He gets the most prominent denier he can find for the job EPA director!
Gee, thanks, Dad.
35
Such a good girl, shilling for her old man.
9
And without her daddy's and husband's money (assuming they really have what they claim) would she be anything but another pretty face?
9
Trump suffers from a type of aphasia which is particularly severe among high-powered salespeople: he cannot communicate context. He often communicates in monosyllables, makes immense intuitive leaps and assumes that listeners are keeping up with him; and he’s impatient with any who don’t. These aren’t wholesome traits in a president, who should excel at patiently explaining things to a highly diverse electorate polarized on numerous basic issues. He should lever a White House staff that in most administrations is adequate to the challenge of spinning the context for presidential decisions; and, while Trump’s tries to do that, they don’t do it well. He doesn’t help noticeably, what with tweets and rally exhortations intended to keep the rabble roused – but, fairly, what most presidents do at rallies is seek to keep the rabble roused.
Some leaders are resolved to lower taxes, because they believe that taxes when too high damage incentives to risk capital and years of human sweat, damage innovation and limit our economic growth as consequences. That in turn keeps working and middle class wages down and increases economic inequality. These are bad things that a policy choice of lowering taxes seeks to address. But when you lower taxes, it’s inevitable that the lion’s share of direct benefits accrue to those who pay the most taxes – and they tend to be white people and males in our society. One can legitimately argue the fairness of that reality, but reality it remains.
40
It’s not hard to mistake a desire to protect incentives and thereby economic growth with some narrow desire to benefit a specific economic class, when exponents really are trying to achieve a far broader economic objective that benefits everyone. Yet, when exponents lack the ability to communicate context, they leave themselves vulnerable to ideological adversaries who don’t accept the link between excessive taxes and suboptimal economic growth; and want taxes not only to be kept high but to be forever increasing, in a vain hope to solve all the human challenges to which flesh is heir – despite their abysmal failure at doing that over many decades of high taxes.
This is a basic ideological disagreement among our people. While presently we have leaders who don’t communicate its context well, we have adversaries who don’t wish to confront the roots of the disagreement, and merely attack the motives and character of those opposed as personally interested and disreputable. Yet elections are supposed to empower one side or the other to make and implement policy that favors one or the other worldview.
Serial recent elections have empowered one side over the other. And, while Trump muddles on with his aphasia, Democrats remain in the wilderness. Trump needs to better counter his aphasia, certainly with help, but his opponents need to find their way out of the wilderness with better arguments and less demonization. This column hasn’t helped to do that.
3
Not an ideological disagreement, but a factual one.
The corporations have had the profits now for years, and Congress has largely been in their back pockets, whichever party has the edge. They've been able to extract concessions from workers, pushing down their share, while getting breaks of their own to keep their share growing. The proposed tax breaks for corporations and the rich will only exacerbate the problem. Compare Minnesota (raised taxes, doing great) with Kansas (lowered taxes and spending, terrible deficit with even GOP voting to reverse the Trump-type tax breaks).
117
But isn’t there historical evidence that calls into question the notion that lowering taxes on top income brackets actually leads to gains in income for lower and middle income workers?
102
I get it. But how do self-respecting women fight back? We can't become fulltime professional women's marchers (unless George Soros really IS paying people to protest.) Besides, women are not an identity group, sad to say, and Donald J. Trump knows it. We are divided by economic, social, educational, religious, ethnic and racial identities, even age, physical attractiveness, marital and motherhood status. Our primary identity is one or more of those others, from which we get what power we have, and only when those other identities are assaulted do most of us rise up, to support our children and menfolk, of course. I suppose all we can really do is say what we see, every time, until no woman can hide behind whatever other identity she believes protects her or confers respect on her.
217
We fight back by voting. By becoming active in politics, at any level. By communicating our thoughts and opinion and not being silent. By raising our children to hold our values. By doing our jobs to the best of our ability, all day, every day. By donating to causes that advocate for our values.
There's lots to do. Let's do it.
