Trumps' reaction to indignation over vulgar words about other countries, dumbfounded. Exactly! What else did we expect. He is clueless, careless, and friendless. Such a surprise to people who don't open their eyes, nor their ears to what this man is. Pitiful.
1
This incessant whinging over a couple of curse words used in one meeting, or Cory Bookers "Tears of Rage", are about to turn me Republican, for I'll admit, no good reason, since Trump and all he stands for are abhorrent to me. But a man brought to tears by the use of a few words, will never get my vote; obviously, he is not tough enough for the demands of the job. Enough! I didn't realize it was possible to whine this much about one man. Then the long discourses on how beautiful Haiti is or the North African countries. No, they are not, they are corrupt, desperately poor, and oppressed nations. We need to do something about that. Do the Democrats not see they are just moaning to themselves in a mirror? At this point, unless the democratic party actually stands for something, stands powerful and strong, and stops whinging, I will never vote for one of them. People who have zero vision to see the current political reality have no right to exercise power. The left is quite different from when I was younger, they seem to worship victimization. Why all the drama? Isn't this the era of GOT? Every show on netflix a constant stream of profanity and violence, real violence around the world, mass rape, torture, and murder in Myanmar, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, etc - and the democratic party is brought to its knees by a few words? This liberal is heading into the woods, send for me when the democratic party finds a spine.
6
What will it take to get American citizens to take to the streets in mass peaceful demonstrations against this president and for America?
2
“How could you sit in the Oval Office of the White House and hear the president of the United States use this word and not remember it,” Mr. Durbin asked.
How could you? Easily, if you're a Republican.
6
Trump's comments and language were vile because he is a vile and vicious man. He has shown that all his life. Why are politicians and media surprised now?
3
The stunning part was over in Nov 2016 when 63 million folks voted for this guy
2
Sen. Durbin was so stunned and shaken that, of course, he was compelled to share his feelings with America. "Oh my God! The President used a vulgarism! This surely is the end of civilization " What a hypocrite. Forget CHIP and the Dreamers. Let's make political hay while we can.
3
I worked in Washington long enough to know that even the heavy-weights, male and female, use earthy language that would shock many voters. But racist rants? Never
1
Cotton and Perdue aren't wrong; they are lying, and they know they're lying.
4
Donald Trump is a racist. I have no trouble saying that and make no apologies for stating the truth.
4
What more will it take for the American people to demand this president be removed? He is the poster child for everything we do NOT stand for as a nation.
I see the legislative and judicial legs of government as either dazed & confused or as part of this president's effort to create a dictatorship.
It's not about the "salty language." It's about the sentiment behind the language. Privileged, vicious, and dangerously unstable.
2
Did anyone ever really think that Trump was motivated by anything but prejudice and an obsessive desire to please his anti-immigrant white base? He has always shown himself to share his base's passions on this issue.
2
I hope that the people--independents, liberals, lefties--that I basically agree with can manage all to get it through their heads that Trump is a bad guy who isn't going to get better, that posturing is not the same as fighting, that we've let Dick Durbin and his colleagues down as much as anything else, that we need to stop our little routines and show up to vote in November.
As for the assorted Trumpists, shame on you.
More dangerous than Trump and the hate he spouts behind closed doors, are the people who boldface lie for him. Trading their dignity and honour for a seat at the table.
Very sad for America -and dangerous. This is how dictators get and stay in power.
2
Brouhaha? I suppose some would find it perfectly accurate to equate characterizing a country in the way the President did with racism. The word has not, in my memory been associated with any particular race. What one gets from Google is 'an extremely dirty, shabby, or otherwise unpleasant place'. Obviously a judgement based at best on an overall observation probably from an outsider, without the viewpoint of those that call it home.
As it happens, Norway is the third richest country in the world (per capita); Haiti is the 17th poorest.
At a high level meeting on immigration issues, is it helpful or not to ask the question, 'Why do we need more poor people here?' One answer might be that the country is an idea, rather than economic entity. Are wealthier people exploiters or developers? In my neighborhood we have many people scouring the area for recyclable bottles? I understand some have purchased homes. Good for them, but others perceive they are shut out of jobs because they no longer share cultural tools of the imported underclass.
There is a question of racism. The process of living with people who have differences has not reached the ideal some seem to regard as essential. Slavery was an economic reality that even white supremacists do not uniformly seek to restore. The economic issues confronting the country and the world appear to have less importance in the public conversation than issues related to skin color or other markers of human variability.
1
Trump has demonstrated so many times that he is uncouth, undisciplined and uninformed that while Durbin was shocked by his conduct there are many who are not. What Trump says around staffers is probably worse. Think of all of the ugly and discriminatory comments he has made his entire life in the media. Most think there is something wrong with him. Those who like his "style" and bad-boy behavior are only thinking of themselves. Then again, the financially well-off beneficiaries of the new tax cuts are feeling likewise. There is no intersection of the two. The remaining people are those like me who can hardly wait for the day that this embarrassing and ignorant President will be cast out of office. Trump can fool some of the people some of the time but Trump cannot fool all of the people. There are more not fooled than there are that are fooled.
It won't be much longer a wait! How much damage will have been done remains to be a concern.
Trumps profanity didn't surprise me at all, and I don't usually hang out with his kind, but I do know his kind.
This is the way they talk and most importantly this is how they think.
I was at a remote family member's home when the results of the S.C. primary were announced. That episode did shock me and I vowed to never go there again.
1
Durbin was brave to say what he did. It would have been braver still to admit that the language was not "racial," but racist. He's making a distinction without a difference, which is unfortunate.
What seems indisputable is that we have a shithead president, regardless of the "specific" words or phrases he employed in this narrow instance, and that leading Senate and House Republicans are more beholden to him than to moral principles and civic duty. Sad!
What will our country look like once we’re rid of this tumor? The awful fact is that Trump is “winning”, whether through executive orders, actions by his cabinet members, or legislation (the tax bill). Even the ACA has been watered down to a shadow of itself. Nov 2018 and 2020 can’t come soon enough. There wil be a tremendous amount of renovation work ahead to fix this disaster.
...and later that evening President Trump went on to brag about his vulgar language. The most disturbing aspect is how Cotton and Purdue disputed the language and others remained silent.
Patriotism demands our leaders put the U.S. Constitution ahead of personal loyalty. What a sad example these people have set for our children and grand children.
5
Of course its about jobs. What kind of jobs. The kind of jobs taken by
people from the countries Trump spoke ill of are already overfilled
by low-skill illegal immigrants. We don't need more low skilled immigrants.
We need to get rid of most of low skilled illegal immigrants we already have.
Then the low-skilled citizens that have no jobs in our inner cities can
move to agricultural towns of the West and do those jobs.
We don't need serial migration from those countries.
Yes, that says bad things about the vast majority of people from those countries. But its true. Don't blather about that. If there are people from them that we need because of skills, then they will have no trouble getting in.
As far as Mexico or some other Latin American countries goes, the
Cuban immigrants (and many of the "dreamers" from Mexico too)
have a proven record of success in "smarts" jobs. We can take more of those as legal immigrants.
The key is discrimination! We must discriminate in favor of proven success.
2
Are the Republicans are missing the point about DACA? An investment of American tax dollars went into educating nearly one million DACA recipients, additionally, being young, they have many years ahead of them to pay back that tax investment as well as to contribute to other funding issues like social security. Furthermore, they have purchasing power adding to the growth of our economy. The Republicans are all about growing business, so what's not to like? There is much more that these young people can add to our country besides taxes and profits. Have you written your congressmen to voice your opinions on why we should keep these young people and make them illegible for American citizenship?
1
Mr Durbinn's strategy shows desperation and will backfire if it has not already done so. Make as much hay as possible about it, but it sabotaged a chance at a negotiation, and it did not lead to a compromise of any kind. Closing the government in protest will also be counterproductive and will most probably backfire against the Democrats.
The NYT recently ran an article regarding the fallout of diplomatic relations of several African countries after the alleged remark. Does this do the US or our African allies any good? No! It only insults them, what was worse, Trump's alleged remark, which was made at a working mtg that was closed to the press, or Durbin's broadcast of it directly to the press?
Also, most Americans would not agree with the salty language but can clearly see that the comment is otherwise and painfully correct, or else why are people leaving such countries to come to the US illegally, or else coming here legally but overstaying their visas?
Most Americans want an immigration policy that works for Americans and not the reverse.
It is up to these migrant-exporting countries to improve their countries, to emulate America, so that their citizens will have a reason to stay and not flee illegally to the US. America sends foreign aid to many such countries in this endeavor, we should not also have to assume the role of the relief valve of the pressure cooker, too.
3
Vice President Joe Biden made a comment a while back about Dunkin Donuts being served by workers who only spoke with an Indian accent. It was mentioned briefly and then never again. Were people outraged by this racist statement back then? It doesn't appear to be so.
President Trump was not referring to the people when he supposedly used that vulgar term. He was referring to the country itself. He was correct about the unpleasant living conditions and how many people want to live there let alone visit? Everyone wants to come and reside here which is why we have such a problem with illegal immigration. Their own countries should be improving their living conditions and then they would not want to leave.
3
Trump was a Democrat until 3 years ago and his friends Hill and Chuck voted for 700 of miles of wall with a guy named Barrack. Hill also said 9 years ago that just because you snuck across the border doesn't mean you get to stay here.
Chuck had said similar things years before when he was aghast that some were intentionally trying to say that undocumented immigrants were just as good as legal ones.
Codifying DACA into law with some reasonable trade off on Everify or Visa Tracking. Or heightened penalties on re-entry and employing the undocumented should be a 3 hour conversation and a done deal. But people on both sides like the wedge issue and the cheap exploitable labor and apparently human traffickers....
1
This is one of the many reasons we are marching in Kodiak, Alaska over this weekend. Power to the Polls! We must replace bigotry with equality.
1
I am proud to call Durbin my Senator. In my 60+ years of life he is the first politician I have felt that about time and time again as I hear things he said or did.
3
If the President used that word, which I doubt as Sen. Durbin has misrepresented private words spoken before, it was in private, and certainly far less worse than what we know LBJ said in the oval office. This is simply another attack on a legally elected president, hoping to eject him from office. We will not forgive him for defeating Hillary, our chosen leader Well, sorry. I like what the President is doing to encourage busness in the USA, and I like the fact he feels borders need protection. No one advocating open borders has yet explained to me where the cut-off is--how many are you willing to take from the Third World? 10 million. 100 million. Sorry--we cant handle an open border. No Western country can.
9
No, no, no! This is not about anybody losing! If he were doing the job and not being as crass as he is, reporters would be writing on the job, not his reprehensible behavior for a person in his position. How can you doubt he said "that word" when there is video and audio recordings of his speaking in this exact same way. It is not an attack, it is simply reporting what has happened. I'm in agreement, our immigration laws are not inline with our ability to enforce them or what would benefit the country the most, but this behavior does not help fix the problem! Our leaders should be better than me!
Sorry, his use of profanity had been confirmed by others in his own party. And just because LBJ said bad words does not make it right for Trump to dismiss whole countries. Two thirds of the people in this country do not like what he’s doing or how he’s doing it. And no one wants open borders, but your boy promised a big, beautiful, high wall with one door in it, paid by Mexico (none of that is possible) and you bought the lie. That would be the discomfort you are feeling, not some imprecise number you’re demanding of no one in power.
1
"This is simply another attack on a legally elected president..."
or
The reactions of decent people to a man of pathetically low character.
1
If I were a Democratic member of the Congress, never would I attend a meeting as the lone member of my party -- not with the bunch that surrounds Trump.
Perdue and Cotton are both liars -- exposed not only by Durbin and Graham but also by the GOP mouth organ -- Fox News -- which tried to pretend that the suffix "hole" or "house" made a difference in the crudeness and racism expressed by Trump. Democrats need to travel to meeting with the GOP the way that Catholic nuns traveled for years -- in twos -- for their own protection.
22
You're right going forward, but the meeting was only supposed to be Trump, Graham, Durbin. That other GOP hardliners were present was a surprise.
The meeting has nevertheless been described as "bipartisan."
Throughout the article Senator Durbin is addressed as Mr Durbin. I know this isn’t the point of the story, I’m asking for my own education. But shouldn’t he have been addressed as Senator Durbin instead? Seems more appropriate.
19
Lying is contagious. Now that the President has normalized it, others will follow. And senators Cotton and Perdue are proof of that.
29
Shut it down.
No deal on DACA, No government.
A government that seeks to punish innocent children for no fault of their own is not worth having. Until the morally bankrupt people running this government understand that the constitution stands for a set of enlightenment ideals not a set of races we can do without it.
The party running this nation has been opposed to a federal control since the Civil rights acts. They now have the keys to the government, dominating all three branches. Behaving like bulls in a china shop, they are decimating every government office.
In ten months we can try to fix this problem
26
How could Durbin be shocked? Did he not listen to any of Trump's campaign speeches?
1
Who cares what an immigrant to our country looks like or where they come from? All should be welcome as long as he or she doesn't have the same values or character as our president.
32
If you are appalled by Trump, Senator Durban, be appalled at the revealed slice of America that put him in office. If we do not face then battle our inner demons, we can forget about America ever becoming Great Again.
14
Thanks to Dick Durbin for being the only honest broker in that meeting. The GOP is disgusting.
23
So why is it that anyone would go solo into a room with Trump. Who would not take a recording device?
I'm beginning to think that the Dems are being stupid.
Anyway, all this is just a distraction, and it makes Trump look better / tougher to his 'base'. I don't care about vulgarity, Anyone who dosn't know he a racist by now is listening ONLY to Fox or/and is a racist themselves.
What is amazing to me is noone is figuring where the pentagon $'s are going, they certainly are not going to the troops. Follow the $64 extra billion for 'defense' at the expense of everything else... Follow the money.
10
Mr. Inclusive: You are not permitted to take a recording device into a room with trump. If you did, it would have to be hidden. It should not be expected that your president is so foul that you need to record him to prove how foul he actually is. Certainly no one had to record President Obama because they needed to prove that he was racist, cruel, vulgar, and idiotic. This whole mess is extraordinarily bizarre and rotten.
1
Republicans in that meeting were not stunned.
8
There's no way to sugarcoat this.
The reality is, Trump is a racist. His father was a Klansman, so this is how he was raised. He and his father got in legal trouble for refusing to rent or sell real estate to minorities in New York City. He had a habit of hiring foreign workers or working class contractors and not paying them. So he doesn't care much for people who aren't rich either and feels he has the right to cheat them.
Trump does NOT want non-white people in this country. He wants to put the U.S. behind an iron curtain where he can persecute minorities, women, and all working class people. He wants his wall. He will never agree to do anything for DACA or CHIP and wants to cut down on all non-white or non-rich immigration.
The only people Trump likes are rich white men. Considering how he's surrounded himself for several decades with the Russian Mafia, he also likes criminals and dictators like Putin.
The recent Tax Scam was about stealing programs, especially healthcare, from people Trump considers unimportant, i.e., average Americans. And draining the U.S. Treasury into the pockets of the super rich, especially the republicans who pushed it through the republican congress.
Trump would actually like to have a government shutdown. As he probably thinks it will show everyone who's boss. He'd like to destroy the American government and the rule of law especially. So he can rule as a Putin-style dictator.
18
The profanity is nothing compared to the sweeping negative generalization of the humanity born to certain lands. Also, the lack of awareness of our great country and its pillar of immigrants. Fyi, we are already great, no need to make it again.
11
I am stunned by Durbin's ignorance.
3
Brewster Millions: And what ignorance would that be? Durbin is one of the most experienced, honorable, intelligent and respected statesmen that we have. "Ignorant" is not a word that describes Durbin. I think he was so appalled by the ugliness and vulgarity that came out of trump's mouth...We all know that trump is a racist, but when he intensifies it by using blatant, ugly, disgusting, racist language, (and not hiding how he feels one bit) it is all the more disgusting, shocking, and nauseating. That is what Durbin felt.
Like Senator Bernie Sanders said, it's time for Congress to do what Congress does -- write laws and budgets -- without consulting with this president. Let President Trump do what he loves to do, sign his name "bigly" for the cameras, or not. Why should any of them care what he wants or thinks about legislation they are debating and negotiating? He changes his mind or lies or calls them names or breaks his promises. Unfortunately, if Republicans and Democrats do start ignoring him and working better together, he will take credit for the new bipartisanship. And that makes me ill.
15
He can claim credit, but he can't TAKE credit.
And, in any event, he would choke on the word "bipartisanship," choosing instead to crow that his "enemies" were defeated.
He doesn't work WITH anybody. He's the big Boss Man.
1
Despite Mr. Trump's regular tweets guaranteed to set everyone on edge, I am more worried about what his lieutenants actually do while everyone is reacting to whatever inappropriate comments come out of Mr. Trump's mouth. My e-mail inbox is filled with pleas for donations from politicians who report that some department or the other is dismantling Medicare or Social Security or schools funding while we all react in horror to his latest puerile rants.
9
“This may not be about security or American jobs at all,” Mr. Durbin said. “It may be about something else.”
"may be .." LOL! Don't rush to judgment, Senator, let's wait another year and another 100 or so explicitly racist pronouncements before we reach any solid conclusions. By the way, I'm starting to wonder about the Klan's true motivations as well.
4
Proud that he is my Senator!
11
The Democrats are on a mission to make America's lower income citizens and legal residents even more destitute. They refuse to understand that these are the people that they owe their allegiance to.
The latest incarnation of the Democratic Party is to support massive immigration and cheap labour for employers. The Party doesn't care that it will negatively impact America's most vulnerable population, including minority groups, the physically disabled, unskilled workers and the poorly educated.
Their objective is to keep wages down, because after all, they're as much a part of the Wall Street Club as the Republicans. The sickening part is that they pretend to be the voice of the people. And too many suckers are buying into that.
9
Can you not see past the endo of your nose? Immigrants struggle at first but they work hard and encourage their children to do the same and get good educations. Some immigrants have advanced degrees but their native land gives them no opportunity. Mia Love, REPUBLICAN representatie from Utah is second generation HATIAN. Colin Powell is the son of JAMACIAN parents who because Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff then Secretary of State.
Immigrants, along with native born Americans add to our treasurehouse of talent and innovation. Many of the navy sailors killed on the USS McCain and Fitzgerald are first and second generation Americans. Immigrants, more than native born citizens appreciate the opportunities the United States offers. They love this country because they know how bad other countries have it.
Immigrants are not fodder for business. Nor are they burdens on the US. They are an essential ingredient that keeps this nation strong and flexible. They bring new perspective and new ideas that keep us from having to look elsewhere for innovation.
2
When it comes to believing who is telling the truth, I will take the word of Senators Durbin and Graham, both of whom confirmed the President's vile behavior, rather than two newbies such as Senators Cotton and Perdue.
15
No politician or thoughtful American citizen should gloss over the President's comment: The press is the enemy of the people.
The President swore an oath to protect defend the Constitution. That statement borders on treason. It defiles and defies the very 1st Amendment of the Constitution he swore to protect and defend just a year ago.
5
Easy for you to say, the press is not attacking you and your family 23 out of the 24 hours of the day. The President also has 1st. amendment rights and the wherewithal to use them.
1
Like Captain Renault in "Casablanca," Senator Durbin was shocked, SHOCKED to find arguing over policy going on in the Oval Office.
7
Sure there is arguing about policy but that is not what this article is about.
This article is about the President of the US who has a vocabulary of an elementary student in the US, disparaging an entire continent of people with no thought whatsoever, which is why there was damage control for three days.
11
Trump has denigrated just about every race/culture besides his own.
I think it's as plain as day.
13
no, he hasn't. he hasn't insulted white men like me, and u feel left out. I feel insulted by not being insulted because it could give the false impression that I am complicated I'm his foul thinking.
The minute Trump glided down the escalator in front of his paid fans to dump on Mexicans it's been clear what he's about. He uses racism and xenophobia to work up his despicable base. I'm sure it was a bad day for Durbin and for Graham in that meeting (and I am no fan of Graham.) But now Trump's despicable beliefs are out there loud and proud and the consequences are there for him to deal with it, both nationally and internationally.
15
DACA folks are illegal "immigrants". So, too, of course, are the parents who brought them in. Well meaning people often say "we don't penalize kids for the sins of the parents". OK. Does that mean they get to benefit from the sins of the parents? That's exactly what DACA does.
Here's my compromise, and it is a compromise: any DACA person who would pass muster as a legal immigrant should be treated just like a legal immigrant. Any who would be rejected as a legal immigrant should be deported.
And the parents, those who brought the kids in illegally and caused this entire mess, should be deported.
Meanwhile, we must end the lunacy of Birthright Citizenship so we don't allow our own policies to continuously dig this hole deeper.
12
First of all, many of those immigrants were here legally, recruited, hired and given work permits by employers who brought them here with their families to work, doing what American workers would not. They overstayed their permits when those businesses folded, found other jobs and continued to contribute to our economy. Their children have grown up to be Americans, they hold degrees, serve in our military and contribute to our society, following the rules set up for DACA. They should be formally accepted into our society as Americans. Second, the lunacy of Birthright Citizenship is what made it possible for you to be an American. How stupid to think otherwise. However, I do think that the "baby vacation" citizenship offered to wealthy Asians, Russians, and other eastern European countries should be canceled, not promoted by wealthy real estate moguls as a way to sell condos.
Sen. Durbin you maybe stunned but get over it real quick and do something about it - like start working on that 25th amendment?
7
There is a continuous arc from the Southern slave trade; to the Civil War; to Union occupation of the defeated Confederate states during the Reconstruction era; to the poll tax, Jim Crow laws and other 'legal' efforts to disenfranchise African American voters to restore and preserve white control over government in the former Confederate states; to the exodus of segregationist Dixiecrats to the current iteration of the Republican Party after the Democratic Party became the advocate for the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts in the 1960s.
It's the same battle as it always was: it's about preserving a white majority and white supremacy in the United States. It's the fruit of the poisonous tree of America's two original sins: the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans who were dragged to this country to serve white Southern masters.
Despite the "give me your tired, hungry and poor" at the base of Ms. Liberty, our immigration laws have been used historically to prevent Chinese, swarthy Catholics and Jews and other "undesirables" who are not white and Protestant from entering the country. Those laws were liberalized in the 1960s and as a result waves of dark skinned immigrants have come to America, whether 'legally' or 'without documentation.' At current pace, whites will be a minority in about 15 years.
The central theme of Republican politics now is to hold back the tide and prevent that from happening. Republican politics is all about race. Period.
15
When you are trying to negotiate with someone you do not disclose the content of inflammatory closed door dialogue unless your agenda is to sabotage the talks. Period, end of story. Negotiating 101. And the more radical, ignorant, racist or otherwise abhorrent your adversary, the more imperative this norm is. Before retiring I negotiated union contracts for a living. The talks often involved very emotional subjects for individuals who were not in the room. Durbin knew sharing the content of Trump's statement in the meeting would rile up the democrat base like nothing else, making it that much harder to negotiate a compromise deal in good faith. Anyone who really cared about the dreamers would not have done what Durbin did.
8
A union contract is a private business negotiation. This guy is the president of the country. Unless it concerns classified information, he should expect and welcome daylight.
1
Um...Durbin didn't reveal anything. He only confirmed a day later what the Washington Post had reported. Don't kill Durbin. He's not even the messenger.
If restricting immigration to only the white skinned is the goal of 45 and many of his supporters, and I believe it is, wouldn't their next logical step be eliminating them from our present population, and/or sterilizing them to prevent their reproduction?
I don't know in what alternate reality these supporters of his are living in. I'm sure they all think of themselves as good people, especially when they lie about following Jesus. I've been noticing a lot of them get awfully excited about the prospect of a civil war. They share a collective mental illness and delight in threatening innocent people. It is really sad that so many suffer with this hate for their fellow man, only reason for most of it being that the right wing media insisted that the cause of all their ills was brown people.
6
How much longer must we suffer the continuous insult of this skid-mark of a un-human being.
5
The U.S. has an extraordinarily generous immigration policy that Durbin seems unware of. This country is far more forgiving than most of our first world counterparts, who do not allow chain migration. We have de facto open borders. Yet any attempt to enforce immigration law or restrict chain migration is declared racist and draconian. It's a standard response. and the rest of us are to shut up. One wouldn't know it from the news, because the terms of the debate, what we hear every day, ad nauseum, is the SJW agenda. For most, if daily life is any guide, the purpose of the United States is not to service Third World countries. Immigration is one thing. Elevating immigration to a religion, over all other concerns in such a great nation, or a previousl ygreat nation, is another. Today at lunch, three people said they haven't watched the news for weeks.
