Careful.
Romney is certainly more genteeeel than Trump. McCain and Flake and Collins are, too.
But all of them are of the party of the oligarchs. Mini-Putins, striving to serve their oligarch sponsors. Striving to make America a 21st century equivalent of the medieval lands of barons lolling in their castles whilst the serfs are out slaving in the fields. More like Putin's Russia.
Doubt it? Which of them stands up to oppose our tax system's engine of economic inequality? -- favoring of the oligarchs and people of money, with special favors for gains from investment returns and inheritances, compared with heavier taxation of income earned by working. Which of them stands up to oppose the repuglican mini-Putins' current tax "reform" plan to make it even worse?
19
Not so simple. A lot of traditional Democrats voted for Trump because they believed his hypocrisy -- and still do. They, as well as traditional Republicans, support everything Trump does and will vote for his reelection. Meanwhile, those of us who see Trump for what he is can't seem to rally African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and poor white Americans to go to the polls and vote for Democrats -- or at least reasonable Republicans (a shrinking cohort). We still don't have a presidential candidate who can do so. Hillary blames her loss on others, but the presidency was hers and she blew it.
7
Why bother building bridges to people who ignore facts and build their own pseudo reality to sit their backwards ideas? My door is open and i will welcome them to reality when they decide to embrace it and shed their delusions.
29
Everything that used to bring Americans together has been politicized. Like football. Even George Washington had his plaque taken down from his family church. If we’re each just a bundle of identity check marks: gender/race/income/religion/education.,,,then there is no common ground.
12
And therein lies the way out of this mess. It will take the most concerted efforts, the most coalition-building, the most energy and activism, ...and voting turnout like there's no tomorrow, to send the neo-confederates back into their holes, or at least back to their usual redoubts. The off-year election demonstrated that it's happening, but this vigorous tree still has much growing to do.
7
Timothy, you are so wrong in your observation of real americans, and your viewpoint is depressing. I am a republican with many liberal democrat relatives, and we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner, politics included. Grow up, we can disagree and still respect each other.
8
So far, I have found it nearly impossible to inform and reason with extended family members who are not progressives.
I have been told that the best way to communicate is to never share my: religious identity (as if being Lutheran is controversial); thoughts on the environment, party affiliation, any discussion of current events, "POLITICS!" educational information, or anything that might "sway" the listener. This was from a female cousin with a masters degree from a state with North in the title.
I'm still trying to pick up my jaw.
10
America is in trouble if we start liking past bad presidents simply because the present one is the worst ever. W. was an awful president. Just because we now have Trump doesn't mean we should ignore how bad the Bush administration was -- simply because W. speaks more politely than Trump. The legislative results would be the same no matter who the Republican was ending up in the White House. That is the main thing to remember: Republicans are a problem for the middle class and the poor. America doesn't need broad tax reform, what we need is Republican reform.
25
I have Trump supporter family.
I don't try to change their minds.
They AGREE with me. They want better healthcare.
They want better schools environment.
I only stick with things they AGREE with, and when I speak, I usually point out a fact like: Obamacare is the worst healthcare-- except for ALL other alternatives.
Or: Yup, rich people on both sides are greedy, we differ on how to approach that problem. Etc.
They like me. I like them.
Its really in the hands of those who own the media and the education system, you know, Murdoch, The Sinclair Broadcast Group, the DeVos family-- leaders.
5
It has been over a year since the election and even longer since two friends stuck a Trump sign in their yard. Since they were glued to Fox news, a vote for Hillary was unlikely. Still prior to the sign, I thought theirs would be a reluctant vote for Trump. He is so unlike them. We used to see them several times a week. I can count on one hand the number of times we have "run into them" this past year. Trump talks about winning, well he is a loser but so am I. I don't want to bridge the gap of someone glued to media that justifies his every move, his every tweet. I thought time would change how I felt. It hasn't. We all lose with him in office.
14
Egan: "But here’s one bright spot in the Divided States of Trump: In a strange way, he has also brought many of us together."
Believe that to be true. I think Trump also explains much of the recent voting in Virginia, voting that gave Democrats a big wins for governor and many seats in the House of Delegates. Ralph Northam, the Democratic candidate for governor and a campaigner that made his disgust with Trump well-known, trounced his well-known Republican rival. Voter disgust with Trump clearly united many voters in opposition to Republican candidates.
8
If someone a few years ago told me that I would be a part of a broad resistance movement that included David Frum and George Will I would have told them that they belonged in Bedlam.
11
"Trump brings out the worst in his supporters..."
Nothing like a broad generalization. Is that all of his supporters, half of them, some of them? Only those union households who voted for him? Please be specific.
3
I know of at least one Democrat, who hasn't gotten over Trump presidency.
It's not because he won. It's because rest of us will have to endure the consequences from the usual suspects; the uninformed/misinformed/ill-informed who voted for him.
Worse; they're not smart enough to figure it out that they've been played for suckers, until they finally figure it out that they've been played for suckers.
19
I will be grateful if the trump presidency does not produce a nuclear war. I will be grateful if trumps web of lies so entangles him that even his paid loyalists will desert him. Most of all I will be grateful if he single handedly dismantles the Republican party as they have become and causes the distracted out of touch Democrats to return to their social roots.
6
The joy of this Thanksgiving was that not one political comment was heard. A Brigadier General and his wife, me and my wife, our progeny and their progeny never thought about the current political crisis for one instant. Joy!
I've predicted it'll take 18 months to uncover proof and render an impeachment action. We're halfway there. In the meantime, the upside is that serious discussion is beginning to happen surrounding the election process and the funding thereof.
And "flyoverprogressive", below, is bang-on in his media criticism.
Pandering to undereducated lunacy in pursuit of profits is nothing but irresponsible. (Yes, YOU, Limbaugh!)
4
I try to have a conversation with my Trump voting relatives, but I have just given up. I was raised to debate ideas. I actually really enjoy this, and was on my high school debate team.
I have to deal with false, and unsubstantiated, "facts", diversion of any argument into spurious "what about...." arguments, and "somebody was paid to report this" as the ultimate take down..
If my Trump relatives where in a National Speech & Debate Association sponsored event they would lose 100% of the time. I'm not sure this has ever happened, but after 10 minutes the debate with a Trump debate team would be halted.
10
If people didn't genuinely enjoy mudslinging free-for-alls, it wouldn't get the oxygen it does, all in the interest of the money making media. The right is so much better at it that the left has a lot of catching up to do. High minded hand wringing isn't cutting it. Our presently vicious political shenanigans are not unique to our time. Bragging, lying and outright theft to get votes were election time staples and a good time was had by all. Granted the stakes are higher now but do we need to take it so seriously?
1
We're all responsible for this situation. The educated and liberal minded have stayed in their comfort zone in every community. They've allowed their neighbors to sink into hardship anger and ignorance. Private-school educated graduates never go near a garbage truck or a construction site a welding shop or a farm. Why is it a surprise that those stuck with this work feel embittered? Yeah, you can say that everyone has a chance to get educated and apply themselves, but so many American kids are getting such a rough start that class mobility is essentially non-existent; especially with the wages that have become the norm for blue-collar work.
We won't fully repair the divide that exists in the adult population, but we all have the responsibility to engage the children of our communities and give them equal chances. More volunteering, more community programs, more support for public school. If where we end up is a function of where we start, how bad will this polarization get in a couple of generations?