228
Thank you. I have a very intelligent younger sister married to a right wing Republican. She doesn't bother to argue with her husband; that would be fruitless.
What she does, which seems to be working, is to instill her three children with her values and political instincts. She has raised three boys with tremendous intelligence and values. They are the complete opposite of her husband. And, even better, they have values completely opposite of their father's family. They are decent young gentlemen.
11
I voted for Hillary Clinton. I have been “active in politics” for over 40 years. My views are well known to any who know me and my children mostly hold my values 9exccept for tatooes).
She got the most votes--hard to see that voting and the rest really matters anymore.
8
I can't help recalling Melvin Van Peebles' movie, "Watermelon Man," in which a white bigot played by the late Godfrey Cambridge wakes up one morning to discover that he's been transformed into a black man. Horrified, he loses everyone and everything that was important to him but ultimately learns to empathize with those he had regarded as his social and biological inferiors. If such a miraculous event were to somehow transpire in the life of Donald J. Trump, one wonders if he would experience his new life from the same altered perspective as did Mr. Van Peebles' protagonist. Nah; he'd probably dye his face orange and initiate legal action against God, or whomever he determines it was (Barack Obama?), who left him in such a hideous and embarrassing condition. And- needless to say- if he decides that the culprit really was our last popularly-elected chief executive, he'll get even by depriving every black person in America of affordable health care. Or has he done that already?
346
He may think so, but we all know it's those West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama poor white guys who will be losing their insurance benefits, not to mention food stamps and, sooner rather than later, Medicare, not that they won't be sure former President Obama isn't to blame.
1
We don't want him. Believe me. Many black people are saying this.
The one thing trump, the 53 percent of white women who voted for him, and white men fail to realize is that African Americans know how to survive. Our people have been on this Earth the longest and have been in the New World since the 1500s, so we know a little bit about the ways of the white man.
Brilliant and disturbing movie. I've thought, similar to you, that DT - as punishment for his crimes against humanity - should be made to live out his life on welfare in one of Jared Kushner's tenements.
2
Who
Has the only mouth that won’t melt butter
So cold is each word he will mutter
Does no comfort tweeting
Hates each gold star meeting
The sorrowful words he ought utter.
His words are meant to scorch and burn
Not offer a lackluster turn,
In War people die,
His utterance wry,
Not one tiny tear you’ll discern.
Not one single phrase of remorse
He’d rather be on the golf course
Gold star is implying
Someone did their dying
For payment which he does endorse.
387
A+ Larry!
2
This episode, which apparently won't die, has been one of the sickest, sorriest episodes in the history of the presidency.
A NYT analysis of the points and counterpoints of all the players--Congresswoman Wilson, Donald Trump, General Kelly and Sarah Huckabee Sanders--stated nobody ended up looking good, because they didn't play to accepted norms and protocols regarding the presidency.
Well, after nine months of nonstop insults, vulgarities, and bigoted statements from the president, what are the proper, norms when dealing with a man who relentlessly questioned and maligned the background of his African American predecessor, and continues to denigrate women?
Charles you're right Rep. Wilson provided the thin-skinned Trump with the perfect foil: female, black, Democratic, and highly popular in her community.
But the real disappointment was General Kelly who is yet another example of how many outstanding professionals with sterling reputations start losing them once they decide to serve a boss who demands the impossible: defending his indefensible attacks and lies against real or concocted enemies.
If the White House wants, expects, and even demands respect, it should show some first.
1736
If there was to be disappointment in General Kelly, it wasn't so much as a result of his performance of support for Trump's recent imbroglio, as it should be for his own denigration to serve under Trump in the first place.
54
Just sayin—who are these many outstanding professionals with sterling reputations? Hard for me to identify more than a couple. McMaster? His behavior is every bit as reprehensible as that of the White House cabinet members in the Johnson administration he castigated in his reknowned book on Vietnam. Maybe Mattis, but at some point Trump will surely soil him, too.
9
Trump stains, spoils, and soils the integrity and reputation of any person who represents him or speaks for him.