8
For the senators in the meeting who said "they don't recall", all I know is that when someone in the office uses profanity, it catches everyone's attention immediately, So don't use such a pathetic excuse, I can't recall!
5
i was struck by john erlichman's exquisite and masterful use of american lawyerspeak during his watergate testimony. he set the 'bar' at a new low with this repeated response to questions by committee members -
'senator, at this point in time, i do not recall.'
no wonder nixon was so impressed with the dirty rat.
It's pretty clear that Trump has a personality disorder. I don't know what it is but its clear he isn't normal, this presidency isn't normal and it is so destructive to everyone. He is poisoning our democracy, culture, domestic, and foreign relations and national security. Lawmakers need to grow a backbone and remove him before more damage is done to our country and people.
8
i'd like to see the mental fitness test trump was allegedly given, and how he answered the questions on it.
3
It was not a test of mental fitness, it was a simple cognitive assessment. Look up Montreal Cognitive Assessment. It does not address the concerns of those in the mental health field or the sort of things others are worried about.
1
The president doesn't know what he wants. The man is incapable of thinking something through from A to B. That is why he completely changed his mind between the time he invited Graham and Durbin to the WH and the moment the creeps from the far right got his hear. Previous presidents have been criticized for being too slow to make decisions. Now we are all dealing with a president who is the polar opposite. A guy that will go all in after fourteen seconds of thought. And those of us not viewing this guy through orange colored glasses clearly see the danger the country faces by electing him.
5
Wasn't this the time where the president was trying to show the country he is a "stable genius"?
5
I look forward to more women in Congress, as record numbers are preparing to run for office at all levels. I guarantee, the “salty language” assumed to be commonplace, will find no voice if women predominate.
5
I think we're seeing clearly that Steve Bannon was a symptom, not the disease. The Trump administration wasn't filled with bigoted ideas because Steve Bannon was there. Steven Bannon was there because this is a President that has always believed in a bigoted and short-sighted vision of America.
8
Mr. Durbin should have only been shocked if Mr. Trump had been reasonable.
We have heard him use language most presidents would never use in public. Trump has clearly expressed his beliefs on people of color and their countries. He learned it from his father who refused to rent to people of color. He is very familiar with for "Whites only". And at his age and rich, I am not surprised how hateful this president has been, is and will be.
But this truth is simple regardless of the politics, anger, hate and/or fear; these children were brought here through no fault of their own by their parents and their illegal actions, were raised here, have never lived in Mexico and know no other country.
America is their home for all intents and purposes. They now find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.
5
Trump has brought us back to the darkest days of this nation's past efforts at ethnic engineering through racist immigration laws, such as:
The Chinese Exclusion Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act
The Asian Exclusion Act/Immigration Act of 1924
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924
The Immigration Act of 1924:
"Proponents of the Act sought to establish a distinct American identity by favoring native-born Americans over Jews, Southern Europeans, and Eastern Europeans in order to "maintain the racial preponderance of the basic strain on our people and thereby to stabilize the ethnic composition of the population" (wiki)
According to Sen. David Reed (a Republican) who co-authored the act, Southern/Eastern Europeans and Jews, he believed, arrived sick and starving and therefore less capable of contributing to the American economy, and unable to adapt to American culture.
People who supported the 1924 Immigration Act often used eugenics as justification for restriction of certain races or ethnicities of people in order to prevent the spread of feeblemindedness in American society.
--Wiki, citing Baynton, Douglas C. Defectives in the Land : Disability and Immigration in the Age of Eugenics.
4
Mr. Trump has left a trail of clues to his racist views the same way a rat leaves a little pill trail as he raids your larder. His 'very fine people' was possibly the most clearly defined public outburst, but this meeting with Dem. Senator Durbin and 12 Republicans shows how he and his henchmen really feel. Shame!
4
Since Trump is an ongoing self centered fountain of ugliness, Melania, for the sake of the child, should leave the country with the child...maybe back to Slovenia. Every day Baron must hear progressively uglier things about his father. Even with the best attempts at cloaking him the news must get through..he goes to school, watches TV, etc...Trump doesn't seem to care, but this is no way for a child to grow up.
6
Depending on how you want to look at it, President Trump represents the nadir or the zenith of our country's transformation into an Idiocracy.
And these people, meaning politicians, from across the political spectrum of City Halls to State Houses to the US Congress - including Dick Durbin - are all just gradation on the same crass, conniving, in-it-for-themselves hacks that we've entrusted to run America. And this is nothing new that started with Trump's election in 2016. No, we've been going down the path of discord since the Kennedy Administration. Comparable periods of such decay in America were the run up to the Civil War and the Gilded Age leading to the Progressive Era.
Yet, unlike those past periods, I have little hope now for America self correcting itself for the better. The USA is going to be facing dissolution, if we're lucky, or revolution, if we're not, bringing this once great nation to the same fate as the Roman Empire.
3
Two thoughts:
1) I am sick and tired of hearing the word "tough" used by politicians to describe everything that requires "work" and "compromise." Trump's language was not "tough," it was ignorant, racist and profane.
2) Doesn't anyone take minutes in meetings anymore? Or have an agenda? How about microphones so that everyone seated around a conference table -- I believe there were some 21 people in attendance at this meeting -- can hear and be heard clearly? I worked in the corporate, academic and nonprofit sectors and all of the above were generally utilized. After all, isn't the point of a meeting to communicate effectively?
On a daily basis, I am utterly flummoxed by Trump and his enablers.
9
Regardless of your politics, Obama allowed all American's to hold our heads up high on the international stage. The man earned the love and respect of all he encountered through his humility and dignity. It was only evil dictators who hated and feared him, the true sign of a great leader. None of these words apply to Trump. Instead, just insert the polar opposites in the strongest of terms and they will not be enough to reflect the shame that patriotic Americans feel today.
9
The lazy press here in America spends way too much time obsessing about what the President and Congress and the Supreme Court have to say on vast policy matters because it is all spoon fed to them. They should be doing more analyzing and reporting about how we got to good and bad places in everyday life.
For example, how does a couple home schooling their 12 children manage to fly under the radar for years while starving and depriving said children? And if people in a nice, moderate income in a suburb of California can't even see such dysfunction right under their noses and take action, how do we expect to in anyway to manage millions of immigrants, legal and illegal, pouring in to the US?
We have too many politicians and bureaucrats in America taking on too many responsibilities and, as a result, doing most of their work poorly, to downright awful or, worst of all, not at all.
9
Every day it becomes clearer and clearer that we are being governed by the minority. The majority wants DACA to continue, the majority wants good background checks for guns. The majority loves our public lands and parks and doesn't want them defiled. The majority does not want uncontrolled drilling off our two coasts. And most of all the majority wants a dignified president who understands policy. We have a problem with our democracy and there is too much noise and not enough serious deliberation.
8
I remember a local teen dance club on the other side of the river from a small city that had more black kids than on the dance club's side of the river. The club suddenly advertised "No rap! No reggae!" The newspaper I worked for called them on it as covert racism. The club changed their advertising strategy. So for the Trump administration and any of his followers to say that his behavior, speech and desired policies are not racist and hate-filled because they don't specifically say "no nonwhites"? No way.
1
I hate Trump's behavior, and that of his cowardly chorus in the GOP. But I wonder if his rantings are more about the country's debt than race. It seems that Social Security went from a trust fund to a government entitlement because both parties raided the trust fund to pay everyday expenses of governing. Congress gave away too much to the rich along the way and prefers to continually kick the 'entitlements' can down the road. We're on the precipice now, where we've actually been for some years. I don't know how we get out of this mess, but it goes way beyond race. So don't just blame the greedy creepy GOP, Democrats played their part and we truly have the government we deserve.
5
Trump is all about appearance: the appearance of being rich, the appearance of being successful, the appearance of being tough, the appearance of speaking his mind, the appearance of being law-and-order, the appearance of caring about coal miners, the appearance of border security.
How focus on appearance renders him blind to much else.
We can debate whether or not he's racist or not 'till the cows come home.
I believe he is, but doesn't know it.
Insofar as racism is rooted in appearance-ism, he can't help but be racist. He's an appearance-ist. All there is, for him, is appearance. (So ironic that Christian evangelists go for it.)
3
I wonder at the astonishment. Trump's racism and religious bigotry have been evident from the very beginning, when he opened his campaign talking about Mexicans, and later when he called for a ban on immigration of Muslims. His disloyalty to the norms of American society went on public display on TV when he called on the Russians to release Secretary Clinton's emails. This is the worst President in the history of our country, by far.
3
Mandatory E-Verify, Visa Tracking and Removal system and an AMENDED farm workers program that limited the costs of airfare out of the farmers pockets AND
allowed for a 300 day a year permit would have been a better bargaining position if Lindsey and Trump were really serious about reform.
Granting amnesty to the DACA kids is a noble cause because we should want a return on investment for educating and providing charity care to them because their parents broke our laws. Rewarding the parents with an opportunity to gain citizenship or permits of any kind without a serious financial or some jail time is hard for many to swallow.
Both sides posturing just prove that Lindsey is invested in keeping SC slaughterhouses and hotels stocked with exploitable labor and Dick Durbin has always believed that undocumented immigrants deserve special treatment and that legal immigrants and citizens are fools for believing in the rule of law.
5
After seeing how well Trump has managed every deal since becoming president, one has to conclude that the only deals he'd ever actually managed before were the ones that led to his multiple bankruptcies.
1
I think Trump just beat Durbin in a negotiation. I don't care if Trump called Haiti a shithouse (if he even did). I just expect the democrats to negotiate. I don't need them to do any Social Justice Warrior stuff.
14
The Dems are negotiating, just not the way you (or the Clown) want them to. Tough.
Many of us care how our country is perceived because we realize that it does in fact matter. So a stupid, angry, racist, egotistical, self-serving, vile, fat-mouthed so-called president makes us all look bad. So do the liars who support him. Some of us are just smart enough to realize it.
3
Mr. Durbin stopped short, though, of branding Mr. Trump a racist. “That’s a tough thing to say,” he said.
No it isn't: he's a racist.
29
If Trump were just speaking for himself... but he isn't. He's still got most of that angry lynch mob who voted for him in the first place applauding his political incorrectness. It thrills them to have a president who says those words and feels those feelings. It validates them. Like the KKK's cross burning, it's a show that lends virility and validity to and otherwise weak and irrelevant bunch of good-for-nothings.
42
I believe Sen. Durbin and it's clear that Trump has racially charged views. The evidence is clear when taken together.
Knowing Trump's history adds context and clarity. He doesn't respect immigrants unless they are from western Europe. He has labeled those of color as have all the same attributes: lazy, under educated, criminal tendencies. He has applied this to Hispanics, Africans, Haitians and now Muslims. His travel bans, reductions of legal immigration demonstrate he either knows nothing of what they are about or doesn't care.
He wants to make America great again by making it whiter. That is what is behind his ever changing opinions on fixing immigration. He sees them as terrorists or drug dealers, not as people.
The fact that we are allowing this kind of attitude to infuse legislation and policy should be deeply troubling to all Americans, especially the GOP, who don't seem to have enough courage to even be embarrassed.
He seems to believe that a 'whiter' country will make it safe and insulated from outside agitations. What he doesn't get is that HE is the biggest threat we face.
Again, stupid and ill informed presidents do not good policy make or lead.
20
Trump was right. Haiti can't even take care of itself. It constantly needs foreign aid, medical help, help with technology etc.
High crime rate, unsanitary conditions keeps visitors away. Most people are uneducated and low tech.
Do we need that here?
6
So this is the bill of 'love'? Love for who? The David Dukes of the world?
16
Is there no end to this ignominy? Will Congress ever realize that its boss is the American people; that it is independent of the Executive Branch?
Who is running this country? Ummmm......
Shut it down and let us be neighbors to one another, Americans all, working for Justice, Equality, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, shelter, food, health care, and honorable work.
God Bless America, from sea to shining sea, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Is your flag yet displayed upside down?
63
You have a wonderful dream, an idea of the place America was meant to be, the way many people, even now, want to see it, even as the POTUS does his best to ruin America's reputation.
There are quite a few people among my friends and nodding acquaintances who were planning to tour the USA, but have opted for a different country because they are too afraid of what might happen. And that even though I assured them they would be as safe in the USA as they would be anyplace else.
What has happened to the "shining city upon a hill" that was to serve as an example to all other nations on this planet?
2
We learned a lot from this episode. It is not news that Trump is a racist, a vulgar man, and a liar. What is news is how far Republicans like Cotton, Perdue and Homeland Security Secretary Neilsen will go. They are now proven to be craven, cowardly liars; not the kind of people anyone wants in offices of responsibility. I have no respect left for anyone who clings to the Republican party and this President.
38
Racism in America is as American as apple pie. It is woven into our fabric and into our laws, right from the Constitution. Jim Crow and lynchings have been replaced by the school to prison pipeline and extra-judicial executions by police.
With every unarmed black person beaten or killed by police, they are sending a message: 'Your lives don't matter. YOU don't matter'. But these actions also send a subtle message to white America: 'Keep your mouths shut. Stay compliant. Your lives too can be ruined and not matter if you ever decide to speak up and exercise your rights. To dare question OUR authority'.
21
Senator Durbin should consider the meaning of the word “discretion” and ponder if any good was done by reporting conversations between the President and members of Congress.
12
You seem to imply that Sen Durbin is the one who leaked the conversation. He is not. The next day, when asked, he did confirm what was said – as did Sen Graham.
2
I've pondered it.
Yes.
3
Thanks for confiding that.
Very sweet. Very cute.
Imagine how Trump would run a war. The US military would be defeated within a month with this commander in chief making decisions and refusing to listen to advice.
13
He does tweet stupid stuff but Trump left the war running to the generals who set the new rules of engagement and the situation is vastly improved in the middle east. ISIS decimated and forced out of 90% of previously occupied areas. Obama was the inexperienced micro-manager of the military.
3
Taking into account everything that has been said by people who were In this meeting, and when they said it, it is obvious that Senator Durbin’s account is correct and others are just trying to protect the President from the consequences of his highly improper and inflammatory statements. Shame on Senators Cotton and Perdue in particular.
16
Durbin may have thought they actually said that; but they had their fingers crossed when they spoke, so it didn't really count.
Secy of State Mattis seems enthused about a nuclear war with North Korea where millions of lives will be placed in jeopardy and all NY Times' readers can talk about is Trump's racist language and 800,000 undocumented immigrants.
DACA should be at the bottom of the list after issues with No. Korea, the Iran accord, the unending wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, the opiod crisis, and gun violence. As usual, our politicians are focusing on the wrong issues.
8
At this point, how many people would be shocked if Trump said, "Slavery really wasn't that bad. It's actually a pretty good idea!"?
5%? 10%? That's the point we've reached in this country.
The man is a walking talking sewer. And so are those who support and abet him.
I'm still waiting for the, "I never said I didn't ask for help from the Russians to win the election. Don't believe the "fake laws". It's perfectly legal."
After all in 2004 George W. Bush said, "This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and Al Qaeda" - except for those 1,847 times he and Cheney inferred it.
14
Trusting Trump is simply being taken for a ride. He is in the game to win it all as he did in business where everyone else picked up the pieces after the parade of bankruptcies that led him to fortune. Democrats should not be fooled. He is out to destroy them. You can't fight him with water balloons when he is using grenades.
16
Every time Trump speaks I wonder if he can possibly go any lower and bring any more shame to the US and the office of POTUS than he already has. Then, every time I think that, he then surpasses himself. His nasty language is very much like Pre-WW2 rhetoric. Trump is a divider, a de-humanizer, a man completely without compassion, hateful, and intentional in his cruelty. We The People must wake up and not allow him to continue to destroy the very values that this wonderful nation was built on, because it brings shame upon us all. Write your senators and congress people and protest peacefully; our lives and the lives of others depend on it.
13
Democrats are representing illegals, not Americans. Are liberals bright enough to figure out the problem? And do they care?
I suspect no, and no.
13
All Republicans rehearsed this: "I can only recall positive things my leader said."
9
One can hardly imagine that ANY meeting which includes the president and a room full of senators would not be recorded, or at least have notes taken.
13
How could there be any doubt that the blame for a government shutdown lies with President Trump and the far right faction of the Republican Party? They have had more than enough time to come to a bipartisan resolution in this matter and the Democrats are right to say enough is enough. There is no compromise possible on any item on the agenda in this atmosphere.
13
Hmm, the BUDGET is about BUDGET items and the GOP has reached agreement on those items. See the House Bill. They could set up a 72 hour round the clock negotiations for DACA on Monday if both parties were serious about DACA.
I truly feel that the Dems are trying to avoid Trump being the one who finally got a reasonable DACA LAW signed.
5
Ah. Troublesome facts. Feelings aside, the Dems and the GOP REACHED a consensus, bipartisan deal (after Trump said he would sign any deal they reached). It was only when Senators Durbin and Graham rolled it out to Trump -- and Trump promptly killed it in a hate-filled diatribe that scorched the negotiating field and left little room for compromise and no sense of direction -- that a shutdown became almost inevitable. By cancelling DACA last December, Trump took the Dreamers hostage for EXACTLY this purpose.
Our country has long needed an honest debate on immigration. I have long hoped a range of aspects could be examined and debated fully: legal immigration and undocumented immigration, economic impacts, labor rights, foreign policy, Latin American policy, trade policy, drug policy, and national security, among others. When I first heard candidate Trump on immigration I could see that he was going to use racist and national security fears to seriously narrow and poison the debate. He has done exactly that and the media and political leaders have let him do it.
9
Nobody believes Tom Cotton anymore. The man has lost total credibility with anyone who has an ounce of morality in them.
20
Make no mistake. The President and his core constituency are racists, overt and covert. This is nothing new. Here is an extract about the Wallace candidacy:
"Nixon didn’t carry the Deep South in the general election. George Wallace did. And Wallace didn’t use a dog whistle. Wallace was the dog."
"He called professors and Washington bureaucrats “sissy britches” and mocked “the bearded professor who thinks he knows how to settle the Vietnam War when he hasn’t got enough sense to park a bicycle straight.” As President, he said, he would seek indictments for “any college professor who talks about hoping the Vietcong win the war.”"
"his act played well across much of the country, where he spoke to boisterously enthusiastic audiences. After a rally at Madison Square Garden, supporters marched out chanting “White supremacy!” People told reporters that they admired him because “he says what he thinks.”
"George Wallace had been awakened by a white, blinding vision: they all hate black people, all of them,” Kiker wrote in New York. “They’re all afraid, all of them. Great God! That’s it! They’re all Southern! The whole United States is Southern! Anyone who travels with Wallace these days on his Presidential campaign finds it hard to resist arriving at the same conclusion.”"
"Objects in the rearview mirror often really are closer than they appear. It’s not that far from Wallace to Trump."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/08/lessons-from-the-election-...
19
Shouldn't you have used the phrase "now infamous Oval Office meeting" instead?
8
The deepest level of the insult - is the assumptoin that immigrants who are poor have less pottential to contribute to the country than ones who are rich. I am just sure that history prioves this wrong. icing on the cake is the stupidity of 45 who doesn;t even know that the typical African immigrant is highly educated, or how many Haitian immigrants are bilingual, and go on to careers in Medecine and health care. ugh ugh.
but the class and race warfare at the base are the worst. In America now, you're nothing if you're not rich.
15
He was stunned and shaken because Trump had something on him he didn't think anyone knew or would dare to bring up. Remember, Trump learned at the knee of gangsters and mafia bosses. They are specialists in creating fear and sending messages to targeted people through an otherwise ordinary conversation. Quit assuming Trump is an idiot. He does his homework.
4
Trump is the vulgarity who is also a racist. Cotton and Perdue could care less about the truth since they are owned by their political donors are looking for further selling-promotion for advancement.
21
I can imagine his shame. Totally abnormal and shameful. No wonder the US is hardly lately respected abroad, such a waste really.
11
It is difficult to equal, in the category "bad, wrong and despicable" President Trump's thug language in describing the entire African continent and the hundreds of millions of people living there. His lie that he never said it comes very close.
13
Apologies for leaving out Haiti.
7
I find it notable that the Republicans are denying the use of the profanity, not the sentiment expressed. Change that word, take it out completely, it doesn't make a difference. The broad sentiment remains appalling.
35
why? is it wrong to question the long term benefit of importing immigrant populations who are illiterate in their own language when we need engineers, doctors and nurses right now?
10
What sentiment? That Haiti and many African countries are not countries that one would choose to live in? Can you refute that sentiment?
6
What ever Trump thinks or says is totally immaterial to Republicans, regardless of social/educational/political background. Trump will be enabled because he is there to deliver the conservative dream of undoing most, if not all, progressive social programs of the past 100 years.
It really is that simple...
27
NB
Cory Booker's 'speech' to Nielsen was honest and very painful. I feel for him and millions of others. What have we come to.
17
It is equally disturbing to hear two United States Senators and one Cabinet Secretary "revise" what they heard and to try and to use a phrase such as no "remarks made against individuals"or the "language was strong" to imply there was no racism. Our elected officials may have positions we disagree with,but they have no license to lie in an effort to "win" for their side. As we have discovered with this administration, all sides lose.
21
Upon further consideration, and concern for our policy makers, I acknowledge
that my suggestions may be dangerous; they would destroy deniability, the most precious possession of every politician in a democracy!
I think it was more even than the actual expletives used. I can imagine the rage with which Trump spewed the words. No wonder Durbin was stunned.
19
Durbin and Graham were set up. Some immigration hardliners got to Trump, and since Trump has a LIFO mind, he nailed them when they came for a meeting they thought was just to finish up details. So much for Trump's meeting a few days before where he promised (oh, funny, "Trump" and "promise" in the same sentence) to sign whatever deal Congress brought to him. So much for Trump framing and steering legislation, shaping policy, leading and guiding - you know, all that 'presidenty' stuff. Its a shame the impending government shutdown he triggered is causing him to miss a golf weekend at Mar-a-Lago. Wait, wasn't he there just last weekend? Oh, but Obama sure played golf too much... and was a failed leader as well, not nearly as good as Trump at all the 'presidenty' stuff.
20
And to think, we got here because so many white rural voters wanted their revenge against liberal 'elites' mocking them and calling them stupid. Of course this revenge involved them basically aiming a shotgun at their own feet and pulling the trigger. Every 2 two for the past 30+ years, basically.
I say if the shoe fits, wear it. Or like the famous movie said, 'stupid it as stupid does'.
If he was actually "stunned and shaken" he should not be a senator or have anything to do with the federal government. Perhaps the headline is "fake news"?
11
Yeah, let's get some people in the Senate who aren't so shocked by our nation's disgusting streak of racism. Let's focus on electing people who are the biggest racists possible so we'll be certain they'll never get upset. That's the ticket!
43
At first they "don't recall" and then the word or words weren't used. So which is it? And For Purdue to call Durbin out as a liar is comical
27
This Illinoisan believes her senator. 100%.
I hope Arkansans and Georgians remember Senators Cotton's and Perdue's zero integrity the next time either man is up for re-election. They are a disgrace to their states, to the U.S. Senate, and to our country.
37
Arkansas and Georgia are getting exactly what they want from their senators. Cotton and Purdue better hurry up and start stalking teens in malls, if they want to keep their jobs.
7
Isn't it funny (?) that Senators like Richard Durban very rarely get the attention that people like McConnell, Ryan, Cruz and Trump get? He's a dedicated public servant who cares about the Dreamers, yet never seeks the limelight. We need to celebrate these kind of people more, NYTs.
46
"The new comments, Mr. Durbin suggested, show that racial origin might be a consideration, as well."
Mr. Durbin, where exactly have you spent the past ten years? In Antarctica? Maybe a deserted island in the South Pacific? I'm guessing you didn't hear or read about anything Trump said during his presidential campaign, much less the whole Obama birth-certificate thing, right?
6
It is difficult to believe that Richard Durbin or anybody else could be "shocked" to learn that Trump is racially biased. Who is he kidding... and where has he been? Well, I have another one for you Richard: there is no Santa.
And you suspect that his racial feelings may have been a "consideration" in his policies? Give me a break.
4
It's a toss-up who is worse, Duterte or Donald Trump. By electing this sorry representative of a man, the American people have willfully and knowingly stepped down from the concert of advanced nations. It's akin to a civilizational suicide.
20
I don't think Trump cares about DACA or immigration.
His base does.
And to fight against impeachment as Mueller continues to gather evidence Trump must keep the support of his base.
Dreamers are pawns and hostages.
Trump knows that deporting dreamers will not restore lost mining jobs or bring back manufacturing jobs.
Deportation will not change the advantage of natural gas over coal.
Deportation will not change the differential between wages in US and out of US.