6
I don't think all Trumpists are vile. However, they were complicit in electing someone who is vile, and many have still not faced the fact. I do not think all of them are vile, but many do embrace the label of being uninformed and willfully blind to the dangers of authoritarianism and xenophobia. Too many still believe that disruption and lies are OK as long as Democrats are angry about all this. We can rebuild bridges when being grown-ups is more widespread.
7
It might be true that a majority of Americans are appalled by the Trump presidency, but what good does it do us? Those in power don't seem to be appalled, do they? Mr. Egan tells us that four Republican senators have called Trump out. Four. Only 48 to go, huh?
I think that many of us who oppose this government are increasingly frustrated by our lack of a voice. Gerrymandering has rendered many districts as permanently Republican. The electoral college gives an outsized advantage to the less populated states. Foreign governments are, to put it politely, "meddling" in our voting process. So how can the majority be heard?
My fear is that the rest of the elected Republican leaders will continue to be silent, thereby making this abomination the new normal. As for bile, mine has only increased because as Trump doubles down, so do his supporters. As I see it, anyone who still supports him and his policies is completely without ethics. Why should I respect people like that?
8
I grew up in a bedroom community outside of Cleveland. It was mainly made up of blue collar workers, clerical staff and some white collar folks, such as teachers.
In my own home one parent was a registered Democrat the other a Republican. We all read the newspapers and kept up on issues. Although in primaries you had to vote a party ballot the mantra we were raised on was vote for the best candidate in the general election.
As I fast forward to now, that is still the general thought but the GOP has moved so far out of the realm of human decency my family and extended family have nothing nice to say about them. My cranky uncle who thought Obama was too liberal said "Well at least he cared about sick people and old people." He says this as he nears 70 and probably realizes under GOP leadership the last portion of his life could be his hardest.
So Trump has united my family against the current GOP. So now my former "classic" Republican relatives talk to my Democratic relatives and they pine for the good old days when work across the aisles was done to help the country, not to prove and move a stringent ideology.
The interesting conclusion that came out of our family's discussion is that in the current climate none is us can be Republicans because we aren't wealthy enough, and none of us can be Democrats because we aren't a special interest group. So we're just your average Americans, who work, pay taxes, and are being left behind by both parties.
16
Never so much bile in the modern era?
This forgets the race riots of the 60's that had the National Guard shooting people in our cities as with .50 cal machine guns raking building fronts on our local news in Detroit, and the Vietnam War protests that had the same National Guard shooting students on campus at Kent State, and assassins shooting the President, his brother, MLK, Jr., and George Wallace too. That's bile.
We've had rough patches before. We are not even half way there yet.
9
This is "bridging the canyon"? Feels more like throwing rocks and burning bridges to me.
I am the only person I know who has friends around the world and all across the political spectrum, from Maoist to monarchist. I appreciate all of them, and I can talk to all of them.
Overwhelmingly the insulters, the rock-throwers, the stereotypers are on the left in my crowd. Overwhelmingly. This started fifty years ago when we hippy radicals started putting down the squares, the straights, the rednecks, the “bourgeois”, and it's steadily gotten worse.
The international left won't stop trying to "progressively” "reform” their cultures, and the right won't stop protecting theirs. So you get Brexit, Catalonia, Venezuela, AFD, nationalist Poles, and Trump. It's not about the economics, it's about the culture.
If you really want to "bridge the canyon”, everyone needs to calm down, back up, stop throwing rocks, stop stereotyping, take off the ideological blinders, stand in the other person's shoes and look at the world through their eyes for a while. Not as much fun, assuredly, but it's what needs to be done.
9
You seem to be ignoring Fox, the bright-red Republican propaganda station. Not to mention Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani et al. and Donald Trump. That last name bears repeating. Donald Trump is endangering not only this country, but the whole world, with his ignorant brinksmanship with North Korea. You can sing kumbaya with your friends, that's your business. But what Trump and the people who elected him are doing to the country is no small matter that can be washed away with understanding and forgiveness. I wish it could. We need to fight fire with fire. We are in a cold civil war, and the stakes are as high as they have ever been. Words will not fix this. The Republicans in government need to be shown the exit, and if they won't understand, that's too bad. At least they will be brought to heel.
8
How can one bridge a divide to people who either ignore or dispute facts with no facts of their own and are so ideologically rigid? I noted one small item in the Republican proposed tax reform package that would actually do good for minority communities based on the facts of an analysis and my Trump supporter relatives jumped all over it as fake news. The same was true of various other facts I pointed out without naming the actual person who made the quote. They still continued to claim it was fake news or false even after I pointed out to them that Trump or McConnell had quoted a verifiable fact. The same was also true of facts I quoted from Democrats but the Trump supporters were positive the fact was quoted by Trump. As to Rush Limbaugh, it takes no more than 15 minutes at the start of his program each day to hear at least 5 half truths, innuendos or flat out lies but his supporters don't care to fact check El Rushbo.
22
Tom,
Maybe you're talking to the wrong Trump supporters. Not everyone is equally articulate.
1
Luckily I haven't met too many Trump voters. Thank God. I have nothing to say to them. They remain deplorable.
28
What's the point of trying to have a discussion with someone whose outlook boils down to "the fact that They say I'm wrong is proof that I am right and that they hate me for it." Might as well try to have a conversation with the turkey.
20
Actually, Mr. Egan, the contempt isn't mutual. As you yourself write, Republican voters have contempt for Democrats, but Democratic voters fear Republican voters. This, in a nutshell, is what's happening in this country.
Those of us who detest Trump are a slight majority of the citizenry, and yet we are literally fearful of the tens of millions of crazed, gun-toting Trump supporters who will gladly torch this nation the moment their "dear leader" is threatened with impeachment or removal from office. With one deranged rant from their Tweeter in Chief, they will gladly begin to target their brown neighbors in episodes of ethnic cleansing the likes of which this nation hasn't seen.
We can talk about the "forgotten working class", "identity politics" and the like all we want, but this is what it comes down to. We who oppose Trump are right to be fearful -- because he will incite violence the moment he perceives he is threatened, and his tens of millions of ignorant followers will pick up their semi-automatic weapons and gladly oblige him.
And if you scoff at this scenario, remember that one year on of the most horrific presidency in our nation's history, his rabid "troops" support him more than ever. Think better of them at your peril.
24
The "silent pessimist" you describe has spoken as those who elected President Trump rejected your laundry list you have repeated again in this column. They do not believe that America was perfect 50 years ago, but disagree with the progressive delusion you present as positive for America. If you "knew this profile going into the election" then why ignore its' lessons? They don't trust diplomacy because they believe it hasn't worked. They are unfairly chastised as "opposing ethnic diversity" when they simply believe in legal immigration. Yes, and some believe the democratic attempts to discredit the President is "a threat to the nation's well being" just as it was in the continued challenge to the results of the 2000 election. Liberals wrote off the opposition to the Democrats in 2016 as ignorance, racist and misogynist hatred. The insults then, as your comments today, holding yourself superior to an opposing view has proven a fateful strategy that led to a Trump victory and a continued divide in our nation. A resistance movement today goes far beyond the discontent of the Tea Party participants that led to a Trump victory as they were categorized as ignorant malcontents, crazies by writers like you and your fellow liberals. I cannot wait to see the chaos of the Democratic campaign season that will make the 17 GOP candidates we witnessed last time around look calm compared to the coming siege ahead.