19
"Come the second millennium, In the home of greatest power, The village idiot will come forth to be acclaimed the leader." - Nostradamus, 1555
1097
Great quote...unfortunately not from Nostradamus.
https://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/nostra.asp
But I love it anyway!!
12
That Nostradamus quote, alas, according to Snopes, dates from the year of our lord 2000 and was a humorous taunt directed at W. That's too bad; I wanted to include in in my occasional book of good quotes, and looked up to check. Too good to be true. But it sure is truthy.
17
Off by only a millennium, but who's quibbling?
5
Much as I agree with Charles and those who have so far commented, maybe we should let trump's problems - whether with women, crooked deals or Russians - stew more in the background pending whatever legal actions transpire, which they most likely will. In his arrogant certainty that he can get away with anything, surely nothing delights him more than the media being distracted away from his agenda on health care, environmental matters, social services and anything else he can get his little hands on.
I don't mean to belittle the the justified anger at trump's misogyny, but It frustrates me immensely - and I'm sure I'm not alone - to read about all-misogyny-all-the time at the expense of coverage of the trump's destructive policies (along with his fellow Republicans').
737
I feel many of the stupid Trumpisms are inspired by his desire to avoid media coverage of his other screw-ups.
7
Were you a female, it would feel like you were under non-stop assault form this President and his administration. Yes we have other problems - bigly.
The assault on women, from health care to everything else, targets just over half our population and effects absolutely everyone who is concerned for the future.
14
@mancuroc: Those other topics definitely require coverage. Charles cannot cover them all. Perhaps the NYT and others need to do better lengthy reportage and analysis of them.
5
Charles Blow's article should be expanded into a series:
Trump's Boogeymen?
1. Women
2. Everyone who is smarter than Trump - that is - everyone
3. Anyone who contradicts Trump
4 Senators and Congresspeople from both sides who stand up to Trump
5. Former Presidents
6. PuertoRicans
7. Black People
8. Poor people
9. Democrats
10. Anything and anybody not Republican
Better still, just write a book!
431
You left out Muslims, Mexicans, transgendered individuals and anyone with an IQ.
467
Agree. Blows’ article read like an introduction to many chapters to follow.
12
And even many Republicans as well!
2
The mainstream media bear some of the responsibility for the misperception that most welfare recipients are minority. When welfare programs are discussed or illustrated, even when what is shown is people using the programs to succeed in getting their lives together and move on to better things, the people in the stories seem to usually be minorities.
If most of the people who get public assistance are white, then most of the stories about public assistance should portray white people. It is not my impression that they do, although I could be wrong here.
581
sdavidc9:
There one glaring exception to your genarlization.
The media occasionally talk about welfare recipients in places like West Virginia. The population of West Virginia is given by the Census Bureau in 2016 as follows:
White, not Hispanic or Latino 92.3%
Black 3.6%
Hispanic or Latino 1.5%
Two r more races 1.7%
Remainder 0.9%
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/WV
So discussion of welfare in places like West Virginia cover primarily WHITES if the fraction on welfare even approaches 10%. It is much higher than that.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/01/17/cheat-sh...
4. West Virginia
• Number of food stamp recipients: 369,249
• Percentage of the state's population on food stamps: 19.96%
• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $45.7 million
• Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $24.69 per person
5
And notice the GOP are really good at deflecting how much corporate welfare there is going on? That right there probably costs this country more in lost tax revenue and federal pay-outs than any other public assistance program.
9
I believe about 40% of people getting public assistance are white, the largest of any group.
4
The Birther-Liar-In-Chief wants his trailer park voter base to know that he's got their spiteful backs, and he'll be damned if any non-whites, females, Mexicans or Muslims get an ounce of public respect on his trashy watch.
Trump is a big Andrew Jackson fan, that glorious Presidential champion of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, one of America's most disgraceful acts of institutional racism and brutality entailing the forced removal of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States (i.e., the soon-to-be 'Confederacy') and death marches to points West of the Mississippi River.