Trump made promises to his base about jobs he can not meet.
But he made a promise about his wall. and immigration.
TO deflect attention from his failure about jobs [and a booming stock market is not the same as employment of manufacturing and mining workers] Trump must scapegoat immigration and dreamers.
18
Those who cannot remember are not "wrong" Senator Durbin, they're lying. The idea that you could hear this from the president of the United States and forget hearing it is just silly.
18
Trump is not a buffoon. He is a monster, and a dangerous one at that. He gets to roar because the autocrats who control the Republican party are getting what they want--less regulation, less taxes, less government. We've got to turn them out in November, but Citizens United and gerrymandering are making it difficult. Democracy is in danger.
24
Fat Donald got the slogan wrong. It's not Let's Make America Great Again.
It's, Let's Make America the Laughingstock of the World Again.
This is not a government. It's a non-government.
9
I don’t understand at all why is there not a bigger outcry when it is democrats fighting all the time to save dreamers or health care for children.
But aren’t all these issues bipartisan and has to do with doing the right decent thing? And should not be the monopoly of the Democratic Party? Or is it that the Republican Party is an evil party, corrupted by big business hence the tax cut and damm with future government deficits, cannot be bothered about the dreamers who only know one country which is the US and will take away healthcare for children?
Is it really true they are that evil and conniving? And I naively thought the party was just full of stupid, non college educated uninformed voters!
7
he is only saying what the repubs have been saying since nixon... a one word summary, HATE
10
Interesting that Senators Cotton and Perdue actually lied about what Trump said, but Trump didn't really deny it-- his base likes that kind of language, so he wants credit.
The dynamics of the meeting, Graham and Durbin thinking they're going to get somewhere with the President, and they are surprised by a bunch of hard-liners also present, then Trump spewing hatred. Trump was saying what people like Cotton and Perdue wanted to hear, tough talk about undesirable immigrants.
The President is an obvious racist, the others are racist apologists, and in the service of their hard line on immigration, they are willing to make a deal with the devil, and actually lie to the public. They are the dangerous ones, the racist demagogue enablers.
15
Look I cannot see how we can even debate the issue. Trump is pure and simple a racist. He is an evil and vile person. I cannot find one, not one single redeeming feature of his character. He is an affront to all American values.
Tell me anyone who is reading this comment can say "that they are proud that he is their President". Trump has what I call the Sun Complex-the world-no the universe revolves around him. Just an awful human being.
25
All GOP supporters and congressmen talk that way and think that way. To assume otherwise is foolish. Their votes for Trump were all about race. This is an avowedly racist presidency, with both chambers of congress presided over by a racist party. All their decisions are race-related and constituent-approved.
7
"“The language that was used, the attitude of the president, the expressions he made when it came to immigration just stunned me,” Mr. Durbin said."
"I am shocked, shocked that there is gambling in Casablanca." Claude Rains
The first words out of the so called president's mouth as he began his campaign were racist. Period.
His only real campaign promise was to build a wall on the Southern border to keep black and brown skinned people from getting in to the Country. No wall on the North to keep white skinned people out. No, just the border that backs up to Mexico. Which he claims to be the most unlawful Country in the World. Falsely.
No, what is shocking is that he has finally blown the cover off the republican dog and pony show of racial animus and fear that has been the bread and butter of the republican party since Nixon. With Reagan taking it up a notch.
Party of family values? Values of the Manson family, or the Gotti family, or the Borgias?
The republican party is the party of porn stars, the KKK, the KGB, money laundering, religious intolerance, and autocracy. Can we please stop calling them conservatives? They are not conservative, they are radical.... as radical as any fascist regime in the history of the 20th Century. They have, up till now, just been good at keeping that truth quiet.
Stunned? Don't know how anyone could be stunned by this so called man about anything. Maybe, I would be stunned if he ever really did the right thing.
18
The solution to all this will start on November 6, 2018
11
Lets get to work now to make that happen.
1
Why does Trump say make racist comments? Because he is a racist. Period. Anyone saying anything different is a lair. Trump himself is a liar on his racsim. The sooner he admits he is a racist, the sooner all his sycophantic followers can deal with it - and their own obvious racism.
3
"I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked!" Really? What planet have you been on?
2
This is why his base loves him. They loved George Wallace (who recanted on his deathbed) and Strom Thurmond (who fathered a mixed-race child) and Jessie Helms for the same reason: candor. We live in a country that's still struggling every moment with the consequences of endemic racism, albeit complicated by the fact that so many white Americans admire and reward African American athletes and entertainers. It has only been 50 years since overt racism was banned in the US, and we're living in the backlash, one that began before the ink was dry on the Civil Rights Amendment. De facto segregation has distorted our cities, turned us all into serial deniers, isolated us, and deprived millions of African Americans their rightful opportunities. But shame feels unfair and undeserved, and we would rather reject it and deny it and even reverse it rather than own it. A "white America" never even existed. I'm reading "Stamped From the Beginning." Everyone should.
11
This is a sensible, informed, and honest appraisal of the state of things in the land we share. But I fear that you are explaining this to an audience that is receptive to the message. How does one get these points to resonate with those who either deny the truth or don't want to hear it? After all, one of the reasons that so many people in this country like Trump is that he has no filter between his brain and speech, when it comes to the issues you raise. Supposedly, it is beneficial to speak "truth", even when what is said not actually true, as long as it upsets ones' political opponents. How we will dig ourselves out of this hole is a real open question. Or even whether we have the means as Americans to confront untruths and respond honestly.
3
The problem is that unlimited immigration and open borders actually hurts low-income American citizens more than anyone else, including African-Americans. This is why African-American, Democratic Congresswoman and civil rights icon Barbara Jordan was totally against illegal immigration and believed in strong enforcement and chain migration reform, nearly identical to Trump. It is a strange coincidence that just when the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act were passed to finally provide full economic and democratic participation for African-Americans, the Democrats simultaneously passed the 1965 Immigration Reform Act to turbo-charge immigration of low-skilled immigrants, competing directly vs. many US citizens of all stripes (including African-Americans).
Also, imagine if the Southern Democrats had run to the press during negotiations with President Johnson every time LBJ said a disparaging word or spoke with foul and rude language. Just like Durbin, they would have torpedoed negotiations & there would be no Civil Rights Act at all!! Durbin protests way too much - it is clear he and Schumer are not interested in actually protecting DACA recipients and seek only to use this as a wedge issue.
2
Trump's promises to make deals are empty and deals he makes are meaningless. Look at his business history. When Trump was building his casino's he refused to pay hundred of carpenters, painters, and others for goods and labor. He stole millions from hard working US citizens. His promise to pay was meaningless to them. What makes anyone think he will keep a promise to Senators Durbin and Graham?
19
These photos show the few decent legislators in DC are stunned and speechless. The Ryan McConnell led Republican crew are smiling their way through the Trump presidency. Tax cuts for their donors and lobbying gigs down the road.
11
Trump's modus operandi is that of a bully and narcissist. I am but one citizen, but I know my sentiments are found in many Americans, I dare a say a majority. We are fed up with the Trump style of management. It is dysfunctional, it sews chaos and is divisive to getting the broader agenda accomplished, and it is clearly self-dealing and self-enrichment to fatten Trump's personal fortunes.
This is NOT some third rate Banana Republic dictatorship Americans live in. While we expect and understand debate in political circles to be bruising and rough at times, politicians who operate as in a zero-sum environment where their personal benefits come at expense (and cost) of others is intolerable.
Trump claimed himself the master deal maker and broker of compromise during the 2016 campaign. All lies and (duh, surprise) Trump never negotiated anything where both sides in a negotiation get to a Win-Win. Even when a agreement is reached, Trump's behavior is to renege and totally disavow the promises made. Americans ought not be surprised by the extent to which chaos and mismanagement now pervades the Executive Branch.
There are things to be compromised, but there are things to fight over based upon principle. In one year under POTUS Trump, the evidence is beyond abundant - Trump must be countered and fought because meaningful compromise for the overall good of the nation is something which is lacking in his mindset. Enough is enough. No more.
14
As a world-travelling young adult in the 70's and 80's, I heard so many compliments of the United States. Politely thanking people, I would rebut them, saying that the US had an indelible racist streak, and although it allowed in immigrants, it hardly welcomed them, and that our political system was fatally manipulated by lobbyists and corporations.
I would point out that for my Romanian Jewish great-grandmother, life was a flight from poverty and racism that ended in nearly equal poverty in a New York City tenement.
Today's reality is so much more horrible then those rebuttals. I long for the days when Reagan and Dow Chemical were the adversaries. Everything that imy most pessimistic self warned about has come true, in exponentially worse fashion, and I am stunned and ashamed of our country.
The activism that I used those rebuttals to justify is now, I fear, our only way out, and victory is uncertain. Today's battle is no child's play.
I used to claim the system was broken from the comfy perch of a relentlessly bright future. Now I see people of color facing the grim realities great-grandma faced. I see the fight for our democracy being as lethal as one partisans fought in WWII. There's no romance in this. These adversaries will gladly take down government and kill people. It is terrifying.
20
My question is why they don't just continue passing the (apparently already good) bill presented there. We all know trump won't read it, so I don't know how much his opinion matters on it (other than continuing to expose him as the racist he is).
7
Messrs. Graham and Durbin: Please disclose the entirety of Donald's "vile and hate-filled" rant, word by word; I suspect we were told only the less odious of his remarks.
You have cracked the lid of Pandora's Box, now release *all* its contents--we need to know.
First, they came for the undocumented,
then they came for my documents.
17
This is now the new normal for Trump. He has his handlers and he follows their instructions.
3
One thing this article leaves out is that, shortly after being elected, Trump said on several occasions that he cares about the DACA immigrants and that they should not worry because he will push for legislation that gives them protection. By caving in to the demands of Stephen Miller and the Republican legislators most closely aligned with white nationalist priorities, Trump not only undermined a bipartisan deal that he encouraged days earlier, he undercut his own priority and promise.
15
Please. Senators Durbin and Graham know their paymasters want the same Gang of 8 open borders legislation that failed last time and that is what they presented to the President. Trump won the 2016 election because millions of Americans prefer the immigration approach recommended by Durbin's former Democratic colleague, African-American Congresswoman and civil rights icon Barbara Jordan. I don't believe Durbin was calling Barbara Jordan a racist when she proposed the exact same policies supported by Trump now (because maybe it is a little awkward to tell an African-American, Democratic Party colleague with genuine civil rights accomplishments a "racist.") We know Durbin and Graham want unlimited population growth to push down wages for low-income Americans and to stimulate demand for real estate campaign donors via uncontrolled sprawl. They repeatedly prioritize the citizens of other countries over the majority of US citizens. What's amazing is that real estate developer Trump thinks more about US citizens than the Democratic Party (and much of the GOP establishment).
6
Did you want to quote Jordan? Or are you just referring to Trump's opportunistic quotation of an uncontroversial sentiment she expressed over twenty years ago?
1
Jeoffrey, Ms. Jordan led with more compassionate and moral leadership, displaying dignity herself and toward all human beings, including illegal immigrants. That said, she was realistic and recognized the need for immigration reform in the American interest. Coming from Texas, she was acutely aware of the negative impact of illegal immigration on her low-income constituents, including African-American US citizens.
It was widely recognized and reported that when Ms. Jordan sadly died young in 1996, the triangulating President Clinton could now back out on his promises to her and the other "Barbara Jordan" Democrats & cut deals with GOP corporatists like Spencer Abraham. In addition to lobbies like La Raza, the Chinese campaign donors providing illegal campaign financing to Clinton & DNC for 1996 elections demanded zero chain migration reform. No longer bound by Jordan's powerful moral leadership, Clinton betrayed her legacy and his own Commission. I would have much preferred that a more rational leader like Clinton had followed through then instead of kicking the can down the road (and he probably wishes so too, in retrospect, as it is the main reason his wife lost last year). Unfortunately, when our rational and compassionate leaders refuse to do the right thing time after time, the nation will end up with someone like Trump who seizes on the truth of the betrayal, even if he has abused the issue by leading more from "the dark side."
1
There are many things that are red flags that tell you that there are lots of things going on that are not right. It is not about shaking things up. The language is created to attack democracy and a system that supports the public as if public were a dirty word.
The language appeals to my sister who has always been annoyed by academics. She needs to believe in opinion news. She dislikes immigrants. Shake things up sounded good.
But, these moves to control government are a bit different. Suddenly we are drilling oil and fracking in untenable places. We are cutting down our national parks and defunding children in lieu of a military buildup. I do not believe that they are the work of the genius. The base is also a question. Who is this infamous base of 30% Is it the evangelicals? Is it like minded Bundi's and militias? Is it the remnants of the southern slave state mentality? Is it a coalition of the 1% because Mercer and Koch are certainly in the mix as is Breitbart and Russia among others. The gas lighting of the public and news organization is pervasive and deliberate. Where does that leave all the co conspirators in the House and Senate. How is that happening? Are these different Republicans. Is it more than $?
12
Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!
I have friends and acquaintances in several of the demographics you've listed and I just don't believe they are in this 30%.
I have no idea what's throwing the polling, but I just don't believe it.
The rednecks I know are narrow-minded but apolitical. The Bible thumpers support national parks and abhor immoral behavior. I don't know anyone who supports fracking and diminishing parkland, killing wolves, or expelling Dreamers. I do know that many such people will ignore their better selves when facing economic pressure, but still...
My bet is on budding oligarchy Koch/Mercer/Russians.
5
As a resident of Illinois and a witness to numerous local political stories, I can assure you that Little Richard Durbin is an opportunist and a liar. He saw this as an opportunity to make Trump look worse then he already does and then exaggerated the discussion to serve his ends.
7
Not sure I recall any instance where Durbin has lied to further his personal ambition. This is the same guy that has barely progressed in seniority while a younger, junior senator went on to the White House after serving one term.
Also, Trump doesn't need help to look worse. He looks worse everyday all by himself.
14
and pray tell what was Lindsey Graham's motivation?
1
Durbin must be joking. It has taken him until now to realise the underlying driver of unbridled racism in Trump? Seriously? I am 3500 miles away. I'm not in Congress. I don't have three decades of DC experience. I'm just an ordinary expat who reads the news and let me tell you, Trump has oozed ugly racism since at least the 1980s. Central Park Five for starters. Wake up Durbin!
14
While I agree wholeheartedly with your description of our despicable president, have you considered that Senator Durbin was appalled by Trump's willingness to say what he did in front of a Democrat, and the reasonable presumption that his meetings with GOP-only officials and appointees are likely far worse? This was my immediate thought upon hearing this last week.
The GOP has become an amoral cesspool of hypocrites and liars, and their elected officials have all abdicated their oaths of office to protect and serve the citizens of the US. This is the opposite of patriotism, as much as they love to claim that they're the party of patriots (and the Democrats are not). The very, very clear evidence demonstrated daily exposes the Republicans as the party of weakness and greed, period. We cannot allow the US to be controlled by the amoral GOP - as patriotic citizens, we must remove these cancerous tumors in our government, before they literally and figuratively kill us.
What I'm truly perplexed about is why are they willing to debase themselves and their legacy? It's simply pathetic to consider how sleazy and vacuous their lives must be. Would you be willing to give up your mind and soul in the name of partisanship? Shame on the GOP.
1
The surprising statement from Durbin is that he was shocked and surprised by the Pretend King Trump's racial remarks. Where has this Senator been the last two years? We all know the white supremacist agenda is set by their Puppet King. How can these Congress people not see this? Well one explanation is they don't see it because they don't want to see it. They live in another reality, far removed from the American people's world. Do any of these people understand our concerns? No is the answer. They are playing with millions of lives not just DACA people but all immigrants. I guess that does not matter either. Are we there yet?
8
Personally, I'm grateful for the president's candor. Their problem is that he says what Republicans think, as they think it, and forces them to confront the rank hypocrisy they've been selling for decades. Watching them cringe, rationalize, lie, wheedle, and get a fast case of amnesia has been a pleasure. They're a gutless tribe being spoken for by a lout, and they can't do a thing about it.
17
As so mnay clutch their pearls at Trump's overt racism, which everyone knows this certainly is, I smile. Who are we kidding? I live in upper middle class white suburbia NJ and Trump's language is the currency of the day here. I know of almost no American who is not a stone cold bigot when certain issues are discussed. It is our calling card. I say be racist, just say your vile odious words loudly and proudly and inform the world, stop pretending behind your veneer of civility. We are the drunken ill-educated uncle at the party on this planet. There is a stereotype about the Ugly American, and it is richly deserved.
16
If you believe anything Durbin says, I have a ocean front property in Missouri to sell you.
6
Normal American believe him and his truth telling is backed up by several repubs who also decided to tell the truth. Only trump sycophants decided to lie and only trumpublicans accept those lies. All normal Americans know trump is racist and a liar.
13
You have to really be very naive or seriously in denial to have thought for an instant that this was just about terrorism. The man is a racist with Hitler's vision of a "pure" State in which the wealthy hold all the cards and the serfs honor them with life and limb.
24
White racist Americans who oppose immigrants, with or without documents, have succeeded in isolating America by electing a president who will make sure we become a "s-h" country no one in their right mind would dream of immigrating to. Who needs a wall when you can become a pariah?
22
In the same way Trump's high rises don't have a "13th floor" (elevator buttons go from 12 directly to 14), once we finally get through this nonsensical Trump presidency, the history books will be written in a way so as to skip the 45th president. we'll go directly from 44 to 46 and no one will need or even care to ask why. The reason will be self-evident.
23
The requirements to be a DREAMER are really minimal. Watching CSpan last night, I heard a fervent DACA supporter making the case that DREAMERS are deserving of being able to stay here, that to be acceptable they can't have more than one serious misdemeanor for which they spent more than a year in jail, or three more minor misdemeanors for which they spent no more than 90 days in jail.
This is supposed to be the basis for someone becoming a legal immigrant?!!! Someone whose only qualification is that they were brought in unknowingly by a lawbreaking parent is inherently a worthy legal immigrant candidate?
NO. Re-vet every one. No one should be allowed to stay who wouldn't pass muster as a legal immigration candidate. No rewards for illegality, no matter how unwitting. If someone were shanghaied and brought across the border, would we let them stay?
DACA was an unconstitutional Executive branch overreach and the SCOTUS case should be reinstated to prove it.
9
Kurfco: When you say "re-vet everyone," I surmise you don't really mean everyone. Because there are millions of "real American citizens" who are no more than a few generations removed from family members who originally came to this country with little education, few skills, no financial resources, unable to speak English, often fleeing the law, war or famine or persecution or dodging mandatory military service in their own countries. They came on cargo ships, with all their belongings in a cheap suitcase, and they simply walked through customs.
Those people became miners, sweat shop workers, gandy dancers, farm laborers. They built bridges and roads and skyscrapers for low wages and many were injured or died doing it. Some of them, like our current president's grandfather, ran brothels and saloons.
And most of them never would have been allowed to enter the country "legally" under immigration laws like the ones the far right of the Republican Party now proposes. And it proposes those laws for one reason and one reason only: to prevent waves of people of color from entering the U.S. and becoming citizens; and to maintain a white, "Christian" majority population in the U.S.
It isn't about security - immigrants commit crime at a lower rate than the rest of us. It isn't about economics -- immigrants provide much needed labor, pay taxes and help grow the economy. As immigrants always have, they climb the socioeconomic ladder in a generation or two.
Nope. It's all about race.
5
Well said.
No, it's about legality and what signal it sends to the world when we acquiesce to lawbreaking.
When I say "re-vet", I'm referring solely to the DREAMERS. They entered illegally. Their parents who brought them illegally are undoubtedly still here.
We should never accept a legalized illegal immigrant that we would never have accepted as a legal immigrant. That should be beyond discussion.
3
Senator Durban has always been open and honest going back to his days at Assumption high school. I know people who knew him then and they confirm my views. Even though I am a Flyer...
5
The pattern and the targets become clear when one considers that Trump also set the annual cap for refugee admissions at 45,000, less than half of the amount accepted by Obama and the lowest by any president since the Refugee Act of 1980.
This has divided and separated families.
10
Perhaps someone can enlighten me, but if graham and durbin had a compromise deal worked out why didnt they just go ahead with it , since they could also override a veto by trump ? Who cares what trump wants? Let the legislative branch do its work. What am I missing?
5
You’re not missing anything, Tim. This is just another case of cowardly pols trying to ensure that if the deal proves to be bad for the country, they’ll have someone else to blame...
I could be wrong, but I think what you are missing are two things: first, the compromise bill could not get to the floor of the Senate without the approval of Mitch McConnell, and I don't believe the Majority Leader was willing to advance it if Trump was going to assail it -- hence the Durbin / Graham trip to the WH -- and hence McConnell's silence ever since. The second problem is that passage in the House (with a far higher percentage of Republicans, would have been harder, if not impossible, if Trump was aligned against the compromise. If the Democrats had majorities in each house, your suggestion would work. Otherwise, not.
Definition of seeing silver linings and/or glass half full:
“Now that the American people have a clearer understanding of the president’s motivation on immigration, it makes it easier to confront some of the things he’s suggesting,” Mr. Durbin said.
2
Trump launched his campaign with a bigot attack against Mexicans. Nobody should support a bigot like that for president, and anybody does support the bigot Trump should be ashamed of themselves.
35
Durbin was so shaken that he sat there and said nothing to push back and then headed for the first TV camera. Profile in courage.
9
That's very glib. And also baloney. Dick Durbin has been in public service for decades and is one of the most sincere guys around and never grandstands. What a huge contrast with Trump!
15
it IS a profile in courage. Others in the room refuse to acknowledge it publicly.
10
What he did was the very definition of grandstanding.
4
The Republican response to the reckoning that is coming from the American people is mystifying. In order to pass the tax cuts for their corporate masters, they are willing to tether themselves to Trump and to give up the House later this year and for what? Trump has branded the Republican party in the minds of young voters for decades. How long do you really think you can govern by losing the majority vote of the American people regularly? it is insane
14
Maybe the GOP has decided that permitting voting is passe?
Keep watching.
1
Earth to Sen. Durbin: Nothing in politics is an accident.
2
I believe that Mr. Durbin's observations about this meeting are accurate. This is the first time since the early seventies that I've regarded the White House as being the source of something ominous and evil.
33
Maybe it is because I am so much older now--I cast my first vote for McGovern--but this feels exponentially more dangerous.
I must beg to differ. The Republicans began their Southern Strategy with Nixon, and it is still going stronger than ever. "... sowing confusion among Republicans about the president’s true aims..." is balderdash; the Republicans very well knew his true aims, hatred and denigration of minorities, and heartily support them. That is why they nominated him.
17
“Know” wonder there are so many NDAs around trump. Perhaps his staff, including Nielsen had to sign NDAs which is why she was so obviously dodging and lying her way through congressional questioning.
The so called Freedom Caucus probably told trump they would stop obstructing the Russian investigation if he compromised with any Democrat.
4
There is no reason to believe the 2 Republicans, as one of their own, Lindsay Graham has backed up Durbin. Trump seems to infect people around him with his lying bug. Luckily some are immune to catching that bug. By the way, the military, post office and the Social Security Administration are three of many government agencies that will not be affected. This was just reported by The Hill News, considered to be middle of the road in their reporting.
Trump keeps saying that our Military will be affected and it was another lie. The Republicans should have to report accurately what exact agencies and employees will be affected. Last time out most of the Government employees got an extra two week vacation with pay as the two weeks they were out of work they were given back pay. Still, it is unconscionable that the employees are used as pawns
12
More time has been spent talking about a characterization that, while less than artful, effectively describes the areas and merely because demographics are tilted does not mean racism except to those who wish to see it and that alone speaks volumes. Durbin, despite being a member of the Senate, is from East St Louis, Illinois and is likely to have heard such words before in reference to his hometown. What happened to manhood? Are we becoming a society of PC mongers? No wonder we fear Russia and Putin. And, heaven knows previous administrations have treated North Korea's dear leaders as like in the Wizard of Oz...ignore that man behind the curtain.
3
Senator Durbin is our hero at this point and I thank him for his concerns. However, when it occurred to him that: "This may not be about security or American jobs at all. It may be about something else," I continue to be worried about the time it has taken for our great country to truly embrace Reconstruction. Only a slur produces an accusation of racism, and, sadly, even with a slur, there is debate about the slur and Trump's racism. What will it take for Americans to own up to Trump's obvious racism, to feel shame about it, and act like they really believe in equality, and to understand racism even beyond the obvious slur?
By the way, that equality thing we've been striving for all these centuries--that's what makes America great! To continually strive for equality, one must work with a definition of racism that is culturally competent and honors our common sense and decency. We cannot sincerely rid ourselves of racism's scourge unless we can call when we see it. Trump is a racist.