8
Over time, as people coalesce more completely into "us" versus "Trump" camps, Hillary's "basket of deplorables" will become clearly evident.
11
Have you seen the men on Trumps cabinet? They prove that physical attractiveness is not necessary to gain access, heck look at Limbaugh. Now if what he means is he only talks to the pretty ones, then that I believe but feminism was not designed to enable more women to talk to Rush, why would they want to?
1
Rush Limbaugh says “feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”
It is my belief that extremist radio and tv has coarsened American dialogue and brought about the bifurcation of media resulting in impenetrable spheres of ideology that reinforce disparaging characterizations of one another.
Eating Thanksgiving dinner with my brother's family( he finally acquiesced and let me into his home) I found that all I could offer were empty platitudes about how good the cranberry sauce was. Any mention whatsoever of the evil destruction of this country by Trump's criminal adminstration would have ended our family bond for the rest of our lives. How did it come to this?
28
The majority of Trump voters did not like him but they hated the Democrats worse because of brain washing by the right wing media. They actually like most to the Democrats's policies including universal health care, gay rights, limited abortion, birth control, drug rehab, infrastructure spending, minimum wage, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, diplomacy over war, education, science and human caused global warming.
Unfortunately, a strong minority of Republicans including the Tea Party managed to nominate Trump due to incompetence of the majority. The Democrats nominated even weaker candidates.
10
The psychic rewards of representing Americans are so few and far between that wise people cannot be enticed to endure what will only be punishment in an exercise of futility.
2
The revisionist view of Thanksgiving that has the Founding Fathers coming to America less for religious freedom than to set up a theocracy makes evident how deep and long standing the differences are between religious fundamentalists and secular humanists and that’s only one reason why passing the gravy may be accompanied by the thought of pouring the boiling goo over someone’s head.
12
Life is worse than it was 50 years ago. It's true that wages are stagnant and prices for everything else are going up and up and up. That healthcare is a mess, that infrastructure is failing, that trust in government is non existent. That's not due to gay marriage and civil rights and immigrants. It's down to Republican policies and slavish devotion to failed theories and practices. Trump is just dishing out more of the same with an extra helping of racism and xenophobia. Nothing he and his cronies do will help the average Trump supporter.
24
I have also noticed how the "worst president in history", namely W., has come out of his self-imposed exile lately. Yes, both him and Governor Romney have been getting better press lately. It is understandable. My revisionism has been in the direction of Senator Sanders. I was so angry with him for his destructive run at the presidency, until I saw what a really horrible man consists of. But I say to myself, and to others who are being forgiving souls in the era of Trump: Just because a vile beast of a human has occupied our national attention, it doesn't mean that less vile people are okey-dokey now. We need to keep our defenses up, lest we get lulled into a false sense of security with the wrong people.
8
Well, why ordinary people support Trump is one thing. They feel that their old way of life is being undermined by others and that nobody cares about them.
And really they're right. (Trump wants their votes and their cheers and their money buying $37 baseball caps that say "Make America Great Again" but at least he says things that recognize their pain.)
But the wealthy, the corporate executives, the hedge fund gurus, the people who inherited millions and the people who have billions - the reason they support Trump is different. They want the tax breaks for the wealthy and big business included in the current Republican tax bill. They claim, with no evidence and with Kansas's experience to the contrary, that this will somehow help ordinary people - though giving tax breaks SOLELY to ordinary people would help lots more. Deficits? Cut Medicare and don't renew Child Health.
And the rich know for sure that once the tax breaks are given to those whose money and place in society already give them vast influence over government, they'll keep these tax breaks forever. That's why they put up with Trump's boorish behavior as they laugh all the way to the bank.
22
$37 for a cap? Way over priced....fools and their money will be soon parted. A joke if it was not so very sad.
1
The title is "bridge the canyon" across the holiday table...then you invite bitterness, revenge, rage, hysteria and anti-Trumpism as the methods for doing so. Yeah, that makes sense. (NOT)
8
How do you bridge this canyon when Republicans have no respect for hardworking Americans. The proposed Republican tax plan has cuts to Social Security; retired 10 years (2-3%), retired 20 years (4-6%) and 30 years (6-9%). Also 25 Billion will be cut from Medicare annually. Medicaid, a program that has worked successfully since 1965, is being demolished. And the CHIP or children's health insurance is gone.
31
I agree with this editorial -- in addition to the media compliance to pretend that both sides are the same.
9
We are all Americans. We are all real Americans.
That should be the slogan of Democrats. No need to elaborate or equivocate. Just let the right stumble over some kind of answer to that.
And for the record, the uncivil and intrasigent tenor of our political disagreements did not begin on the liberal side. True to their sometimes naive nature, those on the left (including myself) believed for years that the other side was actually open to debate and reason. But the insults and bile of people like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and O'Reilly, over the years, have gotten my back up. If the right wants to play rough, the left can do the same, believe it or not. Not my first choice.
32
As a Hillary voter, but unenthusiastic supporter, I've been ostracized by my Trump voting siblings. The visceral anger on their face when they spoke about Clinton vs Trump told me what they really thought of career women. There have been no fights, no acrimony, just a quiet jettisoning, on their part. I hope for what you describe, but sadly, I don't see it happening anytime soon.
19
Next year Mr. Egan, try having a Thanksgiving among American expats living in Western Europe or the Nordic countries where they have been exposed to affordable healthcare, paid maternity/paternity leave, undisputed reproductive rights for women, affordable childcare, affordable higher education, lengthy paid vacation, good public transport, and governments who take the environment seriously and seem to be trying to improve the lives of ordinary people - not just the uber-wealthy. You are highly unlikely to meet any Trump supporters around our tables, which far from making us feel smug, makes most of us feel terribly sad to see so many ordinary Americans in a country we love, being duped into allegiance to a conman who is destroying our country.
86
Mr. Egan, a supporter of this president would never break bread with "those other people". George Wallace's racism of the sixties is more palatable now because the bile and venom of segregation is spewed forth from the Oval Office and has the seal of presidential approval.
I have read countless columns and op-ed pieces during the last ten months that expressed a longing for former President Obama, missing him terribly for his goodness and decency, his devotion to making an America for the betterment of all its citizens and an outreach for global peace. His presidential comportment and class are dearly missed today and millions of Americans who took him for granted now understand what a wonderful president and human being he was.
President Obama was the water that many Americans didn't miss until America's well went dry. Your colleague, David Brooks, wrote a piece last year months before the election that stated he was already missing President Obama well before November 8th. Mr. Brooks, no fan at all of the former president, nevertheless paid tribute to President Obama's qualities, knowing that the GOP nominee was sorely lacking in fundamental human decency.
What the sitting president did was sell a turkey to the American people -- himself and his administration. Maybe he should give thanks to Vladimir Putin for installing him as the president of Russia's newest satellite.
116
Direct quote from the piece cited by Mr. Egan: "By 2012, 49 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats said they would be at least "somewhat unhappy" if one of their children had a bipartisan wedding".
Well, this reads very much like parents' wish that their children marry only people like us. This is a very old practice of making dynastic unions, and unions of property and capital, to say nothing of mixed-faith marriages.
Such practices should have theoretically led to artificial selection of certain character traits, but this is not a politically correct subject.
1
I don’t believe that we’re due for a tribal apocalypse: I believe that our political parties are due for a meltdown because they’ve both failed pretty completely to provide a binding American narrative and to further the interests of Americans. Indeed, they’re BOTH turkeys, that ugliest of fowl.