But, when the misanthropic white supremacy of Andrew Jackson fails to sufficiently stir the soaring White Wonder Bread spirit of Donald Trump, Donald then summons the 1950's political lament of Lyndon Johnson about America's lowlife racist politics for further inspiration:
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man (or woman), he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
Whether it's that darn black President, that darn 'nasty' Hillary, those darn black football players, those darn non-white Puerto Ricans, those darn non-white Gold Star families, or those darn non-white Congresswomen, Donald Trump wants his white male voter base and their female subjects to know he's got their white spite covered with Presidential spite...and their pockets picked.
1560
Socrates, You are the Cliff Notes and the analytic commentary. Always an unexpected joy to read your comment.
9
Socrates -- I have liked your comments for a long time, so I mean this well: Please be careful with your categorization of Trump's "trailer park voter base."
53 percent of white women who voted for Trump. I personally know college educated white women who said they simply couldn't vote for Hillary "because of all her lies." Words fail!
Trump's voter base are just white, (mostly) male. Many voted for him because of their economic troubles and their anger at the "elites" and women. Some are now unhappy about their Trump votes. The ones who stay loyal tend to racism and misogyny.
Many Trump voters were manipulated by having their dark side appealed to. Fear, resentment, racism, on and on. It greatly saddens me that way back we thought it was important and good to work for feminism, peace, a healthy environment. To see these issues distorted and degraded the way the Republicans and Trump have done, not to mention Bannon and the self-serving Congress, is appalling and sad. Meanwhile we all obsess over the daily horrors while the extremist Cabinet gang goes about deregulating and destroying the agencies and Departments they are responsible for.
I wish it weren't so hard to reach the impeachment point or some kind of justice that would make these awful people cease and desist.
So Socrates, keep writing your good thoughts -- you point out a lot of the underpinnings of what is happening, helping us see what crawls around under the Trump administration rocks. Corporate donors....
10
Don’t know about New Jersey, but where I live, trailer parks have a higher than average percentage of Latino and Black residents and vote democratic. Perhaps some consideration before stereotyping.
6
Let's hear it one more time! Come on now. Everyone one together!
And a one and a two:
Women for Trump!
Women for Trump!
Now don't you all feel better. Wasn't that fun. It's even more fun at one of those rallies when the man himself is leading the chants.
I can think of only one reason why any self respecting female would back this ogre besides not having any self respect.
It's jealous spite. I got nothin. No hope for nothin. The elitists have it all. The got everythin. Trump is going to trash their world. Good for him. Then maybe they will end up with nothin like me.
I really think that's behind much of the support for Trump. They excuse and overlook all of the terrible things he does, especially against women. That goes double for women in power and double it again for minority women in power.
To them, Trump is on a mission of vengeance to even the score. He hasn't done a darn thing for any of these people. Everything he has done will benefit the rich and corporatists that these people claim to hate. But that does not diminish their support for him. So long as he takes those high falutin, college educated left coast types down, he can do whatever he wants. Including debasing women and treating them like property, like door mats.
That's why I think they chant:
Women for Trump!
640
Nah, it's way simpler than that: women who support Trump derive economic benefit from the white, male hegemony. It's their gravy train.
12
@Bruce- "It's jealous spite. I got nothin. No hope for nothin. The elitists have it all. The got everythin. Trump is going to trash their world. Good for him. Then maybe they will end up with nothin like me."
Truer observations have never been expressed. This is the same attitude one sees directed at union workers. How DARE they expect to earn decent wages for a job well done when the rest earn crumbs. Instead of wondering why the poorly paid workers don't get pay parity they vote for right-to-work (an Orwellian phrase if ever), candidates who believe no one should earn good wages, that all should be happy with crumbs. My husband works for a union company. Yes there are some faults with unions as in no merit raises and seniority carrying far too much weight but the benefits out weigh the limitations. Women earn the same as men and advance the same as men. One is protected from nepotism or job loss due to a boss' son-in-law needing a job, or a nephew or an acquaintance. Yet union bashing is rampant in this country. Dues are exaggerated by the union bashers (my husband earns six figures and pays $20 per week for these job protections), the leaders and workers are viewed as thugs, they are shills for the Dems. (although most all of my husband's coworkers vote Repub.) The list of denigrations is vast. I just can't understand the willful aversion of the eyes and ears to truth, the willful embrace of such a hateful, nasty man and the hateful, dangerous destruction he promotes.