14
This is a game show. trump does not want a deal; rather the wants to create the next suspenseful episode to draw attention to himself. He plays the game as the person with the key everyone needs and at the appropriate time says: "We'll see".
He is just waiting for the right time to take credit; and then we start the game all over again: "Starring Donnie Trump!!!"
13
You might think that what the president says is important and you'd be right. But the larger problem and it's a HUGE problem is that there are large numbers of Americans who approve of the talk, the attitude and the president.
There has always been bias and racism in America. Irish, Italians, Jews, African Americans and most recently Muslims. But it's never been a part of the main stream. What now?
5
One has to remember that Mr. Trump's father was an active member of the Klu Klux Klan of New York City. In fact, the father was arrested at a disruptive Klan rally. So our President, reportedly quite close to his father, grew up in an active racist environment on the streets of New York. Mr. Trump also seems to be an economic elitist. The rich, even those on paper, are above the poor.
Growing up in small town Georgia in the 1940s and 1950s, I know how easy it is to hear and live this racist stuff and how hard it is as an adult to shake it off. This is no excuse for vulgar and vile language and behavior. I only point out that this racist stuff, maybe like cancer, can only be in remision--never truly cured.
14
It is pretty shocking, too, to search what some top dogs in conservative religion are preaching these days and to compare with what came to light in this meeting.
4
My question is why are ANY Democrats attending the State of the Union address? All should boycott it.
9
If all the Dems boycott the state of the union address, who will boo 45? How about five Dems with strong voices attend the speech, just to voice their opposition.
3
I want them all there. I want them sitting in the first row, and i want each obe of them to be wearing a Robert Mueller mask,
2
I think they should attend and then collectively all stand with their backs to the podium for the duration of the spiel.
1
At 60, right at the tail end of the baby boom, with considerably fewer years ahead than behind, I can't help but consider how (if!) I will be remembered.
The naked hypocricy and outright lying of Republicans to protect a reprehensible racist monster illustrates the short-term thinking evidently currently in vogue in the Republican party. They are sacrificing a viable future for their own immediate gains, and posterity will judge them harshly.
Their children, their grandchildren, their fellow citizens will one day ask the question, How could they have witnessed such evil and done nothing? Worse, in many cases, how could they have aided and abetted such foulness?
Cotton, Perdue, and the rest of the enablers of evil - and as an atheist progressive, I rarely indulge in using that word - will be forever despised for looking the other way...and lying about it.
14
"sowing confusion among Republicans about the president's true aims."
Give me a break. No one's confused about this at all.
11
Trump watches and digests too much Fox News which is very harmful. Fox News fills him with anger, confusion, and resentment. This type of behavior is ruining his presidency.
5
Him and 10s of millions others like him.
1
A quick Google search of the term, "population of sub Saharan Africa ", get you the answer of 1,050,000,000 people. If your break that down to percentage of people who live in poverty, the answer is 47% or about 500,000,000 people
I would like to hear some opinions regarding how many of those people we can bring into the United States safely. Do our commentors think that all who wish to into the United States should be allowed to do so, or should there be limits?
7
Whoever suggested such a thing? Your question is specious, completely beside the point.
7
The Democrats really need to stop shying away from using the word "racist" when referring to Trump.
7
I'm a little surprised by your naivety, Senator Durbin. Many of us have long understood that it never was about security or American jobs - not for Trump and not for his supporters.
It has always been naked bigotry.
18
It's toxic. The Republic is crumbling. This must stop. Stick to your positions, Congressional Democrats. The rest of us, those with functioning limbs--get out and march. Scream and shout. Now! Nov 7 2018 will be too late.
14
You left out an important detail about xenophobes cotton and Perdue. Their initial lie was that they did not remember.
17
The pending Shut down...Trump? Possibly. Congress? Probably. Miller and the general? Definitely!
2
The real blinding revelation is that it took Sen Durbin this long to realize that 45 (and his base) have racist motives for their immigration (and all their other) “policies.” Somebody remind him of 45s vicious attack’s on the Gold Star parents, the “so-called” judge with Mexican forebears... the list is endless. Wake up, Sen Durbin.
12
Mr. Durbin might not say it but the American people will; Donald Trump, but ALL accounts and many independent opinions, including mine, is a racist.
He is unfit mentally and judgmentally to be our president.
His severe narcissism must constantly be fed at the expense of American interests and security. His cognitive disabilities render him useless to making good decisions for this country.
Bundle him up and send him back to trump tower. His harm should be limited to himself only.
17
We already know Mr Cotton is a traitor and coward who cares not for the rule of law by his actions during the Iran treaty negotiations when he engaged in private diplomatic action to try to subvert the negotiations. His claimed he did it because he said he did not agree with what the president was doing except he was pointing to the propaganda the GOP and Israel was promoting to obscure the truth about what the president was doing. I think that had as much to do with that president being a black man as anything else.
Mr Perdue is clearly a sycophant who has no honor, that sort of person seem drawn to our president throughout his life. Both of them were openly lying because they are just that corrupt and lacking in honor.
14
"Mr. Durbin stopped short, though, of branding Mr. Trump a racist." Why? In what way is it useful or instructive to evade that obvious conclusion, especially when that's a key piece of his political persona? Americans, especially the ones who elected an ignorant clown to represent them, are clueless about the utter loss of American prestige in the world, and are so dumb they don't know how much it matters.
8
Because Durbin is a gentleman raised with the values of comity and professional deference.
1
With Nixon, there was *only* a cancer on the presidency. With trump, the presidency has become a cancer on the nation.
14
Note to electorate: Don't again vote for a candidate who is so stupid and intellectually vapid that he doesn't know what he wants and can be swayed by the last person or people who got to talk to him.
14
Hasn't Durbin overplayed his hand on this? How many interviews is he going to give about this? I get it. In any one of these interviews, did any reporter ask Durbin, why, when Trump said this, didn't he push back, rather than running out and blabbing to the media? If he felt so strongly about the comments the president made, he apparently didn't do much about them when he had the chance.
8
This isn't a game. And in the Oval Office the president's voice is the one heard first and loudest.
3
Not the best choice of words by Trump. But apparently others have used similar. Lyndon Johnson was reportedly quite crude (apparently interviewed people while sitting on the john - not nice). I guess the question here should be: Can Congress protect in some way the Dreamers? And can immigration shift to a merit base not family chain type? Seems the answer to both is yes. Why the shutdown. Both parties must share the blame. The Republicans do not have control when they need 60 votes in the Senate.
3
Yes others are racists too. But there's only one in the White House (not counting his racist staff) and he must go.
6
“I will just have to tell you they are wrong and they know they are wrong.”
Senator Durbin is bending over backwards to show some measure of courtesy to his Republican colleagues. I commend him for his conduct.
But at what point must he state the obvious, that Senators Cotton and Perdue were not speaking the truth.
Readers -- and all citizens -- must remember that everyone in the room is on the public's payroll. These self-styled "public servants" are all being paid from funds raised by taxes on us -- you and me. We think that they owe us the duty to be honest in their speech, but no, there is no such legal duty.
They swear to support and defend the Constitution, but they do not swear to tell the truth in the performance of their duties. So we now must endure a swarm of liars in our Congress and our administration, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Until the next election, of course, and assuming there are enough righteous and indignant voters willing to stand up for truth and honesty in government.
11
Although Mr. Trump may have used gutter language to describe certain countries and certain continents, I suggest that a reading of the UN's 2016 Human Development Report, along with its accompanying statistics would suggest that perhaps he wasn't so off base as has been claimed. The statistical appendix to the 2016 Report lists 188 countries and ranks them from very high human development to low human development. Haiti and the vast majority of the countries ranking as Low Human Development are African. While this says nothing about the "quality" of the people seeking to immigrate from these countries, it does say quite a bit about the countries themselves.
8
Trump equated the countries with the people coming from them. Stop defending him.
7
vineyridge: What is the meaning of Low Human Development? And who exactly was the author of this? There is, of course, no such scientific entity.
2
This gratuitous parsing of every word that Trump utters is a new preoccupation of choice on the left in their vain efforts and hopes to remove the sitting president from office. The entire strategy is as predictable as it is doomed. Even if it succeeds (which is a practically an impossible if), it is doomed because it originates in negative politics.
3
Like your choice of words but the ability to give cover to person such as Donald Trump we leave to you. "Stable genius" I'm sure
I read on Martin Luther King day that during the civil rights era that he led, he had little support among Americans, both Democrat and Republican. I was so shocked to learn this detail, which I had not known before. What it took was pure grit and bravery to stand up for human rights. In the face of this openly racist administration, we all should remember the shoulders we stand on and continue to march forward in the name of human rights for all.
12
With no depth of sophistication or willingness to truly understand the implications of his actions beyond his own needs, anyone negotiating or dealing with him are left trying to hold water with thier hands. Solid commitment becomes vapor with a manipulative whisper that feeds into his fragile ego or claims that his "base" will not love him. This is not a leader. This is a child who will take us down the path to ruin to feed his underdeveloped ego and sense of self. I hope those who continue to believe that he is a leader, wake up soon. He is a slave to his never ending need for approval and nothing else. We have seen the impact on this process, imagine what will happen when we have a crisis that requires level headed and altruistic thought to get us through it? Just look at how well PR is doing...
219
Great comments. This is why the 1% and Putin elected him. His insatiable need for approval makes him the ideal puppet.
5
The disgusting rhetoric aside, Trump’s behavior as described in this meeting highlights why businesspeople aren’t necessarily suited to public service. He started out the way he reportedly began his business meetings: immediately confrontational and threatening. He acted as though he holds all the cards in the negotiation. Fortunately, in our Constitutional system, he does not.
Unlike Barack Obama, Donald Trump has an opposition party that is open to negotiating. It’s too bad he doesn’t know how.
15
The president is "hate-filled and vile" and there is no legitimate defense. He must be resisted and ultimately removed from office.
23
Has any US senator in history had a more appropriate name than Senator Cotton?
8
Yes, senator HOHO. Also a republican.
2
Looking at the photograph, Senator Durpin looks terribly distraught, and the gentleman behind his left shoulder, looks to be deep in some uncomfortable thought.
2
"President Trump used vulgar language to disparage the national origin of some potential immigrants..."
NO! Trump used racist language to disparage non-whites, in a manner fully consistent with his other racist statements and actions!
The so-called "vulgarity" isn't the issue -- the blatant racism is!
Keep the focus where it belongs and don't get sidetracked with related, but really tangential, aspects.
485
Might no one wonder whether Trump's father was involved with the German-American bundts in the nineteen thirties and passed down his views on related topics to his children.
7
Absolutely! We are not condemning vulgarity. We are condemning racism. Stop convoluting them.
Call it what it is - RACISM.
4
Agreed. But let's not forget that
racism is also vulgar.
1
I am stunned that anyone would ever trust this President's word on anything.
17
The millennials need to lift their heads off their smartphones. It will be you that rise up and save this country from ruin. Or else, you will pay the heaviest price. Fifty years ago, 1968 started on January 30 with the Tet Offensive.February 8th in Orangeburg, S.C. brought the death of 3 students at a "whites only" bowling alley in a civil rights protest. On March 31, LBJ announced he would not seek re-election. Rev. Dr. King was murdered on April 4 and riots ensued in many major cities. Bobby Kennedy was murdered on June 5th in L.A. Bloody riots in the streets of Chicago went on for days at the Chicago Democratic Convention during the week of August 22. On November 5, Nixon was elected President by "the silent majority", telling us that he had a "secret plan to end the War in Vietnam." The worst was yet to come. Things do not magically get better. The Woman's March last year must be backed by action that gets people to the polls this November. Take a leave of absence. Head to those places where Dems are positioned to reverse the House and the Senate balances. You have only yourself to blame if the future delivers still worse from Trump, his shills, his sycophants and his power hungry 1%.
26
This mess can't be cleaned up. Messes going forward, however, are easily taken care of with a couple of inadvertent strokes of genius spouted by our Unstable Genius in Charge last week.
He says he wants greater libel laws for people who lie to the press. Agreed.
He says the White House should record all future meetings. Agreed.
Anything that gets this racist megalomaniac behind bars quicker is ok with me. Let's REALLY make America great again.
10
This man posing as an American president has proven himself unfit for office. The unfolding evidence about his past, and who knows , present criminal activities further disqualify him for the white house. Now the public is finding revealed that he is also a racist and white supremacist further making him a candidate for immediate impeachment. The Republican Party is failing Americaq by supporting this international criminal and they are jeopardizing their party's very existence.
12
Agreed. His cockamamie ideas and vacillating and the Republican Congress slavishly following his whims are destroying our country.
5
Trump's overtly racist nature is the key reason why he would get an awful reception if he sets foot in the UK, and in London in particular. If UK Prime minister, Mrs. May, had said a fraction of what has come out of Trump's mouth she would have been ousted by her own party long ago - such behaviour is not tolerated in the UK. Trump hasn't grown into the role of President although he seems to have grown physically - maybe he uses heel lifts. FAKE SHOES!
8
"Mr. Durbin stopped short, though, of branding Mr. Trump a racist."
Senator Durbin may stop short of branding Mr. Trump a racist. I, however, have no such compunction. The president of the United States is a racist. Period.
14
Deja vu for 17th Century man, Trump. Liken it to selling of slaves defiant for freedom in front of other rabble rousers. Let them see Master taking charge, all powerful and omnipotent and scrutinized by millions he can't see..................
1
I used to be a public defender, the prosecutor was just like Trump. He would push you farther and farther, the more you tried to compromise, he would seek advantage. I finally determined the only way to respond was to fight, refuse to compromise, I literally tired every case to a jury, causing him to work day and night for about 2 weeks. Soon he came around. Senate Dems, my experience is you won't gain from trying to be reasonable with this jerk and his fellow travelers like Perdue and Cotton. Stand your ground, fight back, the American people are smart, they know these racists and their refusal to compromise are what are at the root of this.
15
As a Trump supporter I didn't like the language used in the meeting but I agree with Trump that the US needs to use a better means tested system for letting in immigrants. (like Canada does for instance. I don't remember anyone calling Canadians racist or like Nazis. )Do we really need people coming into the US with no education and no skills?? Our schools and hospitals can barely keep up with the foreign speaking immigrants we have now. Please lets everybody take a deep breath and look at this problem intelligently and seek solutions that will benefit Americans FIRST!
7
"As a Trump supporter I didn't like the language used in the meeting but I agree with Trump ..."
Then agree with the language, Barbara: it's baldly racist, but then that's what represents your beliefs. You own this president, and you own his hatreds.
(Because his policies will place America LAST!)
3
No one is proposing open immigration. America wants the 800,000 dreamers to stay. America wants immigration to be fair, and not biased against people of color or biased toward white people. Maybe you disagree, but you are in the minority.
2
Well that is what the bipartisan bill was about and that was what the meeting was to be about. And then it was hijacked ...
There must be new Russiagate information coming soon. DJT loves to distract just before a big announcement. While I think he is only a "moderate" racist (oh, he definitely is one, just not KKK level) he knows that saying what he did would distract from the bigger issues. And it has. Mission accomplished.
2
This racist event is now the modus operandi that the world is quite aware of. Such is the defining moment in the Durbin-Trump Affair that dramatically pinpointed the absolute white supremicist, dictatorial psyche of this president. America, beware! The Saracens are indeed at the gates.
3
“This may not be about security or American jobs at all,” Mr. Durbin said. “It may be about something else.”
Um, DUH!!!
Where have you been the last 2 or 3 years Mr. Durbin? Have you been living in a cave, or under a rock? Have you been in a coma, or had your memory erased MIB style? How does any Congressperson not know this by now?
2
Amy K
Senator Durbin well knows, he has had an exemplary career; he was only making a comment about 45’s disgusting, racist comments at this particular meeting.
7
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
~H.L. Mencken, The Evening Sun, July 26, 1920.
13
For goodness sake. The United States of America is full of racists from top to bottom. The USA is a racist country. The US was founded on racist principles. Stop pretending that Trump does not represent American values. Trump’s racism is as American as blueberry pie.
6
It's apple pie, but yes.
1
Steve, the cultivars of domesticated apple are the descendants of a species of plant originsting in Asia. Apples are not indigenous to America. The American blueberry is. Apple pie was an English recipe long before it was American. Hence, I stand by my original analogy.
1
Mr. Trump, the president, has a reputation of being a liar, a well earned reputation. Nothing he says is to be believed at face value, particularly when he is in defense mode. When he opens his mouth, just remember that he is a practiced liar.
2
Trump had been erasing everything a black president did before him. Clearly, then, without question, the man is a raging racist. That cannot surely be a mystery to anyone any longer from the moment birtherism took hold in that unread, uneducated mind if his.
8
Trump is a white supremacist, period. Since his inauguration he has moved over 1 million people of color out of the United States or prevented them from coming. That is the story. Perhaps the NYTimes might want to follow the racists mouth to racists policies actually being implemented.
3
Donald Trump’s language is irrelevant. He’s an ignorant low-life and I’m mystified that we’ve spent nearly a week in hysteria over it.
Of course he’s a racist. He’s always been a racist, is the son of a racist who reportedly marched with the KKK. Called the Charlottesville neo-Nazis “fine people.”
We know who and what he is. The semantics are nothing compared to his malignant soul.
9
Dick Durbin is a big political phony. He hates Trump and will everything and anything to make him look bad. A dishonest State of Illinois politician.
4
Incorrect. Trump is the phony. Can't read, can't work, can't speak in complete sentences.
5
Unlike 45, Senator Durbin has had an exemplary career. Unlike 45, he hasn’t worked with the mafia, skimmed profits, declared bankruptcy, raped or debased women, etc., etc.
9
Durbin and Graham went to speak to the President in good faith after already talking to him on the phone. Durbin isn't the only one who reported Trump's racist rant (Graham also). Durbin is only the messenger. The message is that Trump is a vile human being who is slowly becoming unhinged. The majority of America wants him removed from office.
1
Sure, Mr. Trump is a racist, but he also abysmally ignorant and unread, and that's what makes him such a danger to our country. He's irrational, reactionary, and has a very narrow world-view. Keeping black people our of his apartment buildings has now morphed into keeping black people out of America, without any thought.
8
Senator Durbin is correct in implying that racial animosity drives Trump's decisions regarding immigration. Trump is attempting to develop his own "master race" with his proposed immigration policies. No surprise from a person who has read only a few books in his life, one being Mein Kampf.
3
Trump is not just a racist. He is an old school, Archie Bunker style *spherical* racist. (His words and actions appear racist, no matter which way you look at them)
Sadly 50% of the GOP and Fox Noise talking heads are succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome. He has hijacked their party and they are falling in love with their "dear leader" and fall over themselves to rationalize things they never would have condoned even 18 months ago.
If you have ever wondered how the irrational, angry, hateful extremists could take over the machinery of government in Germany in the 1930s with no organized opposition, here is your answer.
7
The Dreamers should all stay and Trump and all his family should be immediately deported.
19
George Wallace had a change of heart in his later years.
I doubt if that is possible for the venal and vile man who now resides in the White House.
3
I agree with Trump. if we had kept his grandfather, the draft dodger and pimp, out of this country, we would all be better off now.
11
Trump is vulgar. Trump is a hater. Trump is a racist. Trump does not represent all Americans, only a select few and that is based upon their wealth and whiteness. Trump has contempt for diplomacy and declares he IS the state, a scary fascist statement. Trump has contempt for American democracy.
Trump has contempt for our system of justice, like Arpaio, and believes he should convict and condemn by use and abuse of his executive powers. Trump is a liar. Trump is a bigot. Trump is a misogynist. Trump is a purveyor of false news and political propaganda. Trump wants to suppress votes. Trump wants to muzzle our Free Press. Trump is divisive. Trump is all about Trump and cares for no-one else on this planet. Trump is the greatest danger to our national security as well as our democracy.
Trump should not be president of the United States.
20
Any thinking person knows that Trump has a foul mouth and a dirty mind.Of course he said it..He has said worse and gotten away with it..His life is riddled with trash talk...bullying...corruption...maybe money laundering...How in the world he survives his term will be a miracle...
7
Nothing but golf course banter in the oval office. "The White House is a real dump", remember folks?
2
I don't care if the stock market goes up to a million. Everyday this disgusting person is president makes America more and more like an open bedsore.
13
This vile, little man must be shown the White House door as soon as possible.
He is an insult to our country.
9
The president is a malignant narcissist.
And his base loves it. They wish they were him.
8
I'm from NYC, this was never about security or jobs. 45 is a lily livered plain ol' racist and white supremacist demagogue.
14
Should the rest of the world be as scared as Senators Durbin and Graham when 30% of the the US population still fervently support a racist, a liar, a narcissist and a con in the White House?
11
Trump resorts to and relies on using terror tactics to simultaneously subvert, overwhelm and abuse our national, historical, and individual sense of rational political discourse and action. There is a definite method to his madness: that of wearing down political opposition and resistance by conditioning the nation's citizens to totalitarian-like psychological abuse, in order to subordinate us to Trump's whim and will. The praxis of Don Trump is totalitarian.
13
IMHO America’s “Narcissist in Chief” is crazy like a fox because the truth no longer matters and everything is considered FAKE NEWS. US Senators and the White House cannot agree on what Trump said because the American public is not entitled to know. We are supposed to trust our conservative or liberal Senator.
I admit that I voted for Trump and would probably vote for him again (assuming that he does not start a nuclear war with North Korea). Trump is a wrecking ball who is directly and indirectly exposing the hypocrisy and corruption of the Democrat & Republican leadership, the conservative and liberal national media (Fox vs. NBC, ABC, CBS & CNN) and most importantly the FBI, DOJ and NSA agencies. The question is whether or not either the Democrat or Republican Party, the national media or the law enforcement and security agencies stat acting honestly and courageously to protect democracy and rule of law or will they continue to protect their power base and financial self-interest. My fear is that no one cares (especially the wealthiest 1%) if the government shuts down, there is a world-wide recession and the bottom 99% of Americans start turning on each other.
The question is: why did you vote for him, and after what you state as horrendous facts about the President, why and how could you vote for him again? The spreading of hate, racism, bigotry, is not enough? It would take a nuclear war to change your vote? Really?
3
Trump is the most corrupt and dangerous President in US history. His supporter highly selective views border on the irrational. To suggest that he is a positive force in effecting change is ludicrous, no matter you politics.
3
Our government and most of the news media (exception: the Truimp administration Fox and Sinclair Media) are filled with honest, hard working, dedicated people from all walks of life, none of whom deserve your ill-considered insults.
2
If Durbin had not been in that room, the Republican senators in attendance would have never revealed what clearly was said and the depth of depravity such an utterance connotes. I can only conclude that it also reflects their beliefs, that they find nothing wrong with such a position, and that they are so drunk on their own sense of white power and a deep-seated commitment to maintaining it that complicit barely begins to describe them. Robbing the palace while the mad king reigns, they are getting what they want, so who cares about decency, honor, and justice? Who cares about America?
19
The President's remarks were completely inapporirate. But it is disappointing to hear how easily Senator Durbin is"stunned and shaken" given his senior leadership position in the Democratic Party - would expect more resolve and strength from him.
2
Senator Durbin is a mild-mannered gentleman and a diplomat, possibly trying hard to maintain civility in an increasingly uncivil situation.
3
Trump resort to and relies on using terror tactics to simultaneously subvert, overwhelm and abuse our national, historical, and individual sense of rational political discourse and action. There is a definite method to his madness: that of wearing down political opposition and resistance by conditioning the nation's citizens to totalitarian like psychological abuse in order to subordinate us to Trump's whim and will. The praxis of Don Trump is totalitarian.
2
Crude, yes. But compared to what Nixon, and others, routinely said about Jews, and in front of Kissinger, may be no more shocking. The difference is, in those days, everyone expected crude remarks about Jews, and probably African Americans, too. We know President Trump is undiplomatic, but is his use of foul language truly worse than all previous presidents? Doubt it.
3
Good comparison. Trump and Nixon. Two presidents that we can truly admire.
1
Yes. He is more vile than any you mention. Plus he has actually discriminated, and been sanctioned for doing so.
2
The Midas touch, in reverse. Everything Trump touches falls apart. You can't reason with a narcissist who has created his own reality.
4
Trump's word means nothing. You can't negotiate with someone who doesn't care about rules, ethics, moral authorities. Cotton and Perdue are liars and have shown that their word means nothing and they are sycophants.
I grew up in a Republican family, a Republican town and I can't believe that some of the GOP, unfortunately, Trump and his cronies just keep sinking lower and lower.