There are plenty of Republicans who, like me, haven’t thrown in the towel on the “big issues” of the day, believe that it’s just OUR diplomacy over eight years under the last U.S. president that failed dismally to ensure peace, and that “more ethnic diversity” is neither good nor bad but merely something that needs to be managed intelligently so that a recognizable American culture and the ancient notion of an America melting pot survives.
Tim is little more than a provocateur for the strident left, who can see nothing positive in what Trump seeks to accomplish. He never extends an olive branch, refuses to acknowledge that traditional Republican beliefs of self-reliance, strong commerce and stronger defense, have places at that Holiday Table, and clearly contributes to the hatred that divides our people. There is no balance in what he writes, and his positions will not serve as the basis for a national healing.
I sat at a Thanksgiving table this year filled with Democrats and independents and a couple of Republicans, and none of us had a problem asking the other to “pass the gravy”. Here’s hoping that ALL Americans can find much for which to be thankful, this year and every year.
11
Richard,
I always enjoy reading your comments, as you are clearly well educated and well spoken. I almost never agree with you, but hope to learn from your thoughts.
I must point out, in my opinion, the fallacy of your comment is in coupling Trump with anything that could be called remotely traditional Republican beliefs. He is entirely bankrupt of any idea of policy or procedure or how to govern. If that were the case, I believe more of the public could strive to understand and work with the current administration. Sadly, his only agenda is Trump, the family and the brand. I fail to see what, if anything he hopes to "accomplish".
He seeks; publicity, self aggrandizement, revenge at the pettiest level, "winning", self enrichment, and disruption. He is worthy of neither respect nor loyalty by the majority of the electorate. He is a punitive, puerile, shallow bully. The type of empty vessel he demonstrates daily is one in which I could never become invested or desire to understand better.
But, thank you. I will keep reading.
24
Surely you're aware of knowledgeable professionals and academics who enumerate the many ways in which Trump is destroying current and future relations with our allies and deepening hostilities with adversaries. Under President Obama, the US was still admired. Under Trump, world opinion has plummeted.
http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/06/26/u-s-image-suffers-as-publics-around-...
5
Really??!! The ancient notion of the melting pot was a FICTION, a mythology of the dominant culture to assuage their crimes against anyone different. The problem is that you and other Republicans, who enable a lying, treasonous, inept, childish, ignorant, anti-American crime family who've taken over, resist the evolution of that mythology because you have a limited ability to understand and less will to change and operate from a combination of fear and privilege.
9
From what I've seen since Trump's election, most of his supporters (not all of them, perhaps, but a solid majority) are tolerant of liberals, generally just shrugging off the abuse they've been taking, whereas most of Trump's detractors are intolerant and unwilling to forgive anyone who voted Trump.
All you need to do to see that is to read readers "most recommended" comments on articles like this one.
11
Nice thoughts on your part, but if I am unbending when confronted by Nazi sympathizers, female sexual assaulters, and oligarchic plutocrats, then yes I am intolerant.
18
Bots recommend articles here. Have you ever seen anybody drive a truck with fuel injector into the exhaust to blow huge clouds of smoke? That’s what kind of people like Trump. Have you dared to visit this gun infested land?
8
Really? More anecdotal ignorance from Trumpanzees. What are your numbers for your "solid majority"? How about those Charlottesville folks? Tolerant? How about Fox, Breitbart, Infowars, etc . There is no solid majority of Trumpies--they are a minority, including Trump tolerators , mainstream Republicans who would rather vote for someone clearly unfit to hold any office whatever in this country rather than a Democrat. The reason not to forgive anyone who voted for this corrupt, lying, treasonous bully is that they--YOU--have plunged the country into an abyss that only the Mueller investigation and its long and difficult aftermath may purge us. You didn't learn ANYTHING from Watergate. So spare us the fake tolerance.
13
It's the holiday season, so even good columnists get lazy. This piece is the journalistic version of Rodney King's inadvertently hilarious lament, "Can't we all just get along?" (Hilarious because Rodney King, an African-American, was televised being clubbed nearly to death by a posse of white policemen, who were then acquitted of any crime.)
The answer is no, we can't all just along.
Franklin Roosevelt once said of the plutocratic class, "I welcome their hatred." Which is exactly how I feel about Trump supporters--I welcome their hatred.
And I want them to welcome mine.
82
camorrista,
Very well said. Thank you for speaking out.
2
Anyone that brings up politics at a family table for Thanksgiving cannot have much respect for his or her family. These people seated around you come first. Non-family members there are guests of family and get the same consideration. Saying or doing anything to anyone there with the intention of provoking conflict or doing a smack down reveals a very low and base personality.
We are there to celebrate something that binds us much more strongly than the issue of the day. Politics can take a holiday for a day.
23
The message of Thanksgiving hits two of our problems square on: sharing with others and recognizing the human in all of us. The Trump White House and the GOP Congress has the diametric opposite take: give more to the 1/4% (specially their bananas backers) and exacerbate differences to create a distraction from this hijacking of government.
22
I picture the Pilgrims feasting on the winter stores of the natives who had died from European diseases and littered the woods with their bones.
1
It is clearly in the interests the Republican Party to limit the educational opportunities of their lower middle class base . In order to maintain the enthusiastic,, if not to say rabid, support of this group, Republican strategists must appeal to instinct, intuition, inherited bias, all whipped together in a frothy, toxic brew that can be passed around the table in a single drinking horn.
If Our current Education Secretatry successfully extends the kingdom of god into red zone public schools— that is to say manages to implement a revisionist curriculum inspired by fundamentalist Christian superstition— she will have then stabilized the divide between rich and poor in her own party while at the same time permenantly alienating the liberal opposition.
Of course, the ‘opinion’ just expressed may be nothing more the residual paranoia or conspiracy sickness one might naturally expect in the current political season, but even if that is so, it only goes to my larger point, viz., the Republican strategy is to divide the country, not unite it. And the best way to accomplish that is to cut communications with the enemy.
Or not . But I do know one thing— when it comes to the holidays, and my relatives in Trump Country, I’m waiting out the war.
17
Dr, you are not being paranoid to focus your concern on public education. The wealthy will eventually get the vouchers they claim "will be a benefit to the poor so poor kids can go to better schools." They are actually looking for a way to have the costs of private schools for their special darlings financed by We the People. That will be the death knell to public schools. What we need (and can certainly afford as the richest nation in the history of the world) "to make America great again" are world class public schools for every kid, and heavily subsidized post high school education for all who are interested. Without a VERY well educated populace we are sunk. Public schools have been a key to whatever semblance of "e pluribus unem" we have ever had-- their destruction by the GOP and the wealthy will take us closer to the new civil war than these greedy rich folks probably imagine.
1
How to spot the Trumpster: Most loud, Most Dumb. Somehow, that ALWAYS goes together. Bigly.
45
Oh, my, Phyliss Dalmatian...And Egan thinks Trump supporters are biased?
5
Thanks. And I thought I was being too subtle.
3
Where's the bridge over the canyon? I must have missed this, unless Egan is referring to the mythical Trump voter who has seen the error of his or her ways. Certainly there was no such beast to be seen at my Thanksgiving table, and I'll believe they exist if I ever meet one.