14
You may be right about some of the demographic of the "Women for Trump" contingent, but empirically the women I know who support Trump avidly are of a group who's family income is well into six figures but probably not in the top 1%. They don't support him to trash the world.
As you say, Trump did convey the message of tearing things down, and many of his supporters came from the have-nots.
But, like everything in Trump's world, he's all contradiction. People hear what they want to hear and Trump offered something for every prejudice.
What did he offer to the solidly middle class?
Get a tough guy to protect us from terrorism, who won't hesitate to strike our enemies with a sledgehammer, go nuclear if we have to!
Stop all the government giveaways to the undeserving leeches!
Plain old racism - support our police to protect us from the lawless blacks, and keep them out of our neighborhoods for our safety and to protect property values. They're not like us. LAW AND ORDER!
We need to protect our borders - BUILD THE WALL!
Throw out all the illegals - they're criminals, they're stealing our money through welfare, taking jobs from Americans - they're bankrupting us!
We need to run this country like a business and I'm the guy. Enough of the politicos, of the same tired yap! Tell it like it is! No more bad deals!
We're being disrespected and laughed at all over the world! MAKE AMERICAN GREAT AGAIN!
...and he tapped in to a vein of our culture not limited to the poor.
7
We elected a simpleton with deep insecurities who hurls juvenile insults at people who don’t praise his incompetence effusively enough. To receive his beneficence, we need to post his every childish scrawl on the refrigerator and tell him he’s a good boy, even when he colors outside the lines. That’s all that matters to him. Ms Wilson transgressed.
Like a dog that unexpectedly catches the car he’s been chasing, his becoming president was one of those perverse things the universe will do on occasion. He knows he’s overreached, and any criticism causes him to search the ten words in his vocabulary to find le mot juste, and he calls the critic bad, or a liar, or possibly a loser.
Race and gender are useful guides to beratement because he feels superior to people who are brown or female. But frankly he will berate just about anyone, regardless of race or sex. At least he’s an equal opportunity bigot.
More troubling than the president’s mental and rhetorical limitations are the people with seemingly normal intellects who protect and defend him. In a kind of reverse Darwinism, he’s selected people who are the most damaging to the body politic to speak for him. They use their ample vocabularies and quick minds to embellish his monosyllabic grunts. The emperor is naked, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders can describe his fine raiment in exquisite detail.
But rich white people are his peeps, and he’ll do everything he can to make sure they do—what’s the perfect word?—good.
1270
No, the word is well. He'll be sure the rich do well. He doesn't care if they do any good for anyone other than himself.
14
gemli; you wrote a nice reply in regard to President Trump. It is my opinion that Ms. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the worst, or if you prefer, the best spokesperson that" the donald" could have. I'm afraid that she will look back on this great opportunity & experience many sleepless nights.
2
This about says it all except that Sarah Sanders doesn’t work any vocabulary magic so much as plug in the hokey machine, tilt her head down, bat her eyes and wait for some southern nugget to roll out, “all hat and no cattle” being the latest acorn slung by the proxy of our boy president at the family friend who awaited with the widow and kids the body of the young soldier who died and who had a name.
8
The Trumpists have persuaded themselves, against all facts and reason, that wealthy, white men are the least privileged and most aggrieved group in society. The rest, mostly minorities and women, are undeserving of the benefits of society and unworthy of respect. The Trumpists are truly the minority, but wealth and the fluke of the Electoral College have allowed them to control the levers of power. Yet, since Trump himself and the GOP are devoid of ideas or real values, they can only demean and destroy, they cannot develop or create anything.
778
What they are doing is destroying the air, poisoning the water and taking
away affordable heath care needed to treat sicknesses and diseases.
35