Over time, more people are going to jump off the GOP band wagon. There still are the crazy Trump followers but there are ,also, the people that just care about the value of their 401Ks and retirement accounts and the rest they just ignore. But the pool of people supporting the GOP keeps dwindling. FOX can make it seem like as is well but it isn't.
The GOP has outright, terrible, liars. They have Trump who is morally bankrupt and their will be more Stormy Daniels coming out of the woodwork about Trump. Then of course there is all the money laundering and organized crime, and Russiagate.
Thank you Senator Durbin for sticking to your guns and for fighting for what is right and good for this country. I
13
The use of the excuse of American jobs and security is a long standing lie not backed up by the facts that the GOP has employed to hide their racist and bigoted ideas. In Trump and many members of his administration, the GOP willing coconspirators. The lie has now been exposed in the light of day.
It is about "something else". That many in the GOP would wish to stop all people of color from coming to America can now be confronted truthfully. Some even wish that African Americans would 'self-deport' themselves 'back home'. Since that is a long shot, they have Jeff Sessions to use the DOJ to incarcerate as many African American men as they possibly can. Bonus points go to the private prison industry and their CEOs.
5
“This may not be about security or American jobs at all,” Mr. Durbin said. “It may be about something else.”
Of course it's about something else. Every single one of the so-called Dreamers could have come to this country legally and Trump and his supporters would still want them out of here. This has nothing to do with the process; with legality; with immigration rules. This is about race. Trump and his white nationalists friends just don't want `them' here. It's that simple. And there are millions of native-born Americas that Trump and his racist friends don't want here either. But that's another story.
10
There are two things about this whole situation I find unnerving. First, everyone, including Democrats, keeping talking about what Trump wants. This bill shouldn't be about what Trump wants, it should be about what the majority of Americans want (and that's not Trump's base).
Second, in all of this discussion about immigration reform I don't hear anything about the insane baby tourism industry, where wealthy foreigners come here use our hospitals and other services to deliver a baby and go home with a US citizen and passport. Which makes it clear the immigration "reforms" being discussed is merely another economic and racist action of this Administration. Building a wall is about targeting one ethnic group who lack means, while the on-going baby tourism is about rolling out the red carpet to the wealthy white and Asian immigrants.
389
Yes, the birth tourism is being practiced especially by wealthy, Putin-connected Russians. Then they take the kid back and indoctrinate him/her in Russia. But as a native-born U.S. citizen, those kids will be eligible for all the rights and privileges as such, up to and including running for president someday.
2
one should also note that many of the "baby tourists" are from Russia.
4
The Trump Hotel in Miami offers a package for Russians coming here to have their babies. You are right, there is a huge baby tourism industry and this highlights the fact that Trump is profiting from this. He encourages it and has a huge price tag on it.
6
We are watching as downfall of America spirals around us. Grotesque and maddening that we can do nothing about it and our republican congressmen are accessories to the destruction.
16
The Congress would save themselves a lot of angst if they just started ignoring what Trump wants. Strip him of his platform. It will be a clearer path for legislation. Trump will self destruct when he is ignored. Does Congress have the courage to buck their biggest headache? The party structures will be forced to contemplate removing the burr under their collective saddles.
5
“But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.”
That is obvious to all, including those who "support" the Trump. Only those who support him will dance around without admission.
3
Republicans and Democrats of good will need to get together and present their leadership and then the Mad King a bill to sign. Let Trump call it a victory. He doesn’t care if it is what he promised. The tax Bill certainly was not. He’s the master salesman/conman and will pass off anything as a win.
1
I respect Senator Durbin for having the temerity to speak the truth to, and about, a blatantly racist and depraved man erroneously inhabiting the position of president. No matter how much the con man lies, obfuscates and poses, he hasn't a single original thought or care for our people, country, standing in the world, or our much revered Constitution.
Our democracy is going to survive this current onslaught of insanity and malingering evil. What makes democracy so precious and outstanding is also what makes it difficult to remove a con man from the pinnacle of power. The proof we need to free ourselves of burden is in the offing, and we will restore our country to the beacon of hope and pride it has been in the past.
6
At the end of the day all Trump really has is his dwindling base of racist deplorables, and so he will say what they want to hear. Anything he says in public is just baloney thrown out in the moment because it made him feel good or appear reasonable. Once alone, and reminded by synchophants that he cannot afford to lose that base, the real Trump always re-emerges as the tweets reveal time after time. There is no center to Trump, just fear of losing power.
6
Well he is quicker on the uptake than our previous POTUS. It took him 7yrs. to realize that Conservatives cant be reasoned with, much less negotiated with.
5
That's because President Obama was such a good and reasonable person it was difficult for him to grasp that anyone could be as rotten as the Republicans.
2
How easily Trump is manipulated. Who had Trump's ear before this meeting? Who invited the bomb-throwers? Whoever it was is like Wormtongue whispering in Trump's ear. The only problem is his Chief of Staff General Kelly might himself be Wormtongue. Blame for the failure of this meeting and government shut-down if it happens should fall on Trump for his spinelessness and/or absence of conscience; on his staff for failing Trump; and on far right-wing Republicans who refuse under any circumstances to compromise, who pander to their anti-immigrant, racist base who do not bat an eye about deporting millions of our friends and neighbors.
13
~"Mr. Durbin said he did not personally leak details of the conversation and also directed his staff not to discuss it.~"
Why is this even relevant with someone like trump? This guy believes that what you say to each other on a golf course (except with Bill Clinton), or in a locker room, is more privileged that what is said in the White House.
5
As Trump himself has said many times ... the President is the one responsible for any government shutdown. It's debatable when you don't have control of the government but there can be no doubt when you control ALL of the government to the extent that members of the administration and congress will flat out lie for you.
227
What the Senators witnessed was not a prelude to a shutdown ... it was a prelude to a shakedown. The president fancies himself a great negotiator but he's really a jumped up used car salesman like you ran into when you were buying your first used car at age 18. You "negotiated" and made your best deal but discovered that your deal had suddenly changed when the salesman brought the paperwork back from getting his manager's "approval". I would urge legislators to get up from the table and walk out just like I did at the used car lot.
9
Nothing Trump says, nor the way he says it, should shock anyone. Senator Durbin and the rest of the Democrats should get off their fainting couches and spar.
6
Looks like Stephen Miller got to dt before that meeting. It's got his fingerprints all over it.
9
This is merely a prelude of things to come in this administration.
3
First of all, I want to thank Senator Durbin for standing up! His behavior is remarkable only because the behavior of this White House is so reprehensible.
To hear a man, a Dem Senator, stand up to a heartless Racist at the pinnacle of power nearly brings me to tears. And that is a commentary on how painful things have become during this past, awful, horrible no-good year of a Sociopath in the White House.
I entirely agree that what Senator Durbin witnessed sheds light on the racism and bigotry underlying much of Trump’s posturing, slight of hand tactics, mendacity, cruelty and sadism this long year.
It explains Trump’s malignant attitude to Puerto Rico after the devastating hurricane.
It explains the heartless rendering of refugees back to their home countries.
It explains Trump’s racist remarks after Charlottesville.
We are in the midst of an attack on minorities, whether due to race or religion or whatever animosity Trump feels at any moment.
I am heartbroken! I am appalled. I am disgusted!
But, Senator Durbin, you are my hero! You have brought me to tears simply because you were shaken by profanity and racism in the Oval Office.
Do not back down, Senator!!! Do not let us down!
I am not a minority, except in one way. I married a man with a Spanish last name. This was no problem 50 year ago. Or 40 or 30 years ago. Nor 20 years ago.
Why should a last name or the color of one’s skin or worship in a Mosque be a mark of shame in Trump’s America?
13
Senator Durbin came to the realization that President Trump is a white supremacist. Those who are still hesitant to label Trump as such are unable or unwilling to accept the truth. I don’t like the term racist, but in Trump’s case White supremacy fits perfectly.
6
I don't pretend to speak for all People of Color, foreign or domestic, but I would bet that they came to the conclusion that Trump's "immigration policy" has been racist from the time he called all Mexicans rapists. And that did include women and children. That was the tell in my book.
I am glad that Sen Durbin is now up to speed on the new US immigration official/unofficial policy. If I don't see you at the polls in 2018, you are not woke
4
Senator Durbin says:
"But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.”
Let's call it like it is. His comments were "racist", not "racial." Even if one is hesitant to call Trump a racist, we can, at least, label his comments as such. That's what thinking people call comments that are "hate-filled and vile."
5
The situation is very clear. Do Democrats allow racial animus to drive immigration policy or not? If Trump insists it his (racist) way or the highway, then it needs to be called out and vigorously opposed. And that's up to and including a government shutdown.
2
Unfiltered from Trumps mind to his mouth? I'd be terrified too. For a real public servant like Durbin it must have been like happening on an especially gruesome crime scene. Coming as it did from a sitting president. A president of The United States... of America.
I hope the other people in the room weren't totally devastated. After all they are public servants too. They too would not let anyone, especially a sitting president, drag their country through the mud. Without saying something...anything.
135
But they did allow and are allowing him to do it. I have lost all respect for the representatives of the people who are standing by with blank expressions. Shame on them for their cowardice. They have sold their souls to the Devil, and for what? Faust has nothing on 45.
Snowflakes all!!!!
You're kidding, right? Rhetorical question. Durbin was the only Democrat in the room. Lindsey Graham notwithstanding, what has anyone else said/objected to? Another rhetorical question.
I am a white man who recently graduated from college and am having a very difficult employment search process. I've had many "close calls" with some very good employment prospects, but nothing has come out of any of them. Of all of the moronic things this President has said and done (more in only a year in office than probably ALL previous Presidents in US history combined), if he actually said these things out loud to educated, responsible adults - members of our government, it shows that he is in fact a very sick man. Is this at least part of the reason I can't seem to get hired??? I'm really scared, because I cannot afford to be unemployed, or work in a fast food restaurant for the next 3 years (God willing). I feel the grim sense that I really could eventually end up homeless.
1
I think Mr. Durbin is giving us the edited version of Mr. Trump's comments. If he told us what was *really* said Mr. Trump wouldn't have a racist leg to stand on, hence the reason why the White House is going easy on Mr. Durbin.
I don't think we will truly know the full story until another tell-all book is published. But based on the reaction of the two senators it's not a stretch to think Mr. Trump's terminology for Haitians and other "immigrants of color" was alot more descriptive and racially twinged than anyone could imagine.
8
The drama! Durbin was "stunned......and shaken". Not just stunned.... but shaken too. Ohhhhh, the humanity.
Trust me. This guy was neither stunned, nor shaken. The only thing that stuns career politicians is when a reliable donor tells them no.
7
And can all of the Dems stop being "hopeful" please? It's time to show hope out the window and deal with this man as realists. Get a message out to voters NOW and call him out every time he blinks.
What can you say about a system of government that allows for a Caligula like figure such as Trump to attain power? It's more about us then him, this is what a kleptocratic failing democracy looks like.
8
If Trump didn't say it, why did he want to know how the vulgarity was playing with his "base?"
7
Trump was not just spewing racism but was attacking the poor and needy. He sent his son Eric to Fox News declaring it was not about racism but economics. Stating that his Father only wants to bring in people who are already financially independent. The very notion of helping the needy is nowhere to be found with this administration yet the core of trumps supporters are white evangelicals. Their hypocrisy is blaring . How anyone who states that their first alliance is to the teachings of Jesus can support this administration is beyond comprehension.
10
Who is this monstrous human being who claims to represent me?
How is it possible that my country is led by someone whose entire belief systems are diametrically opposed to everything that I have believed and that has defined who I am and how I have tried to conduct myself my whole life?
How can I entrust not only my life, but the futures of everyone I love to this ignorant, horrendously insecure, immoral and deviant person?
How can we all let this disruptive, evil and twisted force that suddenly emerged on the world stage continue to essentially change all of us is so many negative and dangerous ways? I know I have changed because of Donald J. Trump. Vulgarity, meanness, ridicule, insults, bombast, immodesty, dishonesty, brashness, ignorance -- all these and many more -- no longer shock and appall me. I WANT to be shocked and disgusted by these things but, sadly, I no longer am. This man has changed me and I'm very angry.
14
Senators Durbin and Graham came face to face with #TheRealDonaldTrump. Anyone who grew up around the personality disordered will immediately recognize the combination of blame, inconsistency and blind rage described here. Rational discussion isn’t just impossible, it actually increases and prolongs the fury. Once the veneer of competence falls away, you’re looking directly into unfiltered ugliness. It does indeed leave one speechless. The diagnosis is immaterial. Clarity comes from experience.
It’s terrifying enough around a dinner table, it’s inconceivable in the Oval Office. GOP hardliners are deluded if they think he’s controllable, or can be sated. The PR that “worked” in Trump Tower will not and must not work here. Keep him golfing and tweeting and away from government until we can restore a semblance of sanity.
8
President Donald Trump. Given the absurdity of that sentence, who is surprised by these developments? The surrealness of the last year is like a mass hallucination. Every norm abandoned, every decency corroded, every instinct toward truth subverted. Trump's narcissistic persona warps the space around him. Confident, right thinking people are repelled by his parallax effect. Only sycophants with a taste for subservience can remain in his orbit for long, even these eventually losing favor for some or other whim. How long can this anomaly persist? What destructive form might its end take? And what of the naked Emperor's base of voters? What might they next elect?
4
Of course it isn't about security or jobs. Trump's mother was from Europe and he shows no compassion for his exact same circumstance? This is about getting yours and ensuring others never do putting country is on incredibly slippery slope. We are all watching Congress--do you job..........
2
I look forward to the day when this profane "president" fades into the background, however nothing will ever ease the pain of knowing that so many of my fellow countrymen endorse his words, either endorse or deny his racism, and feel that he is a good man doing a good job.
Nothing will ever erase that from my memory, and it will always make me both angry and sick to my stomach. Any sane person would do well to NOT immigrate here, especially when there are many better countries out there to go to if needed. Norway comes to mind.
18
You are absolutely RIGHT. Mexico is another place better.
This has always been the case JW. Your eyes being opened by these events does not change anything but your POV.
This is the only possible place our nation could have arrived at once the DEMs let themselves be coopted by reagan's lies and false dogma. There has been no real counter to those lies since. It is almost hard to believe now the fact that no one could find any evidence of any of the lies he got elected on even years after he took office. Of course his policies created the effects he was talking about then he pointed to what he hath wrought and said "SEE! I told you it was so."
1
If the GOP wants "bi-partisan" support, shouldn't they invite more than one Democrat to their meetings with the POTUS?
9
Simple. With one democrat, no corroboration of "facts". Instead, Republican "fake news" and "not sure what was said" rules.
November can't come soon enough.
I continue not to understand the blind spot in the minds of Senators like Durbin and Graham when it comes to Trump's character and morals. Given Trump's dark track record over decades in private business, the growing evidence of highly unethical if not illegal behavior and most of all his shocking use of lies over facts, why is Durbin, Graham or any other politician still so vulnerable to being surprised by Trump's disreputable behaviors?
Anyone who ignores or embraces Trump's day-after-day unscrupulous behavior are ignorant and immoral.
12
There seems to be a stream of individuals who have reported how reasonable and courteous Trump has been in a private meeting; then - he blindsides them one after another. He has publicly shown his ignorance, duplicity and disdain for those of other races or beliefs. I won't say other religions - he mouths scripted BS to appeal to religious groups. It is very hard to comprehend how two obsiously otherwise politically savvy Senators could not grasp what they are dealing with. Perhaps long experience with people who, at heart, were concerned for the country, made the scenario hard to believe. What apparently got them at gut level them was not the use of a single foul word or teo, but his - and his supporters - hatred for those they are seeking to eject. I think a second epiphany for them - maybe for Graham especially - is that they themselves received no respect for all their years of experience. Imagine being face to face with the President and his key supporters - and having it sink in fully that you share NO values.
2
Immoral yes but ignorant? These people choose to be ignorant or choose to support the president's vicious soul. I call it willful.
The President of the United States describes non-white countries as 's...holes": 60% of Americans react variously with disgust, dismay, and horror, while 40% celebrate, laughing and cheering for a guy who "finally tells it like it is".
There are now two Americas, pro-Trump (38 - 40%) and otherwise. Thanks to right wing media outlets -- Fox News, radio talk shows, and online websites -- that 40% is not going away. To the contrary, the information bubble that daily reaffirms their "values" only serves further to polarize the country and its politics.
How and where does this end? How do we as a country escape from this death spiral of hate and division that has poisoned our civic discourse and effectively paralyzed our government?
Think about it -- are we headed ultimately for secession, a national divorce that creates a Red America and a Blue America? Does it not seem like the inevitable conclusion to this tale of madness that began with Newt Gingrich, grew into adolescence with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, and has now matured thanks to the internet? Is there any other path that delivers us safely from this existential ledge?
24
Agreed, but I think its more like 70-30% and if the 70% would get to the poles and VOTES in November then the Democrats can take back both the house and senate, impeach-prosecute and lock-up this ignorant and hateful racist and then and only then can things begin to get better. But every one of the 70% MUST VOTE in November 2018.
2
Agreed with respect to Trump, but that does nothing to change the growing polarization. To the contrary, impeaching or otherwise prosecuting Trump or his administrations' members will likely only exacerbate the Red/Blue divide problem. I fail to see where this process ends, and the worse is gets, the less gets accompllished politically/governmentally. A country cannot continue to exist when every change of the party in power results in a complete overturning of every action of the previous administration.
1
I think the divide has sadly always been with us. Newt Gingrich himself justified all of his behavior and increase in partisanship as essentially having learned from Ted Kennedy during the Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings that you don't bring a knife to a gun fight. The "Borking" of America by the Democrats. In turn, Ted Kennedy no doubt justified his behavior during the Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings on the basis of the assassinations of his brothers and MLK, Jr. and the lies to America from the fraudulent Warren Commission and the FBI and CIA during the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The people behind the assassinations no doubt justified their behavior on the basis of the Kennedy family using the mob and Daley machine to perhaps, in their eyes, "steal" the election of 1960 and because of concerns about JFK policies (ironically, to the right wingers opposed to Kennedy, the assassination strengthened LBJ & the Civil Rights Act that passed was stronger than what Kennedy was proposing & prepared to sign). The nation was very divided in the 1960's and before as well. National news shows; ratings-driven cable news shows, etc. have all done their part in emphasizing the division.
Besides having a diagnosable "President", still unfulfilling his designated
Officials, today I heard him saying he did not Need them.....All WE Need
is ONE in Charge. Where IS our Leadership while the "President" is
"Having Fun" playing the charade?
3
Why does it have to be a "deal" ala trump? It should be an agreement between two parties to benefit the subject of the deal (ie immigrants) and not a "deal" to benefit the ego of these politicians. Vote them all out.
7
With all due respect to Senator Durbin, anyone who is shocked or surprised at the revelation that Trump's entire position on the immigration issue (or any other issue for that matter) is driven by racism and xenophobia -- well they just haven't been paying attention.
Unless, of course, he sees that a different position has the potential to fatten his own wallet -- say by catering to the whims of some of the Russian oligarchs with whom he and his family do business. Then things change awfully fast.
5
Just because we aren't shocked doesn't mean we shouldn't scream to the heavens and protest such vicious language. Otherwise it's just one further slip down the slide into fascism.
1
The fact that Trump is a racist, and a cruel one at that, is not exactly a news flash. His supporters have given every indication that they see it as a feature, not a bug, of his presidency. Nor is anyone unaware of the proclivities of Kelly and the other euphemistically described “immigration hardliners” who were present in the meeting.
The importance of this meeting was that it exposed the depths of corruption of the GOP, and erased their ability to spin the deal they have made with Trump as anything other than an exchange of their and the country’s souls for Trump’s ability to scrawl his signature with a Sharpie.
I just finished reading the transcript of the Fusion GPS testimony to the House intelligence Committee, and it relieved me of all confusion about the Republican’s attacks last month on the agencies they claimed to revere in a previous lifetime. I can only assume Graham’s plummet into that abyss of obstruction and obfuscation when he referred Steele for criminal charges was due to the loss of supervision by his better angel, McCain.
Trust me, I don’t like shutdowns. But if one is what is necessary to draw a bold line in defense of common decency and honest dealings in government, it is a small price to pay. The ball is in the Republican’s court. It’s time for a new playbook guys.
9
Senator Durbin deserves our thanks for speaking out. I doubt that he was really surprised at what he heard during this meeting. I am certain he and others were fully aware of the character and the heart of Donald Trump. Nevertheless, it is still shocking and stunning to actually hear this language and racism from the president of the United States speaking from within the Oval Office. Durbin sat right next to Trump. That there was silence in the car with Graham speaks volumes. It is difficult to come to terms with the stark reality of this kind of ugliness coming from the office. The expression on Durbin's face in the photo also speaks loudly. It is profoundly stunning and sad to witness how far we have fallen in just a year. Now we must fight for the survival of our democracy.
10
Another distraction accepted with dread. But the main issues of the distruction of our government, public policies in service to the people, the nation’s Global standing and the criminal take over of our government through collusion keep getting pushed aside because of what.
Please answer the question of why media attends to such distractions, as if they weren’t already known facts about this president and his staff; rather than exposing the above and helping this nation to end this Russian effort to destroy our government? Exposure isn’t enough. Harnessing and articulating sound strategies that rid us of this national horror is the priority that must be addressed.
3
Both of them, Durbin and Graham, got sandbagged. Billed as a bipartisan meeting with the president the two of them found themselves joined by a cadre of anti-immigrant white supremacists. Despite his rhetoric of the week before that he would accept what the two parties negotiated, trump threw the two senators under the white supremacy bus. The racism was more than obvious and the white supremacists have all lied about it, some even under oath.
11
It escapes me why anyone would believe anything that Durbin says. He's completely untrustworthy. No, not a Trump fan.
4
The president used highly offensive and inflammatory language which, whether intended or not, clearly displayed racial animus.
He started it. However, after some point, the media are guilty of prolonging and contributing to racial tensions by repeating over and over and over, often gratuitously, the vulgar term he used. We all know what he said. And we were all reminded of it continuously in the days following the meeting.
In over one hundred articles by this paper alone which used the term hundreds of times. The use of the term by cable and other networks has probably been in the thousands. After a while it sounds like a bunch of pre adolescents, who, having learned their first curse word, use it again and again to impress their friends.
The magnitude of continuous repitition does as much to maintain racial tension as did the president’s original statement.
2
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,”
Evelyn Beatrice Hall, 1906
(Summing up Voltaire, and often attributed to Patrick Henry who probably never said it in the first place, which may be the same case for what Trump said he did not say when he said it, or not).
2
For the last 52 weeks Mr. Trump tweets, states, in a speech to his base, or calls members of Congress into the Oval Office how he sees the world. The news media, 70% of Americans, some world leaders, 49 Democrats and an occasional Republican Senator are stunned by Mr. Trump's unfiltered behavior.
The Republican controlled House and Senate ignore Mr. Trump's behavior, happy he provides a diversion, continue to push their agenda up the Hill; providing favorable legislation for the insurance, pharmaceutical, banking, and lobbyists who provide golf trips, vacation get aways...for Congress.
Mr. McConnell and Mr. Ryan will state to the media they have made concessions to the Democrats to pass the 30 day Government spending bill, it has never occurred to members of Congress to separate the Government spending bill from all other legislation so it can pass or not pass on its own. They are happy for the weekly smoke screen Mr. Trump provides every week so they don't have to do their job--knowing every Friday afternoon Mr. Trump is on his way to play golf at one of his properties and Sunday morning they will have a new set of tweets to hide behind.
6
If the Democrats and non-hardcore Trump supporters stopped comparing notes about him as confused, almost senile, disorganized and so forth what would they be left to consider?
A good theory fits the facts. A succession of continuing budget resolutions means no resolution at all to many key issues. A litany of cat fights about personality means that substance is lost and attitude is all that is left.
If Trump is seen as a person who demands and get adherence from his staff then instead he must be considered to be in control. Thus the picture is his painting, illusory or not.
In this light, what we have now is the confrontation that has been designed and in the works for 12 months, on the terms that Trump wants.
Will the Democrats fall into the pit that has been dug for them? And is Trump not the ultimate Br'er Rabbit, continually hollering not be thrown into the briar patch, his home sweet home where all is confusion and he can pull the strings in so many unaccountable ways?
Just wondering ...
2
I get why the meeting left Durban and Graham stunned, speechless and drained. As insiders they have a different perspective I’ve than we do and Deal with greater nuance. Yet it is not surprising to thos of us outside the bubble, as this presidents racist behavior and insular world view had been evident for decades. He has not and will not pivot. Our nation is under grace threat from the inside Andy we have waited too long for politicians to exhibit leadership and take appropriate action. As the party in power, Republicans are at bat.