If anything, the recent elections have shown that Trump can drive up turnout among Democrat-favoring voters. He's mobilized Democratic voters to change their voting habits. Apparently, more now deem it worth their while to register their displeasure with authoritarianism, even if only by casting votes against Republicans in any available context.
18
We do not have a common core anymore, Mr. Egan. "E pluribus unum?" When were we ever "one?" Never, certainly, during the Civil War, or either in the two great wars (1914-1918) and (1939-1945) in which America participated.
The divisions that begat the Civil War are self-evident and omnipresent in all of our politics and social behavior since. The America which fought in the two great wars was segregated, including the armed forces, so the fighting was done not for the cause of all but for the cause of one. The fighting forces during our misadventures in Vietnam were integrated but public anger led to the nearly-complete dissolution of the social pact between the government and the governed.
Richard Nixon was particularly skillful in exploiting the divisions within the two parties. Indeed, he cribbed the test notes from Strom Thurmond, who, in 1948, led a walkout at the Democratic National convention because Harry Truman integrated the armed services. Nixon's Southern Strategy of 1968 was waiting to happen, ever since the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) became a feature of the American political and social landscapes.
The nastiness which has become perhaps a permanent feature that distinguishes our two-party system was launched by Republicans (Nixon); kept on the boil by Ronald Reagan (that old states' righter); and accepted by both Bushes. Donald Trump is "here be monsters" on that uncharted map.
We don't like each other very much. Do we, Mr. Egan?
48
"But as bad as things are, a majority of Americans, an increasingly bipartisan pool, are appalled at the monstrosity of Trump’s presidency."
I sure pray to God that this is the case. In any event, we will find out during the midterms in 2018 and again in 2020. For the only sentiment that will count will be the one expressed at the ballot box.
51
To illustrate Mr. Egan's point. Our right wing, evangelical, Trump voting, gun owning relatives were 1200 away on Thanksgiving day and we were so very thankful.
40
JB,
This is stereotyping unbecoming to self-righteous liberals who think that they own the truth.
7
Who does the "us" and "them" narrative serve? It was initially promulgated by the right and the left has now bought into it. I believe that our differences are far fewer than are portrayed. We all want good schools, well paying jobs, low taxes, reasonably priced healthcare, security and the sense that the burdens of providing these things are borne fairly across our society. By pitting each of us against our neighbors (and many of mine were Trump supporters and not necessarily bad people) who wins? What interests are served when we demonize one another? I think back to the Watergate mantra... follow the money.
12
I appreciate the ideas in this column, and I vow to maintain cordial relationships with our Republican neighbors (who refused to vote for the Orange Peril.) But please: it's not only the right-wing media throwing flames. The left is just as guilty (heck, I'm just as guilty) of demonizing the GOP. I'd like to think the left doesn't lie--or not nearly as much, or as blatantly--but we've all got to tone down the rhetoric.
I believe in this country. I think we can live peaceably, all different clans and creeds, maybe arguing and snarking but at heart a group of people recognising our common existence, trying to make life a little better where we can.
5
I wish I saw something to respec to in Republicans, but playing suckers for Trump has removed the last suspicion I might have had that you are able judges of character.
Nihilists calling themselves conservative don’t even know who they really are.
1
Well, I was disappointed this wasn't about Tim's family, which I suppose is in Eastern Washington, but maybe Maureen already covered this ground with her unfortunate brother. And I would quibble with Egan's analysis that Americans who aren't optimistic about the present or future are Trump's wheelhouse. That's the way I feel and I'm Bernie all the way. During the mother of all disasters election of 2016, it sure didn't help that every NYTimes' columnist slammed Bernie and tried to prop Hillary up. (Such unanimity of opinion is suspicious and dangerous, shame on you) You needed to get out of the office. Except for over 50 white women, Americans didn't trust or like her. The polls were right. Sanders would have beat Trump by over 5 points -- carrying the rust belt and winning the election despite any weird electoral college bias.
7
How about we stop relitigating the last election and think carefully about how those of us who are appalled by the result can come together? I think the voters in Virginia this month showed us a way forward.
58
Bernie was just a repeat of the promary in 2008, playing Obama’s role to take out Hillary and lose the general election to any Republican, amply funded by dark money through lots of small donations until the day he wins the nomination.
1
Until this year, you were hard-pressed to find a Democrat to say nice things about George W. Bush — see Worst President Ever — or Mitt Romney, often cast as a heartless plutocrat.
I think it still holds true. Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq with its impact on destabilization of the region, hundreds of thousands of deaths including military and civilian population, tragic consequences to America's treasury, all are his legacy that speak louder than his recent speeches.
34
In my mind, W. really divided the country with his self-righteous "you're either with us or against us" approach to politics. He was quite a liar himself - see Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. making the case for war. But, yes, amazingly, I prefer W. to our current Commander in Chief; but I haven't forgotten what he's done. And I think he deserves some blame for the current administration.
29
"It’s one thing to be drawn to the like-minded, birds of a feather. It’s another to see the other birds as vile. For this, you can blame the right-wing press, which has built a profitable industry on hatred of a caricatured “other.” Thus, Rush Limbaugh says “feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”"
It is, indeed, the extreme right-wing media environment of Hate Radio and Fox News that feeds conservative anger, angst and sense of the working class white male as victim. Neutralizing its influence both on the GOP and on rural white America is the greatest challenge we face in trying to reunite the country once more.
22
Yes, we can certainly be thankful for this. Decent, honest and thoughtful people of all political persuasions agree:
"... he is so singularly coarse and vulgar, so ill informed and small-minded, he has made people see the better side of those they had long written off."
16
If Trump won the election by appealing to disenfranchised pessimists, how do they feel now that they elected a person so grossly unfit to be president it's a global embarrassment? Their angst and anger should be directed at Trump, not Democrats. By this continual lying and attempting to distract people from being informed about the Mueller investigation, Trump is obstructing justice, a high crime punishable by impeachment at the very least. Additionally, he chose to surround himself with nefarious players such as Manafort, Flynn, and his own son-in-law. We can only hope that justice will triumph.
12
We Canadians are just hoping you can get this humiliating situation sorted out in 2020. Or earlier.
83
Thanks, neighbor!
And here I thought it was mainly chemicals and mountaintops that the Trump administration was increasing in our waterways. But you've got it right. It's bile!
9
Romney was not tested in office as president, but Bush and his gang were responsible for the 2008 crash and taxpayer bailout of the financial industry, war, torture and other war crimes, Guantanamo, and spying on citizens. Any frying pan in a fire, I guess.
40
Trump cannot make us "hate" each other. Only we can do that.
8
I am still struggling to forgive those in my family & neighborhood who voted for a guy so obviously evil and unfit. I'm not there yet.
77
One year ago, the electoral college selected a man who:
Makes Nixon look honest
Makes Ford look erudite
Makes Reagan look engaged
Makes Bush look populist
Makes Shrub look intelligent
48
I'm finished with trying to discuss politics with Trump supporters and been verbally abused for the exercise. Don't care about the clivage in our society, for most of us who are progressives didn't cause it. We live in fractured times, true, but since there is little chance for that to change while Trump and his allies are in power, those of us on the left of the aisle must just resist, in any way possible, the nasty destruction desired by Trump and his allies. If one wants to see why we on the left refuse conciliation, read the distasteful screed in today's Times written under M. Dowd's name. Apparently the NYT believes that allowing Trump supporters to express their opinions is somehow healthy for its readership and will mollify the political right wing sufficiently to allow for reason discussion. Perhaps historians at the Times should review 1933 issues of Frankfurter Zeitung to see how well that turns out.
23
Totally agree.
8
You're a really funny guy, Tim!
The right wing press is responsible for the vile birds at the family dinner table. Yeah, Rush gave us the unforgettable "deplorables". Hilleryarious.
The Deplorables ignored the real issues in the last election. Split-your-gut humor, Tim. We ignored the debt ($20.6 Trillion), the deficit ($600 Billion +), the trade imbalance (half a Trillion, give or take), the student loan catastrophe ($1.6 Trillion), health care costs ($3.2 Trillion), off-shore tax dodges ($2.2 Trillion), 43 Million living below the poverty line.
Meanwhile, you bleeding hearts were bleeding about the real issues. Uh, what were they again, Tim? Oh, that's right - where your gender confused son was going to pee. Move over girls, your rights and sensitivities are secondary to the real issues.
Yep, a really funny guy, Tim. What about SNL? Isn't that where Franken got his start?
2
Albert - If you are trying to be funny, you are failing, miserably.
5
You are a funny guy, Tim. Imagine, blaming the right wing press for the vile birds profit center. Wow. What a doozy! You should score a job writing for Coldbear.
I mean, Rush is honored with coining the "deplorable" vileness. Sweet. Just like the obligatory "sexist, racist, misogynist, islamophobe............" that lead off every libbie comment last year. Followed with a boat load of Otherisms like unwashed, ignorant, inbred, flyovereverver
3
Trump Nation will not waver in their blind, angry, support of their Professional Political Wrestler-In-Chief.
His supporters in Johnstown, Pennsylvania from his down and out Caucasian caucus "are energized by his bombast and his animus more than any actual accomplishments. It’s not what he’s doing so much as it is the people he’s fighting. Trump is simply and unceasingly angry on their behalf, battling the people who vex them the worst—“obstructionist” Democrats, uncooperative establishment Republicans, the media, Black Lives Matter protesters and NFL players whom they see as ungrateful, disrespectful millionaires."
Joey Del Signore, who loves Trump, said:
"Trump’s probably the most diligent, hardest-working president we’ve ever had in our lifetimes. It’s not like he sleeps in till noon and goes golfing every weekend, like the last president did.”
After the reporter informed him that Trump golfs more than Obama, Del Signore was surprised.
“Does he?” he said.
Del Signore has been following politics more than before because of Trump.
Trump, he said, is just “more interesting. 99% of the time I watch Fox. Sometimes I’ll be sitting there listening to all this Fox stuff, and I’ll say, ‘Maybe they aren’t right, maybe I’ll flip to CNN’—but every time I’ve found that Fox has been correct, and CNN is definitely fake news.”
FROM https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstow...
Some people who watch TV cannot be reached.
137
And Obama got up early to read the intelligence reports. Trump gets up early to tweet about sports figures and women.
We all knew Trump was bad news from the beginning, but how much worse it has gotten? How low can this nation go?
31
The Rapture can’t happen too soon for Trumps army of nihilists.
1
While partisan divides are tense today, talk to your parents or grandparents about the late ‘60s. That was a far more tumultuos era, and we survived that. In three years we will all be looking at each other as if we had just had a near miss with a truck on the freeway. We will collect ourselves, breathe a sigh of relief, and then continue our journey.
22
"We will collect ourselves, breathe a sigh of relief, and then continue our journey."
No we won't.
The regulations that trump will have repealed will have their effect on the environment, the work place and Americans' health. The reactionary laws that the republicans will pass will harm many people.
Hopefully the awful Tax Cut until the middle class bleeds bill will not go through. But since the republican congress people are dependent on and run by the very wealthy donors--Koch Brothers, Mercers, etc.. they will lie cheat and kill to enure the bill goes through.
It is now time for "All Good People To Come To The Aid Of The Democratic Party". It's our only chance of escaping a decent into totalitarianism and a return to the awful past of endemic poverty, homelessness, segregation, racism, sexism, and classism.
14
Perfect Mr. Park, I couldn't agree more. Yes, things seem ugly now but our country has a long "distinguished" history of partisanism. This is the price we pay for such a messy form of government. Imagine a long-haired hippie at the Thanksgiving table in 1969 and Archie Bunker at the head right? This wasn't that long ago. As a society, we need to create "exercises" in commonality. Activities that help us recognize our common values, caring for those in need for example. Many of us across the aisle can agree that human suffering is terrible, let's get together and deliver holiday meals. We can both agree that American Football rocks (or at least we could before the protests) and even I am pretty excited when teams win 7 games in a row. We need to do this without natural disasters or a "Trumped-up" war. War is the age-old means by which everyone has been brought together under one flag and distracted from the ugliness at home. Let's not let this happen anymore. North Korea is not really a threat and millions of people dieing is not an answer. A better answer is us getting together for holidays and doing something meaningful, liberals and conservatives, that helps us realize we're all in this together.
1
I think you are right, Mr. Park. I remember tanks going down the streets of some American cities. But the stakes are higher now. Our society is more fragile in so many ways than it was in 1968. Mistakes made now may never be corrected.
9
How do we restore more shared visions and goals? It is the question we must tackle.
14
"Thus, Rush Limbaugh says 'feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.'”
That's rich, coming from a porcine hog of a man.
236
-he could have added, "And Right Wing Radio was created for guys who look like me". If there was ever a Face for Radio, he owns it. So far, no women have come forward to accuse him of harassment - it might be he favors harassing men - but someone really ought to ask him about being a spokesman for Opiate Abuse. Doctor hopping allowed him so much access to painkillers, it nearly cost him his hearing and career. Today he still talks funny, I mean oddly - Rush has never been remotely close to humorous - kind of like a cartoon rendition of his former self. Voice on Loan from Mel Blanc, rest his soul.
Indeed it is. Sounds like sore loser logic to me. It's usually the guys most women wouldn't give the time of day to that despise women's ability to make informed choices and earn a good living. Because they know such women would not choose them. And that makes them bitter. What a surprise.
2
In the past my sister-in-law's relatives from northern NY descended on MA for Thanksgiving. She, my brother and his family (me) are liberals and they are staunch conservatives. After several unpleasant political 'conversations' that upset stomach before even eating Patty decided that anyone who brought up politics would be fined $25. Much more serene Thanksgivings followed and this was before Trump where it is now imperative that lips are sealed except for eating.
23
I go back to November 10 when I looked around and wondered who among my neighbors and coworkers voted for Trump and ignored over 12 months of racist, sexist and homophobic language, multiple allegations of sexual assault supported by his own boasts on the Access Hollywood tape, ridiculing a reporter with a disability, encouraging violence against peaceful protesters and the media, open fawning over known autocratic dictator thugs, and a lengthy documented history of unethical business practices, including not paying contractors. In the coming weeks, I learned it was also friends, and listened as my cousin tearfully recounted being verbally attacked by an in-law who is a Trump supporter in front of her 8-year-old daughter.
I can't apologize for having no interest in counting Trump voters among my friends. Not only do many of them choose to ignore his rants, they also fail to challenge them and often at least partically endorce them. I am no more interested in living among them than I am interested in having members of the KKK on the board of my neighborhood association. I know they are content to sacrifice the rights and well-being of our nation's "others" for their perceived interests; and eventually, when it is I who is threatened they will offer no more support than "thoughts and prayers".