2
All meetings from here on should be recorded. Second, Trump should be put in front of the Senate commission and put under oath. Him and Cotton and everyone else in the room at the time of Trumps explosion. We need to have the truth about this guy, with no filters from the GOP. My vote is to get rid of Trump as soon as possible. But noooo, the GOP members will continue to fall on their swords supporting Trump, and ruin not only their careers, but their character.
2
Although a registered Democrat, I'm a social liberal, but otherwise a centrist. So I've been very reluctant to see the Democrats force a shutdown, fearing that even if it resulted in passage of a clean DACA bill, the ensuing fallout would make it a Pyrrhic victory, and hurt them in the midterm election.
But reading this article, as well as some of the comments, has persuaded me that the Senate Democrats must take a stand today. Not simply for the sake of the Dreamers, but as a firm declaration or resistance against the racism of the Trump administration.
7
The president does not believe in our most basic American value: all men are created equal in their rights. It's just that simple.
6
The fact that Durbin is a Democrat and very much anti-Trump probably intensified his state of shock. Thinking that relating Trump's choice of words to the public would benefit Democrats in the next election was likely another factor.
2
AARON: Durbin confirmed what had already been reported.
There's only one way to find out what Trump will sign and what he will veto: Pass a bill and put it on his desk. Time to stop waiting around for the President to put forward a consistent position. He has no consistent positions, never has, and never will.
8
Does someone have to say "I am a racist" before you can actually call them a racist? If it's a duck - call it a duck and stop playing mind games that simply enable the racists.
3
Personally, I think the main reasons why Trump became so angry at the thought of more people from Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa coming in the United States is that he doesn't like what they look like and also because he associates poor, black people with diseases, and thus he was afraid they would come and spread diseases in America.
4
Trump is many things (including a malignant narcissist) but he is not really an ideologue.He only acts like one to feed red meat to his white, largely rural "base" (who are (disproportionate users of 'liberal' social programs, but that's another conversation)
Trump also tends to parrot the last thing he heard before he tweets (hence, Fox actually makes many policy pronouncements.) Now that The Bannon is gone, it is clear that the neo-Nazi in training, Steve Miller, had to have been the last one whispering into Don's ear before the meeting. That is who Durbin and Graham heard, albeit magnified through the megaphone that is Trump.
6
Trump doesn't have an opinion he desires to keep making himself the center of attention. If he actually negotiated instead of spewed bigoted non sense the presidency would be no fun for him.
2
Mr. Durbin says, "“We had just witnessed something that neither one of us ever expected.”
Why not? WE THE PEOPLE know what a crude, sexist, racist, narcissistic, stupid, demented human being The Con Don is. That is why hundreds of millions of socially conscious people around the world will Hit The Streets tomorrow and Sunday to show OUR contempt for he and his International Mafia brethren.
Mr. Graham and his enabling fellow "republicans" are welcome to join us. This man and his democracy-destroying ideas must not stand in America. Not now. Not ever.
https://www.womensmarch.com/
11
I believe that Sen. Durbin and Sen. Graham are speaking the truth about the comments made during the meeting. The remaining two Republicans, the Republican Party in general, and the Stable Genius in the WH have zero credibility. Rather, they have shown themselves to be despicable liars. Why would anyone believe anything that Trumps's "defenders" say, especially when lies are part of their political strategy. Instead, they just dig the hole deeper.
20
I've read that Trump is a teetotaler, but as someone who has been sober for 23 years, I can say with certainty that his outbursts of rage like this and wee hours tweets are classic behaviors of an alcoholic.
25
You aren't kidding. His blatant denials about what he has said - or tweeted - just hours before - also seem to be inline with that behavior Dry drunk stuff? Or just a volcano of rage?
If you accept the approbation of racists, enact racist policies, defend racist activities, and use racist language, what does that make you? I'm mystified and saddened that so few in power are willing to call out Trump for what he is.
16
The ambush of Sens. Durbin and Graham is typical of the way the Trump administration operates, with orchestrated fights, "palace politics", and the inordinate influence by zealots whether they are the chief of staff or far right immigration hardliners.
Trump lied. He was not wiling to sign a bipartisan bill. This meeting was never in good faith. Trump's anger and venomous comments about race are part of the way he likes to publicly humiliate people. These were senior senators, going to the White House in good faith. Sen. Durbin turned out to be Daniel in the lion's den. Kelly's role is an ugly one.
What previous president if he really were interested in negotiating with senators would have created this asymmetrical warfare against the only Democrat in the room? This was ugly in its origins, its discourse, and its outcome. There is probably some backdrop that we don't know such as Bannon's subpoena and Russian investigation advances.
Trump doesn't care about dealmaking. He cares about dominance, power, humiliating enemies, and blowing up everything to get his whim of the moment. Who cares if the government shuts down? Or if innocent Dreamers have a mass deportation? Or if disaster funds are not provided? Or if good faith agreements are impossible?
Liars lie.
37
With the Republican Party morally bankrupt, this presidency is just another bankruptcy for Donald J. Trump to skate through.
17
"Mr. Durbin stopped short, though, of branding Mr. Trump a racist.
“That’s a tough thing to say,” he said. “But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.”
That's the very definition of a racist. Just say the word, people. Racist. The POTUS is a racist. It's important to call bad behavior by its name.
23
I don't know what else, besides opening a concentration camp, oh wait, we have those - they are called ICE detention facilities, Donald Trump can do to let us know his true thoughts about race. He is screaming his ideology from the roof tops. Please listen to him and then take appropriate action; vote the Republicans out of office in 2018 and Trump out in 2020, if heaven forfend he isn't impeached sooner.
34
You're actually comparing ICE detention facilities to concentration camps? Please don't cheapen the true horrors experienced by those who experienced the Holocaust to simply make an interesting comment for NYT readers. Shame on you.
1
“This may not be about security or American jobs at all,” Mr. Durbin said. “It may be about something else.”
Ya think?
43
For many Republicans in Congress (and probably a few Dems), I'm afraid, it's easy to look the other way from the face of filth when their stock portfolios are expanding daily on the back of long-sought cuts in taxes and regulation. Trump knows that at the end of the day it's the money that matters most... Once stock markets correct, bigly, then perhaps there will be fire and fury against this parasite.
25
Not one single Democrat, in either chamber, voted for the Tax Scam bill. Ditto for the Obamacare repeals. Did you know that?
1
So here it is - out in the open. When will the GOP congress get it??!! Are they waiting to see all of their careers dragged through the mud? And what of Cotton and Perdue?? Perhaps they have strong feelings about immigration - but have they decided to sacrifice their self-worth to support Trump's obvious racist nature? The swamp is Trump, and Congress need to support draining him of his position - hello GOP - HE NEEDS TO GO!
15
The first eight presidents of this country were immigrants. American greatness is powered by immigration. For those who wrongly believe otherwise, its also a free-to-leave country. Bigots have always stood in the way of progress.
24
Wrong! The US Constitution requires that the President be a "Naturally born citizen." That means that to be eligible for the Presidency, a person has to either been born in America or its territories or born to an American citizen. All of our Presidents, including George Washington were born in what was to become the USA. Otherwise your point about immigration is valid since we all including Native Americans immigrated to America.
4
I'm afraid you have your history tangled up. Perhaps the first 8 presidents weren't "born in this country" because this country did not yet exist. They were born in various British colonies which became the USA.
2
Washington was not an immigrant for starters...
1
Senator Durbin has been willfully (or hopefully?) blind about Dolt 45's racism and race-baiting. It is impossible to think LESS of Trump, yet everyday his behavior and that of his cronies in the Cabinet leaves us reeling with anger and dismay at the destruction of America. As one of the commentators wrote a few days ago - we thought we had gotten to the 'last straw' and now we find that there is an everlasting supply of straws.
18
Like my dad said, "you can't talk to a drunk". And if Trump is drunk with racist immigration policy and holds DACA kids hostage to get that, Dems simply have no choice but to vote no. Trump put the deportation deadline on the table and now we have to take him at his word or shame on us.
22
Poor Mr Trump. It must be terribly irritating having to deal with all these "Congress People" that he can't fire.
23
Trump represents the worst in many of us. Most of us feel slightly more comfortable to spend most of our lives with people who either look a little bit more like us, talk a little bit more like us, think a little bit more like us, etc. Many of us exercise less and eat worse than we should. Many of us seek self gratification at the expense of others or the environment all too often. When we see him making racist, sexist, abusive, comments or comments that seem oblivious to nature’s laws, whether regarding climate, national parks or his own body, we are disgusted with the worst part of ourselves. At least most people are aware that being human is an opportunity for culturing and maturing beyond our baser or base’s instincts.
12
Things aren't getting duller,
For dear Mister Mueller.
The NRA's acquisition,
Of Russian funds gives ammunition,
To prove collusion in Technicolor.
10
He responds to his base instincts (pun intended). He is as ignorant, reckless, biased and arrogant in his statements about immigration as he is about diet, exercise, global warming, or grabbing woman’s private parts. This man believes he’s immortal and can do anything he likes; that self gratification is the name of the game at no cost. He, and his base are in for a rude awakening at some point.
15
Now we know how Trump conducts meetings in Corporate America. Being vile, a racist, elitist and a bully. HE is the true representative of the wealthy 1%, who look upon the 99% of America as nothing more than low lifes. It is no longer about immigration, it is about that if you are not a WASP, and not part of the 1%, you are not part of the 1% master race; you are expendable. Trump, is peaking the mind of many, in his class, that only say vile things behind closed doors.
National security, for these people, is to create walled enclaves that separate them from the rest. The only need for the 99%, in these people's minds, is wage slavery. The other need is to change the tax code, and eliminate consumer protections, so they can seize more wealth. The 99% is also seen as lower form of animals, to people like Trump, his 1% supporters and his millionaire friends in Congress.
CHIP and Medicaid, tow programs, fro the poor, are being debased. Making sick people work for Medicaid. DACA is targeting an ethnic group, for WASP superiority. Those of African descent, and continent of origin, are seen as less than human beings. What's next? Jews, Catholics, and non-WASPs.
Unlike 1933, in Germany, the economy is booming, so millions do not see this agenda of hate. But, the ground work is being laid for scape goats. Hitler blamed the Jews, fro Germany's ills; Trump, and his minions, are working on everyone who is a non-WASP; now a minority in this country.
See "First they came".
39
Why I am marching in NYC tomorrow (and you should march, too, wherever you may be):
“‘That’s a tough thing to say,’ [Senator Durbin said]. ‘But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.’”
17
"This may not be about security or American jobs at all,” Mr. Durbin said. “It may be about something else.”
Where have you been the last 3ish years?
6
Indicators of Fascism:
-Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
-Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
-Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
-Supremacy of the Military
-Rampant Sexism
-Controlled Mass Media
-Obsession with National Security
-Religion and Government are Intertwined
-Corporate Power is Protected
-Labor Power is Suppressed
-Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
-Obsession with Crime and Punishment
-Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability
-Fraudulent Elections
34
Personally, I am more stunned that Mr. Durbin compared our brave young men and women who were fighting in Iraq to the Gestapo. Yes, Mr. Trump should not have referred to those countries with that vulgarity. But, they are pretty close to what his description, tasteless as it was. Ask yourself this, would you want to emigrate to those countries and give up your American citizenship? I know that I wouldn't, even if I had to live with an Elizabeth Warren presidency for eight years.
4
For the record, Durbin apologized. Trump has not. Durbin said that years ago. Trump said that this week. Durbin does not have a lifelong record of bigotry. Trump does. And most relevantly, Durbin isn't the president - shamefully Trump is.
2
Our President is a vile, greedy, corrupt, autocratic, uninformed, menace to democratic principles. The pure selfish distilation of laissez faire capitalism at its worst.
Welcome to the return of the Robber Barons, and Boss Tweed eras writ large.
40
Who and what is America now...all we see from the outside is a racist narcissistic pathological liar who is willing to work with America's most powerful enemies to take power and undermine the Constitution, which is the crowning jewel of democracy, not just for American, but for the entire world.
This deeply incompetent and unbalance President is, to the worlds amazement, being supported by a Republican Party that is increasingly becoming radicalised with evangelical and racist extremists...how is that even possible in America!
All the while right wing propaganda is spewing out its lies and conspiracies unchecked, while main stream media seems more concerned about ensuring they have "access" than calling these extremist politicians and propaganda on their blatant lies and deceits.
America...who and what are you becoming and why are you letting this happen. Please wake up! If American wanted to make a point of just how important it is...POINT MADE...we get it, not that we didn't anyway.
24
If your only source of information is liberal news outlets, and you only associate with liberal only people, ya, you would have that impression .
1
Trump is unfit to be President of The United States. When someone like Dick Durban with three decades of experience in the Senate is shaken by the presidents attitude, values, beliefs and bullying there is definitely something wrong in the White House. Not good to impeach him because Pense is probably no better just not a bully. Shame on all the Americans that voted for Trump and shame on the Democratic Party for fielding Hillary Clinton, with a freight train full of baggage, as their candidate. Time for a new Democratic Party to take back the House and Senate and defeat Trump the next time he runs (2020) if he in fact runs.
24
Like one led by Bernie Sanders? I think not. Bernie Sanders, while much better than Trump, would have lost to Trump too. Hilary lost the election because she made some terrible Clintonian errors, but Bernie Sanders could not have won it. Hilary Clinton is an amazing person in just about every way. Some of that baggage, by the way, was filled up a and loaded by far too left Democrats.
Hillary was competent candidate. Shame on the Republicans for fielding a reality TV host with zero prior government service.
Ya, your from Berkeley you would think like that
You need to get out more, America is great , President Trump is going better than expected. We are a big big country sport.
1
Mr Durbin - welcome to the world of fear every sane, thinking, rational American feels, every day, watching this nightmare of Fascist Control unfold before our eyes. The difference is, you are in a position to do something about it. Start by calling your fellow Senators, who claim they did not hear Trump say what he clearly said, what they are. Liars and cowards. You're not going to defeat these fascists and save what is left of this country using gentlemanly Senatorial decorum. You're dealing with fascists, totalitarian fascists. There's only one way to defeat fascists - you have to fight them. Start fighting.
50
Dick Durbin is my senator and I couldn’t be prouder of him. I’ve had enough, though, of this ongoing discussion about whether Trump is a racist. Are we redefining this word? Because it appears to me the bar is now set so high to meet the definition of “racist” that it’s not even a meaningful term anymore. If Trump isn’t a racist, then is Richard Spencer racist? Is the KKK racist? Does racism even exist? Give me a break.
45
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
—George Orwell
25
My Thanks to Sen. Durbin for his Sanity in his Leadership, when we are Unled
By a Sociopathic Personality Disorder inhabiting the Oval Office. His chronic Condition leaves us, the People in dire Need of Treatment. Sometimes the sanest reaction to an insane situation....is Insanity!
11
The president has shown racist and xenophobic tendencies for a long, long time. This should not have shocked anyone.
17
"[Senator Durbin] did share his version of [the Oval Office meeting] with four other senators as they plotted how to proceed." Plotted--part of some Seven Days in May intrigue, a Gunpowder treason, something that thickens?--as opposed to, say, discussed or strategized. Bad usage.
9
Neither Senator expected Trump to be a racist vulgarian?
Are they kidding? Have they paid absolutely zero attention to the news? It might be shocking, but it's not at all surprising.
13
My takeaway is that it was not the racism that shocked them , but the place and timing of those words being uttered. Trump and Graham probably casually speak this way together on the golf course, but Mainstream Republicans have learned to keep that blatant language out of policy talks in front of Dems. Graham wants to move toward a Trump version of immigration, i.e. more rich White people and less or no anyone else- Trump just outed the Republicans who thought they were fooling someone. Paul Ryan explicitly named immigration as an issue the Republicans and Trump are aligned on when publicly endorsing him in 2016. These aren't just Trump's words. The Republican Party needs to seriously self reflect the inherent racism of their policies and the racists it attracts.
1
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
1
As the only Democrat in a full room of sycophantic GOP, they forgot Durbin was there and spoke how freely, thinking they were all in the same club. Vile, hateful speech behind closed doors...Anyone actually surprised hasn't been paying attention.
24
nothing surprises me about this vulgar man who lives in our House.
21
Another clueless Democrat caught flat footed by Trump.
Maybe in 2019 Durbin and his associates will wake up.
4
Another American horrified by the racist in the White House.
1
No, Jake. Another noble Democrat caught the stupid, racist, corrupt, vulgar trump, and called him out. And Lindsay Graham called the imbecile out as well. The only ones who are "flat-footed" are trump and the GOP. In fact, flat-footed is too kind. (Ridiculous adjective, really.) These people are FASCISTS. I remind you, Jake, to remember what has happened to Fascist governments throughout history. As for Durbin, he is one of the most experienced, intelligent, honorable, and beloved politicians to his constituency.
3
Hopefully, this is just one more nail in 45's legacy's coffin. Worst president ever.
17
There is no compromise with evil.. Democrats must give no ground..
28
Portends a person who is not comfortable in his own skin.
1
The president is unhinged and he is a racist; no surprise at this. The problem is people like Cotton and Perdue who enable him. These senators need to be confronted for their lying to the American people. Kudos to Senators Durbin and Graham for standing up for American ideals.
34
Trump has a history of racial discrimination back to when he and his father refused to rent to blacks. Kelly thinks that Robert E. Lee was a "gentleman" and that the Civil War wasn't about slavery. Neither had any business in power in a country that;s much better than either of them. That Trump is crude and vulgar is not news; only that anyone thinks he isn't. He is on course to bankrupt the country and may start a nuclear war unless someone stops him. What a disgusting mess!
19
Are they trying to appeal to metrosexuals when they claim they nearly broke down in tears upon hearing a swear word?
7
I think they are appealing to humans disturbed by the president's inhumanity.
2
Open racism in the White House at an official meeting between the president and senior, experienced senators is not being delicate. This was sickening and abnormal in the real world. Any corporate manager would be fired for language like this. The GOP has deteriorated to an amazing degree.
3
They heard much more than just a swear word!
They heard an expletive-laden, anti-immigrant, racist rant... from the supposed president of the U.S.
They witnessed an unhinged, unexpected, emotional tirade that derailed a *bipartisan* immigration agreement, one in which leading members of both parties came together to fashion something that would bridge divided, be good for the country, and avert a shutdown.
Trump threw mud, spewed hatred, and undermined democracy.
If you think that this amounts to just some irritation about a swear word, think again!
3
Senator Durbin was stunned to find out Trump is a racist. Really? Where has Mr. Durbin been living all his life? Switzerland?
What is really stunning is the degree of denial in this country, it is beyond belief. Of course Trump is a racist and his policies are racist. Of course the White Rabble that elected Trump (and will re-elect him in 2020) are nothing but racists. This nation was founded by racists, slave drivers, and tax evaders. There are schools named after them. There are national holidays honoring them. Denial of racism can't get any deeper and more far-reaching.
As a human being Donald Trump is sheer filth, but he presents a unique opportunity to that minority of White Americans who are decent. Trump is holding a mirror to White America's face. Trump gives the chance to Whites of good will to look into that mirror and say "this ignorant, immoral, filthy individual is us", and hopefully, stop the denial. Because until the problem is faced, there is no hope of ever solving it.
25
My goodness,how does it always come down to the hate of a race. Yes men in power control the world and many of them are white. I do not look in the mirror and say "this ignorant, immoral, filthy individual is us" that is very bias of you. Perhaps each individual should look in a mirror but laying it all on one race,I am for all and I do not run in the halls of power. This take you have is destructive and unkind. Racism is a blanket word and it includes all,there is no reverse racism, just racism. Tired of being persecuted for who I am. America is for the people. All the people. Have hope in humanity.
1
They all should have forcefully protested or walked out. Sitting and listening to this kind of horrible racist talk is the first step down a path that lead in the last century to the Nazi "Final Solution." Again and again and again, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
10
As Tuft's professor Dan Drezner said, evidence that Trump was not growing into the presidency was hiding in plain sight. Trump's closest staff compared him to a toddler. He's given single page memos + visual aids.
"The president of the United States has a 12-second attention span,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a former senior official in April after meeting Trump in the Oval Office.
And before the immigration meeting, Trump was pleased with Durbin's bipartisan draft, which alarmed hardliners in the White House-- Stephen Miller + Gen. Kelly. Then calls went to Capitol Hill to get "opposing view senators" Cotton + Purdue there first ---to influence Trump before Durbin and Graham arrived.
Bottom line: Staff mobilized to manipulate Trump's thinking. We know it from detailed accounts. How dangerous: Easily influenced president manipulated by anyone with private motives. Handlers working against a democratic process of 3 branches of government? Handlers limiting access to who sees the president for their own schemes & purposes? This needs to be the next investigation.
40
Once again we can see Republicans will go along with language and attitudes they may not like. It is because in the bigger picture they are getting what they do like. They like the idea of getting rid of anything other than private health insurance because there is danger people will find out how well almost anything else works. They hope to get rid of social security because it is already something lots of people are finding they like. This is the best chance they have had in a long time.
They have already been lowered taxes on the rich to "create jobs". This while we already have very low unemployment and companies are making record profits. Clearly the tax cut is to make the rich richer, the poor poorer and the middle class that benefit from the tax cut poorer once their temporary cuts run out.
They also hope to benefit from giving away public lands and infrastructure to mining, construction, and investors. The rest of us will pay for it by reduced cost in the short term followed by uncontrollable (by us) price increases in the long term.
This is a Republican dream. That makes a little discomfort on the way to the results they want pretty easy to tolerate.
8
The media, especially New York Times, is making a needless big deal about this incident. President Trump is not the first nor will he be last to make such remarks. Past presidents, especially the liberal champion of Civil Rights, Lyndon Baines Johnson, said worse things about Aftican Americans. At least Trump did not cast such aspersions on African Americans as did LBJ, who was crude in his own right. Oh, well, as one of the statues outside of the Nation Archives in DC says, "Past is Prologue." True indeed, true indeed. I support the President. I support Trump. Thank you.
4
No matter LBJ's private racism, he was an accomplished legislator and presidential leader who brought about major advances in civil rights legislation -- the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing Act, etc.
In contrast, Trump's racism has been public, deep, and shaped his xenophobic White Nationalist policies. In this case, his long-standing antipathy to people of color derailed a bipartisan immigration deal that he had already agreed to! It is leading to a government shutdown... and Trump is at fault.
Your defense of Trump amounts to excusing what he's said and done by claiming that others are racist, too, or have said worst things. That's a deflection!
Nice try, but the FACTS and history prove you wrong. And, show unequivocally that Trump is at fault for what is going on.
You've ignored his personal racist history and his anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant policies.
Trump is not only a liar, but he systematically broke his promises. Besides filling the swamp deeper, not draining it; he's failed in his commitments to the working class (he played them for suckers).
The most glaring example of Trump's hypocrisy is his hiring of *foreign* workers for his resorts rather than American workers. Any Trump supporter who learns about that and keeps supporting him needs to pull the wool off their eyes!
7
Trump supporters really would support him if he murdered someone in cold blood on the street. These are senior senators with much experience, and this was an official meeting in the White House. This exploded out of the racist closet in a shocking way, but it did expose Trump and his supporters in a clear manner. Deplorables.
7
The difference being that whatever LBJ said, he shoved Medicare, the '64 Civil Rights Act, and about ninety-eleven other vital pieces of civil rights legilslation through.
Your boy Trump doesn't begin to have the chops to do any such thing, and if he did, he wouldn't.
The man's a wealthy, narcissistic bigot, is why.
8
The Senators who did not admit hearing what the President said suffer from 'selective hearing,' where saying what actually happened would endanger their standing. There is no medical antidote to fixing the issue of 'selective hearing' (having them grow a conscience is seemingly impossible)- it is untreatable in the current political climate. There is one effective remedy available, however. It is called the ballot box.
6
No, they are willing to lie to protect their President, To the Republicans Power is everything and the well being of America is for sale.
Until the portion of the American public who voted for Trump understand how they are being played with tweets and anger/hatred mongering, we will have to endure much more of this.
Rather than outrage, let's try helping people understand how they get played emotionally, and why the policies that are coming forth from the current Congress are not healthy in the long run, or, why they might be...what is the actual goal that these policies are trying to reach? We need to look at this calmly and assess dispassionately.
In a "fight" the one who loses his/her temper, usually also loses, probably close to 95% of the time, because s/he cannot see tactics and strategy being played out. The far left needs to understand this to begin to develop a vision for the future. I can't see that the left has one that is inspiring, reasonable, and held up by experience and data.
Look to the Scandinavian countries: why are they so happy with the lives they are leading?