266
It's hard to embrace diversity, inclusiveness and tolerance when you're a libbie, isn't it, Karen? So many deplorables lurking in the neighborhood, 63 Million of us. Your plumber. Your cleaning lady. Your pool boy. Horrifying. Terrifying. Sad.
1
It is so convenient to blame "them" for our current state of affairs, including electing someone to the White House who, at best, will be an eternal embarassment to this period of our history. But Trump is not an aberration; he's the result of a politics that has been degraded for decades. Liberals and democrats are also players in that decline. If you want to help perpetuate the divide -- or canyon, as Timothy Egan correctly calls it -- that is killing this nation, you could not do a better job than comparing Trump supporters to members of the KKK. If our problems continue, you and others who think like you will have in no small measure contributed to them.
1
You sum up my thoughts perfectly.
7
As my hopes begin to dim
My democratic hopes slim
Pushed to the emotional rim
Back comes my special Tim.
There is hope for tomorrow
If his optimism I follow
This president is crude and hollow
Bud our ground for winning is fallow
8
This piece is unfortunately typical of the NYT's approach: "we would get along so much better, if you weren't an idiot." But perhaps we think the same about you?
9
We know what you think about us. We don't care.
We have raced away from you, fled as fast as we could to get away from people who would vote for a traitorous grifter because they found uppity women, queers and negroes a threat to their white masculine image of social dominance.
We have no interest in being neighbors of people who think tax cuts pay for themselves and that we should continue to extract and burn dinosaur remains to power our lives, global warming is a hoax, don'cha know.
We have no interest in your Christian Dominionism, your bogus wars financed off the books, your birtherism and its obvious racism.
In short, we think you're a toxin that is best avoided.
Hope that clears things up for you.
33
I prefer to interpret the hopefulness of the last paragraph as a simple recognition that some large percentage of our society are beyond the pale of humanity, indeed deplorable. The vast majority of American patriots are decent, peace loving, people of faith that believe deeply in liberty and justice for ALL. Including economic justice that rewards work in a free and fair market capitalism, not fraud. We will simply use our votes to express our horror at the fascistic, racist, treason exhibited by the minority. Woe be the oppressor of the legitimate democratic voice of we the people. See y'all at the polls in 2018.
Until then, RESIST. The House impeaches the Senate convicts.
No reconciliation without TRUTH!
14
Yes, but only one of us is right.
11
Tim, you are a great writer.
The last flickering flame of the "American Century" was extinguished when this President was sworn into office. And the "Jilted Age of American Decline" commenced. Shockingly, this decline in moral leadership at home and around the world was born when one party controlled three branches of government and Fox News.
You have written on the many extremes of this "Jilted Age" whether it was the threat to our national parks, our health care or even our position in the world.
The Trumpian Jilted Age requires a serious discussion about who we are and what we stand for as a country in both the urban and rural settings.
The policies, or lack thereof, of this Administration is a direct result of a President so wrapped up in his own distorted vision that a generation of acolytes will unravel the work of our Jeffersoian vision of democracy. Teddy Roosevelt's leadership in the environment and strike against monopolistic pursuits is endangered. FDR's courage strengthening our resolve to defeat Facism and secure basic decent rights for all our citizens is our strength as a country. And Kennedy's vision of what America can become through basic civil rights and through research and development witnessed the eventual passage of long delayed civil rights legislation of the 60's and our landing on the moon and safely returning.
The Trumpian Jilted Age has commenced. This theme is singular in its focus with many story lines of lost opportunity.
28
Any sign of a new connection between those on each side of the ideological pole is welcome, so the evidence of a bit of it here is welcome. But watch those generalizations! We seem to have forgotten the precariousness about making them. There are actually individuals behind the members of each assigned category, any generalization contains some error, and they can't necessarily be well understood without an attempt at real empathy.
I also think my liberal side is not blameless in its easy demonization of the "other," either. It may feel good to go negative, but it doesn't accomplish anything.
We have to find ways out of this huge pit we're digging for ourselves. The "don't talk politics" mantra I keep hearing is not the way there. Instead, a part of it is to re-define "talking politics" so it can be done in a civil way. Once we get familiar with that, there's still a lot to figure out about actually re-building our democracy.
I took a stab at it in an 8-part series: "Should Trump Loathers Talk to Trump Voters." Here's Part 8: https://medium.com/@innovator3/the-speaking-to-the-trump-voter-series-un....
1
At my Thanksgiving table in Colorado, Democrat and Republican (all of whom deplore what is going on in this country), Christian and Jew, Hispanic and Anglo, male and female, young and old, straight and gay, all sat down to dinner in perfect harmony and respect without once mentioning the state of America today. For a few short hours we were able to forget all that. It was bliss. it gives one hope that the true spirit of this country can survive the unrelenting attacks now coming from our own government. But on the morning after, it also makes me sad.
55
Sorry Tim, I think the biggest disservice Donald Trump did to this country is normalizing the war criminal George W Bush. At least he hasn't started a war and killed millions, YET. Maybe that's something to be pollyannish about.
Also, this country's original sin wasn't slavery but the genocide of the indigenous peoples.
Pass the gravy indeed, friend.
79
It may be that the intensity of political division reflects the fact that the US has become a minority-run country. Due to population concentration, gerrymandering, and a presidential election system allows the person with fewer votes to become president, we now live in a country in which the majority of votes for representatives, senators, and president have been for Democrats. Yet all three branches are controlled by Republicans.
Taxation without representation led to first US Revolution. If it continues, expect another one.
186
Did I miss the part in your article in which the author lays out his plan for bridging the canyon across the holiday table?
This article does a good job of articulating how bad Trump and his followers are (like we needed more of this). But, where are the words of wisdom? This article just provides more fodder that expands the canyon.
Could someone explain what the point of this article actually is?
8
Hopefully the world will be rid of Trump before next Thanksgiving.
As much as he has been able to divide our country, I truly believe he will single handedly be the biggest reason we will once again unite. The truth will win in the end as each day more of what he has done in darkness comes out into the light. Americans will be forced to use their smarts and their survival instincts and realize that when they vote against their own interests to spite others, they wind up with a Trump turkey.
30
...and then he'll take credit for bringing the country together. Bigly.
1
Sorry, I'm not buying it.
Just because Trump is a terrible president, doesn't mean that Bush wasn't a bad one as well. How can you sweep his war on Iraq and the damage he did to his own country, leaving us in a near depression, under the rug? Are our memories that short and/or flawed?
As far as Romney goes, he may have been a classic "gentleman" with all that suggests, but he would have been just as vicious with his tax cuts for corporations and the rich. Like Trump and Bush, he would have worked hard for the rich, but for the rest of us, not so much.
Let's not set the bar so low for the Presidency that men like that suddenly look good in retrospect. And now that we're all in this together, get everyone you know -- and even those you don't -- to commit to vote next year.
178
My problem isn't with the Trump voter, Republican or Democrat, they'll never change their thought process. They are lost in the cult of reality television personality. Each week Trump hits a new low with his comments and actions and his supporters will go to their graves cheering him on.
My problem is with all those holier than thou, left wing, puritanical Democrats and Independents. Those voters who just couldn't soil themselves voting for Hillary and going against their true principles of leftist ideology. There's enough of them who sat at home Nov. 8, 2016 and helped elect a man who will be with us for the next 8 years destroying our nation. He's not going anywhere. There's enough judges the Senate will have confirmed to keep him around and prevent any actions against him or his billionaire cabinet for a very long time.