6
Our constitution has failed us when we can enable a president like this and allow weak, self interested "civil servants" to stand by and do nothing except do what they can to keep their jobs and their entitlements.
8
I think what Trump and the GOP really want to do is replace the torch on the Statue of Liberty with a giant sign that reads "Whites Only, black and brown people stay out!". That's what this whole immigration headache is really about. To Trump and the GOP America was great when black and brown people were segregated. Trump supporters love the guy because he says what they are thinking right. Well, this is exactly what his supporters are thinking.
602
And Dems want the sign to read - " illegals only, legal immigrants can die waiting for a GC"
I am legal immigrant with approved GC 7 years ago. The so called pro immigrant party does not care about legal immigrants. They just care about hispanic vote.
1
What country are you from TK? I am pretty sure Trump wants to shut you out too. What ever method you used to get your "GC" is on Trumps to do list. He and his base don't want you here either my friend. Not trying to be cruel but it's a fact,
Well said. His true intention is racism, pure and simple.
1
The parties can only go so far in blaming an impasse on their anguish over the President’s language. After a while, it sounds like contrived righteous indignation by people many of whom have used their own offensive language with regularity. Such righteous indignation is beginning to look like a thin camouflage for underlying smug satisfaction that they have scored a political point.
The parties must not hold the fate of so many young immigrants hostage to political advantage. In fact, any of them who deliberately refuse to negotiate in good faith to achieve a resolution in order to gain political advantage are guilty of conduct which should make them unfit for office. The president may have used terribly offense language, but that does not justify abandoning the fate of innocent immigrants. They, not the president, will pay the price for political gamesmanship.
2
It's time for some checks and balances. Congress should be censuring Trump. The president damaged the United States. Congress worsened the damage by saying nothing meaningful. Can you imagine the repercussions if this situation took place at Citibank, Princeton or the American Heart Association. Heads would roll. As is usual when Trump caused a train crash, he simply got up, walked away claiming it never happened.
7
Too bad we can't do what England would do .... a vote of no confidence would solve the current and future problems. We have a incorrigible teenager in charge, and there's apparently nothing we can do.
4
Every 4 years we can vote "no confidence' in a President and every 2 years for Congress.
1
Stunned and shaken? Seriously?
Maybe we should reserve reactions like that for photos of what our government under several Presidents--including the immediately-preceding one--has allowed and in some cases participated in in places like Yemen. For photos of drone strikes that wipe out wedding parties.
Of conditions in Gitmo.
Etc.
Pearl-clutching is always tiresome but especially when guys indulge in it.
If the Democrats don't grow up and get down to work, you will be dealing this for the second Trump term too.
I didn't vote for him. I do not like him. I recognize what a damaged hot mess he is and that high cunning works better than fruitless outrage.
Anyone read Machiavelli lately?
1
I've been in business for many years, having negotiated multi, multi million dollar deals around the world for the Fortune 100 company I work for, some of them high-profile.
Men in closed settings like this swear all the time. There is an unspoken bond that while certain general terms may get out, the specifics and certainly any quotes or characterizations of tone won't. Otherwise, you might as well conduct the negotiations in the town square.
I'm completely surprised that Durbin would run straight to the press after an unfavorable meeting. Means he doesn't want a deal. That really hurt trust, which is important to making a deal. I can understand why Trump called his behavior "Dicky."
6
A good argument for multi national corporations being run by women. Enough already.
One would expect better of the President of the UNITED States. On the other hand, DT has made a career of creating chaos and dis-unity to further his own stature. Men in closed settings do not swear "all the time." In my experience, when they (and women, too) do swear, it is more out of frustration as opposed to name calling. This fellow temporarily occupying the Oval Office is a small and pathetic bully. Sure, my business bottom line and my investments are in great shape with the new tax laws. But I would trade a lot of that for a USA that is united and respected and, once again, for those who are willing to work at it, a land of opportunity for the "tired, poor wretched refuse, homeless, tempest-tost."
So, in a business meeting, it is usual your you and the others president to use racial and sexist descriptions of people as a part of a business discussion?
I say that McConnell should let Senate proceed to vote on what Graham and Durbin built through hard work and consideration of each side's concerns. It would likely pass. Reconciliation with the House would be hard, but possible. Trump would have to decide he was going to then sink the project and explain why.
At some point Congress, particularly the GOP, has to decide that it's going to govern, rather than continually pander to the corrupt Racist/Misogynist - in - Chief.
6
Again, Trump can't stick to one decision. I see Stephen Miller behind this turn of events, who feeds into and reinforces Trump's worst instincts. Two more years of this? God help us.
1
After spending three decades in Congress it's easy to understand how Mr. Durbin has lost all contact with reality such that the slightest non-polite word he heard would set his head spinning. We need more brave warriors like him wearing white gloves to see that the job gets done right.
1
Once again, 45 creates a terrible situation (in this case, canceling DACA), saying legislators must come up with a fix, and when they do come up with a compromise, he blows it. Health care, the federal budget, you name it, this is what he does.
The only difference this time is he used a dirty word and made racist implications.
This is no way to govern, and frankly should be unnecessary with single party control.
369
Obama created the situation by creating DACA by executive order.
2
Single party control is not in existence, and the president just went by the constitution unlike say Obama.
1
Have you seen the economic achievements of 45? Blacks have the highest unemployment in a long time, Business Sentiment is at highest level, Companies are giving Bonuses, hiring employees, stock market at a record level, etc. Someone who can achieve all that is certainly working for the Citizens. How come you did not acknowledge all these achievements? Just criticism, that too unjustified.
I like Trump calling in reinforcement at this meeting. Multiply by zero -you'll still get zeroes..........
yeah, math not his thing.....
3
Every day that Trump is president is a day racism is normalized.
6
What is so discouraging to me is that it seems there are millions of Americans for whom this type of behavior by our president does not matter to them at all. It reminds me so much of Nazi Germany and how millions of Germans turned a blind eye to what was happening there. I hope the media will not grow tired of continuing to report on the outrageous behaviors of Mr. Trump and his disciples.
15
President Trump is a vile human being whose vacuous intellect will be the undoing of our democracy. There is no real humanity, empathy or compassion in this human being. He is way out of his depth on most policy positions and therefore is completely malleable by his Republican colleagues who are like rats nibbling at the foundation of our democracy. When will the Congress do its job and protect us from this miscreant?
7
If it looks like racist, and it sounds racist....you get the idea.
3
This is Dick Durbin at his finest, a role model of a senator, standing up to the ill winds of a mad presidency.
10
With all due respect, Senator Durbin, are you really so shocked and surprised that Donald Trump could be a racist? By now, we all know it.
So trump can identify a lion, camel, and rhinoceros on the cognitive test, but he can’t behave like a responsible adult – let alone like the President of the United States. He is mentally ill. The only thing smaller than his fingers is his moral compass. 291 days until the 2018 election. VOTE.
3
To think that this vile and despicable man has only been in office for one year boggles the mind. He must resign.
1
I might need to teach a US Senator some English. With all due respect for Haitians, but they are not a race. You might raise a flag for discriminatory comments of, but not for racism!
1
Perhaps it is you who needs some lessons.
Haiti is a majority black nation, just as Norway is a majority white nation.
Therefore, when speaking of cutting of Haitian immigration in favor of Norwegian immigration, one speaks of curtailing black immigration and promoting white immigration.
There! Do you see how the coded phrases work now?
258
Radu, I think you are the one who needs some schooling.
Haiti? Predominately black. Norway? Predominately white.
No to Haiti - no to blacks. Yes to Norway - yes to whites.
Now how simple was that, Radu?
27
Haiti is a very poor country who needs all their valuable citizens, Norway was a country who's leader had just visited that is very wealthy and had many citizens that could contribute to our country. Not many would come from Norway in any case because it is a wealthy country. There see how logic and not some idiotic code from an individual who does not use code or whistles either works.
2
The petty monarch-in-chief drives us off the cliff yet again.
1
OK, Mr. Trump, Let's talk just a little more about 'spithole' countries that send immigrants to the U.S. You include Haiti, source of many Mar-A-Logo employees and African countries on your short list. You have no sense of history, sir. My family's Irish and Italian forebears were coming over from what many Americans thought were spithole countries. Your grandfather changed the family name and pretended to be Swedish because of the terrible conduct of Germany in WWI, and in WWII the Nazis doubled down and killed > 20 million people.
The forebears of African Americans did not come here as immigrants through Ellis Island. They were torn from their families by businessmen seeking a quick buck. Think of the costs to America through the years of that quick profit.
Oh, but Norway is better, sir? As it happens, I have met my mother's family in Norway. Wonderful people in a beautiful land, avid Socialists who think we are crazy to not have universal healthcare and free college for all who qualify. Be careful what immigrants you wish for, Mr. Trump. Those from Scandinavia will seek to run your party out of office ASAP.
54
I'm Jewish and am waiting for the day when Trump decries that all Jews need to register for their own protection. This is the day we sell and leave the country for good.
Sound crazy, not really. It started to happen in Germany in 1933, one of the most culturally and educationally advanced countries in the world at the time. The parallels between Hitler and the Trump administration are too many to be ignored. Who could ever have foreseen this?
37
It does sound "crazy".
2
It is never going to happen. Trump loves Israel and has a good friend to Israel.
1
Who could have foreseen this? Anyone with a working brain!!! Pr. Obama's birth certificate ring a bell?
How naive can Dick Durbin be? This is not about security and jobs. Do you see terrorists coming through the border into El Paso. This is about the browning of America, the changing demographics leading to white caucasians not being in the majority. I know people who are outraged when they call a company and they get the automated attendant that says press 1 for English and 2 for Spanish. These right wing Republicans would like nothing better than to take us back to the 1950s.
17
Or the 1850s.
Donald Trump has demonstrated again what we already know: he is a pathetic shell of a man. Specific positions aside (and who can tell what Trump's are, day to day?) so long as he is in the White House America is simply poisoned.
15
Seems like the "swamp" Herr Donald wished to drain, has now become a cesspool. As a Canadian, the dark, evil things going on in the US of A recently, are FAR too close for comfort.
34
I agree Joseph, but you should see it from this side of the border. Sad.
Let us stop pretending. Nobody that has paid the slightest attention during this past year was shocked or even surprised by this pretender occupying the oval office opening his mouth to spew a vile stream of hate and racism. And let us be perfectly clear that the people who elected him were filled with a secret, or not so secret, thrill of delight as this paragon of prejudice once again confirmed the righteousness of their darkest hopes and dreams. Racism is alive and well in the United States of America today, and the poster boy is the fat manchild with orange hair currently destroying the presidency.
55
The idea of any country's leader cherry picking ideal members of his personal, ideal society is a frightening echo of Hitler-like-behavior. The idea of Republicans denying the facts of this situation is an equally frightening example of how madmen get their power. The elected officials who are allowing this to be swept under the rug have to wake up and start doing what's right for the sake of all of us, Red and Blue.
30
Dick Durbin, you've been the man of the week, we all respect a guy who calls things what they are. So why the heck is calling Trump a racist "A tough thing to say?" How much more does Trump have to do before congressmembers of both parties just speak truthfully and fully? Racist? Obviously. Nazi sympathizer? Yes. Sexist? Disgustingly so. Unfit for office? Simply yes. Treasonous, pawn of Russia? We're finding out, and it don't look good.
Tell me you'll vote for impeachment conviction if the evidence shows it, Durbin. Tell me if you get a majority, Pelosi, you'll push for impeachment. Don't tell me "The President's campaign was a troubling time, but we have to move on." Gimme some truth.
50
First, this guy is and has always been a political hack from a state that should have the motto of the "most corrupt state in the union" ...hence what he says or does must be measured by how much political gain he gets from it. No doubt Trump said ----hole, so what, deal with the issue Durbin, do not play the injured, shocked victim ( as if you have never heard ---hole or used it yourself ).
The issue is immigration, Durbin in case you have not noticed.
8
Sure, attack the messenger, that'll do it. Durbin, what ever his faults are, just reported what was said.
3
How would you know what Trump said? Durbin was there, not you. And the issue with Trump is his racism in connection with immigration, he does not want Black and Hispanic people, but white Europeans (from Norway). In case you missed that part of the news.
1
Fact-free invective. You want political hacks? Look no further than Cotton and Perdue, liars of the first order. Durbin's claims have been confirmed by many sources, including Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina. (Are you calling him a hack also?)
In case you have not noticed, Trump and the hardliners in his administration have just sabotaged a bipartisan compromise on immigration. In return, they have offered nothing, absolutely nothing, to fix the DACA mess. It's obvious to all but the most biased that the racists are in control and their plan is to stop all immigration from non-European countries and to expel as many Latino immigrants as possible. They don't want DACA recipients to remain in the US, so their plan is to delay voting on DACA while dreamers are deported.
You want to solve this? Let Congress vote on a clean DACA bill. It's simple: there's a compromise bill already written and ready for a vote. The only thing that's holding it up is Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell refusing to allow it to come to a vote. There's no doubt it will pass. Then let's see if the big shot will sign it.
Until that happens, Trump is part of the problem, and analyzing his motivations is fair game. He made this mess back in September and has had months to work it out--- like he promised.
2
PAR FOR THE COURSE....NOT SURPRISED NOR TAKEN ABACK. JUST PREPARED FOR 3 MORE YEARS OF THIS....If this stuns you, then you've been hiding your head in a bunker. Evil is as Evil does...
11
Arguing over the use of "hole" or "house" as a suffix to an expletive, while the fate of nearly 1 million would-be Americans hangs in the air, is the equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. The no-nonsense, let's-make-a-deal president has paralyzed the political process, squandering any political capital he may posses on the the trivial (Fake News Awards) and on sowing chaos.
663
Their "fate" is assured, the timing is not. They will be allowed to stay in the US no matter how long that might take to get congress to agree to a solution that meets the four part deal they agreed to.
Is Mr. Durbin a SnowFlake that he will be intimidated by salty talks by the President. As a long time politician, Mr. Durbin should be more objective about the task at hand - i.e., DACA members and their fate. To risk the Country by shutting down Govt to save DACA members is an atrocious reasoning by Mr. Durbin and Schumer.
1
"Would-be Americans"?
A no-questions asked amnesty is the sure-fire way to make sure there will be another set of "dreamers" in another 10 years. And they will be 2 million in number, not 1 million.
1
Cotton and Perdue publicly lie about Trump's racist comments, and by any reasonable standard that makes them racists. These are odious, repulsive men who belong in Hitler or Stalin's circle---they are not American.
31
Let me help you out Dick. Senators Cotton and Perdue aren't wrong. They're liars, zealots who take no prisoners in their desire for control. Trump showed his racial animosity throughout his life and during the campaign, and the likes of Cotton and Perdue show their disdain for our great nation when they ridicule Mueller's investigation. Sad, indeed.
56
I would use a different word: "Cowards."
Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, both Republicans, were in the meeting and have disputed Mr. Durbin’s account, saying the word “shithole” in reference to some countries was not used.
More frustration with the NYTs. — Whitehouse staff, Linsey Graham and others all state that rightwing zealots Cotton and Perdue are misrepresenting what occurred. In the real world we call this lying.
23
Mr. Durbin has money in the emotional bank account with his constituency in particular and country in general - and he is believed, despite what those without integrity have denied. No wonder he's stunned - first to hear what he did, and then to have his eye witness account thrown into question by weak Trump syncophants. Mr. Durbin - we are all stunned.
17
Many of the poor, particularly the white men who are demonized by liberals as white patriarchs do see illegal immigrants as a threat, and this can morph into hatred of Hispanics in general.
Trump treads on dangerous ground when he uses inflammatory language which might be regarded as anti-Hispanic or anti-black. His campaign tended to oversimplify.
Build a wall makes a good campaign slogan, but the effective policies that would end illegal immigration are a bit different.
1. Yes, we must end illegal immigration. We already have a wall. The more effective approach is e-verify which requires citizenship in order to get a job in the US. Companies that hire illegal immigrants should be fined at a level that gets them to stop. This included meatpackers who recruited workers from Mexico to undercut domestic workers.
2. A second component must be free access to birth control, and relaxation of limits on abortion, together with incentives for smaller family size. The US needs a one-child policy like that adopted in China. It sounds Draconian but beats the steady decrease in living standards that accompanies continued population growth.
3. We need universal health care to replace Obamacare, we need government investment in infrastructure to provide jobs for semi-skilled workers, mostly men, who have been vilified by liberals who have gone extreme in the direction of feminism.
Trump should have made these issues the center of his campaign. He might have been great.
7
I'm a California liberal, as are most of my friends and associates. I have never vilified semi-skilled workers (who have more skills than they get credit for!). They need jobs, and infrastructure jobs are the best place to start.
“But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.”
That language and those sentiments help explain just how Donald Trump got elected. Like it or not, there are a lot of voters out there who agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Trump. He is their champion.
5
Trump is very good at making people dislike him. It is hard to say how much long term damage he is doing to America and its reputation around the world. I think we need to have a constitutional requirement for full financial disclosure for anyone running for President. It is my honest believe that had this process taken place American's would have realized that we have a wolf in sheep's clothing. Lets just hope that Mueller does his job well.
9
Senators Cotton and Perdue may arguably have split hairs with language in order to defend the indefensible behavior of the president, but they then went on to impugn the character of Senator Durbin, accusing him of dishonesty as he recounted the dismal episode. Party above all is the creed of the current GOP. A rising stock market (and deficit as well) doesn't compensate me enough for the disappearance of American democratic values and common decency that we're experiencing with this party in power.
20
Stock markets are rising worldwide. This, whether domestically or abroad, is not due to any policy or lack thereof by Donald Trump.
1
When important words, of consequence, said by policy makers, who are the employees of citizens, are not remembered, mis-remembered, or whatever, for unknown reasons, by non-Alzheimer-ridden fellow participants, during an era of mistrust, disrespect, divisiveness and alt-facts as generalizable "true" facts, it is perhaps time to tape all political tropes and make them available for all citizen-employers to hear. To review. And perhaps to video whatever our political servants do, as well as present images of the "not-done," recently and over time, that each one of them were hired to do. Pledged to do. Mantraed to the many as they fished for votes.This may not be possible if each of us somehow doesn't remember what our own responsibilities are as citizens in a vital, living democracy, in which our own "doings," and non-doings, enable a spreading, daily, toxic, infectious WE-THEY culture.
4
Is anyone else wondering why DACA is the line in the sand for Democrats? While DACA is a no-brainer, it very far off the radar for the parents of 9 Million kids on medicaid, which remains un-funded. I don't for one minute blame the rank and file 80%ers for wondering about the messaging priorities of today's Democratic Party.
DACA is the number one concern of the elite, and the dreamers. No big tent there. People: your constituents can handle more than one reason for resistance at a time. To believe otherwise is condescending--that is unless DACA is a bigger issue than millions of kids on the brink of an insurance free universe.
We need a new party. Or maybe we have to wait until we hit another bottom without a safety net.
5
This is about the immigration bill, not about CHIP. CHIP should never have been used as a bargaining chip but renewed on its own merits, in a bipartisan way. It’s the Republicans holding CHIP hostage to immigration, not Democrats.
1
Why can't both issues be solved now? Just for the record, Democrats have been championing CHIP and DACA since the Republicans turned these into emergencies last September. But Congress, under the leadership of the agenda-setting Republicans, was monolithically focused on tax cuts through Christmas, and so neither DACA nor CHIP was considered until a couple of weeks ago.
What the Republicans have set up with this latest bill is essentially blackmail: Americans can save 800,000 dreamers or 9,000,000 kids on Medicaid, but not both. So, here's a Republican CHIP fix, and Democrats who vote against it are hurting kids health.
Republicans have had months to help resolve both of these issues. And in fact, some Republicans actually worked in good faith to produce a compromise on DACA. But then Trump and hardliners sabotaged the agreement last Thursday. It's obvious that many Republicans do not want to solve DACA and would like to see the 800,000 dreamers deported starting in March.
2
It's a sad commentary on the state of our country when so many view courtesy, class and sophistication as signs of weakness.
The demise of our nation is accelerating.
8
The real problem here is not Senator Durbin's reporting on what he heard at this particular meeting, or even the exact wording of it -- the real problem is that it's very easy to imagine something like this coming out of Donald Trump's mouth given his history of overt bigotry.
Everything else is moot.
6
Yet another example of what our "leaders" will do in the spirit of party over country. Why is it, on an issue of such magnitude, that Durbin was the "sole Democrat" in the room? My new fear is that such negotiations - immigration, tax, healthcare, WAR - will be, in the future, limited to GOP attendants to minimize any backlash over Trump's invective. We may not see bipartisanship for some time.
Further, while Trump's expletive is indeed vile, particularly in the context of foreign countries (and, by extension, their inhabitants), why are we surprised? There have been racist overtones (if not overt racism) in his history; for YEARS, Trump has exhibited similar behavior. One need not look further than the offensive and dogged pursuit of President Obama's birth certificate, or, if one wants to dig deeper in case there is doubt, his relentless focus and feverish hate-mongering regarding the Central Park Five.
It is most unfortunate that some of the others in the room where it happened suddenly became afflicted with selective amnesia (read: outright lies) and couldn't remember the vile outbursts. Whose interests are they really trying to protect?
4
While I find some of Senator Durbin's policies and views too far left from my perspective, I do not doubt his character and integrity.
Senator Graham's comments about Trump's irresponsible comments in the meeting validates Durbin's words.
What is most disappointing is that other Republicans claim they either did not hear Trump's words, or they outright denied (Senator Perdue) that Trump referred to some country's as "shitholes".
Haven't people learned that the "cover up" is worse than the "crime?"
What are we teaching our children?
7
Dick Durbin is a center-right Democrat. It shows how far to the right you are. Good luck with that.
1
If Durbin had no staff members in the meeting then he must have told them about the "details". Telling them not to discuss it was code for an anonymous leak. Or else he leaked it himself.
My own view is that Durbin wants DACA amnesty and isn't willing to concede on anything else. Why haven't we seen details of the so-called bipartisan agreement cooked up by Graham and Durbin?
4
Juicy!
You know, the thing I am taking away from this is the urgency for our nation to actually LEARN from this particular presidency. For example, I have learned a lesson on just how important it is to GET MONEY AND PARTY OUT OF POLITICS especially when it comes to electing a leader. For decades now the Republicans and Democrats have dominated our elections, chasing out the League of Women voters from organizing the debates, these two parties have become exclusive to candidates from other less populated parties. All the money goes toward promoting these two parties. It isn't right that the voice of millions are excluded. It isn't right that there are no qualifications to own this top seat. To hand the reigns of our nation over to a wealthy zealot who can buy and dominate media time and pay off networks is about as anti USA as I can fathom. I think it was Ross Perot who was the last non GOP\DEM to participate in the final debates. Another area that must be corrected is the clarification of what constitutes Presidential instability. Trump is obviously not in control of his emotions nor is he fit to run a nation. Success in business should NEVER be a qualification for the Presidency. It is a job for a person of compassion and heart (both nationally and internationally), a leader and a person of crystal vision, all of which this president is unequivocally lacking.
6
It is not about security or economics, it is about the 2012 election post mortem showing that unless it showed a renewed sensitivity to the nation’s changing population, the Republican Party would be doomed to the ash can of history. Trumpism goes the other way and relies instead on disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, expulsions, and falsehoods to maintain a tenuous and fleeting grasp on power.
9
As a constituent of Senator Durbin, I have had a rare moment of feeling that he was actually representing me in the meeting. Durbin is no firebrand and no naïf. I think what he was reacting to is what I would have reacted to: the affect of these so called negotiations.
Trump has brought an element of depravity to government and it goes beyond the typical norms. That so many of the others in the room don't seem bothered by it is just an indication that his depravity is now the norm for much of the Republican congress. The lies of his defenders since of what was said speak for themselves.
26
If members of Congress could, for a time, focus on nation above their careers the way forward would be clear. Pass important legislation, allow the President to veto if he chooses, and override if possible.
Using Trump as an excuse is just an abrogation of responsibility!
10
Senator Richard Durbin knows, as do the American people, that this is not a normal presidency. Certainly, a profanity-laced tirade would not have escaped the ears or the attention of even the most partisan Republican Senators in the room that day.
496
Of course it didn't. And, neither of were there. I believe Senator Durbin. The Republican senators have too much to loose.
1
Sorry, but all of Mr. Trump's vulgar language and history of vulgar treatment of people (blacks, women in general, etc) seems to have "escaped" the attention of all of the Republican senators, with the possible exceptions of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, and even they recently demonstrated that, for the right price, they too will climb on board the good, white, male lollipop ship known as the Republican Congress.
This was another ploy by trump and the GOP to take the real issues off the table. I trust Sen. Durbin completely.