Happy Holidays Folks!
60
The constant dump on Trump. No recognition that it was Obama for America that was handing out booklets three years ago about how to look like Pajama Boy and talk to your "crazy uncle" (did they test their lines on Joe Biden?) about Obamacare. Or that it is Planned Parenthood that this year produced guidelines about how to talk about their bloodletting over Thanksgiving turkey (I guess the Caesar Salad and Chardonnay over fetal body parts was passe): see https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/how-to-talk-to-your-family-... . So, yes, Thanksgiving and Christmas have been turned into occasions by which agitators can deploy their talking points to unsuspecting relatives, but the impetus for politicizing everything is very much born on the Left.
4
What a mean spirited and disgusting post: e.g. fetal body parts and Chardonnay on Planned Parenthood's webpage. It and you belong on Breitbart, not a responsible news outlet.
17
Thank you for the link--it's nice to know that Planned Parenthood has gotten increased support since Trump was elected. (46,000 donations in Mike Pence's name! That's amazing.)
When I was young and poor, the only health care I got was through Planned Parenthood clinics. I'm grateful to them for making cancer screening and birth control available for me for years when I couldn't afford insurance.
22
Trump has claimed to be a unifier and that he would bring the country together like no one before. At this rate, his predictions will come true, albeit not as he intended. Trump's lies, immaturity, antagonisms, narcissism, ineptitude, divisiveness, hatred, ignorance, self-indulgence are becoming so oppressive that decent-minded Americans will disown him.
21
@NM -- as usual, you hit the bulls eye. He has also unified evil in the state of Alabama, where retaining a red senate seat is more important than common decency. I always thought that the South would fight tooth and nail for the sanctity of white Christian womanhood. Giving Roy Moore a pass for what he did to teenage girls goes against the grain of what makes America great. As always, thanks for your submissions. I always look for them in every column and op-ed.
1
As a well known psychologist stated, "We are all more alike than different".
How 'bout we appeal to commonalities rather than emphasizing differences?
They are deeper and more numerous .... And support & Give Thanks for such.
9
Bob Corker doesn't like Trump. I'm not going to break out the champagne. The Senator made it his mission to prevent his constituents from getting decent wages, benefits and work protections at the Volkwagen plant. Like Trump, he lied as a means to an end. He's vile. Volkswagen didn't want to bring another plant to the South because of this.
As for Rush Limbaugh…It's not surprising that he puts down feminism and women. He's an extremely immature man, which is very unappealing to a woman. No doubt, he's received a lot of rejection from the opposite sex. The internet is full of conservative men trying to convince themselves that liberal women are unattractive. Lol.
80
How does someone tolerate, let alone embrace, including a blood relative, anyone whatsoever who accepts a self-professed sexual predator, misogynist, racist, white supremacist, fraudulent businessman, anti-Semite, bully, and harmful narcissist? No, there should be personal "red lines" that as human beings, supposedly equipped with a conscience and moral compass, we should never, ever cross in our lives, and even at the cost of fractured friendships and broken familial bonds. Self-respect is the first law of survival and the sine qua non for us to also love others.
70
Well said.
9
That’s my feeling as well—to me it was a traitorous act to vote for Trump—an attack on my country and on me.
19
So it boils down to the fearful, intolerant hating Trump supporters on the one hand and the loving, altruistic leftists on the other? Either (1) this is a satirical piece or (2) Mr Egan is demonstrating the exact fear and intolerance that he is accusing the other side of. Paul Krugman and Charles Blow have been writing the same thing for the 13 months....hate is hate, and for this subscriber I wish these gentlemen would stop whining and focus on more constructive matters.
5
The most constructive thing anyone could do would be to remove Trump from office.
15
Don't kid yourself into thinking that this column represents the thinking of all Democrats.
My main objections to the GOP and Trump have to do with financial issues and the environment, with basic financial and environmental infrastructure, if you will.
It's tough to have an argument about things like bathroom bills and kneeling/not kneeling when the national anthem's played when you're so broke you can't afford to treat an illness or injury that could kill you but that medical care could treat, the air is too foul to breath, what little water you can find is foul and undrinkable, and the temperatures are so hot you can barely function. We're not there yet, but that's where we're headed if the GOP continues to have its way.
9
Wrong. So very, very wrong. And I'm amazed at the number of Democrats who think that way. Remove Trump? Then we have Pence, the modern day Savonarola, plus a GOP-controlled Congress.
I don't see any improvement over our current situation in that scenario. None whatsoever.
1
on the whole - ardent trump supporters, supporters of his policies and tweets - are a basket of deplorables. and i am being kind. with some exceptions - ignorant. Jimmy Kimmel show went into the street to interview trump supporters and asked them "should hillary be impeached." the overwhelming answer was yes. impeached form what, i as.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMupq6zB1Tc
trump has, brick-by-brick, dismantled everything from the "black president born in kenya" who he hates, is truly jealous of and lies about - tapping (sic) his office - sure. destroying the environment; destroying consumer protection; taxes favoring the rich and super-rich; attacking just about anyone of color - even gold star families; insulting world leaders - friend and foe - and lying so much he can't tell a lie from the truth. but we can tell.
can't
18
I now love reading Jennifer Rubin's editorials in the Wapo. Who'd a thunk it? Strange bedfellows indeed.
40
One can say that the main difference between Trumpians and the rest of us is that most Americans do not want to impose their beliefs on those that disagree
with them. They may vigorously argue against their views but would not push for laws to suppress their beliefs. The reason of a deep dislike ot Trumpians is not just that they are willing to tolerate coarse behavior for political expediency that they would not tolerate on people close to them but that they want to impose policies that are anathema to the majority of people in the US. Tolerance is the high mark of liberalism but there are limits, there is no room for bigotry, racism and xenophobia.
87
Interesting stat about families' comfort level with marriage outside a political party. The Democrats have not really changed much; it's the Republicans who have gone over the edge. In Eisenhower's day, there was a social contract, and the wealthiest among us paid a 90% tax rate. Today, it's less than a third of that, and heading south. Republicans were also not noticeably less tolerant, and it was the Southern Democrats who blocked civil rights legislation.
Around the Reagan Administration, we became victims of a coup d'etat. The direct cause was a media strategy, led by Fox. Disruptive liberals such as Dan Rather learned that if they dared to cross powerful Republicans, they would be lucky to show up on cable once in a while. Advertisers abandoned edgy publications. Republicans who show independence or common sense- as McCain, Flake, and Corker did recently- knew that the result would be the end of their careers.
Corporate style fascists are in charge of this country, as far right judges take over the judiciary, and lefty journalists like Maddow won't dare mention global warming- or full fossil fuel control of our government.
The Left, and what's left of "green" organizations, could win this. Problem is, they lack the one quality needed to do so: courage.
As for the Republicans, I'm one of those who would be freaked out if my son married one. It would mean that she lacked the tools to stand up to propaganda.
118
Mike Roddy - I disagree with your statement that the Democratic Party hasn't changed all that much. Abandoning much of its FDR, help-the-common-man roots, under Bill Clinton the party moved well to the right with triangulation, end of welfare as we know it, and so on. My European friends tell me we have no party to represent the working classes now, which is why there is so much anger, why so many have run into the arms of the Republicans. Carville said "It's the economy, stupid", and the Democratic Party continues to ignore this at its - and the country's - peril.
1