12
During the White House meeting on immigration, Trump citied some dysfunction African nations as examples of why the Immigration Diversity Visa Lottery Program, commonly known as the Green Card Lotter, should be discontinued. Only a tiny percent of Africans come to America via the Green Card Lotter; almost all come through the regular immigration pipeline. Trump and the Republicans don’t want to prevent African countries or any country from sending migrants to the United States. They want to eliminate the Green Card Lottery altogether. They also want to do away with quotas based on country of origin. Instead, they want to base immigration on individual resumes. Skin-color and country of origin wouldn’t matter. Instead, immigrants would be admitted via a points system based on criterial such as age, education, skills, work history, and personal achievement.
3
"Skin-color and country of origin wouldn't matter." Except when skin color and country of origin are the factors preventing one from acquiring education, skills, work history, and personal achievement.
1
Tome Cotton defends the president because he heard the word sh*thouse, and not sh*thole. Bad enough in itself, but this is an individual who has sent constituents cease and desist letters for writing to him. Perhaps he thinks they come from a similar place. https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/01/18/activists-say-...
15
The only thing that ever "stunned and shook" Dick Durbin was when Illinoisans elected a Republican governor. Put him off his feed for months.
8
Is demonization all you have?
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Just because you do not like his party affiliation, doesn't mean he isn't telling the truth. His story sure rings true to dt's character, and besides, who would make up those particular words? In the future, yes, dt should record all meetings, just as Nixon did.
31
Richard, this is the worst comment I have ever read from you. My goodness!
33
These young kids who got brought here illegally by their parents, why are we calling them immigrants? Weren't they more like hostages? Seems like we have a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome on our hands here.
10
You don't seem to know what the Stockholm Syndrome is.
3
Except Stockholm Syndrome is when the hostage sympathizes with the hostage-taker, and in your analogy the hostage-takers are the parents. You don't expect kids to love their parents? To describe them as hostages demonstrates your frightening dehumanization of these people.
2
Donald Trump learnt from his father a bigotry towards others, and he learnt this lesson well. We from New York City know too well the bigotry of the Trump family.
That Trump as POTUS would be other than a malignant bigot is requiring one to disregard reality and enter a fantasy world. There is no need to provide detailed reported of Trump's disgusting behavior.
Trump's bigotry, however, provides Congress with the renewed opportunity to shriek with mock horror at each Trump outburst and thereby use these outbursts as cover to continually fail to meet their obligation to pass legislation.
IF Congress were functioning properly, they would pass, by super majority - veto proof majority - DACA, CHIP, budget to include better VA care, renew Perkins Student Loans, and other essential programs that, in the past, have lead the USA to leadership. Instead, Congress continues with a 22% approval rating while the bigot in the WH enjoys a 38% approval rating.
In short, Congress is worse than Trump because they are career law makers, mostly intelligent and as a group refuse to do their job!
229
You nailed it!
Fauxtus is an easy target and nothing he does surprises those in the tri-state area who have been bombarded with his narcissistic antics for decades.
The real problem is congress. There is a dearth of pols who work for the American people. Instead they work for Red rich folks or Blue rich folks, but rich folks none the less. How else do you explain a Congress who fails in its job to CHECK the Executive Branch (you can look up their job description in the Constitution). How else do you explain a Congress that plays political football with the environment, education and health, especially children's.
The answer is simple: destroying the environment, education, and health is all in service a their masters, the obscenely rich who want it all.
And the Middle Class and those who would strive for the American Dream have no representation, no voice at the table, from either party.
I am an optimist, but it feels as though our nation has passed the tipping point, as has the environment. How do we put the genie back in the bottle once fauxtus bits the dust?
1
I can't imagine that Senator Durbin was unaware of the many instances of racist overtones or dog whistles or other forms of evidence from D Trump before the meeting. What shook Durbin up? Clearly the fact that DJT revealed his racism in ugly, open candor, which violates a key tenet of racist politics - the maintenance of plausible deniability. DJT and GOP have been trying to stuff the toothpaste back in the tube ever since.
Members of Congress are now faced with sorting themselves into two groups: those who condemn racism and will stand to fight the highly corrosive effects of an obviously racist President on laws, regulation, immigration policy, our social culture and our country's moral standing, and the second group: the racist collaborators.
Trump has left no space for middle ground.
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Clearly there are two Trumps. The public one who has been carrying on a performance art life for decades, and the private one who sheds the veneer and astonishes the uninitiated with his raw viciousness. One wonders how much longer White House personnel can tolerate the latter.
1
Does it really matter precisely what word Trump said? The point is the context in which it was used, and his acknowledged desire to have more immigrants from Norway (i.e., Whites) and less from Haiti (i.e., Blacks). Not a very "tough thing to say" that this is racist.
138
Not all Norwegians are white. Other countries have a majority of black population and were not mentioned. The comment was about Haiti. Hence your inference that the comment was racist is a cheap manipulation you are trying to use to your advantage.
Quite a feeble attempt to defend the indefensible.
It is well-established that about 85% of Norway's population is White, and 95% of Haitians are Black. No "cheap manipulation" here, just an obvious conclusion from the statement he made. To suggest that Trump's call for more Norwegians was a reference to the other 15% of their population is frankly absurd, especially in light of his countless other documented racist comments he has uttered through the years.
Trump plays the alcoholic father to his children who look for any scrap of civil behavior to justify their dependency-fueled love. Trump manipulates with ease as long as the dependency continues. Time to leave the tyrant home alone.
80
So much this man does makes me angry and extremely frustrated. This makes me very, very sad. Sad that he would rather boast about lies, throw galas for $250,00 a seat, host fake news awards, and pretend he is a president!!
52
We are sooo concerned about your sadness. How much did Hillary dinner fundraisers cost? $10,000 as seat?
Holding fundraisers when running for office and holding fundraisers while IN office, especially when you should be dealing with AN IMMINENT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, are two different things. Also, has Hillary been president for a year? Has she declared she's running in 2020? Why are you talking about her? Any other candidates of yesteryear whose fundraising activities you'd like to bring up? Reagan? JFK?
1
Just for effect, and since the truth hardly matters to a proven prevaricator like Durbin, why didn’t you add that he shed tears too? What a pathetic baby that he couldn’t stand coarse language, after the real ambush had occurred, that is the amnesty bill masquerading as bipartisan immigration fix proposed by him and Graham. Trump’s position is crystal clear to most of us who have followed this discussion, and whether there is room for compromise or not, the bogus ideas of Durbin with Graham won’t be close to it. I hope the Democrats fall on that sword in the budget discussion; they will get their due.
8
Are you saying that Durbin provoked Trump's foul comments?
"Trump’s position is crystal clear to most of us who have followed this discussion, ..."
Well, if they weren't before, they sure are now.
1
Hate begats hate.
What a pathetic baby? Couldn't stand the coarse language? The president of the United States of America calling Africa and Haiti shitholes? Trump's position crystal clear and consistent? What planet are you living on? We (2/3) of the country have been very closely following this presidency for over a year now and watching the bar sink lower and lower with each passing day, marveling at his dwindling supporters that hug his fat belly and insult anyone that criticizes him and then have another glass of Kool Aid.
2
We must vote these GOPers out in 2018. Our democracy is at stake.
142
Sen. Durbin: “That’s a tough thing to say, but I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial . . . They were hate-filled and vile.”
It may be tough to say, but racial comments that are hate-filled and vile ARE RACIST. By definition. No ifs ands or buts.
Time to call it what it for what it is. Tough times deserve tough responses. This is not time to soft-pedal clearcut racism.
91
Durbin is my Senator and I’m proud of him.
222
Durbin is your senator and my senator too.
Trump is your president and my president too.
1
No, Bob, I think Durban actually honestly won his election with a majority of votes and without foreign interference and voting chicanery, unlike what's-his-name squatting in the White House.
1
This was a water shed moment for Durbin but Trump has done enough before to show that he is a bigot, rabble rouser, admitted sexual predator, pathological liar, ego maniac demagogue.
If Trump is still around in 2020, he will get at last 40% of the vote. A small percentage of these are outright racists and bigots but many of them are regular republicans who will vote the party line if Donald Duke (Freudian slip I meant duck) ran.
The key to keeping a possible Trump run/vote down to 40% if not to have the dems in 2020 run an identity obsessed, never met a war, Wall Street banker, trade agreement candidate like Hillary again.
The dems can maintain their progressive ideas but consolidate their gains in the area, make sure the country doesn't backslide but concentrate on the issues that Trump demagogued like good paying jobs going to slave labor countries, staying out of wars, reining in Wall Street etc.
Also stress progressive idea that the whole country is for like ACA, DACA etc. that are not divisive like transgender, abortion, women's equal pay etc.
19
Women receiving equal pay is divisive to backward thinking people with their heads stuck in the 1800s. I wish the weak men who have a problem with equality would get help for their obvious inferiority complexes.
9
Thank you for your reply UN. You missed two key points the the great Abraham Lincoln taught us.
1-Being "progressive" is usually right but not always. Many people including women don't think that every job should be 100% equal in thought, word and deed. There are things such as risk taking, ability etc. that will always keep somewhat of an imbalance. If you do if the other way you end up with "playing the card", ie since women are women they must get equal treatment whether earned or not.
2-Let us say I am completely wrong re point number one and you are right. You missed the other great lesson taught by Lincoln, get what you need, not what you want, ie "equal pay" is not a big item on people's mind including many women today. Concentrate on blatant outright discrimination re women which has mainly in thought and law been eliminated. Fight to keep that first. Lincoln put up with the evil of slavery until he saved the union because without the latter he could not get the former which he eventually did. Get a democrat elected and then you can bring up "equal pay".
2
Why is “women’s equal pay” divisive? Are we not equal?
2
The reason for Durbin’s profound shock is because Trump’s full shadow was on display, unchecked and naked for all to see.
It was never about jobs or terrorism. It was always about fear and hatred of the “other, “ whoever that may be. Haitians, women, the poor, no matter.
Fear is what motivates people like Trump, no matter what social class they belong to, and that includes the Mercers and the Kochs. They are perpetually aggrieved, no matter how much they are given. They fear being taken advantage of.
They are unable to act with compassion and without self-interest. Everything threatens them. They are totally hollow but for that fear. Often it is disguised as bullying and bluster and power plays. They are pathetic.
And they are mostly Republicans.
436
They fear being taken advantage of. Why? Because their most dominant personality trait is to take advantage of others.
10
Of course, in making this argument, notice how you yourself make the Republicans "other" and seek to motivate us by fear of them. You're doing exactly the same thing you exorciate them for.
1
Sorry, I’m not buying that argument anymore, either, not after watching the devastation the Republicans are causing.
Look at the numbers in Congress. Yes, they ARE mostly Republicans.
2
The Republicans still could have fixed this problem by simply passing a "clean" bill to protect dreamers, TPS participants and other immigrants, with some concessions on border security. But Mitch McConnell refused to bring a bill to the floor for a vote until he was "sure" Trump would support it. He apparently hoped to blame Trump for the shutdown, but the responsibility truly lies with him and the Republican enablers. The same stupid dance is going on with the CHIP and local health support issues, held hostage to Republican wishes despite their endangerment of millions of children. Put the blame where it belongs, vote Democratic.
68
What happened in the few hours following the 'promising' telephone talk with Trump prior to the meeting? Two words: Stephen Miller.
495
And don't forget John Kelly -- he's as bad as Stephen Miller on immigration. What happened in that meeting has the handiwork of both these men. Add their prejudices to Trump's and we can deduce that even if Congress can pass bi-partisan legislation on immigration, Trump won't sign the bill. And Congress doesn't have the votes to override a veto.
29
Stephen Miller spews hate.
He is totally obnoxious.
15
and the Ghost of Roy Cohn!
10
As reported by Senator Durpin -
"But I will tell you this: Some of the comments he made were clearly racial during the course of that meeting in the White House. They were hate-filled and vile.”
"Hate-filled and vile" It boggles the mind.
Anyone in the United States of America, this 19th day of January 2018, who does not accept that the current President of the United States of America, is an in-your-face racist, among his many other glaring faults, is being deliberately obtuse, and seeking to hide, and change, general perception.
Thankfully, there are still some in government with the character and gumption to tell the truth about this abomination and his cronies who are at the helm of our nation, deliberately steering us onto the kind of sandbar which will isolate us and prevent rescue.
Surely there has to be a way to stop this disaster from occurring.
I cannot believe that so many reasonable Americans are remaining ominously quiet as we slide inexorably into the kind of isolation and trouble we have never before experienced.
Where, where is there any good in any of this ??
304
"Where, where is there any good in any of this ??"
There is none what so ever.
Trump and his Nazi cronies in the W.H. are there to enrich themselves and follow some crazy agendas that will lead to disaster, but by then they'll be gone with the National Treasure stuffed in their pockets.
9
With all my respect Mel, but check your sentence: "I cannot believe that so many reasonable Americans are remaining ominously quiet as we slide inexorably into ......" and reflect.
It's YOU and I. All of us.
I can imagine the enormous number of times that this was said in history. The obstacle is always guts, the fear of retribution. The Monster-in-Chief has divided the nation so badly, and continues doing so that we may be approaching a civil.war type event.
At any rate, revolutions start this way and I suspect that we need to worry about who wins and comes after it's all said and done, as much as the nausea we feel with this team in charge. Remember: The Beast is not there by itself. He was voted into office.
For the (fingers crossed) many politicians and bureaucrats motivated by ideals of service and integrity, it must be horrific to witness first-hand Trump and his many enablers degrade institutions and the public discourse. I can appreciate Senator Durbin’s Sense of shock. It’s truly sickening to see how Trump survives, no matter the scandal or outrage. It feels like nothing matters.
Trump famously boasted that if he shot someone in the middle of 5th Ave, he wouldn’t lose voters. I think the scarier truth is that if he did shoot someone, he’d get away with it.
76
Years ago, if someone walked into a Hollywood studio and suggested a movie which concerns itself with a "Trump-like" candidate actually wining the election for President-----you would be thrown out on your ear.
26
and laughed to your face....
4
Idiocracy is pretty close. Granted it shows everyone as stupid and not just the president, but it's kind of true.
I would like to ask Senator Durbin, WHY he still plans on attending the State of the Union after witnessing this hate-filled language? Boycotting the State of the Union will get tremendous media attention, which Durbin can use to bring attention to the real issues around immigration.
73
Yes! I agree. All Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives should boycott the SotUA - Trump may be POTUS, but he's proved he is racist, unstable, and not fit to lead our country. Cut him out.
5
Tom Hudson Valley, Senator Durbin has brought attention to the complex issues regarding legal and illegal immigration.
Trump's SOTU speech will be written by some speech writers and he will read it from a teleprompter. In my opinion, Trump is dyslexic and is the poster guy for the consequences of not receiving treatment for this common affliction.
Watch his performance then send a donation to help dyslexic people.
1
He SHOULD attend the State of th Union address and shout out YOU LIE as Congressman Joe Wilson did at Obama’s joint session of Congress.
6
As a resident of Illinois for more than 50 years I have followed Senator Durbin's Congressional career and found him to be an unusually honest and HONORABLE politician. On the other hand I have watched Donald Trump for the past 2 years and have found him to be a DISHONORABLE liar. For the Republicans to defend Trump only smears them with the same filth that already coats this President. As an American who has voted for Republican candidates for state and Federal offices in the past I was appalled to watch Senators Perdue and Cotton perjure themselves before the American public. I will never vote for another Republican again.They must all be liars. I never believed in the Tooth Fairy and I can no longer believe that Republicans have the best interest of the U.S. at heart. Trump is dangerous and his fellow travellers are all abetting a dangerous person just for political gain.
709
RLW Chicago, Thanks for this comment. I am a late-adopter of Senator Dick Durbin whose reputation I got to know from Senator Elizabeth Warren's books.
8
Liars, yes, but they may all be Russians too. They may have no choice but to protect Trump if Muellers investigation spreads to congress over the Russia/NRA funding mechanism. Certainly, even if the people never punish them at the ballot box for the ties to Russia, they will at least lose a big piece of dark money if they don't have a way to funnel cash from foreign countries. The protests against Mueller by the GOP are way louder than their protests against Putin. I doubt they would do that for Trump. Pence would be just fine with them. I think they are afraid to lose the help they get from Putin.
1
RLW, I don' t understand what took you so long----the Republicans and their party have been morally bankrupt for the last two decades----but I am glad that you have finally seen the light.
When someone says something hateful about another, that person consigns the hater and hated to enemy camps, then they will like each other less and will be less likely to help each other when they need it. Do this a few million times around the country, and you will create a nation that collectively will be less capable of doing important things.
30
Haven't you noticed that the country has already split along some some fault lines, such as geography and gender and skin color and political allegiance? I think we are already finished as a functional nation, and I feel this is a good thing. It is definitely will be good for people in other countries to get the USG foot off their neck. In the longer run it will be good for us if our economy fails enough that we can no longer afford to carry the MIC on our backs.
1
This President has a history of racist comments and actions going back many years. However, as he ages and in association with his newfound executive power, his ability to filter his true feelings has fallen by the wayside. This is EXACTLY who he is!
186
Ones that you consider racist, some others just consider them to be the truth that some are not willing to say.
1
'pandora's box' opened: the vileness of trump's character, and his sycophantic enablers, emerged. the once idealized symbolism of our statue of liberty must be regained. this nihilistic administration must be limited to one term in office.
38
Denial ain't no river in Egypt. I want the entire Congress (dream on) to protest the racial comments made by #45. We, the citizenry are beyond outraged at the actions of man who shows nothing but contempt for running the office of the President and the duties required to hold that office in high esteem.
107
Denial (The-Nile) - I love it!
What's surprising? T. has a long history on the subject of race, as do many who are (or have been) in his administration. They don't care about security. This is an ethnic-cleansing impulse, more than anything else.
68
I sense it's likely very astounding when one is actually in the room, hearing such vile racial expressions. One to know about it read about it time and again and then to actually be in the room. Surprising and shocking - especially with the reported energy behind the horrid words.
Senator Durbin's leak of a private conversation is more proof that Democrats want to continue to use immigration to divide the country. We all want to find a solution to the illegal immigration but the Democrats are insisting on their way or the highway. And they would rather sell out their grandmother than allow Trump to sign an immigration bill. The simple fact is that if there was an immigration bill that worked for the American people, the Democrats would lose a major part of their political strategy: division and hate of white people.
7
Please bother to read the interview/article. Durbin did not leak the private conversation. He conferred with staff (totally appropriate) and enjoined them not to say anything and he conferred with 4 other senators to strategize about a way forward (it's called negotiating and legislating). Someone else (and I'm not necessarily condoning what they did) leaked the conversation. Sen. Durbin's role here was to confirm the leak.
How less destructive is it or how less likely to divide the country are Senators Perdue's and Cotton's lies and direct, personal attacks on Durbin?
Finally, Trump, the self-described master negotiator is nothing of the sort. His approach to all negotiation is insist that his opponent capitulate to all his demands -- or what? McConnell's craven insistence that he can't touch these issues until he knows what the President wants is everything that is wrong with Washington. We all know Congress could reach a deal here if it weren't for 1) the man-child in the White House and his enablers (Miller, Kelly); and 2) the Hastert 'rule' and Ryan's fear of passing a bill that doesn't have majority Republican support. Heaven forbid that anyone in Congress do the right thing.
14
You have to be a hyper-partisan mental gymnast to come up with such a twisted and perverted distortion of the facts in this case. It is all the fault of the powerless, minority Democrats and by all means let us ignore the rabid pit bull behind the curtain. I often imagine what it is like living in certain parts of Texas sinking into the quicksand of Philip K. Dick style "gubbish."
12
IT is scary how many racist whute people there are in this country who can be cinned into believing that their mediocre lives are the fault of immigrants, blacks, Hispanic people, women, LGBTQ, etc all the while the 1% are using their ignorant hatred to continue to rob them blind. I’ve given up trying to convince the delusional. They deserve all of the misery they get when they ride with a vacant soul.
12
I have to wonder if Durbin & Graham couldn't get a good enough bill going that could override a veto? If not now, next year when the balance of power is more equal. It's absurd that so much effort has been put into reform for such a long time with so little result.
34
Remember that the DACA protections for millions of Americans brought here as children EXPIRE in a month. A bill next year or even in the spring would not help their lives. ICE will begin raids on elementary schools and colleges for publicity just as they did the 7-11 raids.
I think Trump is hoping that these 12 year olds will “self deport”.
The Congress needs to get a spine and pass DACA protections.
9
It would have to go back to the house.
1
Trump did not "unravel an agreement", there never was an agreement . Graham was trying to put one over on him. Durbin and Dems , as usual, will seize on opportunity to clutch their pearls and try to demonize Trump rather than negotiate a deal.
10
Why are your standards so low?
7
let me know how Trump America works out for you and you family.
18
And you, of course, were in on all the meetings to know this. Correct?
6
Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, both Republicans, were in the meeting and have disputed Mr. Durbin’s account, saying the word “shithole” in reference to some countries was not used.
“How could you sit in the Oval Office of the White House and hear the president of the United States use this word and not remember it,” Mr. Durbin asked. “I will just have to tell you they are wrong and they know they are wrong.”
------
There you have it, yet another example of Republican moral bankruptcy, not only Cotton and Purdue covering up for the Racist-In-Chief and the proud Birther Liar who disgraces the nation's reputation every day, but Cotton and Purdue are also pathological official liars, happy to perjure themselves to maintain the Russian-Republican oligarchic status quo, America be damned.
Senator Durbin deserves credit for representing the human decency of the American people in the face of Russian-Republican rot and corruption.
Senators Cotton and Purdue have been swallowed whole into Donald Trump's sewer of pathological lies, deception, fraud and Snake Oil.
And Donald Trump remains as the deplorable, racist, fraud, phony carnival barker that 63 million Americans found charming.
Register and vote in record numbers in 2018, 2020 and 2022 and beyond to remove the Russian-Republican rotten core of America.
1047
"Senators Cotton and Purdue have been swallowed whole"
Sorry they weren't swallowed by Trump? As with most of his collaborators and enablers, they merely reveal their fetid, common core when given permission to remove their deoderized masks and reveal their true nature.
31
Socrates, I usually agree with every word in your comments. Today, I've got a problem with the word, "perjure." Cotton and Perdue, to my knowledge, didn't take an oath to tell the truth about what happened in that meeting. They just flat out lied. Some much for a law degree from Harvard. Cotton is no Lawrence Tribe.
7
" ... phony carnival barker that 63 million Americans found charming."
63 million Americans, beyond comprehension, nearly impossible to accept, but nevertheless true.
More than anything, I've ever experienced, this disturbs me the most.
Were we always like this, waiting for the match to light the fuse on the petard we seem to have always been sitting on.
8
It escapes me why these politicians continue to be "shocked" at Trump's behavior. He is behaving EXACTLY as he did throughout the primary. So, here we are. What next? I, for one, will not be shocked. Until congress takes definitive action to rectify the situation, this is what we should expect. Down the slippery slope, out of control.
252
Donald Trump is 71 years old, He behavior has been odd to say mildly, provocative, if not outright crude and erratic, for sometime, like since the early 1980s at least.
4
At least. More likely 6-7. Everyone needs to read: The Search for the Real Self, Unmasking Personality Disorders of Our Age, James F. Masterson, MD.
Ha Ha, you really don't know what out of control might be.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...America has to get rid of the Electoral College system. I know it wouldn't be Utopia but imagine what road the world would have gone down had we had a President Gore.
A system that has let a Trump be elected by a minority of the people is not a Democracy.
975
We’re a republic, not a democracy. Always have been.
4
U.S. is not a democracy, because the founders were afraid that some people would vote the wrong way.
7
Yes you are right but we are supposedly a Democratic Republic, no?
1
Just wait until he starts a war in the same fashion.
The stock market looks a lot like 1929.
They just did a huge tax cut for the wealthy, it's deficits as far as the eye can see, or cuts to social programs.
This is not going to end well, and nobody is going to fix it until it's too late.
678
Brother can you spare a dime
We'll have homeless elderly wandering the streets, and worse...
3
It might not be fixable. There is no law or rule or decree or requirement that the United States of America as organized under our current constitution will always be an on-going thing. Clearly the popular vote loser is attacking it. Good odds that those who remain who are able to reflect on history will understand that the last president of what was known as the United States of America was Barack Obama.
We have to face this very real possibility. There is not necessarily a fix to this.
4
Thank you for this article which provides insight into the current negotiations for DACA. It is encouraging to know that good people like Senator Durbin have been dedicated to formulating a solution to the challenge for so long. He seems to represent the highest ideals of government.
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